~*~
Chapter Fourteen: Sleigh Bells And Snow
~*~
It was supposed to be a quiet Christmas Eve. But then Francis showed up at the door with wine and gifts for the three roommates. Arthur was done for, that was for sure. Francis probably remembered the party and… who was he kidding. Francis was like an elephant with that sort of thing…
But Francis didn't say anything, bless his heart. They celebrated with the wine a little bit, but each of them knew their limit. Alfred suggested Christmas episodes of Gilmore Girls, and everyone cuddled up on the couch to watch them.
"I didn't know you three were such… femmes," Francis said.
Matthew glanced at him, sticking his tongue out childishly, "Shut up and watch our favorite girls, Francois," he said in harsh Quebecois.
After sifting through the differences and accent of his friend's 'French,' Francis's eyebrows shot up, but he shrugged lightly. "D'accord."
~*~
"Katyusha…" Ivan said, slamming the receipt for Natalia and Katyusha's shopping trip down in Monde on the table in front of his sister. She had been sewing in her room… and Ivan had that look in his eyes…
"Ivan, brother… it's nothing…" she said, standing. She waited for a blow, but it didn't come.
Natalia had entered and had pinned her boyfriend's hands behind his back. She was also behind him, so she had a good grip on the bigger man. "Someone bought her something and accidently gave us the receipt…" Natalia lied, her voice a strong monotone.
"I don't believe you, Nat…" Ivan hissed, thrashing lightly.
Natalia had learned control and a little martial arts from a family friend of hers, Toris, and would not back down now. She breathed, and Ivan thrashed, and Natalia was slowly winning the passive battle.
"I heard from Eduard that you had gone down twice to see that little lost stray!" Ivan hissed.
Katyusha was still trapped near her desk. She hated when Ivan got into his fits. But she loved Natalia's tactics of trying to fight off and calm the Russian man.
"Ivan, dearest. Don't you trust me? Well… then…" Natalia nearly purred. She pulled him close, and since she had his arms around his back, she managed to pull him with her. Steadily, steadily, she led Ivan down the hall, freeing Katyusha. Kat followed Natalia and her brother down the halls, out in the cold night, and watched, shocked and astounded, as Natalia threw Ivan into the shed and locked the door.
"Come on. I'll call Eduard and tell him to let Ivan out in the morning. We're getting out of here…" Natalia said, grabbing Katyusha's hand and pulling her towards the car. Katyusha nodded, glad she was friends with Natalia… "We'll go to Monde. Let me get a few things together…"
Natalia nodded, "Hurry."
~*~
Things were getting busy at Matthew's house when the doorbell rang.
"I wonder of Tino brought Petie as his elf this time… how old is the kid?" Arthur asked, going to the door.
"Who knows. You'd think he'd be waiting for Santa to come by falling asleep himself, right?" Francis replied.
"I wonder if he knows that Santa Claus is actually his Mommy…" Alfie suddenly said.
Arthur smiled as he unlocked and opened the door, expecting to see the Nordic men on his stoop. Instead, he had a Ukrainian and a Belorussian, both definitely not men.
"Uhmm… Mattie? Unless Tino got a sex change and managed to clone himself and alter the clone, I think we have more company from Fou…" Arthur said.
"Dammit! What happened?" Matthew asked, jumping up.
He managed to embrace both girls at the same time, as well as managing to drag them inside in the process.
"Sorry to burst in on you, but things got a little hectic up there with Ivan…" Natalia said.
Katyusha showed them their bags and other things, "We brought stuff. Can we stay down here for a couple… well… a while?" she asked.
Matthew looked at Alfred, who looked at Arthur who sighed, "Sure. If by a while you mean no longer than a week…"
"We can find a cheap apartment in that time…" Natalia said after a few minutes.
Matthew gave them a comical double take, "You're… moving down here?"
"I unofficially dumped Ivan, and Kat and I decided to move back down here while Ivan is… well… indisposed. He'll get out in the morning and… we just won't be there…" Katyusha said cheerfully.
"But we can stay here for a week?" Nat asked, turning to the head of the household.
Arthur was about to speak before the (real) head of the house nodded, "All right," Matthew replied.
"We'll even help you find a place to rent," Alfred said, looking at his housemates (and Francis). All nodded in agreement.
They stood around for a minute before Arthur became a gentleman again and took the ladies' bags. Then he remembered they were all going to fall asleep around the living room, and dropped them again. "Find some floor space. We'll pull out the bed tomorrow night, but… as of now, we were in the middle of an episode of Gilmore Girls to open the door…" he said.
"I love Gilmore Girls!" Kat said. She picked up her bag, "Just let me get into my PJs and brush my teeth… and then I'll join you."
"I guess I have to. I'll just change in that room there," Natalia said, pointing to Matthew's room.
"Don't mess with anything. Mattie might get feral," Alfie joked. Natalia paused with her hand on the door handle, then chuckled and opened the door into the room, shutting the door behind her.
"Hurry up you two~ Rory and Lorelei don't wait for no one and we don't either!" Arthur shouted. Nat banged the door loudly to shut him up, and Kat simply dropped an unwrapped tampon on Francis, who was lounging on the couch, staring awkwardly at Arthur. Francis shrieked, sending Matthew, Alfred, and Arthur into peels of rather unmanly giggling. Kat rolled her eyes and disappeared into the bathroom.
~*~
Both girls were given the couch, with Mattie and Arty sandwiching them. Francis called Arthur's chair, and Arthur was too busy fiddling with the DVD player to even care that the Frenchman was on his territory. Alfred opted for the floor, which was literally piled up with pillows from all three bedrooms in the house.
"There!" Arthur said, pressing play.
They watched the rest of one episode and then another before midnight hit, and there was another knock on the door.
"Does Tino still do Santa Clause?" Katyusha asked as Arthur jumped up.
"Yeah, and we're the last house on his list every Christmas," Arthur mumbled, opening the door angrily to the Finn.
"Hello~" Tino twittered, handing Arthur a stack of presents. Then he noticed Natalia and Katyusha. "Oh no… you guys are back? I didn't get you anything…"
"No problem, Tino… Our arrival was much too impromptu…" Katyusha replied, waving her hand in front of her face lightly.
"No, no… how are you supposed to feel when the others are opening presents and you have none?" Tino asked.
"I got some gifts for Natalia…" Kat said.
"And I got some for Kat," Natalia replied.
Tino nodded, "Well… all right. Merry Christmas!" he said before waving and turning around to get back into his 'sleigh.'
"Good night and Merry Christmas~" the entire household called. Arthur then closed the door and frowned first at the snow that had found its way on to the welcome mat, and then at the presents.
"We need to get you girls gifts," Arthur said firmly, placing the packages under the tree.
"No, no. We'll be content to watch you open ours…" Natalia said, pointing to the almost perfectly wrapped boxes under the tree. The boys had seen Katyusha put them under the tree.
"Nope… I'm going out to get you guys some gifts," Arthur snapped, "Mattie, come."
"Yes, monsieur," Matthew said almost subserviently, hopping up from the couch.
The girls weren't going to argue with Arthur. Once he had an idea, you really couldn't stop it. So they sighed, and made a shooing motion. Arthur and Matthew put on their hats and coats and ran out to the nearest store.
~*~
"Thank god we found someplace…" Arthur said, laughing as Matthew almost slipped on the ice.
Arthur unlocked the door to find the TV off and everyone piled on top of each other, fast asleep. Arthur shushed Matthew as he took the gifts to Matthew's room. They began wrapping the presents they had bought… until the grandfather clock struck two, and, amidst tape and scissors and all the presents neatly wrapped, they fell asleep in a pile in the corner of Matthew's room.
~*~
Femmes – "females, women"
D'accord – "Okay. All right."
~*~
The plot thickens~ Oh, and I'm sorry to -my- Russia... There is a logical reason for Ivan's fits. I will explain that a little later on.
Oh and... what? You haven't thrown an unwrapped tampon at a boy to make them shriek and cower in fear? It's tickles me pink! -giggles-
Review, s'il vous plait. Si n'est pas... well... bad things may happen to you. -hides the Map of France behind her back-
Adieu~
~Ana-chan~
