MMH: Thanks for the reviews guys! :D Heres the next Chapter! I only own my OC's
December came and flew by so fast that fairly soon there was only seven days until Christmas. Until that point, though, the four bikers had been getting their house decorated for the holidays: buying a tree, gift shopping, and dealing with the occasional explosive that Ember slipped to Valon and the odd prank here and there certainly made the time fly by.
(No one was entirely sure why she was carrying around explosives, nor could they understand how she never got in trouble with the police over them).
That morning found Valon already up and running, having decided to instigate a snowball fight with Ember. Alister was the second one to wake up, seeing how as Valon had opened his friend's window and then had thrown a snowball through the window; it had landed on Alister's face, scaring him enough to actually let out what could be termed as a scream.
This, of course, woke up Skye and caused her to roll out of bed in a pile of blankets. The domino effect was complete when Raphael, hearing the curses coming from both Skye's and Alister's room, got out of bed to investigate.
"I'll kill him this time!" roared Alister as he came out of his room, shaking his head frantically to dislodge the snow in his hair.
"Is that what happened?" asked Skye irritably. "Because I thought that, you know, someone was dying. You screamed over that?"
"I didn't scream. It was a manly yell."
"…It was a scream."
There was a slightly muffled bam that caused the two of them to look at Raphael's room in concern. Realizing what happened, they padded down the hall and opened his bedroom door. They found him on the floor next to them, holding his head and grimacing in pain.
"You walked into the wall again, didn't you?" Alister asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Shut up," came the muttered reply.
"I'll go get the coffee ready," Skye sighed, walking out of the room and downstairs into the kitchen; Raphael was a notorious non-morning person and did this at least once a week.
"Hey Raphael," the redhead started, helping the older biker off the floor. "Now's as good a time as any. Is there something going on between you and Skye?"
Raphael stared up at him owlishly, frowning as the question registered. "Not that I know of," he answered slowly.
Alister sighed. "I don't mean 'have you guys fought in the past couple days' going on. I mean 'are you harboring a crush on Skye' going on."
The blond paused. "…I want coffee before I answer that," he said firmly, though his face flushed.
Alister smirked. Raphael only dodged questions like that when he was hiding something. "You do like her, don't you? And don't give me the 'she's like my sister' act, either, because I know that's not it."
A long pause followed this statement before Raphael sighed. "What gave me away?"
"The signs were all there: you and Skye hung out all the time, even back in Doma, and lately you two seem to be stuck together. Eventually one of you would start harboring feelings for the other."
"It's only been recent," he replied uncomfortably. "And anyway, I'm not going to do anything if it's one-sided. Look what happened with Valon and Mai."
"I wouldn't be so sure it's one sided," Alister said, arching an eyebrow. "Skye's not as clever as she thinks she is. I've seen her watching you since Thanksgiving, and she randomly blushes when you two pass each other in the hall or when you ."
"So what do you suggest, O Romance Guru?"
"Get her something special for Christmas. Something that screams, 'I like you. Would you like to go out with me?'"
"Who's going out with who?" Skye asked as she came back into view.
"No one," Alister and Raphael answered promptly and simultaneously.
"I didn't mean to interrupt your meaningful discussion. I was just bring Raphael up his coffee. By the way, Ember and Valon made a fort right outside your window, Alister. I have a hunch that they're planning an attack."
"Crap," Alister growled, scrambling out of the room and leaving Skye and Raphael behind. The two of them heard Alister yelling at Ember and Valon, but whatever he said was obviously muffled by another snowball that hit him in the face—when Alister yelled next it was because the snowball happened to be made from "yellow snow".
"Oh Valon," Skye said, shaking her head in exasperation. "Sleep well?" she asked, directing the next comment at Raphael as she sat down on the bed; he lumbered over and took the coffee from her before sitting down as well.
"No better than usual. You?"
"Aside from Jasper taking up most of my bed and nearly shoving me off the bed I slept very well."
Raphael chuckled. "Jasper took up most of the bed? How?"
"He sprawls himself out as far as he can and takes up the mattress. It was fine when he was a puppy, but now he's not so little."
Raphael laughed as he drank his coffee. "That's amusing, though," he said.
Skye shrugged. "Well, I'm going to go on down and get me some cereal," she announced, walking out of his room. The blond watched her go and then let out a heavy sigh; Alister returned several minutes later, having scrubbed the snow off his face (and giving his nose a pink tint in the process).
"Think of a gift yet?" the redhead asked.
"I only am just starting to wake up all the way, Alister. I haven't even had enough time to even think about what she'd like," Raphael replied dryly, getting up.
"There are numerous ways you can go about this," Alister started. "You can Google your problem or go and ask her brother; you should probably go with her brother, since Google doesn't know Skye as well as he does."
"It's a start. Don't worry, I'll think of something."
Alister nodded and headed out of the room, with Raphael following behind him minutes later. As they reached the kitchen table, where Skye was already munching on some cereal, a snow-covered Valon and Ember entered the house.
"Mornin' fellas," the Australian chirped.
Skye stood up immediately, her chair scraping against the tiles as she slapped her hands on the table. "No! Both of you march right back outside and take your clothes off in the garage. I don't want to mop up water in here!"
"Sheesh. How old are they again?" asked Alister irritably as the two stepped back outside.
"Seventeen and nineteen."
"I thought they would know better now," Skye muttered, shaking her head.
"Keep in mind that we're talking about Valon," Raphael started. "And Ember has an incredibly unique personality. Onto other matters though: have you two gotten Christmas shopping done?"
Alister nodded. "Yeah. I did it a few days ago. What about you, Skye?''
She gave them a thumbs up but glared at Alister. "You're a hard one to shop for, y'know," she complained, poking the redhead in the chest. "How about you, Raphael?"
"I'm almost done," he said, getting up and setting his empty coffee mug on the counter. "Theres just one person that I have to shop for."
"That's cool," she replied, putting her bowl in the sink (and missing the knowing look Alister had shot Raphael when her back was turned). When she turned back it was to find that the red-haired biker had left the room. "He's sneaky."
"Who? Alister?"
"Yeah. He could make a ninja proud. So, who're you shopping for?"
Raphael froze, realizing that he could not very well tell her who he was thinking of. "Well, I was thinking of getting my aunt something," he lied quickly, hoping Skye would not notice the split-second hesitation. "I have no idea what to get her, though."
"Oh," Skye replied, looking thoughtful. "Well, how about some sort of jewelry? Like a necklace or something. Or if you have no idea what she'd like get her something that relates to her personality."
Raphael sighed. "I guess that'll work."
"Well, I'm taking Jasper for a walk. See ya later," she said as she left the kitchen, leaving Raphael behind to mull over his thoughts silently.
Review? Kok is still the best!
