It had taken nearly a week for Black Hat to deliver all that he said he would. An entire week spent binging anime and hypno-videos in his panties. Even that wasn't relaxing for him, because all he could think about was what he'd done to Aurelio, what he'd said to the police, and Black Hat's criticisms. The man might not have been wrong, but did he really need to talk down to him like that? Or keep throwing in confusing approval? Did it still count as a backhanded compliment if he kept switched from praising to scolding? Whatever it was, it left a bad taste in Flug's mouth and he couldn't wait to bury himself in his work. He was running out of shows he actually wanted to watch anyway.

The few days Flug had left before Christmas Eve he spent working nonstop on building a new and improved Stun Gun. The only thing he stopped for was switching the discs of whatever anime he had put on as background noise and going to the bathroom. Oh, and eating. When he remembered too. He caught himself skipping a few meals, but it wasn't as if he was starving or anything. He was just focused on his work. Even when eating, he was still tinkering around with the circuitry. Got a little messy.

Yeah, ok, he should probably take better care of himself. And should probably go grocery shopping. His supply of microwaveable meals was running low was and kind of bland, honestly. That was the one thing he was looking forward too, come Christmas this year. The food.

Every year on Christmas Eve, before Midnight Mass, his family would get together and just, you know, be a family. It was something he usually loved, from the drive to Tia Cristabela's to seeing his favorite cousins again, to the buffet of food prepared for Christmas dinner, to exchanging presents. A time of familial unity and love. Which he wasn't particularly excited about, because of all that had happened recently. He'd come more to terms with his inner evilness and homosexuality, even acted more on his lustful and malevolent desires, and having to hide it all away again wasn't something he was eager to do. I mean, it never was, but he'd just let it all out and now he had to put it away again. He'd never be able to brag about his little victory (he didn't care how "sloppy" it was, it was more than he'd ever done before and he was counting it as a win), or how he'd actually said the words "I'm gay. This is my boyfriend" out loud for the world to hear. He'd never actually thought he'd ever been able to say something like that, even if it was only half-true. He was proud of himself. And no one in his family would ever be able to know.

Well, at least going would put him in the vicinity of tons of mouth-watering home-cooked meals. Many of which he'd be taking home as leftovers. So, there was food for a few more days. And he was nearly done anyway, so, just a little longer. Just a little longer. He considered putting some hypno-tracks on instead of the anime, he'd found a really good set of videos from this one person on YouTube that he wanted to watch more of. But he couldn't really watch those and work at the same time. While the audio-only ones he found online were good, they were a bit imitative. After listening to one, he'd listened to the vast majority. The problem was most likely his urge to pay more attention to the words rather than what was going on with his hands, the exact opposite of what he was supposed to do. He was supposed to only just hear the voice, not giving it a second thought and allowing it to work it's way into his mind without him even noticing.

But...he wanted to focus on the hypnotism. He liked the ones that required his full attention, and called him demeaning things. And those ones he'd found, that actually gave him commands, they were so...

No, he had to keep working. He had to focus on this. Just get this done, and then he could relax. That was why he had an anime that he knew front and back playing. Something he could tune out without being worried about missing any of the good parts. Ones that didn't demand he pay full attention for him to enjoy. Peeking up from his table and his refurbished tools to catch the fights scenes was all the break he needed. Just a few seconds (ooooh Kamina!) then it was back to work. He was almost done. He might be able to finish this within the next few days. That'd be great, he'd just put on the final touches and then he'd be able to finally allow himself more than a mere moment's rest. He'd been giving this project all his available time, his bed unused and his clothes smelling a bit funky, but it would be worth it when he was finally done. He'd shower, change, get some real food in his system, get what little rest he could while not being able to fall into a legitimate sleep, it'd be so nice. He just had to finish it up and then he could do absolutely whatever.

Until his parents called to ask what time they should pick him up tomorrow.

Crap, Christmas Eve was tomorrow!? Where had the time gone?! He still had so much to do! If he had another day or so he could do it, he knew, but if he was going to see his parents tomorrow then he needed to start cleaning up right now- no scratch that, he needed to start cleaning up hours ago because he has done nothing but sit around in his underwear hunched over a desk and occasionally eating taquitos! The one non-microwaved food he had in his freezer which was especially low in stock! Which may have left a few stains on his shirt, from salsa. Or was that just sweat? Yeah, he should really change and shower regardless. And make some time to go food shopping, but that could still be put off. Cleaning up could not.

Fast forward to after a quick shower and change of clothes, Flug inspected his face in the mirror. God he looked tired. He had heavy bags under his eyes, which were a bit red. He was growing a bit of stubble, on the half of his face that was capable of growing facial hair. Hair that didn't sprout up in sporadic patches between his scars like little scratchy weeds. Man, it was going to be a bitch trying to get it all. No way was he going to see his family looking like this. Maybe he should invest in a better razor. One of the ones with the little interchangeable tools meant to shave in multiple harder to reach areas. That might make getting between his scars a bit easier.

He wondered, what should he wear? His plain white button down shirt? His baby blue long sleeve? That dark blue one he'd gotten for his date with Black Hat? That horrid Christmas turtleneck he got last year (Sorry Tia Isabel)?

Ehh, his neck looked fine. So long as no one stared at it for too long they'd probably never notice the faded scabs. The bruises were long gone, no danger there. No need for a turtleneck. He went with the dark blue one, the only reason being that it was newer and therefore nicer. He had one formal jacket, which went fine with the shirt. Black slacks were always a good call, when he had to look presentable.

His parents were going to pick him up around ten tomorrow. He should at least make an attempt at resting tonight, to get rid of these bags and his generally worn out aura. But he still wanted to keep working! He knew he could get it done, he could get it finished, he just had to work harder at it!

He made a promise, he was only going to work until midnight. Then, he'd go to bed and force himself to relax. Then, if he really wanted to, in the morning he could work a bit longer after he ate, but he had to stop at nine to make sure he was still clean enough to see his family. There, he was setting an alarm for nine o'clock tomorrow to ensure that no matter what, he would look good for his parents. He had all night to work, he could do it.

So he worked...until he heard his alarm go off. And laughed a bit at what a damn liar he was. But he was done, and that was all that mattered. He collected his finished project and put it in one of his drawers for safekeeping. Couldn't just go leaving something deadly like that laying around now, could he? He showered again, brushed his teeth, shaved, scrubbed at his eyes as best he could, changed, and was all ready to go once his parents arrived.

Reaching Tia Cristabela's took no time at all. She didn't live particularly far. It was actually a wonder they didn't visit more often. There, he went around greeting each of his relatives; Tia Cristabela, Tia Isabel, Tio Antonio, Tio Orlando, Tia Rebecca, Tia Glenda, Tio Salvador, Tio Héctor, Tio Ernesto, Tio Adrián, Tia Esmeralda, Tia Rosa, Tio Alan, Tia Nidia, Tia María, Tio Cesar, Tio Giovanni, Tia Yvette, Tio José, his grandma Luz, and all his cousins; Enrico, Alejandra, Noe, Charlene, Juliana, her husband Mateo, Mario, Delia, Ricardo, his wife Marina, Estrella, Nora, Victor, his wife Stephanie, and their newborn Esteban. All happy to see him, though they all remarked how tired and skinny he looked. Was he getting enough to eat?

He waved them all off. "Of course I'm eating, Tia. I've just been very busy. No, not with work, that's really pretty boring. No, not school either, I just finished the semester. I'm building something very special at home. Yeah, sure, I'll put it up on Facebook when it's finished. No, I can't tell you what it is, it's not done yet! Yeah, I've been staying up pretty late working on it, I really don't feel tired though. Oh, my hand? I just banged it up, no big deal. I'm fine. Really, I'm not tired. I'm going to bed around...midnight? Yeah I know I shouldn't, but I'm just so excited to finish it! Ooh, tamales? ¡Gracias Tia!" Yeah, they were going to have dinner later, but it was only one or two, that wouldn't hurt. He was feeling a bit hungrier. He hung out with his cousins and a few aunts and uncles, just catching up and hanging out, like family. Chatting about this and that, and what everyone's been up to lately.

And then, the inevitable. From Tio Orlando. "So, Rocinante, do you have a girlfriend yet?"

You know what? He was feeling a bit daring. And was tired of saying no everytime. He didn't want to hear another sorrowful sigh about how he was still single, or how Juliana and Ricardo and Victor were married already, hell Victor just had his first son, and they were only a few years older than him so what was the hold up? He didn't want to hear another word about how he really needed to go out and meet people, or how he couldn't just live his life at his desk. Black Hat would never know, so... "Actually, there is someone."

"Oh really Rocinante?" His mother perked up. As did his father and most of his female relatives "Oooh what's her name? What does she look like? Tell me everything."

"Her name is, uh, Blasa." Odd choice, but it'd do. "I met her at school, we went out for coffee a few times and things just kind of happened. She's...I guess you could say she's got a unique sense of style. She dresses up everyday like she's going to a party or something."

"OOh a party girl." His cousin Ricardo teased. "Nice going, wey."

"No, not like that. Kind of...old fashioned. Like some high class old school masquerade party or something."

"So what, she a rich girl?" Charlene asked. "You dating some millionaires daughter?"

"No, nothing like that. She sure spends money like she's rich, that's for sure."

"Oh that's just all women." said Victor, who immediately got a light slapping from his wife. "What?" Laughs were had by all.

"So, is she from a good family? Have you met her parents?" His dad asked.

"Actually...she doesn't have parents. She told me they died when she was young. I don't think she has a lot of other family, either. She's not exactly from around here, and she...moved around a lot."

"Oh Rocinante, you should've invited her!" His mother squealed. Everyone was just dying to meet her. Lots more laughter, and playful pats on Flug's back. While he forced his own little giggles and bashful blush. "Did you ask what she was doing for Christmas?"

"W-Well, no, but it's only been a few weeks." He said. "I didn't want to scare her off by doing something like that so soon."

"Oh nonsense!" Tia Glenda chimed in. "We'd treat anyone you brought home just like they were part of the family. No one should be alone on Christmas!" Seconded by everyone.

Speaking of, it was almost time to get going. Everyone got up and split into their respective cars, Juliana and Mateo carpooling with Rocinante and his parents. Making light small talk on the drive to the church and congratulating him again on finally getting a girlfriend.

Flug didn't pay much attention during Mass. He kind of tuned everything out, just saying "amen" at all the right times and standing and sitting with the crowd. Everything felt very false. More so than every other year. Maybe because there was usually less distortion of the truth than this. Usually he didn't have anything to lie about, he had nothing in his life except his work. Both academic and part time. Now that he did, all of it was things he couldn't talk about. He couldn't even work up the nerve to tell them he was gay, and now he'd gone and made up a girlfriend. Just so he could have something to tell his family.

Maybe...he should tell them. All of them. Well, his mother's side at least. They really didn't keep in contact with his father's side, which was just Tio Paul and his two kids. What were their names again? Flug didn't think he'd so much as seen them since they were all children.

He had been terrified of people finding out he was gay. Then they'd found out. It had been frightening...at first. But it had passed. It would pass out of people's minds like the latest pop song as new things came along. People might remember, but they wouldn't really care. It wouldn't matter to everyone. It didn't matter to everyone. There had to be people who just hadn't cared, people who had known him. People in his club, people in his classes. People who didn't see him any differently, who didn't care who he might love. So then, was it so wrong to hope that maybe his family could feel similarly? Regardless of religion, they could still love him, still tolerate him, even if they didn't exactly understand or agree. They were family. Family was there for each other. It was something he was grateful to have, and it tore him apart thinking he might lose it over something he couldn't possibly change.

Family...Black Hat didn't have any, did he?

He'd mentioned his parents had died, yes, but he hadn't spoken about having any other relatives. At least, Flug couldn't remember any being mentioned. No siblings, no uncles or aunts, nothing. He said he'd been raised in an orphanage, did he ever get adopted? Given how he'd seemingly been able to go from country to country with little to no hassle, it seemed unlikely that he had any firm roots to hold him to one place. The fact that he never spoke much about his homeland, and hadn't said much positive about it either, certainly fit the narrative of not having anything or anyone to return to.

Was Black Hat all alone on Christmas?

He tried putting those thoughts of out his mind. So what if Black Hat was alone? So what if he had no one to be with on this one holiday? He'd evidently been that way for years, he was probably more than accustomed to it. He was a grown man, he didn't need Flug worrying over something like his feelings. Did he even celebrate Christmas? Flug hadn't thought to ask if he did or if he was doing anything. Maybe he had his own holiday traditions. He probably wouldn't have wanted to come anyway. He couldn't imagine church service and some tacky family dinner being all that enjoyable for him. And what would Flug say? Oh, this is my...friend. He doesn't have any family of his own so I invited him to join us. I don't really know what his name is, I just call him by the color of his hat. Yes he's a very physical sort of person. This is normal for him. He's European, they have different notions of platonic touch.

...Was Black Hat European?

Flug was startled out of his thoughts by everyone rising one final time. Guess the service was over. On the drive back he stayed quiet, only responding when he was directly spoken to. All throughout dinner, which he picked at in his usual bird-like manner, he was similarly silent. At least then it was more excusable, he was eating. Barely, but he was. He snuck off to the bathroom, splashing his face with cold water. He took a deep breath and decided that yes, he should tell them. He should've told them a long time ago. Not only had he kept it from them, he'd lied about it. He couldn't keep doing that and he couldn't wait any longer. Waiting until he finally worked up the courage. Waiting and dragging it out wouldn't make it any easier, in fact all it had done was make it that much worse. He'd been building up this tempest in his head of what would happen if he ever told anyone, a maelstrom that left him paralyzed.

The storm had hit. He had survived. Painfully so, but here he was. Carrying on even though it had hurt. He was in the eye of it, the one calm place surrounded by his innermost vulnerabilities. All of them swirling in the surrounding winds, ready to rip him apart when they became reality. Would he be able to take this? Would he be able to take it now that he had once before, and pushed back against the heartache? Just one more trek facing the disaster before he was free of this imposing hurricane threatening to destroy him?

He opened the door slightly, just a crack, nothing more. He could hear his family talking, laughing, joyously feasting on homemade food prepared just for tonight. They'd be opening presents soon. It was a time of such happiness and positivity and love.

Was he really going to risk taking that away?

Was he going to potentially ruin this holiday for everyone?

Was he going to spoil Christmas for not just his parents, but his whole family?

All of those were "if's" and "maybe's", none were definite possibilities, but did he really want to bank everything they all held dear on some childish hope that maybe it would all be okay? When he still had such a big "if" in his soul?

His soul, he remembered as he clutched at his chest, which was no longer with him. It was with Black Hat, in the contract he'd signed. He'd given his soul as well as his future to that man. If he wasn't careful, he'd give him even more, and have nothing of himself left but a hollow shell that pretended to be happy.

Or was that what he already was? How long had he feigned happiness just to avoid souring everyone else's good time?

He wasn't doing it. He couldn't do it. Not on Christmas. Maybe...maybe next time. Yeah. Next time. For sure.

He walked out, as jolly as he'd appeared when he went in, and continued picking at his food as his little cousins began opening their presents. Little Alejandra and Noe were so excited to get their first cell phones. Delia made out like a bandit, getting a full kitchen play set. Estrella ignored the pajamas she got in favor of some dolls, as kids do. Little Esteban got the most, the entire family pretty much getting him a full wardrobe of clothes to grow into, as well as a very soft and warm blanket that Flug's parents had gotten him. Flug himself had found a small teddy bear to give the little guy, which he completely ignored. Victor and Stephanie sure appreciated all the shopping they didn't have to do now.

Then the old people (like him) opened their presents. Mainly clothes, a few books, his family knew he liked planes so he always had an assortment of aviation themed gifts. From T-shirts to boxer shorts (which he may still have unopened somewhere), it was the one thing they knew he liked. Tio José had gotten him this little desk toy of a balancing plane, which he thanked him heavily for. He would put it right on his desk in his room, he swore. He remembered he'd gotten some of his model planes like this, gifted to him from his family. And then he'd build them with his dad. His cousin Enrico also gave him a case of beer. Which he was probably going to either give away or re-gift. Maybe his dad would want it.

People started leaving after that. Going around saying their goodbyes, until the next time the family got together. Tia Rebecca kept trying to get others to agree on getting together at Abuela's for New Years, but no one was really up for it. Thanking each other again for their presents and saying how much they loved each other. Flug's parents drove him home again, he thanked them again for the small travel tool set they'd given him. He hadn't told them he already had one, which had come with even more tools and variety. The way he saw it, he now had a backup in case he lost or broke any of his standard equipment. Saved him a trip to the store. He made it home, faking a yawn and promising he was going straight to bed. His entire life was a lie. How would he ever tell them anything?

Flug opened the door and trudged into his apartment, feeling miserable and sick of the holidays already. He was so lost in his jaded thoughts he almost didn't notice the present sitting on his coffee table.

At first, he thought maybe he was so out of it he was hallucinating. He cleaned his glasses to make sure it wasn't something smeared on his lenses. It was still there. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't just imagining it. No, it was still there. Finally, he tiptoed over and poked it a bit. It didn't give at all, it felt like a solid square shape. Covered in bespeckled white wrapping paper with a large red bow on top.

Yep, that was a present. Which he most definitely had not left there.

Flug sat down on the couch and pulled the thing onto his lap gingerly. Inspecting it further, he found a small card attached to the bow. There was no "to" or "from", only the words "Feliz Navidad" in elegant handwriting. It didn't have much weight to it, shaking it gave no hints as to what might be inside. There was some soft rattling of...something, which wasn't particularly comforting. Especially given that there was only one person who could've possibly left this here. Who really needed to stop breaking into his apartment. Time to get the locks changed. Cautiously, Flug pulled at the bow until it came undone, and gently ripped away the wrapping paper.

It was a model plane set. Like the ones he used to build with his father. A Red Baron Fokker triplane. He didn't think he'd ever built one of those before. He and his dad had mainly built biplanes, commercial fliers, maybe the occasional warbird. Where did he even find this?

It was about 3 in the morning now. Was it too late, er, early to call?

Fuck it, why not? The man broke into Flug's apartment for the umpteenth time, even if it was to leave him a surprise Christmas present. This hardly came close to the same level of disregarding boundaries.

The phone rang for so long it seemed like he would just sleep right through it. Flug was ready to just leave a voicemail when he finally picked up. He sounded cranky. "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"

"I was just going to thank you for my Christmas present."

"Why noooooooooooow? 'M sleepiiiiinnnnggggggg."

"Well, I was also going to say that you better not have peaked at your present, but since you're sleeping I guess I'll just say 'bye bye.'"

"Huh?" He seemed to wake up a bit. "My present?"

"Yes, I'll give it to you tomorrow." Wait, it was morning already. "Errrr, later today."

"Yeah, ok, be there around...nine?" His voice got really muffled. "Bye."

"Goodbye Black Hat."

He should probably get to wrapping that present. As well as finding a box or bag or something to put it in. He took out the T-shirt his Tio Alan had given him and put the Stun Gun 2.0 in it's bag. There, just put the colorful paper back, peel off the sticker, no one would ever know.

So, that took care of that.

Now what? Was he just gonna rot his brain with more japanimation and solo degradation play?

You know, he did have a new model plane. And it had been a while since he'd built one. Either with his dad or on his own. Might take a few hours.

Black Hat knocked right as it hit nine o'clock. What, was he just waiting outside the door for the exact time to make his presence known? Was Flug going to have to start checking his front door to make sure Black Hat wasn't just lurking around the halls like an overly attached boyfriend?

Flug opened the door and let him in, still wondering why the man bothered knocking when he came and went as he pleased a good 80% of the time. Flug had his present ready on the couch, so he just led the man to it and told him "Feliz Navidad, Black Hat."

The villain dug inside excitedly, like a kid who just knows he's getting that hot new toy he's been begging for, and pulled out the new Stun Gun with glee. It was slightly bigger than its predecessor, had a bit more weight to it.

"It's just what I wanted," He said with a grin aimed at Flug. "Thank you Flug."

"You're very welcome."

"So, how is this one different from the last one?"

"It does everything the old one did, and more."

"Ooh, like what?"

"Same as the first one, it can paralyze a person in one hit by blocking off the electrical synapses of their brain." He said, sitting next to the man and motioning to the weapon. "What I've added is once you've got them, you can change the voltage. Making it all the more painful, and past a point, fatal. Of course, if you want, you can just shoot out a lethal amount of electricity right from the start, but I personally think having them frozen at your mercy is far more satisfying. It also doesn't have to be one continuous pulse, you can alter it with this knob here, making for an electroshock type of treatment. Which, again, can be as painful as desired and fully controlled. Good for causing pain, and a very slow and painful death. I had planned to add a feature allowing for controlled bursts mimicking the synapses of natural motor function, but I'm afraid that's beyond me at the moment."

"Oh, don't you worry. This is more than enough for now." Black Hat got a mischievous smirk all of a sudden. His sharp teeth hidden by tight lips. "It can really do all that you say?"

"Yes."

"How do you know?"

Flug blinked. "I...I designed it. I build it."

"But how do you know? How do you know it works?"

"I...what?" Did he not like it? Was he expecting more?

"Have you tried it out? Have you ensured that it is fully functional?"

"I-I...I haven't." He admitted.

"Then, we'll have to test it out. To make sure it's worthy of being my first product."

"We, we're going to t-t-test it out?"

"Yes, Flug." Black Hat pulled the scrawny inventor close. "We're going to kill someone."

Flug stomach growled right then. Which it shouldn't have done. Really. He should've been fine for a few more hours.

"When was the last time you ate?"

"...Earlier today."

"How much earlier?"

"Around...one or two in the morning."

Black Hat lowered the new Stun Gun. "Waffles or pancakes?"

"Uh, pancakes. I love pancakes."

Black Hat sighed as if he really didn't like that answer. "Ok, come on."

"Huh?"

"Let's get pancakes."


Translations:

Tia = Aunt (Spanish)

Tio = Uncle (Spanish)

¡Gracias Tia! = Thank you Aunty! (Spanish)

wey = dude/guy (I think this one is more exclusive to Mexico)

Abuela's = Grandma's (Spanish)

Feliz Navidad = Merry Christmas (Spanish)


Notes:

Sorry that this ones pretty short. Shortest chapter I've ever done, I think. There is a reason for this. That reason being I'm kind of burned out and I'm all out of chapters for you. So no more consistent updates for a while, I'm putting this on hold. In the meantime, I'll get to writing the next little burst of chapters, maybe get around to finishing some of my other on-going fics that have been piling dust for the past couple of months, maybe branch out and write some stuff for those other fandoms I'm occasionally in, who knows? I certainly don't. All I know is I've been writing this fic for over a year now and it doesn't feel like it's anywhere close to being done. There's still so much to do, so much more i can put everyone through, so many more ways I can wrench a heart! I've been doing this since December of 2017 and I've loved every minute of it.

Thank You to everyone who's loved it right along with me. I probably wouldn't have kept at it if it hadn't been for you, and I look forward to hearing what you think when I post the next chapter.

When will that be? I don't know. Follow me on tumblr fallinforaguyfelldownfromthesky, I'm still going to be posting weekly updates and sneak peeks every Tuesday. They may not be about BHO(tp) but you'll see what I'm working on.