Nobody should be alone at Christmas (Jespice)

Lúthien realised Christmas was officially a time for family but she couldn't bring herself to put too much into that. She didn't know her family, had forgotten those that had raised her, lost those she had cared about her and still wasn't sure what it was that she wanted from the supposed sibling relationship with Elijah. She'd explained to Calix that she had something else to do that night, a place to be. She'd end up by his side at the end either way, she always would. The sparkling ring on her ring finger reminded her of that. They were getting married after all, that wasn't something easily forgotten. Tradition was something that Calix had in his blood but Lúthien didn't quite feel the same. She was a person of chaos and the structure and order going with tradition often was lost on the young woman. She smiled slightly as she closed the doors of the Principia behind her. Nobody should spend Christmas alone. 

She walked over to the barracks, realising just how short her time there had been. Even then she didn't head for Third. Officially that was her place but she had long since left her bed open to be taken by another person. One that would actually use it. Her soft footsteps actually lead her to another place. Another building really. She didn't know where most people would be now. She guessed a fair few of them would go home to their families, if they had them. Lúthien wanted the same, if she knew what family to call her own. She wanted to go to Austria to meet her parents but an awkward first meeting at Christmas was not something she was looking for. She wanted to head back to Scotland and spend time with Barney but she would want Fergus along in that case and she hadn't spoken to him in weeks. 

Slowly she approached the door, for a moment stopping to wonder if she ought to knock. A sly smile grew on her face. Sienna was her best friend and the centurion of this cohort. She doubted Sienna would file a complaint for not knocking. Apart from that neither Calix nor Elijah would do more than just throw in a small verbal complaint if somebody did bring it up to them. In other words, she could just burst in. Lúthien opened the door and carefully walked in. "Jespice?" She asked the dark room. "Are you here?" She said. She knew she could just turn the light on but she didn't feel like it. She waited in the silence, throwing the tree decoration she'd used as a scarf back over her shoulder. "Happy Christmas Jes?" She asked the room, carefully holding the present she'd gotten him. It was nothing too fancy but she had been clueless on what to get him. She just wanted him to know he wasn't alone. Not even at Christmas. Least of all at Christmas. He was her best friend after all so she had to make sure she did everything within her power to make sure he knew. That he knew he could count on her as a friend. If that included a stupid and lame gift on her side, so be it. She just hoped he wouldn't feel pressured to give her a gift or something. That was not part of the intentions after all. 

((Kinda shortish? Meh, enjoy and Happy Christmas!!))

This was probably not the worst Christmas Jespice had experienced but it was probably one of the top three. The son of Cupid sighed; he was alone in the dark of the fourth cohort barracks. Everyone had gone home to see family; something Jespice didn’t have the luxury of doing. Alone, alone, alone. Gods, Jespice was tired of it. The teenager was lying on his back on one of the lower bunks, his head dangling off the side of the bed. He had a good view of the door from this angle, even though the blood was rapidly rushing to his head. Maybe he’d pass out, that make the day go by a little faster. Jespice rubbed his face with one of his hands and groaned loudly. Alone, alone, alone. It was just him and the tiny Christmas tree he had gotten from his old bar-owner friend. It glowed in the corner of the room all different colors. There was a singular present under the tree, wrapped nicely in metallic silver paper and reflected the colors from the tree. It was no bigger than the palm of Jespice’s hand; the blood red bow was about as big as the present itself. The son of Cupid had spent awhile making sure the little present looked perfect… he just wished he had heard the news before he had gotten the present.

It was quite a popular topic buzzing around the camp. Luthien and Calix were getting married. Jespice should be happy; his only friend was getting married to the praetor. Who would be a better husband then Calix? Jespice’s fist tightened in his short hair and he let out another groan. No one was better than Calix, right? Maybe it was better that Jespice was alone today; he was slowly becoming a shell of a person anyway. The symbol of Pluto was pressed up against his forehead as the teenager pulled at his hair. Jespice’s life was at an all-time low. It was better that he wasn’t around other people; he’d just bring them down. Today was a day to be happy, not sad. “Jespice?” the door had been gently pushed open, another person was here. “Are you here?” Jespice’s eyes slid open sluggishly; he hadn’t realized he had closed his eyes in the first place. So much blood had run to his head, the teenager was light headed.  “Happy Christmas Jes?” Luth’s voice was more like a question; the teenager looked at her with dead eyes the light from the small tree giving the present in her hands a reddish tint. “Luthien…” Jespice breathed, craning his neck to see her upside-down form a little better. The movement caused the son of Cupid to slide off the bunk and he hit the floor with a thud. Jespice cursed loudly and struggled to get up, he was so light headed all his movements were wobbly. Luth would probably think he was drunk. “Yeah, right… Merry Christmas?” the son of Cupid groaned again, rubbing his head and adjusting the only article of clothing he was wearing: his grey sweatpants.

Jespice bit his lip and eyed the present in Luthien’s hands. “oh… you got me… oh. You didn’t have to, really” The teenager’s words were shaky and he sounded embarrassed. The son of Cupid rubbed the back of his head “I mean… shouldn’t you be with Calix?” Jespice inched over to the little tree in the corner and scooped up the gift he had gotten for Luthien. “I got you something too, hope your boyfri-… fiancé doesn’t mind.” He kept his head down, not looking at his friend as he held the little box out to the daughter of Discordia. Jespice locked his elbow, his arm was completely stiff. “why’d you come here Luth? To finally tell me the good news yourself or did you know I’d be hopelessly alone today?”

((sorry this is so late!))

As Lúthien walked in she noticed the barracks of fourth were not exactly a light and bright place. The only source of light she saw was a Christmas tree was a single present underneath it. Her eyes lingered on it for a very short time before they scanned the room, trying to find Jespice. When her eyes landed on the boy, she wasn't quite sure what to do. Part of her was tempted to smile, as it almost seemed like her friend was drunk. Having been in that state a lot back in Scotland, Lúthien had gotten quite familiar with the things that could happen afterwards. Hangovers and memory loss, although the latter never bothered her. It wasn't like she had that much to remember to begin with. Slowly Lúthien took a few steps in, closing the door behind her. She turned back toward Jespice as he fell out of bed, cussing like a sailor. 

She walked up to him, noticing he (once again) wasn't really wearing all that much. She smiled slightly for a moment as a stray thought passed her mind. "I probably should have gotten you a t-shirt. It almost seems like you're short on them." She said with a warm and friendly smile at Jespice. It was a joke of course and even though Jespice seemed a little drunk, she trusted that he could still understand the difference between a joke and a serious comment. She realised Christmas could be a very awful time for some people as they had nobody to share it with. Lúthien knew that she would probably have spent Christmas alone in her Scotland apartment even if she had gotten invited, provided her memory had not returned. She somehow felt like Christmas was a time of family and since she did not know at the time in what kind of situation she had been or would end up, she would have chosen solitude. Apart from that that daughter of Chaos liked being alone and not having to worry about other people being happy too much. It somehow bothered her at times. They worried for her while that was quite the opposite of what she wanted. She knew her uses and powers and her limits fairly well and if she didn't worry, she was as fine as she got. 

"I know." She said simply as he reminded her she didn't have to buy him a gift. Yet he mattered to her and she wanted that memory to be visible to him. That somebody would always care about him. "But I want to. As for Calix, he knows. I'm not certain how well he understands but he does understand this is very important to him. Besides, we'll be together again tonight so it's not like we won't see each other at all today or something." She said, brushing aside the possible reason to leave. Her business was here, with a friend that needed her. She was a little surprised to see he scooped up the only gift under the little tree. So that had been hers? He literally had no gifts lying underneath his own Christmas tree? Lúthien choked up a bit at that, realising how little he really had. At least people cared for her, even if she didn't remember them. 

She accepted the gift in silence though, and handed the small gift she'd brought him over. "I got you a little something too. I didn't really know what to get you so.." She shrugged and awkwardly held the thing he'd gotten her, the wrapping still around it. When he asked why she was there, Lúthien sat down next to him. "A little bit of both I guess. After what you told me last time I figured you could use some company. Nobody should be alone at Christmas after all. You're my best friend and I want you to enjoy the holidays too. I know the rest of them well, you should be no different." She said with a slight shrug. She turned her attention toward the gift, taking the bow off. She didn't unwrap it any further though. "As for the wedding, I actually wanted to ask if you'd mind helping a little. It's supposed to happen in March so it we don't have a lot of time. I hope you are willing to help out with a few things." She said with a smile at him. "Only if you want to though." She said and finally unwrapped the gift he'd gotten her.

Jespice let out a single laugh as his friend joked about his lack of t-shirts. Luthien was making the room a little warmer just with her presence. Still the teenager would have preferred to be alone. He had gotten used to the lack of the warm feeling. “Good, good, Calix knows.” Jespice mumbled “wouldn’t want him to hate me anymore then he already does. You’re brother already dislikes me, I don’t need both the Praetors to want my head on a pike…” Luthien’s words bounced around in Jespice’s head. “Help out?” the teenager repeated obviously surprised. He held the gift she had given him close to his chest almost protectively. A single laugh escaped Jespice’s lips but he knew she was serious. “What could I possibly do for your wedding?” the son of Cupid’s fingers unconsciously traced the edges of the wrapping paper on the gift in his hands. “Other than get drunk and entertain the women, I mean” a little smile tugged at the corner of Jespice’s mouth. “Oh wait, wait, wait I know what I can do” The son of Cupid leaned closer to Luth and whispered in her ear “you want me at the bachelorette party huh? I could give you a discount because we’re friends” Jespice stood back, a grin stretching from ear to ear, a rare glimpse of his old self. The teenager chuckled and played with the corners of his gift.

Jespice eyed Luth’s hands as she unwrapped the gift. It looked like a ring box, it wasn’t, but it really looked like one. The son of Cupid focused on the dimly lit wall. “It’s just… I…” the teenager stumbled over his words as he waited for her to open the box. “not a ring…” Jespice managed to say. "I just thought it would be nice for you... I don't know why." the teenager's expression hardened "I didn't get it for your wedding, I got it before I knew you were enga-... engaged to Calix" The son of Cupid shifted uncomfortably. Jespice looked up sheepishly to see the expression on Luthien's face. The teenager was blushing, he hoped she wouldn't notice. He looked back at the present in his hands. "So... uh." Jespice frowned at himself, he voice was dying in his throat. He didn't understand why he was having trouble speaking. "You... should wear it at your wedding though it you want..." The son of Cupid said regaining his voice as he looked at Luthien. He couldn't read her face, did she like the necklace he had gotten for her? It was obnoxiously flashy, not something Luthien had ever worn before. It was a special occasion type thing. "Just... make sure Calix doesn't think I'm weird or anything... I mean I got you a cat and now I've gotten you flashy jewelry." Jespice wondered if Luth understood why he was so embarrassed and cautious. Calix could kill him if he wanted to "I don't want him to think I'm hitting on you.." Ha, hitting on a girl. it wasn't as if Jespice didn't do that all the time.

Jespice shifted uncomfortably again before putting a smile on his face. He didn't feel happy or anything, but the smile wasn't for him it was for Luth. She'd want him to smile, right? "ha, anyway..." the son of Cupid's smile became slightly forced and he searched the room for something else his eyes could focus on. He looked down at the present in his hands which he had been toying with ever since Luth had handed it to him. "should I..." Jespice pointed to the present questioningly but his fingers had already torn into the wrapping paper. "you really didn't have to get me anything, Luth.." Jespice said, but he was still smiling. He was glad she was here with him, even though she'd be back with Calix in no time. "and I'll actually help with your wedding... we are friends ya know"

((too lazy to color speech...))