goddamngrenades | Voicemail

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"Two things? Two things, I think." Yeah, two. He levers himself upright reluctantly and holds a hand down, grin wide. "Yes? It's both. It's...an apology, a present, and a tradition."

"...What did you get?" It's now a more honest question with an uptick of his mouth. "And you can forget the apology part, given that all is already forgiven. But I'm sure I'll accept it anyway."

"A surprise that'll make you smile?" He hopes. He's pretty sure. He tugs Mal on after him to the kitchen where there is a trio of pineapples resting on a tray, fresh and ready to be prepared however they want or eaten as is.

And hanging off a hook on the wall in muslin (as per tradition) a christmas pudding aging till they're ready to steam the sucker. "Pineapple and pudding."

Pineapple and pudding. The pineapple he figured on, and it's nice to pick something up now and again, but Malcolm finds the gesture to be very sweet all the same. There is definitely some upside-down cake in the near future. Hell, Christmas is coming...

And speaking of. The pudding. York actually managed to find and get one, just because it had been a silly English tradition. Smile Malcolm does. "Apology absolutely accepted."

"It's even been hanging for most of the month! Had a guy who's family makes extra every year just in case of an emergency offer it over after I upped his security." He even got it legitimately, Malcolm, aren't you proud?

"Also gave me a seasoning packet for a christmas roast and yorkshire puddings."

"How do you manage to come through for people like this? Every time." It's very Carolina of him, but he bumps York with his shoulder, grinning. "Thank you. For everything. This Christmas is certainly going to be something."

"Magic? Magic. Something like that." Alls forgiven. That's all he really needed. "Christmas wasn't really a thing for my family. I mean gifts and stuff but we never had traditions, you know? So...it's important to you."

Like the pineapple, like the colors. "And you're family. You know?"

"Christmas hasn't been very much important in a long time, but it's...very nice that you're making it so. Figures someone like you would hold onto the details." The the Starfleet emblem on the arm.

As for family...it's true. He has to make a new one here, and the Freelancers and then some (well, a good many of them, at least) are just that. A new, extended family. He tries out the word. "Family." Yeah. That feels good. But there's still almost an anxious hesitation that comes from the fact that he'd still like to get home where he belongs, so much having happened in the past many months, and it shouldn't be so easy to just replace them.

It's not a replacement. He has to remember that. "A family Christmas together. Sounds too good to be true."

"We deserve something nice, you know?" For everything they're being put through. For everything they lived through back home. The Freelancers never had a chance before but this is...important. He keeps coming back to that. Because it'll always be relevant.

"Lockpicking is a detail oriented position. Kinda sticks with me in most of what I do." He tries to shrug it off, even if he's not so secretly pleased that Mal notices, that he's pleased by it. That he's agreeing to be part of their fucked up little family.

Then comes that phrase and oh no no- York's hand snaps out to cover Mal's mouth, muffling the last word. "Don't say that! If you say that SOMETHING will happen and now you've said it. Jesus."

He bats at York's hand, away from his mouth. "Oh, like it wasn't already cursed for being so nice in a place like this." But no, he probably shouldn't have said it. Oh well, it's out there now. "We'll have something nice if it--no, I shouldn't finish that phrase, either. How about I just keep my mouth shut entirely then?"

"We're doomed. If something happens it's your fault. You said the thing." He groans and scrubs his hands over his face. "Okay. Maybe we'll burn the roast and it'll be something small like that. Not. Big and weird and awful."

"York. Shut up. You're making it worse. How about we just go back to the moment where everything's wonderful and touching and a little bit floaty?"

"I hope you know how to cook a christmas pudding because I have no idea. The guy gave me the sack and told me to hang it and I thought he was fucking with me."

Malcolm shakes his head. "As far as I know, it's extremely English. Thankfully you have me around. Just leave it there for now, it'll be perfect until we get around to it." Pat pat on the shoulder, you poor sweet ~~summer~~ American child.

"Mal. It's a sack of food. How is that even- not even REGGIE did th-" He stops for a moment, eyes going wide as though a sudden revelation has passed. "....oh shit that's why he was pissed."

"Did you mess with someone's pudding? You don't mess with an Englishman's pudding, York. That's almost as bad as insulting the Queen."

"...I stole the bag he had hanging in his room and all of his tea and hid it." That's what you DID to get back at an asshole on the MOI. Ruin his day.

"And you made it out of that situation alive? I am shocked," he says with a laugh. "You're a piece of work sometimes."

"He STOLE my lockpicks and baked them into a loaf of bread! AND THEN SERVED THEM TO ME. You don't DO that."

"All right, correction: all of you are pieces of work."

"It was kind of part of the requirements." He snorts.

Malcolm waves it aside. "I'll teach you the ways of the pudding, and we'll manage to have an enormous meal fit for a house full of physically active guys. Might even have enough food to satisfy Carolina," he jibes.

"You say that like it's a joke, but with her metabolism jacked up by using the speed unit for so long? She eats more than me and North when she sits down and lets herself really go at it." Which isn't as often as she should, in his opinion. "I think I got the last of the ornaments and shit boxed up. I figure Christmas eve we set everything up, have dinner, sing a few carols, alls' good?"

"Believe me, I'm aware of how she can eat." He did get a ton of food the night before just for that reason. "I think that is the perfect eve we could have here. We'll teach Theta and Delta what to do for the holiday."

"Decorate the tree, watch christmas specials, stockings, dinner, do we explain santa to them or not?" They don't really need to but it feels like an important part of the traditions.

Day 131 - evening - action

tactical_alert - 2014-09-08 19:03 (UTC) - Expand

Day 131 - evening - action

goddamngrenades - 2014-09-08 19:09 (UTC) - Expand

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