Azure: 19
Penne + Ravioli: 17
Navy: 18
Tweed: 19
Marigold: 43
“FOUND IT!” Azure’s call bounced throughout the apartment, and Navy smiled from where he was reading Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol on the couch.
Stampeding into the room, Azure made a beeline towards the couch, grinning madly as he held the small green plant aloft. Waving it above Navy’s head and grinning down at him, he positioned the mistletoe above his head and leaned down, whispering, “As per tradition, this plant dictates that I-”
A sharp knock at the door startled them apart. Azure rolled his eyes, grumbling, “Great timing Penne,” as he made his way towards the front of the apartment. Navy heard the door creak open and expected Penne to come running into the room, throwing presents at him and flinging Christmas decorations every which way while ranting about how there wasn’t enough snow outside. Instead, silence entered the room, and after he had finished a few paragraphs, he suddenly realized that that wasn’t especially normal.
Quickly standing up, he made his way over to the doorway, leaning around the corner to see Azure cowering against the door frame, a posh, sophisticated woman, dressed in all manners of fur and leather, leering over him.
“Come now Azure, it’s Christmas! When did you get so cold-hearted? Not even a bit of cash for your poor, addling mother? What happened to all the fun we’ve had together in the past? I knew that I never should’ve let your father raise you, he’s brainwashed you, you poor soul.”
“H-h-how did you f-find me?” Azure whimpered, a sheen of sweat and panic showing through on his face. “I d-don’t have any-anything!”
“Oh pish posh, you expect me to believe your blatant lies!? How could you afford such a marvelous place, hun? Unless,” she smiled coldly, a hideous smirk that made Azure whimper, “you’re living with someone perhaps? My my, how intriguing.”
“N-no, I’m n-not…”
She sighed, massaging her temple before snapping. “You’re getting on my nerves, Azure. Where’s my money!?”
Navy charged into the conversation, pushing the woman away from their door and standing protectively in front of Azure. He was about to express his opinions when she slapped him across the face hard enough to throw him to the ground, slamming his head against the hallway’s wall.
“Navy!” Azure gasped, trying to bend down but being withheld by his mother’s grip on the collar of his shirt.
“Control your dog,” she spat, throwing her son into the apartment and growling menacingly, “Now go be a dear and get what I came here for.” Azure nodded, shakily getting to his feet and all but sprinting towards where they kept their cash, fat tears running down his face as he fumbled for all the green he could lay his hands on.
When he returned, his mother had a boot on Navy’s chest and he shouted, “STOP! Just take your money and go!” His mother grinned.
“Now there’s a good boy.” Snatching the money out of his hands, she smiled. “Thank you. And a very merry Christmas to you too, Azure.” Then she swiftly turned around, clomped down the stairs, and, if the chiming bell was any indication, left the store entirely.
“NAVY!” Azure cried, dropping to the ground and cradling his head as the other boy chuckled.
“I’m fine,” he said, massaging the red welt on the side of his face. “Your ma’s got one hell of a swing, though.”
Azure said nothing, just running his hands through Navy’s dark-blue hair, until Navy caught them in his hands and looked up at him worriedly. “Why…” he grunted. “Why do you let her push you around…?”
“...you shouldn’t have gotten involved,” Azure muttered, returning his hands to Navy’s head. “You should’ve just let me get the money, and she could’ve left…”
Sitting up, Navy took Azure’s face in his hands, squishing it between his palms. “I’m not sorry that I did get involved. You should never have to deal with that kind of stuff alone.”
Azure shrugged, batting Navy’s hands away and shakily standing. Navy tried to grab his hand, but he balled it into a fist at his touch and walked back into the apartment. “Azure-”
“WOAH! What happened to your face!?”
Navy whirled around to find Penne and Tweed standing there, looking down at him, as he was still laying on the ground. He stood up and brushed himself off, getting out of the way so that Penne, Tweed, and Rav (who he had not previously seen) could enter the apartment.
“Nothing happened,” Azure mumbled, picking change up off the floor.
“Um, Navy’s face says otherwise,” Tweed pointed out, and Azure shook his head.
“Nothing. HAPPENED.”
“Ooookay. Navy, what’s going on…?” Penne asked, turning away from Azure and towards the dark haired boy.
“There was just-”
“STOP. ALL OF YOU, STOP!” Azure screamed, breathing heavily and dropping the plate he was holding, the piece of plastic clattering loudly as it hit the smooth tiled floor.
Then, as everyone stared at him, he ran out the door, clomped down the stairs, and disappeared.
“...what just happened.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“His mom!” Navy cried, pacing. “His mom came and made him give her money.”
“Shit…” Penne muttered. “I forgot, goddammit. Normally he’s okay, he just hands it to her and that’s that, but he must not’ve thought she could find him once he moved, and she hurt you,” she pointed at Navy, “on top of it…”
“I gotta go find him,” Navy said, rushing towards the door and tugging on a coat before Penne grabbed his arms.
“No, you can’t help him, seeing you will just bring back painful memories at this point. I’ve had more experience with helping him in these situations, I’ll go,” she said.
Navy shoved her away from the door. “Just because you’ve known him longer doesn’t mean that you can help him any more than I can. He probably needs me to show him I’m okay, that his mom can’t really hurt him anymore.”
“That’s the stupidest logic I’ve ever heard,” Penne scoffed, pressing against Navy’s sturdy arms until they were outside the apartment. “He needs me, I’ve been the one he’s confided in all these years, I know how to help him. You? How long have you known him? Less than a damn year. You barely know anything about him, any of his mannerisms, what he likes, what he wants. You don’t know anything about him, you can’t help him like I can.”
“I know everything about him!” Navy screeched, his voice breaking as Penne’s words ingrained themselves in his mind. “You haven’t seen the way he’s cried about all the long years without magic, you haven’t seen-”
“YES I HAVE!” she shouted. “WHO DO YOU THINK CONVINCED HIM HE NEEDED TO LEAVE THE COMPANY!? FOR HIS OWN SANITY AND WELL-BEING!? WHO DO YOU THINK TOOK CARE OF HIM WHEN HE COULDN’T TAKE CARE OF HIMSELF!? ME. YOU’VE HEARD HIM CRY, YOU’VE SEEN HIS ISSUES, BUT YOU DON’T KNOW HIM LIKE I DO, AND YOU. NEVER. WILL. HE’S GOING TO GET SICK OF YOU ONE DAY LIKE THE REST OF US AND FORGET ABOUT YOU LIKE-”
“HEY!” Tweed grabbed her, the stupification and anger in his voice causing Penne to stutter and gasp, placing a hand over her mouth and looking up at Navy.
A hardness had coated his features. His silver eyes coated over with apathy, he stood up straighter until he was towering over them, and said in a firm voice. “Get out of my apartment. NOW.”
Rav swiftly walked past, slamming into his sister on his way to the door of his apartment and slamming it closed behind him. Tweed led a stammering Penne to the opposite side of the building where they disappeared behind a door and started arguing almost immediately. And Navy? Navy just stood there, staring down at his hands, replaying the words Penne had screamed at him over and over again in his mind. Convincing himself that they were true. But even so, someone still had to go and find Azure. And Navy couldn’t just leave him alone while he was trying to process so much pain. So closing his door, he clomped down the stairs after Azure, making sure that his footsteps were extra loud so that Penne knew he wasn’t giving up so easily.
There was snow everywhere. It was flung through the air by the wind like dust caught up in a sandstorm, getting stuck in his hair and coating his jacket in mere seconds. “’Sa white Christmas,” he mumbled to himself, trodding through the snow banks lining the sidewalks and following the footprints that led away from the apartment, distinguishing Azure’s from his mother’s because Azure did not wear heels. The paths eventually diverged from each other, and Navy followed the one on the left through twisting turns and streets, each print harder to make out as the snow quickly filled the imprints. Eventually, it was impossible to make out where the next step was taken, but by then Navy could already see Azure stumbling through the snow ahead, his arms wrapped around his torso in a feeble attempt to prevent the cold from entering his body.
“AZURE!” he called, hoping that the wind would carry his words to Azure’s ears. But either the blond didn’t hear him or chose to ignore his call, continuing to stumble along the streets as Navy rushed to catch up behind him. When he placed his hands on Azure’s shoulders, he jerked away from the touch, spinning around so that Navy could see the crystalized tears coating his cheeks.
“Oh, hun…” he whispered, wiping away the ice as Azure leaned into the touch. He took off his jacket, sliding Azure into it and leading him back down the snowy streets, toward the warmth of the apartments. As they stood in front of the building, a tinkling laugh floated towards them on the wind, followed by Azure’s drunken mother stumbling down the street towards them.
“Look at you!” she laughed, pointing at Navy. “Such a good doggy!”
“Go inside,” Navy whispered to Azure, pushing him towards the front and only turning back around when he had seen that the blond was safely inside. Then he spun around to face the woman who had haunted Azure’s nightmares, leaning against a lightpole to keep herself balanced.
As he approached her, she grinned. He dwarfed her by inches, but she didn’t seem to care, smiling blankly up at him as he glowered down at her. Grabbing the collar of her coat, he yanked her towards him, shaking her until she fully grasped the weight of the situation. “Listen to me closely,” he growled. “If you ever set foot on this property again, you’ll get to see first hand just what this dog can do when provoked.” He let her go and shoved her away, watching in satisfaction as she stumbled and fell on her back in the snow. Then whirling around, he entered the building, making sure to lock the door behind him.
When he entered the apartment, he found Penne wrapped around Azure, bawling her eyes out while he rolled his eyes. As soon as Navy entered the room, Penne ran over to him, looking up at him with a watery expression. “Navy-”
He slapped a hand over her mouth. “I truthfully don’t want to hear it. I understand; we were both upset. But I don’t want to talk to you right now.” She nodded in understanding and let Azure take her place, wrapping himself around Navy and pressing his face into his chest, inhaling deeply.
“Thank you for the jacket,” he mumbled, and Navy petted his hair lovingly.
“She’s never coming back. I promise.”
“Thank you,” Azure said, looking up. “Truly. I never thought she would come back. I don’t want anything to do with her. She makes me so…afraid.”
Planting a kiss on top of Azure’s curly blond hair, Navy smiled gently. “Completely understandable. I never met my mom really you know, but I can understand what it’s like to be afraid of people you only wished had loved you for what you were instead of what you could offer.”
“I love trauma.”
“Don’t we all.”
“HEY!” Penne called, and Azure turned around to face her, finding Tweed clamping his hands over her mouth and muttering, “Shut up, your straight mouth has no place in interupting this beautiful gay atmosphere.”
“But presents,” she muffld through his hands and he sighed, pushing her onto the couch as she laughed, throwing an arm around her brother who had been tuning them all out in favor of Navy’s book.
“I already got the best present,” Azure said. “Your guys’ understanding.”
They all stood silent for a moment before Penne started laughing, which started a chain reaction of chuckles and snorts. Penne ran around the room, gathering up hastily wrapped boxes and delivering them to their designated recipients. Azure fumbled around with something behind Navy, pressing a box into his hands and whispering, “Open this one last.”
Once all the presents were handed out and they had unwrapped their gifts, the room littered with ripped paper and laughs of delight, Azure dragged Navy to the kitchen while everyone was intently watching a Christmas movie.
Navy, staring suspiciously at a grinning Azure, hesitantly opened the box, uncovering a sprig of…
Azure grabbed it, dangling it above his head and saying, “As per tradition, this plant dictates that you get to make out with me now.”
“Oh does it?” Navy asked, raising an eyebrow and pressing Azure against the countertop. “Well, I suppose I’ll have to do just that then,” he paused, bringing his hands up to Azure’s face, “because otherwise, the plant will get mad at me.”
“Not just the plant,” Azure giggled, bringing their lips together.