[DRP] Jingle hell (Twins & Jamie)

[Melancholies]

November 5th

It was in fact not November the fifth.

Actually it was a few weeks after. The air had grown cold and was growing colder still; but Shiloh didn't seem to mind. He liked the cold. Preferred it. There were a million ways to warm up and only a handful to cool down.

Needless to say, he had an epiphany somewhere between here and there. In the void they stopped right before the fifth, and when they were done they were shot out into the world way after. Conclusion? Shiloh had turned nineteen and he hadn't even known it.

Incredible.

Again, he wasn't too bothered. Birthdays in his house were never momentous occasions, and he'd never really celebrated them as a result. Still, "At least it was only like a month." He remarked to Jamie as he putzed around the kitchen, having been the one to bring the thing up in the first place, "It's not really a big deal."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

November 5th

At first, it looked like Jamie wouldn't be too bothered about it, either. He turned to Shiloh, a warm cup of tea between his hands, toasting them up. The expression he wore was curious, then it turned contemplative, then glanced at the calendar his mother had hanging on the wall near the fridge. It was covered in farm animals. This month was chickens in santa hats.

"What did you say?" he asked, but in a way that said he heard just fine. The problem was he was still turning the thoughts over in his head, still trying to process them. He set his tea on the counter and this time went all the way over to the calendar.

He didn't say anything else as he flipped from December, back to November, back to December, back to November. It wasn't once or twice or three times, but many. Whatever he was thinking, he was playing with his lip ring as he did so.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

November 5th

He sighed, knowing damn well where this was going, regretting even bringing the damn thing up, "I said, it's really no big deal."

He watched as Jamie flicked between the calendar months, cracking his knuckles awkwardly. "Cut it out, you're makin' me nervous." He walked over to grab Jamie's hand, cease the flipping, "You're gettin' ideas, ain't you?"

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

November 5th

The flipping did cease, of course, and Jamie didn't struggle against the hand on his own. With a small, apologetic smile, he looked down at the month he'd stopped on. November. Right there on the 5th was a small, round sticker sporting a cupcake with a candle. In the hectic aftermath of their past-void adventures, he'd forgotten a very special day that he'd been waiting for damn near since he and Shiloh decided they were friends.

"But Shiloh..." he mumbled, voice quiet, though it quickly picked up. "It is a big deal! It was... it was supposed to be your first birthday that we could celebrate together." He looked genuinely distraught at the thought of missing it. "A-And I didn't even wish Ollie a happy birthday, either..."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

November 5th

"Ollie was with us it's sort of the same thing." He looked a little exasperated, "Besides, we don't really... like that sort of stuff. We're awkward with attention like that. We never celebrated our birthday." He let go of Jamie's hand in favor of stuffing it away into a jacket pocket. Still, it was hard to deny his boyfriend.

"If you wanna do a like, lowkey thing... I guess that'd be okay..." He relented, knowing that it was important to Jamie if not him. "'Sides, it's not too late if you wanna wish my brother a happy b-day or whatever. I'm just saying it makes more sense to focus on Christmas, 'cause that's like, almost here."

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

November 5th

He sighed. He frowned. He put the calendar back on the Christmas chickens.

"I don't wanna make it... weird if you guys really don't like doing the birthday thing. I just thought it might be fun." Christmas and birthdays, though; to Jamie they were completely separate things that deserved celebration and recognition on their own. It was probably silly, but Jamie felt strongly about making sure people felt loved on their special day. I'm glad you're here, that's what he was trying to say.

Except he relented, too, even if it sounded like he didn't want to. "Maybe we could all get together for Christmas instead, then."

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

November 5th

"I mean, we didn't like it 'cause it wasn't like..." He sucked in a breath, "You know where I grew up." He left it at that.

But he also weighed his options like he was reconsidering, "I mean, if it wasn't made out like a big deal it might be nice. I've never had a cake." And Shiloh really liked chocolate cake, "Like, we can totally make Christmas the big shebang, but... we can do a smaller thing for me 'n Ollie if you wanna that badly."

At least the Christmas chickens were cute. "Like, no gifts, no streamers, just cake. Oh—ice cream too? Or—alright alright, we can have a shitton of food? That sounds kinda sweet." He actually looked a little more into it now.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

November 5th

It was obvious he was trying not to droop. Not because Shiloh hadn't given in yet, but because thinking of the life he and Ollie had led before was heartbreaking. Neither of them deserved a father like the one they had. Jamie didn't want to let thoughts of the past ruin their day, though. He wanted to keep Shiloh moving forward and away from those things.

When Shiloh finally gave in, it made Jamie's goal that much more attainable. He wanted to give the twins a good birthday memory for once.

"Just lots of food" he agreed with a bright smile. "You won't regret this!"

Melancholies

 

[saedusk]

The Big One Nine

It was around noon, the sun was shining, the air was crisp but not too cool as it streamed in through the open window. It was one of those winter days that didn't quite feel like winter. A nice day, a good day for a celebration.

Only Jamie was puttering around downstairs; his parents were out of town and he'd banished Shiloh to their room until all the preparations were complete. They almost were, too, as he pulled out a tray of little cheesy crostinis from the oven. Onto a plate they went and out with the rest of the fixings—a veggie tray, little meatballs skewered with toothpicks, three different kinds of dip and so many chip options, mini ham and turkey sandwiches, and countless other snacks Jamie had spent all morning putting together.

The cake and ice cream were chilling in the fridge, waiting for later. Too Cute! Kittens was playing as a placeholder on the TV. All that was left now was summoning the birthday boy and waiting for Ollie to arrive.

"Shiloooooh!" he called up the stairs. "C'mon!"

Melancholiessss

 

[Melancholies]

The Big One Nine

This all felt very wrong. Not because of the party or anything, but because it all felt very silly to banish and lock away the key of all goddamn things. Thankfully he had enough things to keep him occupied throughout the morning; he slept in a grotesque amount, played some app games on his phone, checked his emails because he actually got those apparently, busted out the good ol' tape recorder for another entry.

He had just clicked the recorder off when Jamie called up the stairs, and he looked towards the door from his place on the floor. The messy mass of fish that had been congregated next to him also turned to look at the door, except they didn't have the option to join him downstairs for what would be a feast from heaven (in Shiloh's mind anyway, since he hadn't actually seen anything yet). "I'll try'n bring something back Tooths, don't worry." Whether or not Tooths was the actual name Jamie had given to this particular hellspawn was irreverent, as this creature had a mouth that went clear down the length of its body with all sorts of spiny teeth. It was a perfect alias.

"Alright! Alright." He meandered towards the top of the stairs and stretched luxuriously, almost feeling a little nervous at whatever weird ritual he'd have to go participate in downstairs. Last time he blew out candles he had probably been close to six or seven.

His eyes were peemptively covered with his hands when he walked into the kitchen, "Ollie turn up yet or what?" He asked as he bumped into the counter.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The Big One Nine

Jamie had been mid-way to telling Shiloh to watch out for the counter as he proceeded to walk right into it. "Not yet," he answered, sounded distracted as he reached out to turn his boyfriend away from the offending counter and keep him in place so he wouldn't ram into anything else. Holding hands was great for that, but there were no hands to hold at the moment. "I told him around this time, though, so it shouldn't be too long."

For a short stint of silence, he looked up at Shiloh's face, right where his eyes should be. "You know you don't have to cover your eyes right? It's not peeking anymore 'cause I'm done."

Melancholiessss

 

[Melancholies]

The Big One Nine

"Yeah yeah, but I was doin' it just in case. Cause otherwise I'd've come down here and you'd be all like 'Shiloh no!'" His voice got as shrill as possible when he mimicked Jamie, and then he snorted out a laugh. "'Sides, feels wrong since Ollie ain't here yet. Stupid lazy—"

His thought was caught off from a knock at the door, to which he turned to despite not having his gift of sight. Dandelions poofed up around his temple in anticipation.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The Big One Nine

"Pfft, what were you saying about lazy now?" Jamie's hands were on his hips and he was smiling cheekily, but Shiloh couldn't see any of it. "Stay put, okay? I don't want you bumping into anything else. And no peeking while I'm gone! If you're gonna keep it up, then you gotta keep it up all the way."

With a pat pat to his back, Jamie ran off to answer the door. It didn't swing open quickly, instead he cracked it and peered around, a playfulness in his eyes.

Melancholies

 

[Melancholies]

The Big One Nine

In the doorway was a familiar face; one that looked absolutely exhausted beyond belief—but it only showed under his eyes—because his hair was kept and his clothes looked nice otherwise. He shuffled.

"So what's this all about, anyway?" Ollie asked as Jamie precariously peeked through the door. Still, he smiled; Jamie was a nice person, someones whose company he didn't mind, "Shiloh didn't tell me anything."

Cue the snort from the kitchen.

saedusk

 

[saedusk]

The Big One Nine

"Come in, come iiiin," he ushered, stepping aside and finally opening the door enough for Oliver to enter. "I'm really glad you could make i- Wait, what?" The snort was loud enough to catch his attention and his eyes narrowed like daggers (rubber daggers, this was Jamie). "He didn't actually tell you why I asked you over?" He'd given that guy one job.

Melancholies