It's beginning to look like Christmas

[afabulouskilljoy]

"C'mon, cheer is required." Poison gets hold of Jack and pulls a hat down on his head. Poison is still in his pajama pants, featuring northern animals - moose, polar bears, walruses, foxes - and pine trees. He's also got a long-sleeved black t-shirt with a snowflake on it and some fuzzy-as-hell socks because he refuses to let the sadness of the past several months keep him down.

He can't. Girl wouldn't want him to do that, and he's damned sure that Jillie would want Jack to try to be okay, and Poison has been trying to keep them both afloat. He won't stop trying.

"I got most of the boxes in the living room, we can start decorating there."

It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but Poison doesn't care. It's getting colder and the nights are getting longer and he wants brightness and color.

Comments

[rockabillyboy]

Jack lets out a little puff of air, not quite a sigh and rolls his eyes, but he's smiling despite himself. He lifts his head up and just watches his boyfriend for a minute.

"I'm sorry I'm like this," he says.
Some days are better than others. They both know it.

[afabulouskilljoy]

"Hey." Poison holds onto the strings of the hat and he pulls Jack into a tender kiss.

"Just be here with me," he murmurs, looking up at him. He can't dig into Jack and take the sadness away, as much as he might want to. And he can't undo what Darrow has done and bring her back.

"I've got you, Jack. Just don't let go."

[rockabillyboy]

He leans into the kiss, his arms slipping around Poison's waist and squeezing, gently. "I know, baby. I couldn't let go now if I tried. Promise."

[afabulouskilljoy]

Poison pulls him into another kiss, smiling against Jack's mouth. "C'mon, let's decorate, and if you're good I'll let you decide where the mistletoe goes."

He tugs Jack downstairs, into the living room where he's got boxes and clear tote bins piled. He's been hoarding decorations since he got here, and now they have a whole house to decorate.

He wishes the girls were here to do this with them, he aches thinking of putting tinsel in Girl's hair, but he's going to try to make the best of this. He's still here, and he still has Jack.

That's worth so much.

[rockabillyboy]

"I'll be good," says Jack, a little half-hearted, but smiling all the same. He's wearing pajamas too, and the house is warm and cosy, even if it does seem to echo a little bit when it's just the two of them. "Where are we going to start?"

[afabulouskilljoy]

"Uuuhm, in here? And then we'll work our way upstairs. Oooh we should totally decorate the back yard. But later."

He wants to stay inside for now. It's a gray day, and chilly, and he doesn't want to bundle up as much as he knows he'll need to. Poison flips open one of the totes. "Dude I've got garland for days," he sighs, but he's got a grin on his face.

[rockabillyboy]

"Sounds good to me," says Jack. He's heavy, has to drag himself through everything but, when he's around Poison, everything does seem a little bit easier. He squats down, opening another of the boxes. "This one's all for the tree."

[afabulouskilljoy]

"Oh man, I guess we should wait on a tree, huh? Do we wanna get a real one this year?" Poison looks back at Jack with a little smile.

"We could get a super real one, I mean like, one that has a root ball. We could plant it out back after Christmas. Our first tree and shit."

It wouldn't be their first, and it wouldn't be their first Christmas together, but it would be their first in this place. Poison kind of likes the idea of having something that will go on living.

[rockabillyboy]

"I like that idea," he says, nodding. "For Jillie and Dee. Yeah, I definitely like that idea. Is that...like..is it really expensive?" It's not like they can't afford it; back home, he might not even have thought of it. "Okay. I'm taller than you. You tell me where you want stuff and I'll hang it."

[afabulouskilljoy]

Poison smiles. "It shouldn't be. We don't have to get a huge one if we're gonna do that - it'll grow. I was checking out prices - wouldn't be more than forty bucks for a nice-sized tree that we could manage to wrangle."

Because getting a live tree into the house might be a little bit more of a hassle, but Poison's up for it.

"Alright, those garlands should go over the window. They've got lights in them and there's a plug over there."

[rockabillyboy]

Jack snaps off a salute, smiling a little and he grabs the indicated wreaths. He moves a chair so that he's got something to stand on and then he starts hanging the garlands. It's the first time they've decorated the Anchorage, and it feels good to be doing it together.

"Think we're going to have enough?"

[afabulouskilljoy]

Poison, maybe, takes a moment to admire the fact that Jack is stretched out on a chair to hang the garlands. They've both been so caught up in their own heads; Poison misses him, and it's weird to feel lke that when they've been with each other this whole time.

"Huh? Oh yeah, totally. And if we don't, I'm down to go shopping. Even if we do have enough, I'll still go shopping."

He wanders closer so he can pass stuff up to Jack if he needs it.

"Maybe I can talk Kav into getting people together to do a weird Darrow holiday album."

[rockabillyboy]

"He could probably do with something to focus on," says Jack, glancing down at Poison, holding out his hands for something else to hang. "Sounds like things have been pretty rough, lately. Newt ended up in the hospital. His dream stuff went to shit. It's sucked."

[afabulouskilljoy]

"Yeah, I heard. Well, I sort of heard." Kavinsky got snappy when he was stressed - more so than usual - so Poison had done what he could to glean what was going on.

Poison passes up a string of lights, and he lets his hand rest on Jack's thigh as he does.

"Whatever, I'm gonna wear holiday stuff to the studio starting tomorrow and I'm gonna do it until you peel me out of it and hide all my shit after New Year's."

[rockabillyboy]

"You know I love peeling you out of things," he says, grinning down at Poison. They're not really having sex as much as they used to, because everything's been heavy for so long, but Jack's got faith they'll get back to it. "The flimsier the better."

[afabulouskilljoy]

Poison just grins and leans close to kiss Jack's hip, just because he can. "Now you're just tempting me to go find Christmas lingerie. Bet then you'd be in the spirit," he teases, peering up at Jack with bright eyes.

[rockabillyboy]

"Red and white like Santa?" asks Jack, glancing down at him. "I think you'd make a great slutty Santa." He grins broadly.

[afabulouskilljoy]

Poison grins up at Jack and squeezes his leg. "Yeah? The real question is, do I wear a beard or not?" he teases.

He can't really grow facial hair to save his life, so he always shaves. But he could totally find a fake one. And that just looks ridiculous when he tries to picture it in his head. Especially if he's in lingerie.

"Maybe I can find some cute panties with mistletoe on them."

[rockabillyboy]

"I'd rather full make-up if I'm honest. I can take or leave a beard." He leans down from where he's perched on the chair to drop a kiss into Poison's red hair. "Mistletoe panties might work, though. At least I'll know where to kiss, right?"

[afabulouskilljoy]

He kisses Jack's hip. "I think you know where to kiss regardless, but directions never hurt." He grins against Jack's pants and nuzzles close.

"I mean, I probably have stuff from last year, even, that you haven't seen yet. But maybe I'll have to do a surprise Christmas Eve. Or... on our honeymoon?" He peers up at Jack again.

[rockabillyboy]

"Kagura will be open again, won't it?" says Jack, tousling his fingers into Poison's hair. "Get it done at City Hall and then head up there for a few nights?"

[afabulouskilljoy]

"Yeah, exactly." Poison smiles up at him, chin resting against Jack's thigh. "I'm down for a winter wedding."

He shivers just thinking about it. It's going to be real. It's going to be them and he's sad that Girl and Jillie won't be here for it, but he also knows that they'd be happy for them, wherever they are.