ﾟ･stars were made for falling ﾟ･ (original)

18- the fish's choker

Something seemed a little different about Casper when they got back from the Chalice trip, at least to Leo. Sure, they didn't get the Chalice- apparently, it was long gone by the time they'd gotten there- but the group didn't seem particularly torn up about it. Ivan was furious though, not at them, but at Purity of course. Whenever he went into a rage about it, Liz would just shrug him off, saying something along the lines of, "Well, we'll just get it from Aldrich at the same time we get the Gauntlet, it's not that big of a deal."

That wasn't the strangest part to Leo, though; no, his main takeaway was that Casper and Liz were talking again. Of course, it was sparse, but there wasn't as much bitterness between them now, like something had been smoothed over during their trip. Casper didn't talk to him about it, and Leo didn't press him on it, but something about it made him feel slightly better. The atmosphere around the house became just a little lighter, and life felt a little warmer, despite the dropping temperatures.

Casper seemed almost lighter as the days went on, having quiet, pleasant exchanges with everyone in the house, and at night, when they inevitably woke up due to Leo's nightmares, he'd tell happier stories than before, seeming generally more nostalgic. When they would do their chores, Leo would sometimes catch Casper humming the melody to that lullaby under his breath while he worked, getting the song stuck in Leo's head as well. He never said anything about it, though- just quietly listening without comment.

The most surprising thing that happened in the six days between the nightlight trips was the sudden arrival of a Christmas tree one morning. Leo just stared in slight bewilderment as he froze on the stairs' landing, leaving Casper to just push past him, rolling his eyes.

"Never seen a Christmas tree before, Leo?" They'd just woken up, but Casper's voice was as dry as ever, though Leo couldn't see his face from where he was standing.

Miles was next to the tree, examining it with slight pride, still in a coat with an axe slung over his shoulder. He smiled at the two boys, nodding his head towards the tree. "What d'ya think? Halley helped me pick it out, even though she had no idea what it was for. I had to explain the whole thing to her on the way back from the woods."

"It looks really good Miles," Leo grinned, stepping down from the stairs at last and coming over to examine the tree next to the other two. "Never had a real tree before- the one we have back home is plastic."

"Well," Miles pressed a hand boastfully to his chest, seeming strangely proud of himself. "We live near the woods, so we've never had a fake tree. I usually scope it out all year, and Liz does too, when she goes hunting."

Again, Casper rolled his eyes, but Leo could tell he was fighting a smile. "Alright, who cares, Miles? We have to go Christmas shopping this week, that's the important part." He gave Leo a sideways look, quickly looking away again. "I really do need to go to the store."

Leo narrowed his eyes in playful suspicion, but said nothing as Miles nodded cheerfully at Casper. "Yeah, we can go. Got nothing going on today, so we can knock that out right now." He turned to Leo suddenly, tilting his head a little curiously. "Do you need to go out, too? All three of us could go, but you can't follow me around the whole time. Liz said I'm on present duty this year, and well, we're getting something for everyone, so obviously you can't peek."

Casper looked almost mortified as Leo nodded, grinning at the idea. "Yeah, I have some money I haven't spent yet- Mom gave it to me before I left, thinking I was gonna use it on supplies or something. Well, guess not." He shrugged, chuckling a little, before turning to go back upstairs to fetch the money. He could feel Casper staring at him as he left, his eyes practically boring into his back- he didn't care, though. He knew why Casper didn't want him to go, and frankly, he found it extremely flattering.