"Another case? Again?"

ᥴꫝ᥅꠸ᦓꪻꪑꪖᦓ

1979. Christmas Eve. Presents under the tree. The fire before, embers still burning. The house reeks of pine sap, but nobody cared. It was all apart of Christmas.

Mark was sleeping peacefully, his dreams were all about him and Cesar. Cesar gave him the biggest present, and it turned out to be some time machine. They went to so many times, that the machine broke. But Cesar fixed it, and they returned home.

Mark woke up, his alarm was ringing a peaceful melody for Christmas day. Mark shut it off, rubbed his eyes, and got up. He walked down the stairs slowly, and the steps creaked. He heard something shuffling.

"Hello?" Mark called out, still tired. "Hey Mark! C'mon down, I made some bacon!" It was Marks father. Mark favored his father over his mother, and for a good reason. His mother was often out with friends, and never really payed attention to Mark. She was never drunk, but she often came home acting like she was.

"Ooo, did you make my favorite ones?" Mark walked down the stairs faster, a smile bright on his face.

——-

Mark was done with his plate of bacon, and was now waiting for Cesar to come so he could give Cesar his present. Cesar was late all the time, but only by nearly 5 minutes. Someone knocked on the door, but Marks father answered it. It was Cesar, Cesar's mom, and Cesar's father. Mark raced right over to Cesar, nearly engulfing him in a hug. (Cesar at the moment is taller, but becomes shorter than Mark around when both of them are 15.)

"Hey, chill out! You're gonna knock me over!" Cesar laughed. Mark let go, and smiled at Cesar. "Oh, wait! I almost forgot your present!" Mark started running to his bedroom, where he dug through I pile of clothes he hid the presents from his father. He ran back down the stairs, looked to the creepy closet, shook his head, and returned his thoughts to Cesar.

"Here it is!" Mark handed Cesar his gift, and Cesar smiled. "Should I open it n-" "Yes!" Mark didn't let Cesar ask his question, he was way to exited for Cesar to open his gift.

The parents had gone inside, and were now talking with each other about something adult-like. Cesar unwrapped the box, opened it slowly, and looked back up at Mark. Cesar put the box down, but grabbed that Santa hat out of the box. "It's so cute! Oh my god, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cesar hugged Mark, smiling. Mark had gotten the hat in a rush, but was happy that Cesar loved it.

"Your welcome-.." Mark chuckled. Cesar gave Mark his present too, and turns out, was the same Santa hat that Mark had gotten Cesar. The two soon dubbed themselves as lost twins, and wore them for the remainder of the day. It was around dinner time, and Cesar and Mark both shared the same plate (Marks father didn't do the dishes that night, and had to leave Mark and Cesar sharing a plate), but the two boys didn't care. They ate at their own separate table, and were talking about what they got.

"That bike is gonna be so cool! I'm gonna ride it to your house!"

"But my house is so far, are you sure you're gonna make it?"

"I'll be fine! I can ask my dad to help me ride it, so that I can get to your house!"

"You don't like my house." Cesar said, looking at Mark with worry.

"What do you mean? Your house is fine, it's not as if i'm gonna go into it."

"But you're making it seem as if you are.." Mark stayed silent. He stared blankly at Cesar. Cesar stared back at Mark, worrying.

"It's fine, I just won't ride it there then." Mark smiled. Cesar was still staring at Mark.

"Ok.."