Salem Snippets: A Collection of Silver Society Shorts

THE UNIT HOSTS A HOLIDAY PARTY

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one features some of your favorite Unit members in various states of intoxication. It takes place five years before the main series, so everyone is still alive. This is a bit of fluff that would serve no purpose in the main books but might amuse my readers.

THE UNIT HOSTS A HOLIDAY PARTY

Morale was down after a rough few months in Salem. The members of the Unit were extremely stressed, and many were on the brink of psychic burnout. Skip knew they needed to do something to help, but he wasn't sure what would ease the tension.

It was Susie's idea to throw a holiday party. This was especially odd, seeing as how it was the middle of August, but Susie had made a valid point... Everyone was working so hard they hadn't celebrated any holidays in over a year. That night, they were celebrating them all.

The decor represented every holiday from every religion and culture the employees of the Unit might celebrate. They'd covered Christmas, Yule, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, the Pagan Sabbats, Samhain/Halloween, and everything in-between. Each holiday had its own area with food and decorations to fit that theme.

"I'm impressed, Susie," Skip admitted. "You really went all out."

"I figured if we were going to do this, we needed to do it right," Susie replied cheerfully. She'd dressed up as a Grim Reaper, and Skip couldn't help but picture his hyperactive sister attempting to collect souls.

The vast majority of attendees had chosen to celebrate Halloween. This was Salem, after all. Joanna was dressed as a mermaid, complete with a shimmering tail. Even in a silly costume, she was beautiful.

Skip smiled as he spotted her. She moved easily to the music, not caring that she was by herself. He moved closer to her.

"Is that your costume, Skip?" She teased him. He was wearing a tuxedo, but nothing holiday-themed.

"I tried to convince him to dress up as baby Cupid, but he refused to wear the diaper," Susie replied with a laugh.

"You'd look good with wings, Skip," Joanna teased him.

"Yeah, that's never going to happen," Skip replied firmly.

At that moment, Shooter and Tammy came toward them. Shooter had opted to wear an exceptionally awful Christmas sweater. Tammy had dressed up as a leprechaun, complete with a pot of gold.

"Happy St. Paddy's Day to ya!" David McNally greeted Tammy enthusiastically, raising a shot glass in her direction. The seventy-six-year-old Irish man was decked out from head to toe in green, even going as far to wear a plastic necklace of shamrocks and a pair of shamrock-shaped sunglasses.

"Look, Tam, your date's here," Shooter teased her.

"At least Dave can dance," Tammy replied as David enthusiastically joined in a rendition of The Electric Slide.

"You want dancing? I'll show you dancing," Shooter replied. "Just not to this song. As someone whose powers are based in electricity, I feel like this song is mocking me."

Everyone started laughing. When the next song came on, Tammy dragged Shooter onto the dance floor. The two enthusiastically began dancing with each other. Susie quickly joined them.

Joanna wrapped her arms around Skip's body and started swaying. "Dance with me," she said.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" Skip replied.

"Not really." She smiled at him. Reluctantly, Skip allowed Jo to pull him toward the other dancers.

His body automatically began moving with hers. They'd been incredibly in sync since the day they met, so this wasn't all that surprising. Skip would follow Jo into fire if she asked.

He didn't really allow himself to consider things like romance. The Unit was his entire life. Skip hadn't dated since he was a teenager. Occasionally, he gave in to his body's physical needs and spent the night with someone, but it never went anywhere. Still, this was not the first time Skip had considered what it might be like to be with Jo.

You're partners, he scolded himself. Don't complicate things.

Still, as the night went on, Skip continued dancing with her. He liked feeling her body pressed against his. He wanted more, and the more he drank, the less he cared about the possible consequences.

He found himself sneaking away with her to a much more secluded location. Before he could think too much, he leaned down and kissed her. Joanna returned the kiss eagerly, and soon, things began escalating. As they lost themselves in each other, Skip decided that the consequences didn't matter. For just that one night, he could be irresponsible.

When they finally returned to the party, Shooter smirked slightly before averting his eyes politely and Skip realized he could read Jo's energy all over him. He blushed slightly as he remembered there were no secrets amongst psychics. Thankfully, everyone respected him and Jo enough not to call them on what they'd just done.

They resumed dancing. Skip noticed Susie was dancing at the center of the crowd, waving her arms in the air and having a great time. He hadn't seen her that happy and relaxed in awhile.

As he glanced at Jo, he smiled and thought, I know the feeling, Sue.