Lady Indigo

There's No Winning Against The Christmas Spirit

Diana didn't celebrate Christmas. Neither did Tabrissa and Nieman. If asked about it they'd just shrug it off and avoid the answer.

"It's just an excuse to get a shitload of money out of everyone" Diana would announce with an easy, careless smirk. "Honestly, I'd rather put it into a wine collection."

"Not your business" Nieman would murmur darkly and walk off, not giving one a chance to question him further.

"What even is the point?" Tabrissa would ask quite innocently for a person who could blow the entire city to pieces. "It doesn't really make any sense."

But their reasoning didn't really matter. They didn't celebrate Christmas. They just didn't.

Isabelle, Jernax and Addah, on the other hand, did. And absolutely nothing could stop the raw force of nature the three of them could become once they set their mind to something.

So it wasn't that big of a surprise when the original teammates found themselves more or less willingly helping in the preparations.

***
Diana should have sensed a trap from miles away. After all she knew they were up to something.

So she really should have seen it coming.

But when Isabelle looked at her with begging puppy dog eyes and asked her for company to the market, she forgot what time of the year it was and agreed.

Half an hour later she wondered if she's ever regretted a decision this much in her life.

When a fat, stinking guy in Santa Claus hat pushed her forcefully out of his way, she decided that the answer was a definite "no".

But at this point it was too late to back down. Isabelle was tagging her along, excitedly choosing Christmas decorations and thinking aloud about what meals to prepare.

And as much as Diana was cursing Isa in her head, she couldn't quite bring herself to put a stopper to this madness.

So she followed, not necessarily happy, but not exactly angry either.

***
Nieman was much less ready cooperate and he definitely wasn't about to hide his distaste at being brought to town to buy a bloody Christmas tree.

There was absolutely no reason for him to have to come, other than "You're stronger that Jernax" murmured unconvincingly by Addah that sounded more like not really thought through excuse of a seven year old than anything else.

Nieman refused to help.

It didn't matter.

At the end he still found himself following Addah back to the ship with a trunk of the tree on his shoulder.

He didn't exactly understand how that came to be and he still did not want to do it.

But he wasn't about to drop the tree and leave Addah alone to deal with it.

His life really was getting more ridiculous with every passing day with these people.

***
Tabrissa had been banned from kitchen after the latest accident.

There was fire and smoke, and lots of screaming. They lost a table that day.

Most people found it rather funny and Tabi herself couldn't help a smile when she remembered Addah's face, but Diana was not amused.

So Tabrissa was shocked when she found herself behind the kitchen counter, different ingredients in front of her.

When she asked bewildered, what they were doing there she only got Jernax's excited "We're cooking!" in response.

She had a growing suspicion that Diana had no idea what was happening in the kitchen. But maybe it was for the best.

She didn't really understand, why Jernax was so excited, when normally he would do near to anything to avoid cooking.

But he was a good company and she sure as heck wasn't about to complain.

***
They didn't celebrate Christmas.
But they still sat around the new table at Christmas Eve.

They ate and talked, and laughed with the now decorated Christmas tree standing proudly in the corner of the room.

And it wasn't that bad. No, it wasn't bad at all.

They didn't celebrate Christmas. And they weren't looking for a family.

But life doesn't always go the way we plan.