Merry Christmas Eve! Enjoy a little holiday Richonne tale!
Rick gets suckered into Victorian Christmas Caroling. When he gets paired with Michonne, he gets into the Holiday Spirit.
There were many ways in which Rick envisioned himself meeting the woman of his dreams. Shivering against the cold in a velvet top hat and coattails admittedly did not figure into his fantasy.
When Maggie sent her request two weeks ago in the groupchat, he’d figured it was innocuous enough. Caroling for canned goods wasn’t too tall of an order and Glenn had promised there would be some kind of alcohol. Rick agreed, figuring a little Christmas spirit wouldn’t kill him. What the couple had pointedly left out of their initial description was that this group was the type to add a certain flair to their holiday charity work. When the box arrived on Rick’s front porch, he’d guffawed. The ensemble was significantly less comical now.
“You actually look nice,” Maggie told him with no small amount of amusement, appraising him as though he was a mannequin at the mall. “I’m glad Zack’s outfit fits.”
“Oh great,” Rick tugged at the ruffled scarf wound tight around his neck. “So it’s a secondhand costume.”
“We dry cleaned it,” Glenn imparted. He looked slightly more at ease in his costume. At least he had Maggie to match him.
“Does it need so many layers?” Rick opened the navy blue coat to peer at the vest inside. Between the overcoat, inner layer, vest and dress shirt, he felt liable to pass out in the foyer of the Rhee’s house.
“You’ll be glad for it once we’re outside. Trust me,” Glenn pressed a thermos into Rick’s hand.
“You do this every year?” Rick whispered as they filed out.
A group was already in wait, buzzing eagerly as Maggie rushed to join them. They looked like they had gotten lost on the way to a community theater rendition of Oliver Twist. Rick felt a twist in his guts when he realized he fit squarely in with them.
“Last five years,” Glenn disclosed in a low voice. “Maggie loves it. Her dad and mom started the group 15 years ago and now it’s she and Beth’s thing. I tag along and help.”
Rick threw his friend a sympathetic glance. “Nice of you,” he complimented.
Glenn shrugged. “We raise enough money and donations to fill up a few trucks. I think we can do even better this year. Maggie got some others to join. It’s going to be a huge group. You’re not the only one new.”
There was some comfort to be drawn in that. Rick stood dutifully at his friends’ sides as they made the proper introductions, rattling off names he forgot just as soon as he heard them.
“And this is Michonne,” Maggie finished with a breathless flourish. “We go to the same gym.”
Clearly, the time spent there had done the woman in question quite a bit of good. She wore her Victorian garb with a panache Rick admired. As impressive a figure as her silhouette cut, her face was infinitely more lovely. Rick found himself grinning as he shook her hand through his gloves.
“Rick,” he beat Maggie to the introduction. “I work with Glenn.”
“Nice to meet you,” the lilt of her voice was music to his ears.
“You two can be partners tonight,” Maggie gave Rick a tiny shove forward. “Just follow what the rest of us are doing.”
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