Triptych

A character blog for Falcon and Seth, by KV and El respectively. Short stories, blurbs, cartoons, art, incorrect quotes, and pretty much everything random and fun. Ish. And angsty. Angsty and fun. Posts used to be at least every Tuesday and Friday, though that time was very relative to where you live on this planet. lul 

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Seth: You know the drill.

Reyn: *pulls out a dri-*

Seth: *meta-posts* I'm not even going to let you complete that action.

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About time these things were over... thank God for McDonald’s after a hard two months being stranded with a bunch of weirdos who keep making things awkward by proposing to each other. And thus concludes our series on Triptych: Simpswrecked!

You can read the stories for these comics here.

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The truth is out: Lily is the true llama queen, and there’s no stopping her, so stop being jealous and petty, Seth.

You can read the stories for the comics here.

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DON’T GO TOWARD THE LIGHT, SETH

read the stories for these pictures here.

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Welcome back to Triptych: Simpswrecked, based off the Sims 2 Castaway game. What a bunch of beloved idiots--

You can read the context and stories for these pictures here.

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We’re back with Triptych Sims 2 Castaway... where Seth does some pretty idiotic things, but hey, least he’s alive. Haha.

(Read the stories here.)

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Triptych Sims 2: Castaway! Here’s the crew in all their glory in the game. Looks like Seth’s alone for now on the island... can he find a way to survive and maybe find everyone else too?

(Read the stories on Seth’s blog here.)

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Seth: So you DO look up lists of bad puns to use in every situation.

Falcon: *quickly closing the tab* What?

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An Argument

//Hi, it’s another short story for the new year! A collab by El and KV.

Snow littered the forest ground haphazardly in the cold January winter air as a dark figure made its slow way through the trees. Gloom seemed to want to suffocate the earth today; the gray clouds above hung low as if waiting to snatch the nearest thing they could grab hold of before devouring them in a white fog of oblivion. The trees mumbled to each other whenever the biting wind made its lone way through them, hissing softly as the gale cut across them and the rest of the earth like a knife.

Seth's breath came out in little puffs of white as he made his silent way through the forest. Despite the numbing cold, he was in no rush to get back to the house even with clothing that was less than sufficient defence against the chill; if anything, the sharp sensation came as a welcome relief from the constant warm confines of the Rynns' home. Especially with Falcon in the cheerful mood he always seemed to be in, Three needed time and space to himself or he would probably go insane -- insane, or just back to normal. Whichever one was worse. Then again, 'worse' was subjective, and so was 'normal.' Three just wondered how much longer he could put up with the Rynns' kind of 'normal,' if he had ever been part of it, or if he should give up already and acknowledge the fact that nothing would ever change -- not for him.

The thought of it made Three frustrated, but why?

He scowled up at the fragmented bits of clouds he could see through the reaching tree branches, exhaling to remind himself he didn't have to let any of this get to him. It was a nice day, and he didn't have to do anything right now. It was fine. He could feel himself beginning to relax a little when a familiar voice called out from the path from behind.

“Hey, man.” Falcon jogged up, rubbing his sweater-clad arms. Seth didn't turn to look at him, but does he have to be here right now? “What on earth are you doing here in the middle of the woods?”

Seth exhaled irritably enough to give Falcon a hint. 'Trying to find a good place to hide a body.'

Falcon gave him a sideways glance and snorted, one corner of his mouth quirking up in amusement.  “If it was me, I’d just go for the graveyard.  Who’d look for a body with a bunch of other bodies?”

Seth shook his head -- though it wasn't an awful idea. But at this point, he didn't feel like agreeing with anything Falcon had to say. 'If it goes the way I'm thinking it will,' he said, 'it'll be easier to hide all the evidence scattered throughout the woods than in one small area.'

Falcon shook his head, sidling up so he was walking at the same pace as Three. “Haven’t you ever watched a forensics documentary? They’d find you anyway. Overthinking would get ya caught.”

'Not when you have the government on your side,' Seth replied cheerfully to release the sudden wave of aggression that washed inexplicably over him. 'You live a "how to cover up the evidence for forensics" documentary. And you're commended for it.'

Falcon snorted again, obviously a little less amused this time.  “Mkay, give me the run-down. How would you do it?”

Finally stopping to turn to Falcon, Three simply looked him dead in the eyes, made a finger gun, and made as if to shoot. Then he shoved his hands back in his pockets and began walking away as he added, 'Maybe a knife if I'm feeling more aggressive. Chop chop chop.'

Three felt mild disgust for himself as he could feel Falcon's exasperation, and the other boy made a buzzer sound with his mouth and kept walking to keep up with Seth. “Okay, if you did that, everyone would know it was you because literally no one else walks around here.”

'That's a bummer,' Seth said with no feeling in his voice. 'Seth Grayson would have to die again, but it is just a name, after all. You know how many different names people have called me?'

Knowing he was ranting, he held up a hand as if to start counting, then stopped as if realisation was only just hitting him. 'Oh wait, I don't even know.' Hands down. 'And that means neither does anyone else.'

'I bet I could hunt you down,' Falcon said with a sharp grin. Fang-like teeth glinted (did he mean it?) in the light to demonstrate he obviously hadn't put in his veneers today.  “Provided it wasn’t me you shot, of course.”

'Oh yeah,' Seth laughed, 'it's a small world after all. And people are so simple. No problem, friend. No problem.'

His eyebrows raised, Falcon turned to look at him.  “Are you okay?” he asked seriously, the grin falling from his face.

Oh, I wonder if I was being too obvious. Even he noticed. 'What do you mean?' Seth asked.

Blowing out a puff of steam, Falcon sighed.  “Mkay, as much as I’d like to think you immediately think of me as your friend after our little heart-to-heart the other day, I know that probably isn’t the case, and that ‘friend’ was definitely sarcastic. What’s up? Can I help with anything?”

Seth looked at him again, then laughed. Friend was apparently supposed to mean a lot to Falcon. Deciding to push it further, he asked, 'So I can't call you friend?'

Unexpectedly, Falcon stepped in front of him, blocking the path, and reached out, not quite touching Seth’s shoulders but his hands hovering just barely over them.  “Look me in the eyes,” Falcon said firmly, “and tell me that you think of me as your friend, and I will gladly accept that.  You know that I think of you as mine.  But don’t lie to me or use that title if you don’t mean it.”

Looking into the green eyes that were just a little below his own, Three only saw sincerity and determination, and maybe a hint of indignation that Three didn't understand. He waited for a moment to see if he could detect any hint of… something… in himself, but when the pent-up tension in his own chest threatened to lash out, he let it loose by shoving past Falcon and letting the words slip out: 'Then I won't lie.'

Falcon waited a moment, then followed with a shake of his head.  “You still haven’t answered my question,” he insisted. “What’s wrong?”

Three didn't answer, but kept walking quickly along the path, head down as he wondered -- something. Wondered what he was wondering, really. He couldn't put a finger on any one question; maybe it was all of them, but even as a collective whole he had no idea what any of the questions were. Frustration again, what would Derik think, but how are you wondering what he would think when you can't even know what you yourself are thinking? He tried to numb it again with a blank slate as he heard Falcon still following behind him. Though Falcon didn't say anything as he shuffled doggedly through the snow, after five minutes or so, he finally sighed loudly and walked faster to catch up with Seth again.

“It’s freezing,” Falcon commented.  “I dunno if the government taught you how to avoid catching a cold, but if they didn’t we should probably get inside soon.”

Deciding to leave things short, Seth simply answered, 'Go ahead.'

“Seth,” Falcon practically whined.  “I will carry you inside if I have to.”

'Good thing you don't have to.' Seth let his warning tone convey a complete note of finality. 'I don't need you babysitting me.'

“Not babysitting you,” Falcon said, his tone also holding a note of warning.  “I’m just looking out for you.”  He paused, then sighed.  “But you’re right, I guess.  Just… come back inside soon, alright?”

Three didn't answer again, but Falcon took this as silent consent and strode off, sending one last look over his shoulder as if hoping Seth would follow. To disappoint him, Seth just turned around and continued walking in the other direction, and the two parted their separate ways in the bitter winter wind.

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Have some canon art of Fal on his aerial silks lol.

why are bellies so hard to draw??

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Twelfth Day of Triptych Christmas: Christmas Day

//We have finally made it to Christmas Day. Merry Christmas, everyone, and thank you for joining us in Triptych’s Twelve Days of Christmas! This three-part special was written by both KV and El.

As the bright morning sun shone through the window onto Three's open computer, he looked up from his fruitless research to gaze out at the glistening snow outside. A marred world outside, once beautiful in the clear sheet of white now trampled over and uncared for, not that it mattered now. Three stood and exhaled to another morning of futile searching to find nothing that gave him any kind of useful information as to his past life -- or rather, the past life he would have had if things had turned out differently. Then again, it was useless to wish now, but then, what if…?

A quick knock rapped on the door before Falcon opened the door quickly. 'Hey! Merry Christmas!'

Oh yeah, Christmas. Three had forgotten about that.

'Merry Christmas.' He reached down to close his computer. Why does Fal feel like he's waiting for something?

'You coming downstairs?'

Seth looked at him in way of question.

'To open presents. You know... ' Falcon grinned. 'Christmas.'

Right. Christmas. Because everyone celebrated that. 'Right. Christmas.'

Following a still pyjama-d Falcon downstairs, Seth couldn't tell if this felt like a dream because of his lack of sleep or simply because of the simple bizarreness of it all. It was weird not only to be in a house with a family, but also to be observing a holiday, or anything other than something like finishing an assignment, and even then that had gotten nothing more than an, 'Oh, you're back.' Celebrating something, much less a holiday like Christmas -- that was something Three had forgotten a lifetime ago, assuming he had ever known it in the first place. To be observing it in this context felt ironically fitting in its own foreign kind of way.

'Merry Christmas, Seth,' Lawrence Rynn greeted as the two entered the living room with its modest Christmas decorations, and where a handful of colorfully- and mostly clumsily-wrapped gifts waited. Three sat down on the carpet and waited to see what would happen, though it took Falcon a couple of minutes in the kitchen to come out with mugs of hot chocolate before he said, 'Here's our hot chocolate. We're ready to go.'

He crossed his legs close to the miniature tree at his father's feet and took a noisy sip of hot chocolate before sticking the mug on the table and taking the liberty of passing out some presents. After taking a few of them for himself, he handed one to Lawrence, then handed a surprising two to Seth.

'Go ahead!'

Three looked down at his first two presents ever. Falcon exclaimed as he ripped the paper off a skateboard, then gave Lawrence a giant hug and a heartfelt, 'Thank you!' Seth pulled off the strips of tape covering the first little box, gently pulling back the paper to reveal the cover of cardboard that was obviously from some old packaging. He looked up at Lawrence, who gave him a slight nod of encouragement, before opening the box to find a slip of paper inside.

'A little bit of my research so far,' Lawrence explained as Seth pulled it out to read a list of names along with other minimal information. 'From what I have found and what you've told me, these are a few of your possibilities.'

Three looked up at him appreciatively. 'Thank you.'

Lawrence nodded in acknowledgement as Falcon urged, 'Open mine!'

Seth obliged, folding up his gift carefully to save it for later before again pulling the tape carefully off the slightly more carefully wrapped present. After a few seconds Falcon moved as if to rush Seth, so Three gave up and pulled it off with a pointed look at the impatient boy.

A strip of gray amidst a sea of black spilled out from the open paper, and Three pulled out the cloth for it to unfold into a dark sweatshirt with a high collar and long sleeves.

'Put it on,' Falcon prompted, grinning excitedly. 'See if it fits.'

Seth shrugged and pulled it over his head, sticking his arms through the warm material to find his hands caught in thumb holes, moving the sleeves automatically over his arms as he pulled it completely on.

'Thanks,' he said, pulling the hood off his head. 'It's really nice.'

'That's why I got it.' Falcon smirked. 'And it's got a ninja collar. Cool, right?'

Three couldn't think of anything particularly necessary in answer, so instead he just nodded. As Lawrence silently admired his new socks and potholder, Falcon began to tell the story behind the little present as Seth looked down at his two presents, not knowing what to feel as a mix of emotions threatened to break to the surface. Part of it was almost close to guilt at having received things so undeserved, but another part of it was definitely pleasure, and another part was the slightest bit of longing for… something. Never before had Three celebrated anything, and maybe this was the scratching of an itch he should never have dared to touch. Maybe, again, he had made a mistake.

But when he looked at Falcon's smiling face, and the way he interacted with his father now, part of him dared to hope that maybe -- maybe something could change for him. Maybe Three could become something more, just as Falion had come to find his own place in this world.

Falcon couldn’t stop smiling as he squeezed through the people crowding every nook of the Kelly’s house, his hands full with several paper plate piled high with food and a plastic cup of apple cider.  He finally broke through the final crush of people with a laugh, holding his plates above his head to keep them out of people’s way.

“There are so many people!” he exclaimed.  He passed one of the plates to Seth, who was sitting near the top of the stairs away from the main crowd, and plopped down on a step closer to the bottom, nudging Gabe with his shoulder to get him to make room.  Lily, who was perched happily two steps above them, high-fived him, and he gave a friendly nod to Reyn next to her as well.  Turning back to the main room, he gave a huge contented sigh and leaned against his best friend, taking a big bite of his pie.

“This is great,” he murmured quietly, green eyes flitting from person to person as he surveyed the room.

“What a difference two years makes,” Gabe muttered in response, “You used to hate parties.”

“Ugh, old me didn’t know what he was missing,” Falcon snorted. “Parties are the best.”

“Pretty crazy,” Gabe mused.  “Who knew that Falcon from two Christmases ago would turn into you?”

Falcon stilled, considering for a few minutes.  “...that wasn’t me,” he finally said contemplatively.  “That was Falion.”  Three, who could just barely hear from behind them, paused as he waited for Gabe’s reaction.

“Who’s Falion?” Gabe simply asked, raising an eyebrow.

Falcon laughed, leaning a little more against his friend.  “Exactly,” he hummed.

Gabe turned his head to try to peer at Falcon.  “Who’s Falion?” he insisted.  “Is that you?”

“Nope,” Falcon said, taking a swig of his cider and going back to people-watching.  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sighing exasperatedly, Gabe dropped the subject and rolled his eyes, choosing to focus on the people wandering by as well.

With his best friend at his back and his other friends arranged along the steps, Falcon could feel a gentle warmth building in his chest, and a smile played along the corners of his mouth.  He gave a wave to his father as he passed by, and Lawrence reached down to ruffle his hair with an answering grin.  The feeling in his chest got warmer, and he found himself clutching his cup and staring down into his cider.

“You okay?” Gabe asked him with a nudge. “You’re tearing up.”

“What?”  Falcon lifted a finger and ran it along his eye, staring in bewilderment when it came away damp.  “What the heck?” he whispered to himself.

“Did you drink the eggnog?” Gabe asked flatly.  “You know it’s alcoholic, right?”

“What? I- no!” he shoved Gabe with a snort. “I just… I don’t know, I think I’m really happy right now?”

Gabe raised an eyebrow silently.  Falcon struggled for words, trying to express how happy he was to be here, how much he loved his friends and his Father and everyone in this room, how glad glad glad he was to be different than how he used to be: that sad and angry kid with too many scars who couldn’t even fathom the idea of family.

“I just love y’all,” he finally settled on, draping an arm dramatically over his friend’s shoulders.

“Sappy,” Gabe commented, but let him stay.  Falcon laughed and took another swig of his cider, grin wide as he basked in the warmth of the party.

At the end of the day Three sat in the dark on the bed in his new dark hoodie, looking out at the street lights through the window, though no one was driving at this late hour. The neighbors' Christmas lights blinked softly across the street, window lights beginning to blink out as everyone began to retire for the night. It was silent, bordering on lonely with the slightest twinge of regret framing the night as he simply watched.

A soft knock broke hesitantly through the quiet.

“Hey,” came Falcon’s voice through the door after a second, “want any company?”

Three didn't answer, so a few seconds later, Falcon opened the door and slipped inside.  He took a seat next to Three on the bed, gazing out the window as well.  After a few moments, he shifted.  “Y’know,” he began quietly, “I know how to get to the roof from the window. Want to go sit up there?”

Seth looked at him for a second. Then he said, "Yeah. Sure."  Falcon grinned softly and led the way, opening the window and pulling himself out by the top of the sill.  

“Just keep your feet on this part of the window,” he instructed. “That way you won’t slip.”

Three simply followed him up in silence, brushing away the snow with his bare hands before resting next to Falcon, socked feet getting slightly damp from the remaining snow.

The two boys sat in silence for a little while before Falcon flopped backwards, resting on his back and crossing his wrists comfortably over his stomach.  

“The sky is really pretty,” he commented.

Three looked up, propping his arms behind him. "Yeah."

“Just tune me out if you don’t wanna talk,” Falcon told him somewhat abruptly, not turning his head to look. “I’m really glad you got to spend Christmas with us though. I know it feels kinda weird. My first Christmas around here was an ordeal, let me tell you. But… still. Glad you were around.”

"Yeah," Three answered softly. "Me too."

That made Falcon turn his head.  “You are?” he asked, surprised and happy.

Three shrugged, putting one hand up to block the street lights to get a better look at the stars. "Well… yeah. It's weird being part of something you've always seen from far away but never participated in for real."

He paused. "Weird. But kind of nice."

Falcon sat up.  “Wow,” he said, “I’m so happy you had a good time!”

"Don't get me wrong," Three added, "parties are still stupid, pointless, and completely draining. But the rest of it… maybe isn't so bad as I always made it out to be."

Falcon chuckled.  “Christmas is a good season. Especially when you just absolutely nailed Gabe with a snowball. That was great.”

"Nailing you with a snowball was pretty great too." Seth laughed.

“Mmm, less great for me, but sure,” Falcon snickered.

"I still can't believe you hid a fully-wrapped present in the closet." Three shook his head. "I can't tell if you were trying to go with the gay joke, or you thought it was appropriate because it's a hoodie, or if you're just paranoid that way."

“It was tradition,” Falcon whined. “I always hide our gifts in the closet! Besides, I knew you’d try to break into it.”

"So you always lock your dad out at Christmas time?"

“Yes.”

"Think he'd be used to it by now."

Falcon shrugged with a grin. “I don’t know what goes through Father’s brain, honestly.  Maybe he’s just acting exasperated to humor me or something.”

"I wonder." Three stared up at the sky.

Falcon hummed contemplatively.  “Penny for your thoughts?”

Seth snorted. "It'll cost you more than that."

“I have…” Falcon checked his pocket.  “A quarter and half a candy cane.”

Three shrugged, pulling his legs up to rest his arms on them. "I don't know. All I can say is that it's weird. Like... watching some dumb TV show as a kid, and seeing everyone play their part in it, but knowing it's not real or not something you're ever going to have. Like the fake window you've been looking through your whole life. But when the screen is broken, you realise you were the one in the TV show, and everyone else has been living this life that you're going to have to play along with after just seeing it."

Falcon nodded to show he was listening. “Feels kinda bizarre and overwhelming?”

"Feels frustrating." Three looked at his hands. "Like I don't know what's reality, and I don't know why I should be playing this game anymore when the rules have changed this much."

Falcon hummed again and tipped his head back to look at the stars, just sitting in silent thought.

"I don't know if anything I do has consequences anymore." Three absentmindedly began to make a little mound of snow next to him. "The little things don't matter. You don't have someone telling you what's right or wrong or what you should be doing. And maybe I don't want that, but at the same time, what else has my life been? I don't want anything else, either. I don't know what I want. I don't know what the world wants. I don't know that either of us want any of it; maybe last year was a mistake and I'm not even supposed to be here."

“The world has always been out to get us,” Falcon commented quietly.  “Maybe it’s time for us to spite it.  Maybe it’s time for you and me to get up and tell the world that it doesn’t matter what’s thrown at us; we’re going to go out and find what we’re searching for and be happy anyway.”

"Happy," Three laughed. "Wonder what that is. If it's just smiling to ignore the fact that we're putting our heads down to work toward nothing, I'd rather not."

“Thankfully,” Falcon answered, “I’m pretty sure that’s not happiness.”

"Pretty sure it's what happy people do."

Falcon shrugged.  “Is it?  Gabe is happy, you know.  And he smiles, like, once in a blue moon.  I think I’m happy, or at least I’m starting to get there.  I don’t know what I’m working towards, or if there is anything to work towards, but…  I don’t know.  There’s something in this life more than just misery.”

Three looked at Falcon. "For some of us."

“For all of us,” Falcon answered firmly.  “But you’ll never find it if you never expect to find it.”

"And you expected to find it?"

“Not at first,” Falcon admitted.  “But after a while, you start to get used to the warmth and the love, and I guess I eventually realized that it wasn’t going away.  That I could wake up in the morning and hug my Father and hang out with my best friend, and life had something to look forward to and be certain of.”

"Right," Seth said. "Because I've got a lot to look forward to, and life is always so certain."

Falcon considered his next words for a moment.  “Believe me or not,” he said slowly, “but I think of you as my friend.  And you can be certain that I’ll be there for you if you need me.  I know you might not believe it right now, but I’ll keep working on it till you do.”

Three didn't answer for a good period of time. He just continued to look up at the stars, then at the Christmas lights all around, and at the snow frosting the sidewalks and rooftops. Though the silence extended for a good period of time, it wasn't uncomfortable as the two boys simply surveyed the world around them: a beautiful Christmas night restored from the snow that had begun to fall again during the eventful afternoon. The cold only just seemed to touch them as they appreciated the soft lights and glimmering snow of the deepening night.

After a few minutes, Seth finally sighed softly and turned a little bit to face toward Falcon more without actually looking at him.

"...thank you." He stopped again. "Thank you for everything, Falion."

Falcon grinned. “You’re very welcome, Three. Merry Christmas.”

"Yeah." Three managed a small smile. "Merry Christmas."

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Eleventh Day of Triptych Christmas: Decorations

//Happy Christmas Eve!!  Hope you all are having a lovely holiday!  Please enjoy the 11th day of Christmas story: “Decorations” by KV!

“Hey Fal, can you still do that thing you did last year to help me put the lights up?” Gabe asked, strings of lights looped around his arms.  

Falcon looked up with a snort and a grin.  “What kind of question is that?  Of course I can.”  He stood up from where he had been kneeling to start a fire with Seth, dusting his knees off.  "Watch this,” he said, stretching his arms above his head, then striking a dramatic pose, “and be amazed.”  He crouched by Gabe, intertwining his fingers together into a step for his friend.  As Gabe stepped onto his hands, he straightened up and smoothly lifted his friend until his hands were chest-level and Gabe’s red hair brushed the ceiling.  Gabe, balancing nonchalantly on one foot, began to tape the string of lights along the junction of the ceiling and wall.

“Are you impressed?” Falcon asked, craning his neck to see around Gabe’s sweatpant-clad leg.

Three hummed noncommittally.  “So either you’re strong or Gabe is really light.”

Annika Kelly turned a corner, holding a tray of cookies, and startled violently as she looked up.  “Goodness,” she gasped, holding a hand over her heart, “Be careful boys!  Gabriel, do not fall!”

“I won’t,” he replied, tapping the top of Falcon’s head to have him move to the side.  

“Don’t worry, Mrs. Kelly!” Falcon said cheerfully, “I’ll catch him if he falls.”

“While I don’t doubt your abilities, Fal,” Annika replied, setting her tray of cookies on the table, “It is unfortunately a mother’s job to worry, and I would rather not take my son to the ER on Christmas Eve.”

Falcon laughed in response.  “We’ll be careful then.”

Seth wandered over to where Annika was transferring cookies to a cooling rack.  “So,” he said, “You guys throw a party like this every year?”

“Yes,” she replied, offering him one, “At first it was just for family, then we invited a few neighbors, then Falcon became a regular in our house, and now it’s a crowd.”

Seth considered his next words as he nibbled on the cookie.  “Isn’t it a lot of trouble to have that many people in your house?  Why do you still do it?”

“Because we can,” Annika said with a smile.  “Christmas-time just gives us a good excuse to serve people.”

“I see,” Three said, masking his confusion.  He turned as a yelp sounded from behind them, finding the two boys behind them looking in disappointment at the lights piled on the floor.

“Gabe!” Falcon whined, “Why’d you drop them?”

“Just lower me down,” Gabe sighed.

“Wait, wait.  I think I can hook them with my foot and launch them up to you.”

“That’s so dangerous.”

“Pfft, it’ll be fine-”

“You boys better not,” Annika warned, untying her apron.  “One kid being lifted in the air is bad enough, but both of you on one foot is a recipe for disaster.”

Three let out a laugh.  “I’ve got them,” he said.  He walked over and picked up the tangled strings, winding them into a neat bundle as he went.

“Thanks,” Falcon said.  He paused and considered Seth for a moment.  “Want to try?” he offered with a mischievous sparkle in his eye.

“No thanks,” Three replied immediately.

“Aw, c’mon, you’d be great,” Falcon wheedled shamelessly. “You’re built like a twig; it would be so easy to lift you.”

“First, that’s mildly insulting.  Second, no.”

“At least he’s warning you first,” Gabe contributed from above.  “Last year he just picked me up.”

“I thought someone was being murdered from all the shrieking,” Annika laughed.

“Mom!” Gabe complained over Falcon’s laughter.

“Alright, alright, from the singular shriek.”

“Mom!”

Falcon lowered his hands so Gabe could step off, still chuckling.

“Your turn,” he said to Seth, his grin turning a little evil as he advanced.

“No!” Seth said more vehemently.  “Falcon, I’m warning you…”

“What’s going on in here?” came a booming voice from the corridor.  A tall man with flaming red hair like his son’s appeared in the doorway and leaned against the frame.   “How’s the decorating going?”

Annika walked over to give her husband a kiss.  “Arthur, you missed the cheerleader lift,” she told him.  

He slapped a hand to his forehead in mock dismay.  “No!  That’s the highlight of my year!”

“Don’t worry,” Falcon said, “Seth’s about to do it too.”

“I’m not.”

“He is,” Falcon replied.

“I wish I was a little younger and more spritely; I’d like to be able to do something like that,” Arthur said with a little laugh and a scratch at his beard.  

Falcon stopped and looked him up and down, calculating.  “How much do you weigh?”

“Oh,” Arthur chuckled, “Much more than you can carry, my boy.”

Falcon grinned.  “Let’s try it!”  He cracked his knuckles gleefully.

“This is a bad idea,” Three said.

“Nonsense!”  Falcon  replied, “When do I ever have bad ideas?”

In the back, Gabe rolled his eyes.

“Fine,” Seth huffed, wandering back to the table, “Go ahead and break your back.  I’m not gonna be the one driving you to the hospital.”

“Isn’t there an easier way to put up Christmas decorations?” Annika asked, half jokingly but half seriously as she hovered in the background.

“C’mon Annika, where’s your sense of adventure?” Arthur teased her.  “You’re sure you can do it though, Fal?”

“No problem,” Falcon assured him, crouching with his hands together.

Arthur shrugged and stepped carefully on his hands.  “I’ll jump off if you can’t,” he told Falcon before he lifted his other foot, and the teen replied with a nod and a wink.

“Here goes,” Arthur said, and lifted his foot off the ground.

Falcon grunted and winced a little.  “Oof, okay, a little problem, but we’re still good!”

Annika and Seth sighed almost simultaneously.  “They’re so dumb,” Annika whispered to Three, who simply nodded with an unimpressed look.

Falcon’s face was slowly getting redder, but he stood firm with his feet braced apart as Arthur gleefully taped the rest of the lights up to the ceiling.

“And… done!”  Arthur announced, and Falcon immediately dropped to one knee to let him hop off.

“Whoa,” he gasped, “Okay, so I’m a little more out of shape than I thought.”

Arthur let out a booming laugh and clapped a hand on his shoulder.  “You lifted a 250 pound man for 5 minutes; I’d love to see what you can do in-shape!”

“Can we move on?” Gabe asked flatly.  “The rest of the house is still undecorated.”

“And can we please use a stepladder,” Annika pleaded, her hands outstretched to steady her slightly wobbly husband and a puffing Falcon.  “This is probably the least efficient way to put up Christmas decorations I have ever seen.”

[ek-triptych]

Tenth Day of Triptych Christmas: Sugar Rush

//Happy day before Christmas eve! The third-to-last story of our series :’) Today, a collab. Let’s get high on sugar.

It was a beautiful winter day when Reyn pummeled gracefully on the door of her friend's house with a bag full of goodies and sugar and movies, her nose red from the cold, neck enveloped in the folds of a large scarf. Ice crystals gleamed from the tops of bare tree branches around and snow glistened in the streets behind Reyn, where someone had also been recently sliding apparently on their belly through the snow and where piles of brown precipitation were now piling up on the sides.

White frost dropped from the front of Reyn's coat as she knocked again on the door and shouted, "Special delivery! One friend, a bag full of junk, aaaaand... a frozen nose."

A loud pounding of socked feet down stairs heralded the arrival of Lily, who jerked the door open with a bang and a loud squeal.

“Reyn!” she practically shrieked. “You’re here!”

"Yes, hi," Reyn said nonchalantly. "I know you missed me, I know I'm great, it's freezing out here, I need hot chocolate."

Lily quickly stepped back and ushered her friend inside, shutting the door on the cold outdoor air.

"Okay, so I brought candy canes, gingerbread, a knife, gumdrops, gummies, candles, and a partridge in a pear tree," Reyn announced, setting her bag on the table. "And I have no idea how to bake, so you're going to have to supervise my every move."

“I didn’t tell you to bring anything,” Lily said, lifting the knife to inspect it. “Also, I have no idea what we are going to do with most of this stuff.”

"It's free real estate," Reyn said dismissively. "Also, I brought three movies.  Elf, Polar Express, and" --she pulled out the last movie with a flourish-- “It.”  Looking back at it again, she frowned.  “Oh. Wrong movie. But still the same gist.”

Giggling softly, Lily gathered up the movies and brought them to the living room.  “How festive!”  She spun around to face her friend and put her hands on her hips.  “Cookies first?”

"Sugar cookies." Reyn grinned. "I have no idea how to do this."

“That’s okay, I’ll show you how! Go wash your hands.”

As Reyn rinsed her hands in the kitchen sink, Lily began pulling out bowls, measuring cups, and ingredients.

“Why did you think anything that you brought would be appropriate for making cookies?” Lily snickered as she pulled flour out of her pantry.

Reyn shrugged as she pulled up her sleeves and walked up to stand beside Lily in a business-like stance. "Gingerbread peppermint gumdrop cookies. It sounded good to me. Also, the knife was an accident; I think I grabbed it because it was next to the candy canes."  

Lily laughed again in reply. "Let me see what you have!"

“A KNIFE!”

Both girls burst out in appreciative snorts as Lily began scooping out cups of flour and pouring them into a large mixing bowl. Reyn was just dumping a good amount of sugar into the bowl when she noticed a head of fluffy dark hair appear through the kitchen window to make its casual way across Lily’s white lawn.

"Hey." Reyn squinted at the person as he made his easy way through the backyard. "I know that guy."

Lily looked up. “Yeah, that’s Falcon.  He lives next door to me.”

"And apparently thinks he owns your backyard," Reyn remarked as he disappeared over the fence with a grin and a salute towards the kitchen.

“Don’t worry, it’s part of our deal,” Lily assured her. “He teaches me parkour and in return I let him use our yard as a shortcut.”

“Oh. Cool.”

“Yeah, right?  Did you know he’s like a gymnast?  He does this awesome flippy thing; it’s super lit.”

“Bottle flips are pretty lit,” Reyn agreed.  She grabbed the nearest bottle -- her own metal water bottle that seemed to be empty -- and chucked it into the air, letting it bounce off the ground with a clang.  “How to Be a Cool Kid 101.  Rule Number 1: Flip bottles.  Rule Number 2: Trespass through people's yards.  Rule Number 3: Parkour."

She thought for a moment. "Oh," she added, "and Rule Number 4: Get stalked by creepy random guys in the park but brush it off as normal."

Lily immediately turned to her with a concerned look.  “Stalked?” she questioned.

"I'm just being dramatic," Reyn said dryly. "Because he's fine. And they're super in love and something about being written in the stars."

“Who?” Lily asked, looking even more confused. “What?”

Reyn sighed, mixing the ingredients together ferociously and spilling flour all over the counter. "It's weird. They're weird."

“Who? Give me the tea, girl!”

Reyn gave her a weird look. "Tea or teaspoon?"

“No, the tea!  The word on the street!  The gossip!”

"The word in the park," Reyn said, scowling at the mixing bowl like it was sinning against her, "is that there's a new kid in town who was looking for Falcon for some reason. And apparently found him, but the thing is -- well, do you ever feel like Falcon's a little... weird? Or off?"

“I mean, yeah,” Lily replied, putting a hand on the mixing spoon to prevent Reyn from flinging all the ingredients over the counter, “sure.  I don’t know why I get that feeling, but I figure it’s his story, yanno?  He’s a nice guy, and I like him, so I guess it doesn’t matter to me that much what his deal is.”  She paused.  “What makes you feel like something’s off about him?”

Reyn shrugged, stepping back with a wipe of her hands to wisely let Lily take control of the mixing. "Everyone seems to be waiting for him to slip up or something. Even if the two of us haven't been around here for that long, I feel like people are waiting for something bad to happen around him, like something was weird before.

"I know," she went on, "that people like the Dewhursts and all seem to like him, but at the same time, it's like they're protecting him from something. I don't know what it is, but sometimes I almost feel like they're trying to protect him from himself. It's… weird. And then the other day there was this other guy, Seth, who came from out of nowhere, and he was really weird. Like he could do something bad and not even think twice about it and still smile like everything's okay and nothing has changed. You know?"

Lily stuck a cookie-dough covered finger in her mouth and shrugged.  “Isn’t everyone kind of weird?  If anything, I want to get to know Falcon because I think he’s interesting.  I don’t think he would hurt anyone, intentionally at least.  I don’t know this Seth guy you’re talking about, but it might be the same for him?  People like that interest me more than scare me, I think.”

"Usually, yes," Reyn agreed. "And I'm not saying Falcon is that way; I'm just saying he's a weirdo with some kind of funky past that we'll probably never find out."

“Oh yeah, for sure,” Lily said with a nod.  “He’s like a superhero: highly athletic student by day, and masked vigilante by night.”

Reyn huffed. "So you've seen him pull Batman stunts, huh?"

Lily lit up.  “Have you seen him do his acrobatic thing?  He just goes swoosh!-” she mimed swinging through the air- “and then he just goes flip flip flip!” She jumped excitedly, then paused and sighed wistfully.  “I wish I could do that.”

"Have him teach you that on top of parkour," Reyn suggested with a hint of sarcasm in her voice. "But really, Seth isn't like Falcon. I mean, something about them both is weird, but Seth seems like the dangerous type. Like the kind of person a neighbor might say, 'He was such a nice kid' of after he's murdered ten people."

“Pepper spray him,” Lily said.

"Only if I can borrow yours." Reyn leaned down to study the raw cookie dough with an impressed look. "I think... we're baking geniuses and we should start a bakery."

“Oh, without a doubt,” Lily agreed. “We can call it ‘Reyn or Shine’.”

"I was thinking something like 'Lily's Lil Lovelies' or something stupid like that. That way when we take over the world, it'll be really funny."

“Hmm, I like the way you’re thinking,” Lily replied, blobbing spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet.  “We need a super cutesy cheesy title that has both of our names.”

"'Lily's Lovely Reyn and Shine,'" Reyn suggested. "'Reyn of the Lily,' like 'reign' but 'Reyn' so that everyone should know we're taking over the world, but by the time they recognise our punny genius, it'll be too late!"

“Perfect, I love it!” Lily giggled.

Reyn took the pan as Lily plopped the last dough ball onto it, then opened the oven door and shoved the pan noisily in. "It also sounds like I come from a place called Lily. 'Reyn of the City of Lily.' But that's less relevant."

Lily quickly turned the oven temperature from 500 back down to 300 and set a timer.  “Okay, they’ll be done in like ten minutes!”

"I think," Reyn started out slowly before her speed began to pick up, "we should first spread the reach of our dominion to the people I trust the least so that we can get them under our control before they destroy the world we're trying to conquer. If that's the case, we should get the frosting ready to lather on as sloppily I mean beautifully as possible so they can appreciate the skill of our hypnotism and amazingness. What say you, companion?"

“I only registered like half of what you just said, but yeah!” Lily cheered. “Let’s do it!”

By the time the smell of cookies permeated the kitchen, the two were working diligently on decorating the golden discs of delicious yumminess on the table, leaving traces of frosting everywhere as they tried their pitiful best to make the cookies look somewhat presentable. In the end, they had a couple plates stacked with some cookies whose frosting designs vaguely resembled random Christmas-y things like trees, stockings, Santa Claus's, and wreaths. Reyn surveyed the work with her hands on her hips, critical eye apparently rather satisfied with the result as she announced, "We are ready."

Cackling quietly to herself, Lily carefully transferred some of them to a festive bag and stuck a bow on it.  “Our preparations are complete!”

"Complete with a bow on top." Reyn wiped away a nonexistent tear and skipped to the front door. "Let us bestow the gift of conquestment onto the beautiful world outside, starting with the weirdo next door."

Snatching up the bag, Lily was quick to follow, and the two made their way along the snow-covered sidewalk to Falcon’s house next door. Reyn strode confidently up to the front door and rang the doorbell with a flourish.

After a few moments, the door opened to a tall man, his dark hair in disarray and the faintest shadows of purple smudged under his brown eyes.  “Oh,” the man said, “Hello.”

"Hi Mr. Rynn," Reyn greeted cheerfully. "We're just here to drop off some Christmas cookies. Home-made. Which is kind of evident by the design, but they'll still taste great."

Lawrence Rynn took the proffered bag of cookies with a slight raise of his eyebrows.  “Thank you very much.  Are you, by any chance, friends with my son?”

Reyn shrugged and jabbed an elbow at Lily, who nodded emphatically.  “Yeah!” she chirped. “Fal’s my friend!”

“Would you like me to tell him you are here?”

“Yes please!” Lily replied as Reyn shrugged again.  “Is he in right now?  We saw him pass by a while ago.”

Lawrence nodded.  “He returned a while ago by the main gate,” he explained as he turned back into the house.  “Falcon!” he called into the warm interior.

A faint shout of “Yeah?” floated from the kitchen to the right.

“Friends of yours,” Lawrence replied, stepping aside as his son appeared in the kitchen entrance.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, “Hi, Lily!  Hey, nice to see you again, too.  Reyn, right?”

Reyn saluted him with a knowing grin. "Mr. Gay Lover."

His jaw dropped.  “I can’t believe-” he spluttered as Lawrence burst into laughter.

“Who?” asked Gabe, entering the room.

“Oh, the angel of the Lord!” Lily called happily, her face lighting up.  A few seconds later, Seth appeared in the kitchen doorway as well.

"Ho, Mr. Emo Kid," Reyn greeted, to which Seth just raised a hand in reply. "The angel of the Lord's been third-wheeling?"

“For the last time,” Falcon bemoaned, “Seth’s not my boyfriend; I am straight!”  He wheeled around and pointed an accusatory finger at him.  “This is all your fault!  Now even the neighbors are saying it!”

Seth just shrugged as Reyn gestured to the offering of cookies. "We brought cookies for you guys because they're amazing and we're great people. Try them; they're great. Though we weren't expecting it to be for this many people, so the couple might have to split one or something."

Falcon threw up his hands in despair.  Gabe snorted and said, “It’s okay, I’m a guest here so the Rynn’s and Seth can have them.

"Seth's not just a guest, but he's family already?" Reyn asked.

“He’s just visiting,” Falcon practically wept.  “He’s my cousin.”

"Cool story, bro." Reyn grinned. "Either way you have our blessing in the form of cookies. Enjoy them greatly."

“Thank you very much,” Lawrence said graciously, ushering them out to spare them from the chaos erupting inside as Gabe tried to keep Falcon from football-tackling a smirking Seth.  “We will enjoy them.”

Reyn laughed as she and Lily headed out to walk the short distance back to Lily's house.

“Wait a minute!” they heard from behind.  Turning, they saw Gabe trotting quickly up the path, steam puffing from his mouth and nose and a plainly-decorated gingerbread house in his hands.  “Would you like a gingerbread house?” he asked, offering it to them.

Reyn looked it over. "Did you guys drop it or something? Why don't you want it? All the candy already fell off."

“It’s Seth’s,” Gabe said by way of explanation.  “A thank you for the cookies.”

"He's so much more generous than I thought." Reyn took the house. "I didn't realise he had such a nice, good, thankful heart."

Gabe rolled his eyes.  “The thank you is more from me and the Rynn’s.  Seth just provided the house.”

"Well, thanks," Reyn answered. "And tell Seth thanks. I guess."

“You’re welcome,” Gabe replied, turning to head back to the house, where Falcon was waiting in the doorway.  “Merry Christmas.”

"Merry Christmas!"

[ek-triptych]

Ninth Day of Triptych Christmas: Gingerbread House

//A beautiful story by KV; enjoy x)

Gabe upended his plastic bag onto the Rynn’s kitchen island, spilling little plastic bags of icing and assorted candies across the counter.  From their positions on barstools across the island, Falcon caught a few gumdrops that went rolling off the table, and Seth picked up a candy cane to inspect.  Both boys looked up to find Gabe staring at them silently and intently.  

After a moment, Falcon shifted uncomfortably.  “Look, man,” he began, “I know you’re upset that neither of us have made a gingerbread house before, but-”

“Never,” Gabe interrupted.  “Neither of you have ever made a gingerbread house.”

“What’s the big deal?” Three asked, dropping the candy cane on the counter and looking like he’d rather be anywhere else.  “So we’ve never had a chance to make a cookie house.  There are more important things to be worried about.”

“Not at this moment,” said Gabe firmly.  He produced another plastic bag, this one filled with sheets of gingerbread, and dumped it onto the counter as well.

Falcon sighed and slid off his barstool, circled around the island, and threw an elbow onto his best friend’s shoulder, peering at the assorted scattered ingredients.  Gabe shifted slightly, lowering his shoulder to accommodating his shorter friend as he sorted out the different gingerbread pieces.

“Just humor him,” Falcon mouthed silently to Seth.  Three raised an eyebrow and opened his mouth to say something.

“C’mon Seth,” the other boy whispered quietly to him, “Just this once.”

Seth's skeptical look deepened, then dropped into a neutral expression.  “Fine,” he said. “Let’s do this then.”

Falcon looked troubled, but passed him a bag of icing without comment.

Gabe ripped out three big sheets of parchment paper and spread them out on the counter.

“Start like this,” he said, picking up his own baggie of icing. “Pipe out a line on the paper so you can stick a wall on it and it won’t fall down.  See?”  He squeezed out a line of icing and picked up one of the gingerbread sheets, sticking it into the icing and standing it up.  The other two followed suit, and before long they had three plain house shapes built on the counter.  

“Huh, this is actually kinda fun,” Falcon admitted, “accidentally” spilling some icing on his fingers and licking them off.  Three hummed noncommittally, placing the roof on his house.  

Gabe nodded smugly. “Told you.”

“Yeah, this is great,” Three said a little too cheerfully.  “It gives me so much purpose in life.”

“Not everything has to have a point,” Falcon retorted, giving up all pretense and simply squeezing icing straight into his mouth.  “Sometimes just having fun is the point.”

“Wow, that sounds familiar,” Gabe said dryly.

“Yeah, yeah,” Falcon said, lightly punching his friend’s shoulder. “Rub it in, why don’t ya?”

Gabe placed a hand on top of his own head, flattening down his red hair so his bangs covered his eyes.  “I don’t see the use of this,” he said in a voice somehow even more monotone than his usual one.  “What is the point of basketball if you don’t win anything?”

“Gabe!” Falcon whined, “That was a long time ago!”

“Two years,” Gabe said, dabbing a bit of frosting on his house and sticking a gumdrop on it.

“Yeah, a lot can happen in two years,” Falcon retorted, following his example and using icing to stick a candy-cane to the wall of his own house.

Seth disinterestedly began to decorate his front yard with gummy Christmas trees.  “You’ve known each other for two years?”

Falcon hummed.  “I think?  We met a little bit after I enrolled in our high school.”

“You seem close,” Seth observed. “Is that normal for two-year friendships?”

Gabe let out a dry bark of laughter.  “No, but after a certain number of times patching up an idiot-” he sent Falcon an accusatory glare, “-who can’t keep his fists to himself, you get to know someone.”

Falcon protested again, but Three spoke over him.  “Oh yeah, I heard that Fal used to fight all the time.”  He gave Falcon a significant look, which was returned with a rather childish raspberry to cover up the subtle shake of his head in response.

“Yeah,” Gabe replied, “He fought way too often.”  He paused to consider his friend, who had somehow gotten frosting on his cheek.  “He doesn’t anymore though.  It’s been a long time since you tried to fight anyone.”

Falcon froze, darting a deer-in-the-headlights glance towards Seth, who looked a little too smug about the power he held in his hands.

“Yeah, I guess three months is quite a long time,” Three commented innocently, pretending to concentrate on setting up the windows of his house.

Falcon slammed his hands on the table in disbelief as Gabe looked up with a raised eyebrow.  “Traitor!” he hissed.

“Three months?” Gabe questioned sharply.  

“I didn’t even fight anyone!” Falcon quickly protested, backing up with his hands in a surrender position.

“I guess trying to fight doesn't completely count,” Seth commented unhelpfully.

Gabe narrowed his eyes at his friend.  “Who?”

“No one, don’t worry about it Gabe!  Nothing happened!”

“It was me,” Seth said, resting his elbows on the table.

“You tried to fight Seth?” Gabe asked, his blue eyes glinting dangerously.

“Nothing happened!” Falcon wailed, “I just got scared, but it all worked out and we’re good now!  Right Seth?”  He turned to the other boy, who waited for a few moments enjoying the chaos before finally nodding.

Falcon breathed a sigh of relief.  “See?” he said, “All’s fine.”

Gabe, still looking suspicious, let the matter drop and turned back to his house.  “I’m asking you about this later,” he told Falcon.

“Yeah, I know,” Falcon grumbled, shooting Three a dirty look.

“Alright, I’m finished decorating the outside,” Seth said, completely ignoring him.  “Am I done now?”

“No, you need snow,” said Gabe.  He reached down to dig in his plastic bag again.  “Do you like coconut?”

“Sure, why not.”

Gabe handed him a package of dried coconut flakes that had been shredded down into little pieces.  “Scatter these over the roof,” he instructed, taking a handful for himself and Falcon.  “After that we’ll put some powdered sugar on top and it’ll be done.”

“Hey guys, look I’m Coconut Bae,” Falcon said, holding his wrist at a strange angle and sprinkling it on over his elbow.  Three and Gabe gave him weird looks.

“What?” asked Seth.

“You know, like Salt Bae?  It’s… nevermind,” Falcon pouted a bit.

“Why do your memes never stop?” Gabe lamented.  “I never know what you’re saying.”

Fifteen minutes later, the three boys were covered in powdered sugar and sticky from candy residue, but three majestic gingerbread houses stood on the island counter.

“They’re beautiful,” Falcon said, dramatically wiping away a fake tear.

“They’re okay,” Seth said flatly, popping a candy-cane into his mouth and crossing his arms on the table.  “Do we eat them now?”

Gabe, who had been sliding his house off the counter and onto a baking sheet for transport, looked scandalized.  “No!” he exclaimed, “You can’t eat decorated gingerbread houses right after you make them!”

Falcon nodded sagely as he returned to his barstool.  “Even I knew that, man.”

Three’s face scrunched up in confusion and he threw his hands in the air.  “What was the point then??”

[ek-triptych]

Eight Day of Triptych Christmas: Hark the Carol Angels Sing

//Oh boy. You’re stuck with El again. And here we have a caroling themed story: ‘Hark the Carol Angels Sing.’

Seth should have known not to open the door -- he should have known everything was wrong, and that this time of the year was when people went out of their way to be a nuisance to everyone else by spreading 'Christmas cheer,' and that he hadn't been completely himself lately. Unfortunately, there was no sign that warned him against opening the door at this hour, especially with the food delivery that was supposed to come for a late dinner, so he was taken by surprise when he looked out into the night and was greeted with a sudden burst of song from a sizable group of complete strangers standing in the little space they had on the path to the house.

'God rest ye, merry gentlemen; let nothing you dismay --'

The door closed in their faces as Three turned to head upstairs, but Falcon must have heard what had happened, because he shouted, 'Dude!' and ran over to open the door again.

'I'm so sorry--'

Falcon's apologetic voice faded as Three locked himself in his borrowed room upstairs and sat on the bed. Though he wasn't exactly startled, he wondered briefly what he was feeling right now as the singing began drifting through the window. Stuff about Christ saving and tidings and joy -- was this legal to make people listen to stuff like this? Then again, tradition. What a convenient way to make people listen to you -- for the sake of tradition.

Seth stepped out of his room and peered downstairs, where Falcon stood stranded with the door open to the cold air as the carolers continued their music. Well, he had asked for it himself, so he would have to pay the consequences as Three took the liberty to crash into Falcon's room, whose window had a view out into the area of the front door.

The lights in the upstairs rooms were all switched off, so he should be safe from anyone outside seeing him. He cracked the window open just the slightest bit and looked out on the ten, fifteen people standing outside with their little books open to the drifting snow, mouths opening and closing in song. After listening for a few seconds, Three decided they couldn't possibly be doing this just to try to make themselves sound good, but at the same time, why bother with the discomforts of the cold just to sing brainwashing songs in front of a bunch of strangers? To supposedly make them feel good or spread Christmas cheer or something ridiculous like that, but again -- why?

Then he realised he recognised one of the carolers. Dark skin, messy hair, and shining bright eyes in the light coming from the open door of the house -- it was Cleopatra: Reyn, the girl he had met in the playground the other day, the one who swung weirdly and was ultimately the cause of the gay lovers joke. Though she didn't strike him as someone particularly serious, she actually looked like she was enjoying herself now; her facial expressions followed along dramatically with the songs, and she kept glancing at the older people around her with a half-smile as they continued. Three wondered what kind of joke she was playing until he distinctly heard her voice sing 'hark the carol angels sing' instead of 'hark the herald angels sing.'

Petty, but she seemed to be enjoying herself.

A couple songs later, the carolers were finally done, and Falcon's lone clapping rang out emptily into the sidewalk. A chorus of 'Merry Christmas' answered him, and one of the singers stepped out of view apparently into the shelter of the house, saying something to Falcon. Though Three couldn't make out most of the words, he caught a few things like 'reason,' 'bread,' and 'Christmas.' Then Falcon was thanking her, and the mass of brainwashing (brainwashed?) folks moved on to plague the next house.

'Hey, Seth,' Falcon shouted up the stairs once the door had closed. 'Get down here.'

Nope, you're just going to scold me. Three pulled the window shut and walked back to his own room, deciding now might be a good time to disappear. Or sleep. Yeah, just sleep for a few years and hibernate through this stage of life. Or all of it.

The bedroom door cracked open to the light Falcon had turned on in the hall, and Falcon poked his dark head in. 'Seth!'

When Seth didn't move from his sprawled position on the bed, Falcon let himself in and turned on the light. 'First off, you shouldn't sit in the dark this much. Secondly, what the heck, man?'

He hopped onto the bed next to Three. 'You don't just close the door on people.'

'Oh, were those people?' Three snorted as he turned to face Falcon. 'Easy to mistake for nuisances, aren't they?'

Falcon looked at him with a disapproving look. Though it was clearly from some kind of perceived position of seniority, it also held an air of knowledgeability and experience that told Three Falcon had at least been somewhat expecting it.

'Maybe you're not used to it, but they were just trying to be nice,' Falcon told him. 'You don't have to treat them that rudely. They're nice people.'

'Nice.' A comment, question, or challenge. Falcon took it as a challenge in the context of the few words they had already exchanged, as demonstrated by a pained look he shot at Seth and his reply:

'Yeah, actually, very nice. They're people who gave me a new home here when I just got out.'

Three looked at Falcon. 'Pretty sure it was Lawrence who did that.'

'Dude, you know what I mean.'

The two sat in silence for a few seconds, Falcon apparently trying to think of something to say but not finding anything to his satisfaction. So instead of continuing the conversation, he sighed and ended up holding out a tin-foiled little parcel to Seth.

'Cinnamon pumpkin bread. From the neighbors.' As Three looked at it in disdain, Falcon added, 'They mean well. They just want to make the world a little brighter.'

'Yeah.' To humour Falcon, Seth took the little package and tossed it up to catch it again. This isn't worth pursuing any further. 'Alright.'

Falcon nodded. Neither of them said anything to add to the conversation, but after another pause, Falcon finally turned slightly to Seth and cracked a smile. 'Carol angels.'

Trying to make up for the moment of tension. Childish, avoiding it and trying to make like they were friends. But Seth simply played along with it by commenting, 'Worst angels I've ever heard.'

'Yeah.' Falcon laughed. 'She's an interesting person.'

Seth laughed too. 'Interesting, yeah.'

'Well.' Apparently satisfied that the conversation had ended well enough, Falcon stood and stretched his arms out. Great talk. 'Dinner should be coming soon. I'm gonna head downstairs to get the door so you don't close it on anyone else's face.'

Seth nodded. 'Sounds good.'

Falcon grinned back at Seth, who nodded again at him. With one last stretch, Falcon exited the room, leaving the door cracked.

[ek-triptych]

Seventh Day of Triptych Christmas: Madventures

//A short story with some new formats by El for the Seventh Day of Christmas: ‘Madventures’!

It was a dark and stormy and cold and mischief-filled night.

A red van made its way carefully through the snow of a mall parking lot, where Christmas shopping spirit filled the air and little bells rang as fake Santa Claus's raised money for charity. Gabe painstakingly pulled into one of the empty spaces, turning back to look with his arm over the passenger's seat, where Seth sat quietly. In the back seat, Falcon and Lily waited impatiently for Gabe to say, 'And we're here' before sliding the doors open and jumping out almost simultaneously.

'Hey!' Gabe shouted after them as they dashed away, but the two were too eager in their departure that they didn't hear. Gabe looked helplessly at Seth, who shrugged and smiled slightly.

'They're going to get themselves killed,' Gabe grumbled to no one in particular as he and Seth closed the van doors. 'Morons.'

'We were going to play a game?' Seth asked as the two of them made their relatively slower way to the warm indoors, where most people were coming out to return home.

Gabe sighed, unraveling his scarf from around his neck as the warmth of the mall enveloped them. 'Apparently. I don't know if it's a good idea to have let the other two decide on it, though.'

They walked to one of the little stores, where Falcon and Lily stood happily exchanging money for some Christmas-special baked goods as the staff clearly began shutting down for the night. As Seth and Gabe approached, Falcon grinned and walked over to them, holding up a bag of cookies as he stuck another whole one in his mouth.

'We made it just in time. Seth, you gotta try these things. They only have them in December -- pumpkin cinnamon, eggnog, gingerbread…'

Lily walked up behind Falcon nibbling on a brown swirly bun. 'Peppermint chocolate.'

Gabe took a red cookie and glanced at his watch. 'If you wanted to get here before the store closed, why did you make us leave so late? We had all that time after dinner to come.'

'Because you said you'd play the game.'

Gabe and Seth glanced at each other.

'What exactly is the game you had in mind?' Gabe asked warily.

Falcon grinned widely and glanced quickly around to make sure no one was paying them any attention. Satisfied that they looked inconspicuous enough, he leaned in and said, 'It's got two parts. First, we're going to stay in the mall until midnight to see if we can escape the night guard. Then, once we pass midnight, we're going to see if we can get out without getting caught.'

'Wait, what?' Lily looked confused. 'I thought we were just here for the bread?'

'That is where you were wrong,' Falcon merely replied, then told everyone, 'We can split into two groups and see who gets caught first. To keep it fair, I decided we should split me and Seth up' -- everyone missed the mildest look of warning Three shot at Falcon -- 'so Gabe can go with Seth, and Lily can come with me. The mall closes in half an hour, so we've got about an hour and a half to survive. Meet at the van when you're done or kicked out.'

'Hold on,' Gabe interjected. 'I don't remember ever agreeing to this.'

'We definitely shouldn't be doing this,' Lily agreed. 'And I'd have to tell my parents anyway if I was going to stay out that late. And I don't want to get caught.'

'And it's pointless,' Seth added.

The other two nodded, satisfied that this would convince Falcon against any ideas he might have had of further pursuing this adventure. But as soon as Falcon's face began to fall, Seth grabbed Gabe's arm and started pulling him away.

'Where are we going?' Gabe asked, confused.

'To find a hiding place.'

Falcon grinned, and before Lily could protest too much, he took her arm as well and began dragging her to a more discreet part of the mall.

An Interview with the Participants:

So at the end of the day, the game didn't exactly go as planned, right?

Falcon: Well, so we didn't ever technically have a real plan or anything; we just kind of went with whatever we felt like. The guidelines didn't count as a plan.

Gabe: You didn't plan on getting caught so early.

Lily: ...look, I'm sorry, but it's not right to break the rules like that! And we would have gotten caught anyway…

Falcon: ...yeah, it didn't really go as planned.

How about for the other team?

Gabe: *looks at Seth*

Seth: No. It pretty much went according to plan.

Gabe: Oh, so you did mean to break the window?

Seth: You said you wanted to get out, didn't you?

What was the scariest moment for each of you?

Lily: All of it. I'm never doing that again.

Falcon: Definitely when Lily refused to hide and walked up to the security guard. I thought she'd at least make some kind of effort.

Lily: I was going to, but then I got scared… I don't want to go to juvie.

Gabe: Breaking the window, or watching Seth jump out the window, or jumping out the window myself. Or when a certain someone ditched me to run right next to the security and barely get by.

Seth: There was so much space; there was at least five feet between us.

Gabe: No, I'm pretty sure I had a heart attack then.

Seth: Poor old man...

What would be your advice to others who might try the same thing in the future?

Gabe: Don't do it.

Lily: Just don't do it.

Falcon: Silence your cell phone and have a way to get home afterwards. Oh, and bring snacks and water.

Seth: Going alone is easier.

Falcon: And going alone is easier, but not as fun.

Gabe: Why are you two talking like you've done it before?

Lily: *laughs nervously*

In the end, would you consider the game a success?

Falcon: The goal was to have fun, so yes, it was definitely a success. Even if it was shorter-lived than expected.

Lily: Umm…? Well, I don't really know?

Gabe: We technically did make it to midnight.

Seth: Yeah. We won.

Gabe: Yeah, we won.

Falcon: Okay now hold up--!

[ek-triptych]

Sixth Day of Triptych Christmas: In the Closet

//Another story regarding the closet: a collab by El and KV for the sixth day of Christmas!

“How old are you?” Lawrence asked Three, pulling up a chair to his desk and gesturing for the kid to pull up another.

"About nineteen," Seth answered, sitting down next to Lawrence.

“And when did you go missing?” the man asked, booting up his computer.

"I was found September 21, 2001. Or… yeah. Found. When I was two."

“Alright, we will start looking between 1999 and 2003 for now, then.” With a few clicks, Lawrence had a database open and was scrolling through it. Three shifted next to him, leaning forward to get a better view of the screen as the detective began typing into the computer before him. “Can you give me an approximate location?”

"Nope."

Lawrence gave a brisk nod.  “Then we have a lot of work to do.  A good place to start for this would be to look through all missing person reports of a 2 to 4 year old boy who went missing between 1999 and 2003.”

Three frowned. "Wouldn't searching over the span of one year be easier?"

“We don’t know when your family may have reported your absence in relation to when you were found,” Lawrence explained.  “You may have been gone for years before you were found, and thus their report would have been years earlier.  Conversely, they may have not filed a report until a while after you went missing.  The gap allows for a margin of error, of sorts.”

"I like to think my family would have noticed if their young child had been gone a few days," Three told him dryly. "Let's just do 1999 to 2001."

Lawrence shrugged.  “As you wish.  I am sure you know your own family better than I.”  

"No, it's just wishful thinking."

Lawrence adjusted a field on his screen and began the search, leaning back as the program loaded.

Another awkward silence settled over the two, and Lawrence began chewing on his nail again. From around the corner of the doorway, Falcon walked past, backed up, then poked his head into the quiet office.

“Wow,” he said, sauntering in, “what riveting conversation.”

Seth glanced back at him and retorted, “It’s better than the conversations we have."

“Excuse you; I am a lovely conversationalist,” Falcon snorted.

“Shakespeare is not ‘lovely conversation,'” Three told him.

Falcon dropped dramatically to one knee. “My bounty is as boundless as the sea, my love as deep; the more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.”

Three turned back to the computer to ignore him.  Falcon scooted forward, still gesturing over-exaggeratedly with one hand.  “Did my heart love till now? Forswear it, sight! For I never saw true beauty ‘til this… uh...” He trailed off as he finally registered the look Lawrence was giving him from his desk chair.

“What on earth…” Lawrence whispered.

Falcon cleared his throat and stood up.

“Lawrence,” Three interjected smoothly, “Falcon didn't tell you that we're lovers, did he?”

The man’s eyebrows shot up nearly to his hairline, and he turned to give his son an even more incredulous look. Falcon was sweating bullets.

“No-” he spluttered. “It was just a joke!”

“That’s why the closet present was funny,” Seth added casually. “Surprise.”

Falcon smacked his shoulder.  “Shut up, man!”

Lawrence stood to place a fatherly hand on Falcon’s shoulder.  “Son,” he said, “you know you can tell me anything.”

“We’re just cousins!” Falcon squeaked, panicked.

Lawrence dropped the hand off his shoulder and just looked disappointed. “I am 100% sure that he is not your cousin. We must improve your lying skills.”

Three nodded gravely on the side.

“I hope you’re happy,” Falcon hissed at him, “you absolute harbinger of chaos.”

Seth gave him a mildly injured look.  “We talked about this. You said you could tell him. Even just last night-”

“Finish that sentence, I dare you,” Falcon growled, his eyebrow twitching.

"-you said you wanted to be with me forever no matter what," Seth said, "and that it doesn't matter what other people say. Falcon."

Lawrence had stepped back at this point, simply watching the exchange with mild amusement.

Falcon released a full-on snarl and pounced on the other boy, grabbing him in a headlock and harshly rubbing his knuckles along his scalp.

Seth, being wrestled suddenly out of his chair, struggled against it for a second before reaching a hand over to jab Falcon's vulnerable side while swiping a foot behind his leg to throw him off balance. Falcon hopped back a bit with a yelp, accidentally letting Three slip out of his grasp as he briefly loosened his hold. Three quickly slipped out and backed up to put some space between them.

“Alright, square up!” Falcon commanded, rolling up his sleeves as he advanced.

Three's hands were in a defensive posture, his chin tilted just the slightest bit down as he shifted lightly on his feet, obviously ready to fight as he glared down at Falcon. Falcon began bouncing dramatically back and forth on the balls of his feet across from Seth, humming a video-game soundtrack as he struck a boxing pose.

“Victory… is my destiny!” he shouted, bounding forward.

Seth glanced back briefly, and as Falcon barreled toward him, Three grabbed ahold of one of the bookshelves and pulled at it violently, jerking away as it began to fall suddenly on the advancing Falcon. Falcon, eyes wide with alarm as he suddenly figured out this wasn’t just play anymore, rushed forward to catch the bookshelf, sticking a leg out to trap the books and keep them on the shelves.

“Whoa,” he said quickly. “Okay, you win!  Chill, don’t worry; I’m just messing with you!”

Lawrence stepped forward, hands outstretched to separate the two, and blocked the way between them, looking back and forth as he tried to figure out the best course of action. Though Three had obviously been ready to fly at Falcon, as Lawrence moved and Falcon spoke, he slid to an abrupt stop and glared at the other boy.

Falcon quickly tipped the shelf back upright, sheepishly scratching the back of his neck.  “My bad,” he apologized. “I should have said something or made it more obvious.”

Three stood back up to a normal stance. He paused, letting out a soft breath, and shook his head. "No. No, we were just playing."

Falcon's brows furrowed, but he nodded and dropped the subject. Snorting softly for his part, Lawrence stepped back as the tension eased slowly out of the room.

“Lover’s spat?” the detective asked dryly.

“Yes,” Seth answered as Falcon protested, “No!”

“Lovers fight all the time," Seth said. "It’s natural.”

“Yeah, you know who else fight all the time?”

“Enemies.”

“No,” Falcon wailed.  “Platonic friends! Stop, you’re being difficult on purpose!”

Seth put a hand on Falcon’s shoulder mockingly in passing as he sat back down in the office chair in front of the computer desk.  “Well. Now that that's settled, are we almost ready?”

Lawrence, looking like he was holding back a chuckle, also sat back down at the desk.  “Yes, I believe so. I’ll need my files. Fal?”

“Sure,” his son grumbled, exiting the room. From some distance down the hall, he yelled at them, “And he’s not my boyfriend!”

“Whatever,” Seth called back as Lawrence released a sound suspiciously like a snicker. “Just go back to the closet.”