The submit box for the calendar has now been closed, and all submissions have been published. (I hope! Please forgive me & let me know if I've f'd up and missed your submission!)
A great big thank you to all the Creatives and their hard work that made the calendar possible! It was a pleasure working with you on this! And thank you to the calendar's followers for cheering us on and for remembering the show and its beloved characters with us.
I think we made something great this December and sincerely hope that everyone's been having as much fun with the calendar as I have!
Merry MXmas!
( Click on Read more to see the rest of the submission! )
This was the first thing I thought of from âMXmasâ :3 even though Dorian is not an MX, Iâm sure he would love being Santa, and the MXs could be his not-so-little helpers (plus Darren-MX as a nutcracker soldier).
"You know, I did research for this."
"Research," the word is echoed with disdain.
"Of Course, John."
a. Have yourself a merry little Christmas by Frank Sinatra.
b. White Christmas by Bing Crosby.
c. Santa Claus is cominâ to town by Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band.
d. Grandma got run over by a reindeer by Elmo and Patsy.
e. Christmas time is here â movie version.
f. Oh Holy night by Josh Groban.
g. Silent night by Susan Boyle.
h. Have yourself a merry little Christmas by Michael Bouble.
( Click Read more to see the rest of the submission! )
2. All the police cars play peculiar Christmas covers.
At the second chorus of âAll I want for Christmas is youâ, Valerie is singing along in the safety of her car.
a. Here Comes Santa Claus by SkayWay.
b. Little drummer boy by Bad Religion.
c. I wish it was Christmas today by Julian Casablancas.
d. All I want for Christmas is you by My Chemical Romance.
e. Jingle Bells by Sugar & the Hi Lows.
f. Underneath the tree by Kelly Clarkson.
g. Christmas (Baby, please come home) by Death Cab For Cutie.
h. We wish you a merry Christmas by Orionâs Reign.
 3. The MXs randomly burst into carols in assorted languages.
"In the middle of a crime scene singing in Portuguese," Sandra says looking at the MX. "What can you say for yourself?"
Without missing a beat, and with outstanding pronunciation, the MX starts to sing âOh Christmas Treeâ in German.
 4. The only thing playing on Rudyâs lab are romantic Christmas songs.
"Not here as well," Richard says when he walks into Rudyâs lab.
"What?"
"Your audio system is malfunctioning as well, only playing Christmas songs."
"Malfunctioning? No, no, I actually chose those songs to play."
"You did?"
"Iâll let you know, Detective Paul, that a little Christmas spirit has never hurt a soul."
Thereâs a long silence after that, the time it takes Richard to figure things out. âYou planned all this.â
"I have no idea what youâre talking about Detective Paul," comes the cautious reply, "besides, you have no proof."
a. All I want for Christmas is you by Mariah Carey.
b. This Christmas by Donny Hathaway.
c. Baby, itâs cold outside by Norah Jones and Willie Nelson.Â
d. Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow! by Dean Martin.
e. Winter wonderland by Bing Crosby.
f. Have yourself a merry little christmas by She & Him.Â
g. Give Love On Christmas Day by The Jackson 5.Â
h. Iâll Be Home for Christmas by Michael Buble.
I love thinking about all the side characters in Almost Human and how they might interact with one another. So enjoy a festive fic about them!â-
Marty Pelham junior didnât like his new neighbour very much. He was a little kid and didnât know how to play a lot of the games Marty liked to play. He also carried a little toy giraffe around with him everywhere like a security blanket. Sure Marty still had his favourite teddy bear that hugged him during storms and glowed in the dark when his night light went out, but it sat on his bed where no one else would see.
Mom said they had to be nice though so the kid, Victor was his name, came with them on the first weekend of December, when the snow was thick and heavy, and they took turns riding down a hill on Martyâs sled.
***
The following weekend Marty was heading outside to make a snowman when he saw Victor sitting on his front steps. Marty sighed, he didnât really to hang out with him, but he was supposed to be being nice.
He walked across the short distance between their two snow covered lawns.
âHey, Victor, I was gonna make a snowman, you want to help me?â
Victor shook his head no and sniffled. Marty frowned Victor looked like heâd been cryingÂ
âWhatâs wrong?â
âNothing.â
Marty was ready to give up figuring he had done enough being nice, but then he noticed that Victorâs hands were empty.
âHey, whereâs your giraffe?â he asked, glancing around in case he had dropped it.
âThey took it. Said it was for babies and I wasnât a baby.â
âWho took it?â
âTwo boys like you down there.â Victor pointed to the end of the block.
Martyâs eyes narrowed. You didnât hurt a little kid even if you only kinda liked them.
âCome on you show me where they are.â
Marty took Victor by the hand and Victor led him to the abandoned lot at the end of the street. There they found two boys sitting outside a fort made from scraps of wood and plastic. Marty recognized them from school.
They glared at him and one stood up. Â
âWhat do you want, Pelham?â
âI want that toy back. Itâs Victorâs.â
âYeah? Why do you care heâs just a stupid kid.â
âItâs his give it back.â
The other boy stood up too, holding the giraffe close to Victor, and yanked it out of his reach when he tried to grab it.
âStop it!â
âYou gonna make me, Pelham? Act like some hero like your dad and get blown to bits too?â
That crossed a line. Marty grabbed the boyâs jacket and punched him hard. He dropped to the ground and Marty fell on top of him. The giraffe fell into the snow and both Victor and the other boy went for it.  Victor kicked him hard in the knee and grabbed his toy.
âGotâem!â
He and Marty quickly ran back to Martyâs place, the little giraffe held high like a victory trophy.
Their motherâs give each of them a stern lecture on not solving problems with violence and going to an adult for help, but after that Victor thanked Marty and spent the next week telling anyone who would listen that Marty was a hero just like a real cop.
Marty liked thinking of himself like a hero just like his dad. So, from then on Marty liked Victor too.
***
Marty liked John Kennex a lot. John told him stories about his dad, he told him all the cool things he saw as a cop, and he could stick a knife in his leg! Yeah John was cool. Right now they were at the mall doing Christmas shopping. They had picked out a box of Christmas cards for Marty to hand out in class.
âHey, John, can we get one of those?â
Marty pointed to a row of toy bots on display in the store across from them.
âI donât know, Marty, itâs almost Christmas.â
âNot for me, for my friend.  I brought my allowance.â
He pulled out a bitcoin in the shape of the space station.
âWell, all right.â
John chipped in and they bought the lion pack that came with two adults and three cubs.
***
Victor and his mom came over to Martyâs house for Christmas dinner and Marty got to give Victor his gift and he had even wrapped himself.
Victor loved it and watched as the cubs wrestled with each other, while the two adults chased the toy giraffe around the floor in circles.Â
âIâll take good care of them,â Victor said as he put all the toy bots carefully on the coffee table.
âI know.â
They had just started going through the backpack Victor had brought over to play with more toys when the doorbell rang. Martyâs mom answered it.
âJohn, Iâm so glad you could make it.â
âWell thanks for inviting me.â
âMarty, come say hi to John.â
Marty raced to the front door, Victor close behind him.
âHi, John, this is my friend Victor. He loves the toy we got him.â
Johnâs eyes went wide.
âUh well thatâs great IâŠumm hi, V-Victor.â
Victor smiled. âIâm taking really good care of all of them just like I promised.â
John just stood there and stared at them.
Marty shook his head and he and Victor went back into the living room. John was weird like that sometimes.
âYou wanna play race cars? â Victor asked. Â âI got a new one and you can play with it first.â
The MXmas advent calendar of 2014 is almost over, but fear not: Tomorrow, on the 25th, we will be publishing several wonderful pieces to celebrate the holidays! It is also the last day we will be posting, so if you still have a piece you would like to get featured on the calendar, now is your last chance to submit it!
The calendar will be accepting extra submissions and holiday greetings until 6PM / 18:00, December 25th Finland's time (Real time clock can be found here).
Day 24
Click Read More to see what today's Creative, lostinthebabylon made for the calendar!
~Almost Human butter cookies recipe~
Hello everybody, and Merry Christmas! ( ÂŽ ✠` )ïŸ
Today we are going to bake some Almost Human inspired butter cookies, so get ready! You will need:
- a mixing bowl
- 200 gr. of plain flour
- 50 gr. of potato starch
- 160 gr. of softened butter
- 100 gr. of powdered sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- a couple spoons of cocoa powder
- a spoon of powdered sugar
Mix the flour with the starch and sugar, then add the yolk and softened butter, and work it with your hands until you have a ball of uniform dough.
Envelop your dough in some plastic wrap and leave it to rest in the fridge for about 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, print and cut the police department symbol youâll be using later.
You can use this picture and print it in your desired dimension!
Take your dough out of the fridge and keep half of it away for later. Roll it out on a base of waxing baking paper with a rolling pin (if the dough is too sticky, you can dust it with some more flour) and start carving your police symbols using the cut paper for reference. Remember you will need three symbols for each cookie!
Place your little dough symbols on some waxing baking paper on a tray and put them in preheat oven at 180° for about 10-15 minutes (check on them regularly until theyâre coloured). Once theyâre done, remember to leave them to cool down before touching or moving them, otherwise theyâll be too soft and youâll risk to break them.
Now take the other half of the dough you kept away before. Add some cocoa powder to it until itâs coloured enough.
Take a glass or something round and big enough in comparison with the dimension of your police symbols. Use it to carve the base of your cookies and put them in the oven.
Now all the parts of your Almost Human cookies are done and just need to be assembled! Mix a spoon of powdered sugar with a few drops of water â no more than that or it will be too liquid.
Now use it as glue to fix the smaller parts of your cookies onto the base. Be sure to press a little to make them stick, but not too strongly otherwise youâll risk to break them! Once youâre done leave the sugar to dry for about half an hour.
And youâre done! You can now taste your Almost Human cookies and enjoy them during your holidays~ John would surely be eager about them ;3
Author's notes: I just wanna drink tons of cups of hot chocolate and curl up in warm blanket and watch TV whole day.
Also of note: notashrew is planning on revealing a more scantily clad version of this piece on her deviantart account ; D ( Here's a link to the alternate verision on photobucket for the impatient )
Day 18
Click Read More to see what today's Creative, sgtwhiskersnhappytoaster made for the calendar!
On the first day of Christmas, Dorian canât locate a partridge.
Or a pear tree. Partridges, while a member of the pheasant family, are an endangered species. So when the Captain walks through the glass doors, leading toward her office and the bullpen, sheâs overcome with the sound of holographic birds. Hundreds of holographic birds. They light on every surface, covering the room with their brightly colored plumage. She has an idea who might be responsible, but no one is owning up. And Dorian, it seems, has a really convincing poker face.
No one comments on the small bonsai plants that grace each desk. Each plant is bedecked in frivolotry. Small ornaments dangle from the delicate branches.
John stares at his, when he finally comes in (twenty-two minutes, fourteen seconds late) for his shift. Donut caught between his teeth, he stares around at the chaos and color in the bullpen and tries to actually get some work done. He canât. Damned birds wonât shut up. Interestingly, heâs the only person who notices just how damned smug Dorian is.
~~
On the second day of Christmas, Dorian actually locates two turtle doves.
Heâs not certain why it is the creator of the song had such a fixation with creatures of the avian variety. But he brings in the pair in a cage and leaves them on a shelf near the Captainâs office. They coo and he finds that the sound is surprisingly soothing.
Detective Stahl seems utterly entranced by the small, white birds. He catalogs how she is constantly distracted by the birds and her work productivity takes a decided nosedive (sheâs down fourteen point oh-three percent on her normal productive schedule). Detective Kennex spends the entirety of his shift complaining about the noise and demanding either ear-plugs or a grill to cook the birds.
Dorian reminds Kennex that the small birds are not actually for eating, and would probably have very little meat on their bones. The detective gives him a dirty look and vanishes for coffee. Dorian doesnât actually see him for the rest of the shift.
Rudy, however, lodges a complaint that Kennex snores too loudly to concentrate while repairing MX Units.
~~
On the third day of Christmas, Dorian is questioning the sanity and functionality of having so many birds in one song.
He also cannot locate three french hens.
However, he can find clone chickens. It takes four MX Units, several beat cops and Richard running around waving his arms to round up the small fowl when he lets them loose in the department. The janitorial department lodges a complaint for the sheer amount of chicken droppings that are cleaned up, not to mention the feathers that were loosed during the chicken chase. Several computers were clogged and needed to be cleaned or replaced.
Dorian discovers he doesnât particularly care for birds.
~~
On the fourth day of Christmas, Dorian has decided he definitely does not care for birds in close proximity to humanity.
He finds and brings in two pairs of exotic parrots, having no real basis for what a âcalling birdâ might be.
By the end of shift, that day, the brightly colored birds are squawking a variety of obscenities never before recorded by the DRN unit. It would seem that both Detective Paul and Detective Kennex learned that the birds mimic human speech. And the men took it upon themselves to (as Rudy explained) one-up the other, seeing just how many expletives they could teach the birds.
When they are returned to the avian keeper, because Captain Maldonado refuses to have foul-mouthed fowl in her precinct, the keeper is shocked and appalled at just how crudely the birds are speaking.
He charges Rudyâs account for the inconvenience. Rudy, when he finds out, threatens to send Dorian back to the MX Changing Station.
~~
On the fifth day of Christmas, Dorian is finally relieved to be done with the damned birds. Rings, though, those are considerably more expensive than birds.
He settles for headbands for five of the MX Units.
Unfortunately, the headbands are comprised of LED lights for the holidays. The strobe effect, after several hours, leaves six officers with migraine headaches, two have vomited into their trash cans, and the janitorial crew, still disgruntled following the chicken incident have staged a strike, refusing to clean anything more.
Maldonado, once she can get past the smell and the headache, herself, assigns the MX Units to clean. They do, of course, but it reduces their productivity on the streets and raises questions concerning the effectiveness of the precinct.
Dorian is considering ending the song after just five days.
~~
On the sixth day of Christmas, Dorian is noticibly chagrined.
There are six cloned geese loose in the lower levels of the precinct. The MX Units spend the morning chasing the honking terrors. Detective Kennex found the whole situation so humorous he was relieved of duty for the day, lest he incur more of the Captainâs wrath. Dorian cataloges the event, having never seen the detective laugh so hard before.
Captain Maldonado pulls Dorian from duty to insist he assist with the cleaning of the lower levels. He discovers several eggs that were laid by the surprised birds. One of the eggs is delivered to Rudy, who decides to keep it and name it Rufus.
By the time the Captain is ready to leave for the day, thereâs a precinct-wide threat that states that anyone caught bringing birds inside the building will be terminated (read: deactivated) immediately.
Dorian takes the threat very seriously and hopes fervently that there are no more birds in the song.
~~
On the seventh day of Christmas, Dorian takes another approach.
The holographic birds on day one had been, largely, received positively. With that in mind, he programms the computers to project the holographic feed of the swans swimming lazily through the air.
The Captain, knowing that the threat from the day before kept the birds from being real, spends the morning demanding who reprogrammed the computers. And when she canât locate the culprit, begins assigning anyone who looks at her wrong beat jobs.
Detective Kennex finds himself working as a crossing guard for the rest of the day.
Interestingly, the precinct is quieter and more peaceful with the man out on the streets. Dorian knows he will never hear the end of that one.
~~
On the eighth day of Christmas, Dorian is wishing that the creator of the song didnât have such an animal fixation. Maids a-milking? Thereâs no way he can bring cows into the precinct.
Thereâs no way he can bring civilians into the precinct.
Milk has long been established as a pointless beverage for humans beyond infancy. While some still choose to drink it, the growth hormones that had overtaken the benefits of the drink pushed it to a nearly illegal status.
Still, heâs eight days into the song. Only four remain. So he pulls a few strings with one of the local Synthetic (and yes, he still dislikes that word) Manufacturers. Eight lovely companions (that Detective Paul keeps referring to as Bang-Bots) have taken residence around the precinct. The Captain is beside herself, trying to understand why it is theyâre bathing in milk. The bots donât need to bathe. But theyâve milked holographic cows and, to Dorianâs surprise (and horror), have begun using the milk to entice customers.
When he takes the bots back to their manufacturer at the end of the day, three have gone off with officers in the precinct.
~~
On the ninth day of Christmas, Dorianâs feeling a little better about the situation.
No more birds!
Instead, he locates another Synth Store and brings in nine bots to dance throughout the precinct. They do so, much to the embarrassment of the Captain, who realizes that the dancing bots are gaining more attnention than the work at hand.
The bots are placed outside the building, where they continue to dance as they were instructed.
And at the end of the day, Dorian canât find a single bot to take back. Thankfully, thereâs a GPS tracker on each one. The dealer doesnât charge Dorian for the extended time. But the people who had taken off with the bots might find an additional amount taken off of their sticks.
~~
On the tenth day of Christmas, Dorian doesnât know where to even begin locating Lords.
Let alone, Lords that might leap.
Royalty exists only in history feeds now. And Dorian has a sneaking suspicion that the Captain might not appreciate ten men leaping about the precinct. They wouldnât be as messy as the birds, but the medical bills for any injuries sustained by the leaping about would be astronomical.
With a sigh of defeat, Dorian loads up a holograpic program that allows medieval lords to leap about above the heads of the working Detectives. Detective Paul, distracted by the holographic lords, knocks over one of the water coolers and shorts out half of the computers in the bullpen. They shut down the other half to keep from electrocuting anyone, and the MX Units spend the afternoon cleaning up water and glass.
Dorian steers clear of the Captain for the rest of the day.
~~
On the eleventh day of Christmas, Dorianâs sure Captain Maldonado is going to send him to NASA or have him deactivated on the spot. Eleven pipers piping.
He wasnât sure he could find eleven, but interestingly enough the local Elementary school was still teaching the children the benefit of recorders as music. Dorian wasnât sure he agreed that it actually /was/ music, but he wasnât going to point that out to the children.
Taking their place just inside the main doors, the eleven children make an attempt at Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. And Frosty the Snowman. And Jingle Bells. By the time theyâre ready to being Sleigh Ride, Captain Maldonado is sending them packing back to the school. Dorian and Rudy are forced to sit with the children and endure the high-pitched, off-key âmusic.â
Detective Kennex wonât make eye contact when the pair leave with the children, and Dorian has the impression that the detective sold him out finally.
When he finally arrives at Rudyâs lab, he discovers a chicken loose and wreaking havoc. The feathers, feces and chaos is enough to keep both men busy for the rest of the night.
Dorian shows up for day twelve with a sixty-three percent charge. But seeing Rudy running around, red-faced and swearing at the chicken, seems somehow worth the low charge.
~~
On the twelfth day of Christmas, a low-charge Dorian finds one of the local high school drumlines and has them march into the precinct. The resulting casophony chases the entire floor out onto the streets to find something else to do that doesnât require them listening to a drumline attempting to play Christmas songs.
The only one who seems unaffected is Detective Kennex, who is sporting a nice pair of earplugs. Dorian surmises that either someone informed the detective, or he predicted due to the songâs nature.
Finally, at the end of the day, both Rudy and Dorian are pulled aside. Captain Maldonado, who has suffered through twelve days of hell, looks at the pair and growls softly. âIf I /ever/ have to endure anything like that again, youâre both going to be sent so far away, no one will ever find you again.â
She leaves the pair, and Dorian turns to his friend.
Day 17
Click Read More to see what today's Creative, ussmockingjay made for the calendar!
Title: Waking Up To Christmas
Fandom: Almost Human
Summary: Pre-Series Drabble. Eleven year old Kellan Hannigan wakes up to Christmas with her temporary guardian, John Kennex.
A/N: This is a last minute replacement for a video I havenât been able to finish for the Almost Human Advent Calendar. It also works as an introduction to a new fanfiction verse iâm planning to explore more in the new year. Kellan started out as and AH OC roleplay character (fiftyshadesofhuman), but sheâs now demanding a total life of her own so - who am I to refuse the muse?
=========================
A young girl awoke on christmas morning. Taking a minute to recall where she was - and who she was staying with - Kellan Hannigan allows herself to relax. After being moved around so much over the past few years, finding herself somewhere she knew she was safe was a luxury.
Easing herself out of the large bed situated in the guestroom of her guardianâs apartment, Kellan gave a little squeak at the coldness of the floor beneath her bare feet, before making a beeline for the drawer her socks were kept in.
Opening the sliding door, Kellan stepped into the small hallway that would lead to the open planned apartment which had become her home of sorts for the past month. When she had first stepped out into this slightly darkened hallway, she hadnât known what to think - having been asleep when she had been first brought here (a fact that she still felt embarrassed about even now) - but as the weeks had passed without any incident (afterall, someone could be nice for the public yet could be as mean as hell behind closed doors), the preteen had figured that maybe some of her perceptions of the man who was currently taking of her were made too prematurely. So the guy had arrested her brother and sent him to Juvie, but heâd stuck around - even if sticking around initially meant constantly being on your case simply because you happened to be near a car that had just had itâs window broken and itâs circuit hotwired - and now⊠now Kellan had to begrudgingly admit that he was okay.
Walking into the main area of the apartment; Kellan offered a weak smile to the detective; who was currently sitting at the counter on the other side of the room, holding a coffee cup in his hand as he watched the grey dawn light, brighten. John Kennex had been up for a couple of hours now; so used to be going to work on Christmas Day to cover for those who had families to spend the holidays with - but this year, he had been one of those asking for the few days around christmas off. It was amazing how quickly you had to change plans when being charged with a kid - even if this kid had been forced to grow up quicker than most.
Catching sight of the preteen as she stepped into the large living area; Johnâs lips curled into a small smile at the girlâs slight tentativeness even now. It was still surprising him; the contrast of the youngsterâs personality. The sassy youngster he had grown used to in the open, turned into a quiet natured young girl who was hardly any trouble at all (and who found the furniture to be a great source of amusement as she used the sofa and chairs as an obstacle course - despite such personality traits being too childish for someone her age) when behind closed doors.John was still becoming accustomed to finding his real paper books - which he admittedly hadnât touched in years, and most of which had belonged to his father - in odd places from where the youngster had been reading them.
"Good Morning," he greeted, as the young girl came over to the counter; her hand coming up to brush away a stray vagrant of brown hair behind her ear.
"Morning," Kellan replied quietly, as she climbed up onto the still slightly high stool and sat down; her legs swinging slightly as she settled herself and automatically reached for the glass of juice John now always put out for the youngster in the morning.
"You sleep okay?" Kennex asked around the coffee cup he had brought up to take a drink from; seeing the girl nod in return. Lowering the cup, John thought for a moment, before silently picking up a small package that had been sitting on the empty stool beside his and sliding it over the table to Kellan. "Here,"
Kellan frowned, as she lowered the glass and reached for the slightly messily wrapped package. She glanced between it and Kennex; slightly warily. âWhat is it?â
"Why donât you open it and find out?" The dark haired man asked, a raised eyebrow accompanying his question.
Kellan swallowed, as her attention returned to the package; her fingers clumsily ripping the paper until she was able to reach the packageâs contents and pull it out. It was a book - a real book- and the preteen recognized it immediately.
"Why-Why are you⊠giving me a book?" she asked, with confusion; looking up. "Why are you giving me one of your books?"
"Itâs not my book anymore- itâs yours," Kennex replied. "And as to why Iâm giving it you, is simple. Merry Christmas."
John never really thought much of Christmas anymore. His parents were gone and he barely had any extended family and limited friendsâso the same cheer and good feelings that saturated the rest of the country during Christmastime just didnât reach him anymore.
And why would it? His entire world is crap.
Or it was, itâs changed though, over the course of one eventful year.
Dorian was here now, and having never experienced Christmas, it occurred to John that he might be celebrating this year, even if itâs just to appease the curious android that he spent most of his time with now.
He would be dubious about it-doing all of this for an android-but if John has learned anything over the course of the this year, itâs that Dorian is unlike anyone John has ever known, and that he has to just go with the flow.
And thatâs why theyâre decorating Johnâs apartment in the most tacky Christmas decorations they can find. An obnoxiously large tree stands in the middle of the room, and John is covered in tinsel and is very unamused.
"This place looks ridiculous." John growls when theyâve finished.
"No it doesnât."  Dorian smirks, standing next to the tree and looking happier than anyone John has ever seen, "It looks amazing.â
"Whatever." John grumbles, before he shakes some glitter from his hair before looking over at the beaming android across the room, "Come here."Â
Dorian bounds over to him, the smile never leaving his face ad John rolls his eyes and gets to work brushing the glitter and tinsel from Dorianâs gray sweater that Rudy had given to him as an early Christmas present.
John cleans him up and grumbles.
Dorian notices that John makes sure to get every piece of shiny material off of Dorian before he resumes brushing himself off.
He smiles.
~
John had the idea in September. He knows Dorian is going to want to go all out for Christmas, and that he would be dragged along, so heâd started a drive, for lack of a better word.
Heâd asked Richard, Rudy, Valerie and Maldonado to each buy a present for the DRN, and wrap it and keep it a secret until John asked for it. Valerie and Rudy had smiled and agreed, Richard had smirked and accepted and Sandra had nodded.Â
Heâd been surprised he even came up with the idea, but he promptly decided it was a good one, because heyâDorianâs first Christmas should at least be as good as the Christmases he remembered when he was a kid. Why not? The guy was curious, and Christmas was supposed to be magical time of year and all that crap, and for some reason that John didnât want to think about, he wanted to do something nice for him.
He knew that Dorian had become quite popular at the precinct, hell, he knew that people seemed to really like the DRN, but he didnât expect to open his door on Christmas Eve and see his entire precinct troop in with brightly wrapped gifts and cards for the droid. They smile and greet John as they walk past, wishing him merry Christmas before they dump their presents under the tree and leave, some clapping him on the shoulder as he looks on with his mouth agape and his eyes wide.
Valerie walks in after and smiles at John before quipping, âWe got everyone else in on it too.â
"What the hell?" John asks, voice soft as he takes in the stacks upon stacks of gifts under the ridiculously overdecorated tree.
"People really like Dorian." Richard says, walking up to them and wrapping an arm around Valerieâs waist, "They think heâs sweet or something." he rolls his eyes and Val smacks him in the arm, smiling lightly.
On Christmas morning, Rudy âconvenientlyâ finishes running the tests on Dorianâs processors earlier than planned and takes him to Johnâs apartment, ignoring the androidâs questions.
The tech pushes Dorian inside an apartment filled with presents, and a blushing John, standing next to a tree with his hands in his pockets next to a smiling Sandra, Valerie and Richard.Â
They watch the DRNâs eyes light up like a joyful childâs and they all know they made the right choice.
