Christmas Spirits

Claude stumbled towards his appartment, wondering whether or not going for more alcohol after dropping Valentin and Rhea had disappeared was a good idea or not. The young blond had not been as used to alcohol as much as the others, and so they'd taken him home after being kicked out of the Capulet household. Rhea seemed pretty torn up about her hair being messed up, and had also left. Leaving Theo and Claude to go in search for more alcohol. Because this did seem like the smartest thing to do.

With Theo behind him, Claude tried to control his laughter, opening his apartment door and turning to look at his friend as he spoke. "It's pretty small like, but I doubt it matters. And I have a bottle of special whiskey somewhere, Christmas seems like a good occasion to-!" he trailed off as he turned on the light to find it was already turned on, blinking as he saw the person sat on his couch. He blinked again, trying to figure out if it was his imagination or not.

"Err," he rubbed the back of his neck. "Hey there, Réne."

Theo grinned as he stumbled in behind Claude. "Who cares about space when you have booze?" he said, shrugging as he entered, before stopping behind the other man. "Wait, you have company? Oh cool." And then with a sudden realisation dawning upon him, Theo realised that this was in fact not cool, that he recognised the woman sitting there.

"Um," he began, looking between his old headmistress and his new drinking friend, a little confused and hoping she wouldn't recognise him, "do you two know each other?"

So Claude had missed Christmas. He had actually missed bloody Christmas! And Iréne wasn't the type that forgave easily. So she had gone to his house to get him (hunt him down), but she once she was inside she realized that her darling brother was not there. So the woman did the only thing she thought she could do and she sat down and waited. Because she was going to kill him.

But it wasn't until Claude came home, when Iréne realized just how brutally she was going to murder her brother.

"Are you kidding me?" the words came out of her mouth before she could stop herself. She stood up from the couch, her hands finding her hips as she stared from her brother to Theseus Capulet, a former student of hers. "I think the correct question there, Theseus, is in the form of me asking you two how you know each other." her eyebrows narrowed. "Are you two drunk? On Christmas? Together?" Death. "Care to explain to me, dearest Claude, why you're drinking with a boy half your age on Christmas? Is this some weird midlife crisis?"

Claude cleared his throat, gesturing towards Iréne awkwardly at the question Theo asked, figuring seeing as she was too busy trying to figure out why the two men were together to answer. "This is my sister," Claude explained, wondering exactly how young Theo was, and whether or not he could've been Iréne's student at one point. Knowing his luck, probably.

"Okay, really, it's not as bad as it looks," Claude started. Though he really didn't know where to go from there. "And technically, I was drinking with two boys and a girl, and they're not quite half my age. I'm not that old," think with your brain, Claude, not your tongue. "And I'll totally make it up to you tomorrow. Or on New Years. Or next year," he decided there was only one thing left to do. "Would you care for a drink, Réne?"

He turned back to Theo, whispering quite loudly. "Would it be weird for you to drink with her? I'm assuming she was your headmistress at one point?"

Oh dear she remembered him. Theo supposed they'd only allowed two years to forget, but he still got a bizarre feeling in his stomach. He'd managed to make friends with her brother? Ohohohohoh.

"To be fair Miss, it wasn't entirely his fault," Theo began, looking at Claude awkwardly. "It's down to me andy sister really... But they don't signpost Christmas clearly enough, y'know? There should be some clear indication of Christmas day starting." He bit his lip. She was not amused. He didn't want to set her off further.

"Um, I'll have one if you're having one," he murmured quietly to Claude, before feeling a hint of the giggles and turning his face into the shadow in an attempt to obscure them, biting hard on his lip.

Iréne was quite glad that Theseus was not her student anymore, because now she wouldn't feel as guilty when she killed him.

Her eyebrows narrowed even more. "So, you guys just 'missed' Christmas? How the hell does one miss Christmas? Have you even taken a moment to think about Magali and Gabe that were expecting Uncle Claude to come for Christmas?" she resisted the urge to throw something at her brother, he didn't have anything sharp enough lying around. "And really Claude, what happened to hanging around with people your own-" she stopped. Did Theseus mention something about it being his and his... sister's fault? Who was his sister? Capulet. Artemis. Theseus. Rhea. Athe- "You've been drinking with Rhea Capulet?!"

Yeah, she was really going to need that drink. "I don't think you two need any more drinks, but I - without a bloody doubt - do. Something strong enough to make me forget this day."

Claude nodded in full agreement with the suggestion of having Christmas better sign posted. Definitely needed it to be better sign posted. That was the best idea he'd heard all day. Posting of signs. He needed another drink to help make his thoughts clearer. Or something.

He grimaced at the mention of his niece and nephew. "I genuinely do feel bad about not coming to see them. I have presents ready for them, I just...lost track of the days I guess?" he didn't really remember. His mind was too hazy. All thoughts of apologising were wiped clean as Rhea's name came up. Tread lightly, Claude. Very, very lightly. "Err, yeah, Rhea. What's...what's wrong with Rhea? She seemed like an okay girl," stop talking.

He grinned as his sister agreed to the drink, moving straight for his alcohol cupboard and pulling out the special whiskey, grabbing a glass from the counter and pouring some liquid in before passing it to her. He attempted to subtly hand the bottle to Theo as he hoped his sister would get distracted enough they could just drink straight from the bottle.

"He does feel terrible, he was talking about them all night," Theo said quickly, having no idea who these people were. He smiled at her before doing his best not to snatch up the bottle and take it like an inconspicuous human being. "Oh, my shoelace," he said in a voice that threatened to break with laughter, before kneeling down and concealing the long swig behind the curious feather boa he was still adorned in.

Straightening up, he passed the bottle back and looked at his old Professor. "Merry Christmas, though," he began as a mirage of sniggers began to overtake him; he shoved the end of the boa in his mouth in an attempt to stifle them.

"Did our mother seriously drop you this often as a baby?" Iréne had noticed that she wasn't doing very well at being adult-like, especially for a Headmistress, but she always turned a bit childish around Claude, and it wasn't like Theseus was her student anymore so did it really matter? "I can't believe you! First off, Rhea Capulet is like... eighteen? She graduated like what? Months ago! And then she's a bit..." She remembered her from school, walking around a bit like she owned the place. Annoying. "You shouldn't be hanging around with them."

The woman just really wanted to hit her brother. In the face, she wasn't even sure where all of this anger and aggressive behaviour was coming from, she sometimes wanted to throw stuff, but right now she really felt like actually hurting the two men in front of her. "You two need to stop drinking." she said, shaking her head as she sat back down on the couch." she sighed, looking at her brother again. "Seriously, what happened to all the people your age? Have they all stopped drinking and that's why you're hanging out with the young crowd? And Theseus, look at you, don't you have little sisters that look up to you? Is this what the two of you want your families to see?" Guilt tripping, she liked that.

Iréne pouted slightly, taking a sip from her drink before she added. "You're not getting any left over Christmas food from me, Claude."

"Absolutely terrible. I always talk so much about Mags and Gabe. I'm so proud of my niece and nephew," he could not think of a better person to have behind him than Theo at that moment in time. New favourite person in the world. Where was this kid when he was trying to dodge his parents as a kid and needed back-up?

"Eighteen, really?" he pictured the girl. He felt kind of guilty for admiring how pretty she was now. Kind of. "That's not the point. They were in the bar, I was playing...responsible adult or something," he defended. "It was a birthday party or something, you know how much I love birthdays."

"All the people my age are boring and have children," Claude muttered. "Though I think his younger siblings need to see what happens if you drink too much. You end up wandering round with a feather boa- seriously, where did you get that?"

"I think we all just need to relax and have a drink.. To Christmas," Claude decided, taking the bottle back, surpressing a giggle at Theo's merry christmas. Though at the sound of not getting leftover chrismas dinner struck horror in him. "I'm so sorry about everything. I'll never miss Christmas again."

When Gabriel woke up, it took him a while to remember where he was. He was panting slightly and he felt wetness on his back, making his shirt stick to his skin. Tears prickled his eyes and fear was visible on his face, though no one saw in the darkness. Gabe slipped from the bed after he realized he was in uncle Claude's flat.

He bit his lip and pushed open the door gently, eyes searching the room for his mum.

'Maman! Where are you maman? I had a nightmare,' he whimpered, sending the message to his mother's mind over and over again as he stood in the hallway on wobbly legs.

"He's very responsible," Theo said, nodding vigorously through the feather boa. "Bought us drinks and everything." He grinned as Claude asked him about it, shrugging. "I don't know. Someone put it round my neck. Maybe they were trying to strangle me." He threaded the other half around Claude's neck and smiled, when all of a sudden some kid burst into the room.

"I resent that," Theo said in response to his old headmistress, putting his hands on his hips. "Rhea came out to drink with us and she hates me and I hate her so you know, you actually have to like someone to model their behaviour. And Athena spends her whole time convinced we all hate her or something, I don't know, she's a teenager, they're all like that. And Baby's a baby. She probably doesn't know who I am other than Nappy Changer and Food Bringer From On High. So, you know, they won't model me. Plus I've already been told off by like, all of them. They make me out worse than I am, so don't guilt trip me, guilt trip them. Honestly." He stopped then, what he had just said beginning to sink in. "Um. If you want, Professor, you can um, just pretend I wasn't here."

"Oh my God, there's more of you," he said, raising his eyebrows and looking at the boy, wondering if he should know this kid. He was too young. And Theo was probably too drunk. Never mind. Life went on.

"Talk about them so much that you just forget them on Christmas." Iréne muttered, glaring slightly at her brother and his friend. "Midlife crisis if I ever saw one."

Then suddenly Gabe's voice was in her head, and Iréne pushed herself up from the couch, putting the glass down on the table and hurrying towards her son. "Sweetie," she bent down to wrap her arms around Gabriel. "You had a nightmare? Come here!" She pulled him up from the floor and into her embrace, before carrying him to the couch. "Do you wanna say hello to uncle Claude and his friend?" she gestured towards her brother as she sat down and placed Gabriel in her lap.

Iréne then looked at Theo, realizing she had never answered him and his speech about his family earlier. "Theseus, I think it's best if we try to ignore the fact that you're almost closer to my son in age than my brother and that I used to be your headmistress and that I know your family, but I must advice you to try to keep a calendar close by next time you two go out."

Claude couldn't help but let out a small giggle at the suggestion of 'buying drinks' for the young'ns to be 'responsible'. He couldn't help but stroke the feather boa when Theo put it round his neck. "What a nice way to be stranged," he said in a light tone. It was very soft.

And then all of a sudden there was Gabe, standing in his appartment, looking slightly fightened and very sleepy. "What's Gabe doing here?" he asked, though now he thought about it it was curious that his sister would leave her children alone. At least nightmare explained his frightened face.

"Hey buddy," Claude greeted. If Gabe was here, did that mean Mags was? Best not tell Theo that. "This is my friend Theo," Claude patted the younger man on the back, before putting the bottle of alcohol behind his back. "I've been helping him out with some really important stuff," like getting drunk. "Have you enjoyed Christmas?"

The people there were making Gabriel even more nervous. He buried his head in his mother's shoulder and moved close to her, refusing to look at his uncle or at the stranger. He curled up on his mum's lap as she sat down on the couch and his arms wrapped around her shoulders.

'I did, and Maggy would not wake up. It was scary maman,' he muttered into her head, his cheeks heating up because he felt slightly afraid. He was too old to get so upset over nightmares, wasn't he? He was seven now.

'Hello Uncle Claude, why weren't you there today? Maggy and I made you a present, but you we could not give it,' he told his uncle, moving his head from his mother's shoulder to look at his uncle, and then at his friend. He still did not want to talk out loud, even though he knew that he wasn't supposed to talk to strangers the way he talked to family. Especially not strangers that were drinking Uncle Claude's special drinks.

'Hello Theo, are you a new friend? I haven't seen you before.'

Theo swore grossly, jumping back a few feet and crashing into something begind him, clutching at his head. "How smashed am I?" He must be trollied. Absolutely twatted. Or going mad. He looked at the kid, feeling a mix of awe and terror, and nodded. "Hi... Gabe..." Was that his name? This was bizarre. "So what, is he extra specially gifted or something? Or am I just delirious? His flipping voice was in my head. I don't even know what he sounds like."

He shook his head. This was bizarre. This was so bizarre. This was... "His voice was in my head," Theo repeated. "How did it get there? I need a drink."

Iréne rested her head on Gabriel's head. "They're gone now, sweetie. Mommy's here to protect you." she whispered, holding they boy closer to her chest.

She gave her brother a look. "Do you seriously think I'd leave them alone?" With Henri somewhere out there trying to steal them from me? "Magali is asleep in your bed." she added, glancing from Claude and over at Theseus. "That means that there are even more of us."

She really hoped Gabriel would manage to make Claude feel awful about missing Christmas, seeing as she didn't seem to have succeeded in it, but the boy had more talents than just talking without using his mouth.

When Theseus freaked out, Iréne had to bite her lip not to laugh. "Gabriel," she gave her son a look, trying to hide her amusement. "What have I told you about talking out loud? You need to do it, especially around strangers." she looked over at Theseus again. "Gabriel can talk to us with his mind, even though," she looked back at her son. "-He's been told he's not supposed to over-use that talent. I think you scared Theo a little Gabie." He totally deserved it though. Good Gabriel.

Claude grimaced as Gabe mentioned something about him and his sister having made Claude a gift. Way to go ruin Christmas. "I'm sorry Gabe, I wish I could've been there. I was so busy with everything, I didn't realise what time it was till too late!" he put on his best smile. "How about we celebrate tomorrow, instead. We can have a second Christmas, just for us, and Mags and your mum? Does that sound good?"

"No, I don't think you'd leave them alone, I didn't expect them to be here though. Then again, I didn't expect you to be here," he tried to wrap his head around the situation. He couldn't. He was far too drunk for that. He turned to Theo, holding up one finger. "Just one more of us. Little niece, Mags, err, you know, the one I was telling you about."

Claude happily handed the bottle back to Theo though, after the younger man had to endure the horror of having Gabe in his head for the first time. "So," Claude started, clapping his hands and turning back to his sister and nephew. "Who's up for ice-cream? I have a sudden craving for it."

Gabe listened to what his uncle said and finally nodded, he supposed he could settle that. It meant he got Christmas twice, which wasn't so bad. 'Will maman make more chocolate cake then?" he asked hesitatingly. 'It's not really Christmas if we don't have the cake,' he added, biting softly on his lip.

He then turned to his mother, giving her an apologetic look. 'I'm sorry, but I don't want to talk out loud, can I not do it tomorrow?' he asked, fiddling with the hem of his pyjamas before he once more looked at uncle Claude's new friend.

'I am sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. Did you forget about Christmas too?'

Theo accepted the bottle quickly, taking a large gulp, before grinning down at the kid. "Okay, that took me by surprise. You're the famous Gabe then."

He staggered back a little as the voice came into his head again, wondering how on earth the other two seemed so used to it. "Okay mate, could you maybe... speak out loud?" He was both a little creeped out and not wanting the effects of a hangover to arrive yet. Better keep drinking. "Or you know... Hey, Gabe, I'm Theo. I've heard a lot about you," he said, grinning quickly at Claude. "And yeah, you could say that, but it's okay, because I was with my sister and my friends so I'll be forgiven."

Iréne raised her eyebrows. "Since when did I agree on a second Christmas? There wont be any christmas food for you there," she glared at her brother. "You can have chinese food as we eat left over of the meal I cooked for us." she continued to glare. "And you missed."

Iréne then rolled her eyes. "Did you really expect me to let you off easily, Claudiecloud?" she mocked. "Maybe I'm not here, maybe you're being delusional from all the special drinks you've been drinking. I hope you wakeup tomorrow with the worst headache ever." she looked over at Gabriel, frowning slightly and then back at Claude.

"But... if Gabe and Mags can forgive you for not attending Christmas, I guess I can too." Not.

Chocolate cake. Claude wouldn't mind having chocolate cake right about now. Chocolate cake, or pizza. Something with cheese. Lots and lots of cheese. He pouted as Iréne still refused to give him christmas food, deciding that this meant he was entitled to more alcohol, taking the bottle back and drinking straight from it. Man this was good stuff.

"Maybe I am being dillusional," he said, raising the bottle again. "And if so, that means I imagined this entire christmas fiasco, and I can continue to drink my special drink with Theo and pretend that everything's wonderful and pretty."

"Really though, I am sorry for missing Christmas, Réne. And Gabe. I have presents ready for you, so if we can have a second christmas, you'll be able to have them," he nudged Theo. "If not I can always have a late Christmas with Theo here."

Gabriel pouted as Theo asked him to speak out loud. He wasn't going to do that, not while it was so late. Because he didn't want to. Gabe slipped off his mum's lap and crawled into his uncle's lap, leaning back against him as he stifled a yawn. 'Your friend doesn't like it when I speak in his head,' he informed Claude. Even though Theo had just said that out loud.

'Mamman, why can uncle Claude not eat with us then? There is enough, you always make too much. And Maggie and I would help you make a new chocolate cake!' he told her, pulling his legs onto the couch. It would be kind of mean to make Uncle Claude eat Chinese while they had all the good food, wouldn't it?

At the mention of presents, Gabe grinned happily. "Yay presents!" he said happily, not even noticing he said it out loud this time.

Theo grinned as Claude nudged him. "I'm game. We did miss Christmas after all. And my sister's angry so we won't be allowed back in. So, you know, we might as well have our own Christmas." He didn't think that would be appreciated by Irene or Gabriel, somehow. "I'm sorry he missed Christmas too. Seriously."

He smiled as the kid spoke outside of Theo's head, and suddenly felt the need to sit down, dropping to sit on the carpet. "Special drinks, do you have any of them? Otherwise I'm gonna start feeling specially ill over Christmas," he said with a smile, looking up at Claude.