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[fourthsaken]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, JADED. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 005.04.008.13 *** CHARACTER NAME/ALIAS has joined 005.04.008.13 <JADED> hey, you've reached Jade. <JADED> leave a message or whatever and i'll get back to you. <JADED> God, I hope this shitty thing actually works.

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[whatisay]

[What Jason was not expecting, along with the smell of pine, was the waft of were-bear smell. It's not anything a normal human would pick up, but Jason catches it before he even takes a look at Jade, in full color and tall as he is.]

Oh, no, don't tell me being a were is contagious.

[He opens the door for her and steps back, smiling faintly.]

Alright, but if you sing carols you have to do it outside. No reason I should suffer and the people down the hall shouldn't.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade rolls her eyes. She'd totally forgotten about Jason's weird thing against weres. But she's not going to let it ruin her good mood. She makes her way inside dragging all of the packages with her.]

I asked Mana for this. Do you ever look at the network?

[whatisay]

[In Jason's defense, it's not just weres! He's prejudiced against at least ten different categories of monsters, and finding new reasons to hate the others every day!]

No. [He knows she hates being a shade, but it baffles him a bit that she'd ask Mana to make her a different sort of monster.] It feels like going through other people's mail.

[Not that he's opposed to that, but you know.]

[fourthsaken]

No, it's not. If you put something on the network you want people to read it. It's not like a diary or journal or whatever.

[This is another argument Jade's sure she's not going to win, and she'd rather not push it and ruin the small chance she has of getting Jason to enjoy the plans she has for his apartment. She sets the tree in the most prominent spot in the main room of his apartment, before turning back to him.]

Besides your whole anti-were thing, it's cool, right? I look normal.

[She chews at her bottom lip, nervously waiting for his answer, careful not to pierce it with her sharp canines. She's not sure why she cares what Jason thinks, but she does.]

[whatisay]

Then people have a very funny idea of what other people should be reading about them. [Then again, people seem to have weird ideas about what other people should know about them at all, in Jason's book. He knows far too much about some of his coworkers and he doesn't even have to snoop for it. It takes some of the fun out of hoarding secrets when people have no shame.

He shrugs.] You're Jade Ellsworth, that's all I give a damn about. [Then he looks at the tree with skepticism.]

I hope you don't expect me to water that.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade can't help but smile at Jason's assessment of her changes. It's not the answer she was expecting or even what she thinks, she knows she looks way more normal and better like this, but it's still nice to hear.]

Dude, you don't have to water it. I'll take care of it. All you've gotta do is help me decorate.

[whatisay]

[Jason gives her an incredulous look, like she's just told him that he doesn't have to water it but does have to walk up a hill both ways on her whim.]

Why do I need to decorate my apartment? Next thing you'll be wanting to drag me over to a Christmas sermon on the day of.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade does not even dignify Jason's reluctance with a response, opting instead to start sorting out the boxes she brought over. Jade can be fiercely determined when she wants to and it turns out that she's decided to take the spreading of holiday cheer very seriously this year.]

We're decorating together. It's gonna be fun. And I'm not gonna force you, but I'm going to mass on Christmas eve if you wanna come along.

[whatisay]

I'd rather eat a rifle than step foot into a church again. [Jason snorts.] They're almost as bad as cemeteries. Mother was always trying to guilt me into coming with her, crying on me and pawing at me to come on Sundays.

[He goes over to the tree and, absently, takes a branch in hand and rubs it against his chin and cheek. Instinct.]

Alright. What sort of decorations are you talking about? Some of those plants people use give me hayfever.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade rolls her eyes at Jason's dramatic refusal to go to church. (As if she hadn't been more dramatic on more than one occasion when she'd refused to go with her brother.)] Fine. No church.

[She resumes digging through the boxes, pulling out more and more decorations: boxes of ornaments, ribbons, a hand-sewn stocking, some candles...]

You're allergic to pine? I didn't know that was a thing.

[whatisay]

Good. I've got no room for scripture in my day.

[He crouches down to look through the boxes, looking alert when Jade pulls and dangles a ribbon.]

No, not pine. I wouldn't be rubbing my face on a pine tree if it were that. It's the Bethlehem flowers, the poinsettias.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade grins as soon as she notices Jason's reaction to the ribbon. She pulls out a handful, all different colors, offering it to him. She just hopes his cat instincts will take over enough for him to have some fun.]

I didn't get any poinsettias. And I couldn't find any tinsel, but ribbon'll work, right?

[whatisay]

[The ribbon's less fun when he's the one holding it, so after a moment of absently picking at it he loses interest again. Only to get distracted when Jade puts a decorative ball on the tree, which wobbles on the branch. Perhaps he's going to come to appreciate Christmas more now that shiny objects and flickering lights provide such amusement to him.]

Sure. Look, did you... [He pauses, then gets up and goes from the tree to start boiling some water on the stove for them to have something to drink.] What was all this holiday business like at your home?

[fourthsaken]

[She's still unpacking, and the box of decorations gets especially interesting when he asks the question. The tendrils on her back sway slightly, betraying her discomfort. Her voice doesn't waver though, as she unearths a hand-made fabric garland from the bottom of the box.]

... That depends. It was a huge deal before my mom died. This whole like, perfect family thing.

[whatisay]

I wouldn't know. No Compson would. We wouldn't understand "perfect family" if it had itself signed by a notary and delivered to our parlor.

[He pulls more decorations out of the box and starts to hang them, haphazardly and with no regard for spacing or aesthetics, on the nearest branches.]

Mother always made such a fuss about getting Ben dressed up, as if he knew what day it was, but then she'd give the n- the servants the day off and there wouldn't be no one to fit him in those awful rags she called his Sunday best. The whole day was a circus, every time. I don't recall a single year it wasn't.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade can't quite hide her frown as she listens to Jason talk about his unhappy holidays back home. She quietly watches him decorate the tree haphazardly, letting him take charge even if he's putting very little care into the process. She doesn't want to take over a holiday he already doesn't like. Jade's holidays have been rough since her mom died, but before that they were always wonderful. She feels bad that Jason has never had that.]

That sucks. If you want, we can make this Christmas better than that.

[whatisay]

Not if you take me to Christmas Mass, you can't, [he teases, not uncomfortable to bitch about his family but not wanting to drag Jade down at the moment.]

I was just planning on spending it here. I wouldn't even have to worry about the postman being chatty. The only problem is that the only thing on the radio is those damn holiday jingles.

[fourthsaken]

[That doesn't sound like a good Christmas to Jade. She shifts from one foot to another, mulling over the right invitation in her head. If she does this wrong, she's sure Jason won't accept it.

She busies herself with rearranging ornaments on the tree, not looking Jason in the eyes as she continues, trying her best to sound casual.]

If you wanted to come over for Christmas Ever. I'm gonna have dinner and stuff before I got to mass. I mean, it won't be a big deal, but if you wanted to come, you're invited. I haven't invited anyone else yet, so we can make sure no one you don't like is there.

[whatisay]

[He wants to say no. To do so would be to protect his pride, which feels bruised and battered over the last year and a half of humiliations and indignities. For a moment he looks like he's about to say that, but then he gets up and goes to the water boiling on the stove instead.

He's lonely, and he hates to even acknowledge that. Not long ago he would have turned her down to spare his pride in a form of self-inflicted sabotage. He sighs. He doesn't know why he can't be happy to accept her offer.]

I'd be obliged if you saved a serving for me.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade can't hide how excited she is that Jason accepted her offer. She grins at him, returning to decorating with her original enthusiasm. As casual as she tried to act, it's obvious that it would've been crushing if Jason had refused to show up.]

Okay. Cool. Would it be okay if I invited Enjolras too?

[whatisay]

[Jason doesn't grin back at her. He gives her a sort of weak smile as if he were facing some sort of cancer diagnosis and trying to seem happy about it, and it turns into a frown at her mention of their boss.]

He has it in for me, you know.

[fourthsaken]

[Jade can't help but give him a confused look. She has no clue why Jason would think Enjolras would do anything to harm him.]

What are you talking about?

[whatisay]

I mean that he's looking for any excuse to humiliate and even fire me. He's only started scheduling me on opposite shifts from him because he can't stand the sight of me, but the instant he remembers I work for him I'm gone. He'll kick me out on the streets.

[There's a kind of manic energy to the way Jason says that; he seems to switch from his usual dreary irritation to something more fervent.]

[fourthsaken]

[Jade is openly confused, unable to imagine how anyone could think such things about Enjolras, especially someone close to him.]

Have you tried talking to him about this?

[whatisay]

Why would I do that? The instant I let him know he's gotten to me is when he'll start lording it over me. Or he'll deny it and make me out to look like a fool.