Peppermint

Chapter 39 - Christmas Lights

***GABE***

Christmas morning and I'm so stupid, counting only on my Gryffindor underwear and a Santa hat to keep me warm as I dart around the apartment to finally put together my gift for Harris. I wish I could help try and fix up the communications problems going on in this 'verse, but I know nothing about the tech involved. Nothing about how it really works, anyway. And until then, with no internet and no Netflix - and not enough DVDs in the collection because all our friends have managed to pilfer most of them - there's been precious little for me and Harris to do. Especially given that we've still got a memorial service lined up for TJ the day after Christmas. I haven't even had the heart to do much more than lie in bed crying most of the last couple of days. It's funny, I went into winter break thinking that'd be the time when Harris and I would finally just cut loose and have an entire day of sex as our excuse to keep warm. But no, I'm just not up to it right now.

What I am up to, though, is using my newfound powers for good. Not that I didn't already, but I'd just like to see if I can fine-tune them well enough to really entertain my man. I'm forever thankful that he's every bit the fanboy I want in my life, because if there's anything for us to have in common without it being hella creepy, that would be it. Well, aside from us being both boys who like boys. And other genders too, in his case.

But above all, my sweet little boyfriend is a fanboy, so I know he'll appreciate the gift I give him this year. For one thing, it'll include a little of his gift to me - the Gryffindor panties are the only ones I don't think he's seen me wear yet. Somehow I've gotten it into my head that having a leaping, roaring lion emblazoned on my crotch is even more extremely on the nose than the near-literal trouser snake on this pair's Slytherin counterpart. For another thing, it'll also include another favorite fandom of his, one he grew up with almost as closely as he did HP.

If, of course, I can actually pull this off.

Amazingly, I've been able to find a staple gun in a drawer in the kitchen. So weird that Annie can't keep us well-stocked with good food - except cherry tomatoes; she must really be all about those antioxidants and shit - but tools? Perish the thought of us living without them in this little apartment. Little enough that the noise this thing makes could wake up Harris all too easily, but that's a risk I'm going to have to take in order to pull this last-minute decoration off.

Now my next question is: after stapling what I need to staple, can I apply the paint around it properly without turning the lights on? Especially since it's not just, like, a general swath of new paint over this section of the wall. I have to actually see what I'm doing...and nope, I can't in the dark. Harris could do it if he wanted to, because one of his extra perks to having Dark warlock powers is night vision. But since I now have a power that would make me a Light Ice warlock if I were a human, night vision isn't a gift the universe will give me. No matter what holiday it is.

Luckily, Harris does nothing when I turn the light on, even. Is he still asleep? Somehow, I doubt it, given his tendency to be the first one to wake up between the two of us. And his tendency to be the first to try and get me off every morning.

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I'm dating a dog whom nobody neutered.

Once I get the new decorations in place, I kneel behind the side of the couch, the side facing the window. Satisfied that I've managed to hide my six-one Santa-stripper-looking bulk behind the furniture, I wrap my fingers around the string of light and turn on those closest to my skin. The lights turn on further up and down the string as I focus my energy, traveling closer to the wall - then retreating as I lose tiny bits of concentration. It's almost dripping off my forehead like sweat, and I'm finding myself reflexively wiping it away - which, of course, only makes it worse.