Chapter Text
Hotel Casablanca had to look its best during the Christmas season. The weeks leading up to December saw large crews bringing in all kind of decorations and displays, stringing every blank face with lights, making sure everything looked bright and festive, and the entire process was overseen by Celly. She would receive a hefty binder containing the approved plans for decorations this year and set out to make sure everything was up to standard.
As the crews brought in the garden decorations, she was there to make sure every reindeer was placed perfectly to be seen from the road; as the palm trees out front were wrapped in lights, she was there to make sure that they were offset to give the scene a more organic feel; as the real 20 foot Douglas Fir Christmas tree was brought in to adorn the Grand Entrance, she was there to make sure it was framed perfectly to be seen through the doors without obstructing the flow of guests.
And she also loved taking a more hands-on approach. The tree needed wrapped gifts underneath it after all; so many lights meant that some would burn out from time to time; and hanging smaller decorations around the hotel helped give her a warm feeling, like she was decorating her home.
Waverly enjoyed the Christmas spirit as well, but to a much lesser extent. Cold waters rendered the beaches and water park closed, and busy Christmas tourists meant she wasn’t needed at the pool as often, so once again she had become Celly’s assistant, officially titled the Decorations Coordinator Assistant. So of course Celly had volunteered herself, and Waverly, to be the ones to decorate the tree.
The pair sat at the front entrance, surrounded by dozens of rolls of wrapping paper, bows, and miles of ribbon, deftly wrapping empty boxes to be placed underneath the bare tree for a more homely look. They were on a tight schedule today, they only had one hour to wrap and place the presents before the tree decorations arrived, but they were making good progress! Sterling engineering at its finest, they were neck and neck, having wrapped the exact same number of gifts, which currently sat behind each Nandroid in a large pile.
“Did you already use the powder blue ribbon on the lime polka dot paper?” Waverly asked as she finished curling the final bow on her current gift, reaching over for another box to start again.
“No I haven’t, those colors would go great together! Can you pass the red crinkle ribbon?” They chatted away as they conferred on which colors would look best and never once was a color scheme repeated, each present had to be unique.
Once the boxes were all wrapped they placed them under the tree, but not all willynilly, it had to be strategic! Only an exact placement of the gifts would evoke the correct amount of Christmas cheer and holiday happiness! And just in time, as the final gift was being nestled in the center, the 15 box delivery of tree decorations arrived at the front door, to be received by Celly.
She directed them in right next to the tree and her and Waverly got to work immediately. Each box was opened and its contents cataloged before the pair began, talking the entire time about what kind of layout they should have and where each thing would go best.
They first started with the lights. One loop of large white bulbs, another loop of smaller icicles, and a third of even smaller lights still, following with a generous wrapping of tinsel. Waverly dove into a box, retrieving an armful of white fabric ribbons that would go on next as Celly plugged in all the lights.
“Celly, check it out. BoOoOoOooo, I’m a ghoOoOoOoOost!” Waverly warbled, arms held wide, having draped the long, billowy ribbons across herself. Celly was not amused.
“Waverly, be serious! We can’t waste time...hold on.” Celly dropped her things and pulled out a small camera from her pocket.
“Stand in front of the tree, here.” She pointed out a spot and Waverly dutifully shambled over, dragging the ribbons along. Celly took a few low shots, making sure the light shone through the fabric. What a neat picture! Waverly heard the clicks and started to remove the outfit.
“Wait, hold on!” Celly instructed. She went to a different angle and took a few more pictures...but this would never do! This small pocket camera would never produce the kind of quality she wanted!
“Waverly, wait right there, don’t move!” As Celly rushed to her room she could hear her friend mumbling in agreement. She had to hurry! There was so much to do today, but certainly a short break was in order? She returned with her trusty Polaroid camera and started taking new pictures, collecting them as they printed out of the camera. Splendid! Bold! Dare she say, artistic!?
“Can I take this off yet?” Waverly asked, facing the opposite way from where Celly had moved.
“No, keep it on! And stay in character!” Waverly raised her arms again and called out to the void.
”BoOoOoOooo, I’m a ghoOoOoOoOost!” The more Celly admired Waverly and her new look, the more an idea began to take hold.
“Waverly, do you remember reading A Christmas Carol in school?”
“Yeah,” Waverly replied, frozen in her spooky pose.
“You look just like one of the Ghosts of Christmas.”
“Woah, really?”
“Yes! If I was a human, I would be very scared right now.”
“Why are ghosts scary again?”
“Because they wear sheets. All ghosts wear sheets.”
“Oh. I think I forgot that.”
“I can’t-, I mean, we can’t let this moment escape us. We need to get some location shots!”
“Location shots for what?” Celly puffed out her chest and made a grandiose display to announce her idea to Waverly, who still couldn’t see anything from behind the mass of ribbons.
“For my production of A Nandroid’s Christmas Carol!” The silence that followed didn’t deter her spirit in the slightest, all great creators were misunderstood in the beginning.
“Cool, can I help?”
“Well, yes Waverly, you have to be the ghosts.”
“Awesome.”
“Now, from the top!”
“”BoOoOoOooo, I’m a ghoOoOoOoOost!” Celly took a few more pictures with the tree backdrop and then started moving throughout the hotel, finding locations that would fit the stories motif. An empty, dimly lit room with Waverly holding an outstretched hand, pointing to the camera made the perfect shot for the opening scenes. Each ghost needed something different, something special to denote them and it was great fun running around with Waverly to many different areas trying to find the best places and angles.
”BoOoOoOooo, I’m a ghoOoOoOoOost!” rang throughout the hotel as the two moved around, Celly in the lead, guiding the blind Waverly by hand.
“Hmm, this lighting is all wrong, it’s not nearly scary enough. Let’s see…” Celly trailed off, trying to think of where else they could get a great shot for the scene she had in mind. This deserted balcony shot just wasn’t going to do it.
“What about the food pantry? It’s dark in there, plus there’s scary stuff like knives,” Waverly said.
“Waverly, you’re a genius! Come on, but be careful, we don’t want to be seen!” It was becoming obvious, even to Celly, that they had spent too much time on this endeavor and so she quickened her pace and attempted to be more stealthy, trying to avoid the judging eyes of the other hotel employees.
The two arrived to the kitchens and snuck in through the swinging doors, the chef robots too busy with dinner prep to notice them coming in. Celly drug Waverly along and into the back part of the kitchen into the pantry, gently closing the door behind them.
“This place is perfect! Now grab one of those knives and-” The lights clicked on as the door was pushed open.
“What are you two doing?” Oh no, it was Barney, the front desk clerk!
”BoOoOoOooo, I’m a gho-” Celly lunged at Waverly, covering her mouth and tearing the ribbons off of her and shoving them into her hand, hiding her camera into the middle of the bundle.
“Oh Barney, hello! Waverly was just, uh, untangling some ribbons! I was helping her!” Celly said, trying to look at innocent as possible.
“Why are you in the food store?” Barney asked, eyeing them suspiciously.
“Because it’s scarier, dude.” Waverly chimed in as Celly released her head. Waverly really needed a talking to about this behavior and how, sometimes, white lies were best for humans.
“Wav-! Yes! Scarier, so that guests wouldn’t bother us! There was a rather large tangle in this ribbon!” Celly said, putting on her most innocent smile. Barney looked from Celly, to Waverly, to the ground, and sighed.
“Is the tree decorated yet?”
“Not yet, almost!” Celly replied.
“Get the tree done, we’ve got two VIP’s coming in tomorrow for the season and we’re going to look like a Motel 7 with a big empty tree and no decorations.” Barney snapped.
“Yes, sir! Right away!” Celly barked at the received order.
“You got it, man,” followed Waverly. Another sigh from Barney and he left the pair alone, going back to whatever task had brought him there in the first place. Celly and Waverly left the kitchen and went back to the entrance, finally ready to finish the tree decorations, but not before Celly dropped her camera and pictures off in their room. She was very excited to go over them with Waverly that night and get everything prepared for the next step of her movie.