Potable - Holiday Angst Version

Day 21: Holiday Music

The Christmas Bazaar had practically anything Christmassy that you could imagine. They even had some potable champagne and other drinks that Gibbs wasn’t sure were worth taking home. The longer he listened to the holiday music they were playing, however, the more he wanted to drink something strong to try and drown it out.

Why were they playing something called Yellow Snow? Gibbs shook his head and continued to trail after Tony and Jackson as they explored the bazaar. Tony picked up the occasional Christmas trinket to look at it closer, but always set it back down.

Tony could tell Gibbs wasn’t really enjoying himself. He couldn’t help wondering what was bothering Gibbs now. He’d thought they’d resolved most of their issues for now.

Exchanging glances with Jackson, Tony wrapped his arm around Gibbs waist. “What’s wrong, Jethro?”

“Nothing.” Gibbs whispered.

Tony shot Gibbs a disappointed look.

“It’s really nothing. Continue with what you’re doing.”

“This is a family outing. Not a Tony outing. It should be enjoyable for all.” Tony pouted.

“It’s fine. Go ahead.”

Tony shook his head and grabbed Gibbs hand. “Come on. Let’s find something we all want to do.”

Gibbs shook his head. “You guys are enjoying yourself. Go ahead and continue looking.”

“Nah. There’s nothing I need here.” Tony shrugged. “Let’s go watch a movie and have some steaks or go to a museum or something that you’ll actually enjoy.”

Gibbs grunted. So long as they went somewhere not playing crazy holiday songs he’d be happy. A full month and more of holiday songs was enough.

Surely, they could play some other songs. Was it really necessary to repeat the same classic Christmas songs over and over during the holidays? Where was the originality and innovation? While it was true the Christmas Bazaar had some other holiday songs playing, they were weird enough to be disturbing in their own right and in fact were worse than the classics in terms of annoyance.

They left the Christmas Bazaar and proceeded to walk around town stopping at whatever interested them. Every time they entered a store playing Christmas music, Gibbs would grit his teeth and clench his muscles until they left. By the time they’d done this three or four times, Tony was starting to get a clue as to what the problem was.

“I know the perfect place. It’s owned by a friend of mine and they never play music, especially not holiday music.”

That sounded like heaven to Gibbs and he gestured for Tony to lead the way. Jackson followed along behind them silently thinking how sweet it was that Tony was looking after Gibbs. He hoped that this would be the start of a better relationship.

He knew that the way the relationship ended last time had hurt them both and wasn’t looking forward to a repeat. It seemed they’d both learned from their mistakes and were making progress. He just hoped it continued after the holidays.

Tony led the way to a store that he wouldn’t normally associate with Gibbs. As far as most people were concerned it was just an art store filled with paintings. The artist was a friend of Tony’s, so Tony knew all about the secrets hidden in the art store.

As promised, no music played when they entered the store. There was one area of the store sometimes filled with music, but even then it wasn’t holiday music. Tony’s friend, Roberto, came out and greeted them.

Tony took great delight in introducing both Gibbs and Jackson to Roberto. Roberto absolutely loved both Gibbs as Tony had known he would. Roberto was a fan of working with his hands and even though that wasn’t always obvious from his work, it was a big part of his store.

He had a workspace closed off from the rest of the art store where he created his inspirations or let other people do so. This whole month, the inspiration was Christmas themed. He’d gathered a lot of old Christmas breakables and other baubles that weren’t wanted anymore.

They lay stacked against the wall of the workshop, ready for someone to throw them and break them. A stereo was provided should people want to do it to music with the only rule no holiday music. Roberto also disliked the constant and steady stream of Christmas music and refused to have anything to do with it.

Gibbs had to admit it was rather cathartic to throw the Christmas ornaments with all his might against the wall and watch them shatter into a million pieces. While it didn’t eliminate the headache brought on by the holiday music, it did release some of the tension he felt. Tony explained that while Roberto’s fastest selling pieces were his paintings, his true love was sculptures and collages made using pieces of various items.

Roberto would use all the pieces they created to make new artwork. It might be holiday artwork, it might not be. It would be whatever came to Roberto’s mind when he used the pieces they created. Due to Roberto’s dislike of Christmas music, he tended not to create Christmas themed artwork, but sometimes he came up with something Christmassy.

Even Jackson seemed to be getting into breaking various Christmas items. Tony smiled happily as he also tossed some Christmas items against the wall. He was glad that his friend’s workshop had been such a hit.

It may not have been a normal family outing, but it worked for them and that was all that mattered and best of all in Gibbs’ mind, there was zero torturous holiday music.