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Marvin never really liked the holiday season.
Growing up, he had a quite well-off family, and his parents certainly got *each other* considerate gifts, but though Marvin usually got everything he wanted with enough badgering and complaining, his parents seemed to only gift him with things they *wanted* Marvin to want. A guide for making friends, a poster of the female pop-star of the year, a book on how to pick up a girl – gifts that clearly showed his parents attempting to “fix” their son’s relationships.
It seemed that even though Marvin had gotten a girlfriend and, eventually, a wife, his parents felt that his attraction to these women was never… sincere enough. Growing up with the holiday season being less about joyful gift exchange around a fireplace and more about his parents trying to correct their son’s behavior, Marvin was left with a sour attitude about the holidays. After he gained a son, however, he made a bit of an effort to cheer up towards the season, if only to make sure that Jason had a better experience than Marvin’s.
His typical anxiety built as he waited for Trina to drop Jason off – they’d decided on Jason spending half the Hannukah days at The Weisenbachfields’, and half the days with Marvin (and, by extension, Whizzer). Jason’s gifts sat wrapped on the table, waiting for him to pick one for each night; Marvin found himself picking at the tape on one of them. His nerves were beginning to dwindle when he heard a knock on his door, to the tune of some musical he only vaguely recognized – Company , maybe? He went to the door, grinning as he saw his son. Jason bounded into the living room, eager to open his gifts and spend time with his dad.
“Dad! You gotta hear what Mom and Mendel got me yesterday! Okay, so, I opened it, and I was like, ‘what is this?’, but then I realized! They got me an NES, Dad, how cool is that?!” Jason rambled as he dropped his bag onto Marvin’s couch. Marvin listened to Jason’s excitement as best as he could, considering he wasn’t really up to date on the whole video game thing. Jason went on a bit longer, talking about how the first night of Hanukkah at the Weisenbachfield household was, and Marvin began absentmindedly setting up Jason’s old chessboard. “Sounds like you had a good time, huh, kid? Hey, while we wait for the sun to set, do you maybe want to play a quick game of chess?” Chess had always been the main shared interest of the two, so Marvin was always inclined to turn to chess when they ran out of conversation topics. “Huh? Oh, yeah, sure! On account of the holiday season, I’ll try not to win too quickly,” Jason said with a grin.
The two were nearly finished with their game when there was a polite knock at the door. Marvin rose to answer it, smiling when he saw who was behind it. “Hope I’m not too early, here; I tried to get here before sunset, y’know..” Whizzer explained, setting a few gifts down on the dining table. “Whiz! I forgot you were gonna be here!” Jason exclaimed, running up to Whizzer and shaking his hand gleefully.
“So, what’re you guys up to?” “Well, I’m about to win a game of chess, for starters,” Jason replied, giggling at his father’s reaction from across the chess board. Whizzer chuckled and watched the game, looking over Marvin’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you, kid – and hey, your father’s… not the best at chess to begin with,” Whizzer said, earning him a glare from Marvin.
“Okay, knight takes c6, and…that’s checkmate! Sorry, Dad,” Jason declared without any hint of remorse. Jason shook his father’s hand over the board, really as more of a technicality from chess clubs than as a required action, and the two began to quickly pack the pieces back into their worn case. “Oh, that capture might’ve been too aggressive, I chipped the corner of this knight…again,” mumbled Jason to himself. “That reminds me, actually, it’s just about sundown now, so we should be good to light the menorah now,” Marvin remarked, checking out the window. He retrieved the menorah and candles from a nearby shelf.
After the candles were lit and the blessings recited, Jason tapped Marvin impatiently and asked, “Daaaaad, can I pick a gift now?” Marvin was about to respond when Whizzer interjected, “Actually, that reminds me. I got you two something…” and reached over to the table, retrieving 2 boxes wrapped with light blue paper. “Aw, Whizzer, you shouldn’t have! I never said you had to bring anything…” Marvin began, pausing to look over at Jason, who was tearing the paper off of his box excitedly. Upon opening the box, though, Jason looked up at Whizzer with a puzzled look. “Wait, uh… Whizzer, why’s there only…?” he trailed off, seeing Marvin holding a near- identical box.
“Whiz, what’s this about?” Marvin asked quietly, opening the box. In it, set in indents of velvet, was a set of black chess pieces. Jason leaned up to see Marvin’s gift, then looked back down at his box – a set, in the same velvet, of white pieces. “Oh, Whizzer…” Marvin muttered, tearing up. “You really didn’t have to…” “I heard Jason talking a while ago about how his favorite set has gotten beaten up over the years. I couldn’t get the exact pieces, but I hope this is close enough–” Whizzer was cut off by Marvin embracing him with a soft “thank you…”. Jason tried his best to hug the two, wrapping his arms around Whizzer once Marvin let go. “You’re the best, Whiz. Thank you,” Jason smiled, nearly crying. He walked up to Marvin, setting up his chess pieces on his trusty board. “Hey, Dad… you up for another game?”