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"The holidays are joyful!" They said.
"It's all about spending time with your loved ones!" They said.
"It's a nice time to get together and show appreciation for one another!" They said.
They lied.
Christmas is not fun time. People tend to forget the havoc that comes with the holidays. Everyone is freaking out over gifts to get their families, people are busy preparing for visitors, and setting up for Christmas. This curse gets everyone, even the band.
Vessel had the horrid job of cleaning the house, preparing for friends and family to come over and visit. He was scrambling around the house, fighting with the damned old vacuum to turn on. It didn't turn on. No matter how much he cursed under his breath about the holidays, he wasn't getting out of it.
II was supposed to be outside shoveling snow, but plans changed the moment he got his little paws on eggnog that contained alcohol. He was about a whopping 12 cups in, and didn't seem like he was stopping anytime soon. A drunk II was a chaotic II, and chaotic II loved to screw around and cause mischief. He was sat at the kitchen countertop, eggnog in hand, swinging his feet as he drunkenly slurred Christmas songs.
III had the even more horrid job of setting up and decorating the tree. He managed to set the tree up and fluff out the branches, but that's it. The lights? Tangled around him. The ornaments? Scattered around the living room. He ended up stepping on a loose ornament, the hook of it stabbing the sole of his foot, and he let out a pained yowl before kicking the ornament away with a pissed expression. He hated decorating, especially when it came to the tree.
And then there was IV, having a jolly ol' time in the kitchen. He was put in charge of making cute little treats, and for the past two hours he's been making Christmas sugar cookies. He made the cutest little reindeer cookie, and now he was proudly admiring it. His attention was quickly drawn to II however, as the man began to sing Christmas tunes to himself with the happiest little expression. IV gave the drunken man an amused huff, then turned back to the cookies currently in the oven.
"You little bastard, shut up!" III hissed at II, tired of hearing him sing. It only made II sing louder and prouder, enjoying the way he grated on III's already frayed nerves.
"Someone's being awfully negative today, has Scrooge came to visit us?" IV hummed, earning a glare from III.
"Piss off, gingerbread man." III grumbled.
Vessel came flying down the stairs, frantically trying to clean up the house before the night came to an end and people came over to visit. He rushed around, snatching up all of III's loose tree ornaments and throwing them his way.
"Damn it, look where you're tossing those things!" III protested in a weak attempt to defend himself against Vessel's ornament assault. II giggled at III, before his giggles turned into a shocked squeak as one of Vessel's ornaments came flying his way.
"Can't stop, not enough time..." Vessel absentmindedly mumbled to himself, running around like a madman. "WHERE IS THE VACUUM?!" He suddenly exclaimed before dashing right back up the stairs in search of his vacuum. III shot Vessel a half-assed glare as he ran upstairs, finding his reaction to the missing vacuum overly dramatic.
"Well, atleast he's determined to clean." IV chuckled. "III, how's the tree coming along?" He called out before looking over to III and his tree shenanigans. Upon seeing the sight of the naked tree, the scattered ornaments, and III looking pissed off at the world as he was tangled up in the lights, IV's expression fell to one of disappointment and slight annoyance. "Really?" He scoffed.
"Oh don't you start, these lights are like yarn! And my foot got a piercing from a damned ornament!" III barked back angrily. IV rolled his eyes in response. "Hurry up and get it done, NOW." He reprimanded before returning to his cookies.
II snickered as he called out to III. "I can tangle you up in something..." He flirtatiously hummed before bursting out into laughter, finding his comment to be the funniest thing ever. III shot the drunken man a look of exasperation, holding his tongue to prevent saying something he'd regret. IV gave II a disgruntled look, slowly inching the bowl of eggnog away from him.
"Now how come troll over there gets to sit around and get shitfaced?!" III argued. II gave him an amused look, before slowly standing up from his barstool. "Want me to help you?" II hummed.
"NO." III protested.
"Too late..." II replied in a sing-song tone, stumbling his way over to the tree. "You're awfully tangled over there, buddy." II commented.
"Oh really? I didn't notice!" III sassed. II gave him a glare, before bonking III on the head with an ornament.
"OW!" III winced as he tried lashing out at II, but the lights tangled around his legs only served to weigh him down, knocking III to the floor. II gave an amused look, before plopping down right on top of III's back, holding him down on the floor.
"You fatass! Get off!" III yelled. II didn't listen, only called out to IV for more eggnog. IV shook his head in response, not paying him any mind. II whined in response, throwing himself back and crushing III even more.
Vessel came back downstairs, and saw the bare tree and the mangled pile of II and III." Seriously?! Get the damn tree up, NOW. I'm not letting you embarrass me!" He spat. "Woah V, chill out. Get a cup of eg-" II started, but was interrupted. "NO! Get up and get the tree ready!" He reprimanded, heading over the kitchen to find cleaning wipes. Vessel began to angrily mumble to himself under his breath again, but IV interrupted him by shoving a fresh sugar cookie in his mouth. Vessel paused, gobsmacked, then calmed down and processed what happen as he swallowed down the sugar cookie.
"Good now?" IV chirped.
"...Yeah." Vessel responded in a sigh. He slouched down in a barstool, taking a breather as IV slid him a cup of eggnog to soothe his nerves. "Better take a cup before II sucks it all down." He joked to Vessel. Vessel grunted in acknowledgement, taking a small sip before setting the cup back down with a sigh. He looked over to III and III, who were still in a pile on the floor and cursing eachother. Vessel rolled his eyes before looking away, running a hand down his face. "All that's left is the tree and... Wait. II, did you shovel the driveway like I asked?" Vessel aimed at II, who immediately froze as his eyes widened, then began stuttering out an excuse. Vessel let out a groan, giving up on the smaller drunken man.
"I can do it later, once I make a few more batches of cookies." IV assured him. "No, just.... Whatever." Vessel sighed, resting his forehead on the counter.
"II, get your little ass of me! How can you be so small yet so heavy!" III exclaimed. This got a very over-exaggerated response from II, who gave him a silent wide-eyed stare with his mouth hanging open.
Then II whacked the shit out of III's head, making the man shout in response. The two began to squabble and argue and curse at one another, while Vessel watch with exhaustion while IV watched with amusement. III tried to hit II back, but to no avail. "You damned troll!" III exclaimed, trying to wrestle II onto the floor.
"Guys..." IV tried to interject, but the two wrestling heathens ignored him. They continued to fight and thrash about on the floor like alligators, III getting II tangled in the lights with him. II pulled a dirty move and tried to bite III, making the larger man yelp out. "You bloody dog! Put your teeth away!" III grunted before continuing to fight the eggnog-filled II.
"Damned animals..." Vessel sighed before downing the rest of the eggnog, with IV chuckling at his remark. "We have guests coming tonight and the tree doesn't even have lights on it." Vessel hummed. "Yeah..." IV mumbled back. The mongrels continued their wrestle mania on the floor, II still trying to bite III.
"Alright- STOP." IV eventually yelled, making II and III pause on spot and look at him with wide, shocked eyes.
"PUT THE DAMN TREE UP!" IV reprimanded, earning annoyed yet compliant groans from both men as they untangled from one another, grumbling curses under their breaths. IV rolled his eyes before looking over at Vessel with a triumphant grin. Vessel looked oh-so-grateful that the tree was FINALLY being decorated, and he had a mini celebration in his head over it.
II and III began actually trying to decorate the tree, throwing mean glares at one another while they did so. III whacked II in the ass with a string of lights, earning a squeak from the smaller man who immediately tried to smack him back, but stopped once he became aware of the glare IV was sending them both. II cursed under his breath, sloppily putting the lights in the tree to hurry up and get it done with, fighting the urge to strangle III in the process. While decorating, III grabbed an ornament and aimed it at the back of II's head, which Vessel immediately noticed. Vessel stood up from his kitchen barstool like he was going to do something if III threw the ornament. III complied with a scoff, acting like a child who got caught snooping through the candy drawer.
The tree was eventually finished. It looked like shit, very messy and unorganized, but at least it was done. The moment the two finished the tree, they immediately went back to trying to whoop each other, except this time Vessel and IV didn't care. "Let them get it out now before our guests arrive." IV cooed, still decorating cookies.
As he was decorating, he noticed that there seemed to be a lack of cookies. "Where did..." He mumbled to himself, counting every tray. Vessel gave him an innocent look, acting like he has no clue what IV was talking about.
Vessel had a handful of cookies stashed away in his back pocket.
"Hm? Missing something?" Vessel chirped, playing coy over the fact he stuffed a few in his pocket when IV was busy yelling at II and III. "I...thought??" IV muttered, confused. He kept recounting every cookie as he swore up and down he was missing almost an entire tray. "Nevermind, it's nothing." He mumbled, still confused. Vessel gave him a fake innocent smile, knowing damn well what he did.
A loud thump coming from the direction of the living room pulled both men away from the cookies and to the source of the noise. Of course, it was II and III, still trying to whoop eachother. While IV was distracted, Vessel snatched another sugar cookie, shoving it in his mouth and trying to eat it whole like a snake, not wanting IV to see him chewing and figure out where the cookies went.
IV's phone buzzed, making him pull it out to see what happened. Vessel took this opportunity to snatch up more cookies, rapidly shoving them in his mouth. Upon reading his screen, IV's expression fell before he put his phone down and leaned against the counter for support. Vessel noticed his behavior and became concerned. "You okay?" He asked. "Get the others." IV replied in a whisper. Vessel's expression became worried, but he called over the mongrels who were beating eachother in the living room.
Once everyone was gathered up in the kitchen, Vessel standing between II and III to keep them separate, IV dropped the bomb.
"People aren't coming over tonight. It's tomorrow night..." He sighed. Everyone went dead silent.
Vessel's expression fell to disbelief. II and III on the other hand...Went ballistic. "WE DID ALL THIS FOR NOTHING?!" III exclaimed. "I dealt with his stupid ass all day for no reason?!" II scoffed, getting an incredulous look from III. "Oh please, you both did nothing but bicker and bitch!" Vessel snapped at the both of them. Then, a full blown argument developed between the three of them, IV looking on with a defeated expression. Atleast he had his cookies. Well, the ones that Vessel didn't steal, atleast.