Work Text:
In the still young hours of the day , those of the underground who could not or did not work were awakened by heavy thudding down the stairs. Some woke with a start , assuming it were soldiers here to make them meet their lost families , others hoped it was an especially large supply box. They all watched the stairs , eventually what came into view was just one girl , who was known to go out to scavenge around , and a dented rectangle box. She was quite little , around thirteen , onlookers had to wonder how she ever managed to drag that in. Both were covered in snow , which was to be expected for a London Christmas eve. She shook the dark slush from herself then the box , proudly proclaiming that she’d found a Christmas tree to those who didn’t immediately lose interest. Some of the parentless and young perked up in intrigue , you could only assume it’s been far too long since any of them had seen one. A good bit of them rushed to crowd the poor girl , along with a few curious olders , among them the familiar faces of Dodgy and a surprisingly on earth Alice , though at a much less eager pace. The box itself was water damaged and blackened from the destruction and weather , but the tree inside was not turned to dust so it was deemed acceptable. One of the teenage girls , Lily , that Pudding’s sister , ushered those chattering tikes a few feet away from the rest while most of the older dwellers helped to assemble. They found that the bristles of the branches were curled in or singed off all together but carried on all the same.
Just after they separated all parts amongst themselves , a familiar click of shoes came their way. They halted all movement , expecting that fiery nurse to come blazing in , yelling about this and that , instead Dr. Butridge came in , face practically buried in his dear clipboard. He almost didn’t stop until a stray branch tripped him up , nearly sending him to the ground and messing up someone’s pile. The group cringed. “What is this ?” he pointed with his pen , his voice much louder than it needed to be.
“A tree..?” The girl who brought it in said , she ended up having to repeat , the doctor having obviously not heard her the first time. He pushed his speckled glasses up , glanced at the scene in front of him and nodded , carrying on his way , marking down something no one could catch on one of his sheets. They all exchanged questioning looks but ultimately shrugged it off and continued their activities without worry , as it seemed they didn’t have to worry about being told off. They worked surprisingly well , aside from small bickering between those who worked and those who stood unhelpfully and watched. It mostly being from Clarissa and Dodgy , her mocking him for not working hard enough and him challenging her to do it herself if she had this much to say , nothing would come of either’s word , this was just the game they played. Alice conversed with the scavenger girl , whose name she learned was Dorothy , pleasant talk of their past christmases. They spoke of their own trees , the presents they used to get , there was a noticeable difference between their experiences but each sounded lovely. Dorothy said she didn’t exchange gifts until the first , but seemed more than happy to give tomorrow instead. Alice tried to not to think of how Alfred wouldn’t be here to celebrate this year.
Those few feet away , Lily was helping the children , with the addition of a group of bored teens and adults looking for something to pass the time , in ornament making. Those who knew how to sewed scraps of fabric into small animals , while the rest fumbled with squares of paper given to them by Lily , arbitrarily folding them into vague shapes of what they wanted then attached thin fabric or string as a hook. It took a great deal of time for almost everyone to be done , especially when the younger ones kept having their issues , but by their time , the tree had been mostly successfully put together and set up in an empty space by the stairs. A branch here and there was messed up but it seemed the assembly team couldn’t care for fixing it , so why would anyone else ?
In small groups , they went up and hung their makeshift ornaments , save for one of the teens who’d been having trouble. Fabric sat in front of them but even in all this time they couldn’t find a single idea , they watched the others go up , heart sinking. In the panic that naturally came with wanting to be included , they took the tea bag they were saving out of their pocket and tied it around a free branch. Dodgy and Clarissa stood near it , staring in slight confusion. “You’re hanging your tea ?” The boy asked , making those around also look and crowd.
“It’s.. Christmas tea ?” The teen replied , suddenly wishing they hadn’t put anything up at all.
“Christmas tea ??” Clarissa started to laugh but Dodgy faux gasped , hand over his heart , interrupting her.
“You haven’t heard of the great Christmas teabag ?!” He exaggerated his shock , obvious to all but Clarissa’s face went red anyway. It only spurred him on. “It’s only the most important tradition !” He turned to Lily in the crowd. “You’d think someone so important would know.” Admittedly , Lily did let a small laugh out , just what he wanted. Some others murmured agreements , continuing the joke amongst themselves.
“Of course I do-!” Clarissa sputtered , fixing her posture as if it’ll hide how her face resembled a ripe tomato. “I was testing you , obviously.” She huffed , crossing her arms over her chest as she marched back to her cot , a snickering Dodgy following close after.
*
Nurse Cross marched through the station in her usual steadfast way , that ever there scowl as prominent as ever , it cast a shadow over any cheer the bunkers were feeling. Somebody whispered to someone wondering if her face was stuck like that , someone agreed and snickered. She came to a halt as she spotted the tree , who in their right mind would bring that down here when there’s barely room enough for the people ? And most of all , who would tie tea to it ?? What a waste. She went to pluck it off , just barely touching the string when she was met with an uproar of gasps and ‘No !’s. It seemed almost every teen and child had leapt from their cots , horrified at the very motion , like they all had a sense for the bag being moved. “You can’t move it !” One called out.
Nurse’s eyes pierced through the crowd , in search of who dared. “It’s a tea bag ! Honestly-”
“It’s a magic tea bag.” Another scoffed , like it was obvious. You can’t move it or…”
“We’ll have no tea on Christmas !” This voice finished , it was clear they were making it up on the spot but the others seemed to agree enough for her to give up. She rolled her eyes , took her hand off the string and stormed away. She found Dr. Butridge taking a small break by a spot where no one laid and leaned against the wall next to him. She shifted her weight to her better foot to give the other its break.
“Kids these days.. they tied tea to that tree !” She waited for a response , after a moment looking over to find that instead of listening , he was tying a string under the clip of his pen’s cap. “What are you doing.” She asked loud enough to get past the ringing in his ears. He startled , having not even been aware she was there.
“I’m tying a string around my pen-“
“I know that ! Why ?”
“For the tree.” He flagged down the blur that was that Dorothy girl and handed off the pen for her to take to hang on her way back up. She thought that girl must’ve been insane , risking going out there after such horrible past nights , and yet she rarely came back with worse than scraped knees. She sighed , these kids will give her an aneurysm one day , pulling a cigarette from her sock and peeling off for the smoking area. She didn’t bother telling the doctor that she was going , he’d figure it out eventually.
*
Late in the evening , once the dust and rumble had settled and Nurse had called for lights out , a dusty Dorothy sat near the tree. She did manage to find lights , though half the bulbs wouldn’t work , and string them up. It wasn’t the tree she knew from years before but it made do , it was beautiful in its own way. She hoped she would be able to see her tree soon , maybe help her parents redecorate with the homemade ornaments she was taught how to make. She wished they were here now , so they could see her handy work. They’d think she was so strong for carrying that box all the way from the shop !
She heard the attempt of quiet footsteps come up beside her , looking to see that Lily had come to sit with her. She looked older than she was , almost as old as the nurse but she was only three years older than her. She was tired , as was most , but soft. Dorothy was just old enough to understand the mask , kids needed to see a nicer face , she still counted. Neither of them said anything , mostly to avoid Nurse telling them off but they didn’t feel like they had to speak.
Alice joined them soon , eyes locked on the tree as she sat with her knees pulled to her chest. She was trying her hardest to accept the differences between her old tree and this one. Yes , it was a heartfelt tree but it held nothing of him. Their poor fingerprint-covered clay Wonderland creatures were buried in ash and rubble with no clue why they weren’t used for the tree this year. She had tried to make something reminiscent , a rabbit to honor him at least , but it looked more like something she’d have to stare at in math. Was he celebrating a nice Christmas in the garden of the clouds ? He must be having a better time than her. She rested her chin on her arms.
A few others shuffled their way into joining , an older girl , Cecilia , sat on Dorothy’s other side , the younger leaning onto her. Clarissa and Dodgy sat a bit further from the rest , the boy was only there because his friend was here , though nobody liked to talk about the reason. Even Tabatha came and sat down here , drawing Alice out of her blank stare. She never came down from her hole in the wall , most thought she would disintegrate if she touched the ground. She didn’t seem to care about stares or else , so tied up in looking at a tree she’d never got to have before. She’d always seen them through windows of happy families but never in the orphanage , nor the foster families , they never kept her around long enough to make it to Christmas. She thought this makeshift attempt of cheer was the nicest thing she could experience.
They all sat in silence , each sporting a similar expression. They reflected on these dreadful past few months , their past selves. Would they ever be able to return to normal ? Be what they were last summer ? Some , like Tabatha , didn’t want to return to that but had no clue what future they could possibly have. They felt so alone , and yet there sat others , experiencing the same emotions they were , even if they were for different reasons. They may miss different people , long for different things , but they’re united through it. They can find solace here , though some won’t consciously do it.