Work Text:
All those people claiming that holidays are for relaxing are either old dudes that have their wives to do all the work or rich enough to have other people do it for them. At least, you’re glad that you don’t have to worry about any in-laws, but you do have to organize a Blissmas gathering with way more people that the house can fit. If it had been you a year ago, you would have shuddered at the very idea of celebrating with so many people. Now, after several months of the most confusing, incredulous, rewarding time of your life, you’ve gone from an empty house, to voices in every nook and cranny, to emptiness again. Not to silence, though: someone is always reaching out to you, sending a message or a voicemail (or spamming you with photos). Really, it’s almost a bit ridiculous. The way you always catch yourself grinning tells how much you enjoy hearing from your friends and partners, though.
Speaking of them: you initially expected everyone to be too busy to actually plan something, but when you got woken up at 6 AM by a very excited-sounding Holly (the day after your Halloween Party, no less), there was no stopping the tsunami of messages and group invitations and barrage of plans that got set up.
“I’ts to make sure that everybody saves the date and actually has time!” Holly cheered over the phone, the sounds of cars and people in the background letting you guess that she was already working again. “Trust me, it will be fun!”
Celia and Florence, bless their hearts, coordinated over a thousand messages of people suggesting what to bring and what to do and ultimately set up a plan so that everyone has an equal distribution of tasks that still fits their schedule. And when they asked if you wanted to help out anybody, your mind instantly went to your two darling, electric boyfriends.
“Got everything?” Eddie asks as you close the door of the car, sitting behind Volt.
“Jup,” you nod, “let’s go.”
In hindsight, you should have done the whole light buying earlier, because as soon as you arrive at the store, the amount of people makes you want to go back home instantly. Volt luckily catches both you and Eddie by the waist as you turn around, gently pushing you inside.
“Come on, you two,” he sighs softly, pushing past shopping carts and children begging their parents for more presents, as he leads you two to the lights section. “It will be just a quick moment. Picking up some lights won’t take us long.”
Unfortunately, Volt severely underestimated something: the constant and unstoppable greed of capitalism to sell mediocre products at ridiculous prices. As soon as Eddie picks up the first box of fairy lights, he halts. He stands frozen in place, just staring at the package in his hands with a frown. Your eyes find Volt in a silent, confused question, but Volt only shrugs. Not a second later, Eddie puts the box back down, grumbling something under his breath.
You frown. “What’s up?”
“There’s a broken fuse on those,” he scoffs, likely remembering the sheer strain those faulty devices used to cause when they were still connected to his system.
Oh wow. You didn’t even know that he could just… Tell like that. You’ve seen him work in the realty a few times before, frowning and glaring at old electrical panels and bulbs, but you just thought that he could just tell from experience. Seeing him deduce that without even taking those lights out of their package? Now that’s interesting. And you’re glad that you’re not spending money on stuff that is not going to work. Yeah, returns are a thing, but definitely not before the important dates.
The second thing you learn is that you should definitely never buy anything in this store again with the way Eddie is picking up and settling down packages. There’s a string of murmured curses falling from his lips, several “fire hazard” and “broken bulb”, until-
“Can I help you?”
What Volt also underestimated was the persistence of the store owners to make sales this season.
When you turn around, there's a guy in the colors of the store, likely around his fifties, looking at you three with a strained smile. He keeps glancing over at Eddie, who isn't even looking at him as he keeps scouring through the various boxes.
You try to speak up, but Volt is quicker, stepping closer with his typical charming smile on his face. “Do excuse him, he's very particular about which decorations he likes-”
“I can assure you that all these lights are in perfect working order,” the man interrupts in that put on polite tone. “May I recommend the Lightfun 200 model? It has 12 ft of rope that suits most Christmas trees.”
“Thank you, but I'm sure-”
“Or we have our bestseller, for just $39,99, which has more than twenty color combinations…”
Few people know the tell-tale signs of Volt's irritation when he's in his host mode, host mode. Before, it used to be his hair crackling more than usual. Now that he’s not made of electricity anymore, his smile still widens more, exposing his canines in a definitely just innocent and definitely non-threatening smile. Meanwhile, you glance over at Eddie, silently gesturing at him to please hurry up before the store clerk can say anything that may get all of you thrown out.
Eddie just huffs, rolling his eyes, but then his eyes land on one of the boxes. Picking it up, turning it in his hands, he stares at it longer than he has at any of the boxes before, and you fear that he’s going to put it down again, but then he raises it up, raising an expectant eyebrow before gently throwing it your way, and you catch it with ease, letting out a relieved sigh. Thank the stars.
“C’mon, let's get out of here,” he murmurs as he takes your hand on his calloused one, the other wrapping around Volt's bicep as he drags you both to the cashier.
Once you're all outside the store, you clutch the box tighter to your chest, gulping. You should have just gone earlier, then you wouldn't have had to crunch now on the last day before Christmas. The boys are stressed with work too, and now, as you walk back to the car, you can't help the way that your stomach tightens and your fingers clench the package.
“I…” You gulp. “I'm sorry.”
Suddenly hearing your dejected voice makes both of them perk up, a frown setting on Volt's face as he opens the door for you.
“What do you mean, spark?"
"I should have thought about this entire thing sooner instead of forgetting and making you rush through this. I- I shouldn't-”
The sudden feeling of warm, calloused hands on your waist rips you out of your thoughts, and you barely have the type to look up before Eddie's chapped lips find yours, insistent, like he's drilling his point into your head. A moment later you hear his deep voice against your face as he presses his forehead against yours, steel eyes focused solely on you.
“Don't let that fucker get into your head, alright?”
Volt joins him, wrapping his arms around your torso from behind and resting his chin on your shoulder. “It's a stressful time of the year, life wire. We're all busy and irritated. What matters is that we got the lights,” a kiss to your temple, “and that's what matters.”
That lump in your throat vanishes with their shared affection, and you can't help but giggle. “I know, I know.”
“Then let's get home to decorate.” Volt shushes you inside with a smile and closes the door after you, and then, you're off to drive back home.
…
“I really can't stay…”
That familiar tune plays in your head, a result of the music Rainey has put on downstairs. Early arrivals have already filled the house, namely Rainey with Keyes in tow, with Holly and Skylar already camping in your house since yesterday. For once, you're happy for all the punctual people, and even more so the latecomers, because you're still decorating everyone upstairs. Usually, people decorate just the living room and maybe the entrance hall of their houses, all those places where you're expecting guests, but now that everyone is returning home, you really want to make the whole house seem festive. Inducing a bit of nostalgia will surely make them happy.
“My mother will start to worry,” the sound of your voice continues low as you decorate the second floor, wrapping festive garlands around the railings and lighting candles everywhere, courtesy of River. “My father will be pacing the floor…”
Never before had you imagined that you'd spend the holidays with other people… Some years ago, you'd be with your family, hearing the same talks as every year. Now, as you hear another call pull up to the driveway, you should have just asked everyone to rent a bus… Sorry, neighbors!
Paper snowflakes grace your fingertips as you roll up some mounting putty in the other hand and begin plastering them along the walls. Who you hadn't expected to show up at your door earlier either, a bag in their hands and grinning widely, was Rebel.
“Ducky you, you're getting extra help from yours truly. The guys at the refuge made too many, so I stole them for the house.”
Some of the snowflakes are even painted in different colors, and you're more than sure that Rebel didn't steal them. Or rather you hope. They haven't exactly been staying on the right side of the law at all times… Still, they're a good former rubber duck. The snowflakes are really putting together the look. Now there's only one room left to decorate.
“I wish I knew how… to break this spell…”
The tiny electrical closet will never do the vastness of the Breaker Box justice. Sometimes you wish that you could go back to it, and while you can always put on the Dateviators and walk into the empty club, it just wouldn't be the same without your boys and everyone there to revive the atmosphere that once filled the club with sparks. You take a snowflake, the prettiest one of the bunch, and you place it right on the door with the familiar warning sign. Hehe. That looks nice.
“I ought to say, ‘No, no, no sir’,”
“Mind if I move in closer?”
In your concentration to keep decorating (you're really starting to rush everything because you know that there's more and more people coming soon), you don't even hear the two voices joining in on your singing.
“At least I'm gonna say that I tried”
“What's the sense in hurting my pride?”
“I really can't stay”
That's when you finally turn around. “Baby-”;
“Baby, it's cold outside.”
You jolt as you suddenly see the boys outside the door, grinning at you. Eddie has his arms folded in front of his chest, while Volt leans against the frame of the door, and both of them look at your startled face in utter amusement.
“Oh fuck, don't scare me like that,” you let out a sigh, before trying to push past them, only for Eddie to block your way.
“Where are you going, spark?”
“To continue decorating?” You blink. “Did you forget that there's gonna be over a hundred people here soon?”
"You've been entirely too anxious about all of this,” Volt chimes in, letting the both of them slip inside as he closes the door behind him, trapping you between both men in the tiny space of the closet.
Warmth floods your body as you feel two chests pressed against you, Eddie at your front and Volt at your back, their hands instantly finding your sides.
You clear your throat. “Guys-”
Volt chuckles. “We’re not going to get frisky, if that's what you're worried about."
“At least not yet.”
“Eddie,” Volt chimes softly, though the grin on his face tells him that he's all but scolding him. His long fingers tenderly trace over your hip, and then, you feel soft locks against your nape, followed by equally soft lips on your skin. “Let us have this moment with you tonight. You're going to be busy all evening chatting with everyone… Is it selfish of us to ask for a few minutes of our live wire all to ourselves?”
Oh, how could you ever say no to that sultry tone? Besides, with all the things you've had to prepare over the span of last week… Relaxing with them sounds nice right now.
Eddie takes your face in his hands, tilting your head to his before pressing a kiss to your forehead, then to the tip of your nose, before his lips find yours. You feel his smile as he continues to give you soft, tender kisses, while Volt plants equally soft kisses along your nape.
“Merry Blissmas, live wire,” they say in unison.
Would it be stupid to say that you feel like crying? Not- it's nothing bad. Quite the opposite. Knowing that Eddie and Volt are here, that you will always have them, fills you with so much love that you barely can fit it all inside your heart. With a small chuckle, you look at Eddie, then over your shoulder at Volt, before trying to wrap an arm around both of them and failing due to the narrow space you're in. Oh well.
“Merry Blissmas, loves.”