Kenny's Mistletoe Adventure - A Style, Bunny, Creek, Tyde and Candy story

Christmas was once again rolling around in the town of South Park, Colorado. From the outside of South Park High, it looked like it would turn out to be exactly like every other Christmas the town had had. Towelie was running around, still high out of his mind and still preaching about proper towel use. Mr. Hankey was due to arrive any day now, to help spread the Christmas cheer. The adults of South Park were once again caught up in a brand new fad: wearing hats made completely out of holly for the holiday season. Yes, from afar, it looked exactly like every other Christmas.

Inside South Park High, however, this Christmas was going to be different from all the others. Mr. Mackey, the counsellor, decided it was high time to let the children have a little fun that didn't involve almost destroying the town, and planned a dance for the last days of classes before the Christmas holidays. 

Somehow, Mr. Garrison had made his way to teaching in high school, and by some strange act of fate, his class consisted of the same people that had been in his fourth grade class. Even Pip had somehow come back from the dead, bringing with him the son of Satan himself, Damien.

Contrary to popular belief, Garrison wasn't completely stupid. He'd known his students for most of their lives, and he'd seen the changes hormones and growing up were causing to occur in them. The sexual and/or romantic tension between a lot of the students was so thick you could almost walk into it, like a wall; and yet they never did anything about it. So, with this dance approaching, Mr. Garrison had a terrific idea to help his students out. Little did he know, one of his students would have an idea along those exact same lines.


'Hey Stan!' Kyle waved and ran down his driveway to get into Stan's new car. It was a blue Prius, and the guys, other than Kyle, couldn't get enough of ripping into him for it. Kyle was just grateful Stan gave him a ride to school every morning.

'Hey Kyle,' Stan smiled as the redhead climbed into the car, his ushanka askew over his mess of curls, a mark of Kyle rushing because he got up late once again. 'Sleep in again?'

'Yeah,' Kyle said irritably. 'I don't get it. I keep having these weird dreams that keep me up.'

'What about dude?' Stan asked, backing out of the drive.

'Oh, nothing much,' Kyle blushed, thinking of his less than appropriate dreams involving his best friend. 'It's… it's just weird, that's all.'

'Oh, okay dude,' Stan shrugged and sped up down the road. He hated driving slow. The only two people in school who drove faster than Stan were Cartman, in his shiny red sports car Miss Cartman's newest and richest boyfriend had bought him; and Craig Tucker, who just didn't give a shit about how fast he went.

Apparently thinking about someone made you more prone to noticing them, since Stan glanced to the opposing side of the road and caught sight of Craig, looking pissed-off, as usual, speeding off in the opposite direction. Probably to pick up Tweek before school, as he often did.

'Dude, Craig's gonna kill himself someday,' Kyle commented, looking back at the speeding vehicle disappearing from view.

'I think he's got it,' Stan shrugged. 'Don't worry about it; you'll turn all your pretty hair grey.'

'Lay off the hair, asshole,' Kyle said irritably.

'It wasn't a crack at the hair, I swear,' Stan did his best not to laugh.

'Whatever,' Kyle rolled his eyes and slumped in his seat, sulking.

'Dude, I seriously wasn't making fun of your hair,' Stan said seriously, taking on hand off the steering wheel to touch Kyle's plentiful hair gently; he always hated to see Kyle upset.

Kyle laughed. 'HA! I KNEW you'd apologize if I sulked! You're so easy, dude.'

'Dude, you're getting to be as manipulative as Cartman used to be,' Stan chuckled, putting his hand back on the wheel.

'Oh god, don't say things like that,' Kyle said, eyes wide. 'He may have gotten better lately but, dude. He's insane.'

'Dude, I didn't mean it,' Stan reached out to pat Kyle's shoulder, keeping the other hand on the wheel. 'You know you're nothing like Cartman.'

'Yeah, I know,' Kyle smiled. 'I just, you know, he's crazy.'

'Yeah,' Stan shrugged, pulling into the school's parking lot. 'You could never be that crazy, even if you went insane, you could never be Cartman's brand of crazy.

Kyle smiled at his super best friend and got out of the car. Stan followed, a ridiculous grin that could only be caused by Kyle's smile plastered on his face.


Craig hopped into his car and gunned it into gear. He was once again running late after having to take an extra long shower to deal with the problem his rather inappropriate dreams about his best friend caused him. If he didn't hurry, he'd be late to pick up said best friend, and being late always caused Tweek to descend into a fit of nerves, and that was the last thing Craig wanted.

He gunned past Stan's car, in which Stan and Kyle were sitting, on their way to school, and Craig wondered vaguely if they were dating or not. Maybe seeing two guys dating would open up Tweek's eyes to the possibility, and Craig could see how Tweek would react.

He pulled up to Tweek's house, only five minutes late and Tweek, twitching, as per usual, threw open the front door and walked over to the car.

'H-hey Craig,' Tweek said, settling into the front seat.

'Hey Tweekers,' Craig smiled. Tweek was the only person who ever saw Craig smile. 'How was your night?'

'Ngh! The gnomes were –argh! – back!' Tweek said, pulling at his hair with his left hand, the one that wasn't clutching his coffee thermos, which was always free to pull at his hair.

'Hey, Tweek, don't,' Craig reached up to take Tweek's hand to stop him pulling out his hair. 'The gnomes won't hurt you.'

'GAH! I know th-that,' Tweek began to stop twitching. 'B-but they keep – ngh – taking my underpants! And they… they scare me with their – ngh– creepy song. '

'Ssh,' Craig squeezed his best friend's hand to calm him down. 'Do you want me to stay with you tonight?'

'Ngh! W-would you?' Tweek asked, his twitching basically subsiding. 'Y-you'd do that for – ngh – me?'

'Course I would, Tweekers,' Craig rolled his eyes. 'It's the only way you ever get any sleep anyways.'

'Thanks C-C-Craig,' Tweek said with a final twitch before calming down completely; he always felt oddly calm whenever Craig was around. 'Y-you're the best – ngh – friend ever.'

Craig smiled again. 'I've already told you Tweek, I'll protect you. Whether it's the retards at school or the underpants gnomes, I'll make sure no one hurts you.'

'Ngh – you really take the pressure off,' Tweek told him softly.

Craig sighed. He wished he could take the pressure off Tweek in a very different, much less innocent way. 'I do my best.'

'Th-thanks!' Tweek squeezed Craig's hand, taking Craig completely off guard; if he didn't have such quick reflexes he would have ended up in the ditch.

'W-woah! You –ngh– never do that, Craig!' Tweek twitched.

'Sorry,' Craig sighed. 'I won't let it happen again, don't worry.'

'It's –ngh– okay!' Tweek exclaimed. 'I –argh– trust you.'

Craig smiled and pulled into the school parking lot. 'You have no idea how much it means to me to hear you say that.'


'Oh, good morning, Kenny,' Butters said happily when they met at the street corner they met at every morning.

'Morning Butters,' Kenny smiled from under his hood.

'What's new today?' Butters asked as they started on their way to school.

'It's almost Christmas,' Kenny shrugged. 'Picking out gifts.'

'Oh, wow, sounds great,' Butters said happily. 'I've got all mine picked out.' He looked down, his cheeks turning red. 'Y-yours was the first I picked out.'

'I've got a question,' Kenny said suddenly. 'If I handed you a box on Christmas, and you opened the box, and you found mistletoe and I put it over your head, would you like that?'

Butters blushed a deeper red. 'I, uh, yeah, Kenny, I would. I'd like it a whole lot.' He stared down at the sidewalk.

Kenny's grin turned manic. He grabbed Butters and kissed him, right there on the sidewalk.

'Hey queers,' Cartman stopped by the sidewalk, his eyebrows raised at the display. 'You want a ride?'

'Oh, uh, thanks Eric,' Butters smiled and walked over to the car.

'Yeah, thanks, dude,' Kenny climbed in with Butters.

'So you guys finally made it official, huh?' Cartman asked conversationally. Years of anger management had really worked wonders on Cartman. He wasn't as angry or manipulative, and he'd lost a great deal of weight. Overall, he was a completely different Eric Cartman, a new Cartman everyone liked a whole lot better.

'Made what official, Eric?' Butters asked.

'You two are totally gay for each other,' Cartman shrugged. 'Are you officially dating now?'

'Oh, uh, I don't know, Eric,' Butters looked to Kenny uncertainly. Kenny wasn't known for being in relationships, he was more known for being a skirt-chaser, roaming the school halls and grabbing whatever breasts he could find.

'Yeah,' Kenny put his arm around Butters. 'Butters is mine. Make sure people know that. Can't have anyone staring at my boyfriend's ass.'

'Wa-hay, someone's getting possessive,' Cartman laughed and gunned the car the last mile or so to the school. 'You think Stan and Kyle have just given up pretending and fucked yet?'

'Probably not,' Kenny said.

'Well, that's too bad,' Butters frowned. 'It's really obvious they like each other. Why don't they see it?'

'Because they're stupid, Butters,' Cartman said as though it were obvious. 'And stupid people take a long time to figure things out.'

'If only there was some way we could let them know without really telling them,' Butters said. 'They might get mad if we interfere, but…'

Kenny got a manic grin on his face. 'I've got just the thing. We can help ALL the idiots who just don't get it.'


'Okay class, today's the day of the dance, remember?' Mr. Garrison said once the bell rang, signalling that homeroom had begun.

'Yeah,' the class collectively rolled their eyes. It wasn't as though any of them could have forgotten; it's all anyone had been talking about all week. They couldn't wait to have a whole afternoon off of classes.

'But, until then, you've got classes,' Garrison continued, so, when it's time for first period, you'd better get your asses to class, or else.'

'Yes,' the class replied dully.

'Kenny what your plan?' Butters whispered to his brand-new boyfriend.

'You'll see once class is out,' Kenny whispered back. 'So far only Kevin, Bradly, Bebe, Butters and I have dates for the dance. By the time it starts, all our friends will have their eyes opened and they're gonna have dates to the dance.'


'Dude, why's Garrison acting so weird?' Kyle asked Stan as they made their way out of their first period English class with the so-called teacher in question.

'Dunno, but he was acting weirdly smug,' Stan shrugged. 'He must be happy about not having to teach this afternoon.'

'Yeah, probably,' Kyle smiled. 'So… the dance… did you ask anyone?'

'Uh, no,' Stan scratched the back of his head nervously. 'I, uh, wanted to… but I wasn't sure how… they'd react. Did, uh, you?' Stan asked, secretly hoping Kyle hadn't.

'Um, no,' Kyle blushed. 'I uh, was hoping someone would ask me but…'

'Oh, why didn't you ask them?' Stan asked glumly.

'I uh, it's not really, I don't think uh, they like me back,' Kyle looked at the floor. 'And I'm not brave enough to ask…'

'Oh,' Stan, too, looked at the floor.

'Aha!' Kenny burst out from around the corner with a stick in his hand. 'We've found two of them Butters!'

'Golly, that's great,' Butters appeared at his shoulder.

'What's going on?' Kyle asked.

'Kissy, kissy time,' Kenny said, extending the stick. Stan and Kyle looked up.

'What is that?' Kyle looked up at the plant Kenny was dangling over them from a string tied to the stick.

'Mistletoe, so pucker up dudes,' Kenny grinned under his hood.

'Kenny,' Stan blushed at the thought of kissing Kyle. 'Why are you doing this?'

'Because you're too stupid to make a move on your crush who obviously likes you back,' Kenny shrugged. 'Now, go, kissy, kissy, time's a wasting.'

'What are you talking about?' Stan asked, faking obliviousness in his nervousness.

'Oh come on, it's obvious you're totally in love with Kyle,' Butters piped up.

'And it's obvious Kyle's head over heels for you,' Kenny wagged his eyebrows. 'So pucker up, guys, I got other people beat some sense into.'

'Are you going to let this go?' Kyle asked, his face beet red.

'Nope,' Kenny shook his head happily.

'He means business, fellers,' Butters smiled. 'You should just do it.'

'That's, uh…' Stan looked to Kyle uncertainly. 'I, uh…'

Kyle reached up suddenly and pressed a short, but lingering kiss to Stan's lips. 'There, happy Kenny?'

'I think Stan is too,' Kenny winked. 'Don't go back to being stupid about liking each other now.' Putting an arm around Butters, he sauntered off, his mistletoe-on-a-stick hanging over his shoulder.

Stan, blushing, looked over to Kyle. 'So, uh, wow…'

'Kenny's crazy, huh?' Kyle laughed nervously.

'Yeah,' Stan joined his best friend in nervous laughter. 'Come on, we should get to class.' Neither of the boys that Mr Garrison was watching them until he walked right over to them.

'Well then boys,' Garrison said. Mr. Mackey noticed that there's not a lot of dates being made for the dance. It won't be much of a dance if people don't dance. He asked me to put all the names of the people in my class in a hat and have them pick out names of people to dance with on the first dance to break the dancing ice.'

'Uh… what?' Stan looked up at him confusedly.

'You pick a name out of this hat,' Garrison held out a sparkly Santa hat to Stan. 'And you dance with the person you pick for the first song.'

'Why?' Kyle asked.

'Because I said so, okay?' Garrison snapped. 'Now just pick a name.'

'Whatever,' Stan stuck his hand into the hat and pulled out a piece of paper. He unfolded it and stared at it.

'What's it say?' Garrison prompted.

'Kyle,' Stan read.

'Yeah, we've got a lot more boys than girls in our class,' Garrison reminded them. 'You'll just have to suck it up. Not that it'll be a problem for you two, huh?' With that, Garrison walked away.

'Weird,' Kyle shook his head after Garrison. 'Everyone's being all weird today.'

'Whatever, dude,' Stan shrugged and, with an arm around Kyle's shoulders, he started them both off to their next class.


'There are our next victims,' Kenny said to Butters, watching Craig and Tweek walking together down the hall. 'Pucker up, guys,' he called out, dangling the mistletoe over their heads.

'What are you doing?' Craig asked, turning around to face Kenny and Butters.

'Is that –ngh– mistletoe?' Tweek asked nervously.

'Not cool, guys,' Craig rolled his eyes. 'You're freaking Tweek out.'

'Just kiss him,' Butters pleaded. 'He likes you, you know.'

'Of course he likes me, he's my friend,' Craig retorted.

'He like likes you,' Kenny sighed wearily. 'Why don't they ever believe us?'

'You're stupid,' Craig said, but he leant down to kiss Tweek anyways. To his utter amazement, Tweek kissed back. Craig brought his arms up around his smaller friend, completely ignoring the other two boys next to him. Kenny and Butters smiled at each other and snuck away, not noticing Garrison walking from the other way.

'Well, should I put you two down to dance together then?' Garrison asked with a smirk. 'I was gonna have you pick out of a hat, but I think you'd rather dance together, huh?'

'I uh,' Craig looked away from his teacher, embarrassed. 'Yeah.'

'Two less for my hat,' Garrison shrugged and walked away, a smile plastered on his face. It looked like some of his students plucked up some nerve without his help.


'Time to hop into action again?' Butters asked when he saw Cartman speaking nervously to Wendy. It was no secret Cartman was completely smitten with the rather pretty girl.

'Guess so,' Kenny shrugged. 'Wendy won't need much pushing. You can tell she wants Cartman bad.'

'Surprise!' Butters laughed, as he and Kenny snuck up behind them with the mistletoe. 'Kiss kiss.'

'What the hell you guys?' Cartman asked, looking mortified.

'Mistletoe, dude,' Kenny stated the obvious. 'Kiss her.'

'No problem,' Wendy reached up to kiss him. 'Happy boys?' she asked with a smile.

'Not as happy as you,' Butters smiled back.

'Well, our work's done,' Kenny smiled, catching sight of Clyde and Token out of the corner of his eye. 'Come on, more victims.'

They loped off together, almost knocking into Garrison, who just come from talking to Clyde and Token.

'Watch where you little assholes are going,' Garrison snapped at them.

'Sorry Mr. Garrison,' Butters called back as Kenny hung the mistletoe over Clyde and Token.

'Pucker up,' Kenny grinned.

'First Garrison then you?' Token asked. 'What is wrong with you people all of a sudden?'

'We're tired of you all being all stubborn,' Butters offered as an explanation. 'So just kiss and admit you like each other.'

'What?' Clyde looked a Token. 'Is that true?'

'I, uh,' Token looked away, embarrassed.

'Wow,' Clyde kissed his best friend. 'I like you too.'

'I, uh, you do?' Token smiled. 'Wow.'

'Our work's done,' Butters smiled at Kenny.

'Yep,' Kenny smiled back. 'Now let's get going to the dance. It's time for us to get kissy I think.' He dangled the mistletoe between them.

'I think so too,' Butters blushed and kissed him.


The dance was starting off great, Garrison thought to himself. All the people he'd tricked into thinking they were picking names out at random to dance with were dancing together and looking happy. It was a job well done.

'Hey Stan?' Kyle said quietly as they revolved slowly to the slow song that was playing.

'Yeah?' Stan looked down at him.

'You don't really have to dance with me right? I mean… why?' Kyle asked slowly.

'Well, I want to,' Stan shrugged. 'Can't I want to?'

'And the mistletoe? Did you want to kiss me?' Kyle asked.

'I, uh… well, I did but… I didn't know if you… I…' Stan sighed. 'I like you, okay? If that freaks you out well… I'm sorry.'

'Stan,' Kyle whispered. 'Who did you want to ask to the dance?'

'You,' Stan closed his eyes, waiting for Kyle to storm off, angry with him for not being able to control his strange attraction to his best friend. He never expected to feel Kyle's lips on his again.

'That's good,' Kyle smiled. 'You're who I wanted to go with too.'

'Well, I guess this worked out well then,' Stan let out a relieved laugh.

'Yep,' Kyle leaned his head on Stan's shoulder while Stan looked around at all the other couples revolving around them.

'It looks like a lot of people have got together,' Stan commented.

Across the floor, Mr. Garrison was observing the same group of people. 'You done good,' he said to himself, admiring what he thought was solely his handiwork. He had no idea he'd had two little elves dressed in orange and turquoise helping him on his Christmas-time mission; two elves who were currently engaging in a wholly inappropriate make-out session in the middle of the dance. Rolling his eyes, Garrison went to break it up, wondering vaguely how they'd got together without help from him. He had no idea Kenny or Butters were capable of bringing anyone together.  He didn't notice the sprig of mistletoe sticking out of Kenny' back pocket, still tied to the string. That might have given him some indication as to what had just gone on earlier that day.

 ~~~

So, a little festive story for Christmas day, I think. Just finished it now, about 3:30 am; a couple pints of eggnogg, which probably wasn't a good idea, and an idiot friend inspired this, so I hope you like.

Mr. Garrison might be a little out of character, but I like to think he'd have the time to grow and mature slightly in the time it took for the boys to get to high school. I like to think he'd come to like them and care about them, if grudgingly so. So, that's where that comes from. And I've always seen Kenny as the more perceptive of all of them, so that's why he's my instigator.

Have a very happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza or what have you.

Cheers!

Making the Best of It - A Professor X/Magneto Story

'I have to say Erik, this would be a lovely island, if it did not possess this feeling of absolute danger,' Professor Charles Xavier said to his friend and sometimes bitter enemy Erik Lensherr, known to most as Magneto.

'It had been a lovely island,' Erik said, looking around. 'Now it certainly does have that eerie feeling to it.'

'What exactly was the purpose of this island?' Charles asked, looking around the small jungle they were currently walking through. The ground was awfully uneven and Charles was still unused to walking after so long; he tripped on a root, almost falling to the ground, but Erik caught him.

'Careful, Charles,' Erik said, putting a supporting arm around Charles' waist. 'Not watching where you're going could prove hazardous to your health.'

'I'll say,' Charles chuckled, looking sideways at Erik. 'I must say, old friend, I've missed you.'

'I have missed you as well, Charles,' Erik said quietly. 'My life has been quite lonely without you in it.'

'It is a life you have chosen, Erik,' Charles reminded him.

'For the betterment of our kind's future,' Erik assured him. 'I can only hope you will one day see I am right and join me.'

'I am sorry, my friend,' Charles shook his head. 'I do not see that happening in the future, we cannot be on the same side if your goal is subjugation of the Humans.'

'My goal is to create a safe world in which we Mutants may live,' Erik reminded his old friend. 'The Humans have made it clear that they refuse to live with us as equals, therefore they will come to live with us as superiors… or not at all. It is the only way, Charles.'

'There is never only one way, Erik,' Charles protested. 'There are several ways to reach a goal, but there is generally a morally correct one.'

'Don't preach morals, Charles,' Magneto dropped his arm from around Charles. 'They have had chance after chance to change their brutal ways. They have failed every time. I swore to myself, never again. I will not-'

'If you must kill to attain your goal, it makes you no better than those men from your past,' Charles cut in. 'I realize how you feel Erik, and things may look bleak at this moment… but there is always hope for the future.'

'It is this passion of yours that I miss most, Charles,' Erik said sadly. 'It is what attracted me to you in the first place.'

'You have that passion as well,' Charles smiled slightly. 'We've simply focused that passion on opposing points of view.'

'If we were on the same side, our lives could have turned out much differently,' Erik sighed sadly.

'We could be if you took a less radical root,' Charles said pointedly.

'We cannot afford to be less than heavy-handed with these people,' Erik shook his head. 'They see anything else as weakness and will do their best to take advantage of that.'

Charles sighed. 'We could have done so much together.'

'We still could,' Erik said softly. 'As it is now, we are on the same side.'

'We are,' Charles agreed with a small smile. 'Perhaps we should make the best of it.'

'Perhaps,' Erik smirked, leaning forward. Erik never would have thought he'd be here with Charles, acting as they had when they had first met. This time however, there was an odd sense of renewal and new hope, making the experience both familiar and new. With a small smile, he closed the distance between them, pressing their lips together.

They both knew this could never last; but for the moment, they would make the best of it.



I used Professor X and Magneto in the title because I sort of want to make the distinction between the newer X-Men and the older cartoons, which this is based on, mostly, I borrowed Erik's name from the newer stuff, mostly because I hate calling him Magneto when I call Professor X Charles. And I don't much fancy Magnus, either, so Erik it is. Deal with it.

I can't seem to let up with these two. They're one of my favourite pairings of all time, and one of the longest-running, too. It's great how long these obsessions of mine last.

Cheers!

A Christmas Surprise - A Spirk Story

  Jim Kirk thought he had been pretty clever in his idea to try and make lover forget about Christmas. He knew Spock and his mother had celebrated the Terran holiday quietly together, it was one of the few human traditions Sarek had allowed. He also knew it would be extremely difficult for Spock to face this first holiday without his mother.

                So that Spock would not have to suffer through the constant reminders of the holiday, Jim had made sure Spock was not on duty on Christmas day. He had also forgone with the Christmas tree he had wanted to put in his quarters, so that Spock would not be assaulted with the sight of it every time he entered Jim’s quarters, which was often.

                Jim loved Christmas, he always had and probably always would. He was willing to give up celebrating it for Spock however, Spock’s happiness was the most important thing to Jim. He was willing to give up anything for his love’s happiness.

                He had gone through his shift, constantly surprised by the fact that the crew, which was predominantly human, was much more subdued than he expected for Christmas day. He realized that Nyota must have spoken with them. Things may not have worked out between her and Spock, but she still cared, and for that, Jim was extremely grateful.

                Jim was done for the day and decided to visit Spock to make sure he was alright. Okay, Jim was lying to himself, he just wanted to see Spock, he never really needed a reason. He skipped the door to his cabin and walked straight into Spock’s. What he found there stopped him in his tracks.

                Spock was sitting at his desk, looking at a small Christmas tree in the corner of the room with a small smile on his face.

                “Jim,” Spock stood up. “I see you have forgone Christmas celebrations this year.”

                “Well, uh, yeah,” Jim didn’t know what to say. He just gaped at the tree.

                “I understand your intentions Jim,” Spock said softly, pulling Jim into a tight embrace. “But you are not required to give up the holiday you love so much for me.”

                “I love you more than any holiday,” Jim pressed his lips to a warm Vulcan neck. “I thought it would be too hard for you.”

                “My mother would not want me to avoid the holiday she anticipated every year,” Spock explained quietly. “She would want me to share it with someone special.”

                “Had I known that, I would have gotten you something to show you just how much I love you,” Jim sighed, feeling his body relax completely in the warmth of his lover’s arms.

                “Jim, the love and caring you have displayed today are the greatest gift I could ever receive,” Spock said quietly. “I offer myself to you return. Would you like to ‘unwrap’ your gift?”

                Jim grinned and followed Spock to celebrate Christmas in the most unique way he ever had.

 ~~~

It's that time of year again, so I unearthed an old Christmas story I wrote for the Archives. Hope you like it, and have a happy Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Saturnaelia, etc. Have a great holiday season! 

Cheers!

Forever, Jones, Ianto Jones - A Janto Story

'Ianto…'

Ianto was pulled out of sleep by that one word, and he rolled over groggily, expecting Jack to be sitting there awake, either looking serious and pensive or simply looking for a mid-night quickie. Ianto had not expected to find Jack lying there, asleep.

Jack's face was peaceful, a sight Ianto was unaccustomed to seeing. Usually there was some form of strain, imperceptible to anyone who did not know this face as well as Ianto; strain around the eyes, showing the worry for everyone in the team that Ianto knew was constantly gnawing at Jack.

'Jack?' Ianto whispered, wondering if Jack was having a nightmare.

'Ianto,' Jack said again, and Ianto could not miss the tenderness in that beloved voice. He shifted closer to his lover, bringing their faces so close that their breath mixed; Jack's eyes fluttered in the proximity.

'I'm here, Jack,' Ianto breathed, wishing he knew what the other man was dreaming about.

'Love you,' Jack mumbled in his sleep.

Ianto smiled and reached up to stroke Jack's cheek. 'Is that really how you feel, Jack?'
'Yes,' came Jack's sleepy reply. Apparently Jack was the type of person who would carry on a conversation while asleep.

'You never tell me that when you're awake,' Ianto felt it was alright to pout if Jack wasn't awake to see him do it.

'Scared,' Jack told him.

'Of what?' Ianto was intrigued. He'd only seen brief flashes of fear in Jack's eyes before, usually when someone from the team was in danger, but he'd never heard the man admit to being scared before.

'You,' Jack whimpered. 'Losing you.'

'Jack,' Ianto frowned. 'I'm here now. I can't promise forever, we're not all like you… but for as long as I can, I'll be here, right next to you." He sighed. "I don't see a point in talking to you if you're asleep, you won't remember it."

'Love you so much,' Jack said again. 'Don't leave me.'

Ianto pressed a kiss to Jack's forehead. 'I love you too, Jack.'

'Stay with me,' Jack mumbled.

'As long as I live, Jack,' Ianto murmured. 'Even if you will forget me in a thousand years.'

'Longer,' Jack sleepily pulled his lover closer. 'Never forget you. You'll be with me forever, Jones, Ianto Jones.'

 ~~~

This was written in a post-Miracle Day depression. I had to go back and re-watch the first two seasons if only to make myself feel better about them at least having some happy times before all that bull from CoE and MD happened. Damn it, Russell T. Davies, why do you hate me so much? You kill off all my favourite characters and leave the ONE character I cannot stand living. Sometimes, I hate having a life that revolves around fictional people.

Why would you ever want to ruin this? Why? Do writers really hate me that much?

So yeah, just a little fluff, maybe a little sad because it's true what Ianto says about not being around forever, but it made me feel a little better, and that's what counts, right?

Cheers!

A First Class Memory - A Charles/Erik Story

Remember the point between rage and serenity.

Erik wondered if the memory of his mother would be enough for what he needed to do. If only he had another memory to put with it. Something that inspired a serene sort of rage, if such a thing existed.

Remember that night when I was losing at chess and I decided to distract you from the game? You were angry that you weren't in charge but you succumbed and then enjoyed it? Perhaps that would make a good memory to assist you.

Erik smiled to himself. That was perfect. With his memories helping his concentration, the submersible rose above the surface of the water easily.

'Whoa,' Banshee said to Havok, awestruck. 'That must take some serious concentration. I wonder what he's thinking about.'

'Seeing the look on his face, I don't want to know,' was Havok's simple reply. Banshee asked no more questions.

~~~

Right, so this is a very short one shot I wrote up while I was showing the new movie First Class to my friend for the first time. I was staring at the screen during that airplane scene wondering just what kind of thoughts Charles was putting into Erik's head and this sort of got written out before the movie was even over. I can't watch anything without the slash-goggles going on. I live a sad life, I think. Hope you enjoyed a little humour after my last, much more depressing story.