Here we are then! Six drabbles, each of a hundred words, about the gifts they gave/give/will give each other for Christmas. Happy holidays, everyone!
2009
They didn’t give each other gifts the first Christmas they knew each other. They were poor and unsure, poverini, of each other. And what do you get the boy who might have been your boyfriend by now if you were only brave enough to ask? How much should you spend on a CD for someone whose CD collection you haven’t yet memorised?
2010
They felt they shouldn’t have to ask ‘what do you want for Christmas?’ That was a question for those who didn’t know each other, or those who had known each other so long as to forget to learn more.
They both ended up getting each other the same CD, and they laughed about it over Skype.
“Bit stupid, having two of them in the same flat,” said Dan.
Phil blinked. “Are you asking me to move in with you?”
“Well, I’ve sort of already moved in to your flat, haven’t I?”
“I guess you have.”
That was the real gift.
2011
Phil edited the Christmas special of the Super Amazing Project. Dan put his clips onto Dropbox; they had ten shared accounts under various email addresses because 2GB free of charge was rarely enough for them. Phil found the clip hidden in a folder meant for the news segment.
“Hey. Merry Christmas, you. Hope you’re having a good time with your family. Just wanted to tell you I love you. Have fun editing this monster on your own! See you soon.”
It was only a few seconds, but it put a smile on Phil’s face for the rest of the day.
2012
“What do you want for Christmas?” Dan asked Phil one day.
Phil frowned. “Um. Really I just want the new Nintendo.”
“You’re useless, you are.”
“You’re the one who bought yourself a load of new clothes last week. Who buys themselves stuff in December?”
The teasing was still a little bitter, laced still with the acidity which had characterised their last year together. Dan didn’t respond, and for a few minutes they sat in silence.
“Why don’t we buy ourselves the Nintendo? Together?”
The question was both out of the blue and the perfect solution. They still spent Christmas apart.
2013
Christmas apart once again, and this time it feels like more of a chore. For the first time it seems an oddity to be parted for the holidays; for the first time they start to wonder when the word ‘family’ became so much more inclusive.
They have their own celebrations before Dan goes off to India and Phil ‘oop north’. They invite Bryony and Wirrow round for a party, and they give each other tiny little fun things, a lego mug and a novelty arty toy, because by now they know there’s nothing more they really need from each other.
2014
This year Martin and Cornelia will announce that they want to host the Lester family Christmas, and that will be what starts it. Phil will ask if Dan can come, and then Dan will barter with his family - can they do Christmas on Boxing Day? - and suddenly they’ll be spending Christmas together. Cornelia will trap them under the mistletoe, Phil will slip Dan his Brussels sprouts, and their families will receive gifts with labels signed ‘from Phil and Dan’. As for their own, they’ll give them each other on Christmas Eve, though they’ll save the announcement for the New Year.
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