w h y t u b l a p p a

A knock at the door rouses the attention of a yokai, a father sitting on one of the couches while his daughter and youngest child open their gifts. Strange, they weren’t expecting visitors. Possibly Melanie and Trey were stopping by to have Christmas dinner with them─ oh that would be lovely… but they tend to call a day ahead of time so they all know what they’re doing.

“one moment, i’ll be right back.”

There’s a hum from Saros as they fiddle with one of their gifts, a bubbly smile on their face as they go back and forth with Pacifica about their joke gifts to one another. It’s a tradition after all to get these sorts of gifts! …they don’t quite recall who started it…

Whisper opens the door, starting to greet who’s at it, only to find an empty entryway. He blinks, blinks again, adjusting his glasses and catching a glimpse of a box at his feet. Strange gets stranger… an odd box out of nowhere after an unexpected knock. Worry gnaws at him for a moment before there’s a complaint about the cold being let inside from a young star-child, whined out and pleading.

He chuckles, apologizes, and picks up the box to take inside and shut the door. Wait, there’s a tag on this… The Guardian? Who is that referring to?

“Daddy, what’s that?” Saros speaks up as they toy with the space themed tangle puzzle in their hands. They could always use another space oriented fidget item, it keeps them from running around wildly without any care for anything else! Or stuck in their room sniffling from either understimulation or thinking too much about things they can’t bring up to anyone but Captain Dad, who seems to be busy with both Code stuff and Mister Shane.

“ah… i don’t, know actually.” He leans in towards the box, hearing nothing but the slight shift of chain like that you’d hear from a necklace. “it’s addressed to the guardian, but i don’t know if they delivered it to the right house or not.”

“I dunno, maybe they were being real cryptic and vague but referring to you, faushar.” Pacifica pipes up while smoothing out the terribly ugly but somehow fitting sweater that reads ‘merry christmas motherfuckers’ on the front with several patterns of bells and reindeer in alternating rows. “What’s it say it is?”

“it just says “to the guardian, for yuletide.” as far as i know, none of us celebrate yuletide.” 

Saros looks down at the gifts to their side, conveniently placed where they aren’t looking at their adoptive dad and sister. “Huh, that’s pretty weird. Maybe that’s just their way of saying Merry Christmas, or Gyftmas.”

“maybe…”

“I swear I’ve heard of Yuletide before…”

“it’s a pagan holiday that’s celebrated at the same time as christmas, or gyftmas, but without the christian undertones. because christianity is like that.”

“Oh, welp. Yeah, that sounds fair. Could be their way of wishing us a good holiday!”

Saros nods in agreement as the other two go into the kitchen, leaving the odd and strangely plain box on the coffee table. They look up, say they’ll go organize their stuff in their room… and take the box with them as they go. 

Their door closes, and they let out a shaky breath of relief… or is it pain? They look towards the small hidden portion of their bookshelf that their brother had made for them. He made it with that hidden spot in case they want to hide snacks, or toys, or money they earn. He understands the need to hide, though they wish he didn’t have to understand it. Right now, though, that understanding helps.

They huff, place their toys and clothes and other gifts on their bed, and then take the small box to the hidden area in their bookshelf, placing it alongside a few other personal gifts. Most of the gifts are for their brother when he gets back, not if─ he’s coming back, he promised he wouldn’t leave them alone. But a couple of them are for their brother’s big brother. Ian, that was his name. 

They nod, proud of their work and ready to go down and pretend as if everything is alright.

Pretend. Right. They can pretend. They used to be good at pretending.

They pause at the door, glancing back to the once again blended in portion of the bookshelf. “…y’come back to us, okay? Safe and sound. We’ll be waitin’ for you to come home, big brother. Always.”

“haha- thank you, shairn’ull. glad to see you in a good mood.”

“any time i get to see my family smiling is worthy of being in a good mood.”

“i suppose so... this new look suits you, though. rather bright but, when are you not?”

“new look? what do you mean? this is just a shirt and jeans. quite frankly, i need new jeans... luci’s parties are a bit much, people can get wild on topside.”

“... i’m not going to ask. anyway! how are you, dear?”

“i’m good! great, actually. oh! right, i came over for a reason, fuck. as necessary, i have gifts for you!”

“oh-- you didn’t have to, shairn’ull. getting to see you in high spirits is good enough for me, honestly.”

“aren’t you sweet? you’re getting gifts. you and papa both got gifts i’m giving the both ‘f you. you two are my dads, it’s father’s day, so you get gifts. no arguing.”

“i wouldn’t be able to sway you even if i tried, would i?”

“nope! here you go!”

“... oh my goodness. shairn’ull, this coat is adorable! i love it so much. do the little ghosts move? they do! oh, that’s precious...”

“got your spirit up, did it?”

“i love you, but how dare you.”

“you’re smiling!”

“ahem. that aside... what does this go to?”

“the key?”

“yes, the key. it doesn’t look like it belongs to this era at all... is it from your old timeline? or another one you visited? it looks futuristic, almost. does it have magic in it?”

“hmmm. would you believe me if i said it was the key to my heart?”

“cheesy, but no. you always have a tangible reason to gifts like these.”

“hah! fair enough. let’s just say it goes to something that you won’t need until after the world cracks down the middle and shatters.”

“i’m afraid i don’t understand.”

“you’re not meant to. not yet, at least.”

“this is confusing me, fleur.”

“you’ll know what it goes to when the time comes to use it. i promise.”

“hm. very well then. regardless, i love both of your gifts and i love you dearly. come here, i have to be a dad for a bit.”

(( o u ch

dot martyr: oh! wow, i can probably use this ability to help people

dot martyr, five seconds later:

“Uh... 7.”

(chanting) yo kai yo kai yo kai

“I’M NOT– okay i am stupid bUT WE CAN IGNORE THAT–”

Whisper “Joshua” Rhodes:

I like you // I love you // You’re one of my best friends // You’re like family // You are family // I dislike you // I hate you // I’d kill you if I got the chance // I want you to like me // I’m scared of you // I would adopt you // I’d date you // I’d sleep with you (my parents have a habit of kidnapping me) // I’d marry you // I’m worried about you // You confuse me // You’re annoying // I pity you // I respect you // I trust you // I feel protective of you // I’d invite you with me to parties // I’d lend you my money // I’d borrow your money // You’re good-looking // I’m suspicious of you // I’m hiding something from you // You’re fun // You’re boring // I’m upset with you (you went there without thinking of course i’m still upset…) // You’re nice // You’re mean // I’m envious of you // You’re smart // You’re stupid // I look up to you // I think you’re a better person than me // I think I’m a better person than you // I want to apologize to you // I wish I’d never met you // I never want to forget you // I want to get to know you better