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Holidays were always a whirl of merriment and motion - of food and festivities. At least, they always were for Colin and his family. Families - if you counted his Dance family...and he did! But between dance recitals and family get-togethers he found it somewhat difficult to keep his mind on school work or on Senshi work. War was war but family was family and dance was dance! And this year he had a new person to add into his plans: Björn. No way would he forget his dear, dear Tank! The poor Swede would be stuck going (or at least given the option of attending) any and all of Colin's recitals and family dinners. He could always say no, but from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas, Colin would be offering (and in some cases begging, pleading or otherwise *eh hem* trying to "convince") his boyfriend the means to be at his side for such things.

Not that he assumed Björn would go to any of it; he just made the option available as well as making it clear he'd love for the Swede to be there. If he had other plans for the various holidays, that was fine and dandy - he just liked to know. And the holiday that was coming up was one of the more important ones (to pretty much anyone that had been born into the commercialized world that liked getting gifts!): Christmas.

One weekend afternoon after they'd been out playing Senshi-Toss (Björn was so good at helping him not suck at fighting!) and had gotten some delicious take-out (food to either take to the park or dorm [your call]), he popped the question. "Björn, do you have any plans for Christmas this year?"

He settled on the bench, one leg bent up a bit to make a sort of table and also to keep his drink from falling over should one of them bump it. "Both, actually." He grinned at Björn, green eyes bright. "You know, we should probably get one of those white-erase boards to use as a calendar...it'd be easier to keep track of stuff that way." Just a thought he had after thinking about the dates given for the Eastern divison competition and his own schedule - he'd be able to go, that was good. He'd be late going on the 19th maybe, there was an audition early that morning he'd signed up for.

"Um...well, I've got an audition early on the 19th, but after that I'm free. If you want me to come to the competition. I promise I will not bring pompoms or anything." Colin had threatened - jokingly - to attend Björn's competitions in cheerleader garb or at least with pompoms after seeing a competitor's girlfriend once doing so. It had been hilarious watching the girl doing kicks and waving the glitter-poms around while her boyfriend was on stage.

"I have recitals on the 15th, 16th and the 23rd, all in the early evening and my sister's got a concert on the 24th. It's a band-thing, but it shouldn't be bad. You're welcome to come to any of them." He pulled his phone out briefly to double check, and then stuffed it back into his pocket; it wasn't that he didn't trust his boyfriend with his phone - not at all - it was more that without his schedule during the busy-busy holidays, he'd get lost. Or forget something really important.

"Mmhmm. What about you?" Colin spoke while poking at some of the food, trying to sound like it was no big thing, but he was kind of nervous. "Oh, Mom wanted me to ask...d'you think you might want to join us? I mean, you and your family...Christmas dinner and all that."

"Ouch, that's quite a trek, isn't it?" But still, he was mentally turning over ideas on how he might get there without totally breaking the bank; neither he nor his family were made of money though he did have some money saved up from various competitions, odd-jobs and birthdays. It really would have been great to attend and just think of how pleasantly surprised the Swede would be if he showed up!

"You're probably right, but I'd still like to see you compete. It's for a phone commercial - I think they're trying to sell the music-playing aspect of it, but I'm not totally sure."

"Yeah. Miriam keeps begging me to bring you. Ever since I showed her the putter you bent, she's been driving me crazy to meet you." And meeting his family was definitely in the books, though he had not told his mom or sister, the former probably had an idea with how much her son talked about his room mate and the later...well, she was an observant little pest and had gotten onto his laptop once or twice and seen the pictures of them together (many were not damning, but there might be a webcam shot or two that were?).

"I haven't. Yet. I didn't want to without talking to you first." He chewed his lower lip and looked up at Björn, "I think my sister might know...actually, I think they both might know. Mom keeps asking to meet you and she doesn't usually care unless I'm dating someone..."

"Yeah. Sort of like those old iPhone commercials. They called Mom earlier today to see if I'd go, or I wouldn't have anything going that day. There'll be some really tough competition, but I think I've got a good chance, since I was invited to audition." He shrugged a little, trying to down-play his excitement a little, though his eyes were bright and his color high; the Swede would likely have no trouble telling just how excited Colin was about the audition. "It's only five or six spaces, so if I don't get it, it's not that big a deal." Suuure it wasn't. Like Colin didn't care about getting the job - like he couldn't have used the money to put towards college or getting an apartment after graduation or whatever else he might need; though he was slightly more responsible than most teens with his money thanks to his mother's insistence that he put most of the money earned away for the future; he had a modest amount saved up in the bank, which was nice. Truthfully, Colin wanted the job more because it would be good exposure (and it was sure to be a really fun challenge) than the monetary aspect -- being askd to come audition had sent him through the moon, practically.

Pft, Björn might miss seeing him dance for the audition (and most others, for that matter) but there were recitals and other things that he'd get to see! From very traditional ballet-type dances to more contemporary ones that would put Colin in various costumes, all of which generally involved a dance belt and tights.

"Oh, no. Not at all. Mom knows I like guys...and girls." Colin rubbed at the back of his head, fingers twisting into the curls there and tugging distractedly, "Mom never gave me much grief about it, she's pretty much always been supportive. Dad was the one with the problem." Another short tug to his curls as he processed his boyfriend's comment about Scandinavia being very gay-friendly. "Americans can be really nasty and nosy when it comes to stuff like that...I have no idea why, but it really sucks." It was cool that Björn's home-land (er, his mother's home land?) was a lot more tolerant, even "friendly" towards the rights of non-heterosexuals; he even said as much and half-joked about moving there after school.

Call them first? He didn't see why not. "Sure, you can get the number from my phone. I've got to warn you now, Mom'll talk your ear off if you let her. Might want to make sure your phone's half drained first, so you can use that as an excuse to hang up." Colin looked down at the food in his lap and picked up a meat-free sandwich, taking a bite to shut the grumbling of his stomach up before it started devouring his spine or something in retaliation for the lack of food. "You're not going to break anything - the house is me-proofed. I mean, I used to practice and climb on everything. It's pretty sturdy stuff, but you can see when you come over." God he was cute, worrying about the furniture at his mom's place.

"Miriam saw some pictures of you and me on my phone and Mom probably guessed 'cause I talk about you a lot." A lot. And those pictures? There were some snuggly-type shots and quite a few that were just of Björn, working out or doing various things - and a few really hilarious expression shots from times when Colin had exposed his boyfriend to ridiculous things (his 'senshi' fuku would have been one of them, but Colin had missed getting a snap of that particular expression). "That, and she's like...got some seventh sense or something when it comes to my love life, I swear. The woman seems to always know, somehow. It's weird." Mom-senses, tingling and telling her? More likely it was just that she knew her "baby-boy" better than he thought she did and could tell by how he acted, talked and behaved with regard to said person. Probably.

True that! Dance was one of the major focuses of Colin's life and he really loved when he could share it with Björn. Of course, in this particular instance, it wasn't as though the strongman-in-training could go to the audition with him - the most that he could have done was wait in the lobby while Colin had a dance-battle with scores of other hopefuls. Sure, he would have liked for his boyfriend to be there, but clearly that couldn't happen: Björn had his competition the same day! He needed to be traveling long before Colin would be done - he knew and understood this. The Strongman competitions were to Björn what these auditions were to him.

"Do you think they'll film your competition?" He looked out over the dappled lawn, watching a small group of brown birds fighting over the remains of someone's lunch from one of the trash receptacles. Björn almost always waited for him to start eating. Sometimes he wondered about the reasoning, but it had been going on for almost as long as Colin could recall, so he'd gotten used to it. If he'd known it was because the Swede considered him his "better", Colin would have smacked his shoulder while making a lot of noise that meant he wasn't happy. Thankfully, he didn't know.

While his boyfriend was perusing his cell, Colin worked industriously at his meal. "Mmmhmm. I love taking pictures. My sixteenth birthday Mom got me a really nice digital camera so I'd stop begging her to develop so much film. Right now Miri's got it, she's on Meadowview's Yearbook staff this year and asked if she could use it." Of course, there was the not-amazing-but-not-crappy one that he had brought to Hillworth; Björn was by then well acquainted with the ugly thing and all it's dings and scratches. What could he say, he was an unapologetic shutterbug. "Mrs. Hargrove works for now, but she'll probably have you calling her Becky before the end of your first conversation."

"Mom's coming, but Miri's not. Mom can come in and watch 'cause she's representing me, but Miri would have to wait in the lobby until everyone was done. It'd be really boring for her, so she's staying home this time." He shrugged a little bit, but grinned at Björn. "Sometimes the auditions are open and anyone can come watch, but when it's a closed call like this one it's representatives and "talent" only."

"Say...if I can get them to let Mom film it, would you want to see?"

"Damn. Maybe I'll get lucky and some guy's girlfriend will post some of it to youtube." He guessed that this time he would just have to 'suffer' through not seeing his boyfriend compete. "Maybe next time I'll get to go." Colin wasn't going to sulk about not getting to see Björn's competition because at some point he'd be there, cheer-leading the blond on as he hefted weights or whatnot to prove just how strong he really was.

Having someone care enough to tell you not to do something on the off-chance that it might cause even the slightest problem was really sweet and endearing. Most people didn't think about stuff like that, it was nice that his boyfriend did. "It shouldn't be a problem, but I'll keep that in mind." Truthfully there was no way that Colin would do anything to hurt his chances at being selected at an audition, not even for love.

Listening in on a conversation between Björn and his mom would be interesting, to say the least; he arched his eyebrow as Björn dialed up his mother but said nothing, instead preferring to keep eating. Being him burned a s**t-ton of calories during the day or something like that. Growing boys, yadda yadda.

Elsewhere and across the wireless...

In an apartment some distance away, a phone rang and brought a petite woman back to the here and now. She had been folding laundry with the television playing some godawful soap opera or other - something her son would have poked fun at her good-naturedly for had he known. She turned the volume down with one hand and picked up the ringing phone with the other.

The number on the caller ID was unfamiliar, "Hello, Hargrove residence."

While his boyfriend was chatting with his mother, Colin spent that time watching various passers-by in the park and nibbling at his food; on the phone Björn got to fumble as he spoke with the blond's mother.

Becky Hargrove wasn't surprised to hear a masculine voice coming across the line, but she was surprised to hear that aforementioned voice belonged to Colin's roommate (and possible "special friend" - though he cutely thought he could hide something like that from his mother) of all people. She certainly had not expected that Björn would sound so...adult in tone - if not precisely in manner. "Oh hello Björn, yes...this is she. It's so good to hear from you after all of Colin's boasting." She and her daughter had heard endless reams about the Swede and his accomplishments as a strongman-in-training; really it was good to finally meet - even over the phone - her son's friend (boyfriend?)

"It's very sweet of you to call...of course you're very welcome to visit. Miriam can't wait to meet the boy that bent a putter into a pretzel and I know Collie would love to show you his awards and whatnot." More likely it would be the Swede the was interested in seeing the older items cataloging Colin's career as a dancer, from video to ribbon to certificate to costume; Colin wasn't always too keen on having other people see some of his older work...it could be pretty embarrassing to a teen-aged boy.

"So Björn, did you know when you might want to come and visit? Do you think your mother will want to come too?" Björn might have attended Hillworth Prep with her son, but she knew that not all boys attending the school were "delinquents" - certainly she wouldn't have classified Colin as such (though he certainly could be, according to his permanent school records!) - and her son had already informed her that Björn wasn't like "those other jerks". She was holding her final opinion for when she got to know her son's "friend" a bit better.

Hearing that nickname come from his boyfriend's lips caused Colin to freeze in place; he narrowed his eyes at the phone and mentally swore to give his mother a talking to later - he hated being called "Collie"! Twinkle-toes was almost better than the nickname (it really couldn't be considered a diminutive as it was longer than his given name, now could it?) his family had used since before he could remember. Almost. He'd complained loud and long to get his mom and sister to remember not to use it when he was within earshot, but sometimes it still slipped out. Like now.

With a roll of his green eyes, Colin sipped at his drink. Björn was sure to tease him for the nickname later just as he was sure to "attack" the big Swede for using it. He busily began thinking of ways to punish his boyfriend...

Over the phone, Rebecca Hargrove made a short sound that clearly said "whoops!"; she knew how much her son disliked that name and here she had revealed it (perhaps only pre-preemptively, if this boy really were Collie's boyfriend) - Colin was sure to whine about that later. "Yes, that's right." Björn might have thought he wasn't as smart as some, but the fact that he recalled those dates seemingly off the top of his head (for she didn't know that her son was right there and had told the Swede shortly before) was impressive, "Oh, that should be fine, the more the merrier." Hearing that his mother - he called her Anna, not mom? Interesting, must be a Swedish thing - had a bakery brought forth a flurry of comments about how wonderful that was for Anna and how fun that must be for Björn. Becky was smiling brightly over the phone until he mentioned walking to their home after midnight; they didn't live in a bad area, but as a fussbudget mother there was no way she would allow that to happen!

"Björn, I'm sure you're a very capable young man and we live in a good neighborhood, but I can't let you walk around after midnight here. Especially after you've been traveling so much! Colin can pick you up in my car...I'm sure he'd want to. When he's home, he takes any chance he gets to drive, so that's settled." Clearly she would hear nothing more about it; a mother's "final decision" tone permeated the whole statement.

At his question about their dining habits, Colin chuckled and shook his head - only he didn't eat meat. "Oh no dear, Miriam and I both enjoy meat. I can't imagine what got into my son that he doesn't...what about you Björn, are you a vegetarian too? And your mother? Anything you're allergic to that I should know about for your visit?" She didn't want to make him sick or, God forbid, kill him while he was staying at their home. Colin would never have forgiven her!