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..........“And give it up for Rance!!” a loud voice boomed over the speakers. The crowd cheered wildly as the brown haired man grinned and raised his guitar in thanks before he made his way backstage. In the relieving darkness, Rance sat down on the bench and poured himself a cup of water to drink. He leaned his head back on the wall behind him, taking time to relax himself. Suddenly, the backstage door opened, and two figures strolled in calmly.

..........“Yo! Bro, that was awesome,” greeted the younger looking one of the two. He took off his sunglasses and slipped it in his jacket as he dropped onto another bench. He slicked back his golden brown hair and grabbed a towel off the bench. “Here,” he said, as he tossed it at Rance, “dry yourself off. I swear I could see your sweat flying everywhere when you were on stage.”
..........Rance smiled wryly, “…Thanks Grant.” He leaned forward and wiped his face with the towel. When he was done, he tossed the towel to the side off handedly and glanced at the red-headed man who had been silent all this time. Now the man was lighting his cigarette. Rance looked up at him from his seat on the bench and just gazed at him for a moment, “…Zsolt.” He grinned, stood up and began to pull on his jacket, “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen you down here.”
..........“Hnn?” Zsolt looked up from his lighter at Rance as he finally got it to work, “Yea… You’re not bad Rance. Don’t get why you need me to come along with you to your gigs. Y’don’t need another guitarist.” He tossed the lighter into the wastebasket, muttering, “… I need a new one…”

..........Rance chuckled as he finished dressing and packed up his equipment, “So, where we headed? Dinner?” The three made their way back outside, where it had begun to snow again. Grant went to his bike and swung his leg over the seat, “Nah, we just wanted to stop by and watch you going solo. I gotta get back to my job.”
..........“You mean you skipped work for this?!?”
..........“…Yea?”
..........Rance grinned widely and headlocked Grant, “You rock lil’ bro! Can you believe it Zsolt? The kid actually skipped work to watch me!”

..........Zsolt’s face remained impassive as he watched Rance and Grant engaged in their sibling squabbles, only a hint of a smile on his face. Hopeless brothers… Zsolt sighed and watched the smoke from his cigarette travel up into the night sky. He turned his gaze back to the two brothers again and spoke, “Yea, I need to get back. It’s getting late.” He lifted his bag of groceries to show them as if it explained all.
..........Rance and Grant paused, “Laxis?”
..........Zsolt nodded, “See you tomorrow at the usual place then,” he said, and turned around towards the direction of his house.

..........“Wait!” Rance called out as he ran up to Zsolt. Grant’s bike could be heard as it sped away. “Zsolt!” The two of them walked down the sidewalk of the street. It was Christmas season and shops were all decorated with holiday lights and trees and ornaments. “Say Zsolt… Christmas is right around the corner, and we’re gonna have a get together for it. The usual gang; you, me, Grant, Jereon, Adriana… ya… think we can hold it at your hou—”
..........“No.” Zsolt had his eyes straight ahead, not looking at the families and couples walking around them… the decorations… all useless in his eyes.
..........“But Zsooooolllllllttttt! It’s Christmas!! Fine, we get together somewhere else—”
..........“I’m not going.”
..........“But—”
..........“No.”
..........“Whyy!!?”
..........“Christmas is a highly commercialized season where businesses make a lot of money selling useless items to everyone that only gets put up once a year and will be dumped later anyway. People take advantage of the season to get free things and is a completely useless notion in general,” Zsolt replied flatly, all in the same breath.
..........Rance stared at Zsolt after he finished his explanation and burst out laughing, “Okay, okay, you win. But hey, if you change your mind, give me a call.” Rance turned around to go towards his house, “See ya tomorrow Zsolt! Christmas Eve Party!! Tomorrow!!!”


..........Zsolt finally turned around to look at Rance as his voice trailed away. He sighed and put out his cigarette before tossing it into the trashcan. Christmas… how stupid… Zsolt looked up at the night sky thinking… That was when Adriana and I… broke up… He shook his head, throwing the thoughts out of his head and walked until he reached his house. Zsolt walked up the pathway to his house while pulling out the key from his pocket. Opening the door, he walked in quietly and took off his shoes. He noticed a pair of feet next to his shoes.
..........Eh? Feet? He looked at the feet’s owner. Laxis!?

..........It was Laxis… sitting at the entrance now sound asleep. Was he waiting for me? Zsolt blinked in surprise and glanced at the clock. It was ten o’clock at night. Zsolt looked back at Laxis. He was still a little unused to this feeling… of having someone waiting for him at home. Zsolt set down the groceries on the floor and crouched in front of Laxis to watch his sleeping face. So peaceful looking… Zsolt smiled. Laxis’s dog ears twitched. Zsolt’s eyes flicked towards the fluffy looking ears.
..........“…” Zsolt was silent. …Nngh…I want to pet… Slowly, he lifted his hand towards Laxis’s head and gently ruffled his soft hair, no longer rough from the detergent he had used earlier. Laxis opened his eyes sleepily, “…Zsolt?”

..........Zsolt took his hand back quickly and stood up, “Hey kid...” He picked up the groceries and took them to the kitchen. Laxis trailed behind him singing, “I see sirloin steak heart !” Zsolt rolled his eyes, thinking about the increasing food bill and asked, “Have you eaten dinner yet?” Laxis shook his head vigorously, “I was…” he cast his gaze downwards, “… waiting…”
..........Zsolt paused in the middle of putting away the groceries, his back still facing Laxis. He hadn’t finished the last two words of the sentence. For you… Little pinpricks of guilt poked at Zsolt for coming home so late. He sighed and pulled out a frying pan and one of the steaks to cook. It may not be much, but it was his own way of apologizing without words.

..........Laxis’s eyes lit up as Zsolt set the plate down in front of him and took a seat on the other side of the table. His tail wagged happily behind him as he took his first delicious bite of steak. Zsolt smiled at Laxis’s antics and stirred his own cup of coffee. “Say… Laxis…” he began. Laxis looked up from his steak attentively, sauce dribbling down the side of his mouth. Zsolt stared back and sighed as he took a napkin and wiped his mouth, whatever mood there was previously was completely gone. Zsolt began again, “Christmas… the gang is having a party… d’you want… to go?”
..........If Laxis were really a dog, his tail might had wagged itself off by now, “A Christmas party? Really??” he asked excitedly. He had always loved Christmas season. Laxis caught a look on Zsolt’s face and his smile fell a little, “You’re not… happy about it?”

..........Zsolt sipped at his coffee, his chin resting on his hand, with a faraway look in his eyes, “It’s not that… I just don’t think much of Christmas… that’s all. It’s pretty much a commercialized season. People just buy useless junk for each other and it’s supposed to be all ‘special’. All the decorations you buy, you put up once a year. I don’t really see the point.”
..........Laxis set down the leftover bone from his steak quietly, and wiped his hands on his napkin. He had a fond expression on his face, as if he were remembering something from long ago, “… I always loved Christmas… I got to spend lots of time with my mom and dad. We built snowmen, we had snowball fights… I got to help decorate the Christmas tree… It was so fun… The fun about Christmas wasn’t just the presents. It was spending time with people we lov—” Laxis’s eyes widened fearfully for a split second, before a wave of grief overcame his face, “…loved,” he finished quietly. Laxis stood up, “May I be excused?”
..........“Mmhhmm,” Zsolt murmured in reply, not looking up from his cup of coffee. Laxis dashed off without another word, and Zsolt could hear the front door open and close. Zsolt sighed yet again, but this time in frustration, and rested his chin on top of the table as he pulled out a cigarette. He placed the cigarette in his mouth and reached into his pocket for the lighter, “Nngh… forgot…threw that one away.” He resisted making a frustrated yell, and stood up abruptly to go wash the dishes.

..........When he was finished, he went to the door to go call Laxis back in, but he hesitated when his hand was on the door handle. He probably wants to be left alone… Zsolt thought. A little unwillingly, he nevertheless made himself turn around and went to his bathroom to shower. When Zsolt came out, he peeked in Laxis’s room to check on him but he still wasn’t back. Zsolt gazed at the empty bed, “…stupid me to bring up that subject…” he muttered, and went to his own bed. As he pulled the bed sheets over himself, he glanced out the window and saw the snow falling silently. The moonlight streamed in through the window, reflecting Zsolt’s crimson eyes. The last thought as he went to sleep was that maybe… the party wasn’t that bad of an idea after all…




..........Next morning, Zsolt woke up to the sun shining in his face. Moaning, he tossed the sheets aside and made himself get up. He walked sleepily to the bathroom, passing by Laxis’s room. Laxis’s room! Zsolt backtracked, eyes wide. No one was there. The bed hadn’t even been touched since last night. Zsolt raced downstairs and to the door and yanked it open, “Laxis! Laxis!?” He spotted an unusual lump of snow in the middle of his daisy patch. Zsolt rushed over in his bare feet, leaving footprints in the snow, “Laxis??” He brushed off the snow quickly, finding Laxis curled up in his flowers, shivering with cold, “Laxis!”

..........“H-hi Zsolt,” he chattered.
..........Zsolt picked him up and held him tightly, trying to give him as much warmth as possible, and rushed back inside. Setting Laxis down on the sofa, Zsolt rushed to get a tub of hot water, blanket, and dry clothes.
..........After a bunch of chaos and busy-ness, they both settled down. Laxis in dry clothes, wrapped up in a blanket, and his feet soaking in the water.
..........“Why didn’t you come back in??”
..........“I locked myself out on accident,” Laxis replied abashed.
..........“Why didn’t you ring the doorbell!? Or knock?!”

..........Zsolt grinned and tucked the book away carefully.

..........“DUDE! GEEZER! THANKS!” Grant yelled across the room, waving the biking gloves Zsolt had bought for him.
..........“Geezer?” Zsolt raised his eyebrow.
..........“Oops,” Grant laughed, “Sorry. Thanks Zsolt. How’d you know? I’ve been wanting a pair badly.” Zsolt remained quiet and smiled, knowing well that Grant didn’t want to spend money he earned on gloves even if he wanted it a lot. He had noticed Grant’s rough hands from yesterday night when he was squabbling with Rance. Riding a motorcycle with no gloves was tough on the hands. Although Grant had called him geezer, Zsolt felt warmer inside for some reason…
..........Rance came over afterwards and thanked Zsolt for the yearlong movie pass at the local theater and gave him the real present: a pack of lighters. Adriana gave Zsolt a friendly hug for the bouquet and picture frame with a picture of the bonsai that he took care of. Jereon gave his quiet thanks for the classical music records…he still hadn’t bought a CD player.
..........From Jereon, Zsolt received another ‘How to’ book, How to Raise Puppies, and from Adriana, earrings and a wristwatch. From Grant, he received the CDs that Grant had borrowed from before, some newer CDs, and a note attached. Zsolt took the note in his hands and read it.

..........Yo Zsolt,
..........Thanks for lending me the CDs. I burnt a couple new mixes for you. Have them ready for me to listen to whenever I come over.

..........Zsolt raised his eyebrow again, “Brothers are very alike aren’t they…?”
..........Laxis pounced on Zsolt, “What do you mean?
..........Zsolt ruffled Laxis’s hair again, “Ah… it’s nothing. Are you enjoying yourself?”
..........Laxis beamed, “Definitely ~! You?”
..........Zsolt chuckled, “Suprisingly… with all the trouble everyone causes… I am.”
..........Laxis smiled and gave Zsolt a big hug, “That’s good.” He jumped over Zsolt and sat in front of him, “So~ What did you get me? More steak?” he grinned.
..........Zsolt glanced at his face, cheerful and smiling, and felt a smile grow on his own face as well, “Nope, something better. Hold out your hand Laxis.”
..........Laxis obligingly held out his hands expectantly. Zsolt had something in his fist and dropped it into Laxis’s hand.
..........“It’s a key…” Laxis said quietly when Zsolt took his hand away.
..........“Yes… that way, you can come and go any time you wish… and not get locked out again,” he grinned. Zsolt raised Laxis’s face towards him, “Okay?”
..........Laxis trembled with emotion, and tears cascaded down his face as he threw his arms around Zsolt and cried tears of joy, “Thank you Zsolt… thank you so much…”
..........Zsolt was tense for a moment, but then he slowly relaxed and returned the hug. Suddenly everything in the room felt brighter… cheerier… warmer. Zsolt smiled and leaned his head against Laxis softly and whispered in his ear,