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When it hit midnight and the cheer was at only seven percent, even Mrs. Claus had to admit that there wasn’t much else they were going to be able to do that day. After a conference with both Santas (one of whom wandered off halfway through) Mrs. Claus sent most of the ElfTechs home, only the ones needed to monitor the machine staying behind.
Mopey put his last present under the tree and started walking toward town. Most of the elves had taken apartments in Barton for the holidays. It was a lot easier than commuting from the North Pole, but Mopey didn’t like the city. Granted, he didn’t like the North Pole much either…
It wasn’t far to walk, but he was cold, and he’d been on his feet all day. Of course, no one really cared about him, so they wouldn’t-
The stringent sounds of La Cucaracha interrupted Mopey’s reverie. “Hey!”
Mopey nearly jumped out of his skin. An electric-blue VW van pulled up alongside him, the side splashed with primer.
Steve leaned out the window and grinned down at him. “Need a lift?”
Mopey shook his head. “It’d just be out of your way.”
“Nah, I don’t- I’m not going anywhere special. Come on!”
“I wouldn’t want to waste you gas. It’s so expensive now.”
“It’s going back down. And I pretty much throw all my money into my ride. What’s the fun of having sweet wheels if other people can’t enjoy it?”
Mopey couldn’t think of any other excuses. “O- okay…”
The van smelled like incense and artificial new car smell. The seats appeared to be real suede, and were far too comfortable to have been standard. Like all elvish vehicles, the pedals had been raised so Steve’s feet could reach them.
He grinned and patted the armrest. “Nice, right?”
“Um, yes.” Mopey turned around in his seat and looked at the back. Carpeting, speakers, pizza boxes and Chinese takeout containers, and a sleeping bag and pillow tossed in the corner. “Did this cost you a lot of money?”
“You could say that. But, you know, I did it over time. ‘S not done yet either. I’m saving up for some new speakers and gonna see if I can get a TV installed somewhere back there. Not to mention the custom mural I’ve got planned for the side.” Steve chuckled as he finally pulled away from the curb. “But it’s a labor of love. This baby is going to be a knockout one day, you’ll see.”
“Is that a… popcorn popper?”
“You’d be surprised what you can cook in a popcorn popper.”
“And a Mr. Coffee?”
“Best part of waking up, man.”
“In your van?”
“Oh, well, you know… Drowsy driving. Not safe. And all.” Steve focused on the road. “Um. Where’s your place?”
“Oh, it’s downtown. There’s four apartment complexes on this one hill, mine’s the third one.” He sighed. “You can tell which one right away, because it’s always got kids in front of it. And garbage. And-”
“If you hate it so much, why don’t you move?”
“We’re not going to be here that long. I’d hate any other place I could afford just as much.”
“You alone, or got a roommate?”
“Alone. I’m always alone.” Mopey sighed and sunk back into the seat. It really was soft. And it was warm in the van, and smelled like jasmine and patchouli.
“I’m here,” Steve said, half to himself. “You’re not alone right now.”
“I guess not,” Mopey muttered. The purr of the engine was soothing, like white noise. He wondered what exactly had possessed Steve to talk to him today. Why should he care if Mopey had to walk home. Or where he lived. Or…
“Mopey?”
Mopey blinked.
“Are you awake?”
“What? Oh, um.” He sat up. “Did I drift off?”
“I think so. I need directions.”
Mopey rubbed his eyes and did his best to get his bearings. They got turned around once, since Mopey was used to walking. Steve chattered happily about his engine as they drove, not minding a bit that it took longer than it should have. In fact, he seemed to slow down as they got closer.
Finally, Steve pulled into the parking lot and found a space in front of Mopey’s building. He turned to the other elf, smiling a bit too wide. “Well, here we are.”
“Yes… Thank you.”
“Oh hey! No problem. Um…”
“What?”
“Nothing, it’s just, uh… It’s really late, you know? And uh… I was wondering… Maybe, do you have a couch?”
Mopey blinked. Was he still asleep. “You want to… stay here?”
“Well, it’s just… it’s so late and all. It would just be fore one night! Or maybe… a couple…”
“Don’t you have a place to stay?”
Steve flinched. “Of course I do! But it’s really cold, y’know.”
“If you hate it so much, why don’t you move?” Mopey said, tossing his words back in his face.
Steve hunched his shoulders. “Never mind. It was just a thought.”
“Is that the only reason you drove me home? So you could mooch off of me?”
“No! You always look so… I wanted to do something nice for you.”
“And then I’d do something nice for you, right?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“Of course not.” Mopey unbuckled his seat belt and fumbled for the door handle. “I should have known better.”
“No! Look, it’s… never mind. I’m sorry.”
Mopey yanked open the door and slid out. “Goodnight.”
“Night,” Steve said, sadly. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” Mopey slammed the door and left Steve. Alone.
He flopped into bed, but already knew he was going to lay awake for hours. It had been nice, just sitting with Steve. And to think, he was only trying to butter him up for a favor. Was his place really so bad that a couch would be better? Was…
Oh… It had to be, didn’t it? It must be pretty bad if he preferred a couch to whatever it was. And it looked like he slept in his van sometimes too.
Slept in his…
Oh. Oh no. That couldn’t be it, could it?
But it made sense. The way he talked about his van, like it was his whole life. And there was that sleeping bag in the back. Oh no.
And Mopey had just condemned him to sleeping there for another night, in the middle of winter.
He rolled over and buried his face in the pillow. Stupid. So stupid. He couldn’t do anything right. Steve wouldn’t be outside anymore, he could be anywhere. He could have been arrested by now. It was all Mopey’s fault.
There was nothing he could do. He would only make it worse. Mopey couldn’t do anything…
He wasn’t sure when he fell asleep, but the alarm jolted him awake at 8 AM. Only the knowledge that life would be even harder if he didn’t go to work got him out of bed, and even that was only enough to make him shower and pull on the same clothes as yesterday. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered.
Mopey left the apartment with his hair still damp, the tips of his ears losing feeling as soon as he stepped out the door. Still cold. It stood to reason he would only come to town the one time of year it was just as cold as his home. And when Steve would probably freeze to death.
He was so wrapped up in his, well, moping, that he almost didn’t see the electric blue van parked in an alley as he passed it. He froze, not sure what to do. Should he say something? What if Steve wasn’t awake? What if-
There was a wisp of smoke coming from the back of the van. Mopey’s feet were moving before he even processed the thought. He found the doors open and Steve sitting hunched over a mug that was too big for his hands and what appeared to be a can of soup in the popcorn popper.
Steve jumped when he saw him, and gave him that same too-wide smile from the night before. “Oh, hey man. Good morning.”
“What… are you doing?”
“Breakfast,” Steve said simply. The sleeping bag was unrolled behind him, and what Mopey had thought was a pillow was open, revealing it was full of laundry.
“Do you- Are you- don’t you have a home?”
“This is a van, baby,” Steve waved his arm back, “home is where you park it.”
Mopey stared at him.
Steve ducked his head. “It’s not, you know, so bad… I can still buy food and stuff, and it’s pretty well insulated. It’s more like a mobile home! People who live in RVs aren’t homeless. They’re retired.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It’s none of your business.”
“But… I would have let you stay, if I’d known.”
“I can’t afford to pay rent. That’s why I live here.”
“But… you said you could buy your own food, right? So it wouldn’t be that much extra if you just… stayed with me. Until we go back to the Pole.”
Steve hunched his shoulders further, so that he looked like a turtle retracting its head into its shell.
“You don’t have a home there either?”
“It’s not a big deal.”
“Yes it is! It is a very big deal! Does anyone know?”
“It’s my life, okay? I had to pick between the van and a roof over my head. I picked the van.” He made a vague gesture. “I don’t like being tied down. I like… the open road. The world is my home.”
“But you need to have somewhere to come back to.”
“Why?”
“B- because… What if you get sick? Or hurt? Or… tired?”
“I’ve done all right so far.”
Mopey wilted. “Fine. Whatever. What’s the point?”
“Well, hey…” Steve reached out, like he wanted to touch him. “I’m glad you actually care what happens to me. I thought you were pissed last night.”
“I… I don’t know. Maybe I was. But I didn’t understand.”
“I wasn’t trying to use you, you know. I ask a lot of people of I can crash with them. Giving you a ride… I did that because I wanted to.”
“You… Really?”
“Yeah.”
Mopey thought about that for a moment. “Why?”
“Because! You’re always so down. And you’re a nice guy, when you’re not thinking about, uh, life, and how much things suck. And things do suck, sometimes. Hell, this van kind of sucked what I bought it. But I put a lot of work into it, and it’s well on it’s way to being major badass. Things only suck if you let them.”
Mopey gaped at him.
Steve’s face went red, and Mopey didn’t think it was from the cold. “That’s how I see it, anyway.”
“Oh.” Mopey felt his own cheeks getting hot, in defiance of the cold. “You wanted to… cheer me up?”
“Yeah. Pretty much. I mean!” Steve waved his hands. “You worry about everything! And every time I look at you, all sad and whatever, I just want to give you-” He stopped.
Mopey stared at him. He couldn’t have… There was no way someone like Steve would ever…
“Giveyouahug,” Steve mumbled.
There was a long pause.
“Really?”
Steve nodded, staring at the ground.
“Then- Then… why don’t you?”
Steve’s head jerked up. “You wouldn’t mind?”
“Not really…” He was definitely blushing now.
“Oh.” Steve put down his mug and stood up. “You look pretty sad right now.”
“I d-” He couldn’t even finish the word before Steve threw his arms around his shoulders and pulled him close. Steve was warm, smelled like coffee and incense, and had tucked his head between Mopey’s neck and shoulder. He was hugging back before he realized it.
When Steve pulled back he was grinning, a real one this time. “I’m gonna do that a lot from now on.”
“O- okay.”
“We should probably get to work.”
“Okay.”
“Want a lift?”
“Okay.”
Steve started packing up his breakfast, so they wouldn’t spill when they took off.
“Hey Steve?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you still want to sleep on my couch?”
“Sure, if you’re offering.”
“I am.”
Steve grinned. “So, you feel better then?”
“Better?” Mopey thought about it. It was still cold. And he still hated his job, and his home, and himself. But Steve liked him. And Steve was a good hugger. “Yes. Better.”
“Good! Now get in before I decide to jump you.”
 Mistress BatNeko · Fri Dec 19, 2008 @ 12:11pm · 0 Comments |
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