[FIN] A very merry Christmas indeed.

[insidiousEnigma]

If you asked Andre he would tell you that Christmas was purely a commercial holiday. Nobody really cared about the religious aspects and 'family time' was just a sham. Christmas was all about the gifts.

Or so he had always believed up until this Christmas.

"Vincent, you made sure to stock the fridge with different juices, right?" He called down the hallway anxiously as he adjusted the apron he had thrown on to keep his clothes clean while he baked. Everything had to be absolutely perfect for when Zacharie arrived. This was going to be his first Christmas with Zacharie in sixteen years...and it'd be Zacharie's first holiday with him that he would be able to remember. He could barely contain his excitement. "Nevermind, I'll just check myself." He turned sharply on his heel and marched back into the kitchen, idly dusting the flour off of his hands as he went.

Food?
Check.
Presents?
Check.
Pastries?
Check.
Juice?
He threw the fridge door open and peered at the contents inside. There were at least five different types of juice crammed onto the shelves.
Check.

The information broker smiled contently and sighed with satisfaction as he closed the door and turned back to the oven. "Make sure you're dressed, Vincent. Zacharie should be arriving any minute now."  

[Venti Mico]

Vincent had always loved Christmas. He loved every holiday. If it was a time for celebration, it was a time for Vincent! this year was extra special though, and as such he'd gone the extra mile. Which was possibly more like 5 miles, because Vincent was already one known for... extravagance.

"Yes, Andre!" He laughed and rolled his eyes as Andre went to check. He'd prepared with a mini fridge in his own room as well, stock full of as many backup juice boxes as one could need. He'd taken extra care with all the food to make sure it was only a little bit burnt on the edges and he still had his own surprise left for both Dubois brothers.

The blond laughed, placing the last few ornaments on the tree(including a sparkling Umbreon and a snow globe that appeared to have a burning snowman inside). He was dressed in a dark grey wool cardigan with a red cotton shirt under it, and a pair a dark slacks, all courtesy of Andre's choosing. The only thing he'd been allowed to choose for himself was his socks, which were a very loud, very fuzzy, orange with yellow spots pair. "Do ya' think I'd answer the door in my boxers when he gets here, huh? ...I mean, don't answer that. But I ain't gonna, quit your fretting!" Vincent swirled away from the tree(which was topped with an angel that Vincent totally had not drawn a moustache on), and practically pranced into the kitchen. He stepped up to Andre and put his hands on his waist, keeping him in place for just a moment. "We've been gettin' everything ready for the last month, would ya' relax? We got this. When do we fudge up plans, huh?" He grinned and pressed a quick kiss to Andre's forehead. "It'll be fine!"  

[insidiousEnigma]

Andre stilled when large, warm hands settled on his waist and tilted his head to accept the blond's kiss. "I know...I know." He murmured, leaning forward to give the other a quick kiss before sighing fretfully. "I just...I want him to enjoy himself." He let his head drop until his forehead rested comfortably on Vincent's shoulder. For as much as he boasted about knowing all that there was about his little brother...he really didn't know much at all. It only became more distressingly apparent the more time he spent with Zacharie. Vincent was right though, it'd be fine. They'd be fine.

Ding Dong

"He's here." Andre jerked back upright and turned back to the oven. "Go let him in, I'm going to take the cake out of the oven and get it cooling." The purple haired man took up an oven mitt with one hand while he made a shooing motion to Vincent with the other.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie had no problem admitting, at least to himself, that he was a bit anxious. He had no idea if there was any sort of protocol for spending Christmas with your family.
Andre had assured him multiple times that nothing but his presence was required of him but...he couldn't just not bring anything.

"Peldes, would you get the doorbell?" He asked as he shifted the packages in his arms. "Absol!" Rearing up on her back legs, Peldes booped the doorbell before returning to prancing in excited circles around her trainer's legs.  

[Venti Mico]

Vincent couldn't help but be amused by Andre's worrying. Sure, he'd been a bit jealous of all the attention Andre was giving to Zacharie when they'd finally met each other again, but... he'd managed to get over it well enough. Besides, he couldn't let himself be jealous of a twerp like the younger Dubois siblings. The kid had a kind of charm to him, anyway. He wasn't much like Andre, but Vincent could get used to him as a step brother.

"I'm on it," he said to Andre, rolling his eyes at getting waved off. He strolled to the door, took a moment to straighten out his cardigan, took a deep breath, then flung the door open.

He grinned and flung himself out the door.

"HELLOOO BROTHER!!" He cheered, scooping Zacharie up into his hands in a smothering hug, swirling him around and being at least moderately careful not to step on the pokemon that was dancing around Zacharie's feet. "Welcome to our humble aboat! Er- abode, somethin'! How was the trip here, you tired? Thirsty? We got juice! Lotsa juice! Nice to see ya' kid!" And Vincent didn't put him down until he'd planted an obnoxious and loud kiss to the top of his head.  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie gave a startled shout as he was suddenly swept up into a hug, the boxes he'd been holding toppling to the ground. "A-Ah, Vincent!" He tried to sound annoyed but it was a bit hard to when he was shaking and a bit breathless. "Ab-sol!" Peldes hopped excitedly against Vincent's side, completely missing her trainer's discomfort.

Ah...juice?

The teen wriggled out of the blond's grip with a soft huff before bending to pick up his dropped parcels. "I enjoy juice." He muttered for lack of anything better to say, staggering back to his feet without the use of his hands. "I hope you didn't go through any unnecessary troubles on my behalf." He said awkwardly before shrugging. "My trip was pleasant enough...a bit busy with all of these packages. A drink would be nice though."  

[Venti Mico]

Vincent made sure to ruffle up Zacharie's hair once he was on his feet again, then dropped down to his knees to pet Peldes too. "And wonderful t'see you too! We got juice, water, alcohol! Anythin' y'like!" He grinned at the Absol, then at Zacharie, "Don't think your brother wants you havin' any though. But we've got cake! Come in, come in!" Vincent stood back up and pushed the door open wide, ushering Zacharie and Peldes in. He attempted plucking the parcels out of Zacharie's hands as he entered, too.

"No unnecessary trouble for family, kid! All worth it to have you here. First Christmas with th'whole family, brings tears to my eyes!" Vincent made a dramatic sniff, then carried Zacharie's things off and delivered them under the tree. "Now, make yourself at home! Take your jacket off, throw it, uh, somewhere! Peldes, don't mind the grouches we've got lurkin' around somewhere. Got at least one nice pokemon somewhere 'round here, make some friends!"

Vincent looked back at Zacharie and just smiled at him for a moment and lowered his voice. "Really, we're glad t'have you. Andre should be ready in just a moment."  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Absol~" The dark type cooed at Vincent bent to pet her, gently head butting the blond's hand before licking it. She liked this human, not as much as she liked her human...but he was still pretty nice! Zacharie let himself be ushered into the house and the packages taken from his arms so he could work on taking off his boots. "Some water will be fine for now, I haven't had enough today." He did want to check out their selection of juice but it was important to stay hydrated.

Despite Vincent's reassurances it sounded an awful lot like they went through a lot of trouble to put everything together for today and he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty. He knew Andre would go a bit overboard with this. "I'm...really glad to be here." He said softly with a small smile.  

[insidiousEnigma]

"Zacharie!" Andre appeared from around the corner, wiping his hands clean on his apron as he approached his two favourite people. "I'm so happy to see you. I hope your bus ride went well." He greeted, pulling his little brother into his arms when the smaller male stood back up. "I'm sure Vincent's told you all about the different things we have to snack on and drink, so please come in. I'm working on a cake in the kitchen, if you'd like to join me?" He leaned over a bit and pressed a quick kiss to Vincent's cheek before wandering back to the kitchen. Tepsichore had been suspiciously quiet all day and he didn't trust all of that food left unattended.  

[Venti Mico]

"Carrots and celery and dip! In the kitchen! Don't just eat cake!" Vincent said, patting Andre's cheek as he walked off. He turned back to Zacharie, "I have an entire vegetable tray! It's good for you. You must be so much healthier than Andre, asking for water! Maybe you can teach him a thing or two!" Vincent laughed and followed Andre into the kitchen, fetching Zacharie a glass of water, then plucking a lemon slice from his tray of healthy snacks(it was kept very separate from Andre's choice snacks), and sticking it on the glass. He offered the glass to Zacharie with a dramatic bow.

"We'll have to go over the house rules sometime, Zacharie," Vincent said with a mischievous grin. He looked at Andre, prepared for the exasperation, but hey! The kid had to learn sometime! "We'll go easy on you for now since it's your first big ol' official visit! But the first rule you gotta remember..." He quieted himself, whispering in a hushed voice like he was speaking the name of some dark lord of magic, then yelled, "...No mercy! Yeah!" And he clapped at his own obviously hilarious remark. "But we'll go easy! Just this once!"  

[insidiousEnigma]

Zacharie slowly trailed after the two older men, taking his time so he could observe what he could of the house as he went. He wished that Peldes hadn't run off but she'd bolted the minute that Vincent mentioned that there were other pokemon in the house. He was startled out of his examination of a rather interesting (i.e weird) painting by the blond's rather dramatic presentation of his water. "Oh...I could have gotten it myself." He said sheepishly, but took the glass all the same with a little nod of thanks.

He sipped idly at the water as he returned his attention back to the painting, only halfway listening to Vincent prattle on about house rules or something or another. Who had house rules? Well...he supposed if you lived with someone like Vincent, house rules might be necessary. He was pondering over why his big brother put up with living with someone so bothersome when he was once again startled by the sudden exclamation. The water that had previously been in his mouth sprayed all over the wall and the glass that went plummeting to the ground, shattering around his socked feet. "I..." He looked up and gave Vincent an annoyed look before giving Andre a rather helpless and terrified one. "I didn't mean to drop it. He startled me."  

[insidiousEnigma]

Andre was also only half paying attention to Vincent as he carefully decorated his cake. "Mmn, yes." He agreed absently, when Vincent brought up going over the house rules. He should have known better than to just blindly agree with what the blond was saying though.

At the loud exclamation Andre's hand jerked in surprise, sending frosting sloppily careening over the side of the cake. "Vincent!" He snapped, startling even more by the loud shatter of glass. The kitchen was silent for a few stunned seconds before the information broker was tossing aside the frosting bag and making his way over to his little brother. "It's alright, I'm not angry...at you." He sent the blond a heated glare and smacked him upside the head as he passed. Hard. Hey...rule number one. "Oh dear..." He tsked softly, eyeing the glass at Zacharie's feet before shrugging. "Hold still, dear." He reached out, caught the teen under his arms and easily lifted him into the air. "Aaaaah!! Andre don't!" The smaller Dubois exclaimed, but luckily enough didn't flail. Andre carefully set his little brother beside Vincent with a little huff of amusement. "I wouldn't drop you, Zacharie." He chuckled, smoothing back the others hair before looking up at Vincent. "Go find the dust pan...I think I saw it in the hall closet."  

[Venti Mico]

Vincent couldn't help but laugh after the whole tense silence, interrupting himself with an "ow!" When Andre smacked him, but then clasping a hand on Zacharie's shoulder when Andre set him down next too him. "Aww, what's life without a little fun, huh? I'll get it, hold on! Is the broom still stuck on the shower ceiling? Never mind, I'll find it!" Vincent laughed and walked off to get everything. He came back a few minutes later after a loud crash and the wind of something breaking... but didn't offer any explanation.

"It was lodged between my mattresses! Let's get this fun little hazard cleaned up, yeah?" Vincent reached over and smacked Andre's behind with the broom before he started cleaning up the need. Rule number one, right? "So!! Andre, what do you say we get right to the fun stuff and open presents?" Vincent asked excitedly as he threw out the broken glass and grabbed paper towels to soak up the water. He grinned at Zacharie, "I got you some things no kid should live without!"  

[insidiousEnigma]

Andre shook his head and ushered Zacharie over towards the snack covered counter. "How do you-" The older man held up a hand to cut off his little brother's question, a weary expression on his face. "Just...there are good reasons why I keep him around." He muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose at the loud noises coming from the back rooms. "Some days I just have to remind myself of them...frequently." The teen let the subject drop as Vincent came back into the room, both Dubois watching him clean up the mess with an air of exasperation.

Zacharie just became more and more confused about Andre and Vincent's relationship the more he was around them.

Andre glanced at his cake, the frosting job now ruined, and shrugged lightly. "I'm alright with that." He said, moving to push the cake back further onto the counter so no curious pokemon could knock it over. "Zacharie, are you alright to open presents now or would you rather wait?" He asked over his shoulder as he tidied up his mess. The smaller male glanced between his two hosts before nodding just a bit. He was ridiculously nervous about giving them their presents...but he was also curious about what he may have gotten. "Let's open them now." He said, trying to mask his excitement with a shrug but ruining the effect by all but running into the living room to sit by the tree. Andre smiled fondly and trailed after him, snatching up a juicebox for himself as he went.  

[Venti Mico]

Vincent was way too happy for a thirty year old man to open Christmas presents. He gave Andre a happy grin and filled the two out, bouncing on his heels. Vincent plopped down near Zacharie and waited for Andre to take a seat before he snatched up the first present, handing out over to Zacharie. "Guests first! Go on, go! That one's from me!" He chirped, crossing his legs. The present was a moderately sized box, wrapped nicely in sparkly red paper and topped with a white bow; Vincent picked up another box while he waited, this one for Andre.