Work Text:
Crumbs of Christmas
Barry stepped back from the small tree that he had just finished decorating and admired his work.
The tree was maybe two feet high, if you were generous enough to include the star, but he had done the best that he could. He had a lot of experience making something plain look chic, and, as he patted himself of the back, he thought that he had done it again.
Minute as it was, the tree was able to sit atop a set of drawers that lingered against the rough stone wall that filled their apartments under the zoo. It had been decorated with lights that alternated between white and multi-colored, switching with a maddening swiftness. The personalities living in Kevin's head were nearly perfectly divided on whether the lights should be all white (Barry, Orwell, and Norma were among the strongest supporters of this) or if the lights should be colored (Hedwig had loudly begged for the brightest colors that they could find), so, to keep the peace, Barry had set the lights to alternate. The few baubles and trinkets that graced the admittedly scrawny branches had a decidedly vapid sheen, but Barry had placed them close to the lights with a vague hope that the flashes would liven them up a bit.
Hedwig's many handmade ornaments graced multiple levels of the overdressed shrub. At the bottom hung pair of decidedly overcooked gingerbread people; above them, a reindeer made from a hand outline. Looking higher revealed a bulb filled with glitter - a homemade snow globe. The next row of branches held a wreath made of pasta noodles and red-hot candies. Another dozen ornaments had found their homes on the small tree's prime real estate.
Glittering with the flashes of a capitalist nightmare, the tree actually managed a modicum of charm... or so Barry hoped. He had commissioned a crocheted tree skirt from Mary Reynolds, and it really pulled everything together.
There had been many Christmases where the tree had stood in that same corner, without anything beneath it. This year, several bright packages sat beneath it, resplendent in their gaudy wrappings.
Was there anything more pathetic than one man unwrapping presents from himself to himself? It didn't seem so. The memory of Jade or B.J. gleefully unwrapping a gift while the others hovered near the light watching brought red blushes of shame to the cheeks of the dominant alter. He tried to imagine how it would look from the outside - a man with closely shaven hair giggling with different accents while tearing the wrapping paper from different boxes. They were different people, all sharing one body, but the rest of the world didn't see them that way, and that made the holidays particularly difficult.
Well, most of the rest of the world didn't see them that way.
A couple knocks came from the door, breaking Barry from his melancholic reflections. "It's open!" he called in a cheerful voice, fixing a broad smile on his face.
Casey stepped inside, juggling several large bags as she tried to close the door behind her. Barry felt his smile become more real, and he stepped up to her, hands outreached to take some of her burdens. Her cheeks had been kissed by the cold and the wind until small roses of color had bloomed there, and a small constellation of snowflakes, beginning to melt now in the warm air of the apartment, glittered in her dark brown hair.
He leaned forward and kissed her cheek in greeting, a familiar gesture, and he couldn't help but notice that her long, dark eyelashes were also dancing with snowflakes.
"Hey, babygirl." He murmured, smiling crookedly at her as she unwound her long scarf and shrugged out of her grey woolen overcoat. As always, being that close to the young woman made his heart skip a couple beats, and he stepped back, chewing on his lower lip contemplatively. "Love the sweater."
She smirked at him, and gave a small twirl, allowing him an all around view of the ugly Christmas sweater. It was covered in small Christmas lights that actually lit up, turning her into a moving tree.
"C'mon, let's get these under the tree, then the cookies go in, then we turn on 'Elf', and then we can open presents."
"Are you always this bossy on Christmas?" he teased her, and she gave him one of her slow smiles - the kind that gently upturned the corners of her full lips while her eyes crinkled and twinkled.
"Yes." she replied, before slipping past him to where the tree sat. "Oh... wow." she said when she saw it.
"That's what I was going for. 'Wow'."
Her eyes were concerned as they examined his face, now noting the shadows under his eyes. "Barry?"
He heaved a sigh, flopped down onto the couch, and patted the spot next to him, inviting her to join him.
She sat close, close enough that her leg was brushing his, and he was grateful for the gentle warmth of her. He boldly draped an arm around her shoulders, leaning his head against hers as he looked at the tree. "We haven't had many nice holidays, doll. I'm trying to get into the spirit of things, but... old habits die hard."
In his mind, at the edge of the light, he felt Dennis stiffen, and knew that the strong man was silently reliving a plethora of beatings from Kevin's mother, ridiculing from strangers, and the loneliness of never having another person around for the days that everyone else (everyone normal) looked forward to for months.
Casey nodded, and snuggled closer to his side. Her voice was low and soft. "Neither have I... so let's make this one great. We deserve it."
He pressed a quick kiss to her temple and thought that he heard her breath stop. Mentally shaking himself for being so forward, he stretched luxuriously, then stood up. He brought her bags to the tree, noting with another missed heartbeat that each bag held many small, wrapped packages.
Cookies went into the oven (break-and-bake; Norma tutted in the back of his mind, but Barry ignored her), "Elf" went on the television, and Casey turned to him. "Time for presents?" she asked, turning the volume down so that the movie was a background distraction.
"Time for presents." he agreed, now feeling the flutterings of anxiety. He shuffled his feet a little, then he gently asked, "Is it okay if Hedwig comes out? This is really his thing."
She grinned. "Of course!"
Hedwig sprang into the light, grabbed one of Casey's hands, and dragged her over to the tree so that he could point out all seven of his favorite ornaments. "An' that one I made all by myself, without any help, et cetera!" he told her, pointing out the hand traced reindeer.
Casey nodded at each one that the overgrown child showed her, complimenting his generous use of color and glitter. Internally, she thought that it was sweet of Barry to put Hedwig's creations on display. The boy deserved the praise.
Hedwig gave her the present that he had picked out for her when Barry had taken him shopping. She held up the white, long sleeved shirt, loving the soft feel of the fabric on her fingertips, and appreciating that it would still cover all of the marks that her Uncle John had left on her body.
She reached into one of her bags, and pulled out the wrapped gift for Hedwig, who tore into it with gusto. "Oh wow!" he exclaimed happily, pulling out the zoo animal set that she had selected for him. There were twenty-six detailed animal figurines (one for each letter of the alphabet), and an accompanying book with interesting facts on each of the animals. "This is totally awesome, Casey!" He held them up, happily, and grinned widely at her. "Okay, I'm gonna get Jade, it's her turn now. Bye!"
In the blink of an eye, Jade was before Casey, one hand placed sassily on her hip. "Happy fucking Festivus, Casey! Thanks for spending it with the freaks and geeks."
Hugging her friend, Casey assured her that there was no where else that she would want to be. She handed her a package that contained a pink case for Jade's insulin pens.
Kevin's personalities passed around the light, each greeting Casey and glad to have the company. She had a small gift for each of them, carefully selected to match each person's tastes.
After a while, Barry came back into the light, blinking back tears of gratitude.
"Babygirl, this is by far the best Christmas that we've ever had." He ran a hand over the scarf that she had given him, blue to match his eyes.
"Do you think Kevin will come out?"
He looked dejected. "Probably not, Casey. He's... not really strong enough for this holiday, yet."
She nodded, and handed a small gift to him, which he took gingerly. "For when he's ready."
Barry nodded, swallowing the lump in his throat with an audible click. "Dennis is going to come out to clean up. He can't stand looking at the discarded papers anymore."
Before she had a chance to answer, the stern alter was stepping back from her, putting distance between them with a sharp step back. He pushed his glasses onto his nose, nodded at her, and turned away to begin tidying up.
"...Dennis?" she asked in a small voice.
He froze. Casey had a strong friendship with Barry, and all of the other alters had been happy to get to know her. Dennis even enjoyed his time with her, quietly, but he knew that his touch tended to spoil things for the others, so he had kept his distance. Now he turned to her. "I'll be done in a minute, then Barry will be ba..." he trailed off, shocked.
In her slim hands, she held out not one but two wrapped gifts for him.
"I didn't get you anything." He uttered, nonplussed. In his chest, his heart had completely ceased beating.
He had never gotten a gift... not even from the other alters. They regarded him as an unfeeling brute. Things had gotten better since they had found Dr. Fletcher, but they all seemed to think that he was just a void of feelings, created only to protect, and feelings would've made that impossible.
Dennis did feel. Shame at his illegal lusts, loneliness when the others excluded him from events, and longing to be accepted. Now he felt excitement, quietly worming its way up his spine.
Casey took a tentative step forward, gifts held out.
With hands that weren't entirely steady, Dennis took the first gift, and opened it. Inside was a set of yellow (the exact shade of his beloved handkerchief) and a small vial of peppermint lotion. He examined the latter, quirking an eyebrow at the girl.
Her cheeks darkened with blood at once, and she looked at the tree as she quietly explained, "Sometimes, when you clean, your knuckles get all dry... or split... I thought that the lotion might help."
The man nodded, and reached for the other gift.
He unwrapped it, and his eyes widened as he realized what he held.
It was drawing. At the center was a simple scrawling picture of Dennis standing hand-in-hand with Hedwig, who was also holding onto the hand of Kevin on his other side, clearly drawn by the boy. Added to that, holding Dennis's other hand, was Barry, and Dennis knew at once that Barry had added this figure in himself. Surrounding the three of them, filling in the borders, were each of the other alters, all drawn by each of them. At the top of the picture were printed two words in BJ's strong, steady hand: "Our Family". The eclectic drawing was in a delicate silver frame.
Do you like it? Barry asked in his mind, and Dennis could sense the others nearby, waiting tensely.
"Do you like it?" Casey asked, her voice gentle as she unknowingly echoed Barry.
The world stopped spinning while Dennis examined the picture, knowing how much effort had been put into it. "Yes." he croaked, surprised to find that his voice nearly failed him. "Thank you... all of you."
She smiled. "It was Hedwig's idea."
It's for you, Mr. Dennis! the child crowed gleefully.
Dennis propped the picture up on their coffee table, admired it again, and stepped back from the light.
"That went well!" Barry said, his voice warm and happy. "That was great, babygirl."
He turned and was surprised to find that she was right beside him. His blue eyes locked on her brown ones, and she was leaning in. She was close enough for him to smell her gently fruity perfume, then close enough for him to count the freckles that sprinkled her nose, then... her lips her against his, pressing softly and firmly.
His arms came up to loop gently around her as her arms linked around his neck.
After an eternity that was over in no time, their kiss broke, and he leaned his forehead against hers.
"I didn't think you were ever going to get around to kissing me, and seeing how happy you all made Dennis... I had to kiss you."
Barry kissed her quickly. "Merry Christmas, Casey."
"Merry Christmas, Barry."