storypaint (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
storypaint) wrote2008-12-14 11:20 pm
storypaint) wrote2008-12-14 11:20 pm
Merry Christmas (War is Over) (Juno/Mark)
Title: Merry Christmas (War is Over)
Prompt: Christmas 2008; theme: no theme
Series: Juno
Character/Pairing: slight Juno/Mark; Mark/Vanessa
Rating: G
Wordcount: 544 words
Excerpt: There she is, grinning in a red sweater vest with five lime-green reindeer on it. She's got a sprig of greenery and she reaches up to kiss his cheek before slipping past him indoors.
Mark doesn't know why he's surprised when the doorbell rings at nine p.m. on Christmas evening. It's been a very long day, shuttling from his family to hers, listening to the stories of uncles and aunts and the clucking of mothers and the questions, oh, the questions. His sister is certain that the surrogate (what sort of a title is that, Juno would laugh) will back out in the end. She breathes it into his ear, "A woman loves her baby too much to give it up when it's been born," and he doesn't say anything, because, "I wish Mom hadn't loved you," wasn't appropriate on Christmas.
He drinks too much sherry as a result and Vanessa is tight-lipped in the living room, reading a magazine in loud silence as a beration of his overindulgence. He's wondering how early he can slink up to bed without it being her victory when he hears the door chime.
He groans, but he's closest, so he answers, and there she is, grinning in a red sweater vest with five lime-green reindeer on it. She's got a sprig of greenery and she reaches up to kiss his cheek before slipping past him indoors.
Vanessa doesn't see the kiss and he slaps a hand to his cheek as his wife emerges from the living room to smile at their guest. Juno tucks the branch behind her ear and starts to ramble in that way she always does, in a cacophony of teenaged slang and dry wit. Vanessa smiles and accepts the candle that Juno thrusts into her hands.
"Decorated it myself," the girl says, pulling a candycane from her pocket and sticking the end into her mouth. There are Sharpie scribbles, glue, and glitter all over the fat vanilla candle, song lyrics and doodles.
"One of a kind, I'm sure," Vanessa said, still smiling, and Mark knows she doesn't like it. It doesn't match the house and probably the glue she used is flammable, but Vanessa is preparing already for macaroni drawings and misshapen ashtrays.
Juno gives Mark a burned copy of The Blair Witch Project. Vanessa doesn't understand why, but Juno hadn't told her how her "little miracle" had been conceived. Mark knows. In her ongoing attempt to convert him to Stooges worship, there's a copy of their debut album, with copious notes cowritten with someone calling themselves Leah♥, scribbled on notebook paper stuffed into the CD case.
She complains about the baby pushing on her bladder and how the smell of her father's ham made her want to puke, but she says she told her belly about Santa so it would "be prepared for next year's haul." And then she blew out the door for a long drive home, tossing the mistletoe at Mark when she left, winking over her shoulder.
"'S just something I pulled off your bushes, but they didn't scream or anything, so... yeah, good holiday and all that."
Mark tucked the twig into his pocket, feeling it poke sharply against his thigh.
"You want to watch teenagers breathing heavily in the woods?" he offers, holding up the DVD. Vanessa wrinkles her nose in distaste.
"I'm going to bed," she says.
He watches it alone in the dark before he joins her.
Prompt: Christmas 2008; theme: no theme
Series: Juno
Character/Pairing: slight Juno/Mark; Mark/Vanessa
Rating: G
Wordcount: 544 words
Excerpt: There she is, grinning in a red sweater vest with five lime-green reindeer on it. She's got a sprig of greenery and she reaches up to kiss his cheek before slipping past him indoors.
Mark doesn't know why he's surprised when the doorbell rings at nine p.m. on Christmas evening. It's been a very long day, shuttling from his family to hers, listening to the stories of uncles and aunts and the clucking of mothers and the questions, oh, the questions. His sister is certain that the surrogate (what sort of a title is that, Juno would laugh) will back out in the end. She breathes it into his ear, "A woman loves her baby too much to give it up when it's been born," and he doesn't say anything, because, "I wish Mom hadn't loved you," wasn't appropriate on Christmas.
He drinks too much sherry as a result and Vanessa is tight-lipped in the living room, reading a magazine in loud silence as a beration of his overindulgence. He's wondering how early he can slink up to bed without it being her victory when he hears the door chime.
He groans, but he's closest, so he answers, and there she is, grinning in a red sweater vest with five lime-green reindeer on it. She's got a sprig of greenery and she reaches up to kiss his cheek before slipping past him indoors.
Vanessa doesn't see the kiss and he slaps a hand to his cheek as his wife emerges from the living room to smile at their guest. Juno tucks the branch behind her ear and starts to ramble in that way she always does, in a cacophony of teenaged slang and dry wit. Vanessa smiles and accepts the candle that Juno thrusts into her hands.
"Decorated it myself," the girl says, pulling a candycane from her pocket and sticking the end into her mouth. There are Sharpie scribbles, glue, and glitter all over the fat vanilla candle, song lyrics and doodles.
"One of a kind, I'm sure," Vanessa said, still smiling, and Mark knows she doesn't like it. It doesn't match the house and probably the glue she used is flammable, but Vanessa is preparing already for macaroni drawings and misshapen ashtrays.
Juno gives Mark a burned copy of The Blair Witch Project. Vanessa doesn't understand why, but Juno hadn't told her how her "little miracle" had been conceived. Mark knows. In her ongoing attempt to convert him to Stooges worship, there's a copy of their debut album, with copious notes cowritten with someone calling themselves Leah♥, scribbled on notebook paper stuffed into the CD case.
She complains about the baby pushing on her bladder and how the smell of her father's ham made her want to puke, but she says she told her belly about Santa so it would "be prepared for next year's haul." And then she blew out the door for a long drive home, tossing the mistletoe at Mark when she left, winking over her shoulder.
"'S just something I pulled off your bushes, but they didn't scream or anything, so... yeah, good holiday and all that."
Mark tucked the twig into his pocket, feeling it poke sharply against his thigh.
"You want to watch teenagers breathing heavily in the woods?" he offers, holding up the DVD. Vanessa wrinkles her nose in distaste.
"I'm going to bed," she says.
He watches it alone in the dark before he joins her.
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Oh and two nitpicks, you have 'voncert' instead of 'convert' (took me a second to figure out that one xD) and your hearts symbol is messed up.
Liked it, though it is a rather somber story for Christmas. Dying relationships and all that...
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It did turn out more somber than I thought it would. I never thought I'd play in Mark's head; he's simply abhorrent to me. But I did like the story as a story. It is a bit of a downer though lol.
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Hey, I thought you had gone to bed! ;)
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I was going to go to bed but then I ended up writing a Professor Layton/Jack the Ripper fanfic. It was fantastic.
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I seriously wonder at what your brain comes up with sometimes. xD Unless, Jack the Ripper is a character in this game? I really have no clue. Otherwise, it sounds like the weirdest crossover ever. xD
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It was
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Haha, can't wait to see it then! I've always wanted to research more about the Ripper killings, I'll love to see your take.
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