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31_days2005-11-24 12:04 pm
amethystlight.livejournal.com) wrote in 31_days2005-11-24 12:04 pm
[Nov 24] [The Nightmare before Christmas] Ambient Festivities
Title: Ambient Festivities
Date/Theme: Nov. 24 / Domestic moments among the exquisite dead
Series: The Nightmare before Christmas
Characters: Jack, Sally, (OCs) Tammy, Edmund, Edward
Rating: G
Sally hummed faintly as she collected the dishes from dinner and placed them in the sink, running greenish water over them then leaving them to sit until one of the boys could attend his given chore. She wiped her hands on a tattered gray towel then returned to the warped wooden table, halting beside Jack's spindly wrought iron chair and watching him as he continued to peer down at several dozen sheets of paper that had been spread across his place at the table since well before dinner even began.
"Jack, are you going to be at this all night?" she asked with sympathy. She leaned close and put one arm around him, encircling his chest and resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Mm-hm," he murmured, distracted enough to not give a complete answer, but not so distracted that he couldn't reach up one hand to pat hers briefly. She withdrew her arm afterward and sighed. Jack sighed, too. "I'm just not sure how to finalize this matter altogether with Tom Turkey and Sandy Claws tomorrow."
She knew he was feeling irritated by not using Santa's correct name.
"I mean, honestly, where do we begin? How can we handle how the real world is pushing Christmas before Thanksgiving and Halloween!? Tom's been trying to adjust to it for years. He had been fine with the agreement that an imitation Santa appear at the very end of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. But now every shop and street has Christmas decorations up before the jack-o-lanterns start to rot! It's absurd, and Tom and I both feel like there's pressure on us to "tone down" our holidays so Christmas can be three months long. I know it isn't Sandy's fault -- he's mortified, really -- but he doesn't know what to do, either. Although I did hear him muttering after the last meeting of putting everyone who is part of something called 'Corporate' on the Naughty List for a century..."
A rattling sound came from the living room just before a small ragdoll girl came running in, red hair streaming behind her and laughter bubbling from her as she hid behind her mother. She had a frayed, green leather-bound book clutched in her arms. Two irritated-looking skeleton teengage boys came next, one dressed in gray plain clothes, the other already in his pale pajamas. The latter had round wire-rimmed glasses perched precariously on his snub of a skeletal nose and glared through them at the girl. "Mother, she took my book again! I was all settled in bed, too."
Sally shook her head but smiled. She lowered herself to one knee beside her daughter and reached for the book. "You just wanted to read again, didn't you, Tammy?" The girl nodded but let Sally take the book from her. Sally stood up and patted the girl's head. "I have some books you might like better. Edmund's collection might be too much for you right now." She returned the book to her studious son. He nodded in thanks and turned to leave, his twin about to follow when Sally snagged his arm. "Edward, it's your turn to do the dishes."
He made an impatient sound as if he had already had plans but obediently went over to the sink. Jack didn't look up but called out, "Thank you for listening to your mother." He leaned an elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand, racking his skull for more ideas to work out the matter at hand. In the meantime, he began to hum "Jingle Bells".
Date/Theme: Nov. 24 / Domestic moments among the exquisite dead
Series: The Nightmare before Christmas
Characters: Jack, Sally, (OCs) Tammy, Edmund, Edward
Rating: G
Sally hummed faintly as she collected the dishes from dinner and placed them in the sink, running greenish water over them then leaving them to sit until one of the boys could attend his given chore. She wiped her hands on a tattered gray towel then returned to the warped wooden table, halting beside Jack's spindly wrought iron chair and watching him as he continued to peer down at several dozen sheets of paper that had been spread across his place at the table since well before dinner even began.
"Jack, are you going to be at this all night?" she asked with sympathy. She leaned close and put one arm around him, encircling his chest and resting her hand on his shoulder.
"Mm-hm," he murmured, distracted enough to not give a complete answer, but not so distracted that he couldn't reach up one hand to pat hers briefly. She withdrew her arm afterward and sighed. Jack sighed, too. "I'm just not sure how to finalize this matter altogether with Tom Turkey and Sandy Claws tomorrow."
She knew he was feeling irritated by not using Santa's correct name.
"I mean, honestly, where do we begin? How can we handle how the real world is pushing Christmas before Thanksgiving and Halloween!? Tom's been trying to adjust to it for years. He had been fine with the agreement that an imitation Santa appear at the very end of the Thanksgiving Day Parade. But now every shop and street has Christmas decorations up before the jack-o-lanterns start to rot! It's absurd, and Tom and I both feel like there's pressure on us to "tone down" our holidays so Christmas can be three months long. I know it isn't Sandy's fault -- he's mortified, really -- but he doesn't know what to do, either. Although I did hear him muttering after the last meeting of putting everyone who is part of something called 'Corporate' on the Naughty List for a century..."
A rattling sound came from the living room just before a small ragdoll girl came running in, red hair streaming behind her and laughter bubbling from her as she hid behind her mother. She had a frayed, green leather-bound book clutched in her arms. Two irritated-looking skeleton teengage boys came next, one dressed in gray plain clothes, the other already in his pale pajamas. The latter had round wire-rimmed glasses perched precariously on his snub of a skeletal nose and glared through them at the girl. "Mother, she took my book again! I was all settled in bed, too."
Sally shook her head but smiled. She lowered herself to one knee beside her daughter and reached for the book. "You just wanted to read again, didn't you, Tammy?" The girl nodded but let Sally take the book from her. Sally stood up and patted the girl's head. "I have some books you might like better. Edmund's collection might be too much for you right now." She returned the book to her studious son. He nodded in thanks and turned to leave, his twin about to follow when Sally snagged his arm. "Edward, it's your turn to do the dishes."
He made an impatient sound as if he had already had plans but obediently went over to the sink. Jack didn't look up but called out, "Thank you for listening to your mother." He leaned an elbow on the table and rested his head on his hand, racking his skull for more ideas to work out the matter at hand. In the meantime, he began to hum "Jingle Bells".