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They needed this. They certainly needed this. After having been through everything that happened in the last year, they needed a break, and thank god someone brought up the idea of it. It wasn’t some massive gathering or anything, just a handful of the operatives, a small, cozy get-together. After Doc told one or two people about it, they asked their friends to come, and made it better. Gustave was thinking of something smaller and more casual, mostly just a little meetup with a few of the folks and perhaps having a drink, but Elias, Emmanuelle, and Marius had different plans and brought in a few extra people along with some decorations.
“Can you operate that thing right? You’re going to knock the whole tree down!”
The pilot turned his head to watch his friend trying to operate the Yokai he borrowed from Masaru and flying it up to put some ornaments on the higher parts of the tree they had set up. It wasn’t big or anything, in fact it was a skinny, cheap plastic tree they just picked up from the nearest mall a few hours ago. It was the thought of it that counts.
“I’m trying, stop distracting me.”
Marius responded to Elias while carefully flying the Yokai and put down one of the last few ornaments they had left. Then turned his head toward the door that just opened and smiled under his mask at the person walking in.
“We’ll need another glass on the table, I managed to convince Taina to join us. How’s everything coming out here?”
“We're almost done.” Elias responded to Emmanuelle while he was finishing up setting the table. They just took over one of the break rooms and turned it into a small ‘party’ room for the night.
“Gustave didn’t mention we were setting up decorations.” She chuckled quietly while placing down the tray she held on the table and started sorting out the food she brought in, helping Elias with setting the table.
“No, but we wanted to.” Marius chimed in while placing up the final tree ornament and took down the Yokai, letting out a small sigh now that he finally set it all up without knocking the tree down. “I’ll bring this back to him, you finish setting up, I’ll be back in a few hours.”
“Yeah, I’ll head off for a shower after I finish up here. See you in a few.” Elias saw the other German off, then looked around the room for a moment with a smile. It wasn’t all that glamorous, but it looked good. Certainly set up a good mood. “Looks like we’re already done setting up, more than enough time to sit back for a while until we get together here tonight.”
“Mhm.” The Frenchwoman nodded with a smile and leaned against the table. “We haven’t really had a Christmas time-together in the base since… forever.”
“It’ll do us good.” He nodded, then took the now empty tray from Emmanuelle. “I’ll take this back for you, heading there anyway. I’ll see you later tonight.”
After having set everything up, the room was left for the time being as the three that were inside preparing things left to get ready while the others that were going to come took their time to arrive. It was Gustave with Isaac that were the first to arrive, the Medic being somewhat unsurprised that the folks went out of their way to get and put up decorations and turned this into a whole little Christmas party for everyone. He wasn’t complaining about it, it was nice, to be honest. He hadn’t had a decent Christmas in what felt like decades, and he knew that some others needed this too. Especially Jordan. He insisted that the Texan come and join them. Until not long ago, Jordan would have time-off and head home to spend Christmas with his family, but after losing both his mother and sister, he was alone and depressed during this time of the year. Gustave insisted that he join them, it would do him good. Lera showed up, to everyone’s surprise, though she wouldn’t stay there for too long. She wasn’t going to come at first, but she thought 'what the hell, an hour or so break from her work wouldn’t hurt'. Marius arrived along with Apha after Jordan did, then Elias with Emmanuelle together.
It wasn’t too late of an hour, but it seemed that everyone that said they were coming were there. The mood was good in the room, it was a good change for everyone in-between all the chaos they had been enduring in the last several months. For once, the operators finally had the opportunity to simply sit back and relax. They needed this.
“Mhm, I was talking with Choi about it earlier the other day in my office, I think we should just-...”
“Jordan,” The Brazilian cut his words off as she stepped into the conversation Jordan was having with Gustave at the corner of the room. “Work related conversations can wait at least until tomorrow.”
“I was just mentioning the…” Jordan then stopped himself and nodded at Taina. She was right, they were here to get their minds off those things, not bring them here. “Will do.”
Taina loosely crossed her arms and let out a small chuckle while she took a seat next to Gustave on the couch. At least the others hadn’t heard them discuss work things with the music playing in the room drowning out some of the conversations. “Let’s not ruin the mood, hm?”
“Oui.” The Medic briefly smiled and leaned back on his seat with a small exhale, laying one arm over Taina’s shoulders now as they sat together. comfortably. “Are we all here, or is anybody missing?”
“Nayara wanted to come, but she said she was going somewhere with Vicente, so she won’t make it.” Taina answered after a quick thought, then looked around the room. “Lera’s going to head off in an hour.”
“I asked Saif if he wanted to join us, but he had other plans.” Jordan added, then let out a small sigh. “Thought Emil may be here, but he kept saying he was going to “just ruin everybody’s mood by being here” if he came when I called him in.”
“Guess he’s still worried, rightfully so. Some people still treat him terribly here.” Gustave shook his head with a small frown for a moment. Then, all three of their attention was taken by the approaching operator.
“Are you guys here to just sit and brood all night or what? Come on, we’re playing never-have-i–ever. Grab a glass and come to the big table.” Elias motioned for the three to get up and join the other operators that were all sitting around the table in the middle. They all had a glass with them, some of them had a small plate of snacks and cookies they grabbed. Chatting and laughing for the moment until everyone came to start their game.
As the Medic and Taina took their seats with the others and Jordan went to grab three glasses for them, the room’s door slowly opened. With some hesitation, the black-haired man stuck his head in through the door crack, uncertain about coming inside.
“Are you going to stand there all day or what?” Lera called out to the man at the door from her seat, being the only one who seemed to notice the door opening. With her call-out, some others also turned their attention to the door to see who was there.
“Sorry, err… didn’t want to interrupt.” The Swede skittishly walked inside and closed the door, holding a green-wrapped box in his hand. “Nayara gave and told me to bring this here before she left earlier today.”
“Nice of her to send something even though she can’t join us.” Isaac smiled at that before tossing half a biscuit into his mouth, motioning for Emil to come and take a seat.
“I was worried you wouldn’t show up.” Jordan commented while Emil walked by him. He was glad to see Emil here, a little get-together like this would do him good.
Unsure who to give the wrapped box to since he wasn’t given a name to deliver nor was there any note written on it, the Swede just put it down on the table, and watched the box almost immediately get snatched by the curious Frenchwoman who quickly unwrapped it to see, careful not to tear the wrapping.
“Awwh!” Emmanuelle exclaimed with a smile on her face while reading the note that was put inside the box. “She sent us a plate of applesauce cookies and wrote that she wished she could be here with us.” Then took the plate out of the box carefully to put on the table for everyone to take a piece from.
“How thoughtful of her.” Apha smiled warmly while grabbing one for herself as well as Jordan gave Gustave and Taina their glasses and took his seat next to Apha.
Quietly letting out a sigh of relief once he didn’t see anybody give him any foul looks or tell him to get out yet, Emil went to take a seat as well, finding an empty spot next to Isaac, who offered him a glass. “What are we all at the table for?”
“You’re just on time for never-have-i-ever.” Marius answered while dissecting his cookie into a few smaller pieces to eat bit by bit instead of biting into the thing like everyone else did.
“Sounds fun.”
“Let’s get this going and start drinking already, then. I’ll go first, never have I ever played never have I ever.” Elias grinned while taking a sip of his glass of wine. Everyone rolled their eyes with a brief chuckle at him before taking a sip as well. Guess someone had to get it started at some point, and Elias took it upon himself to do so and have it started with everyone taking a drink to begin.
“This better not get too out of hand, I have to get back to my work in an hour.” Lera scoffed while crossing her legs now and looked around the table. “Go clockwise so we don’t mess up the order. Emma, your turn.”
“Alright, err…” The Frenchwoman took a moment to think about what she could even say, then finally said something for her turn after a minute. “Never have I ever gone on a set-up or a blind date.” Then, she looked around the table to see who would drink to that.
Elias was the first to take a sip of his drink, unsurprisingly, then Taina, and then Isaac was the last to do so.
“Well, I’m not surprised about Elias, but you two?” Lera scoffed while shaking her head.
“Come on, it was during highschool, leave me be.” Taina let out a small chuckle, then looked at Isaac with a raised brow.
“I was just bored that day, alright? You can’t blame a guy for wanting to do something on his day off.”
“So that’s why you were gone last weekend.” Gustave looked at the operator with a quiet chuckle. Then, they turned to the next person
“Never have I ever…” Marius too had to take a moment to think of his question. Then the game went on for a while, the group went down their first whole glass and started their seconds, some drinking more while some drank less than the others depending on the questions and the answers. Chattering and laughter surrounded the room the more they drank and had fun as their game went on.
“Never have I ever eaten pet food.” Apha spoke on her fifth turn, it seemed like nobody was going to drink this round to her question until Taina almost skittishly took a sip from her glass, leaving everyone laughing and staring at her with questioning eyes.
“Listen!” The Brazilian quickly went to defend herself with a chuckle. “I was out of protein powder and it was gym day, you know how much protein those canned cat foods have?”
“Now I’m not going to give you a kiss without making you brush your teeth first.” Gustave scoffed.
After a short round of chat and chuckling, Emil took his turn. “Never have I ever been arrested.” And to everyone’s surprise, Jordan was the only person to drink to that question, making the group more shocked and curious than any of the questions said before.
“I was fourteen or something, okay? Mom’s car was right there for taking.” The Texan explained before he had to be asked. “I didn’t know I was going to be pulled over.”
Another round of drinks, chattering and laughs, more questions, elaborations and explanations later, the group got to their last bottle of wine left. Lera had to leave the room and get back to her work as she said, everyone said their goodbyes to her while she left, thankful that she took the time to join them even for a little while, before they resumed their game.
“Never have I ever played a game that involved taking off a piece of clothing.”
“Like strip poker?”
“Like that, yeah.”
To that, Elias was the first to drink. It didn’t really surprise anyone. What was the biggest bombshell to the entire group was when Gustave took a sip of his drink.
“You did not!” Jordan laughed out loud with a surprised face, loosely smacking the Medic’s shoulder.
“I’m not going to elaborate.” Gustave scoffed.
All the wine had flustered most of the operators, leaving them feeling hot and with a flushed-face. Needing some air, Jordan excused himself to head out to the balcony and get some fresh cold air for a minute. A moment later, Apha followed after him since it seemed that the group had grown somewhat bored of the same game and went onto their regular chatting.
“Are you doing alright?” She asked after closing the balcony door, then rubbed her arms and shivered a bit. It was cold outside.
“Yeah, I just needed a moment.” The Texan answered while quickly taking his jacket off to lay it across Apha’s shoulders to warm her. “Haven’t really had a decent Christmas in a while. Just… thinking about the old times, I suppose. Don’t want to sour anybody’s mood in there.”
While the two took their time to talk outside, a few of the others started another game in the room. Isaac, Marius, and Emmanuelle sat with each other, a post-it note stuck to their foreheads with a name written on them.
“Alright, alright. So, I’m a dead person, well-known, male, an actor…” Isaac thought of the last questions he could ask. “When was I most famous?”
“Fifties to Sixties, I’d say?” Emmanuelle answered after a quick thought.
“Am I a Western movie actor?”
“Yeah, you’re getting closer. Last question, come on, you got it.”
“Okay, fuck, I’m stuck between two names. Tell me, am I famous for a Sergio Leone movie?”
“Non.”
“Then I have to be John Wayne.” Isaac then took the post-it note off his own forehead and took a look at the name. “Yes!” He exclaimed happily, getting it right. Then turned to Emmanuelle for her turn of the game.
“Alright.” She chuckled. “Am I alive or dead?”
“Dead.”
“Actor?”
“No.”
The questions went on for a minute or two, and the Frenchwoman was left unsure about her answer after she ran out of questions. After a minute of thinking, she gave up, and looked at her post-it. “I was M.J.?! How did I not get that one!”
In the meantime, Emil was scrolling through his phone and chatting with Marius in the corner. Feeling flushed from their drinking, he suggested they head out the balcony as well to get some air. After standing up, the two headed to the balcony door and immediately got hit with the cold night air from the outside. Jordan and Apha were still outside, to their surprise, given how cold it was there.
“Mistletoe!” Marius pointed up toward the ceiling of the balcony with a smile. He hadn’t put it there, but if he had to guess, it was probably Elias.
“Huh, I didn't even notice it.” Jordan looked up at it, then felt his hand loosely being held by Apha, having a smile appear on his face at that, then he turned to the woman and gave her a small kiss under the mistletoe before leaning back against the balcony railings and looking at the other two. “Getting cold, and a bit late too. Let’s head inside.” Apha nodded to that, and left the Swede alone with Marius there, heading back inside with Jordan.
After a while, the hour had turned late and some more of them had either decided to leave and get some rest, considering it was two in the morning now, while some just decided not to bother and took a nap on the couch right there. Lera had left long ago by now, Marius was snoozing on the couch along with Elias, Isaac and Emmanuelle called it a night and went off to their rooms. The room was quieter and calmer. Everyone was happy, though. It was a nice, fun night. They really needed this.