video;

[fuckinstoplights]

[A rare video from the local bird-ninja-robot. Who just sort of looks like a complete nutcase, since he's crouched in a tree.]

[At night.]

[Across from a house - close enough to see in the windows. Where the occupants are putting up a tree and lights.]

[He's also in his rarely used human form, to save on energy. Or look more like a creeper, who knows.]

Everyone is saying something about... 'being together' this month.

Like it's a requirement. You won't be happy, you won't be 'right', if you're alone. It sounds like no one realizes some of us don't have that luxury.

... so what do we do? Just sit here and watch?

[He shakes his head.]

What's 'happy' or 'holiday' about that?

Comments

[driftsintobuffetline]

Get out of the tree, man. You look like a creeper.

[fuckinstoplights]

... what is a creeper?

[driftsintobuffetline]

Uh...a creepy person? Like a peeping tom, which is what you're going to be accused of if you keep spying in people's windows.

[fuckinstoplights]

But they're wide open.

Anyone could see in.

[driftsintobuffetline]

Yeah, but you don't sit in trees and stare in, it's...kind of illegal. Whose tree are you even in, anyway? Do you own that property?

Look, people expect privacy when they're in their own home. If you want to see what's going on inside, you should get down from the tree, knock on the door, and ask to go in--and then understand and go away when they probably tell you NO.


Don't you have...friends or something who could explain holiday things to you?

[fuckinstoplights]

I don't know. No.

[Those are the answers to the questions, right? Right. He shrugs a little, hunching up his shoulders.]

Why would I ask if I know what they're going to say?

No. [A beat.] They're gone.

video;

[fistofthejoestar]

[wow, that's...some mild Dio level creeping going on right there. at least Jonathan is (fairly) certain that this is significantly more benign.]

There's a difference between being alone and loneliness. The message may be more than a bit muddled these days, but it's the latter that people hope to avoid.

[that feeling of lacking something...it wasn't about simply spending the holiday by yourself. he remembers enough uneasy Christmases to know that with certainty.]

There are a great number of things you can do to experience the holidays even if your loved ones are absent. It's hardly a lost cause.

video;

[fuckinstoplights]

[No worries, bro, he's socially stupid, not evil.]

It's too late for hope, then. It's already happened.

[He's already alone here. Already avoiding the household and anything to do with humanity, like a loser. No wonder he hasn't made any friends.]

Like set trees on fire?

[fistofthejoestar]

It's never too late.

[even for cranky tree-spying robots. Jonathan believes this wholeheartedly, and it rings true in his voice - until the question startles it into gentle laughter, anyway.]

But no, I think that's a little closer to Guy Fawkes Day than Christmas! Although at home we did set a pudding alight.

[fuckinstoplights]

How? Doesn't the season pass?

What is Guy... Fawkes day...? [Is this some kind of weird fox party what is this.]

[fistofthejoestar]

They do, but they always come back around again. And in this case, the holiday season has barely even started.

[as for Guy Fawkes Day...well, that gets another soft laugh from him.]

I don't know if you'd really care to hear about Guy Fawkes celebrations, though. It's a celebration that understandably doesn't seem to have spread past Britain; you likely won't ever see any of it here.

[fuckinstoplights]

How long does it even last?

[He tilts his head, the motion more like a bird than a person.]

Then... why mention it?

[fistofthejoestar]

Well into early January, if you ascribe to the entire thing. As you can see you've plenty of time.

[although he's not really certain how many people take the Epiphany as seriously as its Christmas counterpart, especially in these days.]

We set bonfires and the occasional effigy alight during the other holiday, so I thought it was relevant.

[fuckinstoplights]

That's... a very long time for one holiday.

[A long time to someone who has a weird concept of time anyway.]

Are there also trees?

[fistofthejoestar]

That depends entirely on how you feel about the season, I think.

[a long time to anyone working in retail too, probably.]

Only if you count the kindling - it's really more about the fire.

[fuckinstoplights]

I feel like it's cold. And strange.

[Kagerou Logic.]

It's just a day when you start fires?

video;

[helpline]

You're coming over to Heropa 11 for Christmas, by the way.

[ Kagerou doesn't want to be alone = give him a solution where he won't be alone! Easy peasy! ]

video;

[fuckinstoplights]

What?

Why?

[KAGEROU. WHY DO YOU THINK. YOU JUST SAID YOU WERE ALONE.]

video;

[helpline]

That way you won't be alone. It's obvious, isn't it?

[ DUH, KAGEROU ]

video;

[fuckinstoplights]

But you're... is that where you live?

[You'd think it would be -- if he was even remotely socially capable.]

video;

[helpline]

Obviously. I'm going to throw a Christmas party and you're invited.

[ he's decided...right now. Has the Doctor ever thrown a Christmas party before, nope! But how hard can it be? ]

video;

[fuckinstoplights]

Even though we always seem to argue?

Or disagree?

video;

[helpline]

There's nothing wrong with arguing. I argue with my granddaughter all the time--the snotty one, not the photographer one.

video;

[fuckinstoplights]

You have children?

video;

[helpline]

Literal and metaphorical. Hazel's one of the metaphorical.