World Refugees Final Mix

He glared up at her, but couldn't keep the mischievous spark out of his eyes. "Right. I can tell you're really sorry."

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"Very sorry, because that was my only plan for curing you. You see..." she raised an index finger as if explaining an important fact, "I often say that hugs heal everything, but for the toughest problems, there is a faster way. Now, it's risky. Side effects include shortness of breath and mild stomach cramps... but there's nothing like all-out, uncontrolled laughter to make a person forget all of their problems."

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"Heh, I don't think I'm that bad," he said, reaching for her and pulling her down into a quick kiss. "Next time, I'll have to use Yasha as a shield or something."

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She just chuckled lightly, easily slipping into a more comfortable position on the floor with him, then having to squirm aside as Yasha pawed his way between them. She'd said he was jealous... she hadn't specified how he would react. It wasn't aggression that she had been warning about. If the dog saw her playing or cuddling someone else, he wanted to be part of it too.

They must have made quite an odd sight, on the floor between the couch and the coffee table, with the dog crammed between them and feathers loosely scattered about by all the activity.

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Jalen's stocking was draped over Amy's arm as she walked into the room, her free hand playing with a silver locket at her throat. She'd gotten tired of waiting to give him his furry little gift, and had made off with the stocking earlier that morning. Her husband was currently upstairs, trying to pry a very nimble kitten off his shirt.

"Merry Christmas to anyone that's up!"

When she saw Josiah and Song on the floor, she stopped dead and just stared for a minute. Feathers were everywhere (Where had feathers come from? Last she'd checked, Song didn't molt) and Yasha was in the middle of the couple. Ookay.

"Or down. Am I interrupting you two?" She couldn't help the giggle that followed the question. Merry Christmas indeed.

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He was just getting used to the idea of staying there on the floor with Song in his arms and Yasha trying to get some attention too when Amy walked in. He blinked at her giggle and tried to sit up... but slammed his head on the table instead. He let out a hiss and then decided that maybe the floor was a lot more comfortable with his sudden headache.

He waved weakly at Amy. "Merry Christmas."

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Song was trying to multitask between keeping Yasha content with petting and paying equal attention to Josiah. She seemed rather delighted with the whole situation, really, and Amy's sudden appearance only made her snicker and blush very slightly.

"Don't mind us. We're just... um..." She glanced around until her eyes fell on one of the feathers. "Decorating. Yes. Only Josi seems to have decided that the table needs some repairs. Are you alright?" She directed the question to Josiah, of course, leaning over Yasha to peer more closely at him.

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She winced as Josiah whacked his head, and started forward, tossing the stocking onto the couch.

"Want some ice, there? I keep telling myself I should learn blizzard but nooo..." She trailed off and gave Song a look of utter disbelief.

"Decorating? I'd sooner believe you are molting."

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"No, I'm good," he replied to both Song and Amy's inquiries, rubbing his head wearily despite the fact that his head kept saying "owowowowowow".

"We were totally decorating. Can't you tell from the, uh, decorations?"

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Song wriggled around her overgrown lapdog a little further to plant a very quick kiss on Josiah's bruised head, then crawled backwards until she could sit up a safe distance from the edge of the table (learning from Josiah's mistake) and wrap an arm around Yasha.

"It's tough work, decorating. Maybe I did molt."

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"And I'm really Maleficent in disguise. Bwahahaha." Grinning a little, Amy fetched the stocking and returned it to it's rightful place before moving over to the tree to inspect the pile of gifts.

"So other than your 'decorating', have the two of you been behaving this morning? Or do I get to whap you both with Igor?" Picking up a small box, she shook it, then gasped.

"Ooh, now would be perfect! For this one, anyway." Setting the first box down, she grabbed another and waved it. "Sooong, I've got something for you. Josi boy might like it too~"

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He sat up slowly, making sure to avoid the edge of the table this time. "Why would you think we've been on anything except our best behavior?" Hell, he was going to need some aspirin at this rate.

He smiled at Amy and gave her a pointed look. "Again, you're moving pretty well, all things considering."

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Shooting one more concerned glance at Josiah - it wasn't clear whether she thought that he was hurting more than he admitted, or that he was going to slip and hit the table all over again - she went to retrieve the present, not even bothering to stand up and walk the distance, but instead shuffling over on all fours. She was surprisingly fast this way.

"If that's moving well, it's one more reason for me never to have children." Teasing Amy was becoming quite an entertaining hobby, because she never knew how her friend would decide to get revenge.

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"Look who I'm talking to! And I'm nesting, damn it." She replied to Josiah, then tapped Song on the head with the box when she got near enough. "It's a documented burst of energy in the last weeks of pregnancy." Gee, way to sound like a textbook. Amy rolled her eyes at herself before snatching up another, much smaller box and flinging it at Josi with a smirk. Hopefully it'd land on the couch like she was aiming for, and not on the poor boy's head.

"Incoming!"

She really should have tried to find him a hamster ball, but she hoped the ornament (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v456/dueromaxwell/Dec25_001.jpg) would do.

Edited Date: 2009-12-28 10:12 am (UTC)

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"Careful, Song," he said cheerfully, winking at Amy. "The minute she's Eli-less, she's probably going to get revenge for the past nine months you've been teasing her."

He had already learned his lesson from before and decided to err on the side of caution, ducking as the present came whizzing past his head. It landed on the couch, just barely missing him, and he ducked his head up again, giving Amy a playfully wounded look. "Trying to do more damage, I see. I swear, I get no love around here."

When he opened the gift, he nearly laughed. Spherical objects seemed to be the go-to present for him this year.

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Grinning, Song tore into her own present, showing none of the careful finesse that Josiah used. She slashed at the paper with her sharpened fingernails, seeming to find much glee in shredding it like some wild beast.

The object she pulled out, though, gave her pause. A hand-sewn plushie. No surprise there, since Amy had been threatening for quite some time to make her an Orpheus plushie.
But this wasn't Orpheus.

"Amy... you didn't..."

She held up the Josiah plushie with both hands and tilted her head at it, looking rather disturbed. "You know, these things always make me think of voodoo dolls. It's kind of creepy. I dunno... If I kiss the doll, will the real Josi feel it?" She decided to test this theory.

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"Oughta just sic my brave warrior on you two and be done with it." Amy muttered darkly, but laughed as Josi ducked.

"You get plenty of love around here!" She nodded towards Song, who was ripping open her present with wild abandon. If she liked that one...Amy cast about for the matching present, frowning as she saw it pushed back beneath the tree out of her reach. Oh for Pete's sake.

"Your other one's back-" She turned back to Song, then shifted uncomfortably at the look on her face. Oh. Maybe she should've just stuck to the Orpheus one...but at Song's words, she mock-gagged.

"Sap alert!"

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"A plushie?" He crossed his arms, pretending to look mortified. "I don't even get an action figure?" Actually, maybe this was a better idea. Action figures usually had this strange habit of getting blown up, disfigured as pet chew toys, or with limbs missing within days and weeks of being gifted. At least the plushie stood more of a chance of surviving.

He glanced at Amy, and then back at Song. "Nope, didn't feel anything at all. Guess you'll have to kiss me for real." He gave Amy a conspiratorial grin. "And if you think this is bad, it was a lot worse earlier this morning. Maple trees have nothing on us."

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"Hmm... Maybe I'm just not trying hard enough. When you leave, I'll have to lock it inside some kind of bubble, and you'll have to let me know, when you get back, if trouble was mysteriously deflected away from you."
Yep, this seemed like a good plan. Grinning, she carried the plushie back over to Josiah's side of the room. Yasha sniffed at the toy as she passed, and she paused to scratch behind his ears before crawling back onto the couch with the doll tucked under her arm. Curling up again comfortably, she looked down at Josi with amusement. "Comfy down there?"

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"You're lucky it's not a Ken doll." Hey, there was an idea for next year. And Maple trees...yeesh. "Yeah, well, Jalen and I can be sappy too." Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered why she was trying to turn this into a contest.

"...Just ignore that. There's another for you Song, way back under here, but you can get it when you feel like it." She shrugged and contemplated moving to the couch, then decided she didn't want to invest the effort getting back up. Glancing over at Josi, she gestured to the ornament.

"That's a bit of McClure family tradition for you right there. My grandma - my dad's mom - used to make those. We hung them on the tree every year. I even made one myself when I was three. It doesn't look anywhere as nice as that one though." Grinning, she reached up to play with her locket again.

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"Well, there's an idea to try," he murmured. He then turned to glare at Amy. "And if you ever give me a Ken doll for Christmas, so help me God, I will find a way to torment you for an entire year. I'll make sure Song never ever lets you rest from her curiosity." It was an idle threat, and they probably knew it, but the mere idea was amusing enough.

Amy's absent touch of her locket, though, caused his face to go almost carefully blank, as if the small item reminded him of something else. He got to his feet and gave the two women an apologetic smile. "If you'll excuse me, ladies."

Then he was gone, murmuring a quick but cheerful hello to Ash and Sora who were just coming in through the front door.

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Song shifted automatically as if to follow, but didn't actually leave the sofa, only blinked after Josiah once he'd gone. Then she sat back and chewed on her bottom lip, the plushie momentarily forgotten.

She was like that for just a moment, before she shook off her worry (and that annoying sense of separation) and focused on Amy, regaining a smile.

"I bet I can guess what's in the other box. I'll open it later. Thanks, by the way. It's cute, for a voodoo doll." She winked.

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Amy just stared at his abrupt departure before glancing down at the locket. She blinked and winced a little. Oh.

"...Yeah, I would've made you Lilith too, but I like my life...and my fingers had enough abuse anyway. Sewing's not really my thing, even when making 'voodoo dolls' for family." She tugged the neck of her shirt out slightly and dropped the necklace in before busying herself with luring Yasha over.

"Hey puppy, hey sweetie boy, come here. Want a cuddle for Christmas, hm?" It was probably a good thing Callie was still asleep, otherwise she'd be trying to guard her again...though Amy was more convinced that her dog was trying to guard Eli.

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Yasha moved in his timid manner to Amy, head down and tail low, but eager for attention.

Meanwhile, Song was curling up tighter in her corner of the couch, still a little startled by Josi's sudden absence, and at the same time reminding herself that she really shouldn't be surprised at all.

And he'd left his feathers behind... They weren't as fun without him to play with, but they were still feathers.

"I guess I don't have the right to tease you, really," she spoke idly as she attempted to stick feathers on the Josiah doll. "I did get Aria a Sephiroth plushie..."

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