Monster
“Haaaaa…..”
Lu Yuan sighed. He had finally, after two hours, managed to convince the other not to commit suicide.. career suicide that is. But for a shut-in author with no education or history of employment, it was basically the same.
God. Another sigh.
Two whole hours. He just had to call on Christmas Eve. Even if Lu Yuan was off duty, it was hard to ignore when one of his authors called like that, sobbing and swearing that they would never again write another word.
Apparently, one of his readers had made a very mean comment, no, actually, even with Lu Yuan’s standards, it had been quite nasty. Still, authors had to be ready for anything, they needed to have an iron will and skin of steel. Well, since it had been his first troll, there was no helping it.
Lu Yuan was now on his way home. There was no point in returning to his parents’ house. By now, all the desert would be gone and his dad and uncle would for sure be hammered. Worst case scenario, they would pester him into drinking like last year… He would very much like to be able to get up on Christmas morning.
As he drove, Lu Yuan glanced up at the mirror and by chance saw the wrapped gift lying on the back seat. He had forgotten to give it to Xie Luan when he stopped by earlier today with some food his mom made.
Even though that rascal was actually a good cook, he was usually too lazy to make anything. If he didn’t nag him now and then, Lu Yuan was sure that he would just live on cup noodles and take out food. Heck, he might not even eat at all.
Lu Yuan glanced at the present again.
What the hell. He turned the wheel sideways. It was nearby, he might as well go check up on him, it was not THAT late anyway. There was also that present.
In the end, even though he supportively did it out of convenience, Lu Yuan ended up spending a lot of time looking for a place to dump his car.
By the time he found somewhere to park, Lu Yuan had already started to regret this impulse decision. It was Christmas Eve, a time when relatives gathered. Not only were all the spots taken, but even the sidewalks were covered with cars. Some jackass had even parked on Xie Luan’s driveway.
Taking out his keys, Lu Yuan resisted the urge to key the red car as he passed it and instead unlocked the front door. As there were no lights on, he did not call like he usually did and instead went up to see whether Xie Luan was sleeping or not. He could not count the times he had found him sitting in the dark, hunched over his computer, drawing.
Before he could get to the room, he heard a dampened thud coming from inside and so, assuming that he was awake, Lu Yuan bracingly opened the door wide. “What are you doing sitting in the…”
The words got stuck in his throat. Lu Yuan stopped in his tracks, his hand still on the doorknob. Lit up by the moonlight, a massive silhouette stood in the middle of the room. Being at least two meters tall and one meter wide, with fur covering their body, there was no way this thing was human.
Lu Yuan slowly let go of the doorknob. Taking one step back, he was ready to run away, but it was at this time he saw it– Xie Luan. Lying, none the wiser, asleep on the bed.
There was only one option. Swallowing, Lu Yuan gathered his courage then dashed into the room. “Lanlan!” He grabbed onto his shoulders and shook him, when he didn’t respond, Lu Yuan simply put his arms under his and dragged him towards the door.
He didn’t know what that thing was, but no way in hell he would leave his name twin behind with that in the room. As he dragged him, Lu Yuan glanced back at the monster and froze. He had seen something incredible.
That huge monster had all of a sudden change into a girl.
The girl indifferently looked at him, then turned around and out of thin air materialized a present, smoothly sliding it under the tree. She grabbed the cookie on the table, ate it in one bite. Then, as if blown by the wind, she turned into glittering dust and left through the small opening on the slightly ajar window.
Lu Yuan could nothing but gape.
At this time, he felt movement in his arms.
“…Are you trying to kidnap me Yuyu?” Xie Luan tilted his head back and looked up at his kidnapper. He really could not process this situation.
Lu Yuan had almost forgotten what he was holding. “Tell me! Tell me you saw that!”
Being yelled at and having his body shaken by the other, Xie Luan immediately followed Lu Yuan’s gaze. There was nothing there. “Saw what? No, first, let go.”
Xie Luan dusted off his clothes then glance at the other. “Did they make you drink again?”
Lu Yuan frantically waved his arms. “No-no, suicide, my authors, no-no, not important, see, that, that, that thing? Big and then girl, and and, cookie and bam! Dust!”
Cold sweat ran down Lu Yuan’s forehead. Even though Xie Luan often looked expressionless, he could clearly see “have you finally lost it?” written on his forehead. The more he tried to explain, the crazier he sounded. He was almost relieved when finally Xie Luan interrupted his babbling.
“Did they make you take…? No, never mind. Is that for me?” Xie Luan pointed to the present that had been thrown to the side when he had run over to save him.
Lu Yuan pretended he didn’t hear the first part, “Ye-yeah.” He walked over to pick it up and then went to place it under the small Christmas tree. It had been years since Xie Luan bothered to take the small plastic tree down from the attic, Lu Yuan did not know what had come over him to all of a sudden make him do it again. “..Don’t open it until morning.”
Xie Luan looked at the other gift already placed under the tree. “Is that also from you?”
“No THAT, that was the girl…” Lu Yuan told him what he had seen, much calmer this time. Still, even though he sounded much more sane now, it didn’t change the things that came out of his mouth. Lu Yuan doubted that he would believe him, after all, he didn’t even believe it himself.
“So what you’re saying is.. you met Santa?” Xie Luan crooked an eyebrow and looked at the empty cookie plate, then at the present under the tree.
“Santa?!” Hearing his words, Lu Yuan seemed to have a realization and quickly glanced back at the window. “Santa is a GIRL??”
“Woman.” Xie Luan shamelessly corrected him just like Xia Qi had rightfully corrected him. He too could then not help but look towards the window. “What did she look like? Santa?”
Lu Yuan thought hard. This was all just too weird. Had that gir-, woman, really been Santa? He parted his lips, “Red hair. She had bright red hair… She was pretty.”
Glancing at his face, Xie Luan smirked, “Don’t get any ideas, she’s gay. And you know, kinda immortal.”
Lu Yuan hastily looked up. “What!? No, wait, how do you know that?”
Xie Luan smiled to himself and turned around, walking out of the room.
“Xiao Luan? How do you know that?! Don’t you walk away from me.. Lanlan!”
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Author’s note:
Since the short story had a Christmas theme, let´s get some new year feels back, this is my new year´s greeting for you:
May the year be long and filled with warmth and fluff. May the muka protect you and the nox watch over you. May Gale gift you with his smile and the takila act spoiled under your touche. May the moye cub call for you and the kuthi, kuwei and cotto cubs fly into your arms. The shuren cub trust you and bodu triplets mischievously trip you. May your days be filled with happiness and love. My little fluffballs, I wish you a great year. *cozy hug*
Happy new year
Same to you and yours!