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[officerjason]

Christmas Eve, and Jason feels a little bit like he might need to go puke for a little while, he's so nervous.

He's got Fred coming over, and he supposes in a little bit they might go and visit, or they'll do it tomorrow. The plans are probably firmer than they are in his head. Jason knows, though, that it's got to be tonight or never. It's not even the biggest step in their relationship; or maybe it is, because the pretty ring he's been paying off at one of the jewelry stores is formalizing his question tonight.

Jesus. He just hopes she'll say yes.

After taking care of the very live and wiggly present currently crated in his room, Jason heads out into the main room to find she's already arrived. He walks out and first things first, kisses Fred on the mouth. "Hey, baby," he murmurs. "Merry Christmas."

Comments

[walkswithheroes]

"Hey," Fred says, and she still has her hands full of stuff when Jason walks in and kisses her. There are a couple of presents for Jason, and one for Sookie, who she thinks they'll probably see before too long. She's picked up a pie too, though she doesn't think it's gonna be even close to as good as anything Sookie will probably bake for the holiday.

Even though there were Christmases back on the island, somehow the ones in Darrow feel closer to home than they ever did there.

"Sorry, I let myself in. I was kinda losing my grip on the boxes."

[officerjason]

"That's okay," Jason answers, kissing her on the tip of her nose, her forehead. Calms him right down, the sweet slope of her nose, the scent of her shampoo. "We've got to head out to Sookie before too long, but I thought we could steal a little bit of time first."

With Lafayette gone, his sister was a little clingy. Nothing he couldn't handle, and shit, he didn't really mind getting to be the kind of big brother he's wanted to be for a long time now.

He takes the boxes and stashes things where they ought to go.

[walkswithheroes]

"Careful with that one, it's a pie," she says, though she doesn't admit right away that it's store bought. Jason already knows she's not much of a cook, but she doesn't see why she ought to bring more attention to it. But so far, he hasn't seemed to care much, so she probably shouldn't worry so much.

"She's doin' okay, I hope," Fred goes on to say, frowning just a little. She knew Lafayette, but not nearly as well as Jason and Sookie. Maybe they all know that people can just up and disappear at the whims of whatever laws govern the pocket dimension they're in, but that doesn't make it any easier when it happens.

[officerjason]

"She's... yeah, I think she's doin' okay." He doesn't even want to try to imagine the world where Sookie loses him. Or worse, where he loses Sookie.

Or Fred.

The whole idea has him drawing Fred into his arms, where he can just hold her and feel that she's still there. There's a whole lot he'd like to do to confirm that she's real and whole and not going to leave him, but they do gotta go see his sister soon.

"If anyone can deal with the weird reality change, it's Lafayette. He's... got a weird kind of common sense, but it works," Jason murmurs into the curve of her neck.

[walkswithheroes]

Jason pulls her in close and she wraps her arms around him. She's done a lot of asking about Sookie, but somehow managed to forget that he's Jason's friend too.

"Are you okay?" she asks, and she should have asked sooner. Should have started worrying more often. It's been a while since she lost anyone she was close to. Anya was maybe the last, and Fred never really got to know her all that well. Sookie and Jason have known Lafayette for years. It's an awful time of year for something like this to happen.

[officerjason]

Jason presses a kiss to the underside of her jaw, and then draws back slightly, mostly so he can see her eyes. "I'm okay," he says. "It's hard, but... I gotta be strong for Sook. Because it's gonna be harder on her. See, I got you, and that... that counts for a whole fuckin' lot."

He seeks out her gaze, both searching and vulnerable.

[walkswithheroes]

She smiles softly up at him, and kisses him briefly. As horrible as it is, times like this remind her just how sweet Jason is.

"Let me know if you think there's anything I can do too, okay?" she says, "I mean, it's not the same as when people you never would have met if not for all the weird jumping between dimensions, but it doesn't mean you don't miss people like heck when they go."

[officerjason]

"Yeah, well, if you ever start jumping around dimensions again, you better know I'd follow you," Jason says quietly, bringing their foreheads together for a brief, gentle bump. "You wouldn't be able to keep me from followin' you."

And his sister? Well, someone's gotta have the magic powers to get them all over the place.

[walkswithheroes]

Fred knows that's not how it works. Maybe a portal back home sucked in just about everything nearby, but that's not how being transported between dimensions works where they are now. If it ever happens, neither of them is gonna have much of a choice. The thought means a lot, though. Especially when he knows just how she feels about dimension jumping in the first place.

"Well, good," she says, unable to help it when her grin widens, "'cause I'm not gonna leave you behind, if I can help it."

[officerjason]

Jason would want to argue with her a while on that. After all, there's all sorts of fucked up magic shit in Darrow, if you look in the right places, and he'd be anyone's buttboy for the chance to find her again.

"Good," Jason agrees, and kisses her, the kind of kiss that suggests he's trying to memorize her taste anyway. "About that. I wanna give you your present right now. Okay?"

[walkswithheroes]

"You don't wanna wait until tomorrow morning?" Fred asks, and they haven't made a lot of traditions for themselves yet, but they usually kept everything to Christmas morning when she was little. They'd open presents and make a big deal about making a whole lot of pancakes for just the three of them.

[officerjason]

"Not for this one," Jason said, and pulled her to the couch before he could lose his nerve. "Okay, darlin', you just need to sit there with your eyes closed. Absolutely no peekin'. You got me?" He gave her a nervous smile, and only once her eyes closed did he go back into the bedroom and open up the crate, fishing out a bundle of fluffy adorable wiggling puppy.

Jason set the puppy down on the floor, and said nothing, only giving it a little nudge as it all too happily scampered towards Fred.

[walkswithheroes]

She sighs and sits like he says, more endeared than frustrated, in the moment. She shuts her eyes tight as she listens to Jason leave the room. Either he's too excited to wait until morning, or this is a really important gift or both. Either way, it's kinda cute.

"I'm telling Sookie it's your fault, if we're late," she calls, in the direction she thinks Jason's headed. Only, she hadn't heard him walk back into the room, and suddenly there's something sniffing at her ankles. She pulls her feet up onto the couch on instinct, and even though Jason hasn't told her she can open her eyes yet, she ends up doing it anyway, just to see what the heck's going on.

When she looks down though, there's a little fluffball of a dog looking up at her.

"Oh my god," Fred says, immediately all grins, "You didn't."

[officerjason]

Jason hangs back at the doorway to his bedroom, watching and grinning as the corgi puppy looks up at his new mommy. The new mommy in question seems pretty okay with it, so Jason ambles back over, and sits next to Fred on the couch. Gently, he scoops up the puppy and sets it in her lap.

"There we go," he says. This part is going well, he's just gotta pull off the next piece. "You like him? I thought you might." There's an almost shy smile turned Fred's way.

[walkswithheroes]

"How could I not?" Fred says, and when Jason sits next to her with the puppy in his lap, she can't help but pet him behind the ears, leaning in to touch her nose to his tiny wet one for a second. It's not the kind of gift she expected, but it's pretty impossible to not adore a little face like this one.

"I mean, with your hours and mine, we might have to do some trading off to make sure he's not in a crate or at a kennel all the time, but... I definitely think we can make it work, don't you?"

She looks up at him again, and her face is gonna start hurting if she doesn't stop smiling soon.

[officerjason]

Jason's caught up in watching her with the puppy, and only tunes in to the last part of what she's saying. And there's his opening, as perfect as if it was made for him.

Deep breath, Stackhouse, don't fuck this up.

"Well, see," Jason says, drawling it out to hide the sheer terror that she might say no, "I was thinkin' we could make it a lot easier on the pup an' he could just live with both of us. In the same place. I've been lookin' at some apartments, and I found one I like. I think you'll like it too. I think we could be happy there, 'cos Lord knows, you make me happier than I ever thought I could be. And I want us to be together as much as we can."

He breaks off the speech to try and gauge her reaction.

[walkswithheroes]

It takes Jason a second to get to what he's trying to say, and likewise, it takes Fred a second to realize just what he's asking. Maybe it's on account of her not expecting it, not tonight at least. That isn't to say that she hasn't thought about it a few times herself, in passing. Spike and Andrea's wedding made her consider it all over again, though she doesn't want to think that either of them are only thinking about things like this because someone else has done it first.

But she loves Jason. Has for years now, if you count that time on the island. And she can't think of a single reason not to live with him. Can't think of anything she wants more right now.

"Oh, Jason," she says, "I think that's gotta be the best idea you've ever had."

[officerjason]

There have been a lot of best ideas Jason's ever had, but this is maybe the first time someone's said it to him without it involving drilling a peephole somewhere, or an unorthodox use of household objects during sex.

No, this is the best fucking thing of all, because Fred looks happy and she wants to live with him.

He doesn't really bother with more talking, since he got the big part right and doesn't want to fuck it up by accident. Jason just leans in and kisses Fred for all he's worth, sweet and hard at the same time, and just... grateful.

[walkswithheroes]

Fred's grinning so hard she feels like her cheeks might burst, which probably doesn't help a whole lot when all she wants to do is kiss him. Suddenly, anything she's got for Jason this year— those presents she brought with her tonight— don't seem like nearly enough.

She kisses him back, almost breathless, and she thinks she might be able to go on doing it all night, but a little wiggle between the two of them reminds her that there's a puppy there and they should probably make sure not to squish him.

[officerjason]

"I love you," Jason finally pulls back to whisper. "Do you got any idea how much I love you?" He kisses her again, soft and feather-light on the lips, on that sweet little lower lip. "Shit, you know I'm not good with words. I just. I just love you, okay? And I'm so happy we're gonna live together."

Forever, part of him tries to insist.

Well, they're not there yet.