Christmas In Killarney

Link to article: Christmas In Killarney.

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  --header-subtitle: "Keeping Valleys Green";
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[[size xx-large]] 14:03, December 23rd, 2021 [[/size]]

Ryan O'Carroll sat in a small café off New Street and sipped a mocha. Outside the rain poured down on the road,  as cars rolled by and people sheltered under the entrance to the little lane of businesses, the "Mug and Bean" was in, or doing some last minute Christmas dinner shopping at the Tesco Express further down. Christmas music had been playing over the radio, the family behind him gulping down hot chocolate like there was no tomorrow. There was absolutely no sign of snow that could be found in several dozen kilometers.

Needless to say, it certainly was Christmas in Killarney. That melancholic kind that every one since the mid 2010s had been, away from family and friends.
God, he hated Irish weather. Absolute miserable all the time, never as beautiful as the songs made it out to be. He'd know, as he'd been around far longer than any of the High Kings or Irish Rovers.

His phone rang. He pulled it out and saw it wasn't from anyone on his contact list. Location said Ireland, but he knew nobody out in Waterford had gotten a new phone, at least that he'd heard. He declined the call, and went back to his coffee. Seconds later, it rang again. Same number. He declined. One more time, it rang, and one more time he declined the call. He sat in silence for a few more minutes, before a voice behind him called.

"Hello, Ryan. Nice of you to pick up the phone."
Seán. Irritated, but certainly him. Not someone he'd expect to hear anytime after they'd last parted ways back in Waterford a few years back. His voice had somehow gotten higher-pitched than it was back when he was twenty. He turned, and his immediate thoughts were "Wow, you look different."

"You don't say."
Seán, who'd previously looked like the stereotypical scrawny, sensitive, glasses-wearing loser protagonist of a Young Adult novel written by a projecting fifteen year old, now looked like the love interest of said loser from the same novel. He'd, or rather, she'd grown her hair out to around her waist, the tawny brown cascade far less greasy than when it'd be confined to that foul mullet. She'd gained some much-needed weight, so she no longer looked like a scarecrow with a reverse eating disorder, and she'd gotten new glasses, those ones with a rounded bottom and flat tops. She was wearing a long cream-colored coat and black boots. In other words, he was dressed the part of character too.

"Sorry, is there a guy called Seán behind you?" Ryan's smile dispelled any clouds of sarcasm the words had produced.

"Behind me temporally, I suppose." She strolled up to the window-facing table and pulled up a chair. "It's Susan now, by the way."

"Susan Bitod." Ryan said. "Nice seeing you again."

"Pleasure to see you too, Ryan." She extended a hand, which he shook.

"Been a while, huh?" He said, sipping his mocha and giving himself a coffee moustache.

"More than a while. How long now, ten years?"

"Time flying when you're not staring the Foundation in the eyes the second you leave home." Ryan muttered.

"You're still mad about that?"

"Not really. I'm all for forgiving and forgetting in two seconds. Some of the others, less so."

"Fair enough." She stared out the window with a hand to her chin, absently following the cars outside as they passed by, kicking up water and dirt in the torrential rain. "Probably shouldn't be saying the F word so loudly in public, though."

"I'll say fuck as much and as loudly as I like, thank you." Ryan licked the coffee off his upper lip and nodded. "My bad."

"You're alright. Not used to it."

"..."

"..."

The two stared awkwardly out the window.

"Walk and talk?"

"With all due respect, it's raining like we're supposed to be expecting a second Biblical flood out there. I'm not in the mood to get soaked."

"Drive and talk?"

"Where's the car?"

"I can call a guy."

"Where'd we drive to?"

"Fancy taking the drive up to Moll's Gap?"

"I'll call you back on that one. Can this guy get me home?"

"Yeah. You want me to call him?"

"If you don't mind."

She looked disappointed, but she pulled out her phone and started texting someone.

"He'll be here in a minute. Mind if I go along for the ride?"

"Once it's just for the ride. You lot knowing where I live is enough for me."

"Whatever you think, buddy."
@@ @@
-----

About five minutes later, Ryan and Susan were bundled into the back of a black SUV and stuck in traffic on their way out of town. Their driver, a white haired man by the name of James, was muttering obscenities at the Nissan honking behind them, while Ed Sheeran floated out of the radio.

"I regret accepting this offer." Ryan said, tilting his head against the window.

"I regret getting behind the shithead in that Toyota." James hammered down on the car horn as the line of traffic moved gradually forward.

"What crawled up your ass?" Ryan muttered.

"Leave him off, he's like this when traffic's slow." Susan said, twiddling her thumbs in the seat beside him. "You'd get along well if we weren't in this jam."

"Mhm." James drummed his fingers on the wheel as he inched the car forward. "I assume he knows why he's here?"

"Oh, so I'm needed. I was under the impression you actually kinda wanted to see me, as the one person I used to know to pretty much any degree."

"You say that like you don't know anyone in the present tense." James said, as he pulled around the roundabout and headed out toward Fossa. 

"That's besides the point." Ryan crossed his arms in indignation. "What do you mean 'why he's here'? Am I being executed? You lot throwing me into a cell like every other weird humanoid you see?"

"Kind of the opposite." James turned off the radio as Fairytale of New York began to play. "Mind giving him the rundown, ma'am?"

Ma'am? Had she gotten a promotion since he'd last seen her? She'd been doing pretty well for herself, all those years ago.

"The folks in [[[hecatoncheires-cycle-hub|Site-91]]] and [[[secure-facility-dossier-site-120|Site-120]]] got into talks with our Department of Applied Thaumaturgy a few years back. As it would turn out, The Foundation's presence in Ireland is minimal, outside of watching over the Faery Forts."

"Watching is a kind word for it."

"Whatever you say, mate. So, as it would turn out, anomalous activity on the island is, put lightly, very high. I mean, //Homo Sapien Aosidhe// existing in such large numbers around here is miraculous from a xenobiotic standpoint, and the birth rate of varied-degree thaumaturgists is-"

"What Susan is trying to say," James cut in. "Is that Ireland has a lot of anomalous stuff going on for such a small island. Additionally, the Foundation has pretty much no presence here, after the... occurrence back in '82. So they started making a new Site."

"Reliquary Research and Containment Site-530." Susan continued. "Or just Site-530, for short."

"Good for you guys." Ryan said. "What does this have to do with me?"

"Well, depending on how you answer, you might end on our watchlist." James said, as he fiddled with the car's heating. "Do you have a job?"

"Hentai voice acting."

James gave Ryan the coldest death stare he'd ever seen.

"Loosen up a bit, jeez. I work in a pharmacy, I'm qualified to. You happy with that answer?"

"Honestly, it's more believable. Would you consider yourself a diplomatic person?"

"The fuck does that mean?"

James sighed. "Do you consider yourself to be good at social stuff? Persuasion, making deals, that sort of stuff. If you were a D&D character, would your primary stat be Charisma?"

"I guess."

"Are you OK with being treated with a mild degree of suspicion for a few months?"

"Where the hell are you going with this?"

"What James is trying to ask," Susan cut in, shooting James a death stare of her own "is if you'd like a job at the Foundation."

"I'm sorry?"

"Would you like a job at the Foundation?"

Ryan blinked.

"You're offering me a job. In //the// SCP Foundation."

"Yes."

"The same Foundation that, little over a century ago, caused the Third Great Diaspora of one of my parent's race? The same Foundation that had a gun to the head of the Fae community in Ireland little under a decade ago? The same Foundation-"

"Christ, we get the idea." James cut him off. "The Foundation's done some horrible shit. We still do. But we've changed. Tried to, at the very least. We still make mistakes, but we're learning."

"I bet. So, what's the offer? Ransom hostage? Centre of some weapon? In-house entertainment?"

"Head of the newly-founded Department of Fae Research and Relations. We felt it'd be appropriate to have someone who's seen both sides of the coin lead attempts to bring those sides together. I remembered you from Waterford, you were smart enough and a good enough talker that I figured, if we could find you, we could talk into this. "

"I'm sorry, but the head of a Department? Forgive me if I'm wrong, but isn't that... A very high position to just give away to someone you previously said wouldn't be entirely trusted for the first few months of my employment."

"I trust you." Susan said.

"That's your first mistake." Ryan and James responded in unison.

"So I can't trust people now?"

"No." The two men said, once again in unison.

"Trusting someone who's anything above, like, 25% a fairy is a bad idea." Ryan said.

"Also, I've already given my feelings on immediately shunting someone into an administrative role." James added. "I really don't know how you got literally anyone to figure this was a good idea."

Susan shrugged. "Must've caught the Admin Department on a good day." Ryan rubbed a palm against one of his eyes and sighed. "That's a heavy-ass question to ask someone you've not seen in a decade and known for less than an hour, respectively."

"Suppose it is." James pulled up to the side of the road and nodded to Ryan's house. "This your stop?"

"Don't act like you don't already know where I live." Ryan muttered as he unbuckled his seatbelt. "Can I take a raincheck on that offer?"

"Sure." Susan nodded. "Get back to us by... Let's say, Christmas."

"Three day's deadline. Sounds like a 2000s band name and a manageable timeframe. Meet at the Hahah at, I dunno, 9pm?"

"Sure. We'll be seeing you then." 

"Ight. Have a nice day, weirdos." Ryan opened the car door, leapt out, slammed it shut and ran toward the front door. James and Susan watched him scramble inside and shut the door behind him.

"God, he pisses me off already." James pulled out from in front of the driveway and turned back to face town. "I'm sure he's probably a saint or gave his life savings to charity or something, but he's too lackadaisical for the job."

"He'll take us up and take it seriously, I'm sure of it." Susan stared at the house as they pulled away. 

"You don't know him."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He's half-Fae. As much as I'm inclined to believe racial stereotypes are a bunch of codswallop, my experience with the previous twelve aren't making me excited about the thirteenth."

"I can't tell if you're racist, paranoid, stuck-up or some secret fourth thing involving all three."

"We can debate that when I'm not driving and I've had my lunch. Now, where's the hotel we're staying in for the next few days?"
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[[size xx-large]] 21:34, December 23rd, 2021 [[/size]]
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+++ Yenderathal
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[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]hey.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Wassup little bro?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]A lot. U go first tho.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Well, stuff's all good here in Little Waterford. Mom got better. Fergal got a job, we got a new place in the regular city.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Hbu?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]Got offered a job at The Foundation.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]I'm sorry what[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]Y'know, the SCP dudes from 2013?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Yeah I know who they are dipshit[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]But like[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]] What how and why [[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]they want me for some diplomatic department in their new site. Relations with us fairies and shit.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Ballsy move.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]they probably like to imagine its easy to forgive and forget.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]You gonna take them up?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]idk. on the one hand, probably pays well. on the other hand, they kinda don't like us[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Fair. Still though, if they wanna, like, open some kinda relations with the communities, it's probably a sign they're moving past their little boner for putting stuff in boxes. [[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]eh, ill sleep on it. U guys got the presents I sent yet?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Yeh. You get yours?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]just yesterday, yeah.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Cool.[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]Gotta go, Mom needs me to do something for her. Talk more tomorrow?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]sure. Talk to you then. bye[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Night![[/span]]
[[/div]]



[[/div]]
[[/div]]

Ryan shut off his phone and rolled onto his back, staring up at the ceiling of his bedroom. He wasn't sure what was going through his head at that moment, everything felt like it was going a million miles an hour. Quietly, he turned off his light and crawled under the covers, closing his eyes and letting sleep wash over him.
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[[size xx-large]] 09:41, 24th December, 2021 [[/size]]

"So, what was up with you yesterday?" Susan asked James as the man gorged himself on bacon and sausages they'd brought up to their room in a lunchbox.

"You mean how I was with your little friend?" He asked through a mouthful of hog.

"He's not that little, you know. You're just six foot something too big for your own boots."

"Silence, tiny mortal." He swallowed the wad of meat in his mouth and wiped his face with a napkin. "And it wasn't mistrust. Well, maybe it was, just a little bit. But it was mostly a vote of confidence that he's not cut out for it."

"He'll do well."

"You knew each other for a fortnight nine years ago. How much blind faith do you have in the man?"

"More than I do in you, I've seen the Applied Thaumaturgy's track record concerning Department Heads-"

"Stop yourself right there." James spat. "Look, all I'm saying is, he doesn't give off professional vibes. The car ride was basically a job interview, and he basically pulled the presentation equivalent of showing up in a pair of baggy tracksuit pants, which he also did."

"Do you just really not want him to be Department Head?"

James groaned. "Fuck. Look, I don't know. I don't know what I'm trying to get across. He just... annoys me.  Something about him just rubs me up some wrong way."

"You've spoken to him for five minutes. You'll get along well, I'm sure of it."

"You know how I am with people. You've seen me with Valeska."

"Yes, you're bad with new people. But you can work through that, I'm sure of it. Just give him a chance, extend an olive branch or something. You'll get on like a house on fire. Anyway, I'm gonna get breakfast for myself. Go do whatever for the rest of the day." She grabbed a room key and, without even bothering to put on a proper pair of shoes, went to leave.

"Wait."

She stopped, hand on doorhandle, and turned back to him. "What is it?"

"Give me a straight answer, no more dodging around it. How did you and Admin decide he was the best fit for the job? //Why// did you and Admin decide he was the best fit for the job?"

Susan stood, silently staring at James for a moment.

"You know about the Faeiry Forts incident that occurred across Ireland in 2013?"

"I have a vague idea, yes. You all still haven't gotten that file onto the database?"

She shrugged. "Technical errors from all the terminals on-Site. Should be done and dusted by the time we get back to Sligo."

"Go on." James grunted.

"Out of the three Forts most effected by the little... incident, 'Little Waterford', as it's called, was relatively unscathed. They still really didn't like us, sure. But they weren't hit as bad as The Lighthouses or Shannonshine."

"Your point being?"

"Ryan is a native to them. If we can try and get onto good footing with them through him, we stand a better chance of getting onto good footing with the rest of them."

"A few questions."

"Ask away."

"First off, are you really assuming the Fae from different communities are going to listen to one another so easily? As much as they're like that elsewhere, we've seen that //Aosidhe// just... operate on a different level to other species in the //Homo// genus-"

"Please, not with the sciencey talk before noon."

"You get my point, though?"

"Yes. That part's a leap of faith."

"You don't do leaps of faith in our line of work." James said, plainly. "A leap of faith into the unknown can get you killed."

"And sometimes it gets you right where you want to be."

"That makes no sense, you-" James rubbed his temples and groaned. "You know what? Never mind. Second and final question, you knew Ryan for a period of, what, two weeks back in 2013? How can you be sure he even cares anymore? What if he just wants to live a normal life, away from, well, whatever the hell we are?"

"He'll want to, I'm sure of." She pulled on the doorhandle and opened the door.

"Ok, now you just sound like a bloody anime chara-" James began, before the door slammed shut and he was left alone in the room, grey light pouring in through the window.

James rubbed his hands on his face and debated punching a pillow. Extend an olive branch. Easier said than done after that abysmal first impression. 

He pulled out a phone and checked the time. Quarter to ten. An entire day to kill. Day and a bit until they heard back from Ryan. Quietly, he mulled in the room, staring into space, and then back to his phone, then back into space. 

He paced for a bit.

He stared out the window at the car park, watching vehicles come and go.

He ate some cold bacon.

And he had an idea.
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[[size xx-large]] 15:27, 24th December, 2021 [[/size]]
Ryan sat in the back of the local Eason's, quietly reading a copy of //How To Train Your Dragon//. He'd left his old copies back in Little Waterford, and had felt like reading the series again.

He'd not been sat for ten minutes when a familiar man with white hair walked in and to the back of the store. Barely looking up, Ryan saw him stand and stare at him for a second.

"You going to sit down or did you come by to gawk at the amazingness that is me?" He asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"No, I'm going to sit. Just... didn't think I'd find you in the back with all the kids' books." James said, promptly seating himself beside Ryan.

"Only place with seats. Best I can do to read, since if I buy the whole series again I'm broke and can't afford dinner tonight."

James eyed the book, after quickly making sure nobody was within earshot. "HTTYD?" He asked.

"Yup. Solid series."

"Cowell's a good author."

"Yeah. Shame I couldn't get into the Wizards of Once. Just too much plot in the first book compared to what came before."

"Definitely rode in off the melodrama wave the prior series ended with. Shame, really, because the worldbuilding was nice."

Ryan stared at James. "Never took you as a fan of kids' books."

"Surprising amount of them in Site-120's recreational reading areas. Noticeable lack of The Witcher, though." He brandished his copy of //Blood of Elves// like a sword. "So I'll be making up for lost time."

"Judging by the fact you're in the Broke-Ass Zone with me, they don't pay you shit?"

"I'm not... really an employee yet. It's weird, but I was born into The Foundation, since my parents met in the Department of Applied Thaumaturgy. No real need to pay me when I've no family to support outside of here."

"Damn, not even a couple euros a month as pocket money?"

"...Maybe."

"They give you pocket money. Kinda sad."

"Yeah. Twenty-seven year old getting pocket money from a organization keeping reality safe so he doesn't run away in a huff. Almost funny, in a Monty Python-y ridiculous sort of way."

The two sat in silence for a minute, reading their respective books.

"Say, I don't think I got your name proper." Ryan said.

"If you promise not to nab it, I'll tell you it." James responded.

"Don't want to, happy with what I have now." Ryan shrugged.

"Fair." James shrugged back. "James. James Sense."

"Odd last name." Ryan observed.

"It's an oddly occurrence in my line of work, the odd last name." James said. "And you are?"

"Ryan O'Carroll."

"Nice to meet you, Ryan."

"You too, James."

The two continued to read in awkward silence for a few more minutes. 

"So... Christmas, huh?" Ryan said, sniffing through a blocked nose.

"Yeah." James said, scratching his nose. "Weather says it'll be rain, again."

"Shame, really. Global warming's really just deprived this country the beauty of snow. Aside from the mountains, that is."

"Yeah."

Another awkward silence.

"You looking forward to opening presents?"

"The few I've gotten from my family in Waterford, yeah. Sent mine off to them. You got any?"

"Susan's gotten me one."

"Just her?"

"My, uh, partner has one she's saving for when I get back."

"Bit against the idea of it being a Christmas present if you can't open it on Christmas, innit?"

"She has a few aversions to Christmas. Religious reasons."

"She a Satanist or something?"

"Something like that."

"So it's just them?"

"Yeah."

Ryan stared at James. Now that he wasn't glaring at him, or looking the other way, he looked sad. Not like he was on the edge of crying, but like it wouldn't take much to get him there.

"Do you, like, not have a lot of friends?"

"No. Everyone just kind of a workmate to me. The two I do have are a long story."

"I could be your friend."

James stared at Ryan for a second, and smiled half-heartedly. "Wouldn't be a very interesting friendship, for the day it'll have in at it at the moment."

Ryan shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe I'm taking the offer seriously."

"Maybe I judged you a bit too quickly." James stood up and stretched. "I'm going to pop up the road and find somewhere I can use the loo. If you're not here when I get back, see you tomorrow?"

"See you tomorrow." Ryan nodded. James nodded back, and walked off. Ryan watched as he left the store, and strolled off up the street. //"Well, why not?"// He thought to himself as he stood up and walked to the front of the store. He scooped up a copy of everything in //The Witcher// series and dumped them onto the till.

"All of these, and a bag for 'em, please." He told the cashier. 
@@ @@
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From around the corner of High Street, James watched Ryan leave the Easons' with a full bag. He watched him go and, when he was sure he wasn't coming back, dashed back toward the bookstore himself.
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[[size xx-large]] 23:58, December 23rd, 2021 [[/size]]
Ryan was standing over his kitchen table, swearing at the end of cello-tape that'd gotten stuck to the rest of the roll, which he now couldn't find when his phone buzzed. He pulled it out and opened the notification. 
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+++ Yenderathal
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[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]How's my favorite little idiot on this lovely Christmas Eve?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]wrestling with cellotape atm.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Dude, can't you literally do magic or something? Just magic the end into sight and easy grabability or something.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]can't.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Why?[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]Skippers'd lock me up or smtng. You know how they are.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="recv"]]
[[span class="text"]]Aren't they, like, literally offering you a high-ranking position out of the goodness of their hearts? Doubt they'd just lock you up for some quality of life casting.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[div class="sent"]]
[[span class="text"]]bleh.[[/span]]
[[/div]]

[[/div]]
[[/div]]

Ryan flicked a finger at the tape, and the end peeled itself off the body.
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+++ Yenderathal
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[[span class="text"]]also, you talk about the offer like ur happy for me to be maybe working for them[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]opportunities and world peace shit aside didnt they literally kill like twenty of ur friends accidentally[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]and ur bio-dad.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]I'm a very forgiving person.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]ur a psychopath, I'll give you that.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]You kids say the damnedest things.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]ur only half a century older than me, stfu.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]Ha, sure. Whatever you say.[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]So, about the job.[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]You gonna take it?[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]if im being real, probably.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]Damn. Quick decision.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]had a deadline of tomorrow evening. besides, itll probably be a fun time,[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]Your first thought on joining a scientific institution is "It'll be a fun time"?[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]yes[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]That's ma boy.[[/span]]
[[span class="text"]]Keep in touch, though. Don't want you forgetting us.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]dw, I will.[[/span]]
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[[span class="text"]]Cool. Talk later. Merry Christmas, little bro.[[/span]]
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Ryan checked the time. Sure enough, it was 12:01, December 25th. 
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[[span class="text"]]Merry Christmas, sis.[[/span]]
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He shut his phone down and pulled off a piece of tape, sealing the last little bit of wrapping paper on the gift he was making. He was smiling down on the present in the dim light of his kitchen, when he heard the sounds of someone walking around outside his door, followed by a car driving away quickly. Immediately, he assumed it was a late-night post run. That or the neighbors were playing Secret Santa and hadn't told him. He walked out and opened the door to find a fairly chunky gift sitting on his front step. Picking it up, he closed the door and walked back into his sitting room. He plonked himself down on the couch and stared at the gift for a moment, before pulling off the little bow that'd been tied on it and ripping off the paper. Inside was a little card and a stack of twelve increasingly thick books. The //How To Train Your Dragon// series, in its entirety.

He smiled, and opened the card. Inside was a little hand-drawn picture of a dragon, and a little message.

//Hope you've considering taking us up on the offer. I kind of do want to be friends. -J. S//

He stared at the inside of the card for a moment, before tucking it into a pocket in his hoodie. Quietly, he went up to his room and began to pack a suitcase.
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[[size xx-large]] 21:01, December 25th, 2021 [[/size]]

"He's late." Susan said as she and James sat on a bench beside the public toilets at the agreed meeting spot. She was wearing the same clothes as the two days prior, due to her lack of packing.

"By one minute, ma'am." James said, through the folds of a blue and white snowflake-patterned scarf she'd given him. "Give the man time to get here."

"Sorry, just a bit excited."

James arched an eyebrow and grinned.

"Oh, fuck off." Susan rolled her eyes. "You dirty bastard. I'm just excited I might get to work with a friend again."

"Ok, Jesus Christmas Crackers, tightly wound much?" James returned to his position of crossed arms and watching the people across the road, inside a hotel, eat their dinners.

"I'd kill for some roast spuds right about now." He thought aloud. Susan buried her head in her hands. "Look, we can get dinner with him when he gets here. Politeness and all."

"I wonder if he likes roast spuds." James continued. Susan resisted the urge to strangle him.

A minute or two later, a taxi pulled up and Ryan practically fell out of the back seat, shoving a wad of money into the driver's hand as he stood up and stumbled over to the two with two masses of wrapping paper and cello-tape in his hands.

"Howdy folks." He said, stacking the boxes on top of one another and smiling at the two. 

"Evening." James nodded back.

"Hi, Ryan." Susan returned his smile. "You eaten?"

"Not since lunch, no. You guys fancy McDonalds?"

"I was-" Susan began, before James' face lit up and he cut her off. "Fuck yeah. I've got the knack for a Big Mac."

"Didn't you //just say// you'd kill for some roast potatoes?"

"Roast spuds are a Sunday dinner food. In case you haven't noticed, it's a Saturday."

"Saturdays are takeaway nights, y'know?" Ryan continued. The two men grinned at one another and high-fived with Ryan's free hand. She suppressed the urge to kick both of them in the arse. Violence aside, she was glad they seemed to be getting on.

Ryan suddenly remembered what he was carrying. "Oh, yeah. I got you guys some stuff." He handed Susan one of the gifts and tossed James the other one. "Don't open that, it'll be a pain to carry around an entire series for an hour or whatever." James nodded and smiled. "Thanks, mate." He said.

"What's in mine?" Susan asked, shaking it and listening to the clattering of something small inside.

"Dunno if you still like it anymore, but I had a spare box of 40k stuff I never got around to doing stuff with laying around. Space Marines Combat Patrol, plus some supplies."

"Haven't touched the hobby in a while, might pick it up again." Susan waved the gift in Ryan's direction for a second. "Thanks."

"So, how abouts a few workmates go grab some McNuggets and enjoy a good ol' Christmas in Killarney?"

"Yeah-" James said, before stopping to process what he'd just said.

"Waitwaitwait." Susan said. "Did you just say workmates?"

"Yeah?" Ryan replied, raising an eyebrow. "I wouldn't be bothering you professional folks if I weren't with you, would I?"

"I-" She started.

"To spell it out, that's a yes to your offer." Ryan put an arm on the shoulder of the other two, and began to walk them toward the nearest McDonald's. "Honestly, it's most for the experience, but there's a second reason."

"And that is?" James asked, recoiling slightly from the sudden physical contact.

"It gets awfully lonely down here. And I don't see why I shouldn't go where my heart tells me. And, guess what? Right now, my heart says to go after my friends."

"You'd call me a friend?" James asked.

"Mutual, for now. But, hey, I'm all for change."

"Y'know, that sounds fun."

"Agreed." Susan nodded.
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And so, on that Christmas night, three grown adults sat in a McDonald's in rural Ireland, laughing, eating and firing the paper covers on their straws at one another like children, all the while ignoring the odd looks they were getting from the staff. For the first time in a long while, Ryan felt well and truly happy on Christmas. 

Because he'd spent it with his friends.

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Christmas In Killarney

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