#advent2016

[dingoesatemy]

Advent Day 19

Twelve Birds of Christmas by adi_rotynd

Summary: Odin believes Sam Wilson has stolen his ravens. Sam and Steve both have a solution to this problem. Neither of these solutions is well thought out.

Excerpt - “...Sam opened the front door and tried to kick his boots off without scattering slush all over the front hall. Steve jumped off the couch and stood in front of it. “I got you something,” he said, in a tone better suited to, ‘I broke something of yours.’

“Yeah?” Sam put his bag down, in case he needed his hands free, but slowly, in case sudden movement was a bad idea.

“A Christmas present,” Steve said...

Sam unzipped his coat and wondered whether he’d be better off getting rid of it for ease of movement or keeping it for an extra layer of protection. “It’s November. Is my present dangerous?” Sam asked.

“No,” Steve said.

“Define ‘dangerous,’” Natasha said.

“It’s not! It’s adorable.”

“Don’t say that to me, Steve. You’ve got an adorable superspy on top of my TV. She’s not non-dangerous.”

“It’s only a pet,” said Steve. He beckoned Sam into the living room and around the couch, his face a shining beacon of hope. “A rescue pet.”

Sam left his coat on. “Rescued from what?” he said, but walked over, mentally listing the answers he didn’t want: rescued from an evil scientist, from an alternate dimension, from another planet.

“From the Humane Society, actually. He was the only bird they had.”

Sam rounded the couch and stopped. He took a second before he said, “Is that a partridge? Is that a dog crate with a partridge in it?”

“Its name is—”

“Nope! Don’t tell me. We’re not naming it. We’re not keeping it. Steve, we can’t—one partridge? They can’t live alone. We’d have to get at least two more. And we can’t house three partridges. Hell, we can’t house one, in D.C. in the winter. They’re not indoor pets.”

“No, I know, but hear me out, these are special circumstances.”

“Special circumstances,” Natasha repeated, and laughed. The partridge made a sudden move toward the door of the crate and she tucked her feet onto the shelf above Sam’s DVD player.

Steve glared at her. “Let me tell him. Sam, Le—the bird—he was an indoor pet, and he’s confused about what to do with other partridges.”

Sam, who knew better than to do this, who knew himself and birds and Steve’s damn puppy dog eyes, crouched so he could see in the door of the crate better. The partridge backed up a step, head snaking down. A thick black band of feathers covered its brown eyes and swept down around its neck, ringing a white patch. “Chukar, huh,” he said. “Okay, what’s its problem with other partridges?”

“He responds to them aggressively,” said Steve. “Really aggressively. He, um. Kills them. I mean, I know birds fight, but the farm that had him before the Society had to get rid of him because of the death toll.”

“Tell him the rest,” Natasha said darkly.

“The rest isn’t even confirmed. I just thought, since the Humane Society couldn’t keep him any longer, we could take Lecter and give him somewhere to relax until he’s up to interacting normally.”

“Lecter,” Sam repeated. The Chukar bobbed its neck back out, twisting to examine him with a bright eye. Its spurs were short but looked wickedly sharp. “Steve. Is this thing eating the birds it kills?”

“Yes,” said Natasha. “It’s evil. I’ve seen evil, and I don’t use the word lightly. That bird is evil.”

“Oh, for—one of the volunteers at the Humane Society claimed someone on the farm saw Lecter pecking one of the corpses. I’m sure he was looking for bugs. Anyway, Natasha says that ‘I’ve seen evil’ line about most birds.”

“I do not!”

“Last week a cardinal rated ‘pure malevolence from the coldest pits of hell’ for shitting on your car.”

Lecter finished examining Sam and threw himself bodily against the door of the cage. He was easily a foot long, and solidly built. The door bowed slightly before he rebounded. He charged again and tried pecking the bars. Mostly he scraped his little gray head and chubby white cheeks. “Ah, shit,” said Sam, and unlatched the door. Lecter barreled out, dashed up Sam’s thigh, and thudded into his chest. He sat there, quivering. Sam could feel his heartbeat shaking his whole body. “Goddamnit,” said Sam.

“Yeah,” said Steve. “It’s, uh—his first owner was this retired guy who raised him alone, so he thought that guy was his whole covey. Then the man died, so Lecter got put on a farm, and it didn’t… take.”

“God,” said Sam, with great feeling, “damn it.” Lecter turned on his thigh to back up under the flap of his coat and peer out at Steve.”

[triprabbits-blog]

Advent in Osijek http://triprabbits.com/hr/advent-u-tvrdi-osijek-hrvatska-znamenitosti-atrakcije/

[johnhaney]

#advent2016

[dingoesatemy]

Advent Day 22

Standing right outside my door by eleanor_lavish

Summary: “I’ve been doing holidays alone for years, bro. I mean, I spent more holidays at Andover than in New York.”

Dex’s fingers tighten on the steering wheel. He kind of really hates Nursey’s parents right now, even though he’s never met them. He wants to yell at Nursey about this ridiculous chill he has going on, about how it’s fucked up, ask how he’s not just pissed off all the fucking time, but he looks over and Nursey’s eyes are still closed, and he’s curled in on himself in the seat. “Yeah, well. Not this year,” he says firmly.

Excerpt - “‘lo?” he manages.

“Deeeexxxxxxx! Merry Christmas, Dex,” comes the voice through the line, and Dex’s stomach flip-flops. It’s Nursey.

He hasn’t actually spoken words to Nursey since… since, so all he can manage is, “Nurse, what the hell -”

Not that it matters, because Nursey is already talking again. “You’re so grumpy, Poindexter, don’t be mad, just wanted to say Merry Christmas to my D-man. My D-dizzle. Diddly-Dex.”

Dex blinks into the darkness of his room. “Are you drunk?”

Nursey’s laugh is too loud, loud enough that Dex pulls the phone away from his ear. “Fuckin’ right. Daddy’s Macallan 25. Goes down smooooth.”

“He’ll be pissed tomorrow,” Dex tells him. Nursey’s laugh this time is quieter, and when he speaks his voice is tinged with something Dex has never heard from Nursey before, a kind of forced cheer laced with desperation.

“Nah, he and Mom are still in Dubai. Sent an email yesterday that they got a line on a deal, had to stay and see it through. Not like the sheiks are big on Christmas, you know?”

“Wait, what?” Dex frowns in confusion. “Are you home alone right now?”

“Home alone is my middle name, man,” Nursey says, “Just wish you were -” He tapers off, and Dex’s heart is beating hard enough that he can hear it loud and clear over Nursey’s quiet breathing on the other end.

“Just wish I was what?”

“Nothin’, bro,” Nursey replies, his voice a little hoarse - from the whiskey, or maybe from something else, Dex can’t tell. “Sorry I woke you up. Have a great Christmas, okay? High-fives to all the little Dexes.”

The line goes dead before Dex can say anything else, not like he knows what the fuck to say.”

[dingoesatemy]

Advent Day 18

And a Malfoy in a Pear Tree by lauren3210, Owl_Postmaster

Summary: Draco works in a coffee shop. Harry drops by every day to get his fix. Of coffee, Ron.

Excerpt - “The usual, I guess.”

Malfoy snorted elegantly. “So much for Gryffindors being adventurous.”

Harry grinned and watched Malfoy begin to make his large black coffee, with just a hint of milk. “I can be adventurous,” he said.

“Sure you can.”

“I can!”

“Prove it.” Malfoy let his hand hover over the display of flavoured shots. “Do you trust me?”

Harry raised an eyebrow. “No.” Then he sighed. “Fine. Give it your best shot.”

“Funny.” Malfoy turned his back so that Harry couldn’t tell which bottle he chose. Harry really didn’t mind the view. He watched as Malfoy scribbled something on the side of the cardboard cup, before placing it down on the counter between them. “That’ll be six sickles, please.”

Harry handed the coins over, feeling a spark in his fingers as they brushed against Malfoy’s palm. “Thanks.”

Malfoy nodded, eyes lingering on Harry. “See you tomorrow.”

And then the line moved on and the moment was over. Harry walked back outside into the cold December morning, and looked down to see what Malfoy had written on his cup.

The Chosen Twat.

Harry snorted and looked back through the window. Malfoy was busy with another customer, but he seemed to know that Harry was looking, and he looked up with a smirk. Cheeky bastard. Harry rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee, and spat it straight back out again, narrowly missing the feet of a very disgusted passerby.”

[dingoesatemy]

Advent Day 13

you're exactly where you ought to be by soniclipstick (veriscence)

Summary: “Do you have any idea how often Tony looks at your butt?”

Steve snorts. “That means next to nothing. Everyone looks at my butt.” “Well, it is a great butt,” Bucky says, his lips curling into a smirk.

In which, there are presents, snow angels, and caffeinated maple syrup. And much kissing.

Excerpt - ”Are you staying the night? The snow’s coming down pretty hard,” Bucky says. It’s Christmas Eve; Bucky and Steve had been hoping for snow. They’d even considered calling Thor back to make some weather magic. Well, Natasha had — Steve had shot down the idea despite the look on his face suggesting he’d been considering the same thing. It’s Vision’s first Christmas, and they want it to be perfect. They’d invited Tony to stay, but he’d declined. Steve had still put presents labelled ‘Tony’ under the tree.

Steve’s optimistic, and Bucky doesn’t like to deny him things. Even the little things.

“No, I’ve got the suit, I can leave the car and fly back,” Tony replies. He doesn’t say home. He hasn’t called the Tower home since the amicable if highly-publicized break-up with Pepper, who’s been running Stark Industries from Miami for the last three months.

“Or you could stay. That invitation is still valid. It’s Christmas, Tony. You should be here, with us.”

[divinelydistracted]

Some good words from Richard Rohr about love. #richardrohr #love #advent #advent2016 #divinelove

[dingoesatemy]

Advent Day 10

All the Love in the World by alocalband

Summary: Bitty’s hands are shaking. He has five missed calls from Jack, two from Chowder, one from Lardo, and an astronomical number of yet to be viewed text messages.

It’s not that he hasn’t been checking his phone, it’s that every time he’s picked it up at an alert, all he’s been able to do is stare at it. Which is what he’s doing now, as he waits for his mother to finish speaking with the doctor at Coach’s bedside.

Excerpt - “Bitty? Eric? What happened? Are you–”

“Coach had a heart attack,” he interrupts in a rush of air, and feels like his whole body deflates as he finally says it out loud. It’s real now.

There’s silence for a moment. Then: “I’ll be on the next flight.”

“No. Jack. You don’t have to–“

“I’m already in my car, Bittle. I’m coming down.”

Bitty knew he’d do this, and maybe even secretly hoped he would. But he’s been too nervous to ask for it, feels selfish for even considering it, and so has been putting off this phone call as much because he couldn’t process everything as because he didn’t want the resulting guilt.

Jack is in Montreal for Christmas with his family while Bitty is down in Georgia with his. They’ve only been dating eight months now and haven’t told a soul about it. Lord, Bitty’s parents don’t even know he’s gay, let alone that he has a professional athlete boyfriend who’d drop everything in a heartbeat to fly down and be with him during a crisis.

Quietly, Jack asks, “How are you?”

“I’m okay. Or… I will be. Coach is alright, too. I don’t know the details yet, Mama’s back with him and the doctor right now, but he’s coherent? I’m just… I was scared, and I’m still not quite…“

Jack makes gentle shushing noises over the phone. Bitty doesn’t even realize he’s crying until a tear falls onto his knee and soaks a spot into his jeans. “I promise I’m okay,” he says around a stuttered breath. “Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve, Jack, you should be with your family.”

“Bitty,” Jack sighs, and his voice is almost a whisper but so sure, and so very grounding. “I will be.”

[divinelydistracted]

Advent for week 4 is on love. Unconditional love came to earth in human form with Jesus. He is the human experience example of love as well as the one promoting us to do the same. "Love your God... love your neighbor." We strive to live in love like Jesus. #advent #advent2016 #love #christmasoflove #fruitsofthespirit