Cold weather was always a pain for Viktor. His aches and pains would constantly flare up, his leg would get weaker and he caught more colds than hands on his fingers. Overall, it was a time of year that Viktor didn’t particular enjoy or care for. It wasn’t like there was anything fun that happened at this time of year. He usually just hoped his colds wouldn’t turn into pneumonia and prayed for a warmer winter.
At least a few weeks before he turned thirteen, when Powder suddenly brought up Santa Claus and Christmas.
“Santa?” Viktor asked one day when Powder, Vi and both of their parents had come over to the bar while it was closed to eat dinner with Vander, Silco and Viktor. Viktor was almost coming up on a year of living with Silco and Vander, and so far they hadn’t kicked him out or done anything for them to go back on their word.
He had slowly started to fill his bedroom with books and small gadgets, including the little mechanical boat he had made, when he met him. He was less and less tense every time Vander or Silco asked something of him and he even started sketching some prototypes for portable filters.
Overall, Viktor finally felt like he was getting comfortable, and maybe even happy.
Maybe.
“Yeah! He’s the bestest!” Powder’s eyes lit up excitedly as she bounced up and down on her chair at the table. Her parents both laughed, with her mother gently wiping some stew off the four-year-old’s face. Even Vi looked excited by what Powder was talking about, though Viktor had never heard of him. “He comes every year on Christmas and leaves presents for kids! Like toys and stuff. Some mean older kids said you have to have a tree otherwise he won’t come but he’s come every year for us and we don’t have one!”
Viktor nodded, still confused by everything that Powder was saying. He hadn’t heard about anything like this growing up and for a moment, Viktor wondered if he was undeserving of presents from this so-called entity.
"Yeah, last year I got this amazing toy rocket and Vi got some cool robot that punches things!” Powder continued as Vi nodded eagerly.
“What’s Christmas?” Viktor asked quietly. A spoon clattered against a bowl and the group went entirely silent. Viktor looked up, suddenly nervous that he had said the wrong thing. Even the adults were staring at Viktor.
What was so bad?
“Viktor, have you never celebrated Christmas?” Silco asked quietly, setting his bowl aside. Viktor nervously picked at the seam of a patch on his old pants. Felicia and Connel liked at Viktor with a look akin to pity and his stomach churned.
“Um, no. Is it like a birthday?” Viktor asked, too ashamed to admit even that he hadn’t celebrated since his parents had died. At least he knew what birthdays were. He’d already celebrated several of them with Vi, Powder, Vander and even Silco.
“Perhaps he’s Jewish?” Felicia asked quietly. “Did you celebrate Hannukah?” Viktor frowned with a shake of his head.
“No. One of mom’s co-workers did though so I know what that is. We weren’t religious or anything.” Viktor replied quietly.
“And you have no idea what Christmas is?” Vander asked, causing Viktor to shrink in on himself again. “Oh no, Vik. You’re not in trouble. It’s okay. No one here is mad. We just – we didn’t think you didn’t know what it was. I promise everything is okay.” Vander sounded like he was telling the truth. He didn’t seem to be angry or upset with Viktor and no one looked like they were mad.
“Um no. What is it?” Viktor asked slowly, straightening up when he realized no one was going to get mad at him. Powder and Vi looked almost offended but also sad.
“Christmas is the bestest!” Vi said with Powder rapidly shaking her head. “It’s a day in winter where everyone gives each other gifts and is nice, and we always eat more than any other day of the year, and then there’s presents!” Viktor’s eyes widened, almost in excitement but he kept his energy down, not wanting to cause a scene. Powder, however, was standing up in her seat, almost on the table.
“Yeah and Santa Claus is the big guy in charge who gives kids all the presents!” She explained happily. He comes every year on the night before Christmas, while everyone is sleeping and leaves their presents in their house.”
“Wow.” Viktor said quietly. “For every kid in the city?”
“Momma says kids all over the world.” Vi said with a nod. At this Viktor’s chest tightened and his stomach twisted. He clutched onto his spoon and looked down at the stew.
Why then did he never get presents?
“But um, what about the uh, what about the kids who didn’t get presents?” Viktor said softly. He could hear a couple sharp intakes of breath and he swallowed thickly.
“Only bad kids don’t get presents.” Powder says easily. “That’s what everyone says.”
Only bad kids don’t get presents.
Bad kids.
Bad.
You were a bad kid.
Viktor felt a lump form in his throat, so solid that he almost felt like he couldn’t swallow. His heart was racing, and he quickly hid his hands under the table when he felt them start to shake. Deep down he had figured he must have been bad if he didn’t know about Christmas or who Santa was.
“Oh.” He whispered.
“That’s not quite true.” Silco said suddenly, cutting off whatever else Powder was about to say. Viktor glanced up to see him and Vander looking at his sadly, while Felicia was gently keeping Powder quiet with her dinner. “That’s just a mean story kids make up. I promise it’s not true little one.”
Viktor wrung his hands. “But why would Santa not give me presents? Not – not that I need any, it’s fine!” He tried to cover up his sadness quickly when he saw Vander frown.
“Because…because I bet you never wrote him a letter!” Vander said suddenly. Beside him, Silco deflated with relief and Felicia and Connel nodded quickly. Viktor paused, head cocked to the side. A letter?
“Yes, that’s right Vander!” Silco said with a smile and nod. He turned to Viktor and waved his hand. “Santa uses the letters children write to him in order to see what they want and so he knows where they live. Otherwise, he can’t know where you live!”
“Exactly, and by the sounds of it, you probably never wrote him a letter.” Vander agreed, smiling over at Viktor who slowly shook his head. It was true, Viktor had never heard of Christmas before or Santa, so there was never any letter to send. He wondered if his parents knew about Christmas or if like him, they had never sent letters and didn’t know.
“Well, we’ll have to fix that then this year!” Felicia said with a clap of her hands. “When the girls write their letter, you should write yours too. Then we can mail them all together at the same time.” Vi and Powder eagerly nodded, already excited to write their letters with their new best friend.
“And I would just put here as the address?” Viktor said shyly. “Then Santa will know where I’m at?”
“Precisely.” Silco said, rubbing Viktor’s hair which caused the boy to finally smile again. He preened into the touch, still getting used to constant touch from Silco or Vander, but he couldn’t deny how much he enjoyed it after being alone for so long.
It took another week before Felicia came over with the girls to sit down and write their letters to Santa. During the entire week, Viktor had tried not to bombard Vander or Silco with questions about Christmas. Though, his curiosity sometimes got the better of him and he would ask a few questions. Thankfully, Vander and Silco both were happy to answer Viktor and even encouraged him.
When the girls came barreling in, with Powder holding up a box of crayons and Vi carrying several sheets of paper, Viktor had hardly finished up the handrail he was fixing, before Silco was shooing him off to go with the girls. He grabbed his cane, grinning widely as he went over to where Powder and Vi were setting up with their crayons and papers. Felicia greeted Viktor with a smile and wave, to which Viktor smiled back, before taking a seat in the chair beside Vi.
Powder was already scribbling some drawings onto a page and Vi was slowly writing on hers.
Dear Santa.
Viktor grabbed a crayon and a sheet for himself before staring at it blankly. He didn’t know where to start with his letter or how to go about writing it. He casually listened to Powder excitedly telling her mother what to write and would peek over at Vi to see what she was writing. After a few moments of tapping his fingers against his knee, Viktor finally picked up the crayon and leaned over his paper to start writing.
Dear Santa,
Hello. My name is Viktor. I’m twelve-years-old and I live downstairs at the Last Drop, with Silco and Vander.
Viktor paused wondering if he needed to describe where the last drop was. He figured it was probably safe to just add some details since Santa probably hadn’t ever been here before with Vander and Silco being so old.
The Last Drop is the only bar in the Lanes in the Undercity. It is the city right below Piltover, and the Lanes are the streets closest to the main square of the Undercity. Silco and Vander both run it and I’m sure they can be of assistance if you need help locating it.
He looked over at Vi and Powder, wondering what else they were adding before he remembered Felicia telling him these letters were meant to be for telling Santa what kinds of presents they wanted.
Vander and Silco took me in after I was alone. If you could, would you be able to get something for them. I know they should write their own letters, but I think they might be too old, so I figured I should ask you myself. Vander’s boots are getting old, he has a lot of holes in them, and I can stick my whole finger in one of them. He could use a nice new pair. Silco’s watch also stopped working and I know he’s annoyed about it; he’s always trying to be punctual and telling Vander to stop being late. Could you get him a new watch or even a pocket watch?
He smiled down at his letter, pleased with the contents so far.
I guess I should put down what I want. Sorry if this letter is wrong. I’ve never written one before, but Vi and Powder (they’re my new friends!) told me how to do this. Could I get a train set? Or maybe even one of those model airships? Maybe a new socket wrench or soldering iron? These are just ideas, you don’t have to get me them, but I would appreciate anything you gave me. I’ve never gotten presents before, so it’s okay if you can’t.
He paused, hovering the crayon above the paper where he was planning to sign his name. One last thought had come to his mind before he went to sign his name. hastily, before the others could see he quickly wrote down one more thing in his letter before signing his name and putting the letter in an envelope Felicia had brought. He addressed the letter to Santa and put down the Last Drop and his name again and handed it over to Felicia who was folding up Vi and Powder’s letter.
After he and the girls went to drop off the letters at a box near the girls’ house, Viktor heart felt like it was racing, and he was beaming with anticipation.
He couldn’t wait for Christmas.
Over the next couple of weeks before Christmas, Viktor had devised a plan to catch Santa after learning he had never been caught before.
“Think about it, we could be the first kids ever to catch Santa!” Viktor said one morning after Powder and Vi had come racing down the streets to play. Vi was instantly into Viktor’s plan, wanting to catch the elusive gift-giving entity and be able to brag about it to all the kids in the Lanes. Powder was equally as excited, but more so to get to ask Santa questions.
Viktor had even gone as far as to make blueprints for an elaborate trap to catch Santa Claus in the act at the Last Drop. It was nearly full-proof.
Until Silco and Vander caught them.
“You can’t catch Santa.” Silco said, after looking over at the blueprints. Truthfully, he was impressed by Viktor’s ingenuity, and also a little scared. This was a trap meant to capture and hold someone hostage.
“With this we can!” Viktor said proudly. Silco had no doubt they could, but only he knew that it would be Vander who they would catch instead of Santa Claus, and he doubted that Vander wanted to spend the night before Christmas hanging upside-down in a trap.
“Santa won’t come.” Silco said, handing back the blueprints. Powder gasped loudly and Viktor and Vi both looked scandalized. “It’s true. He won’t come if you’re even awake. He only comes in the night if you’re asleep.”
“But what if you have insomnia?” Viktor asked with a pout.
“He’ll wait until you pass out from sleep deprivation.” Silco answered easily.
“But if we’re asleep and this trap catches him then he would come.” Viktor argued.
“Santa will know there’s a trap. He’ll avoid this place until you take it down.” Replied Silco.
“But…”
“No buts children. I guarantee that if you set up a trap for him with the intent to catch him, he won’t come and then he won’t leave any presents.” Silco said gently, causing Viktor’s shoulders to slump. “This is all part of his job. Not being caught. You wouldn’t want him to get hurt or anything?”
“No.” Powder’s lower lip trembled, and Viktor felt guilty instantly for the idea.
“It is a lovely trap Viktor.” Silco said softly. “Perhaps we use this as security for break-ins instead of trying to capture poor Santa Claus.”
So Viktor’s plan to capture Santa were foiled.
Viktor almost forgot about Christmas, the morning of Christmas. Vander and Silco had been the ones to wake Viktor up instead of the other way around. He was blearily trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes from his warm bed, when both Vander and Silco opened the door to his room after knocking. The cold had been making him sleepier with his leg aching lately, so lying in his bed with big, fluffy blankets (so much warmer than anything he had ever owned) was like heaven for Viktor.
He yawned, noticing the hideous shirt Vander had on, while Silco wore a nicer button up vest that was gold and green. He heard the sounds of Powder and Vi happily screaming in the background and his eyes widened.
“Merry Christmas.” Vander and Silco said, chuckling lightly as Viktor scrambled out of bed and reached for his cane. The smiled to each other at the sight of Viktor’s newest pajamas that actually fit him, unlike the clothes he had patched up himself. He looked like a little boy for the first time since they had met Viktor, excitedly trying to get out of his room and towards the center of the bar where Vander and Silco had actually been able to put a tree. It had been hell of an expensive purchase at a farm in Piltover, but Silco was known to haggle for a somewhat decent price and the looks on Powder, Vi and Viktor’s faces were worth it when Vander came lugging in the tree.
Viktor greeted Vi and Powder happily, admiring their own pajamas and greeted Connel and Felicia with a happy wave. The adults all greeted one another, content to watch the kids scramble over towards the tree that had several presents under it. Vi and Powder were already looking and reaching for the ones with their names on them, with their mother reminding them to wait to open them.
Viktor shyly stood back, watching the two and stood for a fearful second that Santa had forgotten him once again.
“And this one’s for you Vik!” Vi said eagerly, grabbing a rather large wrapped gift and holding it towards Viktor. Viktor’s eyes widened in astonishment, unable to say or do anything for a moment. He felt a gentle nudge to his back, looking over his shoulder to see Vander gently pushing him in Vi’s direction.
Heart racing, he limped over to Vi and sat down next to her as she put the wrapped gift next to him. His fingers gently traced over the paper, pausing at a tag on it.
To Viktor, From Santa
“And another one!” Powder practically screeched and shoved a smaller box in Viktor’s face. He blinked, almost too stunned to take the package. He grabbed it as Powder dove back towards the tree and snatched up a present with her name on it.
Two presents.
“And this is for Vander, and oh look, another one for Viktor.” Felicia said after she handed Silco a small package. She then handed Viktor another package, and Viktor felt his eyes burning. The group of them continued to hand out gifts with more presents than Viktor had even asked for surrounding him. Vi and Powder had just as many and even all of the adults had one gift.
Then Vi and Powder started tearing into the paper of their gifts and unwrapping them while Viktor clutched a couple close to his chest. He watched as Felicia and Connel each opened their gifts with loving smiles to each other and Vander and Silco opened theirs.
To his surprise Vander had been given a brand-new pair of work boots, while Silco was admiring a gold watch.
He got them what I asked for!
“Viktor, are you going to open your gifts?” Vander asked softly when he noticed that Powder and Vi had made it through half their piles while Viktor was still sitting with his unopened pile. He and Silco were trying to not overwhelm the boy, but it seemed like he was minutes away from tears, which is the exact opposite of what Vander and Silco were trying to achieve today. He almost panicked at Viktor’s tiny sniffle.
Lukcily the girls were kept busy with their parents and new presents. Quietly Silco knelt down beside Viktor, helping to pull back the corner of one of the gifts in Viktor’s hands. Vander sat heavily next to the two, content to watch for now.
“Like this dear,” Silco said. “They’re yours, and you can open them all.” He gently pulled back the paper some more and Viktor finally released his death grip on some of the gifts. He set them down with careful hands, before aiding Silco in unwrapping the rest of the gift. Apparently, Viktor enjoyed the help opening his gift, because every time Silco stopped to let Viktor open it on his own, he too would stop and look at Silco with the most round and bright eyes he had ever seen on a kid.
If that didn’t warm his already cold heart, then Viktor’s little gasp of excitement did.
Viktor stared at the model airship sitting in its box in his hands. It was almost the exact one he had seen at a toy store one day, made out of parts just like his boat was. He quickly ripped open the box and pulled out the airship, turning it over in his hands several times. Powder even paused in her gift unwrapping to stare in awe at Viktor’s new toy, complimenting it. Viktor smiled at the girl showing it to her so she could have a better look.
“How about this one next?” Vander said with a grin, once Viktor finally set the airship down. He held out the larger wrapped gift and began to peel some paper back. Viktor was more eager this time to help and unwrapped the gift with Vander. His jaw nearly dropped at the old model train set. It definitely looked like it had seen better days, but Viktor was so excited about it, almost setting it up right then and there. However, he did open the rest of his gifts.
It wasn’t until he was practically asleep after playing with all his and the girls’ new toys and eating an incredible dinner made by Vander and Silco, that Viktor had realized he had almost gotten everything on his list and then some.
There was just one thing he didn’t get this year.
And please, if you could do this. Can you try to go down to the Fissures and give the kids presents there? I don’t think a lot of them know about you or Christmas. I know you’re supposed to write letters but most of them have no idea how to write or anything about Christmas, so could you please give some gifts to them? Thank you.
Sincerely,
Viktor
It was unfortunate that the following years when Viktor had turned fourteen, he had found out about the hoax that was Santa Claus. He’d accidentally caught Vander trying to hide presents in one of the closets and he and Silco were forced to come clean. Viktor was disappointed that there was no magical entity that brought gifts to every house in the world with kids all in one night, but he realized that made sense.
Silco explained that Santa was a long-standing tradition that parents had created to make the day more special and magical for their children. To give them something to look forward to on Christmas morning.
It touched Viktor and he vowed to keep the secret for Vi and Powder who still believed at nine and five. Which meant that year he helped Vander and Silco to wrap gifts, except for his, much to his frustration.
“You’re not getting a peep at your gifts early.” Vander had said with a wag of his finger.
However, this made a lot more sense to Viktor why he had never celebrated Christmas or heard of Santa Claus before. In reality, he figured his parents had been too poor to afford gifts and didn’t want to disappoint him by telling him about Christmas. It hurt his heart to think of if his parents struggled with their decision, knowing that both of them had worked long hours to keep food on their table and a roof over their heads.
It also made sense as to why most of the children in the Fissures knew nothing about Christmas. It was one of the poorest parts of the Undercity. Viktor doubted that many of them could afford gifts, let alone housing sometimes.
Which led him to his current thought process.
Viktor wanted to bring Christmas to those kids. He wanted to bring Santa to the Fissures. So, he recruited Vi and Powder’s help, while the parents were all busy and brought them down to the tower of the Fissures, telling them he wanted to help write letters for kids. It was a bit difficult to rally all of the kids together in one spot, many of them not understanding what Viktor was talking about. But thankfully, Vi and Powder were eager to explain Christmas and Santa Claus to all of them.
Viktor’s heart nearly broke at the excitement filling these kids’ faces.
He spent the entire day, writing out dozens and dozens of letters for every kid with a couple of toys they asked for. By the time Viktor was done, it was nearly dark, and he scrambled to get Vi and Powder home before they got in trouble from their parents. He had the pile of letters clutched in the satchel at his side. That night Viktor went to his room quickly after dinner, surprising Vander and Silco.
Then for weeks, Viktor worked in the solitude of his room, gathering whatever spare parts he could get from Benzo and earning as much gold pieces as he could from odd jobs around the city. Such as cleaning the town fountain, or cleaning out Babette’s closets, or fixing a food stall owner’s oven.
Viktor would go to his room after dinner and stay up unil the early hours in the morning before hiding away all of the toys he was building and fixing. Slowly the pile of toys grew larger and larger, until Viktor was forced to stuff them in a sack in his closet so Vander and Silco wouldn’t find them. Of course, he knew they probably wouldn’t mind and might even help but he had noticed how tired they were lately working at the bar and working through some plans of something with Felicia and the others. They didn’t tell Viktor what these plans were about, but Viktor knew they had to be for something big and important.
More than once Vi or Powder had almost found the sack of toys Viktor was working on and had found one or toy incomplete toys on Viktor’s desk. Luckily Viktor was quick to explain he was trying to use parts for a new invention he was working on.
By the time it was the day before Christmas, Viktor had completed every last toy in all the letters written by the children in the Fissures. He checked each of them thoroughly to make sure they worked before wrapping each one of them. All the while, unaware of Silco and Vander watching him from just outside his room.
His wrapping skills were nowhere near as good as Silco’s or even Vander, but he hoped it was good enough for the kids. Eventually he had a nearl overflowing sack of gifts that he needed to get down to the Fissures. Viktor waited until dark, when it was fairly late before quickly looking out his room to see if anyone was around.
Witht the coast clear he began to lug the bag out, dragging it across the floor with all of his strength. It was an entire ordeal getting the sack out of his room and up the stairs. More than once Viktor had to pause to catch his breath. He was debating how he was going to get this all the way down the Fissures.
Vander startled the hell out of him when he clasped him on the shoulder.
“Whatcha got there kiddo?” He asked and Viktor stammered quickly to come up with an excuse, trying to hide the toys poking out.
“Uh, just um, some trash! I was just gonna take the trash down the street!” Viktor said quickly. He watched as Vander’s expression softened and he nodded slowly. Then he opened the back door to reveal one of Viktor’s pully carts waiting there.
“Take this with you then. It’ll make it easier to carry that trash bag.” Vander said. Viktor breathed a sigh of relief, grinning up at Vander. He felt a little guilty for lying to Vander, but a tiny part of him was proud of himself for making Vander believe him. He heaved the bag onto the cart with a huff and grunt, while Vander stood back patiently and waited, arms crossed over his chest. Once Viktor finally got the sack into the cart, he wiped the sweat off his brow before turning to Vander with what he hoped was a convincing smile. He could see Silco watching the two of them from the stairs behind Vander.
“I’ll be back in a bit!” Viktor said eagerly.
“Alright, not too late.” Vander waved and Viktor walked off excitedly, with his cane tapping against the stone path every now and again. He had a lantern attached to the top of the cart to allow some light since it was so dark now, and he was constantly looking around him.
Viktor was no stranger to how dangerous the Undercity was, especially the Fissures. He was aware of how constant muggings and violent crimes were, especially when the sun went down. After all, he’d had several close encounters when he lived alone. He clutched the dagger that he had pulled from his boot tightly against his cane.
Except, luck was on Viktor’s side for once.
No one person bothered him, even though Viktor saw many people hiding in the shadows. In fact, most of them cowered away from him as he limped by with his cart of toys. He chalked it up to the dagger in his hand, and perhaps some Christmas spirit.
It gave Viktor an extra pep in his step as he made his way towards the Fissures.
Completely oblivious to the two terrifying figures following a few feet behind him.
When Viktor made it down to the Fissures, he paused and pulled out his list from his pocket and dug into the sack to pull out the first few gifts. He debated for several minutes about how he was supposed to get into the old homes or tents throughout to place the gifts down, ignoring someone walking by him.
Finally, he made his way over to the first house. It was a very small house, more like a shack and reminisce of Viktor’s first home. He paused, staring up at it, fondly recalling the moments he had spent with his mom and dad in their home, cold and tired but happy with one another and bellies as full as they could be.
With a hesitant knock, Viktor was surprised when a woman answered the door with a small smile. Her eyes widened and filled with tears when Viktor handed over a few presents and an explanation before she pulled Viktor into a crushing hug.
Viktor ignored the stinging behind his own eyes and swallowed past the lump in his throat before waving the woman off. He took a deep breath, shaking his trembling hands and moved onto the next home.
This pattern repeated with one or both parents opening the door as if expecting Viktor and graciously thanking him. Whether it was a house or a tent, Viktor was quiet and made sure that no kids were awake before giving the gifts to the grateful parents.
On the occasion he would find a home with no parents Viktor would sneakily drop off the gifts on the floor, careful to not waken any of the kids. For these he left his cane at the cart to make as little noise as possible.
Viktor hadn’t even realized how many hours had gone by or how late it was, until he felt only four more gifts left in the sack, meaning he was at the last home. It was another shack like house that had holes in it. Viktor quietly peaked in the window, only to freeze when he came face-to-face with a child.
A child that was awake and staring at Viktor.
The door swung open with a creak and Viktor’s heart was hammering in his chest as another child stared dubiously at Viktor.
“You’re not Santa Claus.” The kid, who looked no older than six pouted. “Where’s Santa? He’s supposed to come.” The other kid, barely older than this one came away from the window to join her brother. Viktor could see an adult was sleeping on a mattress on the floor by the fire in the house fast asleep.
Shit, shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen.
They weren’t supposed to be awake.
“Um.” Viktor said dryly, leg beginning to tremble with exhaustion from the night. It had been aching for a couple hours now, and Viktor was worried it wouldn’t be able to support his walk back home.
“Where’s Santa?” The girl asked with tears in her eyes. Viktor’s heart leapt in his throat.
Oh no. No please don’t cry.
Please don’t.
“Um, well, he, uh,” Viktor said nervously.
“Ho, ho, ho!” A voice boomed from behind Viktor and he almost dropped the presents in fear. He spun around, wincing as his leg twisted painfully to see none other than Vander behind him. However, Vander was dressed in a red suit? With a red hat. From behind Vander, Viktor could see Silco lingering in the shadows, holding what looked like a familiar coat and shirt.
“Hello children, it seems you’ve caught me.” Vander said voice filled with warmth, that made Viktor’s nerves melt. He could feel tears pricking in his eyes from relief and amazement. Vander winked at him before gently taking the gifts out of Viktor’s arms, allowing him to lean heavily on his cane. “You see, this young man has been my assistant tonight. He was keeping your presents safe while I finished up at the last house.”
The children’s eyes were glowing with joy and glee, so much that it made Viktor crack a smile of his own. The two squealed quietly, hugging one another tightly.
“Santa! You came! You actually came, he was right.” The boy said happily before pointing to Viktor. “He and two girls told us you would come.”
“Of course he was right.” Vander said joyfully, pulling Viktor into a gentle side hug. “Viktor here, is my best assistant. He was the one to make sure I was aware of you kids by personally delivering your letters to me.”
“Really?!” The girl whispered, eyes sparkling at Viktor, who nervously scratched his wrist. The girl squealed again before launching herself at Viktor and throwing her arms around his waist. Viktor stumbled, only keeping upright because Silco had come up behind him with a gentle hand on his back. The boy joined his sister in hugging Viktor, before both of them were hugging Vander tightly.
Viktor glanced up at Silco, catching the warm smile from the man before turning back to Vander as he knelt down to hug the kids tightly. A noise from inside the house caused Viktor to look in and he saw the adult on the mattress was awake now and coming towards them. He noticed it was a young man, with his left arm missing from below the elbow. He was watching Vander and the two kids with wide, emotional eyes. Vander handed the kids the presents who jumped up and down excitedly.
“Bubby, look! Look, Santa came! And Viktor, with presents!” The girl said excitedly, and the boy hugged his two presents close to his chest. The man stared at them with a wobbly smile and nodded to Vander, who was standing back up.
“Thank you sir. I couldn’t – I didn’t know how I could afford – I didn’t – Thank you.” He choked hoarsly. “I didn’t know if I could get my brother and sister anything this year. You don’t know what this means to us.”
“It’s nothing young man.” Vander said softly with a smile.
“Still, thank you.” The man whispered as the two kids ran back into their home. This time he looked directly at Viktor and nodded. Viktor blinked before awkwardly waving back and the man followed his siblings back into the home, shutting the door.
Viktor looked up at Vander and then Silco tiredly.
“This was a wonderful thing you did, little one.” Silco said softly, as the three began their trek back to the Last Drop. Viktor blushed deeply, ears burning and he shrugged.
“He’s right kiddo.” Vander said. He watched as Viktor’s leg trembled as they made their way slowly through the fissures before he knelt in front of Viktor. Viktor stared for a moment, glancing over at Silco who was merely smiling at him and nodded. Quietly, he climbed on Vander’s back, wrapping his arms tightly around Vander’s neck. Silco pulled the cane out of Viktor’s hand and placed it into the cart he pulled behind them.
Vander gently put his arms under Viktor’s leg, instantly relieving the pressure off his weak leg. Viktor sighed happily into the back of Vander’s shirt as Viktor adjusted him and began walking alongside Silco back towards the Last Drop.
Viktor could feel his eyes drooping as sleep slowly began to claim him, content and warm against Vander’s back with Silco’s soft conversation lulling him.
“Merry Christmas.” Viktor whispered sleepily.
“Mery Christmas little one.” Silco and Vander both said softly. The trio made their way, as the first flakes of snow began to fall from the sky, taking the quiet route back home.
To their home.
Viktor was a little bit stressed, only a little, he swore by it. Or at least that’s what he told everyone else. In reality, he was probably the most stress he had ever been and that was saying something, because Viktor would argue that his entire life was stressful, but saying that to other people might cause concern. Right now he was too stressed for concern.
This year was going to be Isha’s first Christmas and Viktor was stressed.
Technically, Isha was around for Christmas last year but she had barely been a month old, and truthfully Viktor and his family were dealing with her being there and Viktor’s return home, to do much celebrating.
But this year, Isha was a year old and Viktor wanted it to be perfect.
She was walking and moving around, forming cognitive thoughts and potentially memories, meaning this had to be a meaningful Christmas for his daughter. The eighteen-year-old was elbow deep in some old furnace repairs for a kind couple down the streets. This was his sixth job today of fixing things. Normally Viktor fixed things because he wanted to and enjoyed helping people, and while that was still true, he couldn’t help but also want the extra money that come from these jobs.
Even though he felt guilty taking any money from anyone, Viktor couldn’t help but think of Isha and her sweet, chubby little smile and the thought of no presents under the tree.
Of course, realistically, Viktor knew that Isha would have presents. There was no doubt that his fathers had hidden away more presents than he knew about for her. He also knew that Violet, Powder and Ekko had been doing small errand jobs for money to buy gifts, along with Mylo and Claggor.
Isha was so well loved in his family that it made Viktor want to cry every time he thought about it.
But he was her father.
Viktor felt like he had to get Isha presents. Just like how his own fathers had done for him over the years he lived with them. He never wanted Isha to feel undeserving or bad and he wanted to spoil her with all of the toys and gifts he could find.
So Viktor had been doubling his workload to try and earn money for spare parts and toys. Which unfortunately, meant he didn’t have as much time to build toys for the children in the Fissures.
That had been a horrid decision for Viktor to make. For the last four years, Viktor had been building and fixing toys and bringing them on the night before Christmas to all the homes in the Fissures with Vander and Silco. Vi had also come to the age where she learned about the truth of Santa and what her brother and adopted fathers had been doing every year. Mylo and Claggor had both never believed in the old tales of Santa, which only left little Powder (and now Isha) to believe in that magic.
Vi, of course, threatened bodily harm to both Mylo and Claggor when she caught Mylo nearly trying to tell Powder that Santa wasn’t real. He’d also earned a punishment of washing dishes for two days from Silco.
Granted, Isha wasn’t old enough to fully comprehend exactly who Santa was or what it meant, despite Powder often taking her in her arms around the bar to explain. Isha was just happy to be in her aunt’s arms even if she was practically dangling from Powder’s arms as the seven-year-old kept a protective grip on her.
“That should do it sir.” Viktor said with a huff, wiping the sweat off his face and smearing some oil on his cheek. He leaned back and closed the door to the furnace, giving it a quick hit and slowly rumbling could be heard and the room temperature began to rise. The elderly couple behind him cheered quietly with the man taking Viktor’s hand and shaking it.
“Oh thank you, my boy. We were worried that we might have to freeze this winter.” The old man said quietly with a small cough. Beside him, his wife smiled and patted Viktor’s think cheeks.
“It’s no worries at all. And if it ever goes out again you just find me or Vander or Silco. We’ll get it fixed right up.” Viktor said with a wave of his hand as he gathered his tools in his bag, before slinging it around his shoulder.
“Bless your heart young man.” The woman whispered, as she handed over a couple gold coins to Viktor. He hesitantly took it from her, especially after she practically forced his hand open to drop them in.
“Thank you both. Merry Christmas.” Viktor said, walking out their door and onto the freezing streets. He winced at the headache that was beginning to form behind his eyes.
This winter had been more brutal than others, with snow coming earlier than previous years and temperatures dropping lower and lower. Viktor’s leg was constantly aching for the past few weeks, with the biting cold bothering his muscles. Even his chest had grown tight with a small cough starting to form.
Viktor huddled into the jacket that he’d gotten from Vander a few months ago and wrapped the scarf tighter around his neck, as he made his way back to the Last Drop. It was getting late and with only two days left until Christmas, Viktor knew he needed to be quick at his last stop.
He stopped by a toy shop just as the woman inside was turning her sign from Open to Close and Viktor’s heart sunk. He stood just outside the shop, in despair until the woman looked up and noticed him. Before Viktor could slunk away she quickly opened the door and ushered him inside.
“Viktor, sweetie! Come in, come in. Oh you must be so cold.” The woman gently swatted the snow off Viktor’s coat, despite being six inches shorter than him. He smiled, trying to get some feeling back into his face.
The shopkeeper, Leonna, was a kind woman in her mid-twenties. She had two children of her own, both of whom had been recipients of toys from Viktor when they had lived in the Fissures during Viktor’s first trip back down there four years ago. She’d found Viktor a few days later to profusely thank him for getting her young children toys. During that conversation Viktor learned she had wanted to be a toymaker and would show Viktor some of her old creations and wooden carvings. He’d gone to Silco, inquiring about the old toy shop that was thought to be closing due to the previous owner dying and together with the help of Vander, they had gotten Leonna settled into the toy shop. She worked hard for an entire year and then the toyshop had become one of the busiest shops in the Undercity. She had made more than enough to get her and her family out of the Fissures, and get her disabled wife to finally leave the mines where she had been working double shifts to keep food on the table.
“Hi ma’am.” Viktor said through clattered teeth.
“Oh shush, don’t you ma’am me or I’ll get Sheila to come out her and run over your toes with her wheelchair.” Leonna smacked Viktor’s arm playfully. Viktor chuckled at the mention of Leonna’s wife. She must be in the back finishing painting toys with their now pre-teen children.
“I’m sorry if you’re closed, you don’t have to stay open.” Viktor said once he finally felt warm again. “I was just trying to get some last minute gifts for Isha.”
“Oh, that is so sweet of you to get your baby sister presents.” Leonna gushed, causing Viktor to smile. It was a lie that Vander and Silco had crafted to make Isha seem like another stray kid the two of them had taken in, instead of being Viktor’s daughter. It wasn’t from shame or embarrassment from Viktor, he had insisted on this lie, but rather for her own safety.
Vander and Silco’s kids were well known in the Undercity and therefore had targets on their backs, Viktor especially as he was becoming more and more known as the Undercity’s Innovator. He was terrified Isha would have an even larger target on her back, especially considering the state of his body and looks. There was even an entire night only a few months after bringing Isha home that Viktor had locked him and her in his room, terrified someone would try to take her. Vander had been the one to come up with the lie, promising to keep her safe when he and Silco finally got into Viktor’s room.
Leonna paraded around her shop with Viktor showing off many of the toys for the younger kids, with Viktor carefully picking out each one. He enjoyed listening to Leonna’s stories as she spoke about her own kids and asked about Viktor’s fathers and siblings.
Finally, after a short while, Viktor left the shop with a heavy back, full of toys for Isha and his siblings, with even a few toddler sets of clothes that Leonna insisted Viktor take. Viktor’s chest rattled painfully with several coughs as he limped back towards the bar. He couldn’t help but shiver at the near subzero temperatures and wearily smiled at seeing the sign for his home.
A warm bed and fire would be amazing right now.
As soon as Viktor entered the bar, he caught Vander’s eye from across the bar who nodded and slung a towel over his shoulder. Viktor waved back and made his way towards the back to hide the bag of gifts he’d finally acquired. Vi was worse at snooping now that she knew it was the adults who bought all the presents, than even Viktor was when he found out. Meaning that Silco had to change up his usual hiding spots and get creative.
Thank God, Leonna was a fast and beautiful gift wrapper and had insisted on wrapping all of Viktor’s gifts. Despite his protests, he was thankful now that he didn’t have to stay up late wrapping gifts. He’d stuffed extra gold coins into her hands when he left, and limped as fast as he could, hearing her curse and shout at him, with a laugh.
After hiding the kid, Viktor removed his coat and unwound his scarf, before plopping onto the couch in the basement with an exhausted huff. He’d only closed his eyes for a couple minutes before he felt the tiny pats of a little hand against his cheek.
Immediately, Viktor opened his eyes with a tired grin to see matching gold eyes looking excitedly at him. “My little butterfly, have you been behaving today or becoming a menace?” He said happily, smothering Isha’s little face with a dozen kisses. The toddler squealed happily and slapped Viktor’s face in excitement. Behind her, Viktor noticed Silco sitting on the other chair, watching the two with a fond smile.
“My apologies, but the moment she saw you, she demanded I bring you over.” Silco said, not sounding apologetic at all. Viktor couldn’t blame him. Despite not speaking, Isha was already a demanding little girl and had every single one of them wrapped around her finger. He gave her one last kiss before settling her against his chest and neck, to which the girl was very happy to snuggle into. She occupied herself by playing with the loose thread on Viktor’s shirt.
“She’s otherwise been an angel.” Silco said, leaning over to grab his mug and take a sip. Viktor glanced over to see a steaming cup of tea was on the table beside him and he gratefully nodded to his father. “I only wish your sisters had been this sweet when they were this age.”
“What? Powder and Vi not being angels?” Viktor said mockingly. Though, he pushed for Silco to continue. He always enjoyed hearing stories of when they were younger, since Viktor hadn’t met either of them until they were seven and three.
“Well, you remember Powder when you first met her. A rambunctious ball of energy.” Silco said with a nod and Viktor smiled softly. “Just image that by with eleven times more energy. And as for little Violet, she was sweet, until you did something she didn’t like and then it was like all hell broke loose. I swear, I thought poor Felicia and Connel were going to go grey before Powder’s second birthday.”
“Do you remember Felicia?” Viktor said with an eyebrow raised. “I’m pretty sure I remember she encourage both of their strange antic’s half the time. You remember that time she agreed with the girls about spray-painting that stupid Chem-Baron’s house with awful grafitti?” Silco laughed warmly, a sound that Viktor adored to hear even after all these years. He knew that Felicia was still a difficult topic for Vander and Silco, along with Vi and Powder, but over the years they had begun to speak more and more freely of the kind woman and her husband.
Not allowing their memories to be forgotten.
“I seem to remember you were the one who created the paint they used that was pretty unremovable.” Silco said slyly. Viktor grinned, watching as Isha yawned and curled tighter into him. “I still don’t believe his associates removed all of it to this day.” Viktor laughed again, though this time the laugh shook his chest, causing a wet and rattling cough to escape. He coughed again and again, feeling Isha stir before she was gently pulled out of his arms.
He almost couldn’t catch his breath now that the coughing had started up and Viktor spent the next few minutes coughing. His lungs burned from the lack of air and pain of coughing, until finally he stopped with an aching chest. Silco was sitting with Isha on his lap, a look of concern on his face. Viktor looked up through watery eyes to see Powder and Vi were peaking behind a door and he immediately felt guilty.
“Sorry. It’s just the cold.” Viktor whispered hoarsely. Silco frowned, reaching out and brushing back Viktor’s bangs to press his hand against Viktor’s forehead. Viktor almost flinched at the coldness, but Silco pulled away after a moment.
“Perhaps you should head to bed early. Sleep off the cold winter air.” Silco said, causing Viktor to sigh in relief. He was not getting sick. He couldn’t be. Not so close to Isha’s first Christmas.
“After we put Isha to bed.” Viktor insisted, ignoring Silco’s concerned look. He did allow Silco to keep holding his daughter, not trusting himself right now as small trembles wracked his body. After tucking Isha in and telling her goodnight, with a story from Silco, Viktor trudged to her own bed, barely managing to put on his pajamas before falling fast asleep.
He’d feel better in the morning.
He did not feel better in the morning. In fact, Viktor felt worse. Almost delirious when Vi came to wake him up for breakfast. He had a hard time orienting himself in his own bed and the throbbing headache was back. His leg felt entirely numb but also burning at the same time. His chest felt like an oliphant was sitting on it and he couldn’t stop coughing every few minutes.
It took Vi speaking to him five times before he realized she was talking to him. And oh, how he hated the scared look on her face that she was trying to hide. He wanted to comfort her and tell her that everything was alright. But his body felt too tired. He felt himself drifting off again when Vi ran out of the room, yelling something Viktor couldn’t understand.
He drifted in and out of consciousness after that, hearing all kinds of different voice.
“…worried Vander, look at him…”
“…doctor is out of town, should we try…”
“…be okay? Please don’t…”
“…looks awful…”
“…pneumonia?”
Viktor couldn’t’ recall much of what happened. He had bouts of moments of clarity that he felt a little more lucid. Enough to recognize faces and sometimes voices. He saw Silco and Vander the most, always hovering over him when he could finally open his eyes. Sometimes he saw blue hair and Powder, other times it was Vi with her short pink hair. On occasion he swore he saw Claggor’s goggles and Mylo’s spiky hair.
But each time Viktor would fall back into blissful unconsciousness, where he didn’t feel like he was on death’s door.
When Viktor could finally stay awake for longer than a minute, he had been told by Silco that he’d been fighting pneumonia for six days.
Six days.
Six days?!
Christmas was four days ago then!
Viktor’s face crumpled and his body burned with shame at the fact that he had missed Christmas. Isha’s first Christmas and he was too sick to even leave his bed. Through hot tears, Viktor apologized with a heavy tongue to Vander and Silco who were both sitting on his bed.
“Oh darling, do not apologize.” Silco shushed him gently, as Vander rubbed his shoulder. “No one is angry or upset. We are just relieved you are okay. We were terrified for a minute there.”
“I’m sorry.” Viktor felt like such a failure and burden. Worst of all, he felt like an awful father.
“Please don’t son.” Vander said softly. “We just want you healthy and okay. No one cares. Isha would rather have you alive for more Christamas’ to come.”
Still Viktor felt horrible and even with his fathers reassurances, he had cried himself to sleep that night.
The next day, with help from Vander, Viktor was able to get out of bed and deposited on a couch that had been put into the bar near the fireplace and tree. This year the tree was the largest it had ever been, thanks to support from many people in the Lanes. Many had come to love the decoration for Christmas and helped to pitch in for a larger tree to be seen by many.
Viktor tried to wipe off the pout on his face when Vander deposited him onto the couch, making sure to keep him entirely wrapped in several blankets. He looked over at the beautiful tree and was dumbfounded to see tons of presents still under it, wrapped and untouched.
Viktor blinked slowly.
The rest of his family ran into the room, jumping onto the couch with Viktor or dragging chairs across the bar, ignoring Silco’s warnings to be careful with Viktor. Viktor turned to Powder who was eagerly hugging him, along with Vi. Mylo and Claggor hugged him tightly once the girls finally let go.
“What is all this?” Viktor asked, gesturing to all the untouched presents.
“We waited for you to open them!” Powder explained, flopping onto her back. By now Benzo had arrived, greeting Vander eagerly while Ekko ran straight for the kids. He paused and jumped onto the couch to shove Mylo away and give Viktor a hug, to which he happily accepted.
“Merry Christmas Viktor!” Ekko beamed. “Vander told Benzo and I you were doing better so we came over!”
“Hello Ekko.” Viktor greatly warmly, before frowing at Powder. “What do you mean you waited? Why on Earth didn’t you open your presents without me?”
“We couldn’t do that!” Vi said, face full of offense, as if Viktor told her the dumbest joke ever. “It’s not Christmas without all of us.”
“I promise Vander and I had nothing to do with it.” Silco said, taking a seat on the other end of the couch once Claggor hopped off. “The kids insisted we couldn’t open up any gifts until you could join us.”
“Yeah,” Vander said with a chuckle, before plopping a wiggling Isha into Viktor’s lap. He took a seat on the floor by the fireplace, where Vi crawled onto his lap with Powder. Isha greeted Viktor with a happy slap and raspberry kisses to his cheek. To which, Viktor returned the sentiment. His heart filled with warmth and disbelief by his family surrounding him. Benzo settled into an armchair beside Vander and the girls while the boys ran to the tree to begin distributing presents.
Viktor leaned back against the couch, smiling brightly as piles of presents formed, the largest being Isha’s right next to her and him. He couldn’t believe his heart could get any happier, surrounded by his family, even with the chill outside.
He was, however, pleasantly surprised to see a pile of gifts forming on the other side of him, with his own name on it.
“What?” Vander laughed happily, already assisting Powder in tearing open one of her gifts. “You didn’t think Santa would forget about you just because you’re eighteen, did you?”
Viktor’s eyes burned but the smile on his face wouldn’t faulter. He turned down to Isha who was curiously trying to pull at the paper on one of her gifts. He gently shifted her on his lap and assisted her.
It might not have gone the way Viktor had hoped, but in the end it was just like every other, surrounded with love and family.
Merry Christmas.