"So, you remember that weird, tentacle Grimm we saw the other day?" Mercury leaned over in his chair and whispered in Emerald's ear as he watched a little tornado of neopolitan colored vixen flit back and forth across the kitchen.

"We-" Emerald sneered through gritted teeth. "Agreed that we never, EVER talk about that."

"Yeah… Right. Well, she scares me more." Neo spun like a ballerina as she set her pot down on the burner.

There was a pause as the two sat in their plastic chairs. A few moments earlier, Neo had skipped up to the two, smiling, parasol balanced over one shoulder, then grabbed their hands and hauled them to the kitchen.

"She hasn't said a word since Torchwick died." Mercury mumbled, squeezing his knees between his hands. Emerald stared. He cocked his head to her at the silence. "What?"

"... You cannot be serious." Emerald folded her arms.

"What do you mean? She hasn't said anything since she got back from Beacon. That was like - what - eight? Nine? - months ago?"

"Yeah? And when's the last time she said something before that?"

"When she..."

"..."

"Wait, but then that means that she's-"

"Yeah."

"...That actually makes a lot of sense."

"You're an idiot."

"You're a bully." Mercury crossed his arms and blew his bangs out of his eyelashes. "What's she making anyways?" Mercury nodded his head at Neo, now chopping up onions.

"I don't know. It looks like she's making pasta from scratch."

"Wha- But she doesn't have any flour out!"

"Why would she need it?!"

"Well I don't see any noodles yet! How's she supposed to make pasta without flour?"

"That's not making pasta from scratch that's making… Oh."

"Yeah. Pasta. From scratch."

"... I meant the sauce. Obviously."

"Ambiguously."

Emerald glared at him. Mercury smirked and leaned forward.

"That was fun Emmy, but it's dinner time," He stood up. "And I could-" Mercury paused as he found Neo's needle thin blade pressing gently into his chest, just in front of his heart. "Sit. I could sit. Right here and wait for you to prepare this lovely meal of pasta and fresh sauce; which, thank you for that by the way." He gave Neo a sheepish smile as he sat back down, hands raised in surrender. She smiled, twirled around and sauntered back to the kitchen.

"Okay, so we're not allowed to leave." Mercury was hesitant.

"Apparently not."

"Why… Not? Do you think?"

"I… Maybe she really likes cooking?"

"You… Don't think this is like the xylophone again, do you?"

Emerald shuddered at the thought, recalling the hours the little devil had made her and Mercury sit in front of her banging away on the dinky instrument in a poor rendition of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.

"I hope not." She whispered in fear.

Neo paused between the sink and the stove and looked at her. Emerald froze, afraid she had angered the petite woman. But Neo giggled, shook her head, and continued on her merry way.

"... So I guess not then." Mercury sounded as lost as Emerald felt.

A little while went by as Neo spun to and fro, mixing ingredients together. When the water began to boil, Neo grinned and skipped up to Emerald, grabbed her by the wrists and dragged her over to the counter. "Hey!" Emerald yelped and looked at Mercury frantically for help. He would offer none as Neo positioned her hands over a cutting board. She put a couple peppers down and pointed at them, then pointed at Emerald, and mimed a slicing motion. Mechanically, almost like a zombie, Emerald picked up a knife and started slicing peppers.

Next, Neo bounded over to Mercury, and twirled him towards the counter beside Emerald in front of a baking sheet.

"What?" He complained, but she jabbed him sharply in the side and he shut up. She skipped across the room to the fridge and tossed it open, retrieving a deep metal bowl. When she placed it in front of Mercury, he saw a bunch ground meat in it. Neo tapped his shoulder until he looked at her. She maimed grabbing a fistful of meat and mashing it back down, over and over, kneading it. Then she mimicked picking some up and rolling it into a ball by circling it between her palms, and finally placing it onto the metal sheet.

Mercury raised an eyebrow at her.

"This is ridiculous." He sighed and pushed past Neo, heading for the closed kitchen door.

Something thumped against the floor and Mercury turned to see Neo standing, staring, with her fists clenched and boot stomped firmly. She was practically trembling. He rolled his eyes and turned around, reaching for the door handle, but it was already open. He frowned for a moment, then shrugged and walked forward.

And smacked into a slab of hard oak as glass shattered and tinkled to the ground around him.

"SONOFA-" Mercury roared as he doubled over, clutching his forehead. He glared at Neo, but his gaze softened from rage to confusion at the sight of her. She didn't look angry, but she was still trembling, hugging herself. There was a tear dripping down the side of her face, and others trembling under her soft, pink irises, ready to spill.

"Mercury…" Emerald practically whispered. Mercury followed her gaze over his shoulder to the door he had thought was open. On it there was a calender with a red marker circling the 25th with a smiley face drawn in it. But that's not what was shocking.

It was one of those cheap calendars that people get from a company that takes a bunch of pictures they send in and turns them into the backgrounds for the months. Except there were no aunts or cousins or sisters in this one, no parents, just two people.

Neo and Roman.

And December's background was a collage of pictures, each with the duo smiling into a camera over a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs. It went back years, to the point that the earliest picture was of when Neo looked like a teenager and Roman was in a dirty leather jacket. He wouldn't have been caught dead in one of those by the end.

"It's probably all she has left of him." Emerald said quietly, and Mercury turned back to Neo. She looked down at the floor and bent her knee nervously.

"I never got to celebrate Christmas." Mercury murmured, half to himself.

"I just never had a family." Emerald added sadly.

The two looked at each other and smiled.

"I can't say I'd mind a little celebration." Emerald proclaimed with a grin.

Neo turned to Mercury.

"It doesn't sound like the worst thing." He admitted reluctantly. Neo jumped and wrapped her arms around his neck.

So Emerald went to chopping peppers, and, despite resentful looks of disgust at the general idea of the thing, Mercury began to knead the meat into a pasty blob. He ripped chunks off, rolled them into balls and placed them on the baking sheet. No one said anything, but every once in awhile, they would turn around and catch one another's eye, and they'd share a smile. It was quiet and peaceful. It was content.

The three took turns washing their hands as the pasta boiled and the meatballs cooked, then looked at what they had made side by side, their shoulders brushing.

A few minutes later the table was set, the plates served, and the trio sat. Mercury looked down to his spaghetti and meatballs, still steaming slightly.

"Bon appetit!" Emerald said almost happily. Which was strange. She raised the glass of wine she had poured, and Neo and Mercury raised theirs. Mercury took a sip to hide his smile, but it stayed on his face as the cool burn of the alcohol slid down his throat. Emerald raised an eyebrow at him, and he chuckled.

"Hey! I'm happy." He said with a goofy grin.

Looking at Mercury and Neo, Emerald smiled. "Same."

Mercury set his glass down and picked up his fork. He stabbed the meatball in front of him and took a bite of it, savouring the taste. He wasn't sure how Neo had prepared it, but it was delicious. He frowned as he felt something in it. Grimacing he reached his fingers up and withdrew the foreign object. It was a dark, slim, medium length of hair. Mercury curled his nose at it and swallowed.

"Hey Em," He called, then swallowed before picking up another meatball and biting half of it off and chewing.

"Yeah?" Mercury swallowed.

"You got a hair in my meatball. That's disgusting." He scrunched his face up.

Emerald rolled her eyes and pointed at Neo. Neo shook her head and pulled her ponytail in front of her, running her other hand down its length.

"Yeah, Neo's hair is too long." Mercury nodded in agreement.

"Well then it's probably yours."

"No," Mercury shook his head. "Mine's too short. Oh, and silver. J'accuse!" He jabbed a finger at Emerald.

"Yeah? Well guess what?" Emerald whispered, leaning forward. Mercury cocked an eyebrow. "Mine's GREEN you idiot!"

She huffed and settled back in her chair, crossing her arms and glaring at him.

There was a moment of tense silence, and Neo grew more and more distressed. Then, she jumped up in her seat and tapped the table repeatedly.

"What?" Mercury asked.

Neo held up a finger and then walked around the table into the kitchen. Mercury looked at Emerald for a moment before turning back as a cupboard opened and then slammed shut. Neo trotted out with a bundle of red fabric and plopped down in her seat, tossing it onto the table. With a jolt, Mercury realized it was a red cape and hood.

"Is that…" He looked up sharply.

"Did you capture that Rose girl?" Emerald said excitedly. Neo nodded with equal enthusiasm. "That's great! We need to tell Cinder right-"

"Where is she?!" Mercury chipped in excitedly.

Neo smiled and leaned forward, reaching for Mercury's fork, still suspending half a meatball. She plucked it off and looked Mercury in the eye, licking her lips. Then she plopped the meatball in her mouth, chewed, and smiled.

Wide-eyed, Mercury looked at her. Then at Emerald. Then at the medium length dark hair in his fingers. Then at the red cloth on the table. Then at Neo chewing again.

"Oh, no…" He whispered, aghast.

And then he was violently ill.

a/n

This was a weird idea. Neo still terrifies me.

cheers,

unjax