Dark Infinity Act III-A: Christmas Special

This page is rated M for Harsh Profanity, Light Depressive Themes, and Substance Usage.

This article is non-canon to Dark Infinity, but will be left up to preserve history.

William would return Sophia's beloved hairpin after he felt remorse, his face full of guilty shame. Sophia would be angry at this, snatching back her hairpin. She'd cry from how much it felt like she'd never get her dog back, before asking William why he did this.

She'd ask him what was the reasoning in taking her hairpin, "Why, William, did you take my hairpin? You knew I can't live without the memory of my sweet Svetlana, and you took her from me. Tell me. I just want to know." before she'd give William the saddest expression he'd ever seen, breaking him.

He'd be honest, "I was jealous of you and I wanted to feel you were at my level. I took your hairpin and made you feel the misery I was feeling, but it didn't solve what was making me jealous. I took out the hate I had against the world for its shunning and rejection of me on you, and I feel terrible." which would make Sophia's just anger turn into sympathy for William as she has felt the same.

She'd offer to invite him to her house, "You feel rejected and shunned? Let me help you feel like you belong. How about you come over to my house for Christmas? My aunt's been begging to see you again. And just to make you feel better, come here, let me give you a hug." before hugging William.

Sophia would be impressed by his honesty and his vulnerability, thinking, "Wow, such a softie, and I like that. There's nothing like a guy whose heart is made of pillowy marshmallows. Hm, kinda reminds me of my dad. Apathetic on the surface but soft and emotional when you take the time to dig deep." while she hugged him.

A smile would widen on William's face, feeling like someone cared for once in his life. That hug would stick with him, feeling the hole in him be filled. Expectantly, he'd wait.

Before he knew it, the week would disappear before his eyes, waking up to see that beautiful 25 on his calendar. He goes and gleefully makes his breakfast, noticing it was barely 9 in the morning, happy he was early. He'd then happily eat up his absolutely loaded breakfast, first munching down on the fries, then the eggs, following up with the bacon, and then finishing off with a cup of water. How delicious it was, filling his belly.

His mother would ask him in a pleasant tone, "William, are you ready to go? You seem properly dressed and just ate breakfast. Here, have your medicine for the day. Don't forget to take them at 12 PM and 4 PM, okay? I'll be there to pick you up at 7 as I want to celebrate Christmas with my friends too, you know?" before handing William the medicines he needed to take.

They'd get in the car and head off to Sophia's house, which was barely a 5-minute drive, with his earbuds, phone, and meds in tow. William would leave the car to witness another culture entirely as he saw his mother drive off to have a good time with her friends in a quite large house, like a house reminiscent of a baby mansion. He'd enter to be greeted by a quite surprised Gabriel, which was quite formal in his very royal and fanciful way of speaking.

Gabriel would introduce himself in a quite formal way, "Hi, Mr. Lugo-Cavalero, I am Gabriel OR Mr. Matteo, depending on how you would like to refer to me as. I'd much rather prefer Gabriel, but Mr. Matteo is fine. Before I forget, I need to introduce my dear wife, and yes, I'm Sophia's father. IRENE, I NEED YOU! THE GUEST JUST GOT HERE!" which Irene, Sophia's mother would come over and introduce herself.

Irene would introduce herself in a very vulgar way, "Well, shit, guess we've got Mister-Fucking-Handsome over here. Hello, I'm Irene, Sophia's mother. You must be William. I remember you when you were a hyperactive kid bouncing off the fuckin' walls, but damn, I'd never know that hyperactive kid would be a quite handsome young man. Sophia chose herself a nice guy to bring over, you're quite calm and quiet, which I like. Sophia should be coming over soon. Here, have a slice of the donauwelle I made." which William was okay with, he was quite vulgar himself.

William would respond with a aloof, "Thank you, I guess. It was nice meeting you both."

William would be in the quite large living room. He'd be playing games on his phone to pass the time while the preparations for the Christmas dinner would be made, which he'd be excited for. Sophia would then come out of her room with the biggest smile on her face and then would talk to William, with a nice dress on her and her eyes glowing out of happiness.

Sophia would begin a conversation to a shy William, "Hi, William. It's quite nice here, yes? Did my parents come off to you as nice? Do you like my dress?" waiting for William's response.

William would notice the very nice dress on Sophia and comment on it to start his response, "Hey, Sophia, you have a very pretty dress. It's like the kind of dress I saw when I went to a relative's quinceanera. It's also quite nice here, very roomy, and your parents seemed quite nice, albeit with conflicting formality. Why is your father so formal compared to your mother, by the way? It's strange to me." which William would be curious about the conflicting natures of her parents.

Sophia would explain why her parents had opposite natures, "My mother grew up in a very strict Orthodox Jewish household as her family were descendants from Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. This strictness would harbor rebelliousness, swearing to spite her family. She's abandoned the menorah and took up the crucifix since then. My father grew up in a family where punctuality and formalness were expected. Because he was autistic, he got in..." before William interrupted.

William would be shocked that Gabriel was autistic, "Wait, he's autistic, like me? He didn't seem like it. I'm sorry, continue." before allowing Sophia to continue.

Sophia would continue, "Ahem, because he was autistic, he got into the habit of being formal and punctual. Lateness is a rarity, he always finds a way to get to work early. Both those traits comes from his mother, my dear grandmother, who was a rich, impatient engineer that expected her children to be punctual and formal because that's how she succeeded in life. Also, I could tell you were when we first met from that time you returned my hairpin. Thank you for not taking from me. That's my only link to my sweet Svetlana. Svetlana, come here, puppy girl!" before a husky would walk up to her.

Svetlana would sniff William and quietly howl at him before she rolled over and let William pet her. William is a big dog lover and would love to pet a big, fluffy husky.

William would talk to Svetlana like he would his own husky while rubbing her belly, "Who's a good girl? That's you, Svetlana, that's you!" Sophia blushing at how soft he is to her husky.

Svetlana would take the belly rubs and the back scratches for a while. She'd then just relax while William was on his phone, Sophia secretly setting up the mistletoe as she meant what she said when she was "joking" about the mistletoe. She's even put on lipstick for when the right moment comes. William is deprived of any real human affection and so his heart is turned to stone, not thinking he does. Sophia was quite having that interest in him, however, his days of not receiving any affection will end today.

Some visitors would come over. Sophia's aunts and uncles, Sophia's grandmother, and Sophia's young nephews, some as young as 3. William would see the once empty living room fill up, and he'd look for somewhere to retreat. Gabriel would ask the visitors to move into the dining table, with the dining room like a king's. William and Sophia would be sat together as the diligent and equally formal brothers of Gabriel would serve these 40 hungry visitors with both German and Puerto Rican food, like an amalgamation of cultures never seen before.

These visitors would question who was the mysterious visitor, he didn't look so familiar. Sophia would introduce William to these visitors, speaking German for Irene's side of the family and Spanish for Gabriel's side. They'd comment that he looked quite white, could he be of American descent?

Gabriel's nephew, a 10-year-old whose first language is Spanish and was a pure-blooded, tan-skinned Puerto Rican would ask a quite insensitive question, "¿El es un gringo, Sophia? No se parece a nadie aquí que sea Boricua o alemán." (Is he an American, Sophia? He doesn't look like anyone here that's Puerto Rican or German.) which was quite uncalled for, but the boy didn't know better.

Gabriel's brother would condemn what his son said, "¡Callate, o cunado llegamos ala casa, te doy como pandareta, jodio sinvergüenza! ¿Tu no sabes como respetar la persona nueva?" (Shut up, or I'll hit you like a pandareta when we get back home, fucking rascal! Do you not know how to respect the new person?) which would shut up the kid, and then the table would continue eating, with the boy giving a sad face while eating.

William would be quite offended, and explained in Spanish he was Puerto Rican. The table would erupt in amazement as no way a white guy could be of such descent, that is forbidden! But William's fluent Spanish would surprise those not believing such a claim, some still not so sure. Sophia's aunt would advise the table to take his word, she was his caretaker and knew for sure he was Puerto Rican.

As the table would eat, Sophia and William would have their fill, and then the moment of truth. She'd lead him to the mistletoe near the entrance on the West Wing of the dining table. She'd smile as they were going there, knowing full well what she wanted from him.

Sophia would comment to William about the mistletoe, "Look above, William, the mistletoe. You up for a moment?" which William would basically head-bang from how hard he was nodding. Sophia would slightly chuckle at this, still remembering the joy and excitement she was put through by his act of returning her hairpin, her infatuation with him being fuel for her doing this.

In the final moment of truth, Sophia and William would embrace. Their lips would come closer and closer until they touched, in which a hole in William's heart would be filled. They'd embrace for a solid 2 minutes before they noticed it wasn't just them that were aware. The entirety of the table would be stupefied as Sophia would pull away from William's lips, leaving a visible mark of white on them. She'd blush and smile while William would become flustered from how many people were looking.

They'd all begin to cheer for them, even Sophia's parents. They'd joke about and congratulate their kiss, as they saw the buds bloom for William and Sophia. Sophia would tell William they should meet again, with the feeling he'd be good enough for her in her head after their kiss.

William's mother would arrive to meet the extended family of Sophia, drinking a little shot glass of coquito spiked with rum, and then she'd notice that a lipstick mark would be on his lips that clearly came from Sophia, angering her. Gabriel would sense this, coming over to explain it was quite a sweet sight what happened, which calmed William's mother to know her parents were fine with this. She was quite surprised at how congratulatory and happy the entire table was for William, which then she left in the car with William. His mother would be kind of proud of William.

William's mother would ask what made him have a change of heart, "You used to hate her, mi Hijo. What kind of miracle made you change your mind about this and even embrace her? Did God come to heal your heart as he did with my younger brother after having children?" which William was unsure.

He'd respond with a confused tone, "I don't know. Could've been me confronting my jealousy of her or God deciding to come and give me faith once more. I couldn't tell you what happened, but I know that I'd like to meet Sophia again. She... made my heart... feel... feel..." which his mother only could smile at her son feeling something in his heart.

He'd go to sleep feeling whole. His dreams would be of restoration and forgiveness rather than the nightmares caused by jealousy and self-hate. This one action would make him feel like someone cared. She felt the same too. This shared sentiment of them both caring for each other would solidify their relationship, rather than just a casual fling or a moment of passion.

But now he just went to bed, she went to bed, everyone would go to bed. While they slept in different house, the closeness was still the same.

William would then wake up to the same routine the next day, but his phone would have a text message that would break this routine...

The text would read, "The park is covered in snow! Do you wanna come along with my parents to see?" and William would respond accordingly.

"Yes, I'd like to go. Let me eat my breakfast and I'll be there soon."

And so they went to see the snow in the park.

'The Christmas Special is over now, but not the story. Watch out for Act I and Act II, alongside the rest of Act III. Happy Christmas!'