Eyes of the Beholder [Noctis Lucis Caelum Short Story]

A Christmas Special

[Holy Night]

Laying in bed watching a drama on your laptop, you snuggled deeper into the warmth of your blankets protecting you from the cold. In your hands was a fresh cup of hot chocolate. You took a sip, enjoying the sweet chocolaty taste that sparked within your tastebuds. This Christmas wasn't any different from the last. While everyone was out partying and celebrating you decided to stay in the warmth of the comfort of your small apartment by yourself. Unlike most people, you weren't typically into the partying scene. The idea of dressing up and mingling with people just didn't suit your taste. Why even bother when you could stay at home and lounge around to your heart's content. Being home was so much better than the frost cold of the night outside.

That was until you heard a loud knocking on your front door.

Groaning you paused your show and slipped out of bed. With lazy steps you walked towards the front door. "Who is it?" you grumbled upon opening the door.

"Hey [Name]!"

"Oh god." you muttered under your breath. It was no other than your friend Cindy. "Hi, Cindy. You should've called me if you were planning on coming to visit." you greeted back, forcing a smile. It wasn't like you hated the girl. Oh no, she was a lovely person and one of the best friends you could ever ask for. But her bubbly and loud nature was something you couldn't handle for a long period of time. Yet, it was her personality that had you remaining friends with her. In fact it even surprised you on how someone like you who was the totally opposite to what Cindy was were even friends in the first place. Nevertheless that never stopped the two of you from sticking together like superglue, no matter how much her rowdy personality annoyed the heck out of you from time to time.

"Oh I'm just coming to see what you're doing." Cindy said a little too enthusiastically. You cringed at the loudness of her voice. She was like a walking bubble of joy who doesn't know how to calm down. "So anyway, what are you doing?"

"Oh no, nothing just stuff." you casually replied while closing the door as your friend walked in.

Cindy eyed you from head to toe, taking note of your outfit which consisted of a pair of sweatpants and a oversized hoodie. A messy and untamed bun was planted on the top of your hair. She frowned at your appearance. "Don't tell me you were lazing around at home all day?"

"What do you think?" you questioned back, rolling your eyes. The answer was pretty obvious. Cindy didn't need to question it.

"It's Christmas [Name]!" Cindy cried. "You should go out and have some fun!"

"I'm having all the fun right here." you replied. You sat down on the couch and turned on the television. Grabbing the remote on the coffee table you began to flick through the numerous channels, in an attempt to find something that would hopefully catch your interest.

"You're ridiculous." Cindy grumbled. "You know it's because you're so lazy that no boys are attracted to you."

"Ouch, that hurt." you replied, pretending to sound hurt. "And for you information, I'm not lazy. I'm just conserving energy."

Cindy scoffed. Standing up from her seat she grabbed the remote from your hands without warning and switched off the television.

"Hey I was--."

"Shush you!" Cindy harshly cut you off. Her hands were planted on her hips as she stood in front of the screen. She stared you down with a stern expression. "I'm taking you out of this cave of yours!" she suddenly exclaimed.