One Shots #VariaSquad

All I want for Christmas... is a Raptor Puppy

Alia P.O.V.

I blinked at the image on my phone, wondering if I was seeing things or if Varun's phone had been hacked. Completely sure that I had to be imagining the GIF I'd received in response to the question of what he'd like for Christmas, I exited the messages app and went back into it. Given that the same GIF was still displayed, I decided that I wasn't imagining it. 

I had no idea what to make of it so I just stared at it, wondering what the hell it meant. It was cute, that was undeniable, but it made no sense. In an attempt to clear my confusion, I called him. Of course, I should have been able to predict that would just confuse me some more but it was really my best option so I dialled his number. 'What, exactly, is the meaning of the message I just received?' I asked as soon as he picked up the phone.

'You asked what I want for Christmas, I gave you an answer.' he said simply, as though that was any justification. 

'Right. And do you mean Chris Pratt or the dinosaur?' I teased. The question was met with complete silence and, for a minute, I thought I'd offended him. And then he spoke again. 

'You know, only you could ask me something like that.' he told me with a laugh. 

'It's a valid question.' I justified, also laughing. 'But seriously, what do you actually want for Christmas?' 

'I've already answered that question.' he stated, making me roll my eyes. 

'Varun, sending me a GIF of Chris Pratt petting a baby dinosaur is not answering my question.' I deadpanned, earning a somewhat annoyed huff. 

'But that's all I want.' he whined. 

'Again, do you mean Chris Pratt or the dinosaur?' I asked, making him laugh again. 

'I mean the baby raptor.' he answered. 

'Right okay.' I said slowly, wondering how best to tell my friend that dinosaurs had gone extinct several million years ago. 'See, the thing is Chris Pratt might have been manageable, baby raptor not so much.' 

'But why?' he questioned, stretching out the why. 

'Because a, dinosaurs died out a very long time ago and b, even if you could somehow get a pet dinosaur, raptors are some of the deadliest predators that have ever lived and you would be too busy cooing at its cuteness to notice if it tried to kill you so, no, you cannot have one.' I explained, knowing he'd be pouting like a baby at the refusal. 

'Well, the only thing I want for Christmas is a baby raptor.' he stated. I wasn't sure whether I should laugh or sigh.

'Come on yaar, there has to be something else you want.' I coaxed, hoping that I would be able to somehow get the conversation off of dinosaurs. 

'Nope. All I want for Christmas is a baby raptor.' he told me. I froze when I heard how he'd phrased it, knowing what was coming next. 'Baby all I want for Christmas is... a raptor puppy!!' he sang, squishing the last three words together so they'd fit with the song. I groaned, absolutely horrified by his destruction of one of the best holiday songs on the planet. 

'How... how could you do that Varun?' I demanded, pretending to be angry just to scare him. 

'Do what?' he asked, the fact that he was pretending to be innocent clear from his voice.

'Ruin such a legendary song!' I exclaimed, unable to stop myself from chuckling as I heard him do the same. 'I'm never going to be able to listen to it without thinking of you now.' 

'Well, I'd say that's gotta be one of my biggest accomplishments.' 

'What?' I asked, confused. 

'To be able to say that Alia Bhatt thinks of me when she hears All I want for Christmas is You. Not a small achievement.' he stated, making me realise what he'd just tricked me into saying. 

'That is so not what I meant Dhawan and you know it.' I told him, feeling like an idiot for falling for that one. 

'Hurtful.' he sniffed. 

'Idiot.' I muttered. 

'So mean.' he mumbled. 

'Okay fine. Loveable idiot.' I corrected. 'Better?' 

'Much.' 

'Now can you please tell me what you want for Christmas?' I asked. 

By now, I should probably know better than to make a mistake like that but I guess I still hadn't learnt my lesson. 'I don't want a lot for Christmas.' he mused, confusing the crap out of me. 

'Umm, okay...' 

'There is just one thing I need.' he stated. My brow scrunched in confusion, not realising where this was going. 'And I don't care about the presents under the Christmas tree.' 

'Since when?' I questioned, knowing that Varun was pretty much the definition of a kid on Christmas morning. 

'I don't need to hang my stocking there upon the fireplace.' he continued. I was beginning to wonder what the hell had gotten into him; no matter how long we could talk for, it never took so long for him to answer a simple question. 

'Do you even have a fireplace?' 

'Santa Claus won't make me happy with a toy on Christmas Day.' There was a slight pattern to his words, almost like he was singing them, and that's when I realised what he was doing. 

'Oh God, don't even think about it Varun.' 

'I just want you for my own More than you could ever know.' Now that I had caught on, he was full on singing it. 

'Are you serious right now?' I laughed, unable to help it. 

'Make my wish come true... All I want for Christmas is you.' 

'You done?' I asked, not wanting to interrupt him before he was. 

'Yep.' 

'Right so...' 

'You have no idea what to say right now, do you?' he questioned with a laugh. 

'No, I really don't.' I confirmed, at a complete loss for words. 

'Well, I mean, I've given you the answer to your question, the rest is up to you.' he told me, sounding a little shy. 

'But I thought you wanted a raptor puppy?' 

'Well, it's either a raptor puppy or you, your choice.' he told me. I couldn't find a response to that and he knew it so he saved me the trouble. 'You don't have to make the choice right now, you've got till Christmas Day.' 

'I uh...' 

'Don't stress about it Alu.' he said. 

'I'll try not to.' I muttered. 

'I guess that's the best I'll get.' he sighed. 'Uh, shit, I'm sorry yaar. Didn't mean to...' he trailed off awkwardly. 'Listen I gotta go. Talk to you later?' 

'Yeah sure.' 

'Alright, bye.' 

'Bye.' I mumbled, a second after he'd cut the line thanks to the lag in my brain. My phone buzzed almost as soon as I took it from my ear and I checked it to see a message from him: If you need a third option, there's some toy dinosaurs that're pretty cool. Remote control and everything. I chuckled at that but I knew I'd already made up my mind. 

Needless to say, it definitely wasn't a dinosaur he unwrapped on Christmas, toy or otherwise. 

A/N: I know this is short and it's technically Friday for some of you but I wanted to get something up today and it's still Thursday for me. Hopefully my next update will be longer but it might not be tomorrow cause lotsa stuff going on tomorrow. But it'll be this weekend for sure. 

So, yeah, that's it and I'll see you soon.