Prompt:

"I know I'm not Santa, but I swear I have a good reason for breaking into your house."

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"Okay, it's nothing bad, just enter in the house and take back what is rightfully mine." Impulse muttered to himself, shaking his hands to get rid of his nervous jitters. "It's not their fault that they took my bag on accident but I need it back, this is justifiable."

He climbed over the fence, cursing under his breath as the snow dampened his shirt. He should have brought a coat with him.

Making his way to the house, Impulse took one last gasping breath before closing his mouth. He has to be sneaky, slip in, slip out and then presto, he has his things and the other people won't have to know.

Taking the doorknob with one hand, he carefully twisted it, heart racing in his chest. He thanked the stars that the door was unlocked.

Opening it, he saw that the house was dark, no lights other than a Christmas tree in the living room. His eyes darted across the room, suddenly meeting with a familiar store bag. It is reusable but similar to other bags. He knows it is his by the small tear in the side, one fourth of the way down next to the logo. Undeniably his.

He made his way across the room, carefully and quickly as to not disturb a thing. It was Christmas Eve after all at eleven at night. The people were probably asleep.

Just as he picked up the back, looking inside for his things, the light switch flicked on.

Impulse paled, seeing a figure at the doorway, baseball bat in hand.

"Turn around slowly." A british voice rang out. Impulse did just that, holding one arm up in surrender. He could see that it was two people. The one who spoke had the baseball bat and the other was observing him with red eyes.

"I know I'm not Santa, but I swear I have a good reason for breaking into your house." He promised, words getting caught in his throat from the rising panic.

"Oh yeah, you thought breaking into our house at close to midnight in all black in front of security cameras was a good idea?" The man gripped his baseball bat tighter. Impulse looked down at his outfit. Of course he decided to wear black jeans and his regular black t-shirt with a bright yellow 'I' engraved. One of the worst times.

"This looks really bad." He mutters, scolding himself for being idiotic. He remembers seeing the security cameras but he shrugged them off as being the neighbor's.

"How about we listen to your side of the story?" The taller man behind the other said, calming the situation down.

"But what if he's some murderer! We can't have him killint us!" The other whined, turning to the taller blond.

"You can keep your baseball bat if it makes you feel better, Zedaph." The man now identified as Zedaph smiled, nodding his head.

"Fine, it's a deal but if he murders us, I'm going to tell you that I was right!"

"You would already be dead by then." He rolled his eyes playfully. "Anyways, let's go to the living room, listen to what you have to say." He gestured for Impulse to walk in front of them. He shakily nodded his head, going and sitting on one of the couches. His hands were shaking like crazy.

"So let's get started," the taller blond said, sitting down on the love seat, Zedaph sitting next to him, still holding the bat. "My name is Tango, and this is Zedaph." He introduced, gesturing to the shorter blond next to him. Zedaph just glared.

"M-My name is Impulse." He shyly noted, Tango nodding his head with ease.

"Alright, so what are you doing in our house?"

Impulse swallowed, taking a deep breath.

"You see..."

Impulse was on the bus, just after he made a purchase, gifts for his roommates securely stashed in his bag. Four in total, all wrapped in wrapping paper special to them. He knew that lots of them would be leaving the house to go home after waking up on Christmas Day so he planned on leaving each on their nightstands for the morning.

He was nudged to the side by two gentlemen, both blond, with red and white reusable bags of gifts and grocery items. Impulse couldn't find it in himself to be too upset though, they were talking excitedly about their plans with family and friends, something that Impulse wished he could have.

Impulse looked out the bus window, idly watching the snow fall. Children were out building snowmen and catching snowflakes on their tongues. Their cheeks and noses were rosy red from the cold winter wind. Impulse smiled, he adored children with all his heart, hoping to be blessed with some one day.

The bus rolled to a stop, Impulse feeling the weight of the couple against him leave. He always looked at the signs on streets. He thought it was facinating that people in each house had their own lives. Each street was filled with memories of lemonade stands or kids playing ball in the streets. It made him have hope for his own future.

He watched as the two men walked to their house, waving to some of the children playing. The shorter of the two slipped on the ice, silently yelping from where Impulse was. The other laughed before making the same mistake, going down as well. They both broke out into laughter in front of the white house with blue shutters. An oak tree stood tall in front of it.

Impulse smiled, they looked like they were living fulfilling lives. Happy ones together.

He turned to look at the time on his phone but he noticed the usual red and white bag was no longer next to him on the seat. It was no longer there, much like the two men.

He realized that the taller guy who was sitting next to him must had taken it by mistake. Impulse bit his lip. He didn't want to turn up empty handed. His roommates were just starting to like him. He needed this.

But at the same time, he didn't have the nerve to knock on the door of that house. He didn't want to embarrass them or accuse them of a silly mistake. It was his fault anyways, he should have been paying attention.

However, a thought did come to mind.

And he didn't like it.

"So that's why I snuck into your house. I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." Impulse finished, studying Zedaph and Tango's faces. They look... understanding.

"No worries, man. It is your stuff anyways. Sorry for taking it by the way." Tango rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish look on his face.

"It was an accident, there is no way to know other than looking at it up close." Impulse assured him.

"Well, that was certainly an interesting story." Zedaph remarked, finally breaking out of his stupor. "I do have to say, you could have just asked. We are understanding people and wouldn't have minded. However, that is probably how you got your name. You seem to be... Impulsive!" Zedaph burst into a fit of giggles, Tango looking amused by his antics. Impulse just cracked a smile. This was all so foreign to him but it felt... right.

"Well, I better get back to my house. I share it with four people and we usually have a lights out. Thank you for understanding." Impulse thanked, standing up. Tango and Zedaph got up as well.

"No, thank you! I've always wanted to threaten someone with my bat!" Zedaph laughed again. Tango sighed.

"Ignore him, I'm just glad you were able to get your things back. What is it anyways?"

"Oh, just gifts for my roommates." Impulse shrugged, pulling the bag over his shoulder. "I wanted to put them out for them tonight. They all have places to be tomorrow so I thought it would be a great opportunity." He explains to them.

"Do you not have any plans tomorrow?" Tango sounded sympathetic, like he already knows.

"Nah, I only just moved here recently. My roommates are basically the only people I know around here."

Zedaph gasped, looking to Tango with an excited expression on his face. Tango nodded his head with an all knowing smile.

"You should join us for dinner tomorrow!" Zedaph burst out, practically shaking from excitement.

"What about the other people you were inviting over?" Impulse asked them.

"Cancelled, some flights got delayed, friends had to stay with family, that type of thing." Tango waved off.

Impulse gripped his bag tighter. "Are you sure? We just met each other right now-"

"No need to worry! It's a good opportunity to get to know some other people besides your roommates anyways. Join us for dinner." Tango invited once again.

Impulse smiled, nodding his head.

"Alright, thank you so much!"

With that, he stepped out through the front door, heart pounding not from anxiety like it did earlier, but from the happiness he felt.

The excitement for his future.

   Words: 1537
Written: Wednesday, December 1st, 2021, 1:37 am
Originally Posted: Wednesday, December 1st, 2021,