he doesn't look a thing like jesus .

[gemma snyder.]

hanukkah!

technically, that was no big deal to jews. like.. sure, it was a jewish religious observance, and all, but it wasn't like the year's most important holiday like christmas was to christians. but the jews obviously just wanted to compete with christians, so they initiated the whole present-and-latka-thing.. or.. whatever. and menorahs and stuff. anyway, gemma just liked it because she got to cook a HUGE dinner and wrap (and unwrap) presents and stuff, though, honestly. besides, hanukkah was the designated date at which zach had to be home for gemma to cuddle all over during seattle's long, bitter, freezing nights. so.. therefore.. hanukkah was gonna be awesome this year. granted, last year, all eight days were spent in the middle of nowhere, in arizona, with not much but trail mix bars, peanut butter (which gemma doesn't even like, anyway), a couple of cameras, and a couple of blankets in the back of a dirty jeep. okay, so that wasn't exactly the description of gemma's ideal conditions, but it was the best time she'd ever had. so.. she would just have to see if this hanukkah could live up to that.

gemma was slaving away in the kitchen, of course, in high heels and a dress. aka, her ideal conditions. maybe she would have thrived perfectly well in the nineteen fifties, but.. that's not important. after gemma's several failed attempts to create some sort of passable hanukkah dinner in the desert and stuff, she was pretty intent on making this zach's first real hanukkah feast! so far, the potato latkes and other side-dish-style things were set on the table, as well as her perfectly browned, homemade chicken and.. you know.. vegetables and stuff. just trust me. it was an epic feast. and that didn't even include the blueberry blintzes, cheesecake, and.. of course.. pie, that all came for desert. so.. gemma went overboard. no big news there.

she was humming along to the really ironic christmas music that was playing in the background, placing the finishing touches on her epic desserts, when she heard the door open. like a true fifties housewife, gemma clicked over into the entryway in her ridiculous shoes to find him standing, scraggly and bearded, with his suitcase in hand and his camera around his neck. after standing in the entryway for just a moment, still and silent, gemma ran up and wrapped her arms around his neck, planting a big wet kiss on his lips.

"welcome home, zach!" gemma smiled widely, grabbing his hand and pulling him into the large, dining room-kitchen area. "happy hanukkah!

[/color]

status: done.
words: not a lot, thanks to this awesome site! go me.
clothes: in da banna'.
notes: sup.
muzak: off by heart, by city and colour.
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[zach]

it had definitely been too long since zachary had rode that familiar elevator up to the familiar floor holding his ever so familiar apartment. zachary loved the feeling of coming home. it was like the first day of school, except at this school everyone loved you and there was no paperwork or reading or anything at all! well, maybe the first day of school is a bad comparison. but honestly, that's the best i got. it the was greatest feeling in the world to zachary, so much so that sometimes he looked forward to leaving so he could come back home. it was weird, but i was true. the warmth that embraced him as he entered the apartment building, the anxiety that filled him as he rode the slow elevator to the designated floor, the clenching of his chest and the grin on his face as he made his way to his apartment door. it was anything but anti-climatic. and he loved every bit of it. it was a secret he liked to keep from gemma, these feelings he experienced when he came home. the anxiety, the warmth, the subtle fear, the happiness. all she had to know and see was how happy he was when the apartment door opened and she stood there, always, to greet him. that was really all that was important anyway.

like now, the first day of hanukkah. zachary knew gemma would be waiting for him, afterall, this was his designated day to return home. he had planned it as such, wanting to be able to spend a real hanukkah with gemma, especially after last years eight days of granola bars, trail mix, stupid trivia games, and jeep sleep. unlike gemma, who apparently thought that alone was the greatest hanukkah ever to be had in the history of forever, zachary hadn't been all too pleased with it, even though deep down those were some of the greatest eight days of his life. but anywho, this hanukkah was going to be much better, regardless of the thoughts and feelings on last years. he was coming home today and that would be the greatest gift. and most jews say the greatest hanukkah gift didn't come until the last night!

zachary stopped outside the door of his apartment and heaved a large sigh of relief as the grin on his face grew wider. unlocking the door, he opened it and stepped in, allowing himself to be completely overwhelmed by the happiness that washed over him instantly. dropping his duffle bag and back pack to the floor as gently as he could, zachary's eyes wandered around the entry way. his face lit up instantly as they landed on gemma making his way towards her. quickly, he grabbed the camera hanging from around his neck, lifted to his eye level and snapped a picture of the excited brunette rushing towards him. his arms wrapped around her tiny frame as she threw herself at him and kissed him, welcoming him home. he leaned into her before she pulled back to grab his hand.

"welcome home, zach! happy hanukkah!" gemma pulled him towards their little spacious dinning room area.

"the happiest of hanukkahs." zachary said with a smile before taking advantage of her grip on his hand and stopping in his tracks to pull her back into him before wrapping his arms around her once more. "you really didn't have to cook for me, gemma." he commented, smelling the food that she had prepared. "that.. is for me, right? because i'd feel pretty stupid right now if it wasn't."


status: done.
words: wouldn't you like to know?!
clothes: ..in your banner, actually. plus jesus beard.
notes: sup wid'choo?
muzak: forgive me by city and colour

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[gemma snyder.]

gemma honestly couldn't help but laugh a little at the sight of zach's healthy beard. had it really been that long since she'd last seen him? it had been a long time since he'd had facial hair.. and even when he hadn't been able to shave for a week and a half in the desert last hanukkah.. he hadn't gotten this scruffy. there was a weird little patch on the left side of his jaw that was completely bare, though the rest of his jaw was completely covered. it was.. kind of weirdly cute, to be honest. not that any of this was important or anything.. it's not.

what was important right now was zachary linus moore, and the fact that he was home from that stupid trip to hang out with his girlfriend again. yeah, so gemma seemed really classy for sharing an apartment with her "boyfriend~".. but stupid relationship labels weren't important to her anymore. honestly, zach was just her best friend who she had sex with and held hands with in public. calling it anything else was just something that society sometimes required them to do. but gemma, personally, avoided it at all costs. if she was introducing zach to someone, she would say, simply enough, "this is zachary". not.. "this is my friend zachary" or "this is my boyfriend zachary" or "this is my soulmate and the lurrrrhve of my life, zachary".. just... "this. is. zachary". because that's what he was to gemma. he was zach! that was all that was important to her, anyway.

a very childish giggle escaped gemma's lips as she twirled back into zach's arms, smiling happily up at him. "of course i didn't have to! i wanted to.

[/color]" her smile only grew as she tapped the fingers of the hand not clasped in his against his chest and looked up at the man who was.. considerably taller than her. "it's your first hanukkah! or... your first real hanukkah, i guess, since i don't really think that peanut butter and the back of the jeep can really replace latkes and a menorah..[/color]" gemma paused, wriggling out of his arms to wave a hand dramatically towards the table. "come on! eat! nobody likes cold latkes.[/color]" gemma took a seat at the table, smiling over at zach. man.. she loved being able to just see that face again.

status: done.
words: none. not a one.
clothes: none. she nake.
notes: oh, not much. not much.
muzak: fill me with your light, spyder snider, aka clem snide.
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[zach]

coming home to a fifties-style-wife girlfriend was nothing really new to zachary. gemma seemed to make the most of whatever time she was left alone in their apartment to prepare something for him when he returned. zachary didn't work during the day but gemma did, and he was sure gemma was sometimes looking for excuses for him to leave the apartment when she finally got home simply so he could return home and find her with some abstract thing waiting for him besides her. it all seemed very "leave it to beaver" in his mind what with gemma respectfully playing the role of mrs. june cleaver while zachary landed the role of ward cleaver. it had never really been in his taste, never having been exposed to any real life situations like that what with his mother not being in the picture as a boy, but he had grown accostumed to gemma's ways. if she wanted to greet him in the doorway of their apartment in her ever so endearing dresses and with a meal all cooked up, that was certainly fine with zachary. he figured his only boundary lines would be naming possible children wallace and theodore. that would definitely be crossing the line. zachary never imagined himself having to ever worry about being stuck in such a situation and knew that he would simply take gemma whatever way he could get her.

zachary squeezed gemma tightly when she successfully twirled herself back into his arms and against his chest. he smiled down at her as she told him that it was his first hanukkah and how peanut butter and the back of a jeep could never really replace potato latkes. well, she was right about that he supposed, he could think of something that would definitely replace the back of her jeep. zachary subtly loosened his grip on her as she wriggled out of his arms and he dropped them limply to his sides before following her towards the table.

"well, how should i know? i've never had a latke in the first place. who knows, maybe they are better off cold. maybe you're lying." zachary commented with a smile as he stood behind gemma, already seated in her chair, and placed his hands on her shoulders before leaning down and kissing her cheek softly. leaving his post behind her, zachary took his seat in the chair diagonal to her. he placed his hands on the table before lifting one to scratch at that goddamn jesus beard that covered his jaw. he always found it somewhat difficult to transition from travelling everyday to being home with gemma. she definitely played a part in making it easier for him, but he still found it weird to be visiting the grand canyon one day and be in his apartment eating a home cooked hanukkah meal the next. he could only compare it to coming home from war... except, well, it obviously was not that big of a change and his absence was never really that extreme. but.. you know.


status: done.
words: some.
clothes: jesus clothes.
notes: lame.
muzak: do you love me? by eef barzelay

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[gemma snyder.]

gemma was well aware of the fact that zach found her house-wifely antics painfully nineteen-fifties-ish, but she knew he didn't really mind. so.. neither did she. gemma hadn't really grown up with her mom in the picture (and by that, i mean she incorrectly thought her mother was dead for the first eighteen-or-so years of her life), and she'd never actually seen leave it to beaver, but she knew the whole story. and, for the record, she wasn't getting all dolled up and slaving over a hot stove for her boyfriend for the appreciation or adoration or hope that he wouldn't beat her or anything.. that was just gemma. she wasn't really the.. sweatpants and take-out kind of person. the woman would look for absolutely any excuse to put on a dress and high heels.. and even if she couldn't, she'd probably put them on anyways and just stay at home. surprisingly, growing up with only a dad hadn't really affected her femininity at all.. obviously. and as far as the meals go.. well.. she was a chef! that's all she was, now that she was bee-less! by god, if there was one thing gemma snyder could do, it was cook. and raise bees.. but that's just not relevant since even she couldn't raise bees in this weather.

and anyway, she really wasn't so june cleaver-y, was she? after all, living, unmarried, with your boyfriend in '54 would have been absolute sacrelige. so.. that was comforting. and to make it even better, gemma really didn't have the usual female view on her relationship with zach, wishing for christmas for him to stop dragging his feet and propose already or anything. gemma.. honestly really wasn't thinking about marriage at all with zach. although marriage came with weddings, and gemma would just die to get to get all dressed up for her own wedding and stuff.. marriage came with children. and since neither zach nore gemma had grown up with a mother, gemma was pretty terrified of not having any idea at all how to raise a kid. and besides.. kids were dirty.. and stuff. and not bee-friendly. so.. that would have to be a discussion for later.

"valid point! plus, i could also be decieving you into eating gross hot latkes when really they're better cold, so that you'll hate them and i'll get them all to myself. so you really can't trust me at all.

[/color]" gemma grinned, taking a relief-filled breath after speaking for so long without breathing at all. in a moment of blatant motherly-ness, she served zach up way, way too much food.. since he'd been gone so long and must have, of course, not eaten a bite since she'd last cooked for him. gemma proceeded to put some food on her own plate, periodically peeking up at zach just to see his face again. "so how were the great outdoors? do they miss me?[/color]" she smiled up at the man, proceeding to consider several ways that she could use to trick zachary into shaving his beard.

status: crying in the bathroom.
words: mostly english.
clothes: watch out, lady gaga.
notes: my sufjan stevens christmas music came in. IT'S SO GOOD. it's like five CDs and an essay and a DVD. i could just die of excitement. really.
muzak: ladada, ladada, ladada, da da dada.
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