A Multiverse Christmas Carol: Stave Eight

[crossover_chick]

Stave Eight:
“I don’t understand this!”
The Ghost of Christmas Present looked at her curiously. “What’s not to get? Family sitting down to eat a nice Christmas dinner of goose, applesauce, and mashed potatoes, with Christmas pudding coming up.”
“But look at that goose! It’s tiny! How is that enough for eight people?” Edna demanded, walking around the table with a deep frown. “No wonder they’re all so thin!”
“Weell, it’s not like you pay him an awful lot,” the Ghost said, waving at Victor. “This is the best they can afford.”
“But – but he’s a Van Dort!” Edna protested. “The son of the biggest fish magnate in all of England!”
“Ooooh – you really weren’t paying attention during Victor’s interview, were you?”
Edna arched an eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”
“Victor’s been disowned. His parents threw him out of their lives when he decided he was going to marry the woman he loved, instead of the woman they chose for him. He hasn’t gotten a ha’penny from them in years.”
Edna stared at the ghost in silence for a moment, then looked back at Victor. Her clerk was passing plates to his children, making pleasant conversation and acting as if this goose was rarer than a black swan. All this time, she’d thought it was fine to give him a little less than usual on the basis that he had rich parents. After all, it wasn’t as if he needed to work, right? Shame billowed up from her guts. How could she have been so cold and callous?
Her eyes turned to the little child sitting next to Victor – Timothy, if she’d heard correctly. He looked so weak and fragile, with his leg trapped in that iron frame. And yet he smiled warmly at his parents and siblings, and joked with them about how soon they’d be able to use his crutch for firewood. “Is he going to live?” she asked, voice soft.
“Well, the future’s not really my gig, but – if things keep on going the way they are, all I see is a empty stool by the fireplace, and a crutch with no owner leaned up against it, both carefully preserved,” the Ghost replied.
“No!” Edna begged, turning around. “No, tell me he’ll live!”
“I’m just saying – if the future doesn’t change any, he’s going to die. And what of it? If he’s fated to die, he should do it. Decrease the surplus population. There’s too many young people being silly and disgusting out in public as it is.”
Edna felt like she’d been slapped in the face – not that she didn’t deserve it. “I--”
“You’re a bitch and a party pooper,” the Ghost cut her off in severe tones. “Don’t claim you’re not.”
“I wasn’t going to put it quite like that. . . .”

-M: Yeah, 'a bitch and a party pooper' does pretty much sum her up.-
I know, right? This here is of course the reworked "Scrooge visiting Cratchit's house" scene. And amazingly enough, I may have managed to make Edna WORSE than Scrooge. I've read on TV Tropes that Scrooge may have been paying Cratchit an entirely fair wage for the time -- Edna's been deliberately paying him slightly less because she's certain he doesn't really need the money. Of course, it turns out that he really does. . .
-TTV: I wonder if it would comfort her to know that I'm just naturally that thin, and my children probably get it from me?-
*shrug* Who knows. Anyway, this is the start of the sadder/angstier stuff, simply by virtue of getting just a little into Ghost of Christmas Future territory. We'll be seeing more of this in Stave Ten, sad to say. Right now, though, things are relatively merry with these guys. I wish I could have featured Alice a bit more, or the kids, but space forbid. Maybe I should have stretched this out over more days. . .
-D: Perhaps, but you've got to work with what you have now.-
I do. As an example of what went down before this moment, though -- Edna briefly mistakes Chester for his father (because, as usual, I'm following Harry Potter Syndrome), then realizes Chester actually came in and posed as Victor for a couple of days in the summer. Turns out Victor was sick, and Chester covered for him so he wouldn't get fired.
-TTV: *smile* What lovely children I have.-
Indeed. They may be poor, and have a house that consists solely of four rooms, but they love each other very much. It may have gotten him disowned, but Victor's never regretted marrying Alice. Not in the slightest. And he never will, either.
-VD: Sounds like an object lesson for Edna.-
. . .That's actually a really good point! LOOK AT THE MARRIAGE YOU COULD HAVE HAD, WOMAN.


In other fanfic news, it's finally up. Chapter One of "Forgetting You" is officially posted. Hallelujah.
-TTV: Wonderful! We're all very happy for you.-
Thanks. :) I really wanted it up today, to celebrate finally being free of school.
-D: How'd the last exam go?-
Well -- I typically do good in Geology. And I got $131.75 for selling my books back, which is yay-worthy. And I got my Christmas present for my mom, so that's good. Just gotta wrap it. . . So yeah, pretty productive day overall. Even if I am now quite tired thanks to getting up so early this morning. Bleh.

Anyway, back to tumblr and stalking ryansgulch. Also, Ael? Any requests as for a Christmas drabble? I've got at least a topic covered for everyone but you.