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Dr. Lanyon was buzzing, in good spirits, as he travelled from his home to the Society for Arcane Sciences. It was December 1st, and in the first two years of the Society’s launch he had felt somewhat unwelcome to attend their Christmas and holiday celebrations. He instead settled on spending some “quality time” with his birth family. His 37th Christmas with them had been the last straw, and Lanyon made a choice then to spend his time with people who may actually value him for the next holiday season.Of course, upon private consideration through the months of 1885, he did not really have anyone else to celebrate this season with… Even if he obviously knew all of them, many of his friends did not know each other, and had their own festivities to share with their loved ones. He would not be spending his holidays with his patients, Lord no, despite the countless invitations he had been given (He could tell they were second thought invites, as he had just given them medicine or treatment of some kind and they wanted to compensate with more than just money and material things. He would not have that lack of genuine love cluttering up his season).His pool of options boiled down until all that remained in the pot was Dr. Henry Jekyll’s Society.Which, he supposed, was not a bad way to celebrate Christmas! With all the types of people in residence there, as well as the brilliance of their minds, surely they would throw a fantastic party! He himself had never been to a Lodger-hosted event, all the parties at the Society had been hosted by Dr. Jekyll, so he had no idea how they would decorate their home or celebrate the holidays.As he stepped out of the carriage, he observed some rather festive decorations adorning the outside of the Society, green and red ribbon and bows and garland. He smiled a little, this was just how Henry decorated his own home! He had seen nothing new yet. He stepped up the stairs to the doors, and in his haste opened the door himself, pushing it forward with his daintily gloved hand.The chaos he saw within was… Well, to be fair to the Lodgers, an expected and reasonable amount of chaos. There were lanterns strung up across the ceiling, and an army of handmade sculptures of figures he did and did not recognize stood beneath the handrails of the second floor hallway.
Everything that either was alive at some point or looked vaguely humanoid was wearing a Santa hat, a few even decorated with Santa beards. Somehow the very colour of things had changed, many of the glass casings were now tinted with primarily red or green, but a few other colours decorated the glass as well. Beautiful snowflake decorations were hanging down from the ceiling, as well as holiday lights that almost replaced the regular Society bulbs in brightness, and certainly replaced them in cheer and homeliness.To say the least, Dr. Lanyon was immediately intimidated. These people took their holidays seriously, and he didn’t want to interfere with anything...He walked himself briskly up to Henry’s office, his usual destination on his visits, and bit his cheek as he passed by Lodgers in the halls, thanking the Lord above that they did not try to make contact. They seemed busy with more decor and other holiday activities.Once Robert arrived at the closed double doors, he gave a curt knock. In no time, the doctor opened up, and his pale face brightened.“Robert, hello!” He said cheerily, as he tied his cravat. Why was he…? “I did not expect you at this time, what brings you here?”“I came for a visit,” He said, distracted, as he entered the office and saw that Henry was rolling his sleeves up. Goodness. “What has you in such a disorganized state?”“Ah, it is December first, isn’t it!” Henry ignored the inquiry, instead walking to his desk to flip through his agenda. “Merry Christmas, Robert.” He gave his friend a warm look as he flattened his hands over his torso to smooth the wrinkles of his clothing.“Yes, Merry Christmas to you as well,” Robert smiled back to his friend briefly before his face became inquisitive again. “May I ask again, what are you doing getting dressed this late?”“This late…?” Henry frowned and pulled his pocket watch, seeing that it was close to 4 pm. He jumped. “Gracious, it is getting late isn’t it? How time flies when darkness falls this early.” He laughed, still avoiding the question.“Henry…” Robert said, in warning. He saw his friend deflate a little, and finally got a look at Henry as he naturally was, no theatrics or fronts to put up.“I’m sorry, Robert.” Henry said softly. “It’s… My binder, I was becoming short of breath. I had to spend a few hours with it off.”Robert’s heart sank. No wonder he seemed so uncomfortable, he was without a binder moments before. Oh, the dysphoria. “You know, surgery is always an option.”Henry shook his head. “I just don’t feel like it is worth changing my body that drastically, just to be comfortable. Besides, I think it is expected that I take a break from a device that compresses my chest as such.” The younger man wrapped his arms around his torso.He hated not wearing his binder, but wearing it too long was dangerous. He had already had warnings from Robert in the past about it, and they’d had this talk before, but nothing would get through to the doctor. It was at least good to know he was taking his breaks seriously now.Unfortunately, breaks did nothing for Henry’s gender dysphoria, at the end of the day.Robert stepped closer to Henry with a stern expression. “You always deserve to be comfortable in your body.” He said softly, reaching out to caress his face and lift his chin to properly meet eyes. “You are a wonderful man, Henry, you deserve the most basic comforts of life.”Henry was quiet for a moment, looking into Robert’s eyes. After several moments, he smiled coyly. “You have the most beautiful eyes.”Robert guffawed. “Henry!!” His partner just laughed and leaned forward against his secret love, while Henry laughed and cried ‘it’s true!’, hugging the man. They embraced for several calm moments.Robert pulled away first. “But, in all honesty, Henry… If you need anything at all, you can tell me. We’ve been together in secret for ten years, and friends for fifteen. I have your back.”Henry gave a guilty smile. “I know. I don’t deserve your generosity, thank you, Robert. I love you.” He gave the man a peck on the tip of his pointed nose, which was returned with a chaste kiss to his lips.“I love you, Henry.”OoOoOThe pair cracked open a bottle of wine and sat and chatted, for what felt like approximately ten minutes. Before long, Henry had checked his watch and seen that an hour and a half had gone by, and the time was nearing 7:00. He gasped and jumped up, placing his glass down.“Robert, I am sorry to stop so abruptly but Hyde was due to meet with the Lodgers for a game of Dreidel.”Robert looked confused. “Ah, a game of… What?” He asked, as Henry went to his desk drawer and pulled out two vials, one smaller of salt and one larger of a pre-mixed formula.“Dreidel, dear, it is a holiday game celebrated during Hanukkah.” Henry explained as he uncorked the formula, then the salt, and poured the granulates into the liquid, giving it a swirl. “The Lodgers introduced the holiday and the game to me when I opened this place, and we play it yearly now! We also teach our new Lodgers about Hanukkah, and how to celebrate, and play Dreidel, and light the menorah, and the rich history of this Jewish tradition!” Henry beamed, proud of himself and his Lodgers.“Am, uh, am I welcome to learn?” Robert spoke up hesitantly, watching Henry preemptively unbuttoned his vest, knowing Edward would want to launch into his own clothes at terminal velocity once he was fronting.“Oh, certainly, love! I do not see why they wouldn’t welcome you.” He smiled, walking up to the taller of the pair and giving him a smooch. “I love you. Talk to you later.”“Haha, I love you too.” He smiled down at the red eyed doctor, who gave a faux little ‘cheers’ to Lanyon’s glass of wine before downing the HJ7.Robert decided to busy himself with corking the bottle and putting it away properly, as his love writhed in agony on the ground in the middle of the office. By the time Edward Hyde was on the ground, coughing up the last of the green glop into his hands, Robert had a towel ready for him, as well as a change of clothing he picked himself.Edward snatched the towel with a gruff “thanks” and rubbed it over his face first, then over his hands and dabbing some of the stuff off of Henry’s clothes before he began to strip.“Hello to you as well, Edward.” Robert greeted, with as much faux animosity as he could muster, and Hyde snorted as he stood and slipped his own binder on first.“I thought of something, ‘Bert.” Edward said, as he adjusted his breasts under the restrictive garment.“Oh?” Robert sat in the chair he had previously occupied, elbow on the armrest and chin in his palm. He grabbed up his wine glass once more and swirled the red liquid inside.“You know I don’t get uncomfortable whether or not I’m in this thing,” Edward began, as he tugged on his binder for reference. “So why aren’t I the one to take the breaks?” He asked, as he slipped into his dress shirt and his pants.Robert hummed. “That is a good idea, except for the simple fact that you do not like to sit still, in hiding from the world.” Edward made an offended sound, putting on and buttoning up his vest. “You would be tempted to go out during your break, and be exposed immediately.”Edward made a slew of astonished noises, spinning to face Robert with an undone cravat now strewn around his neck. “You think I would compromise us so readily?! Oh, how you wound me, Lanyon!” He clutched his hands over his heart as if he felt physical pain over the accusation. Robert gave a laugh and had a sip of his wine as Edward returned the laugh and did up his cravat.“No, I do admit, that will help Henry a lot.” Robert’s expression softened. “It is a very kind offer, I am grateful that you are opening up to the idea of helping him like this, Edward.” Edward’s pale face was painted pink and red and his smile became a little maniacal with affection. “When you start dating someone as such, it comes with the territory to be kind and help your significant other.”“Nevertheless, I am grateful.” Robert said honestly, as Edward slipped his own pair of shoes on. The brown skinned man placed his empty glass down on the table, and stood to join the short blond. “You did not turn out to be the man your reputation made you out to be.”“Hehe,” Edward slid one arm around Robert’s midsection. “I’m glad I didn’t turn out to be a one night stand either.”Robert babbled for a second as he placed his arm around Edward as well, giving him a half-hug and pulling him close. “I’ll be honest, I did not expect to be in a relationship with Henry for this long, and even less did I expect to have a second partner in quite this way. But I will say, I am quite glad things turned out as they did.”“Awww, stop it,” Edward drawled as he buried his face playfully into Robert’s front. “Yer gonna make me all emotional.” He gave Robert a firm squeeze around his middle before he pulled away and smoothed his hands down Robert’s front, then his own. “Okay, you ready to Dreidel?”“I suppose I am.” Robert said, before he leaned down and pressed a soft smooch to Edward’s lips. “Love you.”Edward gave a kind of shy, uncharacteristic smile. He wasn’t used to this kind of honesty and he was growing to really like this arrangement, this idea of dedicating himself to these two men…“Love you too. Let’s get the fuck outta here.” He grumbled and left, allowing Robert to follow him out with a gentle chuckle.