The owner of this house had salted their walkway, making walking up to the door easier. Buzz adjusted his scarf as he stood on the concrete porch. It was nearing sunset, and the wind was picking up; almost fast enough to start whistling through his leg holes. The sounds of laughter and music came from the other side of the door. “Ready, Pollie?”
Next to him, a pair of green eyes looked up from under a bundle of booties, jackets, and a big red festive hat. “Can we get some donuts? I thought we were going to get some donuts?”
Buzz wrapped a leg around Rollie Pollie and pulled him in for a hug. “We just need to get a little more money for rent. Anything extra we get will go straight for donuts, alright?”
Pollie nodded. “Okay. Which song are we starting with?” Pollie’s voice contained an edge of nervousness, which was reflected in the link they shared.
Buzz fed a shred of his own strained confidence back to his brother. “ ‘Deck the Halls,’ I think that is one that everyone likes.” Pollie nodded and took his spot next to Buzz, as Buzz rung the doorbell.
The sounds of the party inside died down a little as a pair of footsteps approached. A short man answered the door wearing a sweater with some pegasus dressed up as a red-nosed reindeer. Before the man could say a word, the duo broke out into song, led by Buzz. “Deck the halls with bells of holly.”
“Falalalalalaa la la” added Pollie.
“‘Tis the season to be jolly,” continued Buzz.
“Falala la la—” Pollie took his hat off with his magic and held it up to the man.
The man interrupted the two. “Didn’t you guys see the other carolers going around?”
The song died in Buzz’s throat. “What?”
“Falalala la la la… la?” Pollie finally caught on. The man pointed down the street and sure enough there was a group of around half a dozen ponies and humans a few doors down, singing much louder, clearer, and in tune. They also had a small box for the charity, which jangled with all the festiveness of a belt of silver bells.
“Hey Rick, who’s at the door?” asked a voice from inside. A teal unicorn poked her head out from down the hall. Waves of apprehension and pity rolled off of her. “Oh… beggars?”
Buzz bit back a pointed comment before simply responding. “No, we’re carolers.”
As if he didn't hear Buzz, Rick turned back. “Don’t worry about it, Cloud, I got this. Just go back and get yourself some more food.” Before Buzz could protest any further, the man pulled out a bill and put it in Pollie’s hat. “Here you go. You might want to head over to the next block before the other group does.” He started to close the door. “Merry Christmas, stay warm.”
“Merry Christmas!” Pollie parroted.
Buzz gave the man a half hearted wave with a hoof. “Happy Holidays to you, too…”
The door shut with a click, and the siblings were left standing in the cold again. The laughter picked up again, the love and companionship practically seeping through the thick wooden door. It was enough to take the edge off their hunger. They stayed there for a few moments before they turned around and walked back to the sidewalk. Pollie pulled the bill out of his hat and held it up to Buzz on a hoof. “Ten dollars! That’s a lot! I bet we can buy donuts now.”
Buzz put on a smile for his brother, though internally he winced. No, that money would to go towards rent with the local hive. He was careful to keep that thought to himself. “We have even got some compassion from him too. Not bad, if I say so myself.” He reached to take the bill from his brother, but a gust of wind caught it. Buzz chirped in panic, and ran after the bill. Stiff wings buzzed as he jumped into the air and grabbed it in his mouth before landing in a pile of plowed snow.
Pollie half-ran, half-waddled over to him. “Are you okay?”
Buzz pulled himself out of the snow, bill in his mouth, and shook the snow off, thankful for once he had chitin. He sent Pollie a line of calm. “Yeah I’m okay.” Buzz opened the wallet hidden under his scarf and slid the bill inside, adding to the thick wad next to their ID papers, mentally tallying up their haul. “Almost made rent.” He closed the wallet and tucked it back into its hiding spot. “C’mon now, we should keep moving.” They walked down the rest of the block, passing the other group of carolers with a polite, “Happy Holidays.”
As they stood at the crosswalk, waiting for the light to change, a deep rumble sounded out from both of them. Pollie tugged on his scarf. “I’m hungry…”
“I know, Pollie, I am too.”
“Can we get a donut or something?”
Buzz gave him a sideways glance. He picked the bitter parts out of the unicorn’s pity and fed the sweeter compassion directly to Pollie. “I dunno, we should save up more cash before we start spending it.”
“But you said that we almost made rent?” Buzz could feel the edge of tiredness in Pollie’s voice.
Buzz sighed. They’d been walking all day and Pollie had been dragged all over the city with him. He realized they’d worked straight through lunch, and dinner was soon approaching. “Alright then, I think we can take a break. Let’s go find a place to get you a donut, you little pill bug.” Buzz lightly slapped his wing on Pollie’s side and smiled at the look of mock anger that he got back.
Pollie stuck out his tongue and lightly kicked with a foreleg, which Buzz returned in kind. Pollie giggled and leaned against his brother’s side, wings buzzing under his jacket. “Thank you.”
Buzz smiled. “No problem.” They sat there for a few moments until the light changed. “The light’s turned, stay close.”