GIFTS. Yeah that's right.

[jonny_talbain]

Gold: Breakfast in bed some time before the holiday to be sure he gets it done before Gold visits Johto, if he's going to visit Johto for the holiday. Full English complete with bacon, sausage, eggs baked beans, fried tomatoes toast and chips. As in fries. But this is an English Breakfast so we'll call them chips.

Cammy: A second hand DVD set of Monty Python's flying circus. Good British comedy.

Eli: A book about Longquan - Dragon Fist style martial arts.

Evve: An everstone pendant. It's small and modest with a very functional chain and clasp over anything ornate, but it took a while to find. He's not sure hoiw much good it will do curbing those painful almost evolutions. But he tried.

Riwane: He went to the record store and asked the oddest looking guy there what kind of music the young people were into nowadays because he has No Clue. So, you get some CDs with the latest and greatest (Subjectively speaking.) music of your generation. He also went to great pains to buy and set up a small aquarium in your dorm, complete with a few colorful little fish and some plants. A little bit of the life aquatic you love so much to look at during your days there. He also found a little plush animal. It's a Dodongo. It reminded him of your first shared hunt so he got you that as well. The most amazing thing about these gifts? None of them are second hand HOLY COW.

Comments

[truffulatree]

[THIS GIRL PROBABLY ASKED YOU A DOZEN QUESTIONS WHILE YOU WERE SETTING UP THE FISHTANK.]

[jonny_talbain]

[THAT IS FINE. HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE BEEN ALRIGHT ANSWERING THEM. UNLESS THEY WERE ABOUT THE FISH BECAUSE DAMNED IF HE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT FISH.]

[truffulatree]

[THERE WERE PROBABLY AT LEAST TWO ABOUT FISH AND ONE ABOUT NOT KNOWING ANYTHING ABOUT FISH.]

[jonny_talbain]

[THE ANSWERS WERE PROBABLY 'DON'T KNOW' AND 'BECAUSE THEY'RE FISH' AND 'BECAUSE I'M NOT SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'.]

[cannonspike]

[THIS WAS SUCH A BETTER PRESENT THAN A BOMB IN A BOX THANK YOU JON. She spends all day watching them in the common room when there weren't people clamoring to get at the television, and of course you're invited.]

[jonny_talbain]

[Alright, he's up for that. A few packets of crisps and the comedy stylings of John Cleese, Eric Idle, Michael palin etc - He might even laugh a bit. Surely the apocalypse is nigh. (Just a few days late.)]

[fluffyhearted]

[ CHIPS?? FOR BREAKFAST? WEIRDO. ALSO WHERE ARE THE MUSHROOMS hey guess who gets Maisy face rubs?? You, you cool dude. ]

[jonny_talbain]

[CHIPS ARE PERFECTLY VALID IN LIEU OF POTATO CAKES OR HASH BROWNS. AND OH CRUD FORGOT THE MUSHROOMS. Well, he certainly doesn't mind that. He might even go and make her some extra toast so she can share if Gold says that's not a terrible violation of his Pokemon's dietary plan for the holiday.]

[ Action because aghaghjvfs ]

[idowhatilike]

[ A gift... She stood with some hidden embarrassment, seeing as she never participated in these sort of things because she never had a stable home or family to do so with. Nevertheless, he was right here, so she decided to unravel her gift now.

As soon as Evve realized what was given to her, she went from stoic to startled and back again. She held it up by the chain, palm just under the pendant spinning in slow sways. ]

... Where did you get this? [ She spoke with her voice slightly hushed, probably the only indication of her surprise. ]

[Yessssss]

[jonny_talbain]

[He shrugged, looking about as stoic as she did.]

Oh. You know. Asked about a bit. Few specialty shops in town gave me a heads up and I found it through one of them. Couldn't afford a particularly fancy setting but it's at least practical. I hope it... You know. I hope it helps.

1/?? ; lmao I'm sorry now

[idowhatilike]

[ She kept staring at it... ]

2/??

[idowhatilike]

[ And staring... ]

3/??

[idowhatilike]

[ AND STARING - !! ]

4/4 Okay vfjkfbkdj

[idowhatilike]

[ And then she unfastened the chain to start putting it on because oh my god. It's just a gift.

... A really rare gift. ]

These are incredibly difficult to find. I'm... shocked, to say the least.

[ She pushed her hands under her hair and began to try and work it closed. ]

XD

[jonny_talbain]

...well, you....

[He was always terrible at this stuff. But she shared something of herself with him and it had touched him.]

...you told me about the pain you feel when your body tries to transform. If there had been a stone to stop my own transformation when I was younger and someone had the means to give it to me... I'd hope they might've done so. Seems only right.

[There was more to it than that of course, but that explanation would do for now unless she pressed the issue.]

Re: XD

[idowhatilike]

[ Managing to get it on, she drops her mess of a hairstyle and lets the pendant rest against her chest. She eyes it in silence, fingertips reaching up to touch it gently. Truthfully, she has no idea if it would work. She knows they're not just a fabrication of a long line of rumor or anything, but... Well, she wasn't willing to find out just to see it in action.

She looks up at him with the smallest of smiles. Way to go, Jon. ]

I'd have hoped so, too. [ And as if the words were very, very foreign to her... ] ... Thank you, Jon.

I, mm, don't have anything to give in return. Can't say I'm exactly the epitome of holiday cheer to be around this time of year, so...

[jonny_talbain]

You're welcome, Evve. Happy Christmas.

[He smiled back at her, glad they could set aside their surliness and awkwardness for a moment to share that much.]

Eh. It's alright. Neither am I, to be fair. Never really bothered much with gifts before coming here to Final Destination. Never got nor gave any back in England after parting ways with the parents at a fairly young age. You've no need to get me anything - Just knowing that my gift may be a help is enough.

[idowhatilike]

[ Evve couldn't stand feeling this way. This was way more emotion and commitment to it than she was used to. Sure, the old Eevee was a loyal friend when she actually decided you were one, but she moved on so often it was rare she had to deal with said friends more than once a year in such close encounters. She was unsure of what to do with it all.

That said, she had to nip at his words before she just wound up frustrated. ]

You make it very easy to be cheap, Jon. Best gift you can give me, frankly. Here's a teaser for next year: I may or may not send a reminder of what your gift has done for me. "Year 29: Still an Eevee. Nothing to report. Happy Holidays."

[jonny_talbain]

Frankly, the fact you thought to send a card would be nice, no matter what it said on the inside.

[And he meant it. Much like her, he wasn't used to having 'friends' as they were called. He had Riwane to thank almost entirely for his newfound ability to give a shit about almost anyone but himself. There had been precisely three others before her and since her... well, the circle was widening a bit. Learning to trust had been a hard road.]

Besides. Sending it by post is still... what? Fifty cents or whatever. More expensive than an email.

[idowhatilike]

[ Evve relaxed her fingers along her cheek, drumming them thoughtfully. ]

This is very true... Perhaps one of those obnoxious e-cards with the dancing elves and low-quality cycle of Christmas music would be best. I can't have you spoiled, can I?

[jonny_talbain]

Ah... I'd probably not open it. Those things always make me think they're... whatsit... you know...

[He clicked his fingers a few times trying to remember the technical jargon.]

Oh. Spam.

[idowhatilike]

[ She snorted. ]

Look at you! The computer whiz. I'll come to you instead of the cross hedgehog I must work with from now on when something goes awry on it.

[ Her fingers have been spending their idle time dancing along the pendent, as if to let it go would be to release it into the ether, never to be seen again. A small idea is blossoming inside the back of her mind, but at the same time, it remains just that: an idea. It wasn't about to be a plan or anything. To let herself be... happy for once.

It was all still an incredible risk to take. So she will be stamping a big-ass NOPE ]

[jonny_talbain]

Hah - I'd sooner not. I've very little interest in computers in general, let alone those that don't work right. Technology more complicated than the two slice toaster can go jump, says I.

[He really had no interest in technology period. But you really couldn't escape it in this world.]