Presentsss! [forward-dated to the 20th]
Seeing as the Fuchizaki "household" (oh yeah, and Molly) are going to be leaving soon for the Christmas Family Reunion in Japan (with a small detour through California), Kaden's taken it on himself to play Santa early, for everyone he knows. Not that he's planning on personally delivering all of these gifts, of course -- most of them he's planned just so, so the recipients won't be there when he drops them off. But it's the thought that counts, right?
He leaves Mio's at the Kashtta, on the lobby's front desk; he doesn't know and doesn't care to know where she actually lives, just knows that she's a Wanderer and so she'll probably be by here at the very least. It's just a gift basket -- hey, he doesn't actually know the woman, and he's pretty sure that a handgun and migraine drugs wouldn't go over that well -- but it's the sort of gift basket that only people who have too much money to spend get for those they don't know well. There's all sorts of pretentious gourmet chocolate bars interspersed with equally gourmet coffee beans and hot chocolate mixes, all nestled amongst assorted, very exotic fruits. There's a neat little card in it as well, tucked amidst the decadence, that reads, "I wasn't sure what, precisely, you'd want, so you'll have to forgive the generic I-don't-know-you gift. Coffee sometime, to remedy that? :) -- Minoru."
Sunshine's is also at the Kashtta, because he doesn't actually have any idea where she lives, but he's picked her up here before. It's fairly simple, just an envelope containing a gift certificate to a local, awesome hole-in-the-wall tattoo parlour (he did fairly thorough research) and a short note that reads:
"For whatever blank canvas is left. :P"
Marena's present is in a small, sealed box mailed to her grandmother's address; even if she managed to move out, he knows she'll be back there for Christmas. In the box is a necklace she used to wear quite often, one she got from her grandfather before he died. Kaden had ripped it off her neck once, a long time ago -- he remembers she cried at the broken chain, the broken piece of the pendant. He's fixed it, and had the chain repaired. There's no note, or return address. He knows she'll know who it's from.
Elizabeth will find her present waiting for her the next time she goes to Josef's club -- or if he happens to bring the present back for her, or whatever. Kaden left it with one of the bartenders who knew her. It's in a box, so it won't bend, but it's a thin book entitled The Death of Angels. There's a note tucked neatly into it, right at the front, written in Kaden's very familiar scrawl:
"Hey kid,
I know you're busy lately, and to be honest, I don't know that I'd be able to keep up with tutoring now either -- took on a few extra projects at work, plus taking and grading finals at school, you know me. Took on more work than I can really keep up with. Anyway, I found this last time I was home and thought of you. Don't let the title fool you, it's not like the other books about us that disguise themselves as fiction; this is an actual memoir of an AoD. I know you've been following your Calling more and more lately. It has a rather sad ending (hope you'll forgive me for reading your xmas present on the plane ride home ;P) but there's a lot of good stuff in it for it being such a small book.
Maybe I'll still see you around this time. Your boy has a nice place here, & I still show up here on occasion, so who knows. We might run into each other. In the meantime, take it easy.
-- Kaden"
While Molly and Ran are out, Kaden's in her room in her sorority house. Her sisters are used to that, so they just assume he's doing exactly what he's doing: dropping off presents. There's not one for Molly, but left on the pile of blankets that Ran has evidently slept in the past night is a small, heavy present: a very well-made balisong, engraved and everything. It only contains a tiny note, taped to the handles in such a way that it holds the knife shut.
"Don't hurt yourself." is all it says.
And after all this delivering, he goes to work. He hasn't gotten a present for Ash, mostly because when he joked about getting her one, she deadpanned back that she'd like a file cabinet filled with the sins of humanity, and he decided he wasn't even going to try. If she wants something, she can ask him to do paperwork again.
As for Lily and Iris's presents, those have been slowly accumulating in the living room of their apartment. There's significantly more for Lily than Iris, but then, Kaden's had a lot more time to shop for her. And has a tendency to spoil her a lot more, because he loves her. But there are at least three for Iris, one of a relatively good size. All of them are piled next to the entertainment center in the living room (it's...nothing like a tree, but it's the most central-yet-out-of-the-way location in the apartment). They'll open those before they leave. He's been watching to make sure they don't peek at them, either.
He leaves Mio's at the Kashtta, on the lobby's front desk; he doesn't know and doesn't care to know where she actually lives, just knows that she's a Wanderer and so she'll probably be by here at the very least. It's just a gift basket -- hey, he doesn't actually know the woman, and he's pretty sure that a handgun and migraine drugs wouldn't go over that well -- but it's the sort of gift basket that only people who have too much money to spend get for those they don't know well. There's all sorts of pretentious gourmet chocolate bars interspersed with equally gourmet coffee beans and hot chocolate mixes, all nestled amongst assorted, very exotic fruits. There's a neat little card in it as well, tucked amidst the decadence, that reads, "I wasn't sure what, precisely, you'd want, so you'll have to forgive the generic I-don't-know-you gift. Coffee sometime, to remedy that? :) -- Minoru."
Sunshine's is also at the Kashtta, because he doesn't actually have any idea where she lives, but he's picked her up here before. It's fairly simple, just an envelope containing a gift certificate to a local, awesome hole-in-the-wall tattoo parlour (he did fairly thorough research) and a short note that reads:
"For whatever blank canvas is left. :P"
Marena's present is in a small, sealed box mailed to her grandmother's address; even if she managed to move out, he knows she'll be back there for Christmas. In the box is a necklace she used to wear quite often, one she got from her grandfather before he died. Kaden had ripped it off her neck once, a long time ago -- he remembers she cried at the broken chain, the broken piece of the pendant. He's fixed it, and had the chain repaired. There's no note, or return address. He knows she'll know who it's from.
Elizabeth will find her present waiting for her the next time she goes to Josef's club -- or if he happens to bring the present back for her, or whatever. Kaden left it with one of the bartenders who knew her. It's in a box, so it won't bend, but it's a thin book entitled The Death of Angels. There's a note tucked neatly into it, right at the front, written in Kaden's very familiar scrawl:
"Hey kid,
I know you're busy lately, and to be honest, I don't know that I'd be able to keep up with tutoring now either -- took on a few extra projects at work, plus taking and grading finals at school, you know me. Took on more work than I can really keep up with. Anyway, I found this last time I was home and thought of you. Don't let the title fool you, it's not like the other books about us that disguise themselves as fiction; this is an actual memoir of an AoD. I know you've been following your Calling more and more lately. It has a rather sad ending (hope you'll forgive me for reading your xmas present on the plane ride home ;P) but there's a lot of good stuff in it for it being such a small book.
Maybe I'll still see you around this time. Your boy has a nice place here, & I still show up here on occasion, so who knows. We might run into each other. In the meantime, take it easy.
-- Kaden"
While Molly and Ran are out, Kaden's in her room in her sorority house. Her sisters are used to that, so they just assume he's doing exactly what he's doing: dropping off presents. There's not one for Molly, but left on the pile of blankets that Ran has evidently slept in the past night is a small, heavy present: a very well-made balisong, engraved and everything. It only contains a tiny note, taped to the handles in such a way that it holds the knife shut.
"Don't hurt yourself." is all it says.
And after all this delivering, he goes to work. He hasn't gotten a present for Ash, mostly because when he joked about getting her one, she deadpanned back that she'd like a file cabinet filled with the sins of humanity, and he decided he wasn't even going to try. If she wants something, she can ask him to do paperwork again.
As for Lily and Iris's presents, those have been slowly accumulating in the living room of their apartment. There's significantly more for Lily than Iris, but then, Kaden's had a lot more time to shop for her. And has a tendency to spoil her a lot more, because he loves her. But there are at least three for Iris, one of a relatively good size. All of them are piled next to the entertainment center in the living room (it's...nothing like a tree, but it's the most central-yet-out-of-the-way location in the apartment). They'll open those before they leave. He's been watching to make sure they don't peek at them, either.