Christmas/Yule Presents ((THNM applied as necessary))
A few presents had already gone in the mail, but most had been sitting hidden in Mortimer's workshop. He slipped out of bed late at night to add them to the appropriate piles.
For Ali he had a collection of DVDs from a world where Neil Gaiman had put his efforts into directing and writing movies more than books.
For Sasha he had a Victorian dress and diamond earrings that he had conspired with Ali on.
There is also an envelope addressed to both Ali and Sasha that contains a gift certificate from a Nexus travel agency for a long weekend getaway for two, time and destination to be determined by them. The card says "I can't think of two ladies who deserve it more. All my love, Mortimer."
For Clara there is and iPod Nano and an iTunes gift card, and rock climbing lessons. Her card says "I hear you young people today are all into the digital music, and every hero should know how to scale walls."
For Ingress he had made a sealed toy box. It was the size of a medium trunk, with pretty scrolling decoration on the outside and a dusky rose pink velvet lining on the inside. There is no conventional way to open it, and there are a couple extra small hidden compartments in the base. Her card (which he left inside the box) says "Happy Yule Ingress! I bet you will have plenty new things to put in here by the end of the day."
For James Hook there is a book about famous sea battles and naval strategists throughout history. His card reads "Happy Yule, Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy the book, it was hard to decide what to get for a well stocked pirate like yourself."
Lyn's present (that is, the adult Lyn from his former world) had been sent by Nexus courier days ago: a small album of pictures from his wedding reception and a few copies of photos that Ali had taken of him in their "document it now so our children will less tempted to time travel" project. "Mary Christmas Lyn. Love, MTT"
He had sent Marie a Christmas card with gift cards to a baby store and Best Buy. "Mary Christmas Marie, it's been an interesting year."
He knew Mystique (at least the one he knew best) didn't care about Christmas, but he figured Douglas might. Since he doesn't know the boy very well he guessed wildly and sent him a soccer ball and a gift card to Borders.
The last minute addition of his and Lyn's young alternates had posed a bit of a problem. He knew what he would have liked if he had access to current toys when he was six, but he wasn't sure what Lyn would have wanted. He got Little Morty a Matchbox Car garage play-set and some extra cars. Choosing a present for Little Lyn involved him wandering around the doll aisles and making up an arbitrary equation involving amounts of pink, adherence to gender stereotypes (or lack thereof), quality of accessories, and whether he would let a little girl wear clothes like those the doll had. Using this method he guessed scientifically decided on a blond little girl doll that seemed to have removable clothes, which he remembered as being a big deal to little girls.
For Ali he had a collection of DVDs from a world where Neil Gaiman had put his efforts into directing and writing movies more than books.
For Sasha he had a Victorian dress and diamond earrings that he had conspired with Ali on.
There is also an envelope addressed to both Ali and Sasha that contains a gift certificate from a Nexus travel agency for a long weekend getaway for two, time and destination to be determined by them. The card says "I can't think of two ladies who deserve it more. All my love, Mortimer."
For Clara there is and iPod Nano and an iTunes gift card, and rock climbing lessons. Her card says "I hear you young people today are all into the digital music, and every hero should know how to scale walls."
For Ingress he had made a sealed toy box. It was the size of a medium trunk, with pretty scrolling decoration on the outside and a dusky rose pink velvet lining on the inside. There is no conventional way to open it, and there are a couple extra small hidden compartments in the base. Her card (which he left inside the box) says "Happy Yule Ingress! I bet you will have plenty new things to put in here by the end of the day."
For James Hook there is a book about famous sea battles and naval strategists throughout history. His card reads "Happy Yule, Merry Christmas. I hope you enjoy the book, it was hard to decide what to get for a well stocked pirate like yourself."
Lyn's present (that is, the adult Lyn from his former world) had been sent by Nexus courier days ago: a small album of pictures from his wedding reception and a few copies of photos that Ali had taken of him in their "document it now so our children will less tempted to time travel" project. "Mary Christmas Lyn. Love, MTT"
He had sent Marie a Christmas card with gift cards to a baby store and Best Buy. "Mary Christmas Marie, it's been an interesting year."
He knew Mystique (at least the one he knew best) didn't care about Christmas, but he figured Douglas might. Since he doesn't know the boy very well he guessed wildly and sent him a soccer ball and a gift card to Borders.
The last minute addition of his and Lyn's young alternates had posed a bit of a problem. He knew what he would have liked if he had access to current toys when he was six, but he wasn't sure what Lyn would have wanted. He got Little Morty a Matchbox Car garage play-set and some extra cars. Choosing a present for Little Lyn involved him wandering around the doll aisles and making up an arbitrary equation involving amounts of pink, adherence to gender stereotypes (or lack thereof), quality of accessories, and whether he would let a little girl wear clothes like those the doll had. Using this method he guessed scientifically decided on a blond little girl doll that seemed to have removable clothes, which he remembered as being a big deal to little girls.
