(Untitled)

[hadyougoing]

By the time Ava has gone upstairs, showered, and come back down in a tank top and little sweater (aaaand the very lovely, very ambitious high heels that she found just lying there by the door), she feels generally more relaxed

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[perpetualstate]

(Michael hadn't been having that great of a day. Fortunately, he was now out of the hospital, unlike his brother G.O.B., who had just had his index and middle fingers switched around after having had them severed during a magic show. [ cut to: buster slicing g.o.b.'s fingers off onstage, to the somewhat shocked - but pleased - applause of the crowd. ]

Needless to say, this was still one of the Bluth family's better days.)

Coming into the bar, Michael doesn't look entirely well, probably the result of having had a few too many operations for his own good, in addition to having been under a few too many sedatives. Still, he's able to recognize Ava, and he comes over to the bar, still a little shaky on his feet, but cordial nonetheless.

"Hey there. Long time no see, huh?"

[hadyougoing]

Ava glances up quickly, and smiles a very bright smile upon seeing Michael.

"Hey you! I thought you weren't coming back!"

She still has a Christmas present for him.

"I still have your Christmas present and everything ..."

[perpetualstate]

Michael does a bit of a double-take at that.

"Really?"

(The Bluths were not a religious family. A 'white Christmas' being impossible anyway, the actual giving of presents was usually restricted to Michael and his son, George Michael. The rest of the family generally just waited to receive gifts.)

"You really didn't have to."

[hadyougoing]

"Yeah, but it was fun!" Ava says, waving this off.

"Spread a little holiday cheer ... I mean." She pauses. "At this point it's not really a holiday anymore."

[perpetualstate]

"The sentiment remains the same," he assures her.

"Christmas spirit goes year-round."

[hadyougoing]

She smiles.

"Ummm. So do you want it?"

[perpetualstate]

He pulls a face in mock contemplation.

"I think I do."

[hadyougoing]

"Okay!"

Ava leans towards Bar, with a conspiratorial sideways glance at Michael.

"Heeey Bar? Do you remember the--"

A small, square box appears, wrapped in red paper. Ava grins.

"You're so awesome." She nudges it in Michael's direction. "Um. Merry Christmas?"

[perpetualstate]

When the box appears, Michael looks genuinely surprised, and genuinely touched (and a little guilty, too).

"Merry Christmas to you, too," he says, picking it up. "Should I open it now, or later?"

[hadyougoing]

"Whenever," Ava says cheerfully.

"I, uh, I hope you like it."

(Weirdly enough, she actually does. What if earplugs read as too ironic?

At least she put the explanatory card in there.)

[perpetualstate]

Michael elects to open the box then and there. When he reads the card and sees what's inside, he manages a quick laugh.

"I'm sure my family'll get a kick out of that. Thank you."

[hadyougoing]

Ava beams.

"Awesome!" she says.

"Uhhh. I mean, maybe don't tell them it was from me." Grin. "Then again, either they don't know who I am so it doesn't matter, or it might involve some lllllong awkward explanations about girls at the end of the universe."

[perpetualstate]

"I don't know that they'll ask where they're from in the first place," Michael confesses.

"You're safe."

[hadyougoing]

She grins, satisfied.

"Super."

And taps her (now-closed) notebook with her pen, idly.

"So, um ... aside from it being like a super late Christmas, how are you?"

[perpetualstate]

"Okay," Michael says, following a beat.

"I now know what it feels like to have a pair of scissors left inside my body after surgery, though."

[hadyougoing]

"What?!"

Ava covers her mouth with one hand.

"Oh my God, how did that--"

Ewww.