[semi-closed]
Characters: China closedmarket and Japan btw_theymean_no. (China's roommates are welcome to join, if they'd like)
Location: China's apartment
Rating: PG?
Time: Afternoon, July 7
Description: Delivery of a thank you gift for China's earlier help. This is going to be painfully awkward.
Standing at the foot of his bed, Japan looked at the plushie sitting where once there had been a pillow. It had taken a few days, but it was finally finished. Truthfully, he hadn't expected it to take as long as this to make; Kitty-chan was usually mass-produced quite quickly. But with limited supplies and having to do it by hand and by himself... At the least he wasn't out of habit with hand-sewing, or it could have been disastrous.
He had debated whether it was alright to use the pillow to make it. It wasn't truly his pillow, after all, but merely one that had been on the bed Germany and Italy were loaning to him. He had finally decided that he could certainly get another pillow to return to them when he moved out of their apartment, and in the meantime he certainly didn't need it. These Western-style pillows were uncomfortable, it was preferable to sleep directly on the bed, at this point.
He had found a small sewing kit in the apartment, but certainly this wasn't the sort of thing it had been put there for. He had borrowed the needle, and a small amount of the white thread to finish off his seam, but it hadn't seemed forgivable, to take enough to do the entire thing.
And so he had turned to the coat he had been wearing over his kimono when he arrived. There was plenty of thread, and that it was black wouldn't matter; it would be on the inside, once he turned everything right side out. It worked well for the eyes and whiskers, at least. Since he'd already taken the coat apart at that point, he had used it for her bow. He had wanted to turn more of the coat into a dress for her, but had thought he wouldn't have enough thread for it. It was fortunate Germany had taken him clothing shopping yesterday, he had been able to find thread at the store, as well as a yellow button for her nose. Kitty-chan's outfits were half of what made her so cute, leaving her with just her head...he was glad he was able to make the dress after all. That it was the green-tinted brown of his old coat... It was unfortunate, pink would have been so much cuter.
Now that it was finished, however, his resolve to give it to China was wavering. Certainly China wouldn't be expecting it. It wasn't even a habit he'd been in, when he and China had last been in good relations. Doing something like this so unexpectedly...maybe it would be a strain on China to give this to him. If he didn't give it, it was only Japan who would feel the weight of his unmet obligation.
...It wasn't in his nature to leave things hanging like that, no matter that the circumstances were exceedingly complicated.
Still, this choice for a gift... Making something himself, it was so cheap. But here, he had no job, and no money to buy anything frivolous. Anything that he could get for free...that was even more cheap. Putting forth effort even if little money was spent was still preferable to something that took neither money nor effort.
But maybe homemade food would have been better. It was an appropriately distant sort of homemade gift. Something like this was so intimate. That he knew it was something China would like made it even worse. It was embarrassing to be giving him something so personal. The only comfort was that China said he was from 1960 - there was no way he should know Kitty-chan yet, it was over a decade after that that Japan had come up with her. Giving China something he would enjoy but didn't know about yet, that was probably better than having China know he'd put enough thought into a gift like this to remember it was something he liked. But as long as he didn't say it was handmade, maybe China wouldn't ask. He could perhaps save himself the embarrassment of having China know he'd put this sort of effort into it.
There was really no choice but to give it to China. Having expended so much effort, certainly it would be odd to have made it for himself. The only other choice would be to give it to Liechtenstein, and explaining something like that...it would certainly be worse.
Sighing quietly, he took one of the clothing bags from his shopping trip and cut it up to make it into makeshift wrapping paper. Everything about this gift was turning out so haphazard. Without a box to put it in, and with such strange paper, getting crisp edges to the wrapping took quite awhile. It turned out to resemble more a box itself, which defeated it being wrapping paper, but at least he wouldn't be presenting it completely unwrapped. Slipping the wrapping box into another of the shopping bags, he was glad that America's stores seemed less particular about putting brand names onto things. Or perhaps it had simply been a low class clothing store... Either way, it would be rude to put a brand name onto his homemade creation, as though he were trying to claim his work were of the quality assured by the brand. Better that it was a blank bag.
Stepping out of his room and closing the door behind him, he walked out into the main living space. China lived in this building, he knew. He had been sure to discreetly ask Germany the other day. Since that was the case, surely China also had at least one apartment mate. He would have to bring a first visit gift, and something he could give to China's roommates as well as China.
Fruit came to mind first, and it seemed a reasonable idea. Food was always a good gift, and almost anyone enjoyed fruit. He had found some small oranges that weren't entirely unlike his own mikan when he'd been shopping. He hurried back to his room for a small bag to put them in and came back out, heading over to the small bowl he'd put his fruit in. Picking up five of the oranges, he put them in the bag, tied off the handles, and put them into his larger bag with the wrapped Kitty-chan.
Then...there wasn't anything else to be done but bring everything up to China's apartment. Putting on his shoes, he opened the main door. His customary, "I'm leaving now," was spoken quietly; he had no wish to explain his errand to any of his apartment mates.
It was a long way up to China's floor, but he chose to use the stairs anyway. He told himself he wasn't putting this off by doing so. Still, he eventually reached the door to China's apartment. Composing himself, he knocked with more confidence than he felt about the whole endeavor, then dropped his arm, his hand joining his other on the bag's handle, and waited for a response.
Location: China's apartment
Rating: PG?
Time: Afternoon, July 7
Description: Delivery of a thank you gift for China's earlier help. This is going to be painfully awkward.
Standing at the foot of his bed, Japan looked at the plushie sitting where once there had been a pillow. It had taken a few days, but it was finally finished. Truthfully, he hadn't expected it to take as long as this to make; Kitty-chan was usually mass-produced quite quickly. But with limited supplies and having to do it by hand and by himself... At the least he wasn't out of habit with hand-sewing, or it could have been disastrous.
He had debated whether it was alright to use the pillow to make it. It wasn't truly his pillow, after all, but merely one that had been on the bed Germany and Italy were loaning to him. He had finally decided that he could certainly get another pillow to return to them when he moved out of their apartment, and in the meantime he certainly didn't need it. These Western-style pillows were uncomfortable, it was preferable to sleep directly on the bed, at this point.
He had found a small sewing kit in the apartment, but certainly this wasn't the sort of thing it had been put there for. He had borrowed the needle, and a small amount of the white thread to finish off his seam, but it hadn't seemed forgivable, to take enough to do the entire thing.
And so he had turned to the coat he had been wearing over his kimono when he arrived. There was plenty of thread, and that it was black wouldn't matter; it would be on the inside, once he turned everything right side out. It worked well for the eyes and whiskers, at least. Since he'd already taken the coat apart at that point, he had used it for her bow. He had wanted to turn more of the coat into a dress for her, but had thought he wouldn't have enough thread for it. It was fortunate Germany had taken him clothing shopping yesterday, he had been able to find thread at the store, as well as a yellow button for her nose. Kitty-chan's outfits were half of what made her so cute, leaving her with just her head...he was glad he was able to make the dress after all. That it was the green-tinted brown of his old coat... It was unfortunate, pink would have been so much cuter.
Now that it was finished, however, his resolve to give it to China was wavering. Certainly China wouldn't be expecting it. It wasn't even a habit he'd been in, when he and China had last been in good relations. Doing something like this so unexpectedly...maybe it would be a strain on China to give this to him. If he didn't give it, it was only Japan who would feel the weight of his unmet obligation.
...It wasn't in his nature to leave things hanging like that, no matter that the circumstances were exceedingly complicated.
Still, this choice for a gift... Making something himself, it was so cheap. But here, he had no job, and no money to buy anything frivolous. Anything that he could get for free...that was even more cheap. Putting forth effort even if little money was spent was still preferable to something that took neither money nor effort.
But maybe homemade food would have been better. It was an appropriately distant sort of homemade gift. Something like this was so intimate. That he knew it was something China would like made it even worse. It was embarrassing to be giving him something so personal. The only comfort was that China said he was from 1960 - there was no way he should know Kitty-chan yet, it was over a decade after that that Japan had come up with her. Giving China something he would enjoy but didn't know about yet, that was probably better than having China know he'd put enough thought into a gift like this to remember it was something he liked. But as long as he didn't say it was handmade, maybe China wouldn't ask. He could perhaps save himself the embarrassment of having China know he'd put this sort of effort into it.
There was really no choice but to give it to China. Having expended so much effort, certainly it would be odd to have made it for himself. The only other choice would be to give it to Liechtenstein, and explaining something like that...it would certainly be worse.
Sighing quietly, he took one of the clothing bags from his shopping trip and cut it up to make it into makeshift wrapping paper. Everything about this gift was turning out so haphazard. Without a box to put it in, and with such strange paper, getting crisp edges to the wrapping took quite awhile. It turned out to resemble more a box itself, which defeated it being wrapping paper, but at least he wouldn't be presenting it completely unwrapped. Slipping the wrapping box into another of the shopping bags, he was glad that America's stores seemed less particular about putting brand names onto things. Or perhaps it had simply been a low class clothing store... Either way, it would be rude to put a brand name onto his homemade creation, as though he were trying to claim his work were of the quality assured by the brand. Better that it was a blank bag.
Stepping out of his room and closing the door behind him, he walked out into the main living space. China lived in this building, he knew. He had been sure to discreetly ask Germany the other day. Since that was the case, surely China also had at least one apartment mate. He would have to bring a first visit gift, and something he could give to China's roommates as well as China.
Fruit came to mind first, and it seemed a reasonable idea. Food was always a good gift, and almost anyone enjoyed fruit. He had found some small oranges that weren't entirely unlike his own mikan when he'd been shopping. He hurried back to his room for a small bag to put them in and came back out, heading over to the small bowl he'd put his fruit in. Picking up five of the oranges, he put them in the bag, tied off the handles, and put them into his larger bag with the wrapped Kitty-chan.
Then...there wasn't anything else to be done but bring everything up to China's apartment. Putting on his shoes, he opened the main door. His customary, "I'm leaving now," was spoken quietly; he had no wish to explain his errand to any of his apartment mates.
It was a long way up to China's floor, but he chose to use the stairs anyway. He told himself he wasn't putting this off by doing so. Still, he eventually reached the door to China's apartment. Composing himself, he knocked with more confidence than he felt about the whole endeavor, then dropped his arm, his hand joining his other on the bag's handle, and waited for a response.