a well-deserved gift

[shoewearer]

[ A few days ago, Mr. Magorium was met with the surprise of his life.

And, given how long a life his has been, it was some surprise.]

Edward Magorium steps outside of his toy store and home in proper gear this afternoon. His scarf is candy-cane striped, his jacket is puffy and brown, and his shoes are-well, the same. His toes are freezing, but that's

Comments

[edgeofhorizons]

Jess was not really planning on going to a toy store. She was going to head through to some teenage hang out place to gel for a few hours with loud music and loud emotions too. However, it's the music that she'd cling to and sit in the back, practicing how to not use those emotions and twist it against them. There's a lot on her mind and even more on her heart, she could use a place like this toy store.

She is distracted, however, by the store.

It would be impossible to miss it.

Jess glances sideways at the little kid and smiles. "Woah, that's just about the coolest store I've ever seen," she says, and she can see that the woman with him is a demon.. which feels strange to her. She doesn't really picture that. "What do you think?"

[willnotbemine]

"I think it's awesome," Max says, clutching the sleeve of Lena's coat jacket. He's outgoing for his age, but he'll still get shy, especially around pretty girls, so he's half-smiling at Jess, half-burrowing into Lena's side, and that's about the time Lena notes Max is making a new friend.

"You already got a lot of presents this Christmas, Mr. Man. Just how greedy are you gonna be this year?" Lena says, kneeling down so she's Max's height, an arm around his waist. She smiles up at Jess before looking at Max, lifting a brow expectantly. "Aren't you going to introduce yourself?"

She's taught you better than that, Maxwell Barnes.

Max waves at Jess half-sheepishly. "I'm Max."

[edgeofhorizons]

"I completely agree with you," Jess says, and she smiles gently at him when she sees that he is a bit shy. She doesn't have much interaction with kids at all, but she can remember being that age, how different everything was then. There's an innocence there that people (including her) can't help but want to protect.

She laughs a little at Lena's question to him. "It doesn't hurt to look. You can always find something to look forward to for next Christmas too," Jess suggests with a small smile and then she nods at Max and waits for him to introduce herself.

Jess waves back, smile widening.

"Hi, Max. I'm Jess," she says, stretching her hand out to shake his. "It's very nice to meet you."

[willnotbemine]

"It's very nice to meet you, too," Max says dutifully, though he's still half-hiding behind Lena. There's a tiny smile on his face, though, a pleased one, and then he looks up at Lena. "Can I go look at the toy soldiers now?"

Lena sighs as if aggrieved. "Yes, you can look at the toy soldiers now. Just stay where Lucky and I can see you," she says to him seriously.

She's learned to watch him like a hawk as it is, and Max runs toward the toy soldiers, likely with Lucky watching over him.

"Sorry. He's at that age where girls are still uncharted territory. I have a feeling he's going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up, though," Lena says fondly, smiling after Max before she turns back to Jess. "And I'm Lena. That one's auntie."

[edgeofhorizons]

Jess smiles warmly at Max before he walk over to the toy soldiers. She waves goodbye to him, laughing a little. It's only when she mention a Lucky that she's distracted enough to see Lucky who glances over at Lena and waves himself, tiny smile on his face.

She is trying not to stare, but Lena is definitely a demon and... this--

There's a healthy relationship going on here. Jess would be able to tell. She can't read Lena's emotions because she's a demon too. It's always harder to read the emotions of other demons or angels, but she can read this Lucky person's and it's completely-- the emotions are real.

His happiness and love are both real.

How does that happen?

Jess shakes her head at the sorry, once she stops staring. "Oh, no, don't-- it's fine. He's really cute and sweet. I bet you're right about that, breaking hearts left and right," she says with a small smile before she looks at her. "Hi, I'm... Jess. I said that... already. I'm not usually this--"

Words! She needs them. "Just... weird to see a happy, healthy looking

[willnotbemine]

Lena waves back at them both, giving Lucky a slight wink in the process, and she'd find the other girl's thought process so very strange. Not because it's untrue--there is happiness and love between them that is very much real, but when did Lena become the poster child for healthy demon living?

Ah, to be a hot mess at the age of eighteen up to only around a year ago.

Jess would not have been so impressed with her then.

"I've got a good eye for that, and I knew his dad, and he was a looker. I'm going to have to teach him about treating the ladies right. Or well, whatever ends up floating his boat." Lena's just about the loving, okay. Lena smiles at her, but there's a curious little expression on her face.

"Oh. Yeah, I see what you mean. When I was around your age I'd have been really weirded out myself," Lena says with a slight nose wrinkle. "Which makes it sound like I'm an old lady when I just turned twenty-five, but

[edgeofhorizons]

Lucky smirks at that wink before he kneels down beside Max, helping him with the soldiers to set up a big army together. Jess has no idea that Lena was never not a poster child for healthy demon living (hell, healthy living period, demon or not

[willnotbemine]

Lena was very much not a poster child for healthy demon living

[edgeofhorizons]

Jess couldn't even begin to imagine that now.

She doesn't see how people get out of the holes they've fallen into, how they begin to find a way whether their hole was created by using their powers or by falling into other things because they didn't use their powers. It's such a foreign concept to her, entirely foreign.

It hadn't occurred to her that there was another way, and she's sure that it's that way for a lot of demons. They don't know what else to do so they fall. They fall in whatever way they can to try to deal with... with everything going on inside of them, that threatens to tear them up, that grabs hold and refuses to let go.

The surprise on her face, in every part of her body is from that, is from seeing this healthiness, and she'll be even more surprised to learn that it wasn't always that way for Lena.

It doesn't have to be something you either have or don't have

[willnotbemine]

Lena isn't surprised that it is for a lot of demons