[Fried chicken has been eaten and leftovers were put away. It's time for gift giving on Christmas Eve!] Capfox: So if she brought it up, would she be like "what did you get me?" or "here's your thing"? Ardweden: The second. Ardweden: She'd just shove it into his hands and say Merry Christmas, all English-side with a nervously excited smile. It'd be a small box, wrapped in silver paper and with a red bow on top. Capfox: Okay. So he'd be like let's raise an eyebrow and draw it over and unwrap the thing carefully. And he's say thanks first. Ardweden: Ha, Katie'd contain her anxious energy! Sort of. Capfox: He glances up at her a couple of times while he's doing it, just, because she's so anxious about it, which is sort of amusing. But it's not like super hard to unwrap. Ardweden: THAT ONLY MAKES HER MORE ANXIOUS. And when he looks amused, then she gets a little cross. Well not really cross, but she kills the obvious anxiety. Capfox: Okay. Well, then he just works through the rest of the way of the wrapping! Ardweden: So inside is tissue paper wrapped around a pair of matching boxwood charms that Katie pretty clearly made herself and are each a good size for putting on a keychain, zipper, phone, or the like. They're a pair of Chinese guardian lions and carved with obvious care, only they look much more like actual lions. The male has a baseball under his paw, and the female has a mitt. Capfox: Wow. He'd definitely be impressed by that. Looking at them, handling them gingerly, passing them up. Pretty clearly impressed, not saying much about it. He'll probably ask if they're both for him, or if one's for her. Ardweden: If he's silent for too long, Katie'd say, "They're for luck," then follow up pretty quickly with, "It's silly to think that someone can just have luck, but Haruko suggested I give you something for your games and..." She trails off. Katie: "Anyway, they're yours. You could give one to me if you wanted?" She obviously hadn't thought that through. Capfox: He'd be like, "they're great. Just look at them." He'd give her knee a light squeeze, and then proffer her the male one. "For your jacket? Can put the other one on mine." (Trying to decide which one he'd keep was a challenge. =P) Ardweden: Katie takes the lion and turns it in her hand, then smiles at Kyon, the nervousness slowly fading. "Yeah. I'll do that." She darts in to give him a hug. "I'm so glad you like them; I had to go through three blocks of wood getting them right. And I was thinking of making one, but you can't just have one guardian lion." (Oh yeah? ^^) Capfox: (Well, the male one is more manly, but the male/female split pair is sort of more relationshippy.) Capfox: He'd try hugging her back lightly, but he'd keep his scarred hand off her - the armwarmers aren't even on. And then nod curtly, and say, "Yeah. Gotta have two." Ardweden: Katie pulls away and smiles, all of her nervousness gone. (And then one day Wataru steals a lion charm and uses it to hex one of them. The end!) (For Wataru.) Capfox: (Yeah, that probably wouldn't turn out well.) Ardweden: (Nope! So, Kyon's up. ^^) (Also I think I may copypasta this after we're done and turn it into a fake-log to put on the site, for posterity.) Capfox: (Okay!) Capfox: Kyon would go attach the lioness to his jacket zipper. It actually fits in fairly well. And then go back in and settles in his chair. "Your turn?" Ardweden: Katie nods. She hasn't attached the lion to a zipper yet, still turning it over between her fingers. Capfox: "Right," Kyon says, and pulls out a long, flat, rectangular box. It's wrapped in silvery snowscape wrapping paper, and is moderately heavy. Ardweden: Katie says 'oh' and takes the box gingerly, weighing it between her hands. She doesn't shake it! But she seems to be trying to figure out what it is before opening the thing. Capfox: The weight does seem to shift slightly around when she weighs it. But it feels pretty solid. Ardweden: She eventually gives up and starts opening it along the wrapping's seams. Capfox: Kyon is way more patient about watching this sort of thing than she is. Ardweden: He may be more confident in his gift choices! Regardless, Katie eventually unwraps her present. Capfox: The box is a deep green paper one, but once that's open, under the tissue paper, first is a woodblock print in a modern style, of a late fall scene. Some frost in the trees, but some leaves still, dark yellow and orange. There's a heron standing in the shallows of a pond, a duck by some reeds, and a ginger tabby sitting up in the branches. There's a temple visible off in the background. It's already set in a solid black- stained wood frame, too. But the frame isn't entirely even in the box; it's a little unbalanced. Ardweden: Katie laughs with delight upon seeing it - "Kumaguro!" - and she runs her fingers over the woodblock. She doesn't seem to notice there's something underneath yet. Well, until she realizes the balance is off, and she looks up at Kyon questioningly. Capfox: Kyon watches her expression, and nods affirmingly. It certainly is off-balance, isn't it. Ardweden: Katie smiles, and she goes back to her present, pulling the Kumaguro woodblock print up to see what's underneath. Capfox: What is underneath is a small felted black box with an even smaller gold-leaf insignia on it! Some kind of grasshand kanji that would probably be pretty hard to read for anyone. Ardweden: Katie looks at it curiously, and she sets the woodblock carefully aside. She picks up the box and turns it over, looking at the insignia closely. Capfox: On closer inspection, it is definitely a grasshand kanji that is hard to read. It does appear to have the water radical in it? And the bird one, maybe? The box feels not super weighty. Ardweden: Katie gives up. Not reading the occasional thing is nothing new to her, and she'll find out what's inside eventually. Like... right now, as she opens said box. Capfox: This has a small grey cushion inside, with a ring on it! The ring is certainly made of a precious metal. It's a band of medium- thickness, with a lark engraved on the outside, and the date engraved on the inside. Kyon remarks, "Didn't engrave it myself. Probably turned out better that way, though." Ardweden: Katie's eyes go wide, and she picks it up between two fingers. She looks to her boyfriend. "Kyon..." Capfox: Kyon watches the ring in her hand. "Yeah?" Ardweden: "It's beautiful." Katie looks down at the ring and tries to gauge which finger it would fit on. "I've never gotten jewelry from anyone before." Capfox: "So it's a good first Christmas thing." He crouches towards her, elbows on knees. "Had to guess at the size, though. Think I did okay. It's an antique ring, just got the guy to do the engraving." Ardweden: Katie smiles a bit and tries to slip it on her left ring finger. It works; just a little bit loose. She looks at it for a moment. "I should probably keep it on my other hand," Katie says to the ring more than to Kyon, though obviously it's directed at him. Capfox: Kyon blinks, and then looks at her, unsure suddenly. "Why? Katie, it's just a ring. Thought you'd like it. It's different, and... you. But I'm. This isn't proposing." Ardweden: "Good." Katie's gaze is still locked on the ring on her left hand, and her voice is steady. "I wouldn't want you to propose right now, anyway." She pulls it off, transferring it to her right ring finger. Capfox: "Okay." Kyon straightens his back, and looks down at the ring again. "Right. But you like it." Ardweden: She adjusts the ring on her right finger, and she looks up at Kyon. "I love it. I..." Katie sighs. "Every time I think I might come up with the better present, Kyon. Every time." Capfox: Kyon smirks. "But the lions are great. Really liked them. And you made them yourself. That's points." Ardweden: Katie laughs. "Fine, we'll draw up a scoreboard next time." She looks at the ring again. "Maybe I'll wear this on my left hand tomorrow." Capfox: Kyon barks out a rough laugh. "Killing your parents from shock isn't a good Christmas present." Ardweden: Katie: "But it'd be fun!" Capfox: Kyon scowls, and says jokingly, "So I have to be on my best behavior, but you get to get them all scared?" Ardweden: "It'd be a challenge." Katie nudges Kyon with her arm. "You like challenges." Capfox: "Be enough of one without you making them think things." Capfox: (We're probably 10 min or so out of the station, by the way.) Ardweden: Katie laughs. "Fiiiiine. I'll be good." She just leans against Kyon now, hugging his arm. "Merry Christmas." (Yup, wrapping up!) Capfox: (Good arm or bad arm?) Ardweden: (Good arm.) Capfox: He twitches a little - it's weird to feel it without the armwarmers on, but he relaxes after a beat. "Glad I got enough of it right. Merry Christmas."