Ulipse was taking a nice stroll around the recently expanded emporium. She was admiring the handiwork of Arrolin and Ploque when she realized there were some Christmas decorations hung up.
"Oh boy, it's December, isn't it?" she sighed. She knew exactly what was gonna happen next: at any given moment: Compale will burst out with more decorations, accidentally dropping some on the floor, in a frantic hurry. Compale sure does love Christmas, huh? She continued walking when someone bumped into her.
A loud clattering and clinking noise erupted. Decorations were everywhere, and Compale was quickly gathering them up when Stratosfear walked into the room. "Oh no! Everything ok?" Ulipse got up and rubbed her head. "Owie. Tell Mr. Klutz here to watch where he's going." "But I could barely see anything with all the ornaments I'm holding! While yes, I'm sorry, you have to understand my position as well!" Compale retorted.
Ulipse grunted, got up, and walked away. Stratosfear bent down to help Compale out. "Here, let me carry some of these." Compale smiled. "Thank you Stratosfear." Xe grinned. "No prob!" They went to the entrance, where the Christmas tree was. It was a huge evergreen tree, same as any other. But it was special to everyone, because they all picked it themselves.
Compale was humming some winter tunes to himself, as he started hanging up some of the ornaments on the tree. Stratosfear flew up and placed a star on top. "I remember how much I always wanted to be able to put the star on top of the tree without any help," xe recalled. Compale nodded as he hung a duck ornament on one of the branches.
"Hey, could you hang up the lights as well?" "Yeah!" Strat was acting like a little kid at this point. Nothing got xem more excited than Christmas, especially with friends, even if some of those friends don't celebrate Christmas themselves. He took one end of the light, and lightly coiled it around the tree. Then, he plugged it into a nearby outlet, flicked a switch, and turned it on.
"Thank you!" Compale grinned. "You're welcome!" Strat smiled. "This is fun!" "Well, don't get too caught up in the excitement." "I know, I know."
Back at home, both Saviors are preparing as well, by going Christmas shopping.
"Do you think Nifo would want a toy pirate ship, or the Treasure Island book?" Verano asked, holding up both items.
"He loves pirate ships. Let's put that in the shopping cart," Player replied. "Maybe when he becomes a better reader I'll introduce him to Treasure Island." "Good thinking," she said. She put the ship into the cart and the book back on the shelf.
She pulled a list out of her pocket. "Paystie wants a lava lamp that's got the color purple," she read. "I'll order that online. We can head to the checkout now." They started wheeling the cart to the checkout. She stuffed the list back into her pocket. "Wait for me!"
¯¯¯⌜later...⌟¯¯¯
Verano rubbed both of her hands together. Despite having mittens on, the cold pierced through her skin. "The quicker we get home, the less time we'll spend out in the cold." "Yeah..." Player was walking with Verano to Verano's house to wrap the gifts, as doing it in Player's house would be riskier.
"Thank you so much for helping me out with this," Player said. "The pleasure is mine, she chuckled. "C'mon, let's hurry." "Right."
At home, the duo wrapped all of the presents. "My family is coming over," she reflected while cutting the wrapping paper. "Well, that's great!" Player said.
"Not really," she said sadly. "I haven't, well, came out to my family yet, so they still think I'm a cisgender girl." "I'm sure you'll figure something out. I'll be right there with you every step of the way!" they encouraged. Verano smiled. She picked up a box and handed it to Player.
"For you. For being the greatest friend a person could have. I wanted to wait until Christmas, but now's a good time as any." Player took it and placed it on the counter. They carefully opened the box, and took out a small plushie version of themself. It even had its own matching satchel. Their smile widened.
"It's so cute! Thank you!" Verano's cheeks turned to a slight pink. "Glad you like it," she answered. "I have your gift right here too!" they smiled as they pulled something out of one of the shopping bags. It was a long, rectangular gift box. They put it on the table and pushed it towards her.
Verano unwrapped the gift, and gasped. It was a fencing sword with its very own scabbard. The scabbard had a very fancy V embedded into the black metal. The handle had a very intricate design, and there was even a leather strap that straps the sword onto the hand in order to make it hard to slip. When she pulled the sword out, the hilt was a bright, glistening gold color. The point wasn't too... well, pointy, but enough for it to cause some damage if the user intended to hurt anyone.
"It's..." She was speechless. "I..." She put the sword onto the table. "Is something wrong?" Player's smile faltered. "No, it's just... Thank you. I never thought I'd get this for Christmas, haha. I really like it." "Really?" they asked. "Yeah. Merry Christmas to you." "You too."
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I KNOW IT'S FEBRUARY LMAO I JUST REALLY WANTED TO POST THIS. Very, very late happy holidays.