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| Favorite "Fruitcake" story? |
| "How Does It Taste?", Petra |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| "No Girls In The Kitchen", Ialo |
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66% |
[ 4 ] |
| "Not Even A Mouse", Viktor |
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33% |
[ 2 ] |
| "Fruity Flirtation", Danni |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| "A Quaint Afternoon Snack", Gemini |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
| "For A Simple Smile", Asmodeus |
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0% |
[ 0 ] |
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| Total Votes : 6 |
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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 Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 9:03 pm
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Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2012 10:25 pm
"The Gift"
Danni Rinaldi “Christmas is coming up, you know.” Danni glanced up from where she was sprawled on the rug in front of the hearth. She’d just been contemplating a nap when Henri had spoken. Tilting her head and resting it on her arm, she looked at him, saw he’d set his book down in his lap and was studying her again. It seemed she was forever catching him looking at her.
“I’m aware. I already told you I would behave at your fancy party.” He chuckled at that, picking up his wine and sipping as his eyes smiled down at her. Did she realize how she looked, he thought, with her eyes half-closed and her lips just starting to pout? He doubted she did, or that she would care.
“I’m not speaking of the party, I’m speaking of Christmas. What would you like?” He watched her roll onto her back, study the ceiling as her lips pursed. For several moments she was silent before she smiled, patted her stomach.
“I would like a cake. A cake made entirely of chicken nuggets and honey mustard.” Nodding in satisfaction, she glanced over at Henri’s sudden bark of laughter. With some interest, she watched as he set down his wine, pressed a hand to his own stomach and laughed, long and hard and loud. It took several long seconds for his laughter to tone down into muffled chuckles, and he took a deep breath, wiping at his eyes.
“No…No, not to eat, Danni. What would you like for a Christmas present?” He watched her face go completely blank, confusion flitting in her eyes.
“A…present?” She spoke as if it were a strange, exotic word, her brow furrowing a bit. Slowly his laughter died off completely, and he reached for his wine again, amusement gone.
“Yes. A present. A gift.” At her careless shrug, he set his drink down once more, leaned towards her a bit in his chair. “Surely you’re familiar with the concept of giving gifts at Christmas. I’ve been to your parents’ holiday parties.” She smirked at that, and this time it was she who chuckled.
“I am familiar with the concept, Paris. I’ve just never been included in the process. You can’t claim to have ever seen me present when my siblings showed off their Christmas gifts.” She offered him a smile as careless as her shrug had been, and there was no resentment in her words, only the casualness of an accepted truth.
“She who lives in the basement has no need for toys or things that would merely cause clutter. Though, Ambrose gave me a present one year. A coloring book. He slid it down the vents so Mother wouldn’t know. A pity I didn’t have any crayons.” She scratched her chin, smiling fondly as she recalled running her finger over the thick black outlines of the pictures in the book, imagining the colors she would fill it with.
She didn’t notice when Henri slowly leaned back in his chair, didn’t notice when he took a long, slow sip of his wine. She did notice, however, when he cleared his throat, rubbed the back of his neck.
“Do you…Still have the coloring book?” She blinked at the question, offered a quick grin.
“Of course. It was a present. The pages have started to yellow a bit, I’m afraid. It must be more than ten years old now.” She shrugged once more, then yawned, stretching her arms over her head before rolling onto her side to watch the fire dance in the hearth. Considering the conversation finished, she closed her eyes, let herself drift.
“Danni?” She heard Henri’s voice in the back of her mind, merely sighed and scratched absently at her cheek.
“Hmmm?” After her lazy reply came a short silence and then, “What’s one thing you’ve always wanted?” He spoke almost in a whisper, but she heard him fine enough, even half asleep.
“A dog,” The words came out before she knew she was even thinking them, and she curled herself up a bit tighter as her body began to warm.
“A dog?”
“Yes. I always wanted one. A big, happy dog. Mother wouldn’t hear of it. I suppose it doesn’t matter now.” With that, she let out one last sigh, flipped into her most comfortable sleeping position, flat out on her stomach, her head pillowed on her outstretched arm. Within moments she was snoring softly while the fire snapped in the wood stove and Henri sat quietly in his chair, studying her without further comment as he sipped at his wine. And wondered. _____________________________________________________________ Danni tried to pretend she wasn't pacing in front of the window as she glanced at the grandfather clock for the third time in two minutes. He was late. He was never late. Or if he was going to be, he called. He always called. But the old-fashioned rotary phone on the desk remained silent, as did the mysterious cellular phone he'd given her that she sometimes remembered how to answer.
It was storming outside, with flurries of snow smacking against the window, all but blinding her view of the circular driveway and the gates beyond it. She imagined the storm was pleasing a certain dragon boy of hers, but at the moment she found it particularly inconvenient. He'd been gone when she'd woken up this morning, and he never left without saying goodbye. He hadn't left a note, and he always left a note. Really, it was all his fault that she was concerned. And there was no way, absolutely no way she was going to lower herself to asking Bertram where her fiance was, though the stodgy butler was sure to know. He always knew.
Just as she was about to march out into the snow and look for the fool herself, she spotted the long black limo gliding through the gates, maneuvering slowly around the driveway as its windshield wipers worked furiously against the snow. Blowing out a breath of frustration, Danni pursed her lips as she saw Henri leap from the back of the limo, bundling something close to his chest as he made a mad dash for the front door. Since Henri rarely moved at a rate faster than a casual saunter, something had to be wrong, drastically wrong.
Without stopping to think, Danni turned on her heel, all but leaped down the stairs and got to the front hall just as Bertram was opening the door to welcome Henri home. Ignoring the butler, Danni strode forward, searching for any injuries, any sign that he'd come down with some illness overnight. When he looked up at her, his face was red from the cold, the impish grin on his face turning her mood from worried to vaguely annoyed. He looked rather pleased with himself for a man who hadn't thought to tell her where he'd be. Not that she'd worried, of course.
"And just what are you-" Danni cut herself off when she saw the bundle under Henri's jacket begin to move, stepping closer as her eyes narrowed. Had he gone and stolen a small child? She wouldn't put it past the man. He was unnaturally obsessed with procreating.
Because Henri spotted the growing suspicion in his fiancee's eyes, he laughed a bit breathlessly, shifted his coat so that a furry canine head popped out from the jacket's collar, looking around at his new surroundings. Rather than looking at the puppy, Henri focused his attention on Danni, who was starting at the dog as though it were an alien species.
"Ah, Paris...You appear to have a small dog in your coat." Utterly mystified, Danni tilted her head to the side a bit, studied the pup while Henri chuckled, reaching down his coat and pulling out the small bundle of fur.
"So I do. Merry Christmas." He held out the wiggling puppy, smiled encouragingly at Danni as the dog wagged its tail. However, Danni merely continued to stare, this time at Henri.
"You...Got me a dog? You got me a dog for Christmas?" She spoke slowly, as though trying to comprehend the words, and Henri nodded, stepping closer and dropping the pup into Danni's arms. She caught him automatically, found herself with an armful of wriggling, loving puppy as he planted his paws on her shoulders to lick enthusiastically at her face. Despite herself, she laughed in shocked delight, shifting her grip to cradle the dog in one arm while she stared at Henri. There was something welling up inside her, something not all too familiar. It was warm and...soft. He had gotten her a dog. He had given her a Christmas present, her first one in over a decade. And it was a dog.
Despite her laugh, Henri was uncertain what to make of the way she stared at him. There was shock in her eyes, uncertainty, and yet she cradled the dog securely, as though someone might try to snatch him away. Because she looked so uncertain, so unsure, he offered a smile, hoped his instincts had been right.
"I realize he's small now, but he'll grow. He's a German Shepherd. He'll have to stay here while you're at school, of course, but he's yours. If you want him, that is." At his last words, he watched her grip on the dog tighten, watched panic skitter over her face as though he'd been about to rip the pup from her hands. But then the panic disappeared, and there was only the uncertainty, and something that looked suspiciously like gratitude. Her eyes softened, and for a moment she looked more vulnerable than he'd ever seen her.
"Yes...Yes, I want him. I very much want him. Henri..." She searched for the words that would truly describe how she felt at the moment. He had given her a dog. A dog of her own. He was beautiful, a ball of black and brown fur with a wet nose that rubbed up against her arm, looking for affection. She thought, briefly, of all the times she'd wished for a dog, a companion. He had given her that. Because she had mentioned it once, on a sleepy winter night, he had cared enough to get her a dog. She didn't quite know what to say, so she settled simply for "Thank you."
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 10:32 am
"Box of Tricks"
Light of the Blackstar She had been sitting on this idea for weeks now, the perfect Christmas time prank, it would be glorious. Sitting in her underwear covered in oil in the middle of the floor, Light tinkered and fiddled as her creation came together. It was quite a bit bigger than her usual creations, but this one was somewhat special, it had to be big, and it had to look the part. " A few rivets here... And. Yeah" Murmuring to herself, Light picked up a soldering gun and put the finishing touches to some wiring. Her creation was starting to take shape, the large flat sides glinting slightly in the light of her bright work lamp. Lifting the final large metal component with her gravity influence, the minuscule imp floated it carefully to the rest of her creation, and with a few buzzes from a power wrench, the final component was fixed into place " Eeeexcellent... Now, decoration, heh... hahaha!" Her laugh was manic, dangerous, unbalanced... Wiping her oil stained hands across her thighs, Light lifted a roll of wrapping paper and floated her creation into the air to begin coating it in the colourful material. The finishing touch of a gravity lightening spell took most of the weight down, now all that was left, was to 'deliver her gift' so to speak... -------------------- Knock. knock, knock... " What, I'm busy!" Ialo shouted from his bed. He'd been busy doing his usual, updating his websites, and this late at night he wasn't in the mood to be disturbed. Knock, knock, knock. " What! Fine... I'm coming." The dragon boy shouted irately getting from his bed and finding a bathrobe to throw on over his 'lazing about' shorts. Looking through the peep hole into an empty corridor, Ialo cautiously opened the door to find a sizable package outside in the corridor. It was wrapped in bright blue paper with large yellow polka dots, and had a massive pink bow with a tag stuck to the top. " Who's this from?" Ialo said quietly as he bent over to carry the box inside. Grabbing it by each side, it felt solid, really solid, but surprisingly light. Ialo had not problem carrying it into his room. Sitting it down in the middle of his floor, Ialo looked over the tag attached to the top " Sorry for all the trouble I have caused, Merry Christmas and Surprise ********? From L..." His eyes narrowed, something wasn't right. Grabbing a hold of a lose bit of paper, Ialo went to rip the mysterious package open, only to immediately regret it. " UHhhhhh…" With a loud 'KA-SHUNK' Ialo was hit full force in the stomach by a hydraulic powered boxing glove that then proceeded to explode, coating the winded boy in glitter, streamers, and a very sticky glue like substance. Wheezing harshly, Ialo fell to the floor and with watering eyes could only look in as things went from bad, to worse. The paper ripped open in several more places, as a few flashing multicoloured 'warning lights' erupted from the surface accompanied by some unintentionally creepy circus music. Looking on in horror, Ialo got to his knees as the 'box' began to rise from the ground on little piston driven legs of its own. The wrapping paper shredded all over its exterior as the outside of the box morphed into a barrel ridden shooty death machine. Taking a step " No..." the metal monstrosity stood in the centre of the room and began to spin. " No. No. No. No!" BANG, BANG, BANG! All the barrels exploded in a multicoloured bombardment of glitter, glue, feathers and streamers. " NO!!" Ialo's room was a horrible sticky mess already but on the final symbol crash of the song, every single barrel went off at the same time, decimating any surface that had miraculously managed to survive this long untouched. Coming out of its final Spin, the machine unfolded yet again, taking on a humanoid like form, bristled with the barrels from before. Between it's arms, A large fabric flag unfolded, a white background with a single large black 'L' and over the top, two lines of rainbow coloured text in the middle. 'The Gift That Keeps On Giving'
'Merry Christmas Fuckwit' " Y-you... you b***h!!" Ialo groaned, holding his stomach, as he slowly got to his feet. There was no question who did this, no question at all... And she would pay, she was going down! Before the dragon boy could make a move for the robot though, it was on the move. Taking a few steps back the robot began to sprint before opening Ialo's window and launching it';s self into the night like a mysterious glitter covered robotic ninja, that played ******** up music from it's armpits. MEANWHILE. Light sat on her bed in stitches watching a small monitor on her desk. " Ahahahahaha! Oh, oh oh... His face, hahahaha!" She laughed hysterically, wiping away a tear from her eye. Fitting the robot with cameras was a great idea, and recording the Lizards reaction was an even better one! " Cajus is gonna love this, haha! Ahh, how do you gift a video file though? Hmm..." Struck by the sudden realisation that a digital file couldn't be gift wrapped, a half naked, oil covered, giggling Light jumped from her bed to find a disk or memory-pen, Christmas this year was going to be excellent.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 11:35 am
"Social Skills"
Ialo Enlil ENLIL CORP. HQ:
“I just don’t get it…” Mr. Enlil stared out the window of his office, down into the city streets below. It was another night working – the clock read four in the morning, and he could see some trashmen beginning to circle around and collect dumpsters, while the majority of people were still sleeping.
“What don’t you get, sir?” The intern turned around. Her name was Robin, and like all the other interns that passed through these hallways, she had to do a week of ‘maid duty’. This was her week, and here she was in the middle of the night in a fluorescent yellow biohazard suit (sans headgear) delicately disposing of…. Something. The boss had a bad habit of eating in his office and then neglecting to clean up. More than once, some odd monstrosity had crawled back out of the bin and then had to be subdued with fire. It was a wholly hellish task, and anyone who thought she stood around all day in a short French maid costume to be leered at by middle-aged men deserved to be punched and tasered. Or tasered and then punched. Whichever came first. And the rumors were the other boss, the missus, ran an even tighter ship.
Robin shook her head and gagged as she double-bagged the trash and slapped a green hazard sticker on it.
Oblivious to her plight, Mr. Enlil continued to stare out the window, spinning back and forth in his chair.
“My son, Ialo. I don’t… get him. How do you shop for someone you don’t get?”
“Well sir, what are his hobbies?”
Mr. Enlil was silent, and Robin rolled her eyes. Of course the boss wouldn’t know what his own kid liked. He was that dumb. Clever, but… dumb. The internship was totally worth it though. It paid above minimum wage, after an incident involving a short skirt and some power tools, she had strong-armed the entire third floor into begging the boss to hire her long term. If only she knew this was the stuff she’d be getting into…
“Let me rephrase that. If Cyril likes music, and Evan likes sports, and Caroline is perfectly happy with new clothes, then what would Ialo like?”
“I… I don’t know.” A pause, and he turned around with his head tilted. “Why do you know more about my kids than I do?”
Robin stared her boss dead in the eyes.
“Sir. With all due respect, I am the only living being in this building with social skills. You could make the dullest robot ever, and it would make more friends than every engineer here combined.”
“…. Huh. That’s not a half bad idea. There are some programs I’ve been meaning to finish working on anyways. Robin, when you’re done, page Seth for me. I might have to talk Leon tomorrow… How long until Christmas, again?”
MYSTIC FOUNTAIN:
Ialo stared at the box. There has been bad experiences with packages in the past, but this one… This one was postmarked from his dad, right from his office. He carefully sliced the plain brown cardboard apart. There was a sheen of metal underneath the Styrofoam bits, and an envelope lodged in there. Knowing his father, Ialo took out the envelope first. There was a letter and a disc inside.
Dear son,
I love you very much. I’m sorry I can’t be there on Christmas.
I promised this contract is almost over.
This is a gift from me to you. My hope is that you will make lots of friends and be very happy.
Use the disc to install the program on your computer. The rest will happen by itself.
Love, Daddy.
The dragonboy sighed. What could his dad have possibly had in mind this time? Well, whatever it was, his contraptions tended to be more silly than harmful, so Ialo went ahead and started running the disc on his laptop. While that was installing, he looked back over at the box. What the hell had his dad sent him? It was kind of heavy…
Ialo dug around in the Styrofoam and pulled out…. What was it? It was round, for sure, but it was metal, and he could see fine seams in the side. A… a computer?
“What the hell…”
Suddenly, the machine lit up and broke apart, little pieces orbiting every which way. Ialo yelped, and fell backwards off his bed and into the wall.
“Hello! I’m your new social skills!”
“SON OF A b***h! I HATE CHRISTMAS!”
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 4:23 pm
"Secret Santa"
Luli "Bo" MuRong "Wrappy wrappy wrap the presents.~" Luli/Bo sang to herself as she sat in the center of her bedroom, surrounded by lots of wrapping paper and tape. She had been watching lots of these American movies, and being December there were lots of Christmas movies to be enjoyed by unfamiliar eyes.
She had noticed that in those movies boys would always give presents to girls they liked, and the girls would get super happy about the gift. If it worked for the people in the movies, it should work for Luli. Luli has already got the handsome thing down, being capable of looking like the image of every young girl's fantasies. Now she just needed to woo someone.
Taking the wrapping paper in hand, she laid it out flat on the floor. For the size of the gift she was using, the amount of paper was too way too much to be used. She slapped the slimy present in all of its fishy glory into the center of the paper, and rolled the fish up like a butcher would roll up meat to give to the customer. Luli smiled at the wrapped present, reminding her of a fish taco she'd eaten once in the school cafeteria. It took her quite a bit of convincing the lunch lady to let her have a whole fish.
"I wanna eat it, but I can't. If pretty girls don't get gifts they won't be wooed." Pushing her hunger aside, she hurriedly taped up the gift with copious amounts of tape. "Now.....for the bow." On the very top of the soppy gift she place a delicate little shimmering bow. "Perfect.~"
Later she carried the gift down to the big Christmas tree in the center hall of the school building. People eyed her oddly as she was carrying a drippy, smelly present, but in her eyes it was looks of jealousy. Flopping it down under the tree, she wrote a hurriedly scribbled note with a marker.
"To a very pretty girl from a Prince Charming." Putting the cap on the marker, she strode away happily as others snickered behind her back. Perhaps they were happy about the coming of presents? Luli would just be happy if a pretty girl got her present, and that it would make that girl very happy.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:40 pm
"Secret Admirer"
[Petra] What was with people and leaving weird mystery gifts in Petra’s stocking? The awful fruitcake was actually expected due to the exchange with the other cheerleaders. Yet, she had been receiving small gifts from supposed secret admirers recently. Or were they all just from one? The handwriting of some of them seemed different and they did vary in thoughtfulness and in value. She’d received a few candy canes, which she added to the secret stash in her room, and a couple of nice cards, one with a rose attached to it.
She knew none of them were from Viktor or Naomi, as they were both clearly romantically oriented and Vik would usually be more forward with his giving. Petra was also certain the second card was either from someone vulgar or just very hopeful, as the inside of it had a condom taped to one side. It made her blush but she quietly tucked the tiny packet away, wondering if she might have a use for it someday. Still, that was nothing compared to what she held in her hands now.
Petra stared blankly at the thing before tucking it under her bed. She would need it as evidence. Surely this could be classified as harassment of some kind? How would she even report such a thing? More importantly, how would she even figure out who the anonymous giver was? It was troubling indeed, she thought as she paced the room. Especially if it were simply a joke from a friend of hers. Or better yet, if it weren’t a joke but it was actually from…
Her thoughts lead her to blush and fall against her bed. This was no good. She certainly wasn’t going to get anywhere until she figured out who had left her the package. Petra was no criminal investigation specialist, but she was certain she could at least try and narrow out a few people. Most of her friends would come out honestly about what they had done if they knew it bothered her, after all. At least, she trusted that they would.
Hurrying through the halls, she ran to Naomi’s room first. It was not surprising that she’d caught her friend in the middle of a video game.
“May I come in? I’ve something urgent to discuss with you,” Petra said. Naomi nodded and stepped aside.
“Of course silly. If something is worrying you I’m always here to talk,” she said. Petra felt a little bad. She knew she was always asking Naomi for help. Sometimes she felt like she talked more than she listened to the poor girl and treated her badly. Still, she shook off these thoughts. Right now was an actual emergency of sorts.
“Actually I just needed to ask you something,” the vampire said as she stepped into the room. “You haven’t sent me a gift lately have you? We promised that if we did exchange gifts we would wait until Christmas, I know, but you wouldn’t have sent me something a bit… outlandish as a joke?” Naomi sat, blinking at Petra for a moment. The pale girl tended to blush easily, but this time she seemed so flustered it was like a different girl. She offered a kind hand and gentle smile, hoping to help her friend relax.
“I haven’t sent anything, no. But I’m guessing by what you’re asking me you’ve already gotten a strange present from someone,” Naomi said, falling back on her bed with her DS in hand. Petra nodded. She was still so quiet. “What did they give you?” The vampire shook her head.
“I can’t say. It’s… well it’s rather crude. At least the implication behind it is,” she insisted, clinging to the end of her dress and tugging on it. She couldn’t believe someone would send that sort of thing to anyone, especially anonymously. Was the implication that she should use it with the sender? If that were the case it was unlikely she would be able to as she did not know the person’s identity. Let alone if she would want to use it with them.
“Petra,” Naomi said, her face falling to a more serious expression now. “If someone is harassing you, you need to tell someone. I don’t know that Mr. White would do anything about it but Gerwald-” Petra stiffened.
“No! Gerwald absolutely cannot know about this!” she shouted. She slapped her hands over her mouth a moment later, realizing she’d just been louder about that than she’d meant to be. Putting her hands back at her sides, she whispered, “I’m sorry.”
“Well, you should tell someone. I mean, depending on what it is they sent you it could easily be called harassment,” the fox girl said. She walked over and laid a hand on Petra in comfort. Whatever the package was, it was clearly bothering the girl. Surely there was someone at the school one could go to for this sort of thing. “If you don’t feel comfortable telling me about it, maybe tell Mr. Luxuria? He is supposed to help with this sort of stuff, isn’t he?”
Petra bit her lip, considering it. She would probably end up too embarrassed to tell him what the actual gift was, but she might be able to at least go to him for advice. After all, he seemed nice enough the past couple of times she’d stopped in his office. Even if he was busy it was worth a try. Leaving Naomi behind and thanking her for the suggestion, Petra made her way up to the school counselor’s office. She knocked gently on the door, hoping she wasn’t interrupting anything. There did seem to be a bit of noise in the room…
Just as Petra was about to leave, the door swung open and one of the assistants popped their head out into the hall. “Can I help you?”
“I was looking for Mr. Luxuria. Is he here?” she asked. The assistant peered behind him, not leaving the door open too wide. Petra could barely see inside. He turned back to her a second later, moving so quickly he startled her a bit.
“I’ll need to know your name and if you had scheduled an appointment with Mr. Luxuria,” he said, staring down at her.
“No appointment, no, but my name is Petra Thornton.” He swung his head around again and this time she heard some whispering. It was awfully shady for a school counselor, she thought, to be going through all this secrecy.
“He’ll be with you in a moment or two. He simply had an earlier appointment that he just needs to wrap up and he will be right with you. Would you mind waiting out here for a bit though? The waiting room is a bit of a mess at the moment and needs some tidying up.” Petra nodded before the door shut in her face. Moments later she heard a vacuum running inside, covering up the noise she had heard before. This whole situation was rather odd. If she hadn’t already agreed to wait she might have simply left and sought other help. Thankfully for her, it wasn’t too much longer before the door opened up again with Asmodeous himself standing there to greet her. Someone she recognized as one of the school’s secretaries made his way out of the room, acknowledging Petra with the slightest of nods.
“Don’t forget what we discussed in there,” Asmodeous said, trying not to give away the grin creeping onto his face. Beelzebub turned his head back for a moment.
“You know I won’t. And don’t you get carried away, yourself,” he said. It was sort of funny to hear that coming from Bee, as he was the king, or rather the prince, of getting carried away. Still Asmodeous merely smiled and waved as the other demon turned his head back away, walking with pride. Looking down to Petra, he waved her inside.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting. Especially since my assistant is so picky about keeping the room nice and tidy,” he said.
“Not a problem,” Petra insisted. “I simply came to ask you a quick question, Mr. Luxuria.” He rose an eyebrow curiously, leading her into the counseling room. They sat across from each other, door closed behind them. Asmodeous leaned on his hands, not taking his eyes off of the girl. She was more uptight than usual.
“Ask anything you’d like. I’m here to help,” he said with a smile. It didn’t even cross his mind how simple the lie was starting to become. He told it as if it were truth, which was made easier by the fact that he’d actually almost given decent advice to a couple students.
“What should a um… a girl do if they receive a lewd anonymous gift?” Petra mumbled, unable to remain eye contact with the older man. Perhaps she ought to have gone to Gerwald after all. Even if going to Gerry for help did nowadays feel like going to her father. Mr. Luxuria was more that adult you have an embarrassingly huge crush on that not even you realize you have. Petra felt very close to realizing it, as her face was much warmer than she’d expected when talking to him.
“Lewd?” he repeated, drawing out the word a bit. This was not exactly what he’d expected when he had to cut his other “meeting” short. This was much, much better. It was just hard for Asmodeous to keep a straight face. “Well, what kind of gift are we talking about? Is it simply a tasteless prank or was this something sexual in nature?”
Petra flushed even more as she heard the word slip between his lips. Was she imagining it or did he emphasize it just a bit? She shook her head, trying to form words. “The second thing,” she said beneath her breath.
“It sounds like you’re being harassed. I’d like you to return to your room and bring this ‘gift’ to me. Then I can better help you with what to do,” Asmodeous said.
Petra shook her head again. “No, I can’t bring it here. Mr. Luxuria, it’s… it’s too embarrassing. I’d just like to find whoever gave it to me so I can…” The vampire paused. What would she do if she found out who it was? What if it had been Ialo? Or maybe even Viktor? Were they really into that sort of thing? “So I can give them a piece of my mind,” she said.
“Alright,” Asmodeous said, “then bring it to me and perhaps I can work some tracing spell of some kind.”
“No, I’m afraid I’d rather that no one ever sees it. It… it’s far too embarrassing.”
The demon’s smile faltered for a moment. He really wanted to know what some idiot had sent this girl to make her so uncomfortable. He knew of so many things that narrowing it down to just one sexual gift someone could send made it rather difficult. It could be anything, really! That alone was enough to make Asmodeous have to know. What was inside Petra’s room that made her blush so furiously?
“Won’t you at least tell me what it is?” he asked.
“I-I…”
“You can even just come over here and whisper it to me,” Asmodeous suggested. Petra was frozen in her seat. “Or perhaps I can go over there?” She nodded slowly.
He made his way to where she sat, kneeling down beside her as if he were as harmless as a little butterfly. Gently taking her hand, he coaxed her ever closer. Petra was cautious, but moved her head closer to him. Her lips were so close they nearly brushed against his ear when she finally whispered to him what she’d been given.
Of all the laughter Asmodeous had been forced to stifle before, this was among the hardest. Now he understood her embarrassment and her determined need to find this weird little pervert who’d sent her the gift. He pulled away from her, nodding and petting her hands. He was going to pretend to be a soft little teddy bear all to keep up the rouse. As soon as he’d bid Petra goodbye, however, he closed the door to break into a fit of laughter.
The red-haired girl marched her way back to the Byzantium dorms, wondering what in the world she ought to do next. She was about to enter her own room when Vik caught sight of her. He rose his hand in greeting and hurried over to her.
“Bună ziua, Petra,” Viktor said. He noticed her expression almost immediately. This was not the cheerful Petra he was used to seeing. Something was on her mind. “Pardon for asking, but it seems something bothers you?”
“It’s nothing, really Viktor. I’m fine,” Petra said. She wouldn’t look at him. It was the worst when she simply refused to look at him. He took her hand in his. Vik wanted her to feel safe and comfortable when she was around him. Her trust meant the world to him.
“Whatever is on your mind, you can share with me. I am not judging,” he told her. She’d locked eyes with him now, though he had the one covered as usual. It couldn’t have been Viktor who sent it. The thought had always seemed sort of ridiculous, but now that she was face to face with him again, she was certain. He was not the sort of guy to simply give her something like that. He tended to be a bit more romantic and flirtatious with his advances. Sending her… giving her… That kind of package was not the way he did things.
“Honestly, don’t concern yourself with it. It’s silly, really. I think it’s best that I just pretend nothing ever happened and move on,” Petra insisted. Vik was still a bit worried, but agreed that it might be the best course of action for her to take. She ended up heading to his room for the rest of the afternoon to hang out.
Later that evening, she’d gone to a computer lab to work on a paper when she noticed a familiar white haired boy sitting adjacent to the only free computer left. She scooted into the seat quietly, wondering if he’d noticed her. It was only then that the offending gift reappeared in her mind.
“Hey Petra,” Ialo said, leaning back in his chair a bit. “What brings you here?”
“P-paper…” she muttered, hunching over the keyboard. She was always embarrassed around him, always shyer than usual, but now it was to an excessive degree. She couldn’t get the stupid gift off her mind. Along with thoughts of the gift came thoughts of what one did with it. Her face could not have been more red if she’d painted it. He smiled as he watched her, thinking to himself that her shyness only made her cuter.
“Around the holidays? Nonsense!” Ialo declared loudly, annoying everyone else in the room that was also hard at work on holiday assignments while he had simply been playing Space Invaders online. The dragon boy moved his chair closer to the vampire girl, who had only just logged in to the system. “What evil teacher would assign something so close to Christmas?”
“Alec did, remember? It’s our self-evaluation,” she said. So long as the topic remained on homework she figured she could remain calm.
“Oh, right. He did do that, didn’t he?” Ialo said with a frown. He tried to shake it off and return to being charming. “Well, forget about that. We should be focused on what’s important here. Trees, carols, presents, and most importantly, mistletoe.” His grin was as wide and mischievous as ever.
“T-tis the season,” she agreed quietly. The thought was still on her mind. She figured there would be no harm in asking. “Say, you haven’t sent any gifts to people yet, have you? Not that I assumed I would be getting something but I did get a few rather… mysterious gifts lately and I was wondering if you might have sent one?”
Now it was Ialo’s turn to blush. He wondered if she had recognized his handwriting. Not that she’d seen if many times but she could have seen enough of it to connect the dots. Or maybe he’d accidentally put his name somewhere. But then wouldn’t she just know that it was from him? Ialo pushed back his hair, feeling a bit nervous. Maybe his strike of brilliance was not so brilliant after all.
“Well, uh… I did send one,” he admitted. “I don’t want you to take it the wrong way though. It’s just cause I thought you might find it useful in the future maybe.” Ialo wished he’d just denied sending her anything almost as soon as the words had slid out of his mouth. Now what would she think of him? Yes, Ialo, that’s a not at all inappropriate gift to attach in a card and give to a pretty girl. Must have been a fit of madness that overcame him. He seemed to have those at a near constant rate.
Petra was, on the other hand, bright pink, leaping to the assumption that the package she’d found earlier that day had in fact been the gift he was referring to. She tried to process what this meant. He wanted her to use it in the future…
“Do those sort of things last long?” she asked him with a little concern.
“Well, they do go bad eventually and they’re only really good for one use. I mean, if you don’t have a reason to use it… I could give you one.” It was a not so smooth recovery for a not so smooth move. Even worse was the reaction it got out of the vampire girl. She stood from her chair, forgetting to even log out first as she grabbed her bag.
“I-I umm… I will p-put that into consideration I-I-Ia… sir.” Petra stumbled a bit over the chair as she made a hasty exit. Sir, she’d said. Ialo fell back into his chair, logging both of them out without even thinking of snooping around through her files. It seemed clear to him that no girl would ever really sleep with Ialo Enlil.
Back in Petra’s dorm, she took out the package again and looked it over. Gingerbread flavored edible underpants did not seem like an appropriate gift from anyone, not even someone whom she fancied. She quickly threw them in the trash without a second thought. Petra would wash her hands of the strange gift and simply pretend today had never happened.
Meanwhile, Toshi sat with Fumi, still giggling over how flustered Petra had looked all day. If he’d realized it would be such a success, he would have done it sooner. He’d share the story of his prank with Light and Cajus later on. For now him and his friend would simply giggle like idiots, even if Fumi didn’t really know what they were laughing about. The cat boy also made a quick mental note to thank Ialo for his unwitting participation and for giving the dumbest responses to Petra that one could possibly have given.
“Merry Christmas, Petra!” Toshi cackled.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 6:58 pm
"Accidental Romanticizing"
Asmodeous Luxuria "May I help you today sir?"
An uncertain Asmodeous perused over the selection contained behind a glass counter. He seemed startled when the older woman asked him a question, and he sighed softly as he worked up the nerve to make his request. Placing his hands flat on the counter, he leaned forward and drew idle circles on the glass surface.
”Ah yes, you can actually. I received a gift from someone earlier this week, an early Christmas present I guess you could call it. This here, actually." He took off the watch that he hadn't removed since he'd gotten it, except for when he took a bath of course. He handed her over the watch and she held it in her hands, marveling at the high dollar quality it obviously was.
"My my, someone has expensive taste." She turned it over in her hands, watching the diamonds inlaid onto the face of it glint in the light. It was silver, with the face behind the glass cover being white gold. It was expensive and custom made. Eventually she got to the back of the watch and saw the romantic message on the back of it. She smiled sweetly, and looked back up at him with an endearing expression.
"So I'm assuming this is a very close person to you?" She may have asked him, but she was already building up this beautiful image in her head of him having a gorgeous young girlfriend and they were deeply in love with one another. The woman had no idea how skewed the truth really was.
He shrugged his shoulders in response. "Yeah, I guess if you really want to you could say that. So what should I get them in return? I don't want to be totally showed up when I'm supposed to be expensive gift giver." By matching their gift he meant something in monetary value, but naturally this overly boisterous saleswoman took this as matching the beautiful meaning by the gift.
"I know just the perfect thing for you sir. Just one moment." She hopped around behind the counter moving to another part of the store. Asmodeous followed her curiously, until she led him to the ring counter. His inward groan almost turned into a verbal one.
"Now, we have several different lines here of styles. This one here, with the stones set-" Before she could get too carried away with herself, Asmodeous cut her off.
"I'm not out to get hitched lady. I just want to return the favor of a gift, that's it. Not out to make some sort of life pact or anything." He had a feeling what he was saying wasn't really getting to her, but nonetheless her face dropped in disappointment. That is, until it popped back to life within mere seconds.
"I see sir, not ready to pop the big question? Understandable. Christmas time is a hard time for proposing what with everything else going on. Perhaps something like this would be more, ehm, personal." Shifting over a couple of rows she pointed out to him more rings, which to his eyes were all the same thing. Just more weddings rings.
"Look, I already said-" Before he could get it out she had shushed him, and he cocked his head to the side in surprise at her boldness. What a spunky old woman.
"No, you don't understand. These aren't engagement rings, these are promise rings. It's not about getting married or anything, it's just a sentimental value for that special someone." She was desperate to sell something in ring form to him, and it did sound nice. He'd just have to reassure Bee that it was in fact not an engagement ring, nor would it ever be.
"Oh, I guess. Let me see one of those things." He was a bit impatient, just ready to get done with this store and go home. Interacting with mortals was tiresome.
Smiling with glee she reached in and picked out a slim ring to show him. It was silver, just like his watch, and there was a design on it with little engraved flowers. He perked his eyebrow as he held it in his hands.
"It's...nice I suppose. A bit girly I'd say, and it won't even go over my first knuckle." He attempted to push the ring onto his ring finger, but it got stuck and he had to jerk it back off. Asmodeous decided this was not a fit ring, and handed it back to her.
"Well, it might be too girly for you, but your girlfriend might enjoy it," she huffed in response.
"Well, that might be nice if I had a girlfriend, but I don't. This is for a close male," he retorted sarcastically, wondering how she'd respond to that.
"Oh, I see. Well, why didn't you say that to begin with? I've been looking at all the wrong types then!" He could only groan painfully in response.
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Sitting in his office, he held the little tiny felt boxy in the palm of his hand. He really liked the design of the ring, but he had absolutely no clue how Bee would respond to such a strong gesture.
Just moment before he'd beckoned for the fellow demon to join him in his office, and now he was only waiting for the moment of truth.
"I'm ready to blow this joint, you ready to go Az?" Beelzebub marched into his office, waiting near to the door for him to get ready so they could go out and do something, or just go home period. It was the weekend, more often than not they were anywhere but that place for the weekend.
"Just a minute. Come here for a bit, sit down if you wish." Typically invitations to sit indicated to someone you wanted them to sit in a chair. Not Bee, he took the initiative to instead sit on the edge of his desk, placing himself within arm's reach. Asmodeous hurriedly hid the item in his possession, hoping he didn't see it.
"Oooh, are you hiding something? Got us tickets to somewhere cool? Or is it another one of those boring operas you took me to last month?" Bee inquired with a smarmy smirk, enjoying poking at Asmodeous.
"Hey now, that was a good s- never mind, not important right now. Yes, I do have something. For you. Remember that present you got me?" How could Bee possibly forget? Asmodeous wore it everyday and even now it was shining on his wrist.
The glutton's cheeks turned a light shade of red, and he averted his eyes from him. "Y-yeah, I do. Why?" Bee was almost scared to hope for what he thought it might be, but he still crossed his hidden fingers.
Asmodeous revealed the small black box, and passed it over to him without a word exchanged. Bee grasped the box for a second, and looked up at Asmodeous's face almost as if he were asking for permission to open it. The Lord of Lust merely inclined his head.
Bee opened the box to see a silver band rested within. All long the side of it were little intricate lines creating an abstract design. Four diamonds were inlaid on it at the top, each colored blood red.
His hand raised to his mouth in shock, covering up the gasp that almost escaped it. Asmodeous smiled happily, proud that he could elicit such a response from him. Silence still reigned between them as Bee pulled out the ring from its box and moved to put it on before Asmdeous stopped him.
"Look on the inside of it." He gestured for him to flip it over as well, and the other male complied. Inside was an engraving, much like the one one the watch he had given him just days earlier.
"A Promise Kept Forever"
Bee smiled goofily and looked at Asmodeous, only to see he was smiling the same cheesy smile as he was. Jumping off the desk he leaped at him, landing on his lap as he wrapped his arms around his neck in a bone crushing hug. Asmodeous's happiness was abound at this moment, almost wishing he had done something like this sooner.
"I love it, I really do. It's the most perfect gift I could ever receive. Thank you." Asmodeous stroked the other demon's hair, watching him place the ring on his finger and gaze at it. He could see this would now become his most treasured possession.
"So what was that about going out and doing something?" He asked in a quiet voice, a complete flip from how he was earlier when he was dealing with people. People were different, they didn't mean something to him. It didn't make him feel this pleased when he made them happy, but it made him feel amazing when he made Bee happy.
"Hm, I'm kinda over it now, as he spoke he was running his thumb over the band, memorizing the texture and feel of it on his finger. "I think I just wanna curl up in bed and listen to one of your CDs." This was usually code for "I want to listen while you serenade me," not that he had a problem with it of course.
"I think that sounds absolutely divine," he finished off the statement with a soft kiss to his forehead, patting him on his leg to indicate he wanted up. Once they were both up and out of the office, he led them up the hallway over to his room in the Byzantium dorms. As they walked, Bee ended up looping his arm into the crook of the other's, pressing himself up to him closely.
He hoped the other didn't see it, but the smile on Asmodeous's face at that moment was bright enough to light up the entire school.
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Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2012 9:23 pm
"[It's better to give than receive]"
[Beelzebub]  Remember before when he hung up that stocking? Others took it upon themselves to drop gifts in there but ones that were more sarcastic than anything. One of those gifts, he recalls, had been a slip reading "I O U". Gifts, such as this, only irritated him and made him lose hope in the whole receiving presents altogether. With his stocking laid on his desk, and a bunch of scraps laid askew, he decided that perhaps he wouldn't leave up the said stocking, but that wasn't until he found a smaller gift wrapped up in a messy wrapping. Bee raised his eyebrow in question before picking up the said gift and peeling back the paper.
Beneath the wrapping had been a small note and a metal square, which he didn't pay much mind to as he was already quick to pick up the piece of paper. After reading it, we'll the first line, the demon figured their note was another long drawn out piece of bull crap like the rest. Tossing the note, the demon plucked out the silver square only to notice it had been a zippo. With interest, he slid his thumb up against the metal and flicked the top open. He examined it for a while before twisting around in his chair and looking for something to burn. Finally he found a stack of paper he had been given earlier that day; figuring it wasn't important, the demon stuck the metal piece and brought the flame up, watching it burn the paper as a whole.
Before he knew it, one of the embers had made its way to the carpet below him, and brought a small flame to life. Looking down he cursed and rose to his feet, now stomping out the small flame. He glanced at the zippo in his hand before snapping it shut and setting it on his desk. It was a good gift, mind you, but it probably wasn't smart to play with it in the office. Signing, he moved away from the mess and towards Asmodeous's office, in an attempt to see how he may have been enjoying his present that he gave him the night prior. Barging into the room he slid onto his desk and watched the other male give him an exhausted look that probably meant "Was slamming my door open like that necessary?"
Crossing a leg over his own thy he glanced at the male's wrist before he quickly moved his eyes back up to his. "I've been meaning to remind you to make sure the students wait in the waiting room and to sign in, it gets annoying mind you. Just wanted to make sure you knew.". That, obviously, wasn't the real reason why he was here, and the other male could probably sense that too.
•To Be Continued•
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