Welcome to Gaia! ::

Bell wondered who it was that would be knocking. She sat the little note she had been reading over and over down on the coffee table beside the little space heater and shrugged out of the quilt she had wrapped up in. Her hair was lose from its braid, and she wore a dark sweater-hoodie that clung to her form, much in contrast to the lose fitting microfleece pants. She shivered a little as the relative coldness of the house met her - these old houses were so drafty~! - and made her way over to the door.

When she opened the door to discover Xavier on the other side, she was a bit puzzled.
"You could have just walked in~" she said with a smile. With him here, that meant she'd get to tell him about the news much sooner than she had expected. All thoughts of her birthday had been pushed aside simply because of this new development.

Bell blinked a bit in studded surprise, it hardly registering which hand it was that had presented the flowers. She took them hesitantly, as it she wasn't sure she wasn't just daydreaming this.

"Thank you, they're gorgeous, I- How did you know when my birthday was?" Bell didn't normally tell people, cause it wasn't something that normally came up in casual conversation, and no one asked. She figured if they really wanted to know, they would ask, or find out somehow...

"Ah, come on in, we're letting the cold in~" and poor little cold-blooded Bell was not taking the sudden coldness of this winter weather well at all.

Bell giggled, "suuure~"

He next line of thought was to find something to use as some sort of vase. She wasn't wondering if he had brought anything else, and therefore didn't think to look. Bell was perfectly satisfied to have him there, and the flowers were simply the icing on the inedible cake.

"Make yourself comfortable in the living room. I'm gonna find something to put these in," she then delivered a quick kiss on his cheek and headed for the kitchen. She remembered seeing what looked like a large old-timey milk-glass like you see in those old cartoons with the milk delivery man. It was one of the many things the old resident of this house had left behind.

With that procured, filled with water, and the roses placed carefully inside, she wondered back into the living room and sat them on the coffee table, happy as could be.

It was when she placed the roses on the coffee table that she had no choice but to notice the other present. She looked then to Xavier, expression stunned and vaguely confused. She picked up up as she sat beside him on the couch.

"This for me, as well?" She was clearly not someone used to receiving gifts.

Her cheeks were perhaps a little pinker than their usual natural blush as she gave Xavier her own sheepish smile, "That is more than fine by me. You never had to get me anything anyway."

Bell wasn't about to admit that she still wasn't sure what she was getting him. She had thought perhaps to do more baking, but she was sure that got old, quick. She was technologically challenged, so she was no good on that front either. It was definitely a little embarrassing.

Perhaps a little self-conscious, she opened the present. She studied what lay inside for a moment with an 'ooo shiny!' expression before regaining composure and that sheepish smile. She looked to Xavier, "It's lovely!" She couldn't think of much else, "Thank you~"

She did as instructed and found the journal. She had been meaning to get a new one since her last one had ended with her leaving the Academy. She opened the cover of the journal and flipped through its sturdy brown pages. It was good quality. She wouldn't have to worry about the ink of her pen seeping through.

After he placed the necklace around her neck, she leaned over against him with a smile. "Thanks." It was about all she could manage.

What could she say? it was certainly better than the bombshell gift her father had sent her. She wasn't quite sure she wanted to bring that up yet, though. What she did want, however, was cuddles and kisses, which she took without any of her prior meekness, then smiled just as innocent as could be.

She blushed. It was then that she finally noticed he was free from his cast. Slow? Maybe she was just a little. Now she wondered just how she had missed that detail. Then again, she had been a little flustered.

"I see your arm is no longer held captive," she said, running her own hand along that arm gently. She couldn't imagine breaking a limb, and not having use of it for over a month. She could only imagine how happy he was to have use of it again.