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 Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2011 9:49 pm
Millicent had helped her mother make Jett’s Christmas gift and was in the process of wrapping it, pulling lots of colorful paper over the folded up brown Jedi robes. By the time she finished, she had managed to use almost an entire roll of paper and was nearly covered in tape, though she seemed very pleased with how the wrapping job had turned out.
She waited for her mother to finish up whatever it was that she was doing, then hopped into the car, Jedi robes on and kept her face pressed against the window until they reached the antique shop where Jett worked.
Upon arriving, she thanked her mother and gave her a kiss on the cheek before hopping back out of the car and running to the door, smoothing her robes down and running into the store.
“Jett! Jett are you working today? I hope you are! I brought you a Christmas present ‘cause it’s almost Christmas! I really hope you like it I worked hard at making it special for you!”
She looked around, then ran to the back of the store, holding the lumpy package out. “Jett?”
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:22 am
Of all of Jett’s friends, there was only one who ever came to visit him at work, and it certainly wasn’t his girlfriend. He had just been pulling down a rather large music box from the top shelf; a customer had been mulling over making the purchase for a few days now and finally caved and asked for it to be removed from the shelves until he could come pick it up.
Jett didn’t mind; it was a great sale. Just a little ridiculous.
”I’m up here, Millie,” he called from the ladder he was perched on. He hadn’t exactly heard what she was saying, just heard her voice, but could see the girl when she moved to the back to look for him. He figured his voice would be enough to get her attention. “…You see this big box of wood?” he asked (and, for as large as it was, it wasn’t that heavy). He took a few careful steps down the ladder, music box carefully clutched in his hands as he balanced himself and it until he reached the floor.
“Was made the same year my great, great, great great grandfather was born. Also costs more than my car,” he mused, lifting the item. It was pretty, he’d give it that much. The wood was in prime condition, with no staining or marks. The mother of pearl designs glistened in the light. The edges were smooth, the setting was phenomenal, and it was as sturdy a piece as any.
And the actual music? Gorgeous.
If you were into that sort of thing.
He lowered the box and glanced to the girl. “Anyway, what can I help you with, Millie?”
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:14 pm
The child looked at the wooden box and smiled. “That’s really cool! And super old!” She reached out, gently touching it. “How much is it worth, Jett? Are you gonna make a lot of money from it? Are you going to get to keep any of the money? Like a tip…? Will you buy me more cans if you do get to keep the money?”
She smiled, then realized she was there for a purpose. “OH! No, I came here to give you your Christmas gift, Jett! Me and my mom made it, and I wrapped it all by myself!” She figured it would be easier to remind him of this now he was on the ground and not up in the ceiling.
“Here you go!”
She held the lumpy package out to the male and waited for him to put the music box down so he could open it. She knew he would love it. It was amazing…why would anyone not want a wonderful handmade Jedi robe? It was fantastic and perfect and would help to show the world that he was indeed her padawan!
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:24 pm
Jett was, justifiably, a little squeamish when Millie touched the box. It was worth quite a bit and he felt bad for being so untrustworthy of Millie, but if that box broke? He would have been so screwed. “You brought me a Christmas present?” he asked, seeming a bit confused. He wasn’t the best friend, but a homemade present?
…Millie should have been doing things like this for kids her own age, but instead of chastising her, he flashed her a smile. “Well, all right. I was going to wait to give you a Christmas present, but. Something came in the other day and I put it to the side. I figured you might like it.”
He set the music box down on the counter and took the oddly wrapped package from Millie, rolling it over in her hands. He couldn’t guess what the present was, but set it down on the front desk and moved behind it so he could pull out a mostly boringly wrapped box.
It was very plain brown paper, but Jett explained, “It’s all we keep at the store. Be careful, it’s heavy, but. You know. Merry Christmas,” he said, holding out the box that was probably larger than his head—and far more square.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:58 pm
Millicent’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected him to give her anything! She had hoped, of course she had hoped for something. She was still a kid after all…but she didn’t think Jett would be the one to give out gifts. In truth, he seemed sort of like Scrooge sometimes…but a nicer Scrooge. Like a Scrooge that was trying to be the Grinch…from the live action movie, not the Cartoon…Yeah! Maybe that was what Jett was like. The Live action Grinch. And Millie was his Cindy Lou-Who!
She was saving him from his loneliness…he needed her!
She grinned. “Thank you so much, Jett! This is so cool!” Millicent reached for the box and then set it down on the floor, before opening it eagerly.
“I really think you’re gonna like your present too…so open it, okay? It’s gonna make you so totally happy!”
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 5:03 pm
Jett resisted opening his present despite the fact that he was actually curious to see what she had gotten for him. The present he had selected for her had taken surprisingly little consideration. Originally, he hadn’t even intended to give her any sort of present, but after someone had offered to sell them for ten bucks, Jett decided it was a good enough deal.
In Millie’s box were two matching bookends—both featuring a pile of cutely carved piglets. Wrapped in bubblewrap, because, you know, kids love that s**t.
“…You’re always talking to me about those books you read,” he said, being more aware of the Star Wars franchise than he needed to be thanks to her, “So I figured you might like it.”
He ran his fingers over the parcel she had given him and slid his fingers under the tape; even when he could see the color of the fabric, he still had no idea what it was.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 8:58 am
Millicent removed the bubble wrap and sat down on the floor, looking at the bookends, running her hand gently over each and every one of the piglets. Finally she broke into a smile. “Jett this is so amazingly cool! Thank you so much! I’ll hold up my Star Wars books with these! The pigs are just so cute! You’re the best friend ever!”
She carefully put the bookend on the floor, then hugged the male tightly. “You’re the best! Do you like your gift? We’ll be twins now!”
Millie couldn’t wait. He’d open the robes, and give a huge smile and say she was the best, and then they would frolic down the street, helping old ladies and puppies and kittens, and it would be the very best day ever. He just had to finish opening his gift.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:36 am
'We'll be twins'.
It was a frightening concept.
Jett slowly finished unwrapping his gift and then held it up. He immediately knew what she meant and that he was looking at a pair of Jedi clothes in his size. That he had absolutely no idea what to do with.
"Uhh. Wow," he said, and had to force a grin onto his face as he looked it over. "In my size? That's...a lot of thought you put into this. Where did you get something like this?" he asked, trying to buy a little time until he could think of a better reaction.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:43 am
Millie laughed and just seemed insanely happy. “My mom and I sewed them! Just for you, Jett! We worked really hard…well, she worked harder than I did, but still! Do you love them, Jett? I’m so excited to go get more cans with you and now we can both be Jedis! People will really understand!”
In her head this was all just so perfect. And now Jett would be so happy, and they could go off on adventures together and really do good for the city.
Well, now they could do good and people would know it was the Jedis doing the good, not just one Jedi and one older kid.
“I think tomorrow, I think tomorrow we should have a lightsaber practice at your house, and we have to wear our robes, okay? It’ll be great!”
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 11:04 am
Oh, hell.
She actually expected him to wear those things? In public?
…Well, there went his reputation.
He just glanced at Millie, still flashing her a slightly awkward smile. “…Yeah? All right, well…I guess you can come over and we can do some practice. I’m busy until three, but I guess any time after that is good.”
…And, thankfully, his mother was gone so he didn’t have to deal with her laughing at him for going out of his way to humor Millie like he had been. He wasn’t entirely sure why he went so far to appease the girl, though a part of him felt a bit guilty that her father was so absent in her life. It wasn’t like it was his job to fill the void her father left, but at least it felt like a good deed.
…And Jett really didn’t know how to say no to children. There was a limit to who he could pick on, and at the end of the day, it wasn’t even fun to pick on kids. But that didn’t mean he had to do so much for Millie. A part of him genuinely enjoyed her company; she was absolutely insane (and adorable, not that Jett would admit such) and put a unique twist on his life, but still.
He did not want to look like a ***** by letting her come over to his house all alone.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 9:27 pm
The child’s eyes shone with complete excitement and she really seemed to consider this the very best Christmas present ever. “Oh Jett! I’m so very excited for this now! It’ll be the most fun, the most amazing and the most wonderful day ever! I’ll bring lunch over, okay? I’ll come over at three thirty and we can do some more saber practice and you can become a Jedi knight maybe by next Christmas even! Or maybe by this Easter…who knows! It all depends on how much you practice, Jett!”
Millie gave the blonde one last hug. “Jett, you really are one of my best friends. You’re the nicest older person that I know, besides my mom. Thank you for always being so awesome!”
She pulled away and laughed once more, before leaning down and picking up her box with the bookends inside of it. She would be ready for their practice tomorrow, and she would make sure she was able to teach Jett how to really lightsaber fight—and that would help to keep him safe from those awful bad guys and the youma.
Yup. All part of a heroes job, thinking outside the box!
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