Welcome to Gaia! ::

Madison looked at herself in the mirror with a sense of complete contentment. Her hair... was pretty much as it had been, but the cut had been evened out and even layered a little bit. Her nails were precious and her skin was so smooth.

And, of course, she was carrying a bag full of hair products. Ahhhh.

"Dude, you look weird with your hair like that," she informed Robert with a grin. "Thanks for waiting up, guys~ Shall we go pester the Big Man?" Santa. Santa. omgsanta.

Marcus had more or less waited for everyone to get their antics out while he’d gone off to you know, do what they came to the mall to do in the first place. Shop for gifts. He’d had to call one of the older hunters to ask how to transport a thing to the island, but apparently- it was possible. He’d just owe a hunter a favor. Not like he didn’t have to be their b***h anyway, it was just nice to know the gift he’d gotten would make it. As he showed back up to the group, it was hard to miss them.

After all a group of young adults and fully grown adults pretty much acting like kids was kind of hard to miss.

Not to mention they had apparently gone and gotten themselves pampered pre- shopping, not post. Rolling his eyes, he swung the bag he was carrying over his shoulder as he joined them. “Hey guys.” He gave a a small salute. “Enjoy the pampering of civilization before we end up returning to work?” While it didn’t make sense to do it pre and not post shopping, hey, their money. “But-…are you guys seriously going to go and get in line for Santa?” He wasn’t sure how he felt about that one. It seemed kind of creepy to him.

"Marcus!" Madison beamed, then turned to stare at Jordan and Tedan with stars in her eyes. "A picture." The words were spoken with reverence and awe.

Then she sighed. "B-but... we should go shopping. For each other! OUR GIFTS! We can't appear before Santa without having bought gifts... made wishes and sugarplum dreams come true!!" Her grip on her shopping bag tightened and she leaned forward, almost as if she was ready to summon Kouki and go to battle. "Let's do this."

And then Madison was off. "CHAAAAAAAAARGE. Ittoyourcardomgihavesomuchmoneyrightnow."

"Madison is right. We have to get the shopping done first." Jordan nodded seriously. He patted Marcus's shoulder. "You'll come along for the picture. But afterward."

"Why don't we all return here when we've finished? The girls are probably going to take longer." He sounded as if he spoke from experience. "Jerry, if you and I can get our stuff done quickly, then we can come back and help Robert. Right?"

"Not like you? Aw, honey. Santa likes all good boys and girls, and you are definitely a good boy." Candace assured him, leaning in to give him a little kiss until Robert interjected. She glowered at the dumbass making Jerry worry, pausing to just stare at him. He...he was blonde. There was still black but the black had been dye? Seriously? She thought it'd been her imagination earlier but...holy s**t. He really was blonde!

It still explained so much about him.

"I agree with Madison~." She said in a cheerful singsong voice. She paid for her manicure, her hair styling and the facial. Unlike Madison she resisted the very strong urge to buy shampoos. She'd get cheaper ones later after she'd used up her own little mental budget with whatever she had left. Pampering was done, now it was time to get down to business. Santa then shopping? Marcus found them then and asked if they were getting in line, grinning and giving a little shrug. "Yeah, sure. Why not? Might as well do everything we can in one day since we don't know when we'll get to do this again." She and Madison had already convinced the ladies here they were all insane. Candace didn't really give a damn anymore.

...Or shopping then Santa worked too.

"Ah! Madison! Wait up!" She paused a moment, hopping from one foot to the other as she debated on what to do. She gave Jerry a kiss first. "How about we all agree to meet here in a couple hours, okay? We'll text each other when we're all done and then meet up." One more kiss and she started to take off after Madison only to be stopped by Marcus.

Oh! Uh..hm! Think quick think quick..! "Sure! I wanted to get her one myself so we can help each other out! Let's go catch up to Madison, 'kay?" She grinned, grabbing his hand to lead him off. Shoppiiiing! "Wait for us, Madison~!"

It was a good thing that Jerry wasn't the most observant man in the world, because Jordan couldn't quite hide the brief pained look that flashed across his face. Jerry couldn't have asked anyone els- ... yeah, no, okay, given the available people for advice, Jordan was the logical choice right now. He stifled a sigh.

"You could get her a CD player," he pointed out logically. "There are portable ones that are pretty decent quality. And expensive jewelry might be too - uh - too much, but I bet she wouldn't mind a simple necklace or bracelet. Er. I usually get people books when I don't really know what to get them, but that's me." He shrugged a little, sheepishly. "It's a thing. Everyone gets books."

Robert made a face, punched Marcus in the back, and stormed off.

"I'm going off to buy my THING. THE THING. YOU KNOW. Not you, Marcassface." He had to stop and waggle his finger at the end, and then continued to storm off to the nearest jewelry store. Alone.

This was obviously the best idea.