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 Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 1:48 pm
Christmas was coming, and that meant poor Carlisle had to endure endless rounds of ridiculous, formerly unknown relatives. He hadn't known he had a Great Aunt Sofiel, but apparently he did. Who knew?
Escaping to school was like a gift from God himself. That explained why Carlisle was actually happy to be in art class, working on independent projects. He was making a collage as a gift for Aunt Bella. It was not going well at all (he had more glue in the ends of his hair than he had on the paper, and that was saying something) and he ended up just ignoring the teacher's well-meaning encouragements to go look at what the other students were doing.
He stopped at one of the other tables, where a girl with purple hair was sitting. Since he couldn't see what she was doing, he asked: "What's your project?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 3:07 pm
Nataya couldn't have been happier. For the holidays, they were going to visit Momma's family! She didn't even know she had a grandfather, or an aunt, or any other relatives like that, but now she did. She couldn't wait until they went to see them!
She didn't know of all the relatives they'd be meeting, but she knew of some. And, for those people, she was making some special Christmas cards. She had one done, with a picture of a decorated pine tree and a fire place, and was working on the other when she heard a voice. "I'm drawing cards." Nataya said, looking up to smile at whoever was talking to her. She blinked, her mind taking a moment to register the older-looking face with the boy she'd met so long ago. Well, it seemed like a long time ago, anyways.
"It's nice to see you again, Carlisle." Nataya said, flashing another one of her bright smiles. "What are you doing for your project?
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 5:02 pm
"A college," he said glumly, pronouncing the word incorrectly as he did so. "May I sit with you please, Nataya?" He could see her face now, and the name automatically came back to him with it; that seemed to be just about the only talent he had in the ways of magic, and it seemed pretty crappy to him. "Your cards look very nice," he said after a second of quiet, feeling rather prim. "Who're they for?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 26, 2008 9:38 pm
"That sounds like it's fun. Can I see it?" she asked, her tone cheerful. "Of course you can, Carlisle!" Why on Earth would he ask? It's not like she'd tell him no or anything. She smiled slightly at the compliment and question, finishing off what appeared to be a hovering tophat before answering. "I'm meeting my momma's family over winter break, so I'm making cards for them all," she explained.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 4:10 pm
He shook his head and sat across from Nataya, watched her draw with an envious look on his face. "It's more glue than anything. Your cards are pretty, though."
Poor Nataya was meeting more family soon, too! How... depressing for both of them. "You're looking forward to it?" But what if they weren't as nice as the family she was used to, or something?...
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 6:47 pm
"I'm sure it looks pretty, too." Nataya said confidently. "Really, you think so? Thank you." She looked at Carlisle, noticing the look on his face. A certain younger sibling got the same look on her face when she wanted something.
Nataya grinned, nodding. "Yep! I can't wait to meet them all." she said, giggling once as she started coloring. "It's nice to meet new people. Are you visiting any family over the holidays?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:51 pm
He shook his head, thinking of the mess at his desk. "You're welcome."
Thinking about his relatives made him shudder. "I'm glad you're happy. My family has something called a 'season'. They have a lot of parties, one every single weekend, and on the one right before Christmas they present the group that's coming of age and they make them all dance together and stuff. Then, on Christmas Eve, we spend the entire day having parties." He frowned. "I don't even speak the right language." Or so he gathered, since Aunt Bella was so frustrated. It was like Carlisle was hard-wired for English.
"What's your family gonna do for the holidays?"
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:17 pm
"Wow....so many parties...that sounds like it's fun." Nataya commented, focusing on the positive. "Dancing sounds like fun, too, though I'm sorry you don't speak the language they want you too. It must be hard." She then offered a smile, trying to cheer him up some. She didn't want him to be sad!
"We're going somewhere far away to meet Momma's poppa and sister and a bunch of other people. Momma said something about a ball and a festival, but she hasn't told us much. So it's going to be a surprise," Nataya said, sounding excited. She loved surprises!
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:36 pm
He smiled finally. "Festivals are fun, and balls can be. When you like the people who are there, I think."
Subject change time, he thought. "Did you sign up for the Secret Santa, Nataya?" He had, and actually he was really looking forward to it. Really he hoped he got someone he already knew... But he wouldn't mind if it was someone new.
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:46 pm
She nodded wordlessly, smiling. They did sound like a lot of fun, so she'd take his word for it until she experienced them for herself.
"Yep! I signed up for it, and so did my two new siblings." she said, her tone cheerful. She couldn't wait to find out who she'd be getting a present for. To be honest, she'd be happy with anyone she got; as long as she could make them happy and make them smile, it was all good.
"Doesn't it seem like so much fun?" she said, giggling. "It's almost spy-like, getting to sneak the gift where they'll find it without them knowing."
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Posted: Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:59 pm
He grinned, resting his chin in the palm of his hand. "I did, too! It seems like fun, especially since we get to play in the same group as the teens. I kinda hope I get a girl for my Secret Santa, you know, to give gifts to and all. I'm gonna leave it at their lockers, or their desk in homeroom. That seems like it would be easiest for them to find, you know?" And what would the point be if the person couldn't find the gift?
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 7:30 pm
"Hmm, I think I'll be happy with whoever I get. Though, it would make it a bit easier to pick a present if I knew the person." She said thoughtfully, tapping colored pencil against the table. "I'm not sure where I'll hide my gift...it depends on who it's for. Though, you're probably right. A locker or desk would probably be easier to find."
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Posted: Fri Nov 28, 2008 10:16 pm
With a commiserating nod, he said, "It's gonna be hard to think of five different gifts. D'you think it'll be easier if we have themes or something for it?" Twisting in his chair, he turned and picked up a piece of printer paper from the table behind them. With one of the nearby colored pencils, he started to doodle flowers along the border.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 9:36 am
"Yeah, it will be difficult," Nataya concurred, nodding. She paused, thinking over his question. "I think that would be easier, but then it would take some of the fun out of picking a gift. Then again, picking a gift to go along with a theme might be even more fun, so..." she trailed off, slipping into silent thought. She then looked at his paper, smiling slightly. "What are you drawing?" she asked, curious.
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Posted: Sat Nov 29, 2008 10:20 pm
He shrugged. No matter what, Carlisle was going to have a theme, because it would be nice. It just depended on who the gifts were for, the theme. (If it was Merroth, he would probably make the theme conveniently forgetting about the Secret Santa. In theory, anyway.)
"Nothing," he said, slapping one hand over the corner he'd already drawn on. Peeking through his fingers, he admitted, "Flowers," in a shy tone of voice.
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