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Unsurprisingly Jerry had fallen right to sleep (or had he passed out?) the minute Candace managed to get him into his bed, doing her best to get him cleaned up before just falling asleep curled up beside him. She was so tired. It'd been a long night full of both good and bad; dancing, food, friends...and homicidal man-eating presents. A typical Deus Ex Machina night?

She wasn't sure what time it was when she woke up but the sun was shining through the window and she heard activity outside. People were awake..was Jerry? Candace sniffed and lifted her head enough to look down at Jerry, sighing contently and just burying her face against his neck again. It hadn't occurred to her what day it was just yet. All that mattered was she felt very, very content waking up beside Jerry right now, curled up beside him under the blanket huddled away from the cold winter outside.

...The cold winter outsi--oh! Oh s**t! It was Christmas today, wasn't it?!

Candace just watched him, smiling and leaning down to brush her lips against his temple. Even though he was probably going to wake up with a terrible hangover that he totally deserved for getting drunk after being sober for as long as he said he'd been, and he was still a bit bruised up from the battle the night before, he looked so cute and peaceful in his sleep. She almost didn't want to wake him! But...but presents! Maybe if she went to get his? That sounded like a good idea!

Candace left, shamelessly leaving his room in her sadly ruined dress. She did change while she was gone, returning to Jerry's room wearing a soft sweater dress and tights. She was lugging with her several gifts all wrapped in shiny green paper; she figured it fit him considering Roar glowed green. There was a large rectangular box that didn't give away its contents, a second smaller and considerably flatter box, and finally a small square box. And a card. Can't forget the card!

The presents were set down in the floor beside the bed and Candace sat down again. "Jerry, honey." Candace began softly, pressing a light kiss against his lips. "Wake up, baby. I have some things for you~." Things she hoped he would like.

Aw wasn't that adorable! Candace chuckled and leaned in to kiss him again. "Wake up, honey. I have presents." She crooned, giggling when he did finally wake up and greet her. "Good morning, Jerrbear. Merry Christmas, happy Hanukkah~." She kept her voice soft for now in case his head hurt from hangover.

"Open the big one last." She said as she lugged the boxes up into the bed. She didn't bring up presents for herself just yet. She wanted to see the look on his face first. Open them open them open theeeeeem!

Things plural? Oh, happy day! Candace's eyes widened with delight as she wiggled where she was sitting. What did he get her? All the things? She hoped it was all the things!

"Careful.." She said softly as she reached for the man rolling out of bed, ready to stop him from falling in his face should she need to do that. "If you outdid me I'll be very sad, you know." Honestly she was only teasing. She would love anything and everything Jerry gave her she was sure of it. Just like she...um...oh hey! Presents! Presents were much less confusing to think about! It was far too early to go pondering such serious things.

Candace made room for what she expected to be just a couple things. "How are you feeling, by the way?" He had gotten so drunk, and then so beat up. She did worry.

That was true, he had been worse just in the past few months. At least this time he didn't need to be hospitalized. Candace gave a half-hearted chuckle at his answer, but at the sight of eight boxes in his arms she gasped. Her eyes widened and her heart raced with excitement, counting the presents again and again and again. Eight. He'd gotten her eight presents. Best. Boyfriend. Ever. She reached out to help him from falling to the floor again, still looking rather floored by oh my god eight presents. Pressuuuuuuuuuure. She hoped he liked what he got her even more now! She only had a few boxes! Granted one of them was practically the size of all of his but..!

"O-okay!" Candace grinned, grabbing the smaller square-shaped box first. She wanted him to open the bigger one last. Working up to it sounded like a good idea. She helped the man sit up and moved to sit snuggled up beside him with a happy little noise before taking the first present he was asking her to open, unwrapping it with an excited squeal and opening the package.

Most people probably would not have been excited for a book, especially a book they had never even heard of. Candace? Oh, no. Candace had sorely been missing time to read a good book that wasn't meant for studying purposes; the girl loved to study and train but damnit a break was nice every now and then. So the book was actually met with genuine happiness as she gasped with delight and took it out of the package it'd been wrapped in. The Ship Who Sang? That sounded neat! "Ohhh, I've been wanting a good book to read! Thank you, Jerryyyy!" Candace hugged him, kissing his cheek a few times and nuzzling her face against it before letting him go to put the book on her lap. "Your turn~." She was a little nervous, actually. And if asked she would admit to it.

Oh hey, that really did sound neat. Candace grinned, opening the cover to read the synopsis given by the book itself. She'd have to make time to read it soon, yes. She couldn't wait! She loved books! But there were more important things to worry about, like Jerry opening the first of his gifts from her. She didn't have as many as he did, they'd have to work out some kind of compromise to 'you open one, I open one'.

When he got the box unwrapped she giggled and nodded. "Uh huh! Like from Mario! You just plug it in, tap the mushroom head and let there be light~." She returned the kiss with a happy little sound. "You're very welcome, sweetheart. I figured it'd be fitting since you're my Mario, hm?" Get it? She thought it was clever. She leaned in for another kiss until he stopped laughing so abruptly. Oh dear...was it the hangover? Oh, honey. This is why we don't drink more than a glass or two. Sigh. Candace smiled gently and pet his hair, taking the small box she was being handed. So tiny! What was this?

"Okay, okay~." She chuckled, unwrapping it and looking down at the small box in her hand. Wow! It..it was so tiny! What was it? Jewelry? it didn't look like a jewelry box.. "What is.." Candace curiously opened the box and found...tissue paper? What? It must have been something fragile. The paper was pulled out with care and she unwrapped whatever it was hiding inside, finding a tiny glass unicorn inside.

She got the joke immediately. "Oh man this is so cute!" Candace gave a warmhearted laugh as she carefully held the tiny unicorn in the palm of her hand. "My own little tiny Killer Unicorn. I love it! I'll keep it on my dresser where it's safe. Thank you, Jerrbear!" These presents were so sweet! The last time she'd had Christmas with a boyfriend it'd been high school, so the gifts had been things a high school boy would give. Not sweet things with thought and sentimental value behind them like a good book or a tiny glass unicorn. The unicorn was set down on the nightstand with great care and she admired it, snuggling up close to Jerry. She hummed and picked out another box, one larger than the lamp's box though not as large as the really big box.

"Here. It's no unicorn~. But I hope you like it!"

"I'd have gotten you more things if I'd had a larger budget." Because three grand clearly wasn't enough? She thought it was so sweet that he got her eight presents because of Hanukkah! She should've thought of that, but to her Christmas was the best day ever still. "You are the sweetest." She giggled, kissing his cheek and accepting the presents. She waited for him to open his first with nervous excitement. Would he like it? Would he think it was a lame gift? Oh god oh god oh gooooood! Please like it!

She was nervously rubbing her lips together as he finally opened it, watching his face for his immediate reaction. It was good. He even called her Candycane! That was adorable! She couldn't help but smile, nodding her head. "I'm so glad you like them! I figure you shouldn't be stuck with just two of them for the rest of you life, you know? I got you something else similar I hope you like, too. Most people think it's lame but...it's something else I figured you'd need and like." Candace admitted as she grabbed one more box and offered it to him. It was about the same size as the one one that had his new sweater vests in it, though it was flatter. "One last small one before I let you have at the big one, hmm?"

She then did as he had asked and opened the bag first. Ohhhh! Another thing most people wouldn't get excited about: Socks. But these were cute! And Candace was still feeling the effects of Joy. So everything was awesome. "These are so cute!" Candace wasted no time putting them on, wiggling her toes and giggling once they were pulled up properly. "And my favorite color~!" The boxes came next, unwrapping the first one and gasping with delight. Chocolate. He really was the best boyfriend ever! What was the other one, then? She was quick to unwrap that, tilting her head to once side and reading the label on the box. "What's halva?" Was it candy? She'd never heard of this before! Even without his answer she picked it up and broke off a piece of a corner to try a bite. Her eyes widened. "It's good!"

Candace was eating one of the chocolates while watching Jerry react to the ties. Nope, he didn't like them. Whoops. Well, she tried. Candace chuckled and plucked up the Christmas card she had picked out for him, nibbling at a cookie now as she handed it to him. She was blushing again. "Here, it's...I got a little er...heh..um..." Candace was actually nervous about what she had written! She was quick to lug the big box closer to Jerry to cover her embarrassment over how sappy her note on the card was. It was a huge rectangular box, and it wouldn't be until her opened it that he would see the case of what his present was. "Okay, you can open it now. It's not ties~." she teased before digging into the gift bag he had given her.

Eh? What was this soft thing? Candace gently grabbed it and removed it from the bag, giving a delighted squeal and hugging the bear to her chest. "It's so cuuuuute! Wait what--" Something shiny on its ears got her attention. She gasped. "Jerry! They're beautiful!" Candace's eyes were wide as she carefully removed the earrings from the bear's ears, admiring them a minute before putting them on. So prettyyyyyy! She leaned over to drape her arms over his shoulder and give him another kiss, making a happy little noise. "Thank you, Jerrbear. You're the sweetest~." Ohhh there was still one more! She went ahead and picked it up, looking to Jerry with a smile. "Can I?"