The sweater was on sale.
Fritz turned over the price tag, squinting at the numbers with a very studious expression on his face; one that was probably a little bit out of place, considering that what he was examining was a rack of extremely ugly holiday sweaters, most of which should never have been seen in public. One was a lurid shade of green that bordered on chartreuse that had white embroidered reindeer all over it, threaded with gold and trimmed with bows. Another was an off-white creation that had the most bizarre looking angel possibly in the world drawn across it, a placid, dead-eyed smile on its painted face. Yet another was a dark navy blue with white puffballs attached at the collar and sleeves, so that one felt like they were wearing a lot of cat toys.
This last one was the one that Fritz was currently examining, his eyes narrowed slightly, his brows drawn. After a moment, he solemnly drew the sweater off of its hanger, slung it carefully over his arm, and moved to the next rack - this one consisted of scarves, mostly, almost all of them the same hideous creations as the sweater rack.
One for me, Fritz thought to himself, humming along to the floaty, festive music currently playing above his head and throughout the expansive Destiny City mall.
One for Rhys. A green one, with eye watering red stars splashed across the front.
One for Hitch. A red one, with eye watering green stars splashed across the front to match Rhys'.
One for Cordy. A white one with gold reindeer embroidered on it, one rearing up, the other lying on the ground. Little red dots spangled the rest of the sweater, making it seem as though, if one didn't look close enough, something was moving in the sweater.
And one for Regan. Even if she would never talk to him again, he still found her a dark blue sweater with silver foxes chasing across the front, big enough to possibly drown a house in.
All of Fritz's purchases were carried up to the front desk, where he paid for them happily.
Rhys
Across the mall, in an entirely different store, a young man with red and black hair stood stock still in an aisle consisting primarily of kitchen supplies.
Shopping.
It was not exactly Rhys' most favorite thing to do in the world. In fact, if Rhys had his way, he wouldn't even have been there at all, the crowds jostling about already making him more than a little anxious and overwhelmed. He wished he could just go back home and forget about his trip, but the holidays were growing ever nearer, and he couldn't exactly get Hitch and Fritz nothing. Especially after everything that had happened, he had to at least try.
And Hitch liked - loved - cooking, so Rhys could only hope to get his fiance something both whimsical and practical.
Twenty minutes later, he was still standing in the same aisle, though he was now holding a potato peeler in one hand and an egg poacher in the other. Rhys' expression of intense concentration was remarkably similar to his twin's, minus the slight poke of his tongue out like Fritz occasionally could be seen doing unconsciously when deep in thought.
At long last, some thirty minutes later, Rhys made his way carefully up to the cashier's table and placed a box of decorative cupcake wrappers, fancy silver tongs, a new set of stainless steel cookware, and a set of glass jars down on conveyor belt.
He was halfway through carting it all back to the motorcycle when he remembered he was supposed to have gotten Fritz something too.
Magiore
The mall, of course, was crowded as all could be while walking around; but Magiore slipped silently through the thickly populated areas with the ease of a man long used to doing exactly that. His dark hair swept back into a curly ponytail at the base of his neck, Magiore ignored the dirty looks and the snide remarks passing from impatient patron to impatient patron around him and headed straight into the nearest store.
Durumi and Kodi were, naturally, the focus of Magiore's goals for the day, but Magiore picked out cards for each of his agents and that was it. He was not exactly a sentimental man, but he thought, perhaps, that it was good to show that he was satisfied with their progressions and pleased that they were doing as well as they were (minus the obvious exception of Kainite).
Kodi got a few pet supplies, including a luxury collar for her dog. Several other smaller things went into the bag as well, a veritable care package of items and miscellaneous things that Magiore thought his sister would appreciate. As for Durumi...
Well, they were more personal, certainly. A necklace, subtle and simple, for Durumi, nothing too extravagant; a silver necklace with a single teardrop diamond in the middle. A sweater he thought matched her eyes. Several boxes of chocolate, a gift card to her favorite store, a pair of paper crane earrings, a stuffed kitten plush toy, a romantic movie that she'd enjoyed...
Needless to say, Magiore got slightly carried away as the day progressed.
Auguste
Somewhere in a large clothing store deep in the mall's depths, Auguste was holding up a shirt in the mirror and wondering whether it would fit Lorne properly. He wasn't too good at deciphering size, and really, the only thing that Auguste would have used to describe Lorne was tall and maybe gangly. He didn't want to get him anything useless; Lorne could use something comforting, something soothing...
A blanket was better in that regard. Auguste pressed his face into it happily before sticking it into the cart, moving onto Nadia next, and then Colin. He didn't mind shopping; in fact, Auguste thrived on the amount of people, young and old, small or large, tall or short, whatever gender they were, whatever holiday they celebrated - or didn't celebrate, as the case may have been. Crowds were intense, yes, but he'd always enjoyed the hustle and bustle of chaos - this was the right kind of chaos.
He had three lollipops and two candy canes by the time Auguste staggered out of the mall, arms laden with a multitude of bags filled with all manner of things. He supposed he should have exhibited some sort of self control, but...well, it was the holidays. And he wanted desperately to make sure that his beloved ones were taken care of.
Which was why he went back the next day to get something else for Lorne, another something for Nadia, and two more somethings for Colin.
Archer
There was no Christmas or holiday shopping whatsoever for Archer Wren. In fact, Archer - and Wolfeite - could have cared less that there was anything coming up. He'd never found the practice of holidays to be something he should have been concerned about, and nothing had changed since then.
Pasi, however, would receive a card that said nothing except the standard Happy holidays printed automatically on the inside. Underneath, in Archer's scrawled handwriting, it said, I'll be by tomorrow. and nothing else, not even a name.
Caspian
It took him almost twenty minutes to move through the line at Starbucks at the mall, everyone moving at a snail's pace. By the time Caspian had managed to secure both a drink and something small to snack on, he'd already forgotten what it was that he was going to get Michael for Christmas.
Guy in front of me in line thinks grunting is how you communicate, said his latest text to Michael. And now Caspian added, as he munched on a muffin and then ate two more donuts, Yelled at cashier. She looked kinda upset. I think cuz she didn't really do anything wrong. People are dumb in the holidays.
When he was finished eating, Caspian meandered for another hour before conceding defeat. He'd have to come back another time to get what he wanted for Michael - whatever that was.
On my way back. <3
Julian
Julian's family had been big on the holidays, but Julian himself had never really understood the concept. Even now, standing patiently in line to pay for a new music stand for himself, he thought that going home seemed an awful inconvenience. Perhaps he'd simply call this time, instead of just taking a plane or a train or any other form of transportation.
Besides, there were better things that could happen besides the holidays.
Adrien
"Are you going to buy anything or just loiter?"
The cashier, Adrien knew, was annoyed that he'd stood there for approximately six and a quarter minutes, glancing through the cologne aisle for something that suited his preferences. But he also knew that he was going to find what he was looking for anyway, damn it, and he didn't need to be rushed.
Maybe working in retail meant you lost your sense of politeness. Not that Adrien knew anything about that in the first place, but that was beside the point.
"A[iha," he muttered under his breath. He'd finally seen the bottle he was looking for, stretching out a hand to reach it - and he almost had it, Adrien's fingers brushing the cool surface before another hand appeared out of nowhere and snatched it up.
"Hey!"
The middle-aged woman beside him gave him a dismissive, annoyed look. "This is my favorite, I'm taking it, I need it for my husband's Christmas present."
"Give me that, I had it first," Adrien squawked in outrage. He made a snatching motion with his hand, missed, and almost hit the woman in the face, her appalled expression only serving to make him more irritated. He swept his bangs out of his eyes and stalked towards her, holding out a hand.
"Come on, I was here, I was reaching for it and you just took it."
"I did not," the woman sniffed, "You left it, it's not yours."
"I was reaching for it, you saw me!"
"Did not."
The argument went on for a few more minutes, leading to a shouting match, which led to a squabble, which led to the both of them being thrown out of the store, and neither one of them getting the cologne they'd been fighting over in the first place.
Basil
The music store in the mall was the only place that Basil made a beeline towards, ignoring the exasperated looks on his stable manager's face. He seemed not to notice - or care, really - that there were hundreds of people milling about. Basil pushed his way through without being particularly careful, nudging and twisting and pivoting until he reached the sound equipment.
"Christmas is a season of giving, not getting for yourself," Basil's stable manager said, several minutes later, as he steered Basil towards the door. "Good grief."
Steele
"Merry Christmas to me," said Steele with a sigh of pleasure as he leaned back in the thick, leatherbound armchair, a beer in his hand and his planner in his lap. He'd braved the stupid shitstorm of holiday shopping and come out with two prospective clients and a number - the gorgeous woman at the bar who'd laughed at his jokes, he hoped she'd call.
But if she didn't, well, he'd be more than content to sit here and bother Rob and see about maybe visiting him for Christmas so he didn't, privately, sit alone in his apartment.
Seth
The holidays were merely an excuse for several things:
1) More wine tastings - holiday, limited edition, seasonal wine tastings
and
2) More parties thrown
The latter of these two meant that Seth had to do a bit of shopping of his own, though it was all done with an extremely bored expression on his face, Seth tossing things into his cart without actually considering whatever price they might have been. It was times like these, he thought, as he dragged in a breath of his cigarette, smoke curling in his lungs, he kind of wished that there was someone else to do all of the menial labor tasks he loathed.
He'd have to see about hiring a secretary, or a maid, or something - someone - to do things like this for him so that Seth wouldn't have to sit here on these decrepit old benches and these pathetic couches that looked like they'd sag straight to the ground if you sat wrong.
A party was scheduled for the next Thursday. Seth stocked up on everything necessary, and then went back home, where he spent the evening playing pool and preparing for Thursday.
Christmas would come when it did. There was little point in fussing about now.
