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 Posted: Fri Dec 09, 2016 11:15 am
Brian stood outside Sylvia's door with a tiny lavender box wrapped with white ribbon. He felt silly, but he was man enough to realize that that was a matter of potential embarrassment. What if she didn't like it? She'd probably pretend she did anyway, but wasn't that worse? Plus, buying jewelry for people had always been family or girlfriends, and Brian was a confirmed bachelor at the moment.
Nevertheless, he took a deep breath and knocked gently on the door. Hopefully Sylvia would be at home. If not, the box was going to end up back in his room to wait for her.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 12:59 am
Thankfully for Brian, Sylvia was home. Well, in her second home. She was catching up on e-mails and working up the courage to finally make some plans that would require her to really be home and actually catch up with people face-to-face. It had been a little too long to keep up the ‘I’m just so busy’ act – especially with the holidays coming.
And so, the knock on the door was a welcome, if surprising, distraction. Sylvia huffed out a sigh as she pushed herself away from her desk and made her way to the door. Upon opening it and seeing Brian, a weird series of emotions hit her. She grinned, because it was Brian, and she enjoyed getting visits from friends, and Brian was a welcome surprise visit. But she realized that she was dressed for lounging around her room – leggings with rows of black and white patterns, a slightly oversized pastel purple shirt with buttons along the collar that probably looked more like pajamas than a proper shirt, penguin slippers, glasses still on from being at the computer, and her hair pulled up in a messy bun on her head. At least the last thing she could adjust, and she reached up to release her bubbled hair from its tie. She somehow expected this to be more than a quick ‘hello’, which made her wish she’d been a little more prepared.
“Brian, hello! What a nice surprise!” She opened the door a bit wider and stepped back slightly, “Do you want to come in?” She had yet to see the small box in his hands, so she wasn’t sure what exactly his visit would entail, but she was happy to invite him into the room rather than making him stand in the hall. She had finally unpacked, so her suitcase sat unneeded and neatly tucked against the far wall rather than gaping with clothing. The bed was only a little messy, covers gently arranged rather than tightly tucked, quilt folded on the end. Her laptop was still open beside the only framed picture Sylvia had, a photo of herself with her parents in a garden somewhere, and a blanket was draped over her desk chair from when she’d been chilly earlier. The closet door was slightly ajar, but nothing was peeking out of it; a hamper lived beside it, but was largely empty. All in all the room was quite neat, if only because there still wasn’t much in it to get messy.[ 415 words ]
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 4:49 pm
Brian struggled to keep down a grin when he saw Sylvia unmade. It was nice to see the at-home version of people who were usually so well-dressed and put-together all the time. This was a Sylvia in comfy clothes and glasses. He was not entirely successful in his battle with his expression and so smiled broadly. Hopefully Sylvia wouldn't be all too offended.
Her appearance definitely helped him relax, tough. He was feeling a bit uptight about this whole gift-giving thing. Were it anyone else he would have just ditched the gift at their door, but it seemed impolite to do that to Sylvia. He sort of knew her, after all. She had been in his room. Seeing her so casual, though, brought out the reminder that, no, appearances weren't everything. Hell, she's thrown her name into the Hearth too if he'd gotten her!
"Oh. Thank you." He ignored the fact that she had hurriedly pulled her hair down and entered her room. He gave it the usual cursory glance, trained into him by half a dozen different people to be sure that nobody was lurking. As such he noted that Sylvia was rather neat, that she also kept a photo of her parents in her dorm, and seemed to get cold rather easily. He stood at a comfortable distance smiling to Sylvia, though, the box still in his hand.
"Can I ask who you got for Xenia?" Why yes, he was trying to be slick.
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Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2016 11:04 pm
Aah, geeze, if she hadn’t felt dorky before, Brian’s grin certainly didn’t help. She wasn’t really sure why she felt so self-conscious. Perhaps just because she was caught a little off-guard. And as much as she was getting used to the Prytaneum, it was still a new place. She’d also just been dealing with the thought of going home for a while, which was a little anxiety-inducing. Then again, she reminded herself that the last time Brian had been here she’d been in less sorts than even now. That helped. A broad smile crossed her own lips at that thought and she settled back into a calmer state, running a hand through her freshly freed hair.
She closed the door behind him and watched as he surveyed her room. Very exciting, she was sure. She scrunched her nose a bit, “It’s pretty sparse, still – I haven’t really let myself fully settle in.” She took her glasses off and set them by her computer, gesturing at it as she did so, “I’m making plans to go back home for a bit, though, and hopefully bring some stuff back that will make it seem a bit more like a second home.” She turned, one hand on her hip while the other rested atop the chair, waiting to see what Brian had to say.
What he asked was not what she had expected, but a sort of knowing smile pulled at her lips. “Aah, I got lucky – I got Misha.” She tilted her head and squinted her eyes, “Well, wouldn’t have been so lucky a few weeks ago, but now that we’re roommates it was a lot easier to do some recon and get ideas for someone just the next room over.” Thank goodness. She didn’t know many people in the Prytaneum, and she had honestly been a bit terrified that she would have to figure out some random gift for a person she didn’t even know. The only people she’d have really felt comfortable getting gifts for were the few she could call friends so far – Beth, Brian, Zan maybe, possibly Lex, and now Misha… She could perhaps make some decent guesses for some other people, but for most of them she would have been entirely clueless.
She adjusted to set her elbow on the top of the chair, propping her chin in her palm and narrowing her eyes at Brian. There was a little glint in her eyes as she teasingly turned the question back on him, amusement in her features. “And who did you get?”[ 425; 840 total ]
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2016 11:09 am
Brian held up a hand and let it flop. He wasn't judging her decorating skills! It was just habit was all. Besides, you could learn a lot about a person from the personal surroundings. "You've seen my room, right?"
He had never been, nor was he likely ever to be a proper decorator.
"Oh? That is lucky." If Sylvia had gotten someone she knew and so had he... was the Hearth less random than he had expected of it? He certainly felt lucky being able to shop for someone he knew personally, and with the help of Misha he thought that he had come out with something pretty nice. He hoped. Now he was wondering if he shouldn't have gotten her a throw pillow or something to help her with her room. Misha would have had to help him with that one too.
He smiled more broadly at her question and held out the little purple box.
"You."
Inside lay a silver chain from which dangled a clear pendant with a flower pressed in. He wasn't sure what sort of flower it was, but it had been the prettiest and most well-placed of the lot. Hopefully Sylvia didn't hate it, although he was sure she would pretend to love it even if she did.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 2:01 am
Sylvia smiled, “Yes, I have, but at least you have some personal touch. I sort of aligned any sparseness with your background more than anything else.” Brian had at least a few more pictures and seemed to have settled in even if he didn’t have too terribly much to show for it. She sort of figured that having to get used to life in the military and keeping things tidy led to his keeping his room in the Prytaneum sparse and together – especially since it, too, was aligned with battlegrounds.
The smile already on her face pulled tighter at Brian’s smile and answer. He had a very good smile. She stood straight again and stepped around her chair as she reached out to accept the small box he offered, very curious to see what was inside. It was always going to be true that whoever ended up with her name for Xenia would be someone she hadn’t known for long. At least with Brian, she felt she had gotten to know him decently well so far. There was still a lot to learn, but at least they had talked a few times and he was someone she considered a friend. As such, she was very interested to see what he’d gotten for her. Gifts were exciting under almost every circumstance, but a gift from someone still getting to know her… well, she was interested to see, to some extent, what his impression of her was. Gifts could say interesting things.
Sylvia tugged at the white ribbon until it came loose, then looped it over the back of the chair behind her. She gave Brian a quick glance before giving the box her undivided attention once more and slowly pushing back the top to reveal its contents. The necklace that lay inside was one of the truly prettiest gifts she had ever received. Her mouth opened slightly in an expression of delight and surprise. She couldn’t help but stare at it for a few moments, one finger eventually reaching in to trace one side of the pendant. She had no idea what flower it was, either, but it didn’t matter. It was lovely.
“Oh, Brian.” She finally looked up at him with a wide grin. Before she could put words to appreciation she was compelled to rush over and loop her arms around Brian’s neck for a well-deserved hug. Hopefully he didn’t mind. She was so delighted! He had done very well indeed. After a few seconds, she finally released him, a little hop in her step back. She gave him a genuinely impressed smile. “This is beautiful. Thank you so much.” She looked down into the box again and bit her bottom lip, still smiling. She made a decision and reached inside to carefully remove the necklace, holding it up and admiring it before setting the box aside. She gave Brian and sideways glance and a tight smile. “I hope it isn’t too much to try it on immediately.” She chuckled, but hesitated a moment before finding the clasp.[ 509; 1,349 total ]
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:08 am
Brian shrugged. Maybe it was true. He had no idea how to decorate in the first place, but it wasn't like your bunk was especially beautiful in basic either. Maybe it had just been trained into him, like so many other things.
He was glad to see Sylvia's grin broaden when he held out the box. He'd been wondering if he hadn't been being too cheeky, but it didn't seem as such. Brian watched her open the box with the sort of trepidation he always felt when giving gifts. People knew by adulthood to act surprised and happy, but were they really? He supposed he'd be able to tell this time. It'd all depend on if he ever saw Sylvia wear it!
Then she rushed over to him and he gladly wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug. He was grinning like an idiot. How pleased he was with Sylvia's reaction! This didn't seem faked or false at all.
"You're welcome," he'd said. He'd had a little help, sure, but the end decision had been his. Thank you, Misha. He laughed at the insistence that she try it on now and reached out to her. "Let me." She seemed to be having some trouble with it anyway, and what was that weird little urge, huh? He brushed his own questions aside.
He took the undone clasp and refastened them gently behind Sylvia's neck. He's done this a few times, for family and for girlfriends, but rarely for a friend. How was the length? He'd had no idea what length of chain was "correct."
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Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2016 11:21 pm
Brian was good with hugs. And he was grinning almost as much as she was, which was impressive. It was sort of a wonderful feeling to know how mutually happy they were over this lovely little necklace. He had done very well, indeed.
Her smile tightened a bit and she turned over the necklace to Brian at his request. She turned as well, suddenly wishing that she had kept her hair up as she tried to lift it out of his way. She reached up a hand to the pendant resting on her chest even before it was fully secure, too excited to avoid it, though all she really did was lay a hand over it – she didn’t want to disrupt the process, after all. Once she was sure it was secure, she bounced a bit and eagerly rushed to the bathroom, flicking on the light and looking in the mirror.
“Aah, look at it!” She, at least, was pleased. It rested just below her collar bones, though they seemed to frame the pendant nicely from above. She kept pressing it against her skin and running a finger along its edge for a few moments, before finally turning to Brian. Her huge smile was waning just slightly as she turned for outside input. “So? What do you think? Still seem to suit me?” Honestly, she wasn’t sure she cared if anyone else hated it, but it would be nice to have her own opinions reinforced, especially by the person who had gifted it to her.[ 255; 1,604 total ]
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2016 12:39 pm
His fingers were pretty deft considering his previous occupations, and he only missed the clasp once before hooking it properly. He let go as if he might have missed again, and in the way the chain fell told him that Sylvia had a hand over the pendant. Good, good. He really felt like he had done well this time. Brian was no longer concerned with the appropriateness of jewelry for friends, because obviously it was just fine.
He watched Sylvia run off to look at herself in the mirror with her shimmery hair and agan she seemed pleased. He almost wanted to give her another hug when she came back, but that might be weird. How odd he wanted to at all! Clearly Sylvia was the sort of friend that had passed over "acquaintance" and come into "you can touch me without me wincing" territory.
"I think it does," he said with a nod. The only opinion that really mattered was Sylvia's, but no, Brain did like the way it fell. It had reminded him of Sylvia in the first place. It was feminine and floral and not entirely too dainty. "I'm glad you like it. It was nice to end up paired with someone who's already a friend."
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 5:50 pm
Sylvia beamed at Brian’s affirmation. She turned quickly again to the mirror for one last glance before turning out the light and reemerging into her room with a skip. “Oh, I do, I love it.” She knew she was repeating herself at this point, but so be it.
She, at least, was not so reserved with physical touch and, encouraged that he had not seemed opposed to their earlier hug, bounced forward to embrace him again. As she pulled back, her hands slid along his neck to gently cup his jaw and she gave his cheek a quick kiss before locking eyes with him, smiling. “You did a lovely job. And for that,” she released him and came down from her tip-toes, giving a delighted shrug of her shoulders, “I am also glad that you were paired with a friend.”
Her brows raised slightly as she became curious. “Have you been given your gift yet? Do you know who your gifter was?” Sylvia loved gifting and hearing about gifts others received, especially if they were gifts that people particularly loved. If Brian wasn’t against extending his stay a bit, Sylvia would enjoy chatting a bit – though of course she would understand if this was supposed to be a quick visit.[ 210; 1,814 total ]
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 7:44 pm
He gave a tiny huff of laughter and began to blush at the kiss on the cheek. This whole non-familial physical affection thing was still pretty new to him, but he thought he liked it. Who'd have known a person who thrived on professionalism enjoyed a good hug?
"I'm glad. Really, I am." He listened to her question and then shook his head. He hadn't spoken to anyone who revealed themselves to have drawn his name, friend or stranger, and nothing had showed up on his doorstep. "No. It's alright, though. It's kind of exciting, to not know what is coming from where. Secret Santas weren't exactly a big thing in the army. Well. Secret Xenias."
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Posted: Thu Dec 22, 2016 10:46 pm
A slow smile curled Sylvia’s lips and she nodded. “It is exciting! I really enjoy Secret Santa – or, Xenia, in this case. It’s always interesting. Sometimes you can get matched with someone who has no idea what they’re doing – I once got a porcelain polka-dot-hippo-bank that was… entirely random, so far as I could tell.” She still had a mystified look just thinking about it. “It was cute, but not exactly ‘me’.” She chuckled and offered a shrug, “Still, their heart was in the right place. That’s what matters.” That was the best part. She had been lucky enough to not be involved in a gift exchange with people who clearly didn’t care – at least, not that she could tell. And that was pretty great.
“Well, I hope that whoever drew your name does as well for you as you did for me.” It was wished with an abundance of genuine warmth, and an appreciative hand over her necklace yet again. She always hoped for the best with gifts. They could be hit or miss, but there was something about the spirit of gifting that just made her giddy – she couldn’t help it.[ 193; 2,007 total ]
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Posted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 1:02 pm
Brian nodded. He appreciated Secret Santas for what they were: a way to give and share the spirit of the holidays with people you may never have met otherwise. He had just gotten lucky with this one and really had something to go on. Anyway, he much preferred giving over receiving when it came to gifts.
"Oh, that's... interesting. Apparently I'm a difficult person to shop for." His parents had reminded him of that all his life, and Secret Santas in the past had nodded that way, not that restaurant gift cards weren't well-appreciated, they were just a mite generic. He was glad to have known anything about Sylvia beforehand, and to have the help he had.
"I'm glad you think so." Sylvia's statements seemed a sort of a closing then and so he stepped over, touched a hand to her upper arm as if to steady or soothe her, and leaned down to kiss her cheek. "We need to hang out some time soon, yeah?" You always got to eat dinner with your friends so who knew when or what, but his insistence was true.
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:04 am
She squinted up at him, as if sizing him up, then nodded. “Yeah, I could see that.” Sylvia was generally pretty good at gifting, but even she wasn’t entirely sure what she would get for Brian. And she actually considered him a friend she might want to gift for. Perhaps it was just because she didn’t know him terribly well yet, but she understood where the other people in his life were coming from. Now, however, she was almost considering it a challenge worth considering.
Sylvia gave an excited shrug again, still grinning. Of course she would hope that he would get such a wonderful gift~ She couldn’t wait to wear the necklace on a day she actually planned on being put together and seeing other people and showing it off a little.
She was a bit surprised to find that she was on the edge of blushing when Brian closed the space between them and returned her kiss on the cheek. She hadn’t felt strange at all about giving him a kiss before, but there was something sweet about Brian feeling comfortable enough to return it. She gave his proposal an eager nod, “Definitely. I would love that. Hopefully soon.”
She was sure that he had other things to do today besides dropping off her gift, so she turned to open the door for him. “Well, I hope that you enjoy the rest of your day.” She offered a cheerful smile in farewell before adding, “And –” she reached out to grab his hand and give it a quick squeeze as he passed, “thank you again. I really love it.” She released his hand to press an honest hand against the necklace one last time, then gave a little wave.[ 291; 2,298 total ]
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Posted: Wed Dec 28, 2016 11:46 am
"Well, you know where I am," he said. Even if she wasn't sure, Misha had been to his room plenty of times and could easily share. He smiled brightly, partially in reaction to seeing Sylvia blush. That's what she got! It was nice to not be the one blushing this time.
"You're really welcome. Have a good day," he said then with a nod as he headed out, "and Happy Holidays." Did you wish someone a "blessed Xenia" or something? He wasn't sure, so "Holidays" would stand. He closed Sylvia's door behind him as he left.
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