Welcome to Gaia! ::

Mason loved a surprise. He really did. Whether it was him planning a surprise for someone else or someone else surprising him - rare though that was - he loved a surprise.

He just wasn't sure what kind of surprise could possibly be awaiting him in the local mall. A new outfit, maybe, or a manicure? He'd been peppering Halia with questions on the drive over, but she'd remained tight-lipped about their final destination the entire time. She'd remained tight-lipped about most things, actually, and he was just about to call her out on it and ask what on earth was bothering her when they came to a stop in front of a store Mason had never even heard of.

(Which, not remarkable, given that he'd never even heard of almost every store in the mall, since Madeline took care of their clothes and pretty much everything else that would require being purchased from a place you could find in the mall. He could count on one hand and have fingers left over for the total amount of times he'd even stepped foot in the place.)

"Build-a-Bear Workshop?" Mason read aloud, brows knitting in slight confusion as he looked from the store to Halia. "What is this place?" He glanced back at the store and took stock of its current customers - it looked to be pretty much entirely occupied by parents and their small children--but at least the small children weren't screeching, so Mason decided it wasn't necessarily a point against the place overall.

He looked back at Halia curiously, all other questions regarding her mood and general vibe momentarily forgotten. "Why are we here?"

Mason blinked, looking from Halia to the store and back again. "That...sounds awesome?" Mason said slowly, then thoughtlessly grabbed Halia's hand to pull them both into the store.

What greeted him was - kind of grotesque, if he was being honest - a wall of empty, deflated skins of stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes: cats, bats, wolves, koalas, bears (as the store's name did promise), and weirder stuff, like--

"Is that an axolotl?" Mason asked with a surprised laugh. He reached out to touch it, then pulled his hand back, a bemused smile on his face. "My sister loves those guys." Mason chuckled. There were cows, sloths, even--

"Dude, a dinosaur!" Mason laughed and picked up a dinosaur's deflated skin, then spotted-- "And a raccoon?!" Mason laughed again and picked that one up too, looking between them before he looked back at Halia.

"There's too many options," he said, eyes sparkling. "What are you gonna get? What should I get?"

Mason smiled, touched that Halia thought of Madeline; most people didn't, or if they did, they didn't think of her nearly as kindly as Halia seemed to. He didn't actually know if Madeline harbored any great love of the Sanrio brand, but he did know his sister loved getting presents, and would probably fall over from the shock of getting one from someone other than himself.

"She'd love that," he said with a simple smile, "and I love the idea of picking them out for each other." He put the dino and raccoon back in their respective bins, then stepped back to get a bigger picture, letting his eyes scan over all the options. Let's see, what for Halia, Halia, Halia...

Then he spotted it and grinned. He darted forward and grabbed the white moth skin, then held it out to her, a secretive sparkle in his eye.

"Looks familiar, huh?" Mason said, flapping its little wing at her. "Reminds me of something, I just can't quite place where I might have seen something like this before..." he trailed off with another big grin. "What do we do once we've decided? How does it go from weird skin to snuggly plushie?"

"Hm," Mason said thoughtfully, not sure if his sister would be overwhelmed or delighted with the colorful chaos of the building your own stuffed animal concept. "I think get her one. Then offer to go with her if she wants to make one herself," Mason decided with a resolute nod. He was pleased she liked the moth - it was perfect, and adorable, and so fluffy. Way more huggable than the Arunan versions, but still, a cute lil interplanetary souvenir.

Then Halia handed him one she'd found, and his smile only widened as she explained her reasoning. "'Cause I don't have a planet or anything," Mason said, taking the skin carefully. He brushed his fingers over the bear, then gently over the star. He knew, logically, that probably it wasn't an official name for the star, but - he could pretend. And every time he'd look at the bear, he'd think about Halia, and space, and this moment, and that meant more to him than he could really express in words.

So he pulled her in for a tight, squeezy hug, and murmured in her ear, "Thanks, Hals. You're the best." He gave her another big smile as he pulled away, then made his way over to what looked like a miniature cement mixer, but filled with white fluff.

The worker there beamed at him and began explaining the steps, the options; how fluffy or firm did he want it, how to make a wish on the heart that he stuffed inside the creature. It was so silly, this little ritual, but he almost wanted to cry for how sweet and pure it was.

'Do you want to put a scent or recording in your bear?' the woman asked him, and he shook his head automatically, but paused as he gave the listed options a second look.

"No, but...can I get this, and this, for that girl over there's?" Mason asked quietly, trying to subtly nod over to where Halia was waiting her turn. The scent capsule he picked out was lavender-rose, which just felt very Halia to him, and then the recording...

'You just speak into it,' the woman said, a twinkle in her eye that absolutely went over Mason's head. 'Whatever you'd like to say.'

"Thanks," Mason said, and took the little box carefully in his free hand. Quickly, quietly, he spoke into it: "Hals - if you ever feel alone, give this a squeeze and remember--I'm always on your side. No matter what."

It still felt too small, too insignificant, but his heart was close to bursting and it was the best he could do on impulse. He handed the little box back to the woman who gave him a knowing smile - again, right over his head - and finished sewing up his bear, then nodded for him to continue onto the 'bathing' area, where Mason quickly began to give his little bear a blow-dry to fluff him up juuuuust right.

Mason blinked in surprise, but wrapped his arms around Halia anyway, hugging her close. "Least I could do," he murmured, squeezing her tight for another few moments before he pulled back. "This was a great idea, Hals. This is awesome." Mason looked down at his little bear, all blue and fluffy, and hugged it with one hand to his chest.

"We should pick out one for Mads, yeah? And do we need--like, can the lil guys be naked, or do we have to get them clothes?" Mason asked, reaching over to pick up a tiny little doctor's outfit. "This is so cute. Who's idea was this place? Whoever they are, total genius. I love it. And you can get little hats, too, look--"