"Uwaah!" Layton fell backwards into the floor as a snow-covered Blaire glomped him. "HIIIII!" Layton lifted himself up with his elbows to see just what had tackled him down and sighed when he saw the young ninja's familiar face. "Must you really tackle me, my dear?" "I called your name like…5 times to get your attention." Layton blinked. "You did?" She turned in a huff. "Yes! Am I still too short to be accounted for?" She teared up and wiped a tear away. Instantly Layton panicked. "A-ah! Noo! You're a perfectly fine height! It makes you look very cu-" Blaire gave him a death glare. "-Uuooool! OxO" She gazed at him for a second and smiled. She patted his sleeve and walked inside. "Good boy." Layton sighed in relief and closed the door. "So why exact6ly are you here again?" She turned around and giggled. "Why else? For Christmas! My presents should be coming in soon. Keep and ear out for the mailman." "Erm…The mail already came." "Oh! Then my gifts are here. I'll put them under the tree." With that, she left to find her gifts to Layton and Luke. He sighed, the missed call at 3: 30 am reminding him of Blaire's visit played back at him. He walked back to his tea and resumed drinking. Luke bounded down the stairs with a skip in his step. Christmas Eve was only 3 hours away and Layton figured to do the same thing with Blaire as he did to Luke when he was younger. He would make sure that everyone had fallen asleep before he would gather all of the gifts and slip downstairs. He would dress almost like Santa Claus with his signature top hat and a holly leaf band. (Mind you, he's going to do it without a beard. XD) With his costume complete, he would skip a few minutes of sleep to place the gifts under the Christmas tree. Telling Luke that Santa Claus was real was not needed, as all children his age believed the jolly saint was real. When Luke first began his stay with the good professor, he would always sleep on the couch to get a glimpse of Santa on Christmas Eve. Layton observed this and decided to play a little trick on him. Sadly this only lasted till Luke became 14, he had become much more mature and had seen through the tales of Santa. He chuckled at the memories as Luke walked over from the kitchen. "So Blaire's here already?" "Yes, she is. She's looking for our presents." "Oh?" Luke tried to listen for where she was before whispering in Layton's ear. "Are you going to tell her?" He took a sip of his tea before answering. "Yes. I really do want to see her reaction." He placed his cup down and gave Luke a partially seducing smile. "Would you like to help me?" Luke leaned back. "No thanks. Just don't get hurt." Layton laughed. " Of course." Blaire walked in still unable to find the gifts but too lazy to even use her sense of smell to search for them. The only reason she gets hurt is because she's too lazy to defend herself. You can see the reason why in her eyes. "Bleh! I give. Where the heck did you hide it?" She slouched into a chair. "My dear, please mind your language. And I really don't think it will matter. I haven't opened them yet and it's almost Christmas." "Hm. Alright. You know, on my way here I kept hearing about this 'Santa Claus'. Know anything about him?" Layton looked at Luke and nodded. "Yes, well. Santa Claus is a man who lives at the North Pole. On Christmas Eve, he visits every single house in the entire world and gives gifts to good children." "All in one night?" "Yup! However he has never been caught." Blaire smiled an evil gleam in her eye. "Oh? Not once?" Layton's smile faded a bit. "Not once." "Heheh. Seems like I got myself a rival. This Santa must be a ninja if he can hit every single house in the world in a single night and not get caught! I'll show him!" With only an hour before Christmas Eve, Blaire went up to her room and began to prepare for her midnight trap. Luke went to get the professor's costume while Layton himself began to plan out his little trick. Blaire's wolf senses were Layton's biggest obstacle. He checked all the boards leading to the Christmas tree. Two of the boards creaked and he made a mental note of which ones to avoid. At last the time came as the clock chimed 12 times. Layton hadn't seen Blaire during his prep time so he had no idea what he had in store for him. Branding his top hat could very well give him away so he decided to go hatless. Once he made his way downstairs with the gifts without a sound, his jaw hit the floor. Blaire slept right under the tree in her wolf form or in other words his most challenging puzzle ever. Layton started to rethink his plan and try to sneak the gifts under the tree early the next morning, but that seemed unfair to Luke. Slowly, he inched his way to the tree till he was hovering right above her. Trying his best to avoid any contact with her fur, he placed the first present down. Eventually he got to the last gift when his sleeve touched a hair. The rest was a huge white blur, a string of brown then entered the picture and the whole world looked lopsided. Layton was caught. His hands were bound with rope and were tied tight. His legs were bound as well and were tied to the rope binding his hands. A towel acted as a gag and he couldn't move…no make that he didn't dare to move. Blaire had hung her head over his left arm and her front paws were on his right arm. She yawned showing off her needle sharp teeth. Fear shot through him to no end. 'It might just be possible to sneak out of her grasp…. but…if I even move, she'll know! Sigh…my mischievous plans have come to an end I see.'
The morning rays shot through the room and directly into the sleeping duo's face. Layton, having slept through his dilemma, was the first to stir. 'Where…. where am I?' He felt something furry brush against his face and saw that it was Blaire's face. He grimaced. 'Ah…of course… last night…. wait' "A…Ah! Ooooh! Noo! No! Nononononononononono!" Layton squirmed about for a full minute till he remembered his bindings. "This is bad! This is bad! This is sooooooooo bad!" Blaire slept through his whole freak-out till he accidentally elbowed her stomach. She grunted and groggily opened her eyes. "Ugh! This 'Santa' guy is getting on my nerves. Sigh. I might as well get this over with and send 'im back to the Pole. "EEEEEEEGH!" Blaire's eyes snapped open and stared into Layton's horrified eyes that read 'I don't want to freeze to death!' "Her…shel? What are you doing here? Where'd that Santa guy go?" Layton was going to regret this later. He knew it! "Errrrrrrr…he must have substituted me for himself and escaped. I'm sorry my dear." He stated through the muffle. She blanked. "EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEH!" She pouted on his shoulder. "Dang ….I really do have a rival…" She got up and left for her room.
.
.
.
….leaving Layton still bound on the floor.
"H-HEYYYY!"