Merry Day After Christmas, everyone! I hope everyone out there had a great day yesterday, and is having a great day after Christmas.
Now, as I promised in the previous chapter, here's what comprises the last of the Christmas holiday traditions that Bayley and the other Gems have. Curious to see what these other traditions are? Read on to find out, my loves. =)
Gingerbread House Building
"And, we're building a house out of these cookies...why, exactly?" Sasha asked, holding one of the walls for the gingerbread house she was helping build with Bayley and the others. "I thought you were supposed to eat them."
"Well, normally, yes, we do," Bayley said. "But, these cookies here...these are for building gingerbread houses, which is another tradition that we have."
"Just to give you a heads-up, Sasha, this can be a bit of a troublesome task with Dean helping," Seth cut a glare over to Dean, who was camped out in front of some of the candies they were going to use as decorations on the house.
Seeing Sasha tilt her head to the side in confusion, Roman explained. "Usually whenever we build gingerbread houses, we have to deal with Dean eating a lot of the candies that we use to decorate the house. And, usually when that happens, fighting follows."
"Only because Dean can't keep his mitts off the gumdrops and everything else!" Seth cut in.
"Oh, I see," Sasha nodded in understanding. "Should I summon my whip and use to tie Dean up somewhere?"
"I...don't think that'll be necessary," Bayley cut in in the hopes of avoiding fighting in the house. Looking over to Dean, Bayley asked "Dean, can you please not eat any of our candies for the gingerbread house? If you want, I'll go to the store and buy you some later."
Casting a look down at the array of candies-ranging from gumdrops to peppermints to licorice pieces and other sweets-Dean wanted to try to plead for at least one piece. But, seeing the look on Bayley's face, the sandy blonde let out a sigh and said "Fine. But, just letting you know. I want Skittles and Sour Patch Kids."
"OK," Bayley nodded, feeling relieved that the group dodged a potential fight. Clapping her hands together, Bayley said "OK! Let's get this house built!"
...
Shopping For Presents
"Why didn't we tell Bayley where we were going?" Sasha asked, watching as Seth looked at a selection of toys that ranged from Hello Kitty dolls to plush toys for a series called Hamtaro.
"Because, what me and the others are doing...it's supposed to be a surprise for Bayley," Seth began to explain. "Christmas is usually a time of year where we try to give Bayley what she wants, outside of her birthday. With Christmas, it's like a big celebration of us as a family of sorts."
"A family," Sasha said the word slowly. 'A family is a group consisting of parents and children living together in a household. How exactly can the word "family" apply to Dean, Roman, Seth, and Bayley? They don't really share anything in the way of the same genetic material outside of the gem that lies in Bayley's navel,' Sasha thought.
Seeing Sasha in what looked to be deep thought, Seth laughed a bit. "Sasha, I wouldn't think too much about this. And, just to let you know, the word "family" can apply to any group of people that love and care about each other. Meaning our little group of Gem oddities applies there."
Hearing Seth answer questions that were purely in her own head, Sasha was rewarded with an answer in the form of the two-toned Gem tapping the Gem in the middle of his forehead. "Oh, I see. You can read one's thoughts."
"It's not so much me reading thoughts; although, that is an ability I have. I'd say it's more me having a good gauge on one's feelings," Seth said. "It's like I said, Sasha. Don't think too much about this. You're still learning about the ways of the humans, so it's only natural that you don't fully understand most of their ways. Just give it time. I'm sure you'll come around to what it is about the humans that me, Dean, and Roman love so much."
"I sure hope so, Seth," Sasha mumbled as the two-toned Gem went back to looking at the toys. Deciding that she should at least try to adapt the ways of the humans, Sasha followed Seth's suit and decided to look around at some of what was on the store's shelves that she felt Bayley might like. The magenta-haired Gem's search took her away from the toys to an area that was bookshelves covered with an array of books. Sasha was beginning to feel that none of the books here would be to Bayley's liking...until her gaze landed on a complete box set of six volumes of what she learned were graphic novels. 'This might be just perfect for Bayley. OK! This shall be my Christmas present for Bayley,' Sasha thought with a nod and an eager smile.
OK, yes. I know there's only two more Christmas traditions here, but I didn't want to have a lot of Holly Jolly overload here (even though Christmas is one of my favorite holidays of the year, even I'll admit that some Christmas traditions people have can be quite...bizarre, so I decided to go with two that my own family have). So, I feel that it was just great that I decided to include the two I did. And, it looks like they were traditions that Sasha seems to have taken to, especially in the case of the Christmas shopping. While the whole idea of the Gems observing such human customs is still fairly odd to the magenta-haired cinnamon roll, that doesn't mean that she isn't open to celebrating them...as evidenced by Sasha finding what she feels is the perfect Christmas gift for Bayley. How nice! =D And, just what is this gift, you might be asking? That, and more gifts, shall be revealed in the next (and possibly last...not sure yet) chapter of this arc. Until then, don't forget to R&R please. =)
