Day 17: Visionshipping (Mai/Isis) - "Secret Santa"
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Isis walked back into her hotel room after the last of the day's meetings. She'd been eager to take on this assignment for the chance to see her brother in Domino, but was very glad the seemingly endless meetings were now over.
She sighed contentedly as she pulled off her shoes. As she settled heavily in her chair, she spotted a small wrapped gift on the side table. How curious.
She reached forward and ran her fingers along the shiny paper. Perhaps something from Marik? But surely, he would just wait to give her a gift in person. A gift from the hotel? That seemed unlikely.
Well, there really was only one way to find out, wasn't there? She carefully pulled the paper off the gift to find a small bottle of perfume nestled in the tissue paper. Tucked in behind it was a note that simply read "Happy Holidays! 3 -M", with a phone number. That was neither her brother's handwriting nor his number. How curious.
Still, she picked up her phone and dialled Marik's number. Maybe he would know what was going on. She smiled when her brother's face filled the screen.
"Hi, Isis." There was a muffled greeting from offscreen. "Ryou says hi, too. How'd the meetings go?"
"Quite well. I should have more time to visit in the next few days."
"Great!"
Isis smiled. "Actually, I have another reason to call. There was a mysterious gift in my room. Do you know anything about it?"
Marik's grin widened. "Oh yeah, I snuck that in. It's from Mai."
"Mai?"
Marik took pity on Isis' confused expression. "Yeah. She gave it to Ryou, who gave it to me, and I snuck it in to you."
"But…why?"
"I don't know, sister, you'd have to ask her." Isis could swear her brother's eyes twinkled, but for the life of her she couldn't figure out why. It was times like this she missed the insight of the Millenium Necklace.
"I suppose I'll have to, then. Thank you Marik."
Marik gave her a wide grin and wished her well as Ryou shouted his goodbyes in the background.
Isis stared back down at the perfume bottle. It really was quite lovely. At the very least, she should call and thank Mai for the unexpected gift. She dialled the number and soon she was looking at a slightly surprised-looking Mai.
"Oh! Hello." Mai's face settled into a warm smile. "I honestly wasn't expecting you to actually call. But I'm glad that you did! I guess Marik managed to deliver my little gift then?"
"He did. It was very kind of you to think of me. I don't often get unexpected gifts."
Mai laughed. "I find that hard to believe." She continued before Isis could ask what she meant. "I hope it wasn't too bold of me to send it. Some of the girls on the cruise ship would do secret santa gifts back in the day, and it seemed like a good excuse to get you something."
"I do appreciate the thought. The perfume is lovely." Mai looked delighted. Isis mostly felt awkward. What was one supposed to do in this situation? "I wished to thank you for the kindness."
Mai waved her off. "It's nothing."
"Even still, I'd like to return the favour." Isis racked her brain for an appropriate response. "Perhaps I can have you out for coffee while I'm in town, to thank you?"
Mai's eyed widened fractionally before a wide smile took over again. "That would be wonderful. When and where?"
They quickly arranged to meet at a small café the next day. Isis still felt as though she was missing some critical subtext in the conversation, but there was little to be done about it. "I shall see you tomorrow, then. It was lovely to talk to you again."
"Sure thing. I'm looking forward to it." Mai winked and blew a playful kiss at the screen. "See you later!" The phone went blank.
Isis was fairly sure she was blushing at her phone. How very unusual.
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A/N: Sometimes, you just gotta get your sister a cute girl for Christmas. Poor Isis isn't going to know what hit her. ;)