It was six o'clock.
The final show of the day had been performed. And there were now only two weeks until Christmas Eve. Two weeks left for Christmas shopping.
The performers of the Festival of the Lion King had decided to do a Secret Santa, that for this year also included the Tumble Monkeys (the past two years, there had been COVID so the Tumble Monkeys weren't about).
As usual, Kibibi, Nakawa, Zawadi, and Kiume had drawn each other. Well, it wasn't that usual as last year Kibibi did draw Timon. And a few years before that, Kiume had drawn Simba.
But mainly, they drew each other, not that they minded.
Kibibi had drawn Zawadi. And she knew what she would get her friend, just as confident as she was her friend would like it. A nice art piece of a warthog. Zawadi's favourite animal was a warthog - they were under appreciated, apparently.
Zawadi, meanwhile, had drawn Nakawa. She knew Nakawa thought highly of himself. She had already picked out his gift - a Simba hat, complete with ears. Nakawa, though a tad narcissistic, could take a joke. And he loved lions. Why not be one?
Nakawa had drawn Kiume. He was totally lost as to what he could get Kiume for Christmas. He'd probably wait until the last moment and go get some treats from Zuri's Sweet Shop on Christmas Eve, just before the gift reveals.
Kiume had drawn Kibibi. He knew what to get her. He'd seen a beautiful crystal giraffe figurine in the Mombasa Marketplace. Kibibi loved giraffes and championed their conservation.
Now, it was only a matter of slipping away from each other to get the gifts. That was the hardest part of Secret Santa. Just as, they assumed, it was for regular Santa.
Not getting caught!
The Tumble Monkeys are the acrobat group in The Festival of The Lion King. They were gone from 2020-2022 because of COVID, but have since returned as of the summer. So that means this fic is set, well, December 10th 2022.