The Twelve Days of Christmas
The Secret Santas
;; Max POV ;;
It had to have been a dream, I told myself for the hundredth time. I had to have been dreaming that I kissed Fang's cheek yesterday. There was no other explanation as to why he came back into the cabin a few minutes after me, acting completely normal. If I had really kissed him, he would've been looking at me strangely or saying we needed to talk. But he wasn't. He was just being Fang.
So why did that bother me?
I sighed… I am so messed up. What did I expect? That he'd come bolting through the front door, scoop me into his arms, and kiss me passionately until we were both gasping for a breath? Why was I even considering that scenario!? You'd think I wanted it to happen…
Did I?
Shaking my head, I brought myself back into reality. I was standing in front of a metal clothing rack, looking for a gift for the one person I was assigned to buy for.
This had been Ella's idea, of course. She woke up this morning feeling much better and said that we needed to go Christmas gift shopping. I explained to her that us bird-kids have a limited amount of room in our packs, so she suggested Secret Santa. It wasn't a bad idea, I have to admit.
We all wrote our names on pieces of paper, before folding them up and tossing them in a pot. Then we each picked out a name, at random, which gave us the person we secretly had to buy a gift for, leaving each person to receive just one gift. Brilliantly efficient. The only drawback, which is leading me to freak out more than just a bit, is that we all had to split up in the mall, so that no one saw what their Secret Santa was buying for them…
I took a deep breath, pushing away all of the horrible images that sprang into my mind, and focused on the articles of clothing in front of me.
Hmm. She'd probably like the light blue one, I thought to myself.
With one other thing I had set out to buy, I hurried to my next destination…
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;;Iggy POV ;;
Ugh. Why did I have to pick him? I asked myself.
The smell in this store was overpowering and the shrieking and yapping was drowning out the sound of everything else; it was a sensory overload.
"I'll take the gray one, please, the one with the extra padding," I explained to the saleswoman. If Fang were here, I could ask him what she looked like. At least that could have made this experience a little less vile.
Then again, I think I preferred my current shopping escort just fine.
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;; Angel POV ;;
Well, there's one thing I've learned about Christmas from all this shopping… People that are 100 Percent human take the holiday for granted. I mean, it's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year, so why is everyone so miserable inside?
"I wish we could all just skip Christmas this year. I have to find a way to get out of that party. There's no way I'm sitting with them all night. What a downer that'd be…" a teenage girl was musing about.
"Janet can't seriously think I'm buying her that nine-thousand dollar necklace…" some tall man in a business suit thought.
If they only knew how lucky they were…
"I wish Grandma would get run over by a reindeer."
"I hate snow!"
"John had better not stop by Christmas Eve after that stunt he pulled last year. There's no way I'm buying him anything."
The thoughts were all negative, coming from every direction, too many for me to keep track of. I wished that Max was here to give me a hug. All of these people are making me uncomfortable.
And sad…
"Mommy thinks I still believe in Santa, but I know it's just Uncle Seagram dressing up in a red suit. I hope I was a good enough boy to get that game I really want. She doesn't look happy, though. Maybe she doesn't think I'm a good boy…" thought a little brown-haired child as he looked up at his Mommy…
I snuck a peek into her mind and she was thinking, "Waste of money, this damn holid–" Oops. Max wouldn't want me to hear that.
Tugging on Nudge's sleeve, I said, "Let's get out of here."
"Aren't you going to buy one of these?" she asked, pointing to the shelves in front of us.
"Yeah. The one with the pirates. That one looks warm enough."
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;; Gazzy POV ;;
"I hope these are the right size…" I wished out loud, looking at the box in my hands.
"Can we just pay for them and go already?" Total grumbled for the eighth time in six minutes. I don't know how Angel puts up with him all the time.
I sighed. "Total, the only reason you were even allowed in here is because we lied and said I was volunteering with the animal shelter to train you to become a seeing-eye dog, so stop complaining. Would you rather have been stuck waiting for us in the woods behind the building, alone?"
"Point taken, my son."
"My son?" Who does this dog think he is?
"It's just a phrase," he sighed. "Why couldn't I have acted as a true seeing-eye dog for the blind boy?"
I rolled my eyes. "You can be so dumb sometimes."
"I resent that."
"Whatever. Just pick a color," I said, waving my hand toward his choices.
"Black, of course. Now who's being dumb?"
I frowned at him before picking up one of the items in black.
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;; Total ;;
We stood by the mall entrance, ahead of our scheduled meeting time, the first ones waiting. I glanced around at the Christmas shoppers, bags in hands, screaming children trudging along at their sides, frowns marring all of their faces.
And suddenly, in quite the uncouth manner, the Gasman expelled a fetid wind from his hindquarters, living up to his name.
"Oh, honestly. Was that necessary?"
He appeared thoughtful for a moment before answering, "Yes. Yes, it was."
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;; Nudge POV ;;
At first, I had no idea what I should get for her. I mean I could get her anything, really. It's not like she would need a size constraint. I could get her a big screen TV if I wanted to, except that Max didn't give me enough money for that, so I guess something small will do just fine. I was leaning towards a really cute scarf and hat set…
But then Angel suggested I get her something useful that she could enjoy, like something luxurious. I wish we could use things that we could call luxurious. Maybe one day, when we aren't running for our lives from the School. That would be pretty sweet. We could wake up in the morning, eat breakfast, use some luxurious things, eat lunch, use some more luxurious things–
"Nudge?"
"Yeah, Angel?"
"Can we just pretend that Iggy is here to clamp a mental hand down over you mental mouth?"
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;; Fang POV ;;
Looking through a rack of brightly-colored fabrics to find a gift for my Secret Santa recipient, something began to seem familiar about the store. It wasn't the store itself; I had never been here before. It didn't smell familiar or even feel familiar, for that matter. No, it was the soft sound that filled my ears. A rhythmic, yet lengthy cycle of airy resonance. Someone's… breathing?
I glanced up and found the source… Max was standing about ten feet in front of me and, reflexively, I almost walked over to her. But I thought better of it, not knowing if she was my Secret Santa or not. She'd get mad if I saw what she picked out for me.
I was about to turn and leave, so that she wouldn't even know I had been there, but I realized she wasn't paying attention anyway. A low throaty chuckle escaped me as I watched her movements. She was holding something small and dark in her hands. It looked soft as she ran her fingertips over it, ever so delicately.
But it was the expression on her face that kept my gaze affixed with amusement. Her lips were slightly parted as her eyes rested on the object with an inexplicable longing, yet I couldn't understand why. It was a useless little thing, but to Max it seemed invaluable. I watched as she sighed and put it down almost against her will, before leaving quickly and determinedly.
When she was out of sight, I walked over to where she had been standing and picked up the object of her fascination. I sighed and brought it to the checkout counter, hoping she would appreciate the gesture. If I'm lucky, maybe it'll earn me another kiss on the cheek… or, dare I say, something more…
Big thanks to the following people who suggested this chapter:
jaz719 – xthehatedvampirex – jenfan456
And now do you see what happens when I get flooded with lovely reviews? The chapters get written and posted as quickly as I can write them… Yay! LOL Getting to 55 reviews took all of like 20 minutes because you guys rock. Maybe we'll get to the big Seven-Five this time? ;-)
That said, I apologize greatly for this chapter. I had high hopes, but I think I failed miserably with their POVs. *hangs head in shame* So, yeah. I'm sorry.
Faxy cuteness in the next chapter, 'cause I need some more good ole fluff! :-)