heritrix | Recolle

[If someone had told Sakura how expensive friendship was, she might've thought twice about befriending what suddenly seems like half of Recollé -- and right around the holidays, too. Between bills, rent, and food (food for at least three people), the one debit card tied solely to her name can barely handle the strain as it is.

But call it the holiday spirit (or just an unwillingness to lose), she's determined to find the perfect gift for everyone on her list. Everyone. Which, given the sudden lack of taste senses, has resulted in multiple trips to one of Recolle's largest malls, scouring bargain bins and trying to figure out how tacky it would be if she just got everyone the same knitted scarf marked 75% off.

It doesn't matter for long - someone buys them before she comes to a decision. It's probably for the best, but feeling the sting of that defeat, she trudges out of the small outlet store and back into the main building. Glancing up, the ceiling is decked out in festive ornaments hung from the rafters, and the booths dotted along the walkways have at least one reef stuck against their display glasses.

But the real jewel of the mall has to be the meet-and-greet with Santa, Sakura assumes. "Assumes", because she sure can't see the jolly old man dressed in red from her vantage point, likely hidden behind what seems like an endless line of fidgety children and grumpy adults. A couple of Christmas workers dressed as elves are herding the slow-moving stampede, and Sakura's heart ached for them in that moment. She'd learned not to be a stickler when it came to finding income, but oh, that has to be high on the list of jobs she'd never take]

[18,000 children. That's how many tykes, from starry-eyed to bawling, the head elf had cheerfully congratulated everyone for greeting over the holiday season when they hit their four week anniversary yesterday. In the 24 hours since then, Rin could swear that number must have spiked by half, even if only in her imagination. The last Friday before Christmas morning, it seems like every parent in Recolle has rushed to get a picture of their little ones with Santa at the last minute.

This job has been surprisingly rewarding most of the time, since Rin signed on, but the last stretch is definitely the most hectic. Going by one customer making plans with someone over her cellphone, however, it seems to be just about ten minutes until her shift is up and she can take off. Until then, though, there are still children to entertain. She's been feeling lightheaded for a couple hours now, overheated in the velvet hat and costume, but that just makes her act more animated to compensate.]

My name? Ooh, what a polite little boy you are! I think someone might be on Santa's Nice List~ [The bell on her hat jingles as Rin crouches down to the child's level, cupping her cheeks.] I'm Sugarplum. What's your name?

[The boy tells her excitedly, asking if he can see the list too, and Rin has to laugh merrily and tell him only Santa is allowed to look, she just makes the toys. Did he like his presents last year? Oh yes, she thinks Snickerdoodle worked on that one! Snickerdoodle is an old friend of hers; she'll pass the message along. The little boy moves on to Santa, and the girl behind him peers at her shyly. Hm? Why is she so tall?]

Well you see, when elves leave the North Pole, we grow three feet taller! [Rin raises a hand to indicate size, holding back a laugh as the girl's eyes grow wide.] Back home, I'm only juuuust about as big as you.

[...

...

It's been four months -- no, five with December nearly being over, and that does not include the days and months and years spent living in Japan while her sister pranced overseas for her education. It'd been a silly thought, stupid and driven with the fear of both memories and nightmares, but Sakura had sometimes worried she'd forget what her own flesh and blood looked like. That maybe Rin would be pulled into Retrospec's vortex and spat back out as some creature with blue hair and three eyes.

The velvet costume is so mundane in comparison that Sakura feels insulted looking at it.]

Nee-san. [Not even spoken loud enough to be heard over the dull roar of the crowd, so that Rin doesn't look in her direction is no surprise. It's still another notch in the calendar, more seconds of her sister apparently being completely okay despite all of Sakura's reservations! Dressed up as a jolly elf, in fact, playing with kids and passing them off to Santa's lap.]

Nee-san. [With a bit more added something now. She'll pin down the emotion once she's crossed the line (to the shock and uncertainty of the parents, all of whom assume she's too old for Santa but still noting with distaste how she squeezes her way to the front, saddling the main line).]

N-nee-san!!

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heritrix - 2017-12-25 08:05 (UTC) - Expand

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heritrix - 2017-12-25 08:05 (UTC) - Expand

12/22 action

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1/...idek 26? Does it matter??? Let's boomerang hard

1/26 sounds good!

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2/3 text

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2/3, very late

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