[ Repeat it like a mantra forever. Thou must not drop off presents and run away like a coward. Thou must not drop off presents and run away like a coward. Everyone else is just doing dropoffs at ridiculous hours like they're spooky ghosts, but if this is the first year he's doing gifts like a person he's doing it properly.
But Maya is an exception to this rule. She has plenty of other people she should be spending her time with, mostly including people her age, who aren't dead, who care about her deeply and deserve her care in return. And he's not the only one of this opinion. After Mia unlocks the door (and the usual absent-minded bow and spoken gratitude) there's a moment spent hovering, waiting for a ping that doesn't happen.
Right. No Contract. That's fine. She'd have ran out in excitement if she were here anyway. ] Where should we hide 'em?
[While Mia has less fear of looking like a coward, she does share Will's wish for Maya to spend her time with all those bright and shiny people-- as well as to come home to a surprise. Something nice, something unexpected, something done just for her. A little extra effort.
It'd been easy to do little 'extra effort' things when they were younger, but it wasn't just death that had separated Maya from her sister. Now Mia intends to make up for it at least a little bit, which includes still relishing the fact her sister can be surprised and genuinely joyous. It's hard, what with everything that's happened.]
Hm... Not too-too obvious, but not the back of the closet, either.
[With their luck lately if they hide it too well, Maya won't see it til spring, and the lack of surprise ruins the whole cool-big-sibling thing they've got going on here.]
Maybe on her pillow, is that too obvious?
[Mia asks, idly straightening the bed that honestly doesn't need to be too straightened up, anyway. She hasn't done this too much either. It's so much easier to be smart and wise with things you actually have experience in.]
Think leaving it in front of the dorm room is the obvious one.
[ Seriously, just glancing down a hall shows piles of gifts waiting in front of various people's doors. You'd think someone would've started a delivery service by now. Or stolen them.
Either way, the pillow is seriously considered. She has to sleep eventually, right? So she'd see it by the end of the night. Thus it's delivered by the end of Candlenights. Success. But is it too obvious? It's less obvious than the door, but not hidden. How often does she even go in her room? Maybe they need to put more effort into it, so it doesn't look like an afterthought??? This-
This train of thought is getting stupid. ]
Ugh, I don't know Mia. If the door's shut, she wouldn't see it immediately, right? Best we can get.
Not everyone has the privilege of breaking and entering.
[But the little piles are kind of comical.]
That's true. If she comes into my room first, I can just ask her to grab something...
[Mia looks around to find a piece to ask for, later-- an extra pillow, something. She'll make a quick note of it before she rearranges that pillow so it's standing up against the wall and their gifts can lean up against that.]
[ It's with the type of idle mockery that means it's entirely shitposting and not actually serious. Just idle chat while the two fiddle with arrangements. They're two small boxes, but they need to be arranged in just a way as to when the door is opened, the two gifts are the very first thing the eye travels to.
Also they're both nervous idiots who don't know how gifts good. Mostly that one. ]
Hide your pillows and say you need replacements? [ That makes absolute logical sense and isn't suspicious at all. ] We should break before she gets back. Tomorrow for drinks? Want to hear how she takes it.
[Answers Mia when they're done fixing the gifts up as perfectly as they should be. There's no way Maya won't like getting a gift at all, but.... this is special. They did something here that required emotional and mental effort, alright. It has to be perfect, and probably not just for Maya's sake.
Now that they're done, though, it's exactly as perfect as imagined. Mia takes a step back and gives their work a proud look.]
[ while the two of them are plotting this straight up villainry and sneaking around in her room, maya just.... walks in. quietly, at first, maybe too quiet for them to hear initially. ]
[ huh, wonder what they're doing in here. ]
Let him know about what, sis?
[ she pipes up, making her presence known. busted!! ]
[ Maya's given the joy of seeing that one specific jump in place more frequently found in spooked cats before he spins around to face her. Escape route? There is none. No way to hide the evidence either. Deny presence here? No, that veers into farce.
Uh.
How to answer the question without actually answering the question. ]
[...Ah. Mia was kind of expecting this; it only shows in how quickly her shocked face goes to a sheepish one. She looks at Will and when he speaks, she grimaces a little, letting out half a laugh with her exasperation and amusement at their getting caught. Of course they would!
She looks to Maya, then, shrugs her shoulders, and grins sheepishly, wiggling her fingers in a wave.]
Hey, sis.
[The jig is up. She's already conceded defeat. She shrugs her shoulders and kind of gestures with them in the direction of Maya's bed, giving their gifts an obvious glance.]
[ she gives them both a bit of a mischievous grin, letting them squirm. it's a mystery as to how much she heard, but she's going to milk this moment for all it's worth, especially with them both looking guilty to various degrees. ]
Looks like I caught you both redhanded sneaking around my room! [ she says, even though mia has the same room. ]
Sooo, what are you guys up to in here?
[ her eyes flicker to the presents knowingly, giving them a big innocent grin. ]
[ She is a menace and she needs to stop being so menace-y, except don't because she's wonderful.
Unlike Mia, after that brief moment of weakness, all Maya is gifted is the same holier-than-thou deadpan expression that she knows, even without the Contract, is hiding a constantly-escalating narration of panic. ]
Breaking and entering, contraband smuggling, and obstruction of justice.
[ He's able to keep a straight face for most of it (most. Mia's comment about crime gets a short laugh before snapping back to Super Serious Most Criminal Wow). The bribe is legitimately considered. ] Corruption in the police, huh...
[ May as well play for the long game. An arm is wrapped around Mia's shoulder and she's turned away for them both to discuss like proper shady criminals in whisper-talk. Except there's no whispering at all here. ]
[Criminal #2 steps aside as well, gesturing with her arms to the gifts; the scarf a wrapper to the contents of Will's gift inside of it, both gleaming prettily on Maya's bed.
Mia's actually rather excited, despite it all. It's an important gift, and the fact Will gets to witness it too is actually a bit of a bonus.]
[ maya isn't going to know what hit her. for now, she's very cheerfully tearing at the paper -- not even delicately or anything, to see what's inside them. ]
Take that!
[ is she yelling at her mysterious presents? nick must be rubbing off on her. ]
[Part one of that gift is the scarf Will's is wrapped in; it's a champagne colored scarf with its ends noticeably altered. They're covered in gold blotches, fingerprints. it's simple, but pretty, and comes with a rolled-up paper; if Maya investigates, it reads "From those on which Maya Fey has made a mark", the rest of the list being the signatures of Sayori, Ogata, Mista, Alex, Will, Lion, Mia herself, Michael, Eleanor, Lion, Will, Phoenix, Jesse, Jack, Kaede, Mista, Alex, Spike, Shinji, Piper, and other reclaimers.]
Mr. Wolfwood worked on that one, too, I just couldn't get him to sign it.
[She'll say, when Maya's gotten to the list, but still gestures for Maya to keep going.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
25th, midday, 1/??? for antics
But Maya is an exception to this rule. She has plenty of other people she should be spending her time with, mostly including people her age, who aren't dead, who care about her deeply and deserve her care in return. And he's not the only one of this opinion. After Mia unlocks the door (and the usual absent-minded bow and spoken gratitude) there's a moment spent hovering, waiting for a ping that doesn't happen.
Right. No Contract. That's fine. She'd have ran out in excitement if she were here anyway. ] Where should we hide 'em?
2/???
It'd been easy to do little 'extra effort' things when they were younger, but it wasn't just death that had separated Maya from her sister. Now Mia intends to make up for it at least a little bit, which includes still relishing the fact her sister can be surprised and genuinely joyous. It's hard, what with everything that's happened.]
Hm... Not too-too obvious, but not the back of the closet, either.
[With their luck lately if they hide it too well, Maya won't see it til spring, and the lack of surprise ruins the whole cool-big-sibling thing they've got going on here.]
Maybe on her pillow, is that too obvious?
[Mia asks, idly straightening the bed that honestly doesn't need to be too straightened up, anyway. She hasn't done this too much either. It's so much easier to be smart and wise with things you actually have experience in.]
no subject
[ Seriously, just glancing down a hall shows piles of gifts waiting in front of various people's doors. You'd think someone would've started a delivery service by now. Or stolen them.
Either way, the pillow is seriously considered. She has to sleep eventually, right? So she'd see it by the end of the night. Thus it's delivered by the end of Candlenights. Success. But is it too obvious? It's less obvious than the door, but not hidden. How often does she even go in her room? Maybe they need to put more effort into it, so it doesn't look like an afterthought??? This-
This train of thought is getting stupid. ]
Ugh, I don't know Mia. If the door's shut, she wouldn't see it immediately, right? Best we can get.
no subject
Not everyone has the privilege of breaking and entering.
[But the little piles are kind of comical.]
That's true. If she comes into my room first, I can just ask her to grab something...
[Mia looks around to find a piece to ask for, later-- an extra pillow, something. She'll make a quick note of it before she rearranges that pillow so it's standing up against the wall and their gifts can lean up against that.]
Perfect. It works.
no subject
[ It's with the type of idle mockery that means it's entirely shitposting and not actually serious. Just idle chat while the two fiddle with arrangements. They're two small boxes, but they need to be arranged in just a way as to when the door is opened, the two gifts are the very first thing the eye travels to.
Also they're both nervous idiots who don't know how gifts good. Mostly that one. ]
Hide your pillows and say you need replacements? [ That makes absolute logical sense and isn't suspicious at all. ] We should break before she gets back. Tomorrow for drinks? Want to hear how she takes it.
6/6
[Answers Mia when they're done fixing the gifts up as perfectly as they should be. There's no way Maya won't like getting a gift at all, but.... this is special. They did something here that required emotional and mental effort, alright. It has to be perfect, and probably not just for Maya's sake.
Now that they're done, though, it's exactly as perfect as imagined. Mia takes a step back and gives their work a proud look.]
Don't worry. I'll let you know.
no subject
[ huh, wonder what they're doing in here. ]
Let him know about what, sis?
[ she pipes up, making her presence known. busted!! ]
no subject
Uh.
How to answer the question without actually answering the question. ]
How long have you been there.
no subject
She looks to Maya, then, shrugs her shoulders, and grins sheepishly, wiggling her fingers in a wave.]
Hey, sis.
[The jig is up. She's already conceded defeat. She shrugs her shoulders and kind of gestures with them in the direction of Maya's bed, giving their gifts an obvious glance.]
no subject
[ she gives them both a bit of a mischievous grin, letting them squirm. it's a mystery as to how much she heard, but she's going to milk this moment for all it's worth, especially with them both looking guilty to various degrees. ]
Looks like I caught you both redhanded sneaking around my room! [ she says, even though mia has the same room. ]
Sooo, what are you guys up to in here?
[ her eyes flicker to the presents knowingly, giving them a big innocent grin. ]
no subject
Unlike Mia, after that brief moment of weakness, all Maya is gifted is the same holier-than-thou deadpan expression that she knows, even without the Contract, is hiding a constantly-escalating narration of panic. ]
Breaking and entering, contraband smuggling, and obstruction of justice.
no subject
What can I say? We've defaulted to a life of crime.
[There's a part of her, a very tired part, that almost protests that... this is her room, too, but it's more fun to pretend she's crimes.]
Really have to work on our sneaking game.
no subject
Sounds like I should put you two under arrest!
[ maya saunters in deliberately to eyeball them and the presents, hands on her hips. ]
... But I'll settle for a bribe, maybe.
no subject
[ May as well play for the long game. An arm is wrapped around Mia's shoulder and she's turned away for them both to discuss like proper shady criminals in whisper-talk. Except there's no whispering at all here. ]
What do you think? Let 'er at the goods?
no subject
[Mia concedes in also-not-a-whisper, one hand on her hip as she shakes her head in faux defeat.]
She's got us cornered. She takes the bribe and we walk away free.
no subject
Sounds like a plan to me!
[ god what a little shit. ]
Alright, let's do it! Present the presents!
[ she's going to terrorize them both later. ]
no subject
Unfortunately, for now all she can take is bribes. Criminal #1 steps out of the way of the hoard. ] Yours to search, officer.
no subject
Mia's actually rather excited, despite it all. It's an important gift, and the fact Will gets to witness it too is actually a bit of a bonus.]
no subject
Take that!
[ is she yelling at her mysterious presents? nick must be rubbing off on her. ]
no subject
Mr. Wolfwood worked on that one, too, I just couldn't get him to sign it.
[She'll say, when Maya's gotten to the list, but still gestures for Maya to keep going.]