Room 406, evening

[izzyalienqueen]

After work Isabel had returned to her room, made a few handwavey phone calls, then turned on Christmas carols and settled in for an evening of gift giving.

It was a nice distraction from thinking about anything else.

The Christmas tree lights were twinkling and the door was most definitely open.

[ooc: If you think you might have gotten a phone call to come get a present, you did, so stop on by.]

Comments

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Andrew, what did you do?" she asked.

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"I was thinking about rereading the Barry Plodder books myself..."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel facepalmed, she'd found the stronger the denial, the more likely whatever was being denied was pretty dumb. "You went out after him?"

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

Andrew frowned at his big sis. "Not exactly," he lied. "But I might have gone out with John and Rikku for a stroll in the park late one night."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She could only imagine that stroll. "Only the fact that I had my own episode of stupidity yesterday is keeping me from pointing out what an insanely bad idea that was."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Well, it was a very capable group," he pointed out, perhaps a touch delusional. "And we were extremely well prepared," he lied.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I am so, so glad he's in custody now," Isabel said, lightly banging her head against the wall behind her.

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"So are we just supposed to hope his soul wanders back into him, or are we just waiting around to dust him?" Andrew always expected Isabel to be in the loop on these things.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Actually Isabel was out of the loop at the minute, but she knew the people involved pretty well and had a good idea of what they'd want. "I think they're looking to put the soul back in him."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Oh, well that's good. They should hurry up and get that done." He said this as though it was as routine as brushing one's teeth.

"Do you have any exams tomorrow?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, soon." But with Willow in the clinic, it might be more complicated then that.

Grateful for the change of subject, Isabel shook her head. "No, I'm all done. Which means I can focus on things that are more fun. Like presents."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"I really need to get that shopping thing finished up," Andrew said. "Christmas has just kind of snuck up on me this year. I'm usually all spirited and merry, but I just can't seem to get into it right now."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"It's been a rough few weeks for you," she said softly. "It's understandable that merry and bright might be a bit of a stretch. But maybe if you got some presents it would help spread the spirit?"

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

Andrew perked up. "Presents are good," he commented with a smile.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

Isabel grinned and pulled three wrapped boxes from her pile of presents. "It's nothing fancy, but I thought you might like them," she said as she handed them over.

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Three?" Andrew eyes went wide with surprise. "Isabel... I mean, you know, it's the thought that counts and all. You really didn't need to do all this." His huge grin was evidence that he certainly wasn't upset over it.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I didn't need to. But I wanted to," Isabel smiled, glad to see him happy. "Go ahead, open them."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

Andrew ripped open the first box and pulled out the bracelet. "Oh, cool..." He turned it over in his hands. "It's very nice."

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Do you like it? Really? I thought it was different looking," she explained. "And I got it from a neat website that does all these fair trade goods."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"Really? What did you have to trade for it?" Andrew started to open the next package. "Are these protection stones?" he asked excitedly.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"I didn't have to trade. It just means that the organization I bought that from made sure the people that made it got paid a fair price for it," Isabel told him. "And yes, those are for protection. You should have had them the other night."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"I had John. He's good to have around for that protection bit," Andrew said. He opened the last package. "These are great! What are they for?"

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Luck. I thought they were prettier then a rabbit's foot."

[wannabe-pan.livejournal.com]

"They're fantastic. This is all really, really great! Thank you so much!" Andrew moved to give Isabel a hug.

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

She hugged him back happily. "I'm glad you like them. Maybe you should take the luck set with you if you go skiing. To avoid any bad spills."