knightofratatosk | [Voice/Action]

[Much like Musette, Emil has spent the past couple of days cooking like mad. If you've ever spoken to Emil at all, expect to get a nice little box lunch on your doorstep with a small note inside. The food is delicious AND adorable-- Emil has a habit of doing things like shaving carrots into flower petals and carving potatoes into rabbits. It's almost too cute to eat. If he doesn't know you, then you've gotten some cookies anyway because he's not about to leave anyone out.]

Wow, that was a lot more work than I'd thought... Anyway, um... what is it that you're supposed to say again? Oh, right, Merry Christmas! Um, did anyone else get a strange gift this morning too? I woke up to find my chimera Sial outside the house... maybe Santa brought him here for me! I'm kind of disappointed that I didn't get to see this Santa, though. I want to know how his sled flies.

[The majority of the day today was spent fixing a nice dinner for himself, Richter and Tenebrae (and Sial too, now that the chimera is here) and now Emil is just glad for a chance to sit down and rest his feet. Cue him flopping onto the couch.]

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Whatever it is, I'm sure you put a lot of thought into it.

[which just earns Emil more hair-petting. The fact that someone is actually putting serious thought into getting him a present is kind of a strange notion. The only one who's ever done that before was... well... You know.]

[This just turns Emil into a boneless puddle of very happy Knight of Ratatosk. Aww, does he really have to move?]

Should I go get it now?

Sure.

[he removes his hand from Emil's head. Christmas is only for a few days, after all, while hair ruffling is forever. ... Closer to forever than Christmas, anyway.]

[Once Richter has done this, he sits up, then gets to his feet and dashes into the other room, returning with a small box. He doesn't know you're supposed to wrap Christmas presents, so it's just a plain box, but from the looks of it there's something nice inside. Nervously he hands it to Richter and then stands fidgeting slightly.]

[Richter just wordlessly accepts the box. Something tells him that if it's a present, it should've been wrapped, but customs might be different for this holiday. He never bothered to check. With a simple gesture, the box is opened.]

[Inside the box is a sturdy knife with a flame design inlaid in the handle in different shades of oranges and reds; at the end of the handle is a single green stone set in silver. It looks like an all-purpose knife that can be used for just about anything.]

I didn't think you had anything like that, and I thought it might be useful, so...

[he takes the knife out of the box, turning it in his hands slowly. He's impressed, oh yes.]

...

[Emil's not quite sure what to make of Richter's silence. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?]

Um...

[the knife is carefully placed back into the box again. There's another wonderful struggle going on inside Richter. He's trying to convince himself that saying it will not lessen the emotion itself. Okay, here we go.]

... Thank you, Emil.

[If Emil were any more happy, he'd be jumping with joy. As it is, he's got an enormous smile on his face that he isn't even trying to hide. Richter liked his present! He even said "thank you"!]

Y-you're welcome! I'm so glad you like it!

I'll be sure to put it to good use.

[Incoming, Richter... you're about to get tackle-hugged. Good thing you're sitting on the couch.]

I'll have to thank Fina too... she helped me pick it out.

[Richter is oblivious to the incoming tackle-hug. His defenses are low and can easily be breached.]

I see.

[3... 2... 1... have an Emil in your lap.]

[w-whuh. Hi there, Emil.]

[He's just kind of curling up and nuzzling Richter's neck affectionately at the moment... the positive reaction to the gift has emboldened him a bit.]

[Richter wraps his arms around the boy in return. A small embrace never hurt anybody, really.]

[This just encourages Emil to nestle closer.]

I think I like this Christmas thing. It's too bad we don't have it back home...

I suppose our world could do with more holidays like this one.

Can we still celebrate Christmas when we get back, even if it doesn't exist there?

[Richter knows that he sure as hell won't be celebrating Christmas or anything of the sort when he returns to Aselia. But let's just humor the kid.]

We can, if we still remember Luceti.

[This causes Emil to pull away with a start, eyes wide as he looks up at Richter.]

'If'? You mean... we might not remember everything that happened here?

[... crap.]

Nothing's been proven. The fact that the Malnosso are messing with time itself could cause plenty of fluctuations in our own universe. Therefore, the possibilities of what will happen when we return are endless.

But if we don't remember anything, then...

Then events will take their course as usual. What will happen after that is up to us, I suppose.

[up to Richter and Ratatosk, really. We can all see how that will end...]