Daniel sent to Brienne a package. It seemed to...wiggle. That was odd in and of itself, but nothing should surprise her in this world, no siree. Not even Daniel's surprise. He said it was an early Christmas gift. Early indeed, it was only the 22nd. Three more days. Then he'd send the rest of his gifts while Brienne and Luna sent gifts to him in return. Brienne already had her gifts for Daniel picked out. Hastily so, she couldn't be bothered to think at least a little. It was certainly not that she didn't care, it was that she hated shopping, and was bad at picking gifts.
In total, she got him three gifts. Two of them were purchased at Muggle stores. The other one was bought at Hogsmeade. The two that were bought at a Muggle shop were a suspicious-looking popular handheld console, and a game for said console. Suspicious, since they were bought from a street vendor for a small price compared to the normal sales price. She even got Luna one, however Luna's was a real one, much to the dismay of the vendor who'd bought one as a model for his ripoff machines. The model had been put back together with ease, as if the maker of the fakes was already familiar with them. He must have been doing that stuff for years. The suspicious game was of worse quality; dings in the casing, and it didn't even have an official looking sticker, but the box art looked convincing enough. The thing bought at Hogsmeade was a little more...authentic. It was a statuette made of ice that would never melt.
She had these gifts all wrapped and ready to go, as did she have her gifts for Luna. She got Luna a handheld game system, but she also got her an authentic game at a sale. Granted, the machine wouldn't work in Hogwarts, so she got her a third thing that she thought Luna would enjoy. A large stuffed wolf. The fake fur on it felt so nice and warm, like something that a person could just fall asleep on. Admittedly, she wanted it for herself, but she couldn't just buy it and not give it. It was too selfish to even think about keeping after freshly buying so near the holidays. In fact, the only thing Brienne got for herself on the shopping trip was something to keep her hydrated, a bottle of tea. A mere bottle of tea. That was all. She was full of holiday spirit.
Now, as for the wriggling package. Brienne opened it up and loosed a baker's dozen of rats. Thirteen rats. Brienne wasn't superstitious, but this was still a bit creepy. Why would Daniel send her rats? Certainly, he was just being mean for the hell of it. Because he'd go all out for her and wanted her to feel like he wouldn't. Not this year, she'd grown wise to this tactic. However, he never did it with live animals. No wonder there were small holes at the end of the package. Those were breathing holes. A baker's dozen of rats, all different colors.
by Brienne Ravenquist Thu Dec 23, 2010 2:08 am