Room 206, Tuesday Morning

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine returned to his room with his pockets shoved full of a slightly crumpled paper tree, a string of lights, and the presents that had been taken from them by that strangely jumpy green fellow.

It was entirely possible that he was making a conscious effort not to do anything that fell into a rhythm. Somehow, the furry green thief had a very contagious sort of rhyme scheme to him.

Even so, that strange juggler fell into a beat, when he hung up the tree again, praising his feat. He'd gone out and got it, he'd faced down the grinch, he'd saved their Christmas morning from that unwelcome pinch. The lights weren't for taking, the charcoal not loot, and his grandiose performance had given the boot to the sneak-sneaky fellow who'd taken it all.

But silly butterfingers just let the lights fall.

....

He glanced over to Naminé, still quite asleep, through that entire outing and his meeting with that creep.

And then he thumped himself on the head to shake the rhythm out again before picking the lights off of the floor and attempting to tape them back onto the wall.

"I've gotten our things back! That's enough!"

(I couldn't resist. <3 For Naminé.)

Comments

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

"Our things?" Naminé asked. "What happened to our stuff?"

For she had been asleep through the whole endeavour
And somehow had missed Valentine being quite clever
In securing the return of their gifts and the tree.
Which she hadn't realized were missing yet, you see.

[dark_slippy_thing]

There was no escaping this Seussical rhyme,
So Valentine stood silent a fair bit of time.

"All the knick-knacks and trinkets and gifts I had mooched
were stolen away by a jerk and his pooch.
There's no cause for worry, no need for alarm.
I've got it all back now, with minimal harm."

...

He waved his arms around wildly and haphazardly in an effort to throw the rhythm off somewhat.

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Valentine seemed to be having a conniption
(An accurate, if somewhat unflattering, description)
But his tale had Naminé's curiosity piqued
"Our presents," she said, "were stolen? Were sneaked?
Why on earth would someone have taken those things?"
She resisted completing the rhyme through great force of will.

[dark_slippy_thing]

"He obviously thinks that this 'Christmas' thing stinks."

So much for willpower.

"My best guess is that he snuck into our room
in an effort to cause us great Christmassy gloom."

Valentine had another bit of a conniption at about that point, and threw off the rhythm by covering his ears with his hands and humming "if you're happy and you know it" rather loudly.

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Naminé sat up, shaking her hair out
And wondered what this rhyming mess was all about
"Who was it, this spirit of unChristmas-like feeling?
I know someone who knows Santa, we should report him."

Oh. That seemed to have stopped it. Naminé looked around carefully.

"Do you think it's over?" she asked hesitantly.

[dark_slippy_thing]

"I hope so. If I say another word in that doggerel rhyme, I'm liable to stuff a sock into my mouth and attempt to wait it out."

Oh, thank heaven.

"He was a rather nasty, hairy green man who seemed to do everything in that terribly catchy sort of... is it free verse when it encompasses all of your actions as well as your words? It's absolutely maddening, whatever it is."

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

"It was getting vexing, the way it was making my thoughts conform to that scheme," she said, shaking her head. "How very strange. Now. Let's try this again. Some hairy green man stole our Christmas presents to one another, and you bravely fought him to recover them, and I slept through the entire thing?"

[dark_slippy_thing]

"I didn't even have to fight him," Valentine boasted. "Clearly, my stunning stature and jarring wit got the best of him. He took off running without much of a confrontation at all, his dog close behind."

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

"Well done," Naminé beamed. "And everything's back, good as new?"

She must be growing accustomed to Fandom's oddities. This barely seemed strange.

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine put his hands on the paper tree and tried his best to smooth out the wrinkles.

"As good as new as it's going to get, at least."

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

"That's good enough for me," she smiled. "That long, flat, thin package is for you, as I'm sure you had guessed by the names cleverly written on it. Does that mean the other one is for me?"

[dark_slippy_thing]

"But of course!" Valentine gave his fingers a wiggle and made a dive for the package that was for him.

He liked it when things were for him. Hooray, things!

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Naminé lifted the other package with a laugh, carefully tearing at the edges of the paper.

Valentine's package held a single sheet from her sketchpad, with a folded sheet of looseleaf paper lying over it.

There were words on the paper:

I have never seen the original, so this must be horribly inaccurate, I'm afraid. I know this probably isn't half so stylish, but perhaps it will do? Love, Naminé

The sketch underneath was a rather majestic-looking tower.

[dark_slippy_thing]

Were Valentine's hands shaking? They probably were. That would explain why the paper was so noisy, and he hat to set it down and stare at it for what was probably the longest while as his breath caught in his throat.

"It's amazing," he said, finally.

Could there ever be a better gift to give to a very important man?

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

"It didn't appear," she said softly. "I thought maybe it would, if I drew it. I suppose the image shall have to be enough."

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine's lips pulled into a soft smile and he nodded, moving closer to her to pull her into a hug.

"It's more than enough," he breathed. "It's perfect."

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Naminé wrapped her arms around him, and stood for a long moment, savoring the scent of his shirt pressed against her cheek.

Then she pulled back with a laugh. "Hang on, I've yet to open yours."

[dark_slippy_thing]

Valentine grinned and nodded, loosening his grip on her long enough to grab the gift, wrapped crudely in sheets of lined paper torn from a notebook. He handed it to her with a smile.

"It can hardly compare with a tower, of course."

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

"Few things can," she admitted. "Towers have a certain flair to them. That's why only important men have them, you know."

She tore the paper along, a smile playing over her lips, and her eyes lit up as the box of charcoals fell out. "Oh, Valentine," she breathed. And next to them were a set of oil pastels. The charcoal thick and smudgy, and pastels bright and messy.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," and he was being squeezed again.

[dark_slippy_thing]

The 'thank you's and the squeezy hugs were absolutely worth all of the spare time he'd spent juggling for change on the corners. He'd have to do so again in the future, he decided.

"Something like a box of keys, really. Imagine all the towers you can make with those?"

His grin was threatening to crack his face in two, again.

[palestshadow.livejournal.com]

Naminé laughed. "Entire worlds. Towers within towers. There's no limit, really, so long as I don't run out of paper."

She leaned up to kiss him. "Merry Christmas. These are lovely."