Repose

[It comes with a basket and a ribbonand an obnoxiously loud bell attached to the front. There are not streamers but there is a copy of Shades of Grey in the front basket with a slip of paper carefully printed in front saying 'this is the beginner's version I am told'. There is no other note.]

Who: Jason and Briar
What: Discussion
Where: Outside the shop
When: 12/22 Late
Warnings/Rating: TBA; foul language properly

( Don't try to test me because you'll get a reaction )

[Somehow, the powers that be know to deliver Isaiah's gift(s) to his lab. It comes through the mail room (and through who-knows-how-many screenings) and ends up sitting on his desk in the outer portion of the lab. Eventually, between their reduced holiday hours, one of his lab techs lets him know that they're sitting there waiting to be opened.

The contents of the boxes actually make him smile. For the first time in... too long.]

[Public]
Not sure who this is from, but [...] thanks. Interesting combo you came up with.

[Locked to Cat]
Is this your handiwork?

[There's kind of a mishmash of things going on with the packages that get delivered. First, an envelope. Inside, a pretty generic Christmas card, a happy snowman on the front. In the card, a couple of printed photos. First one is of several large shopping bags filled with toys. The second one is of several winter coats, a couple different sizes in gender-neutral colors, along with hats and gloves. The note is scrawled on the inside of the card:

Christmas shopping for toys is now my new favorite thing to do. I think there will be a lot of happy kids this year, and warm ones too!

-Santa

The rest of the packages come in a large stack. Each box is individually wrapped in cheery red paper with Santa faces all over it. And each box is cereal. Someone bought just about every variety of sugary breakfast cereal they could. Twelve boxes in total.

Merry Christmas, Dick!]

[Backdated, delivered on Tuesday the 20th - Sorry!]

[It all comes in one box, but inside are several smaller (wrapped) packages. Each has been wrapped carefully, almost professionally with their precise folds and tape job. From the top down:

-An envelope with a card inside. Happy Holidays, Your Secret Santa (Apologies for not being able to organize anything with Damian)

-A slim box, oblong but not very large. Something a person might use for a pair of gloves. But inside are two tickets to The Nutcracker in the city, for Friday the 23rd's evening show. They're not quite center of the first row of the balcony, but they're close - a good view of the stage and even down into the pit orchestra (if a person liked to watch musicians as well as dancers). Also included is the business card for a car service - not a limo, but a rather nice towncar. A note (the same writing as the card): Available evening/night of 23rd. Call to arrange for you and Oliver. And finally, a gift card (with no designated amount) for a restaurant across the street from the theater. Known for good (but not too fancy) food, and a theatre crowd atmosphere. A note taped on this time: Dinner's on me.

-A soft, mid-sized package is next, and inside is a pair of cashmere socks (in navy).

-A brushed fleece, lined sweatshirt (also in navy). The santa doesn't know his size, so the sweatshirt is a large.

-The softest throw that Santa could find. In a medium blue (instead of navy).

-And another note in the very bottom of the large box. Sometimes when the world doesn't seem quite real, it's nice to have good, soft things to keep you grounded. Best wishes.]

[Locked to the friends of Billy K]

So, I reached out and tried to contact him, but either he's a ghost or he's just not around?

Someone wanna help me figure out something to get him? I really don't want to do the generic thing of a gift card or socks or something.

[With no response from Ronan and the deadline creeping up, the presents stay fairly generic and stick to the very little bit of information that is able to be found on the forums. A box with items purchased for the two dogs: two leashes (of the retractable type), two collars (sized for large dogs), and a rather large assortment of treats. There's also (wrapped separately) a box of cut-out and decorated Christmas cookies, purchased from a bakery and not homemade. There's a generic card with a black and white photo of a pine tree in the snow, that reads Merry Christmas inside.]

[Merry Christmas, Iris. You get something a little fun for both you and the boyfriend.

Pajamas with a fun little extra feature. And it comes with all of the extras. The chocolate. The oil. Bath roses. Lotion. And yes, even those scratch-offs.

There's a little printed note that comes with the entire thing:

Be indecent for a change.]

[It's a festive bag with puffy tissue paper to conceal the contents. Inside, wrapped up in tissue paper, is a sweater, red, large.

There's another box in there, wrapped in proper silver paper. There's no alcohol, but there are some glasses that should work well.

No card, but there's a little note in there in decidedly girly handwriting.

Merry Christmas! I hope you like the color and that it fits and if it doesn't, let me know and I have a gift receipt!

Again. Merry Christmas!]

[It's hard to know what to get someone, but they got a little information to go by. It's a little gift bag with a couple of things inside. A gift certificate to the comic store in town for $25, a large bag of Reese's Pieces, and a paperback. A festive card is tucked in as well.]

Merry Christmas. Hope it treats you well.

Best wishes for a great new year for you and yours.

There was a misdelivery here at the shop this week and I've got so many poinsettia plants that need homes. I don't want them to just get tossed, so for the rest of the week, feel free to stop by for a free plant. Just promise to water it and not let the pets get to it and we'll be great.

Merry Christmas to everyone here in town.

[Locked to Connie G]

Missed me?

[The box arrives in brown paper and twine. Inside is the best sweater. For his holiday party, obviously. Also included, perhaps more thoughtfully, is a blank journal. Santa did not resist adding novelty pens, though.

Tucked into the journal: one of those cheap glossy printouts from a drugstore kiosk. The photo features a tiny tabletop tree on the counter of an even tinier gallery-style kitchen, lit up in all its cheap wire-y glory. There's even an itty bitty strand of tinsel. From one corner of the frame, a pitbull eyes the tree like a chew toy. The dog is wearing a, uh, very festive doggy sweater. Written on the back of the photo in a messy scrawl: I tried.]

[A scarf and tickets to The Nutcracker at the Capital.]

[A fresh photo album that has a lot of old pictures of the 'family' back in Jersey. The majority seem to be of Stephanie, Sasha and Cat. Anything from candids to selfies. There's also pictures of every day life. Newsstands, beggars dancing for money, a mother taking her child to school. Night shots of familiar shadows against brick walls, a bright green blinking object from the top of a bridge, a vigilante wiping the blood off her lip with the back of her hand.

A note: I'll be home after Christmas.]

[Good beer is something this Secret Santa can give. There's a variety pack of Rochefort, three bottles of Orval and another variety pack of Koningshoeven. Santa includes a poster and scribbled note that says Merry Christmas.]

[Eve. M.]

[A delivery of wine, two bottles white and two bottles red and a selection of dark chocolate, wrapped up in candy-cane and laughing Santa paper. Happy Christmas, Eve.]

[In the shipping box from the designer in the UK, an extremely smart set of shoes, of the appropriate size. No card.]

[A generic santa card from the gas station. Ballpoint pen ink prints: "IOU one favor," and it is signed, "An Enemy."]

[A Ravenclaw giftbasket includes: the ubiquitous scarf, a silk headband, a sweater, and some Hogwarts treats. The gift tag says, From your pal, Slytherin]

[In a blue box, there is a fine diamond solitaire necklace. The card is extremely generic, as is the gift, when one thinks about it.]

[On the day of the 23rd, the materials for the greenhouse show up in May's backyard, but it isn't until the 26th that several people do. They range in ages - the oldest nearing sixty, the youngest appearing to be in his late 20's, early 30's maybe, but they all settle into work like they know what they're doing and within a couple of days, the structure is complete and ready for whatever May decides to grow.]

[Shortly after this.]

Can ye watch the store and the babies?

[The ring comes in a battered old box. There is a small, bulky piece of paper folded inside the box. A man's hand has printed:]

This ring started out as something different. Now it's a ring, old, tarnished, and complicated. It belonged to my sister. [Underneath a short space, so clearly not printed from memory:]
Death starts like a dream,
full of objects and my sister's laughter.

I didn't forget the hedonism. Merry Christmas.

[When the paper is opened, a small package rolls out of it, another scrap of paper taped around a round, hard object, like a chunk of silvery ice - a large, high carat, exquisite uncut diamond.]

[The sun was well to sinking below the trees when the last ferry to the island pulled up to the docks on Saturday night - Christmas Eve. It would linger for only a few minutes before making the return trip back, only to reappear the next morning. Once it pulled away from the docks, anyone left on the island would have to remain until the next day. But that was the agreement that had been made. That was the gift.

Feet carried a body carefully off of the boat, steps placed deliberately, as if the person had to be very careful of their footing before proceeding. The gait of the injured or elderly. Sturdy boots echoed slowly on the dock's boards, aiming for the one figure that was waiting there. And though the claim had been made that Eddie wasn't that short, the clown that lingered was much taller, obvious from a distance.

But this was just a formality. It had already been known that Eddie wouldn't be there.

Mittens covered the hands that reached out to take the box from the clown, who headed quickly for the waiting ferry, wisely not wanting to be the one stuck on the island overnight. Box opened, radio and station revealed, the crackle of sudden sound as yarn-lumpy fingers found the power and electricity hit the radio's speakers.

Those same mittened hands laid down a folded hand-knitted scarf right there on the worn wood of the dock, the yarn a green so dark it looked almost black, a wool soft enough to not scratch the wearer. The radio, tuned to the station indicated, was set on top of the scarf, the sounds from it a quiet cut through the otherwise quiet evening.

And slow, careful steps turned to catch the last ferry back across the water.]

Who: Gwen, Flash (+Jason & The League NPCs)
What: Escape
Where: The (Good) Diner
When: Nowish
Warnings/Rating: F for Fighting

Gwen had two guards with her when she arrived at the diner for the graveyard shift, but she knew there were other guards in the vicinity; she could sense them. It wasn't a logical reason for certainty, but she was absolutely certain they were somewhere in the distance. She didn't have an exact feel for how many of them there were, but she knew some of them were on vehicles. She'd been hoping the two men who walked silently at her side would be all they had to contend with, but that totally wasn't the case.

She was wearing the things her Santa sent her, because they were super warm with her jeans. Her boots were made for snow, and her coat was puffy and insulated. The clothing was deliberate, and maybe it would compensate for the slowness that still clung to her after the previous day's medical procedure. The soreness lingered, but she hadn't mentioned it to the scientist; she didn't want to be denied access to work tonight. So, she wasn't at her best, but she was still determined to do her part to ensure everything went as they'd planned.

She had her RFID cloner with her, and she flicked it on as she walked toward the back of the diner to grab her apron and begin her shift. Inside, there was a regular at the counter, and there was a trucker in one of the booths. It was super quiet, which she was grateful for. She knew she was kind of endangering all these people, but she totally trusted Flash to keep the fighting away from civilians.

She started slicing the freshly baked apple pie, and she tried to look totally not nervous, despite being totally super nervous.

[The present arrives double-boxed, a nondescript brown box encasing the tell-tale robin's egg blue. Inside, an expensive but understated necklace. The note tucked inside the box reads:

Merry Christmas!

From,
Your Secret Santa]