eudaimonikos | Balance IC Inbox

[Whatever Michael is doing during the early underwater Lyrabar time, he's getting a loud message notification from his bracer.]

Why didn't you tell me you were the bartender?!

[ it's been some time -- despite more or less trying not to think about what happened in wonderland, one thing sticks in her mind. a lot's happened and there's a lot she doesn't know -- she's been preoccupied. ]

[ something sticks in her mind, though. it's michael. her thoughts keep drifting back to him -- to all of it, in wonderland. ]

[ she's put this off long enough. ]

Mr. Michael? Can we talk?

[ If asked, Lion would wholeheartedly admit that they had no idea what to give Michael for Candlenights. But as the day rolls around, there is, somehow, a present waiting outside his door. Except it is decidedly not a cheerfully wrapped box. It is, instead, a small canvas bag, with a note adressed to him pinned to the top.

Inside is the first-aid kit from hell.

Not literally from hell - but if Michael thought Will's borrowed emergency kit in Wonderland was interesting, this is a whole other beast. There is several different bottles of disinfectant. There is superglue. There is, frankly, an obscene number of bandages - and knives, for some reason? And a field suture kit. But nestled under a small vial of hydrochloric acid is a battered book of local remedies, from around Lyrabar. Any entries involving sea quartz have been carefully marked with "no." in the top-right corner.

Opening the note reveals a letter Lion's neat, overly formal handwriting.

"My apologies if you've already made your own since Wonderland, but I remembered that you found Will's first aid kit interesting - so I asked for his help to help make one for you.

We may have gone a little bit overboard.

Happy Candlenights, Michael-san,
- Ushiromiya Lion." ]

[ Left on his doorstep is the most generic-appearing gift basket to ever exist. There's socks (of the star king stuck upside-down in a chimney), bath bombs (in only the most motivating of scents), a bottle of holy water (that smells like top-shelf vodka), hand-carved ornaments (from the lesser key of solomon), and a dozen cookies that aren't cursed in any sense of the word (aside from being sugar cookies, and thus, inherently cursed).

The card wishes him a happy 70th birthday.

Happy Candlenights and other miscellaneous holidays. This is how humans celebrate this holiday, correct? With the most generic of gifts given with the most generic of intentions.

This is a joke.

Your actual present ran into a bit of a snag. There are two options. You may either wait an additional few months and receive it when it is completed, or you may receive it now and have the finishing touches put on later. Send me a message of your preference at your leisure. An absence of a response will be taken as you hoping for a Valentine's gift.

Give Eleanor my regards,
- Will ]

[Everyone can blame Mira for these extremely last minute gifts, because friendship guilt hit him hard and now he's looking for things for all his friends in earnest and it feels very embarrassing!!!

Michael getting him something was also pretty unexpected, and honestly he gets kind of stuck trying to think of something he'd like. After all, most of what he knows about him is that he's a demon who formerly tortured people in hell, and that he's not about that life anymore.

Ultimately, what's dropped off at Michael's door is a small potted cactus, a few packets of different kinds of seeds, and new gardening gloves. There's also a small tin of cookies. The note attached reads:

thanks for the tips. here's how it went.
happy candlenights
-aragaki]

Edited 2019-12-24 23:56 (UTC)

[A messily-wrapped box, with Michael's name written directly on the colorful paper. There's a handmade card on top, decorated with stickers and doodles of wintry images like snow, gingerbread men, etc. It's not properly signed, but the signature isn't necessary. On one side of the interior:]

Tall green trees in lights twinkling bright,
Sparkling strands of tinsel and snow pure white,
The smell of hot cocoa and apple cider too,
A very merry Candlenights, from Sayori to you!
[And then on the other side:]

Thank you so much for the gifts, I love them! I don't actually have a knife but Wash did teach me how to use one. There are a lot of poems in that book I've never seen before so I'm excited to read them all!

You're always wearing fun ties so I figured you might like these. Thanks for always keeping me company when it's hard to sleep.

[Inside the box is a colorful floral tie with a matching pocket square and a gold tie pin bearing a flaming shield.]

[ michael will find a homemade fire squid plushie, an ornament of him pointing lawyer style, a light up bowtie, and a card from maya wishing him happy candlelights. the card is full of doodles of him in various poses -- and one of his squid form, but it's cute instead of scary. there are some doodles of him with eleanor, some of him doing various outlaw activities, him as a pirate, and etc. the card details how happy maya is to be friends with him, how she admires what he's doing and who he is, and how she gives him hope. it also wishes him happiness, safety, and success in fighting against the system that makes judgments on humans. ]

[ there's also a small squid shaped 'success' omamori, blessed by mia and maya ]

[ Chidi hadn't thought much about the approaching holiday until Michael had left the books on Faerunian ethics for him on his doorstep. This left him scrambling to come up with something appropriate to give in return. He hated giving gifts, in general, because he always had the worst time deciding on anything. But this left him with a direction to go in, at least.

On the morning of the 25th Michael will find a securely packaged gift with a bow on it on his doorstep with a card from Chidi on it. ]

To Michael, the most improved student I ever had. –Chidi

[ The contents of the package were a trilogy of books Chidi had picked up not long after arriving here, which was one of the rare works of fiction he'd ever indulged in. The detective featured in the series was supposedly the paragon of ethical behavior, but because of the complexity of the situations the main character had faced, it resulted in various dilemmas for the reader to consider. Chidi had found it interesting, yet difficult, to read, which meant it was perfect for a reciprocal gift for Michael now. ]

Edited 2019-12-28 01:37 (UTC)

[On the morning of the 25th, there's a long and large shield leaning beside Michael's door. There's a large and messily tied yellow bow wrapped around it, with a note:]

Until we get the "no more magic thing" fixed I figured you needed something big and heavy to defend yourself. Meet me in the training arena before the next mission?

- Eleanor

[It looks like there was something else scribbled underneath but was hastily scribbled out at the last minute.]

[Happy Candlenights! Michael receives: An incredible sweater. A handwritten dictionary of Italian swears. One bow tie in Bureau of Balance colors, one in Mista's colors, and one that's a shark.]

[Michael will be receiving a pretty black box with a pair of gold cufflinks inside, each shaped like little miniature bowtie, with an inscription in Japanese for "self actualization".
The box is inside of a coffee cup with shocking white glaze dripped over it for a molten look, the inside of the ceramic mug glazed with a multi-chromatic shimmer. It's all wrapped up in champagne colored paper.

A note attached reads,

Michael,

You're certainly one of the more interesting people I've met here! I have to thank you for always answering my questions. There's quite a bit to know about you.

I hope you'll find these gifts useful at all, but remember that the cufflinks are actually a bit of a luck charm. Omamori with this inscription strengthen the truest and whollest self, if worn regularly, and are blessed by both myself and Maya. Hopefully you'll find them stylish, as well.

Have a wonderful holiday,

Mia]

[You receive an ominous little message on your bracer that might have been intended for you? Or it might have been intended for someone else? It’s hard to say. But suddenly there's a "poem" for you to read with no explanation at all.]

Heat - tormentor of my dreams
Through which came igniting, igniting, igniting
And its eyes have all the glowing
I threw my rut upon the floor
Only this and a fever
To warn me about the bright
Lethargy - lethargy - lethargy!
I crave the twinkling, thermal tailspin
I crave the stupefacient, stupefactive stagnancy
'It's that nervousness,' I muttered
My malaise, I could not awaken

[On new years, there is a package left outside Michael's room. Now, Ogata doesn't know anyone older than Michael, so he's wrapped up a package of sembei rice crackers, a pack of dried sardines and a tin of nice green tea, because that's what HIS grandparents like.

They are accompanied by a card simply reading;]

Happy New Year
-Ogata

[Wash has three full heart crystals on his wrist and a lot of unresolved anger at the situation as a whole and Karsus in particular, but now is not the time to worry about that. Now, he's doing what he can to help the people he can. A lot of the Reclaimers he'd run into had been able to bond with one another and would probably be okay without his help, but Michael...]

[Well. Michael triggered his Epsilon memory via long-distance torture. Michael probably needs a goddamn intervention.]

[So Wash sends the equivalent of a yell down that psychic connection. This conversation is on his terms.]

MICHAEL! GET IN HERE!

[If you want to call the Boogeyman to the carpet, the first thing you do is startle the shit out of him, right? Hopefully this works.]

voice | during mermaid storytime in field mission 4

audio, shortly after wonderland

forward dated to the 25th

25th, morning

some absurd hour on candlenights eve

25th

present!

morning of the 25th

morning of the 25th

25th.

CANDLENIGHTS

early january;

backdated Jan 1st

Late January; weird psychic network, because why not