//------------------------------// // Chapter XVIII- Presents! // Story: Schoolhouse Shenanigans! // by Dragonborne Fox //------------------------------// Alexis woke up to soft rays of sunlight permeating her room via the bedroom window. Her hair was messy and there was some sand in her eyes. Hey, at least it wasn't as bad as Mommy's. She slowly sat up to stretch her arms and silently yawned before smacking her lips so she'd be able to speak. Her room was just like it was last night: clothes neatly folded and put away into dresser drawers; an assortment of toys stored in a toy bin that looked like an orange train that had previously been owned by Katie; a study desk that had books, a pencil cup, and a laptop used for research and entertainment; the closet that held the vast assortment of winter coats and the Hallowed Demon Staff; a bookshelf for books that belonged to her; and who'd forget Chuckles sitting in a chair snoring away with an eye-mask on his head? The snow was still falling, but the rays of light made them seem like they were dancing prisms of color that greeted one and all with their fantastic spectacle. The quarter-demon necromancer yawned once more before feeling something odd resting under her hand. Without looking at it, she poked and prodded at the thing for a bit. There were...ribbons and wrapping. She turned her gaze to the thing and saw it was a small present left for her. It was from-- The girl jumped out of bed with the present in her hand and she got dressed quick as a rabbit. She put the mittens in her pockets, as they'd hinder present-opening. "Chuckles, wake up!" Alexis commanded. The skeleton jumped in shock, took off his mask, and looked around frantically before sighing in relief. The girl and her familiar ran out the bedroom door and both flew downstairs--only to see that Nick, the twins, Blue Horn, and the triplets were already wide-awake. The only other one present was the Beholder, and he didn't do anything because he didn't know present opening regulations. All he did, in fact, was hold a sign that said 'Wait for the pretty lady to come down here.' "We got presents too!" Cried Ini, who was the eldest triplet with a bad case of tentacle hair. "Yeah!" Cried Mini, the youngest twin whose lower body consisted entirely of Beholder. Her hair turned into tentacles at the middle margin. "Yay!" Cried Meini, who was the most human out of all of them. The only trace of Beholder on her person was the fact she had a third eye in her forehead. "This is a really huge present!" Nick pointed out the present behind the couch that Coryza was asleep on. The mugician snapped awake, rubbing her eyes and shaking her head. She groaned in tiredness. "Y'all are down here already...?" The kids nodded nervously. "What's going on in here?" Called Natalie as she descended from the stairs. Her hair shot straight up and it was in horrendous tangles. Did someone put hair gel in her hair again? "Excited kids. They've behaved." Cory sighed as she got up and stretched. Natalie went to the kitchen...only to freeze once Katie tumbled down the stairs and hit her head on the very edge of the last step. She shrieked in pain, causing everyone else (save for the newborns) to jolt awake and run into the hallway to see what had happened. "ARE YOU OKAY?!" Fenrir howled as he flew down the stairs and helped the fox up. "J-Just a bruise. N-Nothing to worry about. I hate being half-asleep." Katie answered, groaning in pain. She rubbed the back of her head where she had been hit. It was a bruise, but nothing she couldn't shake off. "Ow." "Good thing I got the camera on hand." Lance sighed in relief. "Let's eat breakfast first! That way we're fully awake when the presents are opened!" Natalie called from the kitchen. "She has a point." Anna commented. Fast-forward. To after the presents being opened. The triplets each got toy snakes, two sets of specially designed clothes to fit on tentacles should they be present, quite a bit of candy, and a whole train set that could circle the Valkyrie five times. Their small presents had a personalized train for each of them. Nick got his own Idol familiar (apparently, familiars can be presents too!), whom he named Stumpy. He also got a book on weaponry and magic (written by Iron Hoof, a unicorn blacksmith in Canterlot), his own toolbox, and three sets of toy airplanes he could disassemble and splice back together until a misfit among the airplanes ensued. His small present? A personalized ocarina. The twins got claw posts (their claws began growing out too much, and nail clippers weren't enough), a telescope, a set of brass claw-knuckles for Fang and illusion helper for Wing since her illusions were still on the weak side. They also got lots of candy (GodCat save us all!) and their personalized presents were necklaces--one of the full moon and the other of the crescent. Pink crescent moon and cyan blue full moon. Alexis got little string dolls that she could take apart and weave back together much like Nick's airplanes. She also got a wood-carving set, quite a few chunky tree-limbs to start work on, some other decorations (crystals, ribbons, metal, solidified water, contained lightning in jars, and sunfire encased in phoenix feathers to name a few) to go on said tree-limbs when she was satisfied with the result, some arts-and-crafts stuff, and a few sets of rings to help her out with magic. Small gift? A holy crucifix that could contain a potential evil half. Blue Horn got more candy, some dolls, a personalized door mat (that said 'Buzz off!'), and her small gift was a book she could draw in. The wrappings were discarded and the ribbons attached to the wrappers were handed over to Katie (who was a ribbon fanatic.) The party surrounded the huge present behind the couch. "It says to all of us." Lance sighed. "In that case, who touches it first?" Katie asked, holding all the ribbons with her tails. "Rock-paper-scissors." Blake chimed. "We all have to have a free hand and the kids are putting their new toys up." Natalie scoffed. "She has a point." Anna agreed. The kids ran down the stairs and all of them smiled. "NOW let's commence with the rock-paper-scissors." Matt sighed. It was Lance who won. He removed the ribbon and handed it to his mom. Blake removed the wrapping to reveal a big, brown box. Matt sliced the box open, careful not to wreck the contents inside. The box contained an individual present for everyone. "Apparently, this couldn't go under the tree." Katie said, impressed. They were sleek white boxes that lacked ribbons. Each present had a name on it to avoid confusion. Each person took their respective box and opened it. Fen-Fen found a small claw-sharpener of his own. How he really needed one. Katie found a gold necklace adorned with hearts. Her eyes gleamed. Natz found a set of earrings. They had the colors of fire, ice, and lightning. Blake had a ring to himself. It kept his evil at bay, all he needed to do was wear it. Lance found a metal polisher. "Eine rostige Kugel ist eine Kugel nutzlos." He said in awe. Anna saw a flute cleaner. "Kinda hafta agree with Lance--just replace 'bullet' with 'flute.'" Matt got a small, sword-sharpening rock. Cha-ching! Coryza got a set of ten guitar picks. Feh; guitar picks are incredibly easy to lose and who knows how many times she lost count! Azure got a Changeling-specific toothbrush. Hey, fangs are kinda hard to clean. Iron Will found a set of folded neck-warmers. He grinned. The triplets got a comb each. Two of these combs were tentacle-helpers as well. Nick got a pair of needle-nose pliers. Alexis had a clip with a miniature Freezie on it. Blue got a pair of neck-warmers herself. The twins got star bracelets. They put their presents away safely before all donned their winter wear, rushed outside, and proceeded to engage in quite the snowball fight!