Errand To Be Nice (Christmas Edition) PV Closed

Christmas had never been a big deal, personally. No matter what, the place he called home was somewhere where he would wake up on a Christmas morning to an empty living room. Whatever that was, the school definitely seemed excited on the occasion. He heard there was some sort of secret Santa event as well. Hah! What loser would give a gift to a random stranger without wanting anything back. No matter how he saw it, giving present to a stranger had no purpose at all. Like why? You would be wasting your money on someone completely useless as well. He definitely had better things to spend his money on. He pitied anyone who signed up for the bloody thing. Not that he wanted to care much in the first place. Not when he was called to the library from his secret therapist.

Hanako was surprised Dee had called him over. But he didn’t dwell on it much on his way there. She probably made up some whacko plan to teach him about being a decent human being. While they had met up a few times already, it was clear as day that Hanako still needed a lot to improve on. Considering he just thought of Secret Santa participants as losers, but oh well. While he had no desire to move out of bed today, the Ravenclaw can be quite scary if it was necessary. Hanako started to get the uncomfortable feeling that she saw him more of an experiment to work on than a fellow student but maybe he might be overthinking on that part.

Once he had arrived in the library, he had no trouble finding the mop of brown hair and walked towards the Ravenclaw, silently thankful she didn’t bring any friends with her. It was tiresome enough to come to the snooze palace. “ Soooooo…” he trailed off, swiftly taking a seat next to her. “ What bad deeds have I done to be summoned in a place like this~”

His eyes widened slightly at his rookie mistake. “ Oh wait sorry- Lesson number 12 on Decent Human Behavior ™, greet people warmly when you see them instead of questioning their hidden motives. Whoopsies. Hello, Prince dear~ How are your lovely blue eyes today~?” He greeted sweetly. Would she be impressed by his smoothness today? He hoped he’d get complimented for doing something so complicated. She didn’t need to know that the reason he was more than alright with complimenting her was because it was her.

w/c : 420
@Dealla Prince

By the time Hanako deigned to join her - okay, granted, she wasn't quite sure she'd given him the right time in the first place - Dee had already gotten started on her little crafting project. There were a lot of things to do, after all! And she'd have to keep an eye on Hanako later, to make sure he didn't run straight off when she told him why he was supposed to meet her here, so it was probably best to just go ahead and do get as far ahead as she could.

The two little blobs she had shaped out of the air-drying clay were not quite the same size, and really not very symmetrical at all, but with a bit of generosity and the proper coat of paint, they would probably be recognizable as strawberries. Hopefully. She'd stuck a jewelry pin in each of them, and then used a toothpick to poke small holes into them. There, that made them look more like strawberries... right? Granted, the holes varied in size and weren't very even, but it still gave them a vaguely strawberry-like texture. Then she'd gone to Miss Finley to get them dried, so she could move right on, too impatient to wait the few hours it would have taken the tiny blobs to fully dry themselves.

She was just dipping a small brush into a (too large) pool of red paint to apply it to the second strawberry - the first already done and drying - when the Slytherin took the chair next to her. Usually she might have lectured him on titling the library a place like this - he'd probably benefit from reading a book or ten every once in a while - but she was in way too good of a mood to be distracted by this. She also just blinked at his greeting. "My lovely blue eyes are fine, thank you. Remind me to practise that lesson with you again. Anyway..." A grin sprang to her face, bright and toothy and altogether very ominous to anyone who was paying even a little attention. She pointed the red tip of her brush at him. "I asked you to meet me here for a very special once in a lifetime Christmas edition of our lessons. Hold on."

Holding the paintbrush between her teeth for a moment, Dee rummaged through her bag until she pulled out an envelope, one corner slightly crinkled, and pushed it over the table towards Hanako, retrieving the brush from her mouth to point it at the Slytherin again. "Here. I haven't looked into it, but this one's yours, and for today's lesson, you will make a present for whoever's name you find in there. Make it, mind you, not buy it or try to cheat your way out of it by giving them macaroons or something." A tiny drop of red paint splattered onto the table. "It will teach you to... uh... spread Christmas spirit. Make someone smile you don't know. It'll be a nice feeling." Probably. Except if he didn't like the person he'd gotten, but that wasn't her problem now, was it? "Give without expecting anything in return. Although I do expect you to put in some special effort if it's my name in there." She grinned at him, already anticipating some level of tantrum and protest, and quickly covered the second strawberry blob in red paint so she could focus on stopping Hanako from escaping in approximately ten seconds.

Now all that was left was adding a splotch of green at the top, bending the end of the pin into a loop, and attaching it to earring findings. Should be doable.

Word Count | 538 + 616 = 1144/1000

@Hanako Tone

[font=PT Sans]Hana gave her a slightly sour look, disappointed in not getting the compliments he wanted from her. “ What was wrong with that!? I definitely nailed that one. I really did”, he huffed. His pouty nature had to cut short with the light bristled sensation that touched the tip of his nose, immediately making him lean away.

"I asked you to meet me here for a very special once in a lifetime Christmas edition of our lessons. Hold on." She said as she began to rummage something in her bag. Hanako tilted his head, curiously confused at what she meant by ‘ very special once in a lifetime Christmas edition of their lesson’. More importantly, will it be more daunting than their usual lessons? Normal lessons had already made his head spun a good amount of times, what difference would it make if it were a Christmas edition? Was there ever a Christmas edition for a Decent Human Behavior? That sounded utterly silly. What kind of weird activities might the Ravenclaw be planning. Hanako began to feel more anxious. He swore he saw a glimpse of an alternate universe where Dee was in a lab coat and cackling madly while he was nothing but a mere hamster in a cage, at the mercy of the mad scientist. “ Should I come back another day after I sleep to get the energy to do whatever this is or..”


He didn’t get to finish when Dee had already slid across an enclosed letter and pointed her paintbrush at him once more. She then began to open her mouth to kill his previous curiosities and explain the odd letter he was handed. And the more she spoke, the more she could clearly see the color draining from the Japanese boy’s face. A moment of silence ensued after she finished. Hanako could only stare blankly at the splatter of red now staining their desk. He wondered for a second if emotions could be manifested into the physical world as a matter of their own. If that is so, the rich red that stared back at him from the low angle of the table, was a manifestation of his emotions. What emotions specifically? F e a r .

“ Ohhhh hahahaha “ he replied awkwardly dry, as he began to stand up and pushing the unopened letter back to her side of the table. “ Ohhh jjeeezzzzz I just forgot uhh… Wyatt! Wyatt Starkey uhh… lovely guy. Very lovely. I actually had p l a n s to have dinner with him. So umm.. Catch you later, Dee” he repeated the exact phrase his father often said, but only with more hints that he was lying. Everting eyes, scratching behind his neck, tight smile- the whole package of a liar. Yet, he was optimistic about his escape. A little too much it seemed.

It was quickly revealed that his previous short-lived optimism was only him clinging on a hope that was nothing but a mirage. Just as he was about to pass Dee, she merely pinched the back of his collar. But that small force was enough to make Hanako realize the way to get out of his situation was to compromise.

“ Buuuutttttt DDdddeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee” he whined, having a hard time not using his outdoor voice. They were still in the Library after all. Was this her plan all along? Corner him in somewhere she knew his methods of being loud would not work? What a deviously mad Ravenclaw. Perhaps he had allowed her to get to know him too well.

“ Whattss the pointtttt! No matter how I see it- I’m just wasting my time! I should’ve been sleeepinnnggggg!” he pouted, ultimately upset at both himself and Dee. Dee was the one that started it and he was the one with that one last working brain cell that told him to blindly trust Dee if he were to achieve his goal of becoming a better friend. If he was whining about giving free gifts to strangers as a waste of time, that would only further prove that particular brain cell’s point. Yet, his whole body seemed like he could not accept this cursed assignment. “ I mean- what would I even get? What if I hate whoever is in that letter. Even if I could make a gift for a stranger, what the hell can I not just “

“ B u y !” he hissed in whispers- knowing he was this close to screaming. “ Dee- I don’t know about you but I have money.” he was completely serious. “ Like- a lot of money. And one thing I think that never lacked any human decency is my generosity of giving nice gifs. Do you k n o w how expensive macarons are? I would know! My dad literally works in that specific field for y e a r s ! I’m basically doing everyone a favor by picking the best macarons for them!” he pleaded, feeling more like a hamster that was begging for his life. The concept of this whole assignment was more foreign than anything he ever experienced. Something he didn’t feel like doing at all. It was like trying to identify the creatures of the sea that lived in the deep end. Why? They’re most likely creepy and dangerous why would you want to learn more? Giving Christmas gifts and not getting anything in return was a waste of time so why do it? Same thing!

He took a deep breath, recalling the breathing exercises Dee had taught him. Who knew he had to use them because of the same person that taught him. “ I really don’t get it, Dee..I really don’t. “ he said more softly this time, his cheeks flushed slightly red in embarrassment.

He used to think he had everything under control. His emotions, his relationships, his self-identity. But it was different since Dee had stepped in. More often than not, he found himself looking down on himself when he couldn’t even grasp some things that were considered Basic. He used to thrive on the lack of expectation but now where he had to step up and fight himself on what was right every second of his time spent with Percival, he felt undeserving. It was the inferiority complex kicking in. Watching his siblings that picked things up ‘faster’ than him, he had a thought. Something along the lines of ‘ why try ‘ visited his train of thoughts.

It was challenging to be with Dee because she made him try. She made him attempt things he expected to fail. Like this, for instance, she was once again making him try something he couldn’t think he could do. “ The purpose was to make them happy right?” he fought himself to ask. “ What if I just..can’t?” .

What if without the help of his money, he couldn’t make anyone happy? That was the main resistance that shrieked at the sight of the assignment. Even if he may not realize it yet.
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w/c : 420 + 1176 = 1596
Interacting :@Dealla Prince
Mentioning : @Wyatt Starkey

It was a little funny to watch Hanako go pale during her explanations, both blood and expression draining from his face until his skin had the colour of a white bed sheet - actually, it might have had a slightly greenish tint. She'd correctly anticipated his attempt at running, although she was kind of impressed he'd even bothered giving her some flimsy excuse. She wouldn't have been surprised if he had just gotten up and left without another word.

Either way, she had been ready, and it really hadn't taken much (or any) force to deter him - grabbing him by the back of his collar had been enough, and he meekly sat down in his chair again. She pointed at him. "That you think it's a waste of time just proves why this is necessary," she said, which really was no explanation at all. "It... teaches you about the joy of giving. Making someone smile is a really good feeling, you know? Especially since you're not getting anything in return. Like... when I gave you my cookies! I didn't expect anything in return." Well, he'd get a present from another student, but apparently he hadn't realised that yet, and she wasn't about to tell him. It would either be a nice surprise, or, maybe just as likely, he'd hate it anyway. "You can sleep later. And eat. That's for later, too."

It was maybe a sign as to well she'd gotten to know him at this point that she had correctly predicted both his initial reaction and all of his points of protests. No buying, no gifting of macarons, no running from this. "Because you're supposed to think about the other person. Put time and thought into it," she explained patiently, her attention back on her strawberry project now that any immediate danger of Hanako running seemed to be averted for the moment. "It's not about the money. It's going to teach you, uhm, empathy." Not wrong, really, although a bit of a stretch. "Trying to understand whoever you get." Also it was going to be fun to watch. Two doxies with one stone.

She'd added tiny spots of green at the top of the strawberries - well, one had turned out a little bigger than the other, but it was fine - but looked up at the change in Hanako's demeanor. He'd grown more quiet, less agitated - more pleading instead of whining. Dee softened a little.

Hanako was... not a bad person, really. Kind of. Okay, he kind of was, but... he was trying, in his own way. He didn't have to go along with all her ridiculous ideas and lessons, but he did, anyway, because he was trying to change, and that by itself was worth a lot. And he was making progress, although it was slow and spotty and riddled with setbacks and relapses. There was something endearing about him, between whining and spite and occasional cruelty, and at some point along the way, she'd grown kind of... protective of him, she supposed. Dee herself wasn't exactly what people would call nice - she could be selfish and vindictive and borderline cruel at times - but kindness came more naturally to her than it did to Hanako.

"You will," she said confidently. "You'll get it, you'll see. Just... look at who you got. Try to figure out what they would like. Do your best. They'll be happy. And if not, and you tried, then the problem isn't with you, it's with them." She smiled, blue eyes full of trust, and reached out to lightly touch his hand for a second. "You can do it."

Pulling her hand back, she picked the strawberries back up. Trying to bend the pins into loops with round-nosed pliers was awkward and took her a little to figure out, but she managed, and then grinned at the finished earrings. There, that hadn't been too hard, right? Although... they still seemed to lack something. A little sparkle, maybe? Oh - a bit of red glitter! That would make them perfect.

@Hanako Tone