juststeverogers | Merry Christmas!

Verity knows this is coming, but Steve doesn't assume she'll be free. He's careful to text her as soon as he's getting everything ready.

Verity? Is it okay if I stop by to see you today? I have your present for you.

She lives in the big crystal castle thing. How hard can it be to find?

Sure, whenever you like. I'm baking today so come hungry.

The tower is not hard to find at all. Even in the Nexus, it stands out, so he can get reasonably accurate 'go that way' directions if he needs help. Or he can ask her, that's the handy thing about texting.

Yay baked goods!

Steve pockets his phone and picks up his carefully wrapped gift and heads out of the apartment. It takes him a while to get there, on account of the fragility of his gift, but Steve does indeed make it to Ixis's tower without trouble.

It's getting in that is troubling him.

"Hello? Uhm, is anyone there? I'm here to see Verity..." He's collecting a fine dusting of snow on his sweatshirt and hooded head.

He's not left out in the cold for long. Magic doors open on their own; this one seeming to come apart and slide into the walls. Spooky! Or awesome. Depends on how you look at it. Either way, the smells from inside signal that yes, there has been so much baking.

"Come on in, there are dry slippers by the door, put on whatever fits." There's a fair collection of new-looking slippers waiting for guests, lined up under the hooks by the door where her coats are already hanging. "You're just in time."

"Thank you." The magic door is certainly intimidating, but once inside it's much warmer, and really that's all Steve can ask for. "I didn't expect it to snow so much in the Nexus!" Though that may be a certain spirit's doing, it's not anyone Steve knows.

He carefully unbundles himself from his hoodie and hat, and slips on a pair of blue slippers that are about his size. The present--wrapped carefully in brown craft paper, comes with him further into the home.

Verity's in the kitchen, which is also where the food is. He might want to put the present in the living room with the little potted tree before coming to inspect what she's been up to. There's the usual assortment of muffins, cookies that smell like ginger and nuts, danishes filled with purply-red fruit, and some hand pies just coming out of the oven. But no dishes, someone's been cleaning as she goes. Aside from some flour on her apron and a smudge on her cheek, you almost couldn't tell she's been working for the last few hours.

"Yeah, it sure got cold in a hurry. We need to get you a coat. You want some coffee to warm up?"

"Yeah. The sweatshirt is warmer than my suit jacket, though, so I've been wearing it a lot." Steve does leave her gift by the potted plant when he comes into the kitchen, his cheeks red from the cold.

"Please. That would be great."

"It's good to have options for the changing seasons. We can go coat shopping after you've warmed up and had a rest." He's not getting sick on her watch! That is simply not allowed. She hands him a mug of coffee when he comes into the kitchen, then gestures to the food. "Take whatever you like. The rounded pies are honey chicken with caramelized onions, and the square ones are barbecue pulled pork with apples and red cabbage. The danishes are roasted grapes with cream cheese. The cookies are ginger and acorn, I've never made anything with acorn flour before so this is completely new to me."

She figures the muffins are pretty obvious: blueberry, corn, poppy seed.

Steve is such a sucker for her blueberry muffins. This time, he'll actually be well enough to enjoy them! Half of one is gone in a hurry while he daintily sips at the coffee until it's cool enough to gulp down as well.

"If I let you and Nana feed me every day, I'd be awful fat in no time." Steve grins around his mug. "Thanks for the food. I'm supposed ot be giving you things though, today."

"I couldn't let you come over and not have anything," she points out, "that would be rude." He wouldn't want her to be rude, would he? "Anyway, you work hard, I doubt you have to worry about getting fat. But yes, you did mention a gift, and I'm very curious. Just give me a minute to clean myself up."

It doesn't take long for her to brush off her apron and toss it in a drawer and wash her hands. She doesn't seem to realize there's flour on her cheek, though.

"You've got a bit of something right here." Steve points on his cheek when she comes out, to show her where the smear is. Now granted, they didn't tease him for being covered in charcoal the other day when they were over, but he feels like Verity would probably want to know.

Her present is clearly an artwork, judging by the dimensions. When she unwraps is she'll find it's framed already and comes up to about his thigh. It should be familiar to her. It's a piece similar to the feel of the Brooklyn charcoal piece he had hanging over his couch. This time it's of the Chrysler building in Manhattan.

"...I thought real hard about what to get you for Christmas. And...I settled on a piece of your home. I wanted to give you back something you'd lost, even a little bit."

"Oh, thank you." She traces a finger over her cheek, then goes back to the sink to wash the flour off. Also not something that takes long. Pretty soon she's sitting on the couch with the artwork balanced in her lap. She unwraps the package carefully, easing fingers along the seams to lift off the tape; she's not the tearing type.

And then she sees it.

"Oh."

She knows the scene immediately, but she can't look at it long because her eyes are filling with tears faster than she can blink them away. A little fumbling later and she's got a free hand to fish tissues out of her pocket and dry her eyes.

"Thank you. It's lovely, really."

Steve doesn't say much while she takes it in. He knew it was going to be an emotional present. He had to stop working on his own picture of his street several times when the emotions got to be too much.

"..It's not much, I hope that buildings there in your version. Miss Siri helped me find it." Steve drops his gaze, looks at her little tree, and the decor, anything to give her a moment to regain her composure.

"I can't bring it back. But I can capture pieces so they're not lost forever. It's...the best I can do."

It's gracious of him to try and give her some privacy. She's trying to stop, but it's hard for a lot of reasons. Talking about, even acknowledging, her feelings isn't really in her wheelhouse.

"No, it's really. I. I love it. Thank you." She would give him a hug, but all this crying is uncomfortable enough for both of them already.

Steve reaches over and pats her gently on the shoulder.

"I'm glad. I knew you'd either love it or hate it....and I wasn't sure which one it would be, if I'm honest." He shifts his feet on the floor, looking down at the deep blue slippers he's wearing.

"I worked on it most of the month, once I got the idea in mind. Must have scrapped half a dozen ideas before I got that one going. That....is my new reason for making art, Verity. To keep things from being gone forever. Merry Christmas."

It's a good thing he mentioned the previous versions because otherwise she'd have to wonder how it took a month.

"That's a good reason for it. It's why you did that big picture of Brooklyn?" Because nothing's going to fix the feels in this situation like bringing his into it.

It had to be just right. The others weren't so out they went. Though part of it was also getting back into the feel for charcoal.

"..I did, yeah. My Brooklyn, the way I remember it." He can see it from anywhere in the apartment. Anytime he can't sleep, he just hunkers down into the armchair and stares up at it.

"It's not gone unless I give up on it. So now I have a reminder."

She doesn't know how art works. She thinks it just happens somehow. The fact people practice and take classes and grow into their talents hasn't really registered with her.

"It's never really gone because you're here. Thank you for helping me remember my old home."

"I'll give you back as much of it or as little of it as you want me to. One piece at a time." Steve gives her a smile, determined and entirely with sincerity.

"You're welcome. I"m...I'm really glad you like it. Because I didn't have a Plan B."

"Thank you. I. I'll think about it." She'll see how she handles having this much before she tries for anything more.

"Why would you worry about having a Plan B? You know how much I like your art."

"Like I said...I wasn't sure if you'd like this one. Or if it would be too much. I got pretty worked up a few times, while I was working on mine. Homesick. Things like that."

Steve sips at his mug of coffee, happy for the warmth the drink brings him.

"I only ended up making two of my gifts this year, and you get to be the other lucky one." He chuckles slightly. "I ended up having more friends than I thought I did, when I sat down to make my lists."

"I'm going to tell you a secret: I get excited that anyone wants to ever give me a gift. I'm not terribly picky about them." All those times she acted excited when a chao brought her a twig or a leaf? Not faked.

"Having more friends than you expect isn't a bad thing," she points out with a smile. "But I know the feeling about running out of time. I don't even want to look at my yarn right now."

"It's a nice feeling, to be thought of, isn't it?" Steve stares down into his mug. "It's weird for me to feel that way too. I'm not terribly used to it, yet."

For all its beauty, home isn't as kind as this place has been.

"It is. I have a feeling you're going to have to get used to it." He's too likable to not have piles of friends wherever he goes.

"You okay?" His expressions have not gone unnoticed.

"...Nah. Just, talking about the art and home. Realized it was my first Christmas away from home." And that there's a present wrapped under his tiny fake tree that isn't going to get claimed.

"It just feels more real when there's a milestone to put by it. But I'm lucky to have met so many great folks here."

Verity

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http://tinyurl.com/z8ythdf

Very nice! But prepare for incoming feels.

Been preparing ever since i had the idea.

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