[Freezair]

Noah Silvermoon ~ Girl's Best Friend

Whoever said Christmas only came once a year had obviously never heard of Christmas in July.

To be fair, Christmas in July wasn't a yearly thing. But it had been a hot, hot summer--one of the hottest on record--and maybe someone somewhere thought that a little frosty Christmas cheer was just the thing to cool people down. Secret Santa, LTD had set up a booth advertising a special summer version of its famous Secret Santa event near the fountain in the heart of Aldrect, and those people who were out walking and braving the heat were gathering around in curiosity.

Noah had never really celebrated Christmas before. His family only lived in Evelon during the summers, when his mother traveled back to her homeland to spend time with her family. Noah used to hate the summer trips--he missed the cool mountain summers of his home, he missed his favorite foods (none of the places around here served pickled eel, which was just tragic), and he missed his father, who didn't speak Evelonian and thus stayed home, but this summer, Noah had made cool new friends. Maybe, just maybe, when he went home, he'd have things to miss here.

Today he was walking Aldrect with one of those friends--a Ms. Wilson named Girl's Best Friend--when he spotted the both. "Oooh, look!" she cooed. Her tiny wings flapped hard and her pearl necklace jostled. "Look, it's Christmas! Christmas in July! Well, did you ever hear of such a thing?"

"Christmas!" Noah yelped. He'd heard about Christmas before, and he had to admit, it did sound really fun. "The real Christmas? With Santa and trees and presents an' everything?"

"Look for yourself! You can read, right?" She perched on top of the sign--not an easy thing to do in bright, red, doll-sized high heels. Noah's eyes followed her. Sure enough, there was the word "SANTA" clear as day.

"It must be!" Noah cheered. "Wait... can we really join in too, Bestie? Isn't Christmas all about families and things? 'Least, that's what I've heard..."

"We'll never know if we don't ask," Bestie replied. "C'mon, let's get in line!"

[zapdragon555]

[Dukhaan Perndhasa] - [Esfir Perndhasa]

It just so happened that in that same line, which was agonizingly long given how hot it was outside, there was a pair of brothers who seemed to have very differing opinions on the whole situation. The younger, Esfir, was a bouncing ball of excitement, his black sandals tan from the dusty sidewalks they'd come from. Dukhaan, the older, was trying to take solace in the somewhat cooler grass, but the heat was making him irritable and snappy. Regardless of any commonalities of sibling rivalry, Dukhaan did not want to hurt Esfir's feelings, especially when the little guy was just so dang happy. Christmas in July? Christmas two times a year? It was too good to be true, in the younger boy's eyes.

"Is Santa really gonna be here?" Esfir asked, dark eyes wide as he hung onto Dukhaan's wrist and put a hand over his brow to shade his eyes. "I feel like he'd get really hot with all those clothes and his beard..."

"Nahh," Dukhaan drawled, rubbing his forehead and frowning at the amount of sweat beneath his bangs. "He's here alright. I bet he's enjoying the heat--it's gotta be cold up in the North Pole, y'know?" Dukhaan's eyes scanned the line ahead of them, before he turned around and blinked at the pair that had just walked up behind them. "Woah," he said without meaning to, blinking at the rather outlandish looking individual and his bird friend.

It was at this that Esfir turned around, and he looked up at Noah and the bird, his mouth falling open slightly. "That bird has shoes!" he exclaimed, as though it were the first thing that grabbed his attention. "Dukhaan, little bird shoes! Look!"

[Freezair]

Bestie turned her beak away with a "Hrmph!" She fluttered behind Noah's head and peaked behind one of his tiny horns--as a young qilin, he didn't have fully-grown antlers yet. "Don't you know it's rude to stare?" she "hrmphed" at the person watching her. "...But yes. For your information, they are very nice. Silky red pumps are tres fetching, no?"

Noah knew he was being looked at, too, but he didn't mind. He knew qilins were pretty uncommon in Evelon, even though, as a young one, he looked an awful lot like a Lucain--just with a thicker mane and hooves. It was a thing he used to hate about Evelon, and at first, he did flinch away from the other's comments. But he's just a kid like you, he thought. Adults always say not to stare, but it's hard to learn not to. You look at things you find interesting, too.

"Um... hi," he said, lowering his head. Suddenly he felt shy again. "Um... are we allowed to play Christmas too? I hear it's all about family, but this seems like it's open to everyone. Unless you guys are part of this family? And if you are, I'm sorry and we'll go..."

[zapdragon555]

Esfir giggled at the bird's response, eyes lighting up in delight. "They are pretty!" he commented, nodding his head. Dukhaan blinked a couple of times to regain his bearings, then offered an awkward, friendly smile.

"He didn't mean any harm..." he seemed to warn the bird, before looking back at the boy with a startled blink. "Play Christmas?" he echoed without thinking, not understanding the phrase in the slightest. Family...? "Er, Esfir here is my little brother, if that's what you mean..."

"Christmas doesn't have to be a family thing!" Esfir piped up, clearly understanding Noah's concerns a bit better than Dukhaan. "It doesn't even have to be in December, apparently. I learned that today," he said with a grin. "You should definitely stay!"

[Freezair]

"Ooooh!" Noah was immediately drawn to Esfir in the way little kids are. He immediately sensed the potential for friendship. "Is this your first Christmas, too?

"I don't normally live here. I'm from reaal far away," Noah said with a nod. "They don't have Christmas there. An' Christmas only happens in December, and I'm back home when that happens. So I don't get to see it. But I guess they're doing Christmas in July this year! So this is the first time I get to see it! Hey, why ARE they doing it in July this time, Bestie?"

The Wilson huffed a little and landed on Noah's shoulder. "Well, it's obvious! Clearly, this winter is going to be far too cold and snowy for Santa to fly. So they had to move it to a time of year with clear skies! It simply has to be."

[zapdragon555]

Esfir brightened as Noah addressed him, then shook his head. "Nope, but I'm still excited though! Our mom doesn't really celebrate, but we still eat yummy food and get a present from Santa!" Dukhaan wasn't sure how much Esfir should be sharing about their family, but he supposed it was entirely harmless. He held back a chuckle at Bestie's explanation, finding it fitting and making perfect sense for a bird.

"Gotta say, that sounds about right. Santa probably likes the warm weather. You live far away, huh?" Dukhaan asked, hooking his thumbs into his pockets and leaning on one leg, tilting his head at Noah.

"We live kinda close by, but it feels waaay longer since it's so hot. Does the heat bother you?" Esfir asked, curious, staring at Noah's horns now with a happy light in his eyes.

[Freezair]

"I kinda like the hotness," Noah admitted. "It gets REALLY cold where I'm from sometimes. We live kinda up in the mountains, and sometimes it snows in May! But sometimes it's really nice. When we go home in September, it's usually pretty nice, especially if you go to the river near the bamboo forest..."

"Silly us! We totally forgot our manners!" Bestie interrupted. "We've completely forgotten to introduce ourselves! I'm Girl's Best Friend--Bestie, normally--and he's--"

"Bestie! Lemmie do it!" Noah protested. "I'm Noah Yin Yue, though my family usally goes by Silvermoon here. I--Oh, look!" Noah lifted a hoof and pointed. "Look, you guys are next in line! Which means we're next!"

[zapdragon555]

((Sorry for the wait!! We can finish this, don't worry! I'll be quicker about replying now. ovo))

"Ooh, wow," Esfir murmured dreamily. "I've never seen snow, I don't think... at least, not a lot of it. It never sticks around here," he said with a small pout, folding his arms. That expression was quickly remedied by the introductions and he grinned, waving. "Hi Bestie! And Noah! My name's Esfir, and this is my big brother Dukhaan."

Dukhaan gave a small wave, half shy and half embarrassed by Esfir's introduction, though he wore a small smile on his face regardless. Dukhaan certainly looked a little more intimidating than Esfir, but Esfir was far more in-your-face about things (even if it held its own polite tinge to it). "Silvermoon's a cool name," he commented with a friendly smirk, nodding his head. "I like it--wha?"

Esfir was grabbing at Dukhaan's arm and pulling him, excitement in his eyes. "We're up, Dukhaan! Come on! Let's go see Santa!"

[Freezair]

"Santa!" Noah chirped. Even though it wasn't quite their turn yet, Noah crowded up to the stand behind Esfir and Dukhaan, hoping for a glimpse of the legendary and elusive Santa Claus. He'd seen pictures of him online, but he seemed to look different in every one. Maybe it was just part of Santa's nature--he appeared however he needed to to impress the kids in a particular place.

But the stand advertising the event was helmed by a humanoid woman with red and green draconic wings and horns. Beneath her t-shirt, a sigil shaped like a heart glowed faintly.

"Hello there! It's nice to see some younger folk participating in the Secret Santa," she said. "It's good to see children embrace the spirit of giving! Will you be participating in the Secret Santa proper, or the Toy Swap?"

"Toy swap?" Noah breathed. "Oh no... I KNEW we'd have to bring something..."

Bestie, for all her bluster, did look a little concerned. "No, no... I'm sure we can play..."

[zapdragon555]

Esfir blinked up at the tall woman (or at least tall to him, given how small he was) and stared at her wings with wide eyes. "Woah..." he mumbled, a little startled, half hiding behind Dukhaan. It seemed his excitement was a little bit bridled by intimidation, now. At the woman's words, Dukhaan's brows knitted, worry crossing over his face. They... hadn't thought to bring anything, had they?

Esfir looked at Dukhaan nervously, then back at Noah, then up at the woman with a small gulp. Dukhaan, sensing Esfir's worry, rubbed his upper back gently and then squeezed his shoulder. "Ah, ma'am, we didn't bring any gifts to swap... can we still participate?"

[Freezair]

"Oh, don't worry!" the woman said. "This is just the registration. Do you need an explanation of how all this works?"

"Some explanations would be nice," Bestie growled. "Where's Santa?!"

The Bigheart woman laughed. "Why, Santa is all around you! Look! There's a Santa, right there," she said, pointing to a teenaged girl with hair dyed blue. "And that's also a Santa!" She indicated a Common Kuhna enjoying some fish 'n' chips. "Santa's there!" She pointed to a Garudor winging overhead. "And also there," she said, indicating a muscular, shaved-headed man in a business suit.

Noah was so confused he couldn't help tilting his head. Even if his theory was correct about Santa changing appearances, he still thought there was only one.

"In this event, everyone is Santa," she explained with a laugh. "When you sign up, you get given the name of someone here in Evelon to buy a present for. You have to secretly find them a present. But in return, someone will also secretly find YOU a present! It's full of surprises, and who doesn't like those? The Toy Swap is a bit for our younger guests, but you don't need to do that. It's an event where you can exchange old, but still good, toys you don't play with anymore with other kid's."

But Noah barely heard the second part. He was whispering quietly to himself. "Wait... I can be Santa...?"

[zapdragon555]

Dukhaan blinked owlishly at the woman, wincing at her words. Surely this wouldn't crush Esfir's belief in Santa, would it? Inwardly, he supposed it was a gentler way of breaking it to him that Santa wasn't exactly real real (as far as Dukhaan knew, and he had to admit even he had some doubts left over from his childhood) than outright telling him, but Dukhaan didn't want that magic to fade just yet.

It seemed quite the opposite had happened, as Esfir's eyes were wide with wonder. "That's so cool! I wanna be Santa, too!" he exclaimed, bouncing on his toes to try to get closer to the woman's face, to hilariously no avail. "Dukhaan, can we go buy a present to exchange! We can use some of my money that I saved!"

Putting away all 'we can't afford it' arguments for the time being, Dukhaan offered a small smile. "We can definitely try to find something." He glanced over at Noah and Bestie, offering a smile. "If you two don't have anything, you could come with us to go find something...?" He suddenly felt the slightest bit responsible for this boy and his bird friend.

[Freezair]

Noah bustled up behind Esfir and Dukhaan. "I get to be SANTA?! Do I get to have a white beard? Are there red coats back in there? DO WE GET TO RIDE A REINDOE SLEIGH?"

The woman chuckled. "Sadly, no Reindoe sleighs here--and besides, it's a little warm right now for a red coat! But we do sell red hats and a few other accessories if you want to dress up. But I can promise we'll get into contact with the big guy for help delivering your present to its target," she said with a wink.

"Then we wanna play!" Noah said with a noise somewhere between a wolf's bark and a horse's snort. His hooves clattered as he jumped. On his shoulder, Bestie nodded.

"Very well then," she said. She reached into one of the red hats she spoke about and pulled out two names. She handed one to Esfir and one to Noah. "You'll find all the info you need on there. And you should also fill out a few forms of your own so we know who to pair you with and what they should get you."

[zapdragon555]

The idea of being forced to wear a red Santa hat and hang around with a lot of children he didn't know wasn't exactly the most appealing thing to Dukhaan, but he'd do it for Esfir. The children (as if Dukhaan himself wasn't a child--just an older one) looked too excited to crush their dreams just because he was too stubborn to wear a dang Santa hat, after all.

Esfir took the piece of paper with a grin, peering at it with a squint. "Forms, huh? Alright, let's see..." Dukhaan located said papers in a few moments, and he darted over to get two of them and give one to Noah. "Let's see about filling these out," he murmured, looking at the paper and pulling an old pen that he usually chewed on out of his pocket.

[Freezair]

"Cool," said Noah, looking over the forms. "Let's see... name... age... address... gosh, Bestie, what kind of presents should I say I want? I've never written a letter to Santa before! Or, uh... someone playing Santa for me, anyway..."

"Well, I rather like make-up and accessories, but you do you, dear!" Bestie said.

"Okay, well, since you're playing with me, I'll say make-up, accessories, and, um... a cape! A really pretty cape I can wear when I'm being a superhero!" Noah said.

"Oooh, that's a good idea," Bestie said.

After turning in the forms, Noah looked at his papers to see who he was being Santa to.

"Ooooh. Let's see! Me an' Bestie are gonna be Santa for... a Cavallion girl named Jeanie! She's 12 years old--gosh, she's a bigger kid--and she likes magic shows. She wants props for her magic act, and... wow. She says what she really wants is a really big stage and a big audience to do her show on! Who did you guys get, Esfir?"