One day while waiting for class to start, Angel was looking at a men's catalog, looking through its contents. After talking with Rosaria, she thought it would be a good idea to give Crewel a gift, since it was near the season anyway, and the fact that Angel was very thankful for everything he did for her, from making clothes, advice, helping her adjust, and even just to chat when he had the time. She felt that with all the stuff he gave her, she should give something in return, and while she was looking at the catalog, she thought she might find something to give him, but she sighs and closed to the catalog, seeing that there was nothing she could give him. Knowing Dad, he probably has way better clothes than what's in this... She thinks as she watches her classmates, with Grim of course, talk about whatever. Ace and Deuce couldn't help her out, she needed someone with more logical idea of what to give to someone like Crewel, and since she kept the fact that Crewel was her adoptive dad a secret from them for months, it wouldn't be right to drop it on them that he thought of her as a daughter, and, Seven forbid, they thought that she was getting special treatment for being his daughter. Soon enough, as if the thought came, Crewel came into class, making students scramble to their seats as class begins to start, letting her mind wander as they learn about the history of potionology.
Once lunch arrived, Angel and Grim sat at a table, with Grim happily eating his food and Angel just mulling over a gift to give. "I don't know why ya thinkin' bout this," Grim says as he eats. "Wouldn't he be fine with anythin'?"
"Yeah...but I don't know exactly what to give him," she says as she sighs. "I'm sure he'd like anything from me, but I want it to really mean something, you know."
Grim shrugs. "I'm content with a can of tuna. In fact, I rather have 100 cans of tuna!" He drools, despite having food in his mouth.
"Which is why you're easy to please," Angel comments as she starts eating while Grim continues to eat. "Getting you food is all it takes for you to be happy."
"And you're right about that!" Grim agrees.
Angel giggles as she continues to think about the predicament. I know he likes wine and certain cigars, but I'm too young to buy it. She thinks about the catalog, seeing that there were handkerchiefs in the catalog. A handkerchief maybe...? No, I can't get one, he has so many already... She sighs, stumped on the gift.
"Oh? What's this?" A voice says behind her, and she sees an unlikely quartet of Riddle, Trey, Azul and Jade, housewardens and vice housewardens alike as they look at her. "Something's the matter, Angel?" Azul asks. "You know, as the housewarden of Octavinelle, I am obligated to listen to any concerns you have."
Riddle sighs. "Just ignore him." He takes a seat at the table, with the rest following. "It is unlike you to be dispirited during lunch. Is anything the matter?"
"Ah...uh...Just thinking," she says, mainly confused about the fact that there are together.
"If I may," Jade says, observing her, making her nervous. "Your problems seem to stem from what everyone else might be having around this time of year, correct?" How is he able to guess what I'm thinking...? "If so, could we lend an ear to your problems?" He calmly asks.
Angel thinks for a moment and sighs. "I'm just...wondering to what to get for someone."
"Oh, a gift?" Trey asks. "Well that's nice of you. Got any idea of what to give them?"
"No...I don't think I could give them anything that..." Suddenly, an idea came to her, and she looked at the boys around her. These four were the most logical and mature people she knew, maybe it wouldn't hurt to ask them. "Um...Can I ask you guys a question?"
"Of course, you can," Azul smiles. "Though I might charge you depending on the answer I provide."
Grim groans. "Just having one set of housewardens if hard enough, but with two, it's somethin' else."
"If you guys were given a gift, what kind of gift would you prefer?" She asks.
"If it's a gift, I would have something that could benefit me in the long run," Riddle answers, thinking about the question. "A book might be more accurate for me."
Trey chuckles. "Yeah, that's more for you, Riddle, but I wouldn't disagree with it. Something that I could use would be great, especially if it lasts a long time."
"For me, I would rather have benefits," Azul states. "The fact that what I receive will help me in the long run to achieve my goal is the gift that benefits me the most."
"Oh? Is that so, Azul? Because I'm sure that I remember you having stuff that we gave you when we were kids," Jade states with a smile, flustering Azul. "The smile you used to have when we gave you the ingredients you needed for your potions and spells was infectious after all."
He clears his throat, trying not to let the comment get to him. "I assure you, that was in the past."
"Well, to answer your question, Angel," Jade says looking at her, "a gift from the heart does go a long way, so I'm sure that if you give it with sincerity, they would like it."
"If that was the case, then I don't think she would be asking the question at all," Trey states. "Anyway, who is the gift for? It might help us figure out what gift you're trying to give."
Angel looked at them and hesitated. She could trust two out of the four, but the other two she couldn't because of obvious reasons. "It's for...someone who helped me a lot so far," she carefully says, hoping that Azul and Jade won't pick up on who exactly helped her out.
"Ah, that's right," Riddle says, catching himself as he looks to Azul and Jade, then looking to Angel, but Angel only nodded at his look, meaning that she told them about her predicament.
"It's someone who's been helping me ever since I got here, so I guess you can say I really want to return the favor..." She says quietly.
"It would make sense," Azul says as he fixes his glasses. "Why, if I benefited from someone all this time, I would want to benefit them."
"Ah I see, so you want to thank them for taking care of you all this time then," Trey concludes, and she nods. "That's honestly nice of you to do that, Angel."
"It seems only right."
"So, I see why you asked that question earlier," Riddle says as he closes his eyes in thought. "Well, usually, I would gift my mother something that is beneficial to her occupation."
"Usually, I would give Floyd and Azul things on my excursions, seeing if it could benefit them, but mostly for my own amusement," Jade says with a smile.
"Is that why I received those creatures from you when I was younger?" Azul says as he glances at Jade, but Jade only smiles at him.
Trey chuckles. "Well for me, just receiving any treats my siblings attempted was a good effort and I enjoyed it. Maybe you shouldn't think about it so hard, just go with your heart is telling you."
"Hmph, that's what I've been trying to tell her!" Grim speaks up. "She shouldn't be stressin' over somethin' like a gift after all."
"Most thought towards someone you care about requires a lot of thought, Grim,"
Riddle states. "It is really inconsiderate if you do not include the person's feelings in the matter."
"Especially if that person does not share the same mindset as you," Azul states. "Some people do not think about other's feelings and personally, it would put me in a bad mood just to think about how much I can get them bac- I mean, return the favor."
"Have you figured out anything to give them?" Jade asks her.
"I'm...not sure," she responds. "I'm thinking about something they might use, since I can't really get other stuff they might like." She looks at Azul and Jade, a smirk on their faces. "And I don't think I would get anything out of you two."
"Then why not go to town? There might be something there you can give them," Trey suggests, and Angel's eyes widen at the suggestion. "I'm guessing by your reaction, you haven't really thought about it."
"It...never occurred to me..."
"Always the airhead it seems," Azul sighs.
"Maybe you should try and wander around the town then," Jade states. "It might make your gift searching a lot easier than questioning us."
Angel thinks for a moment and smiles. "That's a great idea! Grim, let's go into town!"
"Sure," Grim happily agrees. "I gotta have the food there, soooooo much better than the food here at least."
"Want us to come with?" Trey asks. "We don't want you to get lost in town while everyone is out and about."
"I'll be fine. Hopefully, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a gift," Angel says as she gets up, ready to throw her tray away. "Thank you guys very much for your help, but I figured I should take your advice and look for something myself. Come on, Grim." She heads to the trash, with Grim content with his fill of food for the moment, and followed her out, a plan in motion.
Once the two arrived in the town, they started their search, wandering around shops, looking through windows to try and make the search a little easier. They stopped by stores tailored to men, trying to see if there was a store that might have anything that Angel thought was a good gift, and Grim wasn't much help, instead focusing on the aroma of food from the many cafés and restaurants around them, complimenting the smells around him.
"Oooooh! There's something sweet over there! Come on, Angel! Let's go over there!" Grim exclaims as he stands on her shoulders, pointing a café on their side. "I bet they got good food there..." He drools.
Angel just sighs, hoping that the drool doesn't end up in her hair. "Later Grim. We only have about two and half hours before the bus heads back to campus. We're pressed for time already," she says as she continues to look around, with Grim huffing at her decision. "If we both look around, we might have more time for you to try food."
The statement brightens Grim up. "You got it!" He says as he looks around. "The thought of the food is gonna motivate me to look! Oooooh! What about that?" He points to a store and Angel only follow his direction, walking to where the paw was pointing to. "There's a good smell comin' from this store!"
"It's a cologne store," Angel states as she looks at the window, seeing that there were small bottles lined up in the window, with pictures of models behind the bottles, as if advertising the person instead of the cologne. How do people advertise cologne anyway...? Her eyes caught one picture, a picture of a man around her age, although a bit older with blond hair and purple highlights at the tips, light purple eyes giving off a smoldering look at she stare at him. Have I...seen him before? She tries to rack her brain for anyone who she met with those features, but her mind turned back into the situation at hand, realizing that it wasn't important who the person was. They needed a gift after all. Once she realized her initial goal, the smell started to hit her, the various smells mixing together caused her senses to become overwhelmed, a headache starting to overcome her. "Maybe...going in there isn't a good idea."
"Huh? It isn't?" Grim says as he smelled the window. Just as he was smelling the window, a customer left the store, opening the door and Grim only looked shocked at the window, covering his nose at the smell. "YEEEEOW! That smell is rancid!" He yells, getting the attention of some people, in which Angel quickly covered his mouth, looking at the people staring at the people with an apologetic look as they leave the store, hoping that Grim's exclamation didn't make the store lose any business. The two walked down the street, looking for another store while Grim's nose finally became clear. "Yeesh, I didn't know that cologne was so rancid, and here I thought it smelled good."
"Just being outside the store was much, imagine if we were inside..." Angel sighs as they continued walking. "I guess cologne is out of the question."
"Maybe somethin' else?" Grim says as he looks around, seeing other stores full of people, mainly buying gifts for their loved ones and others. "So many people, it's easy to get lost here."
"Yeah, you're right about that. No wonder Trey offered to come with. It's easy to lose track," Angel says as she tries to navigate the throngs of people, being pushed along the walls of buildings they passed. Ugh...so heavy... She opted to look around and find a store to hide in, trying to get away from the groups of people, and her eyes spotted a store in the distance, looking empty enough where no one would bother them at least, a safe haven for the two. Angel looked at Grim and saw that Grim spotted the store as well, both nodding at their destination and they quickly head there, trying to get out of the crowd of people surrounding them. After careful navigation and trying their best to avoiding bumping into people, the two finally made it in the store, breathing a sigh of relief at the fact that they escape the crowd.
"Finally!" Grim says as he hops off Angel's shoulder, trying to stretch. "Who knew humans were so crazy!"
"Everyone's out and about trying to buy gifts, it couldn't be helped," Angel says as she catches her breath, looking around at the store they entered. It looked like an old store, with outdated items for sale on shelves, but with proper cleaning and repairing, they could pass off as new. There was furniture, clothes, small items, and even portraits for sale, hopefully not like the talking portraits like at the school, but upon closer inspection, it does seem like there are little movements within the paintings, mainly with air flowing through the content, making some aspects of the photos move. "Where are we anyway?" She asks as she looks around, trying to make sense of the situation.
"Oh my? New customers?" A voice says and the two find out that an old woman was looking at the two with a smile on her face. "Welcome to my store little ones," she says to the two. "Feel free to browse and see anything that interests you. I'll be right here if you need any help."
"Oh! Um...thank you very much," Angel says, instantly feeling bad about the fact that she thought this store would be a safe haven until the crowd died down outside. "We'll take your offer then." The old woman chuckles as she heads to the back of the store, a storeroom of sorts.
"Man...she gave me the creeps..." Grim says as he shivers. "And I thought the portraits were scary. She just came out of nowhere!"
"Well, since we're in her store, we might as well look around," Angel suggests. "Maybe we can find a gift here instead. Worse case, we're back outside going from store to store." Grim sighs and nods, looking outside, seeing that the streets were starting to full back up with people. The two wandering the aisles, looking at the items offered and even Angel would have to say that she was impressed with the items. She found a hand mirror that looked quite old, but it sparkled with vigor, as if it was just polished. She also spotted some clothes, though they may have looked ragged in appearance had their own charm as they looked renewed, drawing her attention as she came closer, seeing fashion that Cater has told her was 'vintage'. She spent a few minutes looking through the clothes, knowing that Crewel had an interest in vintage clothing, only to find nothing that she thought would suit his tastes, but she took a few photos as just in case. She looks to Grim, seeing that he was distracted by something moving on the floor, and upon closer inspection, found out that it was a toy of some kind, seeing that he was chasing it across the store. Luckily, Grim was nimble enough to fit through the gaps between the floor and shelves, so, hopefully, no damage will be done while he's chasing it. Maybe I should buy it for him. She walks around the aisles again, inspecting decorations and items that catch her eye when needed, not knowing that another person came into the store, wandering the aisles as well. As she's walking the middle aisle, about to give up on her search, her eyes catch something small and shiny, heading over to the shelf and looking at the item. She gasps at the fact that the item that caught her eye was a silver circular object, with a chain attached to it and she picks it up, big enough to cover the palm of her hand. She finds a button at the top of the object, pressing it, and is surprised at how the object opens, showing a manual clock on the inside, the hands pointing to 4:30, about an hour before the bus back to campus has to leave. Angel looked at the object in awe, knowing that she heard that this was a pocket watch, a watch that can be inserted in a pocket for somewhat easier convenience. She smiles at it, happy that the fact that she found an object she's never seen before, and inspects it more closely, letting the weight of the watch feel in her hand. A thought came to her. Could he...maybe like this...?
"Um, excuse me," a voice says, bringing her out of her thoughts as she looks to her side, seeing that there was a person wearing a mask beside her. The person was a little taller than her, with what seems to be snow white skin, wearing a uniform with a design like hers, but instead of black, it was white, and it fit perfectly with the person's black eyes and short black hair, which was underneath a cap. They're delicate features stood out, making her become entranced with his looks, a thing that she normally doesn't notice as soon as looking at people. They're so beautiful... "Sorry to bother you," they say, a masculine yet soft voice comes from the person. "I saw you looking at that pocket watch, are you interested in it?"
"Oh...um..." Angel hesitates, knowing well enough that if Grim was with her, the conversation would have flowed better, but since he's busy, Angel could only look at the person in front of her, starting to become nervous. "Y-yes, I am..." she says quietly.
Her careful tone got the person's attention as they only chuckle. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, it's just that's a very interesting pocket watch. I couldn't help but approach it, but you got to it first."
"Oh! Um...were you trying to get it?" Angel asks the person, and looking carefully, she found out that the person was a boy. "I was just looking at it."
"No, it's fine," he says as he looks at the watch. "I kind of have something like that for when I do my jobs, so it's a really convenient thing to have, you know," he says with a smile. Jobs? But he looks not much older than me... "Are you getting it for yourself?"
The question throws Angel off. "Oh...no. It's for a gift for someone who took care of me." She smiled. "Ever since I came here, they've been helping me adapt, which I'm grateful for. I just want to return the favor."
The boy only watches her and smile. "I know how you feel. I have some people who help me constantly, seven to be specific, so I'm in the same boat as you."
"Really?!" She happily says and the boy only nods. She looks back to the pocket watch. "I just hope they like it. It's been hard to find the right gift for them. How do you do it?" She asks the boy.
"Well..." he starts, only to smile at her. "If you know that your feelings came across to the gift you've picked, then I would say it's the perfect gift. Sure, many people go for something that fits the recipient's tastes, but if you chose it based on your thoughts and feelings, then they would be happy no matter what." He sees her eyes on him in awe. "It might not help, but it's what I can think of."
"No, no! It's a good thing!" She quickly says. "I mean, I obviously want the best for them, so I wanted to choose the item carefully. I kind of wanted them to have something they would use every day, so they would at least remember how grateful I am to them..." She looks down, trailing off.
"Then that's fine," he says, making her look at him. "A gift like that will remind them of you, every time they use it, I'm sure they would feel your feelings of gratitude in your gift." He smiles through his mask, making her blush. He's so nice... She thinks as he smiles at her, looking at the pocket watch and decided on her choice.
"Okay! I think I'll give them this then!" She happily exclaims, holding the watch in her hand. "Thank you so much for your help...um..."
"Call me Neige," he says with a smile, and Angel just nods at him. "And it's no problem. I'm glad I could help you with your gift choosing."
"Hey Angel!" Grim calls out, getting her attention, and she looked to see him out of breath. "Have you found a gift yet? I found one I- I mean he might like it!" He says as he holds up the toy he's been chasing.
"It's okay, Grim, I found one," she says as she heads over to him, but stop and turns around to Neige. "Thank you again, and I hope your gift choosing goes well!" She heads to Grim and picks him up, with him content at the fact that he doesn't have to exert any other energy walking, and get the toy as well, thinking it would be a good gift for Grim since he had fun chasing it, heading to the counter to purchase.
Neige only watches as she purchases the items, with the clerk wrapping it in a gift box of sorts, and give her a wave as she leaves the store, and she returned the wave with one of her own. He takes his mask off, showing his delicate features as he breathes out a sigh of relief. "She didn't know me," he mumbles as he remembers her looking at him. He giggles. "She's a student at Night Raven College...I think she's the only female student there. She seems like a nice and cute girl."
Back at the school, Angel stood in front of Crewel's office door, hand hesitating to knock on it with the gift in her other hand. She shouldn't be hesitating, she's been mulling over this whole thing for days after the talk with Rosaria, and now that she was here, she really felt nervous. What if he doesn't like it...? She starts to pace around the door, her mind going back and forth on the idea of knocking on the door. Part of her wanted to just leave the gift on the floor and leave, knowing that he would see it eventually, and hope that fate would just leave it there, but she knew it would be more memorable if she gave it him personally, instead of just letting anyone pick it up and handing it to him in an attempt to return a lost item at least. She stops pacing and stare at the door, raising her hand to knock on the door, her mind made up as her hand gets closer to the door, but the door starts to move, startling her as she brings her hand back, seeing that the door was open, showing Crewel sighing.
"All these pups worry me so much with their blatant-" he opens his eyes, seeing that Angel looking at him in shock. He smiles. "Ah, Angel. A surprise to see you here after school this late. Is anything wrong? Did some pups do something bad to you that needs to be punished?"
"Ah...no..." She says quietly, trying to hide her nerves from him, but he knew better.
"It doesn't seem like you're your usual peppy self. So those dogs must have done something to you after all," he glares.
Angel noticed his glare. "No! No one did anything!" She quickly says, making him have a sigh of relief. "It's...just...um..." He looks at her, awaiting her next words. "I...wanted to...give you something..." She says quietly, a blush growing on her face in embarrassment as she holds out the box to him.
Crewel only looks at the box, and carefully takes it with Angel only staring at him in suspense as he looks at the box in his hand. "Is this a gift for me?" He asks her, and she only nods silently at his question. "My, how nice of you!" He happily says as he carefully opens the box. "If you would have told me earlier that you got a gift for me, I would have a better attitude dealing with those unruly dogs." He opens the box, seeing that the object was underneath some paper and unwraps it, seeing the pocket watch underneath the paper. "Hm?" He hums as he picks up the watch, with Angel seeing him inspect it. Maybe he didn't like it after all... She sadly sighs, seeing that Crewel was inspecting it, taking his time with it. She knew that if Crewel looks over a specific item for a long time, it's usually a sign of dislike, usually with his frown following it after. Angel closes her eyes, expecting the worse, only to open them when she felt a hand on her head, seeing that Crewel was smiling at her. "I quite love it!" He exclaims, shocking her. "Usually, pocket watches are a thing of the past, but the design in this is quite remarkable! It's almost as if it's brand new despite it being near half a century old! This watch may be simplistic in design, but the craftmanship is impeccable! Even I am impressed with it, and I used to design my and other's clothes!"
"...Huh...?" Angel says in shock. "You...like it?"
"I don't quite like it," Crewel says as he smiles at her. "I love it. Thank you very much for the gift. It matches my aesthetic perfectly and the chain would make it fashionable to wear it on my clothes, in fact, I think wearing it in my jacket would prove to be a wonderful thing, since I can show Trein just how wonderful my daughter is for the gift," he smirks.
Angel just looks at him while he talks, seeing that he was not just happy but ecstatic about the gift. "I'm so glad you like it," she says with a smile, making Crewel put his attention on her.
"Of course, I would like it," he states. "This is the first gift I received from you and you're my favorite pup. No matter what you choose, I knew I would like it. All the times we've spent together I would hope you knew my tastes, even though some of them might be outside your reach. Besides, if I can use it everyday, I can always show off my cute daughter to people!" He happily exclaims, gushing at the thought of showing the pocket watch to his colleagues.
Angel just giggled at him. "I'm just glad that all that searching paid off...Oh!" She pulls out her phone and gives it to Crewel. "I also found these clothes, but I wasn't sure about the size, so I took pictures of it, hoping you might have liked them."
Crewel inspects the pictures, the smile on his face growing bigger. "Oh my Seven! These designs haven't been seen in years! The fabrics, the designs, the styles, it's all so old yet so rejuvenated! Tell me, what store did you get these items from?"
"Um..." Angel thinks back, trying to remember the name, only to fall short. "Actually...I'm not sure. It was a store that me and Grim just hid in to avoid the crowd of people. I didn't even catch the name."
"Huh," Crewel crosses his arms in thought. "I'm sure I've never seen a store like this during my walks in town, but I will keep a track of the store's interior design."
"Oh! I also met someone who helped me out with the gift," Angel says. "A boy named Neige helped me decide on it."
"Oh?" Crewel hums as he looks at her. "A boy named Neige?"
"Yeah, he was really nice and told me that if you would use it every day, you would feel my feelings of gratitude when you use it."
"Hmmm..." Crewel hums, processing the information. He looks to Angel to see that she was looking at him with a smile, at least happy at the advice she got from the boy. Crewel only chuckles at her. "Well, at least the gift you got me will be used every day, that's for sure. I hoped you thanked him for his advice." She nods. "Good. Well, it's best to be on your way. It's late and you will need your sleep. Beauty sleep is an effort after all."
"Ah right, it is near 6 pm," Angel says as she noticed the time. "I guess I should go back to the dorm."
"Yes, you should do that," Crewel says as Angel starts to turn around, and head back to the dorm. She turned back, giving him a little wave goodbye and he responds with a wave back as she disappears from sight. He only sighs and looks at the pocket watch, a smile on his face. "Am I ever glad that I gotten a daughter as cute and sweet as her," he says softly, but then frowns. "Shame that she keeps attracting pups around her, I'm going to have to keep a closer on those savage pups, but she seems very happy, I don't want to take that away from her. Though I am worried about what will happen when she finds out who this Neige really is."
A/N: Hiyas guys! Here's the last side story for the introduction of the second work before I get started on book 4 stuff! I know that the plan was that book 4 would started being published earlier this month, but the heat lately has been sapping my strength (as it just typing in this heat is just...exhausting), but hopefully, I'm getting there. Don't worry though, chapters 1 and 2 of book 4 should be published by Wednesday and I am keeping up the schedule for the publishing of the chapters I've been doing this summer, at least until book 5 comes around since there's a LOT of chapters, but look forward to the future releases! Thank you guys so much for reading! 🩷❤️🧡💛💚🩵💙💜 8/26/23