Art is by Akina!
A/N: If you guys have drawings, it will be posted with the side stories and other chapters! Don't be afraid to draw and send them! Also HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I know it's kinda ironic to post a Christmas side story on Thanksgiving but it's the first story I thought of. Besides, I don't really feel bad because I'm pretty sure everyone is watching or starting their Christmas movie marathons today so it's all fair game!
Anyway, before you guys read (or skip, it's your choice!), I want to make a brief speech about Thanksgiving. No matter if you do or don't celebrate the holiday, I hope that everyone has a great day nonetheless. Remember that today is a day of thanks and give thanks to those you are thankful for. Let us set aside our differences and come today to just be thankful for the ones we love and the progress we made so far! 💖 Anyway, here's the side story and remember the title is a work in progress! Happy Thanksgiving and look out for the next side story! (11/23/23)
"Man, I can't wait until winter break starts!" Ace groans as he walks the halls, heading to the cafeteria. "These assignments are gonna kill me at this point."
"Well, it's your fault for trying to wait until the last minute," Deuce states as they turn the corner.
"I know Mr. 'All-I-Get-Are-40's' isn't talking," Ace snaps.
"At least I don't cheat off my friends to get a worse grade!" Deuce snaps back.
The two bickering makes Jack sighs. "You two are terrible to begin with," he says, getting the two's attention. "Just put in honest work and you'll be fine."
"Yeah, sure, you try and do that with Grim bothering you and causing trouble everywhere you go," Ace scoffs. "Speaking of which..." He looks around. "Where's the two troublemakers anyway?"
"Angel said she had to talk to Crewel and apparently Ruggie took Grim somewhere, I don't know the specifics," Jack answers. "Something about a 'last minute job' he said."
"Yikes, to have Grim of all people for a job must have been a desperate choice," Ace states. "Good to see that the furball can do more than take advantage of Angel."
"Speaking of Angel..." Deuce starts. "Since winter break starts, she's going to be on campus, right? I'm thinking about getting her a gift for the holidays."
"Uh huh..." Ace smirks. "And why would you do that, Loosey Deucey?"
"W-well, she's our friend and it wouldn't be right to not give her a gift for everything she's done for us," Deuce says. "Not for anything else!"
Ace thinks for a moment. "Hmm....I guess you're right. She dealt with us and Grim since she came here. Plus, I never felt right every time she wore that scarf..."
"Then why not get her one?" Jack asks. "Just like before, I'm sure that she'll be grateful about it."
"Oh, don't talk like that, Jack," Ace smirks. "You want to get her a gift too, just say it and we'll understand. You have a soft spot for her.
Deuce smirks while Jack glares at the two, blush showing on his face. "I-I don't have a 'soft spot!'" He growls. "It just that she should get a thank you gift for everything that happened, that's it."
"Sure..." Deuce teases, making Jack angrier. "But the thing is...what should we get her?"
The three became silent, thinking about the question. "I mean...she likes animals, right? We can get her an animal," Ace states.
"No, that's not gonna be good," Jack says. "It's enough she deals with Grim alone, and you wanna add another thing she has to take care of? That'll be too much."
"Hmmm, maybe something that can help her?" Deuce suggests.
"Like what though?" Ace asks.
"I...don't know," Deuce sighs.
"Then why not ask her?" Jack asks. "Knowing her, I'm sure she wouldn't understand the implications."
"No way!" The two exclaim, shocking Jack.
"Jack, I understand you haven't hung around with Angel much, but I'm sure you at least get the gist of things just being around her," Ace states.
"She's quiet and doesn't talk much, so she keeps to herself a lot," Deuce adds. "She doesn't really say what she wants or needs."
"She always thinks of other people before herself, and she works hard to do everything. More than likely if we ask her what she wants, she'll probably say that being friends with us is just enough of a gift for her."
"I see," Jack says in thought. "I'm sure you guys at least seen what she might like, right?"
Ace and Deuce look at each other. "Uh...we...kinda don't."
"What?"
"We don't know what she might like," Deuce sighs. "I've never given a gift to a girl aside from my mom, so I'm not sure what she might like."
"I've had female friends in the past, but since Angel is from another world, she might not know what's available in Twisted Wonderland to really like," Ace says. "For all we know, she might like something in her world instead."
"You say that, but you forget she lost her memory," Jack states. "Even if that logic applies, she might like somethin' either way."
"You say that like you know her," Deuce says. "Anyway, what would you get her, Jack?"
Jack closes his eyes in thought. "Maybe something from my home country," he says, shocking the two. Jack notices. "What? You guys never thought about gettin' something from the Queendom of Roses?"
"Oh, yeah," Ace says in realization. "She's never been to basically anywhere outside of Sage's Island."
"She was always interested in the world, despite not being able to travel freely..." Deuce mumbles. "That might be a clue we need to figure out what she might like."
"Well, you two go and figure that out," Jack says. "I'm gonna go train."
"Still training even when break's coming?" Deuce asks.
Jack smirks. "Don't wanna fall too behind when school starts back. Gotta show the upperclassmen I'm not slackin'. See ya." He walks off, leaving the two behind.
"Let's think about it," Ace says. "After all, we have a few days before we have to leave. It's the perfect opportunity to surprise her since we can probably send it during winter break." Deuce nods while the two head to the cafeteria.
Later in the day, the two sat in the lounge of Heartslabyul, thinking about the gift to give. During the day, they observed Angel, seeing what the best gift could be to give her. Aside from reading, dealing with Grim, and everything else, what they noticed was her usual pattern, not getting anymore information than they expected. They release a sigh. "How are we supposed to figure somethin' out when she does her normal routine?" Ace groans. "Maybe we're missing something?"
"We've been hanging out with her for months, and we don't have a clue of what to get her," Deuce says. "How was it that someone who met her for only an hour knew what to get her?"
"Yo, froshes!" Cater says as he and the others walk into the lounge and sees the two. "What's got your mind's shakin'? Thinking about winter break already?"
"Although we are a few days before winter break, I would hope that you have your assignments caught up, at least," Riddle says while the two flinch.
"We are, sir!" Deuce quickly says. "We're just thinking about gifts to give."
Trey laughs. "It's nice of you guys to do that for your family. They might like something from Sage's Island. Have you thought about what to give them?"
"That's not what we're thinking about," Ace says. "We're thinking about getting Angel something for the winter holidays."
"Oh yeah, teacup's staying on campus, isn't she? Maybe we could get her presents as well!" Cater happily exclaims. "I know some great places that could get her some cute hair ties and ribbons."
"That's not a bad idea," Riddle states with a smile. "I know that she appreciates books, so I might be able to get her some books on my recommendation list."
"Hmm, maybe a cookbook would be a good idea," Trey mumbles.
The recommendations shock the duo. "Wait, wait, wait a minute!" Ace shouts, getting a glare from Riddle. "How do you guys know what she likes?!"
"We hang out with her," Trey says with a smile. "We got a good grasp on what she might like for a present."
"Knowing teacup, something useful can help her," Cater adds. "That's what she likes."
"She also like acquiring knowledge and reading books. Something along the lines of knowledge acquirement is beneficial to her. She has told me that learning about the world is exciting," Riddle states.
"True, but she should have something cute to go with it!" Cater exclaims. "I can honestly picture her cuddling a stuffed animal like she does to Grim already."
The three continue to talk while the two stare at them dumbfounded at the development. "It was...technically that easy to figure out what she might like," Deuce says, putting their upperclassmen' opinion in mind.
Ace smirks. "Maybe we can at least narrow it down from them," he whispers to Deuce. "Say, how about we do this? We all send her a gift during winter break and we'll see which she likes the most." The three think about it. "And to make things easier, lets try not to send the same thing. Think of it like a friendly competition while also giving her a gift to thank her," he says.
The three look at each other, thinking about the proposition. "Giving a gift isn't really a competition, you know," Trey says.
"Yeah, I know, but come on," Ace smirks. "Who wants to see the biggest smile on Angel's face from receiving their gift?"
The three think about it, the smirk on Ace's face getting wider. Trey noticed and sighed. "But it's not really a competition..."
In Savanaclaw, Jack sits in the lounge, staring at the waterfall in thought. "Hey there, Jack," Ruggie says, getting his attention. "Thinkin' 'bout your new trainin' regime?"
He stands up and turns around, seeing Ruggie giving him a smile. "Ruggie, you're back. I thought you'd be back until later," Jack states as he looks at him.
Ruggie sighs. "Boy, I thought so too, but luckily Grim was able to catch on quickly." He smirks. "Good thing he was easy to bribe. No wonder Angel can manipulate him when needed too. Just tell him a 60/40 share and he's on board! And I got the 60 share! Shyeheehee!" He snickers.
"What was it that you needed to do, anyway?" Jack curiously asks. "It better not be anything illegal."
"Oh, come now, Jack. You think I'd do somethin' illegal in the pursuit of money?" Ruggie says. "All we had to do was help light a few candles," he smirks. "We finished quickly thanks to his fire magic so it all worked out in the end." He shrugs. They did somethin' shady, no doubt about it Jack thinks as he looks at Ruggie. "Anyway, what ya mullin' about in the lounge?"
"Right..." Jack scratches his head. "I was thinking about a gift."
"Oh yeah, gifts around this time is essential, huh?" Ruggie states. "Maybe I should hit up the store before we leave..." He mumbles. "The gift is for your siblings, yeah?" He asks.
"Well, no. It's...for Angel," he hesitates, looking away from Ruggie.
"Oh...oho," he smirks. "Tryin' to make friends, are we?"
"I-It's not like that!" Jack defends. "It's just a gift of gratitude! That's it!"
"Whoa whoa whoa, don't need to get defensive with me," Ruggie says with hands up in surrender. "All ya had to do was say you wanted to make friends."
"It's not friends!"
"Hey, you two sure are loud," Leona yawns as he glares at the two. "Could hear ya from my room. What's all the yappin' about? And it better be a good reason."
"Hey, Leona, listen to this. Jack here wants to give a gift to Angel, a friend of his," Ruggie teases.
"She's not a friend!" Jack quickly says. "It's just a gift for dealing with everything!"
"Hmm..." Leona hums in thought. "If anything, she should be givin' US gifts for dealing with her and that furball's mess."
"That's true," Ruggie agrees. "But she did give us a meal after the whole Azul fiasco and let us see Azul in a state we never seen before, so I'm good with it."
"So, are you guys goin' to get her somethin'?" Jack asks.
"Knowin' her, something simple would be good, so I'll probably just send her some herbs I find," Ruggie says, putting his hands behind his head. "What about you, Leona."
"Whatever thing I see first, I'll send it," Leona states. "She's easy to please so I don't care about it."
"That's your approach?" Jack asks.
"I already deal with one furball, I don't need to deal with anythin' from another," he sighs. "I'm already dreading dealin' with him."
"True, but I'm sure he wants to see his 'Unca Leona'! Shyeheehee," Ruggie teases.
"Ruggie," Leona darkly says. "You wanna shut up before I shut ya up for ya?"
Jack watches the exchange, thinking about what they said. Easy to please...
During winter vacation, Angel and Grim were laying in the couch in the lounge watching TV, huddling inside a blanket, at least happy that they finished their homework to enjoy whatever was left for the vacation. "Finally a break!" Grim happily exclaims as he snuggles in the blanket. "No homework, no dealing with the Octavinelle trio, no Scarabia, and we have food! This is the best!"
"Aside from the cracks in the window, it's pretty nice," Angel says as she hugs Grim closer to her to avoid the small quips of wind escaping into the dorm. Luckily, the fireplace was on and Grim's warmth made her forget about their drafty conditions, at least relishing in the warmth and comfort of the dorm compared to outside.
"I wish it was winter vacation all the time!" Grim says as he starts to doze off.
Suddenly a knock was heard on the door, confusing the duo. Pretty sure that the Kalim wanted a party later in the day, and everyone agreed, with Jamil sighing, to meet up later, letting them enjoy a morning of peace and quiet for once during the break. If there were any changes in plans, someone would have sent a text, but Angel checked her phone, seeing that no one sent her anything. So, who was at the door? The two looked at each other, contemplating their next move. They knew that if they got up, they would have to get out of their comfy position, and they really didn't want to lose it after getting situated from giving firewood to the fire fairies. They mentally groaned, not wanting to move, but the knocking became more prominent, the two knowing that they needed to move at least for the knocking to stop. Suddenly, the knocking stopped, hearing a door being open and people talking, making them shiver at the blast of cold air starting to enter the dorm. The events left the duo confused as something starts to be moved inside the dorm, and the door closes, making the two sigh in relief at the fact that no more cold air was going to enter the dorm. "Hey, Angel!" Casper says as he pops up from the floor in front of the two, making them flinch. "Heh heh heh! Funny reaction!" Casper laughs at the two. "But jokes aside, you have some packages."
"I...do?" She says as she sits up on the couch, much to Grim's protests. "I didn't order anything. What could it be then?"
"Not sure," Adam says as he hovers over them. "But we got them in the foyer for you. Want us to bring them to the lounge?"
Grim scoffs. "This ain't a prank is it? Last time we fell for that, we had to clean up confetti."
"Ho ho ho! This isn't a prank!" Benny says, boxes in hand. "If anything, they look like gifts!" He happily says as he places the boxes down.
"Gifts?" Angel asks curiously as she gets up and sits on the floor, looking at the boxes on the floor. "I'm not expecting gifts..." She mumbles. The only gifts she received so far was the scarf from the Pomefiore student and the card she got from Lilia, or from a person through Lilia, so who would give her gifts?
Grim hops down and look at the boxes, trying to find a clue. "Hmm...this looks suspicious," he says and sniffs the boxes. "Doesn't even smell like food."
"Not all gifts are food, Grimmy," Benny states.
"It should be! Everyone likes food!" Grim retorts.
"Anyway, they're all wrapped," Adam says as he hovers over the boxes. "Which will you open first, Angel?"
Angel looks at the boxes, seeing that, just as Adam said, they are all wrapped with different colored paper and designs, all in various sizes. She looked at the 9 boxes around her, trying to figure out which box she should open first. "Um..." she hums as she picks up a light green flat looking box. "I'll open this first then."
"Oooooh, what's in it? What's in it?" Grim says as he watches her pick up the box.
She looks at the box, seeing that it was about five pounds, and shook it, trying to get an idea for the contents inside. It felt muffled, but there was definitely something inside. She carefully took off the paper, curiosity getting to her as she tears off the pieces, eventually being greeted with a brown box underneath. She opened the box, a gasp as she looks inside. "It's a cloth..." she says as she takes out the cloth from the box, only to see that it was a light red apron. "It's an apron!" She happily says as she looks over the apron, seeing that it was a checkered rose pattern with a white pouch at the bottom. She looks in the box, seeing that along with the apron was a book and upon closer inspection, it was a cookbook, her eyes sparkle in excitement as she takes it out of the box and flip through the book, seeing recipes ranging from appetizers, soups, main courses, and desserts. "This is amazing..." she says in awe. "I could make more recipes with this..."
"Man, that looks sooo good!" Grim says as he looks at the recipes in the book. "Ooooooooooh! You should make this dish!" Grim says as he points to a meat dish. "Meat looks soooo juicy..." he drools.
"Oh, looks like there's a card," Benny says as he picks up a small card. "It says...'Hope that your cooking experiments turn out great! P.S.- Don't let Grim ruin them for you!'"
"Oh..." Angel says as she thinks about who would write something like that. "Who's it from?"
"Ah! It says it's from Trey!" Casper says as he finds his name. "It looks like your friends sent you a gift!"
"They...did...?" Angel says as she looks at the other gifts, the pieces starting to fall in place. Nine gifts...nine people sent her presents...each of them from a friend. She looks at the gifts in surprise, then a smile appears on her face. She felt giddy, excited even at the thought that the gifts were hers and hers alone. "They did!" She happily says as she looks at the gifts.
The ghosts only chuckle at her, seeing that she was acting like a kid, something they rarely see. "Looks like your friends didn't forget about you after all!" Adam says as she looks over the other boxes, trying to figure out the next one to open.
"It's like watching a kid on Christmas," Benny says as she opens a big light blue box, trying to carefully tear the paper off, but fails as her excitement gets to her. She opens the box, and gasps as she pulls out the gift. In her hands was a stuffed pink rabbit that reached her stomach, and she squeezed it, relishing the softness of it. Her eyes sparkle with excitement as she looks it over, hugging it every now and then.
The sight makes Grim flinch. "That rabbit gives me the creeps," he shivers as he looks at the stuffed animal's beady eyes. He looks down, seeing a card at the bottom. "Hey what's this?" He says as he picks up the card and reads it. "'Couldn't figure out what you would like, but I hope you like this! -Deuce' Huh, it's from Deuce."
"I like it!" Angel happily exclaims as she hugs the rabbit. "It's cute and fluffy!" She happily says.
Casper chuckles. "What's the other gifts then?"
The statement reminds her of the other boxes on the floor. "Right..." she says, a bit embarrassed. "Let's see..." She picks a small dark yellow box on the floor, picking it up, seeing that it was a bit bigger than her hand. It's a bit smaller than the other ones she thinks as she carefully opens the box, seeing that inside was a small gem, carefully placed on a cushion. She looks carefully, seeing that it was I bit clear but cloudy.
"Oooh, that's opal!" Benny says. "That's a pretty gem, you know!"
"Opal...? Who would send me this?" She asks, looking around and her eyes caught a familiar card. She picks it up. "'Here, hope you're satisfied- Leona.'"
Grim scoffs. "Too picky to steal jewelry but will happily give it out."
"I feel like he just found the first thing and decided it was a gift," Angel comments as she inspects the gem. "It is quite pretty," she says in awe. "I like it."
Grim looks at the other presents and head towards it, picking up a small orange box. "Oh, open this one next!"
Angel takes the box from him and opens it, seeing that there was something sticking out of it, turning out to be a card. "'For teacup, to be even cuter than she is now!- Cater'." She opens the box, looking inside to see hair accessories, making her eyes sparkle as she inspects them. Rose design ribbons, rosed headbands, pins of different colors, specifically light colors, and even hairclips following the Heartslabyul signals. "Wow..." she says in awe as she picks up a hairclip, the design of a card placed on it. "I needed some more things to hold up my hair, so this was just what I needed!" She smiles, mentally thanking Cater for the gift. She looks at the gifts more closely. "I wonder...are these from the Queendom of Roses?"
"Hmm..." Adam says as he looks at them. "During my time alive, they do look like specific symbols of the Queendom of Roses. It's not too far from the fact since they are from that area." He looks to the gifts from Trey and Deuce. "They usually focus on the symbols of rabbits, roses, sweets, and tea, making it not too far from the truth."
"Oh..." Angel hums. "I feel like that could explain how they all ended up in Heartslabyul."
"That's not a good way to think, you know," Benny says.
"Yeah, not everyone who come from the same place ends up in the same dorm," Casper adds. "Remember what the Dark Mirror says, it's all about essence. Even people from a fancy background could end up in a rough dorm like Savanaclaw, just as even a bad student could be a student of Scarabia."
"Huh...Never thought about it like that," Grim says in thought. "Since we're around the guys, I assumed that they just came together based on where they lived. It did seem like they lived close together."
"Maybe Cater, Trey, and Riddle," Angel says as she picks up another box, this time being a small sized light yellow box. "I know that Trey and Riddle live along the same street probably but Cater, I'm not sure." She opens it, looking inside, confused. "Oh...it's..."
"Looks like grass," Grim says as he looks at the box.
"Oh, it's wild herbs," Benny says. "Some of them looks real tasty and it's cost effective to go out and buy them. Someone went out an got these fresh you can say."
"Oh! I bet that's from Ruggie!" Grim exclaims. "He asked me to help him out with a job and was pickin' stuff. He thinks grass is good for my henchmen..." He grumbles.
"You can use some of these to cook and use in potions," Adam says. "It'll save you time since you don't have to grow 'em yourself."
"Especially considering that someone here can kill plants with a touch," Casper comments, making Angel groan.
"I-I just don't know how to take care of them!" She defends, picking up another box, surprised by the weight of it. "This box is heavy! What's in here?" She exclaims as she tries to pick up the box, only to lower it on the ground. She opens the box, trying to figure out what's inside it, and looks, seeing books stacked neatly in a pile. "Books?" She asks, skeptical about the present, looking to find a clue to who sent it, but she picked up a book and read the title, eyes widen in surprise as she read the title. "This is a new book series I've been trying to read!" She says as she looks in the box, seeing that the pile of books was a collection of the series, all 7 books. "I've been wanting to read this series since I heard it from Cater, but the library and the bookstores on the island didn't have it."
"What is it?" Grim asks, confused at the books. "Only you would be happy to receive books as a gift, Angel."
"It's a collection of a detective series I was trying to get my hands on for a while," Angel says as she happily look at the books. "Cater told me that there was a detective with time traveling powers that could solve mysteries and it sounded interesting to me since I've read some other detective books. However, since the library has bits and pieces of the series works, I couldn't actually complete it, so I've only settled for reading one or two books I could find. To have a full collection is great!"
"What kind of library doesn't have everything?" Grim crosses his paws. "Sounds like a bad library, ya ask me."
"Heh heh heh. It says a lot about the school, huh?" Benny laughs.
"I found the card," Angel says as she looks at the card. "For your entertainment pursuits, though I might not understand it. Maybe our next tea time, you can tell me.- Riddle.' Oh! Riddle sent it to me!" She says as she looks at the card. "Right, I wanted him to read it since he liked puzzles. I feel like he would make a great detective."
"Of course the tiny raging tyrant would send books..." Grim mumbles as he looks at a normal sized brown box. He heads towards it and shakes it, hearing something clinking inside. "Huh? There's something in here making a weird sound."
Angel takes the box from Grim and shakes it, his deductions right. "What is it?" She says as she opens the box. She looks at inside, seeing a glass ball of sorts with what looks like mountains inside. She carefully picks it up, seeing that there was something attached to the bottom (or as bottom as a glass ball can be), and sees the words 'Shaftlands' at the bottom. She looks at it confused, turning it around and holding it in various ways, seeing that aside from the mountains, there was white flakes inside as well. She looks at it in curiosity, positioning it to be back the way it was and see that the white flakes moved down, looking like snow.
"That's a snowglobe," Casper explains. "I see you already figured it out but if you shake it, it'll look like snow falling."
"Oh, oh oh! Lemme see!" Grim says as he snatches the globe, shaking it.
"Grim! Careful! That's glass!" Angel scolds as Grim ignores her, stopping and seeing the flakes float around the glass.
"Whoa! It really does look like snow!" Grim exclaims as he watches the globe. "I could watch this for hours..." He says as she shakes the globe again and watch the snow fall.
"Of course Grimmy would like watching it," Adam chuckles. "Cats are simple creatures. Heh heh heh." Grim ignores the comments, playing with the globe instead.
"Here's the card," Benny says as he hands Angel the card. She reads it.
"'Thought you might like it – Jack.' That's about right," Angel says with a giggle. "So straightforward." She puts the card down and look at the remaining two gifts left, picking up a red box. "This has to be from Ace," she says as she opens it, seeing that it was a cream, specifically lotion. "Oh, it's lotion," she says as she picks up the box, reading the label. "Scented lotion," she mumbles as she sees the label. She opens it, carefully putting some in her hand and smelling it, enjoying the smell of mint. "It smells so good..." She says, relaxing at the smell.
"I found the card, Adam says. "'Bro helped me picked it out. Better than the joke book I found, but hope you like it! – Ace'. That boy, I swear..." he sighs.
Angel giggle. "He has good intentions, I swear." She puts the lotion down and look at the remaining box, a small black and white box and she knew who it was from. "This must be from Dad," she says as she picks up the box and opens it, eyes widen in surprise at the contents. Inside was a thin silver bracelet and she carefully took it out, admiring the bracelet. She looked at the bracelet, seeing it sparkle in the dim lighting of the lounge, but upon closer inspection, sees that there were diamonds in the bracelet, shocking her even more. Even after dealing with Kalim and being in the Scarabia Dorm, she is still surprised at the fact that diamonds were right in front of her, but more specifically, it was HERS. She looked at the ghosts, who looked even more surprised by the gift. She looked at the box, seeing the card left behind. 'Nothing is ever too much for my daughter. You deserve nice things as well- Crewel'. Angel smiles at the card, tears starting to pool her eyes as her eyes look at the other gifts in front of her. She wasn't forgotten. Her friends all sent her gifts, had the thought to actually look for a gift and send it to her. She felt reassured, happy, and even safe at the fact that this happened. Tears start to fall, shocking the ghosts even more.
"Oh no! Why are you crying?" Benny asks in concern.
"Did they send you something you didn't like?" Casper asks.
"N-no..." She says as she wipes her tears. "I'm just...so happy," she smiles at them, tears continuing to fall. "I'm so grateful to have friends...and people who care."
The ghosts smile at her, happy at the fact that she wasn't sad. "Well, I'm sure this is only the beginning," Adam says. "Your friends are good friends indeed."
"Yeah! And I'm sure when you end up like us, you'll have even more friends!" Benny says.
"Yeah..." Angel says, smiling. "You're right. This is the beginning." She looks at them. "Thanks for staying by my side so far, guys." They nod.
"Now that's that over," Benny says as he looks around the room, seeing paper everywhere with boxes open. "How about we clean the place up?"
The statement reminds Angel about the mess she made opening gifts, seeing gifts sprawled out everywhere thanks to her and Grim. "Y-yeah...we should huh...?" She says, a bit disappointed by the mess, but doesn't regret it. As she gets up to start her cleaning, she was reminded by what Cater said about being selfish. If getting these gifts from her friends was selfish, then she wouldn't mind being a bit selfish every now and again.