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Entry tags:

Open!

Who: Souji and you
Where: The diner
When: 12/15-12/25
Rating: PG-13 at most
Summary: Souji's catch-all for the second half of December
The Story: When not having crazy Mansion dreams, Souji can be found...

The Diner
The diner has been decorated just like everything else in the Mansion. Of course, like every year, Souji's made his own additions, like the Colonel (plus twinkling fairy lights). This is the fourth annual KFC Christmas in Wonderland and he's pretty sure he's gotten even closer to the 11 herbs and spices recipe (it took a lot of practice and many days eating nothing but fried chicken).

Inside the diner, visitors will find plenty of fried chicken, a few appropriate sides, and plenty of Christmas cake complete the menu. Cocoa, coffee, tea, and various other drinks are available.

Souji's there, of course, to greet anyone who comes in and to hang out with folks, especially the others who work there when they choose. Regardless of which category people fall into, he will try to feed them. (He'll even make any non-fried-chicken-or-cake foods people might want, but seriously, what more could you want?)

Outside
Now that there's finally snow, Souji can be found outside playing with his very fat, small pet dragon and a gray and white bunny, which remains mostly bundled up inside his jacket, its head peeking out under his chin. He plays with the dragon, coaxing it to run, as well as making rather distinctive snowmen, each of which Tefra (the very fat, small dragon) immediately pounces on. He never seems particularly bothered by that.

He also takes his little troupe down to the beach, though that's less to play and more to just stare out at the horizon. He did that at home in the past, though it wasn't usually during the winter. It makes him feel nostalgic.

Around the Mansion + Gifts!
Souji spends time at various tables around the mansion working on his Christmas gifts. He can be found in his own room, the library, diner, tea rooms, even the dining room working on them as well as their very nice packaging.

He makes enough of these gifts to give to everyone he knows, even those he's only spoken to a handful of times. He delivers them on December 24, giving them in person if he can, and leaving them at peoples' doors along with a "Happy Christmas" note if he can't.

Of course, there are a few people he has special gifts for.

Dreaming
Here is Souji's dream thread!

Wildcard
Choose your own adventure. c:

[ooc: Feel free to use prose or brackets. I'll match style. If you want something to be on a specific date, just put it in the subject line along with the prompt name. :3]

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I wanted to. For you.

[Souji meant a lot to Minato. Minato wanted to show him too since he didn't tell him often enough. He had to remember to tell him too.

He ate his cake too, happy with the taste and happier that Souji had liked it. He placed one of those strawberry Santas on Souji's plate, then getting some of that Christmas cake on his fork, he held that up for Souji and smiled.]

[It was forward, but it wasn't unexpected. Surprising, but not unexpected. Souji leaned forward and at the cake off of Minato's fork.

He sat back, swallowed, and wondered just how far along Minato was with thinking about their relationship.]

It's good.

Edited 2016-12-27 02:27 (UTC)

I'm glad.

[Minato smiled and then continued to eat his cake too. He thought of something and started to get up to go over to his electric hot water kettle.]

Did you want warm something to drink? Or soda?

[Minato had packets of hot chocolate, tea, and three-in-one coffee. But Minato didn't mind and he would get him anything else too.]

Coffee?

[Drinking coffee always reminded him of home.]

I can help?

[He didn't get up yet, though. He didn't want to get in Minato's way, not if Minato wanted to do it for him.]

It's okay.

[Minato had a gray mug ready for Souji that he filled with hot water and prepared the coffee for him. He settled back down at the table, serving Souji the coffee and he had hot chocolate in a blue mug himself.]

I want to do it for you.

[Souji took the mug in both hands and sat back a little, still holding onto it. It was the sweet kind, already mixed, he could tell from the coloring. It made him smile a bit.]

Thank you.

[For the coffee and the sentiment.]

[Minato smiled and took a sip of his hot chocolate, feeling warm not just from the drink but from just being with Souji.

When all the cake was gone since between the two of them, two cakes were super easy to finish off, Minato cleared away the table save for their two mugs and then ducked a bit, pushing the present for Souji a little closer to him.]

For you.

[But Souji didn't have to open it now if he didn't want to. Inside would be an SD gundam model. He picked this particular one for a specific reason too.]

[Souji did open it and smiled when he saw the little model kit inside. He'd done plenty of robots, but never and SD before, and never a gundam either. It would be fun to put together, he could already see that.

After smiling to himself over his gift and thanking Minato quietly, he picked up his own gift and held it out to Minato with both hands.]

For you.

[Inside the plain box and inside an equally plain case, Minato would find an aged, but beautiful and sweet-sounding violin.]

[Minato liked the SD gundam since it was of Kan-U or Guan Yu, who stood for honesty, justice, and the truth. He thought it would fit with Souji.

And Minato did open his gift. It was a violin, he could see, but it was well-made even if it was aged. He held it gently and looking it over.]

Thank you.

[A violin to call his own. He liked it a lot and could remember the last time he did have one of his own, but that was over ten years ago. He did bow his head a bit at it, acknowledging that he was going to play it for the first time and also sort of asking for permission to do so, then picked it up to play a familiar melody from a blue room. It was in tune already and sounded sweet as Souji had thought too.]

Edited 2016-12-30 20:25 (UTC)

[Listening to Minato play, Souji felt something inside him constrict. There were things he missed so much. One of them was in that song and the other was sitting in front of him. At least he didn't have to miss the latter anymore.]

You're good.

[As he'd have expected. This was Minato, after all. There wasn't much he couldn't do.]

It's the violin.

[But the blush on Minato's cheeks was like his thank you. He had practiced a bit here and there, but he'd only been here for a month, and he needed to do it more. He didn't get much of a chance at home either, especially near the end of the year and onward.

He carefully set the violin back in its case, almost hesitating in closing it, but he did keep it safe where it was.]

It's all possible because of you.

[Souji shakes his head, but he's pleased at that bit of praise. He's even more pleased at how much Minato seems to like his gift.

Thinking about gifts, he sits up a little straighter.]

We should go check our stockings.

[The Mansion - or someone in the Mansion - usually gave out some gift or another in the stockings that appeared at the beginning of the event. There must be something there this year. Perhaps something better than a chess set with a salt shaker in place of one of the white rooks.]

There should be something there.

[Stockings? Minato thought he saw those, but he didn't think that they were actually going to be for them. He nodded.]

Okay. Let's go now?

[Minato wanted to go see.]

[With a nod, Souji gets up from the floor, unfolding his limbs slowly. When they were both up and ready, he led Minato out to the hall, down the stairs, to the main front hall of the Mansion. All of the white, labeled stockings hung there to either side.

He roamed up and down, looking for their names, and found Minato's first.]

Check inside. [He gestures to it and then waits, expectant.]

[All of these stockings were actually labeled. Minato hadn't noticed before, but here they were now. That meant the number of stockings had to change every year depending on who was here. Somehow the Mansion knew that it had to get something for everyone.

With Souji's urging, Minato peeked into his stocking. He didn't see anything at first, except then something did catch his eye. When he pulled out the small object he found, he recognized it immediately, his eyes widening.

It was a key. The bow of it was so familiar, the face he saw on the back of all of those cards. The rest of the blade was the same too.

Except when he saw the bit at the end. He tilted his head slightly as he held the bow.]

... This isn't my key.

[The bit of his key was more rounded like a lyre. This key's bit was more square with sharp corners instead.]

[Souji peered at the key, leaning in close beside Minato.]

....Ah-

[Reaching into his shirt, he pulled out another such key on a thin chain. Heds worn it every day for years now. Holding it out, he compared the two, finding that the bit was the same.]

It's mine.

[Minato blinked, holding the key up again and compared it to Souji's key. They were exactly the same.]

But why do I have your key?

[Souji shook his head. There was usually a pattern to these kind of gifts, but he didn't know what it was this time.]

Let's find mine and see what's in it.

[That might help them figure it out.]

[Minato thought maybe it was a mistake? The Mansion couldn't be that perfect, could it? But the Mansion was right on for so many other things.

He nodded and then helped Souji look through all of the stockings for the right one. In the meantime, he hid his key in his inner blazer pocket where he kept his handkerchief and it was the pocket closest to his heart.

When they did find Souji's stocking, Minato had Souji take a look for himself as to what was in it. He couldn't even imagine what was inside.]

[Souji peered inside, but couldn't tell what was in there except that it was thin, probably made of paper. He reached in to feel for what was in there and pulled it out, holding it out so they could both look at it.

His eyes widened and his fingers tightened on the photo in his hands, though he had to be careful not to crumple it.]

That's my cousin, Nanako. [He pointed to a girl with her hair long down her back, her bangs mostly grown out. She was bigger than the last time he'd seen her, taller and thinner, and...she was older. At least a year older than he remembered her.] And my Uncle Dojima.

[He fell silent, uncertain suddenly.]

[Minato had heard of them from Souji before, but this was his first time seeing them. Nanako was cute and looked so bright and cheerful, and Dojima looked the part of a veteran policeman, but he still looked kind too.

He looked up at Souji who had stopped talking. It wasn't his normal quiet, but it was just silence.]

... Souji?

She's not this old. [He pointed at Nanako in the picture again.] She was only in first grade when I lived there.

[It might have been difficult for anyone else to notice, but there was something that was almost fear in the way he held the photo, like he thought he ought to throw it away from himself.

He'd never considered that time might have passed at home while he was here. He'd heard so much testimony to the contrary that he'd never been worried about it. But seeing this photo that shouldn't be possible shook him.]

[In first grade? But Souji was right. Clearly Nanako looked older than a little girl in first grade. But then what did that mean? Then everyone's stockings, including Minato's, had to have some meaning too.

He touched his hand to one of Souji's hands as a way of support.]

If she's older in the picture, then that's the future, isn't it?

[Like the dream they all had? That showed them a future if they had all stayed in Wonderland.]

Is that why I have your key?

[Slowly, Souji relaxed. Minato had to be right. This wasn't what was happening now at home. It was what would be happening later - in a few years it looked like.

He nodded and lowered the picture, looking at Minato again.]

If these are from the future, then it would make sense for it to be my key.

[A beat, and then a small smile.]

I'm your future, then.

[Minato didn't have any definitive proof that time didn't march forward since Minato had arrived from the same time point or close to it, from what he was told. But he didn't think time did move forward without them. It couldn't.

He smiled too up at Souji.]

One of the best gifts you've given me is that you're living in that future.

[Knowing that Souji was alive and had protected that future was what made Minato so grateful to him.]

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