Event Private Finished A Few Gifts by the Fountain

Aura was, as usual, not particularly well dressed for the weather as she stood by the big fountain with no winter coat but she was nice and warm. In one hand was a small gift bag, which she kept bouncing around in her general nervousness.

She wasn't afraid the person she was partnered with would do anything bad, just was more concerned that they would thing what she picked out was stupid or childish. The slip had said they liked pranks and suggested quote 'something dumb' that would make them laugh so the bar wasn't very high, but she really didn't want to screw it up.

Aura absently checked her reflection to make sure her hair was still covering the right side of her face as she waited for the other person to show up. She could hear the crunching of snow as the occasional person walked by coming and going on the various paths through the courtyard.

@Lotharingia

The breeze must have been blowing the other way because Aura's nose didn't catch the scent of the approaching girl until just before she was startled by the appearance of another face in the reflection and the loud noise.

She gave a yelp of surprise and dropped the bag onto the ground as she whirled to face the girl. Turning quick enough that Evie might have seen the hint of a yellowish glow beneath the hair covering half Aura's face before it settled back down. Aura's small yelp turned into a small growl as she bared her teeth for just a moment.

Then she caught herself and put a hand up to cover her mouth, composing herself. "Oh, i'm so sorry. I promise i'm not going to hurt you," she apologized and stood there looking very awkward.

After that she put her arm down, but seemed to scratch at her wrist like a nervous habit. Right where a nullification bracelet would have sat. "Um, I guess you're Evie and i'm Aura... I um, guess you weren't kidding when you wrote you liked pranks." Aura could give a small smile now that she wasn't in fight or flight mode. It had been a pretty good joke, she had just been terrified that she might have reacted worse and got herself locked up again.

A faint shade of pink crossed onto Aura's face as the girl giggled at the sudden display of awkwardness Aura had shown. This was not exactly going like she had expected it would but... then she hadn't really known what to expect either.

The wink as she leaned forward and the tone made Aura curious what exactly she meant by 'real fun stuff' and she nodded uncomfortably. She decided she must have meant some more elaborate pranks of some kind and left it at that

Which made her second-guess her gift even more as she thought about how childish it probably seemed. Right, the gifts, she was reminded by Evie reaching to grab the gift she had brought. "Oh! Yes, um your gift is here in this bag. Well, it's a few small things but I hope you can enjoy them," she quickly replied and bent down to pick up the bag she had dropped.

Fortunately nothing had spilled or broken so she held out the bag to Evie with a nervous smile. She really wanted her to like the gift but who knew if she would. Handing the bag over, she thought about the items inside. A small jar of itching powder, a remote controlled fake fart machine, and a half dozen rubber chickens you could slingshot at people. The most random gift she'd ever given but surely at least one of those things the girl could find a use for?

Aura was a bit stunned at the sudden excitement from Evie, releasing the bag as the girl grabbed for it and gleefully peered inside. The way she opened the bag reminded Aura a lot of how she and her brothers used to act when they got presents when they were younger. Too excited to worry about anything other than seeing what kind of things they had gotten.

She could see the gift Evie had brought floating there but she politely left it alone until the girl was ready to offer it to her. Besides, seeing Evie so happy with her gift made Aura so pleased. She had done well, it seemed, and that thrilled her to no end.

Aura's smile widened to a very happy grin as the girl thanked her. "I'm really glad you liked the gift. I hope you have a lot of fun with them," she said even as the girl nudged her own gift forward.

She reached out to catch the floating gift, wrapped in cheerful paper. It felt like a book to her and as she unwrapped it her suspicions were concerned. Well, she'd mentioned she liked reading fantasy novels but... this one was not exactly what she had mentioned. This kind was the type she wouldn't have admitted to reading.

As Aura glanced over the synopsis on the back of the book, her face turned a bright shade of pink. Turning it over and seeing the illustrations of the cover though only worsened her embarrassment and her jaw dropped. She sort of froze, unsure whether to cover it back up in the wrapping paper or what. "Um... uh," she stopped and started with a nervous giggle in between. "Thank you for the gift. I um, don't have many books quite like this."

She shifted on her feet and looked completely and entirely embarrassed by the situation. She of course was familiar with the birds and the bees but... well you don't usually get exposed to that kind of book much while locked up.

Aura's blushing didn't go away, as she was unable to shake the embarrassment of holding the book or the fact that she hadn't put it down or rejected it. Almost like she was trapped and not sure at all what to do.

"I'm um, I don't know much about this kind of book but since it's a gift I should probably um, read it sometime yes?" Oh god, she felt so weird just holding it but she didn't want to throw it away either. After a bit she made up her mind and folded the paper back around the book to mostly hide it. Mostly.

While distracted with covering up the book so random passers-by wouldn't start staring at her she wasn't paying as much attention until Evie had slid up right next to her with a grin. "Um, this is kind of awkward but I don't know if that fits my tastes or not really. I really do appreciate you getting me something you spent so much time researching. Thank you Evie," Aura said honestly, though there was an unintentional insinuation that Evie had given the book a pretty decent examination before picking it. Though her first instinct was to maybe step back at the girls sudden movement closer to her, but she instead offered one of her hands for Evie to shake. Her hand was, as always, exceptionally warm but not hot.