Event Private Bookworm

Oluremi had not realized how behind she was on time until he looked down at her phone after putting in her pink contacts. How stupid of her. She was so busy getting herself prettied up for the stranger that she forgot that her partner must have been cold waiting outside in the winter for her. Living somewhere full of people not made for the cold and wet environments still left her confused at times, not realizing they were getting themself sick being outside while she dressed like she was going out to the beach, according to them.

Today, she had something significantly less beach-like on. Remi wore a white Peter Pan collar shirt tucked into a knee-length pink circle skirt, a pink bow tieing her afro into a tight ponytail, a white watch, and two bags. One bag was plain, holding the item for her partner. The other was a small white and gold messenger bag mostly worn as an accessory. There were also her pink contacts, but considering her eyes always looked closed, she might as well have not put them in at all. Compared to many other citizens, she still looked awfully underdressed, but anything more and she would suffocate from the heat. Sometimes being cute was painful.

After flying as fast as she could, Remi landed roughly on the ground, not caring if she looked "graceful" or "delicate." She was a walking rock, and there was nothing delicate about her. Looking down at her watch, she was not too late. It still embarrassed her that she was late at all, but when she spotted her partner, she could tell the situation was not as bad as she expected. The only thing that reminded her of how bad she should have felt was seeing the man shivering out in the cold, not looking at all happy about his situation.

Approaching him, she gave a small wave, attempting a smile but knowing would just show up as a blank expression. "You're my Secret Santa partner? Damien?" Oluremi's voice came off harsher than intended, even with the monotone, but that was how she always was and never figured out how to fix that. There was nothing to fix.

Holding out the plain cloth bag, she told him, "Here. My gift to you." Hopefully he liked a tablet. There was nothing on it other than the usual standard apps, but the gift was very cheap. Remi's mom made it herself, after all. All Remi had to do was say what she wanted the design to be and assist with the process once in a while. It felt selfish to let Ade do everything herself, but Oluremi had no experience with building and fixing electronics. A medium-sized black tablet sounded simple enough anyway. He could download anything he wanted to it, and it was not flashy enough to seem like she was trying to compete with him or everyone else participating in the event.

Oluremi had to admit, she was prone to jumping to some of the more nerve-racking conclusions. This was one of those times where she assumed she did something wrong and braced herself for impact, then see that everything was fine. Sometimes it was better than fine, like now. Her partner looked satisfied with her gift, something she worried herself over a bit too much. On the downside, the relief caused her cheeks to turn orange. Embarrassment was also a part of it, but the mixture of finally being able to relax and accomplishing her task were the biggest parts. This was actually kind of fun. Certainly something she wanted to make a yearly tradition.

"You look happy. That's good. I worried it wasn't enough." Technology was popular nowadays. Most people had a tablet. Perhaps her perspective on what people had and lacked was twisted, considering her privileged life, her technician mother, and only recently properly affiliating herself with humans and their culture. Back home, Ade's room was littered with technology. Some things Oluremi recognized, like computers, tablets, keyboards, mouses. Other things she was pretty sure were failed inventions. The tablet Damian had did not look cheap, but considering it was built at home, it did save money. Making a basic black tablet with someone's initials engraved on it was surprisingly an easy task. Easy when it was a two-person job, that is. "I almost added color to it and other fancy designs, but figured you'd rather decorate it yourself."

Now it was her turn to appreciate her gift. She already had it in hand by now, but she was so focused on explaining her thought process behind getting Damien a tablet that she forgot to appreciate the rather large book she was holding. The orange blush on her cheeks only intensified upon seeing a book covering dancing history from various human cultures. For a few minutes, she just stood there, quickly flipping through the pages and skimming them, then flipping again through specific chapters that caught her eye to read them in more depth.

"I'm so happy. This is appreciated," she finally responded, not willing to admit she forgot Damien was still there. "I hope you were as happy with your gift as I was with mine. Though..." she squinted her eyes at him, which for her meant she opened her eyes to reveal the pink contacts, then narrowed them, "you look cold. We shouldn't stay out here. The gift's useless if you'll just freeze before you can use it. Unless you had plans after this."

Oluremi held back a sigh of relief. Going plain and simple was the best option then. It made the most sense. There was no way for her to tell what Damien's favorite color was. Perhaps he had no favorite, either wanting a rainbow of colors or black and white. Colors were not the only issue: he could have wanted a specific pattern that Oluremi did not know of as well. Many factors could have let this go wrong quickly if she had not taken some more time to think.

"Fair. About not decorating the tablet, but let's find somewhere first. You really don't look too good."

The wind did nothing to Oluremi. Her body did not budge a bit, other than her hair, fur, and feathers moving with the wind. The only effect it had on her was the enjoyment to be out here in the cold. The cold air wrapped around her like a blanket, making her wish she could stay out here this whole time, but it was clear that Damien was not enjoying it at all. After she left him out here longer than necessary, it was fair that she had to give up some of her own time to relax. Not that this was a bad option. If she actually wanted to leave, she would have wrapped things up here and flew off.

"There's a café nearby. Follow me. Don't think you need to look for a tablet now." Without a second thought, she moved through the wind with a quick pace. Once in a while, she would look back towards Damien to make sure he was close behind and not frozen dead on the floor. Just as she said, the café was nearby, and when she arrived, she held the door open to let Damien enter.