Event Private Presents and the present

Jamie had never celebrated Christmas or received presents before in the life that he could remember. He knew what Christmas was supposed to be, its origins in Christian mythology, and all modern rituals that came with this celebration, such as presents, the icon of "Santa Claus", and putting lights and decorations on trees. He had just never experienced it. Now that it is December he had realised that Christmas was kind of a big deal. There was a very large tree in town and many decorations everywhere. And he had signed up for an activity called Secret Santa. Since the word Secret was in it, he had assumed it might have been a puzzle, but it was a gift exchange. That was okay, too. It might be a way to make friends, and friend sounded like a good idea.

He was in the courtyard, the layout of which he had memorised. On his partner's gift slip, it had suggested books, bones, and tea. He wasn't very sure about bones, because when he asked for it at the store the cashier looked at him weirdly. So instead he got a mug that resembled a human skull, a tie with skeletons on it, and a bulk packet of skeleton stickers because those were considered to be more normal presents. The tea type was never specified so he went to the supermarket and got one of each. He wasn't very sure about books in case his partner had already rea them, so he purchased a gift certificate.

He had also discovered that wrapping presents was difficult. A lot of time and wrapping paper went into this package. It still looked awful. He hoped his partner didn't mind.

Now he was sitting on a bench, holding his badly wrapped present. The surveillance cameras in the courtyard didn't show anyone matching the description of his partner, but there was a potential candidate inside the school, so he will wait for them to exit and come into "visible" range before greeting them. He was learning a lot about social skills.

@WorldDevourer

The candidate had come into visible range and matched all the physical descriptors for his exchange partner correctly. Professor Charlie Rotmoore, a tall man with dark hair and glasses. Jamie had looked him up in the staff directory. He was a Necromancy teacher. Jamie had looked that up, too, and had a lot of questions about it. He was holding a package, which Jamie couldn't sense, so it meant that whatever was inside was most likely not electronic. That was interesting. Maybe it would be a puzzle. Jamie liked puzzles.

When the candidate - Professor Rotmoore approached him, he turned his head so that he appeared to be looking at him with his eyes. He had learned that it was disconcerting to people when he talked to them without physically looking at them. Then he held out his gift in front of him, hesitantly.

"Hi. I'm Jamie. And you are Professor Rotmoore," Jamie said. His own wrapped package looked especially messy compared to the Professor's. "Happy Holidays. Here iss your present."

@WorldDevourer

"Okay. Charlie," Jamie said and marked that down in his mind. He thought that you should call people with higher rankings by their titles, but maybe some people are different. He will remember that for next time. "Thank you."

The present was a box. Jamie could feel it through the paper. It felt quite sturdy, wood maybe. There might be technology inside, but whatever it was it was inert or out of battery. He thought it might be rude to tear off the paper - it was nice paper, probably costed some money - and so he unwrapped it the best he could without damaging it, carefully peeling off all the tape.

The gift was a wooden box with sliding panels. There was no lid, no hinge, no clear way to open it. Jamie was confused for a second, then smiled. It was a puzzle box. Of course, that was what it was. He had asked for a puzzle. He turned the box around in front of the lens of his camera, examining it, then ran his hands over the surfaces. One of the panels were spring loaded. He pressed it firmly. It popped up, creating space for the other panels to slide in to. After about a minute's worth of maneuvering, Jamie managed to acquire a small key and had found a keyhole. Another half-minute and he was in.

The box contained what seemed to be a game device. It was electronic but inert, out of power. And it was exactly what he had asked for.

"Thank you!" He repeated, a little louder this time. He was smiling now, one of the first genuine smiles he had experienced in his life. Gifts were nice. Christmas was nice. He really did like this. "Thank you very much!"