Eva looked up to Shelby. Even if she could see without looking at someone, it seemed polite to do so. “For Christmas? Maybe a little. Most of the Christmases back home were… lackluster.”
“You don’t talk about your home much.”
“Not much to talk about. I don’t have fancy parents like Jordan or Juliana, and no siblings to complain about like Max.” Eva sat down in a chair, satisfied they had enough tables pushed together. “How about you? We don’t hear much about the Coggins’ household.”
“Well,” Shelby started as she took a seat, “not much to say either, I suppose. Half the ‘household’ is here at school. As for the other half, one lost his job as a foreign affairs advisor and the other is a struggling musician. She plays a lyre, not exactly the most popular instrument these days.”
Eva wasn’t sure what to say to that. “More respectable than my family. My mother lies around on her back all day and my father couldn’t hold a job down if his life depended on it.”
“Let’s not play the who has a more troublesome family game,” Shelby said with a grin. “I’ve got an uncle who can’t be beat in that.”
“Fair enough.”
They sat in silence until Irene and Juliana returned with Max and Jordan in tow. The girls seemed to have recruited the two in helping to carry the meal. Neither of the boys wasted a moment in setting the food out and cutting up the large turkey they stole from the kitchen.
Max set to arranging the relish tray in fancy patterns. The celery criss crossed with carrots, leaving holes for olives in the center. Pickles and tomatoes all but danced over the top.
If he was better at magic, they might have danced.
Together they ate, talking about nothing and everything. Jokes passed around. Some got polite chuckles while others got roaring laughter. They celebrated getting through the first half of their first year.
That making it to December actually warranted celebration seemed to be lost on most of them.
Throughout it all, Eva participated where she could. She laughed at jokes–mostly polite laughs–and kept up with conversations, at least ones that she related to.
Talking about football seemed to enrapture Max and Shelby. It didn’t interest Eva in the slightest. Thankfully, she didn’t appear to be alone in that. While Jordan politely nodded along and even offered input now and again, Irene and Juliana seemed almost disgusted with the topic.
Eventually, their party wound down. Jordan pulled out his bag of gifts and everyone else followed suit. They made a quick show of handing out gifts to each other.
Irene and Shelby gave everyone a large bottle of Twisted Doe. They handed out loaves of bread and jam made by the same company.
Eva couldn’t wait to try it.
Max also handed out food. Homemade food. He sneaked off in the morning to bake up a few batches of his great grandmother’s pastries.
The smell alone almost had Eva in a drooling mess. How he hid it before he pulled them out, Eva couldn’t fathom.
Eva handed out her pens next. They seemed to be more politely received than anything, except by Jordan.
“What is the ink made out of?”
“I don’t know the exact formula, but scarab beetles from Central America as well as seaweed from the same area.”
Jordan held the small vial of ink up to a lamp on one of the side tables, inspecting it carefully.
“If you find a use for it, I can tell you where I order it from. I mostly use it for runes.”
“I’m sure it will come in handy,” he said as he set the vial back into the pen case. “Thank you.”
Having friends felt weird. She’d never given gifts before, not even to Devon or Arachne. Obviously never to her father or the kids she went to school with.
Her present being well received by at least one of her new friends brought a confused smile to her face. Eva wasn’t sure she liked it, but it was nice all the same. At least Christmas only came once a year. Coming up with a gift to give had been unpleasant.
A person moved to stand just outside the study room. Eva almost groaned as the woman placed a hand on the doorknob. There was only one person Sister Cross would be interested in speaking to inside.
The nun’s hand stopped before turning the knob. She brought it back and leaned against the wall.
Eva suppressed a sigh. That was almost worse.
The rest of the room continued handing out presents, ignorant of the troubles standing just outside.
Jordan brought out his presents. Necklaces with heavy metal pendants hanging off of them. She couldn’t tell what kind of metal it was. The pendant was a small dot with a crescent moon over it. A flame sprouted from the moon.
Everyone had the moon, but their flames were replaced by water drops, wavy lines or a large square.
Juliana finished up the group by handing out very heavy metal plates. There was something etched onto the front of it. An image of some sort. Eva couldn’t get a full picture of it without covering the plate in blood and that would have been too noticeable. She slowly traced the lines and guessed it was a person.
A person with a spider on top of their head.
