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[Ethlyn takes the awkwardly-offered basket with grace. She has no idea why the simple act of giving a gift seems to be so excruciating for Ange, but the least she can do is not call attention to how weird her manner is right now.]

Oh, goodness--that's so thoughtful. Especially after the battle on the island. [She looks through the items in the basket--the basics, yes, but there's a reason they're called that. They're the base, without which any other intervention is useless.] This will definitely help us to replenish our medical kits for the next emergency we ride out to.

That's good.

[ It's still a little mumbled, but at least Ange got the hardest part over with - which was handing over the present and seeing Ethlyn's reaction. Maybe the girl was, very deep down, worried that the other wouldn't like it, or that they had enough supplies that Ange's extra gifted ones wouldn't be needed..

Seems like she did better than that though. It's a huge relief, like a load falling off her shoulders. ]

Uh, I guess it feels kind of awkward saying it in a place like this, especially since it's such an Earth holiday, but I also guess you should say it when handing over a Christmas present.. So merry Christmas. Or happy holidays. Whichever. [ She doesn't even know if they have any winter holidays where Ethlyn comes from! Her world sure doesn't seem like Ange's own, after all..

But Mitama did call it a secret Santa thing, so Ange might as well stick with that. ]

At home, we have Yule. It sounds a little like what Christmas is. We don't have a gift-giving ceremony like this, exactly, but we do go from house to house wassailing--offering drink to our neighbors. [Well, kind of. Being the ducal family, they stayed at home and gave the wassail out to any family that came calling, rather than it coming to them.] And then we would get as many people into Castle Chalphy as we could for the feast.

[She remembers suddenly that she had offered Ange tea, so she quickly gets the kettle on the stove to boil. Having cooking heat at the click of a dial still hasn't gotten old.]

Merry Christmas.

[ The girl silently takes in the information Ethlyn is giving her - it's a little surprising, judging by the look in her eyes shifting as she thinks about it - before quietly taking a seat. Hands neatly folded in her lap and all that. Even though Ange can seem nonchalant at times, and completely unaware of social norms entirely at others, it's like she's being a little bit more well-behaved in front of Ethlyn here.. ]

That really happens where you come from..? [ She then finally asks, slowly. ] Does everyone do that there? Just.. giving things away to anyone who comes by?

That's our tradition. In the cold winter months, it's very important to share the extra you have with those who don't have enough... otherwise, we couldn't survive.

[She's often wondered about how it was done during the dark years of Loptous' reign when the Emperor was worshipped as a god. Did people carry it out in secret? Is that how the rebellions were enkindled and kept alive, even in the worst days?]

...Which isn't to say that everyone gets into the intended spirit of the thing. You'll find plenty of families that only share with the "right" sort of people... those who aren't too poor, or who aren't respectable, or respectable according to their own strict definition of it. Giving worse to people they don't have to respect, if they give at all. But my family always used to do it the way you're supposed to... at least, the way I thought was right.

.. that isn't too surprising to hear.

[ Neither of those things. That Ethlyn's family gave to everyone-- that definitely isn't surprising. Ethlyn's kind nature had to come from somewhere, after all, and it only seems natural that someone with her kind of personality would be surrounded by similarly minded people.

But the fact that other people were so selective about it.. that isn't surprising either. Not to Ange, who has absolutely seen the worst parts of her own world. Who has had a front row seat to the behaviour of rich people. ]

Though it's really dumb that they participate in the tradition at all then. If they're going to ignore the spirit of it, they might as well ignore it altogether. [ .. the girl pauses for a moment, then shakes her head. ] I know why they do participate though. People like that sure love saving face, not wanting to show everyone what they're truly like. [ That, too, is something she has seen enough times by now. ]

It isn't, is it? [When Ethlyn was younger, it surprised her--filled her with indignancy, even. When she became lady of the household, she made sure that Chalphy could never be accused of such hypocritical behavior, no matter how much work it was.

Just another symptom of the corruption at the heart of too many Crusader households, she new thinks. How easily the other descendants of the continent's heroes forgot how to behave rightly.] They take pride in their names and their bloodlines, but they don't think about the sacrifices their founders made so that they could live comfortably themselves.

[ What a relatable thing for Ethlyn to mention, really. Ange knows the other is speaking from the perspective of her own world, which - from everything she knows about Ethlyn so far - is quite different from Ange's own.

And yet this is something she can definitely understand, coming from a rich and important family herself. ]

It's strange.

[ It's the first thing she says after such a brief pause. ]

I did figure it's impossible for your world to be full of people as kind as you. [ Especially with the things she learned in the maze. Things that couldn't have been caused by kind people. ] But.. even though you come from a world that's just as crappy as the rest of them out there, you're so sweet. Like you're choosing to be nice despite it all.

[ It's a compliment. A rather big one by Ange standards, really, even if the girl delivers it with the same relatively emotionless tone as she usually does.

It's a little more quiet, though. ]

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