![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Entry tags:
[OTP Christmas 2015] Day 10. Wrapping Presents
Title: Wrapping Presents
Author: AFTanith
Fandom: Parabellum (original fiction)
Characters: Sparrow & Loretta Donahue
Warning(s): implied Stockholm syndrome & mental health issues
Prompt(s): OTP Christmas 2015 Day 10. Wrapping Presents &![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
runaway_tales Vanilla #4. I can't believe you (don't) know how to ___
"I can't believe you don't know how to gift wrap a box. How is that even possible?"
Sparrow bristled uncomfortably. If only she could've gotten Simon and Nadia to help with this, she thought, instead of turning once again to Loretta. She didn't mind the latter woman anywhere near as much as she once had, true, but that didn't mean she liked her, per se. They were friends, surely, but this was clearly one of those scenarios in which they were better off apart; Loretta was the kind of woman who had been born into privilege that Sparrow still had a hard time wrapping her mind around and who was utterly incapable of understanding the lives of anyone from even a slightly different background. Asking Loretta Donahue for help was an exercise in inviting ridicule.
And yet with German busy with Frost and Simon and Nadia busy with things Sparrow didn't want to think about, Loretta was the only option left. It wasn't like she could ask Idris and Felix to wrap Frost's presents with her.
"I've never had to buy gifts for anyone before," Sparrow reminded her. "So I haven't exactly had a lot of opportunities to learn."
"Well," Loretta said, her voice taking on the kind of lofty authority it always did when she thought she knew something her audience didn't, "it's very simple. There's practically nothing to it; you'll hardly need my help. Just watch."
She leaned forward, her body bowing over the bed as she extended herself perhaps a bit overdramatically toward the pile of wrapping paper rolls. There were at least a dozen of them, more than Sparrow would've ever thought necessary, and they were in as many varied colors and patterns as the Evergreen decorations had been. A cornucopia of green, red, silver, and gold formed two-dimensional ornaments and wreaths and snowflakes and trees, and Sparrow still wasn't sure she even understood the point of any of it. Why they couldn't just give each other gifts without wasting more paper, she didn't know; was the surprise really worth this much work and waste?
Loretta pulled back with a roll of paper more richly colored than most of the others. Instead of just bearing a pattern, this one depicted an entire scene; a warm-looking cabin with a fireplace, an Evergreen tree, and a pile of presents so perilously close to the flames that they would no doubt burn the place down, and through the cabin's window, there was a snowy winter Wonderland beyond. It still amazed Sparrow how rich people could see such a horrible, deadly inconvenience as snow in such a favorable light. They actually thought it beautiful.
Sparrow watched as Loretta unrolled a large section of the paper and cut it from the rest with an unwavering slice of her scissors. Then she reached past Sparrow toward the nearest of the gifts piled on the bed and plopped it down in the center of the paper. The other woman made quick work of it, folding the paper around the rectangular prism of the box with expertise, and Sparrow winced as she quickly taped the folds into place. Sparrow could do that, sure, but there was no way it was going to look anywhere near as good as what Loretta had just accomplished.
There was more ridicule on the horizon. Sparrow was sure of it.
"Now you try," came the inevitable, and Loretta handed the materials and tools to Sparrow with an insistence that assured any protests she might offer weren't going to get her out of this.
As Sparrow did her best to duplicate Loretta's own actions, the other woman watched on passively. "So," she asked after a moment, apparently finding no criticism to afford just yet, "do you know what Frost is getting you for Beneficence?"
"No," she answered honestly. It was something she'd thought about these past few weeks, certainly, but she hadn't come to any conclusions. She had more than her fair share of suspicions, though, and none of them were particularly favorable; Frost had made it more than clear that he wanted this holiday to be extravagant, and so she had a bad feeling that he was going to overdo it in the gift department, as with everything else so far. How exactly that was going to manifest, she didn't yet know, but she doubted she was going to like it, whatever it was.
"You don't have any idea?" Loretta pressed, sounding skeptical. "He hasn't even given you any hints?"
"Knowing Frost, it'll be something lavish and expensive and entirely too much." She sighed. "Or hell, I don't know, maybe he'll just tie a bow around his dick."
Loretta laughed. "Now that's my kind of gift!"
"Maybe he should give it to you, then," Sparrow said--and then she froze, horrified. The words had flown out of her mouth without thinking, but it wasn't what she said that disturbed her. It was her reaction to the thought of it.
Jealousy. A single, undeniable flare of jealousy. She was jealous at the thought of Frost and Loretta together.
Shit.
Whatever Loretta had to say was lost on Sparrow; she heard nothing of it. Sparrow found herself staring down at her hands, her fingers frozen upon the half-finished wrapping paper, and it was all she could do to keep breathing.
This wasn't right. It wasn't real. She didn't care what Frost did--
Who Frost--
"Fucking war, I've gone insane."
She didn't realize she'd said the words aloud until Loretta turned to her, brow raised, and answered, "Sounds like it, yeah. You okay? You look like you're having some kind of a war flashback or something."
That's what it felt like, alright. Except she wasn't flashing back so much as she was flashing forward, apparently having traveled through time and space to a reality in which she was jealous over the very idea of Frost's affections wandering, and Sparrow didn't think she'd ever fathomed anything more horrifying than that. She didn't think she could fathom anything more horrifying than that.
"I'm... not feeling very good all of a sudden. I... well, would you mind if we do this later? I need to, I don't know, take a nap or something. Or a shower. I don't know."
The look of genuine concern on Loretta's face would intrigue her in retrospect, but Sparrow hardly noticed it in the moment. She could barely hear the woman's words--"Uh, sure? Do you want me to get Frost?"--and she was only vaguely aware of her own answering head shake.
"I'll be fine," she insisted, though the frenzy in her voice undermined her, and she ushered Loretta out of the room.
With a last glance toward the half-wrapped presents scattered atop the mattress, Sparrow followed her out of the suite.
She hoped Idris wouldn't make her wait long.
Author: AFTanith
Fandom: Parabellum (original fiction)
Characters: Sparrow & Loretta Donahue
Warning(s): implied Stockholm syndrome & mental health issues
Prompt(s): OTP Christmas 2015 Day 10. Wrapping Presents &
runaway_tales Vanilla #4. I can't believe you (don't) know how to ___"I can't believe you don't know how to gift wrap a box. How is that even possible?"
Sparrow bristled uncomfortably. If only she could've gotten Simon and Nadia to help with this, she thought, instead of turning once again to Loretta. She didn't mind the latter woman anywhere near as much as she once had, true, but that didn't mean she liked her, per se. They were friends, surely, but this was clearly one of those scenarios in which they were better off apart; Loretta was the kind of woman who had been born into privilege that Sparrow still had a hard time wrapping her mind around and who was utterly incapable of understanding the lives of anyone from even a slightly different background. Asking Loretta Donahue for help was an exercise in inviting ridicule.
And yet with German busy with Frost and Simon and Nadia busy with things Sparrow didn't want to think about, Loretta was the only option left. It wasn't like she could ask Idris and Felix to wrap Frost's presents with her.
"I've never had to buy gifts for anyone before," Sparrow reminded her. "So I haven't exactly had a lot of opportunities to learn."
"Well," Loretta said, her voice taking on the kind of lofty authority it always did when she thought she knew something her audience didn't, "it's very simple. There's practically nothing to it; you'll hardly need my help. Just watch."
She leaned forward, her body bowing over the bed as she extended herself perhaps a bit overdramatically toward the pile of wrapping paper rolls. There were at least a dozen of them, more than Sparrow would've ever thought necessary, and they were in as many varied colors and patterns as the Evergreen decorations had been. A cornucopia of green, red, silver, and gold formed two-dimensional ornaments and wreaths and snowflakes and trees, and Sparrow still wasn't sure she even understood the point of any of it. Why they couldn't just give each other gifts without wasting more paper, she didn't know; was the surprise really worth this much work and waste?
Loretta pulled back with a roll of paper more richly colored than most of the others. Instead of just bearing a pattern, this one depicted an entire scene; a warm-looking cabin with a fireplace, an Evergreen tree, and a pile of presents so perilously close to the flames that they would no doubt burn the place down, and through the cabin's window, there was a snowy winter Wonderland beyond. It still amazed Sparrow how rich people could see such a horrible, deadly inconvenience as snow in such a favorable light. They actually thought it beautiful.
Sparrow watched as Loretta unrolled a large section of the paper and cut it from the rest with an unwavering slice of her scissors. Then she reached past Sparrow toward the nearest of the gifts piled on the bed and plopped it down in the center of the paper. The other woman made quick work of it, folding the paper around the rectangular prism of the box with expertise, and Sparrow winced as she quickly taped the folds into place. Sparrow could do that, sure, but there was no way it was going to look anywhere near as good as what Loretta had just accomplished.
There was more ridicule on the horizon. Sparrow was sure of it.
"Now you try," came the inevitable, and Loretta handed the materials and tools to Sparrow with an insistence that assured any protests she might offer weren't going to get her out of this.
As Sparrow did her best to duplicate Loretta's own actions, the other woman watched on passively. "So," she asked after a moment, apparently finding no criticism to afford just yet, "do you know what Frost is getting you for Beneficence?"
"No," she answered honestly. It was something she'd thought about these past few weeks, certainly, but she hadn't come to any conclusions. She had more than her fair share of suspicions, though, and none of them were particularly favorable; Frost had made it more than clear that he wanted this holiday to be extravagant, and so she had a bad feeling that he was going to overdo it in the gift department, as with everything else so far. How exactly that was going to manifest, she didn't yet know, but she doubted she was going to like it, whatever it was.
"You don't have any idea?" Loretta pressed, sounding skeptical. "He hasn't even given you any hints?"
"Knowing Frost, it'll be something lavish and expensive and entirely too much." She sighed. "Or hell, I don't know, maybe he'll just tie a bow around his dick."
Loretta laughed. "Now that's my kind of gift!"
"Maybe he should give it to you, then," Sparrow said--and then she froze, horrified. The words had flown out of her mouth without thinking, but it wasn't what she said that disturbed her. It was her reaction to the thought of it.
Jealousy. A single, undeniable flare of jealousy. She was jealous at the thought of Frost and Loretta together.
Shit.
Whatever Loretta had to say was lost on Sparrow; she heard nothing of it. Sparrow found herself staring down at her hands, her fingers frozen upon the half-finished wrapping paper, and it was all she could do to keep breathing.
This wasn't right. It wasn't real. She didn't care what Frost did--
Who Frost--
"Fucking war, I've gone insane."
She didn't realize she'd said the words aloud until Loretta turned to her, brow raised, and answered, "Sounds like it, yeah. You okay? You look like you're having some kind of a war flashback or something."
That's what it felt like, alright. Except she wasn't flashing back so much as she was flashing forward, apparently having traveled through time and space to a reality in which she was jealous over the very idea of Frost's affections wandering, and Sparrow didn't think she'd ever fathomed anything more horrifying than that. She didn't think she could fathom anything more horrifying than that.
"I'm... not feeling very good all of a sudden. I... well, would you mind if we do this later? I need to, I don't know, take a nap or something. Or a shower. I don't know."
The look of genuine concern on Loretta's face would intrigue her in retrospect, but Sparrow hardly noticed it in the moment. She could barely hear the woman's words--"Uh, sure? Do you want me to get Frost?"--and she was only vaguely aware of her own answering head shake.
"I'll be fine," she insisted, though the frenzy in her voice undermined her, and she ushered Loretta out of the room.
With a last glance toward the half-wrapped presents scattered atop the mattress, Sparrow followed her out of the suite.
She hoped Idris wouldn't make her wait long.