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Gift Giving in Edda
It is Christmas Time in Edda, lets look at what a few of the citizens of Edda decide to gift each other.
Vidar Jutul
Vidar Jutul dreaded the Christmas season; he dreaded the holiday season like he dreaded tax season. He had lived the better part of two millennia and he still did not understand what all the fanfare was about. Humans acted like they would die if they did not get a gift. In the old world, the giants celebrated Yule with the gods and that is if they got along. The giants just didn’t give gifts, giants never felt such feelings at holidays in the old world. As time moved on, he, Ran, Saxa and Fjor adapted to the times. The little family reluctantly began to look forward to the Christmas season, Ran liked to decorate the house with expensive ornaments and show the house off to her friends, despite what Ran said, there was no need for 5 Christmas trees downstairs, three of those situated in the living room. His office was no reprieve from the “Mad Decorators” they even decorated his office at work too. Saxa learned to like decorating, she also liked ordering the gifts on-line and wrapping then in expensive fancy giftwrap that was only useful until the gift was open and then it could never be used again, neither could the bows or tags. Such silliness he reasoned. He and Fjor looked forward to the foods of the holiday especially the Christmas meal. He would worry about food later, right now he had to think about what to give his “family” and “friends” for Christmas. What a task.
Ran was the easiest person to shop for. She usually like luxury goods. She like purses and perfumes. She also like full body massages, just like he did so he arranged for her to have a personal masseuse. He suspected that she and that masseuse, Jon had something going on, but he didn’t care, he had plenty of flings on the side over the years too, so what did it matter? He decided that he too needed a massage, he hoped that Kristina the young college girl would be available sometime next week, she was good as massages and many other things too. He smiled.
Now back to the matter at hand, gifting. What would he get everyone else? Fjor was the easiest person in the house to pick out gifts for. He had Fjor’s measurements, he would just call up a shop or two in Italy and have them make Fjor five or six of those designer jogging suits that he was so fond of. Vidar found the jogging suits to be tacky and tasteless, nothing that he would be caught dead in, but the boy liked them.
Saxa was much harder to please, so he usually gave her gift cards to her favorite stores since she did a lot of online shopping. Like Ran, she liked luxury goods too. She had a closet full of designer clothes, shoes, and purses. Vidar laughed, her future husband would have to work three jobs to support her clothing and shoe habit alone.
Laurits was complicated to shop for. Laurits liked everything, but nothing all at once. He was hard to read. It was great having an actual son, but it was hard too. He had no real insight as to who Laurits really was. The time that they had spent together on their motor bikes had so much fun. Vidar had thought about giving Laurits a car for Christmas, he could use one, but Turid almost lost her mind when he gifted Laurits a motor bike and Magne was upset too. So what! Thought Vidar, he would still gift Laurits a car. Magne be damned.
Turid. Now what would he give her? In the past, he would gift her money, he wanted her to do something nice for herself. He would secretly gift her with jewelry, a pin, or a bracelet. Vidar still liked Turid, he loved Turid, she was so sweet, kind, and non-judgmental. She had a good heart. She was everything that he sometimes wished that he could be, but he wasn’t. He would gift her cash this year and he had ordered her a forest green cape with fur trim, to him it would be like he was her wrapping in his arms. He hoped that she would like his gift. Note to self, send a generous donation to several local charities. Vidar liked to maintain his reputation as the most generous man in Edda because this kept him in good standing with the citizens of Edda despite the environmental issues. He smiled as he thought on these things.
Ran
Ran had absolutely hated Christmas for centuries, but she had learned to love the gifting and decorating. She loved showing off her wealth to others. She often gave gifts to people that she had come to care for. Yngvild and Bjorg were two of the people that she had learned to care for in her own way. She decided to give them gift baskets. Yngvild liked anything peach or rosy, while Bjorg liked lemon and or wild flowers. Most humans were not complex and were easily pleased with the “little things” in life.
Ran dreaded shopping for Vidar, he could be so difficult sometimes, plus he was nosy as hell. He often found the gifts that she had hidden and asked her why bought what she bought when she could have gotten him XYZ instead. She decided to order him a shaving kit with that after shave that he found in Australia last summer that he had liked so much. He seemed to like the young saleswoman as much as he liked the aftershave. Ran decided that Vidar needed several new sweaters, all black sweater of course and several pairs of slacks too. So much black, almost everything in the man’s closet was black. He could use a new bathrobe too which of course would be black.
Saxa would be easy to shop for she liked silks, satins, furs, and perfumes. She liked to shop online. This was an easy one, gift cards.
Fjor liked sweaters and jeans so he was easy to shop for too. One thing that she would absolutely not buy is any of those horrible jogging suits Fjor was so proud of. He would be in college soon, he needed more dress clothes, yes, this is what he would get for Christmas, Vidar could help her pick out something for Fjor.
Fjor
It was Christmas. He had waited until the last minute to shop for gifts. Damn! Oh well, Vidar, Ran and Saxa would get gift cards. He would probably throw in some perfume for Saxa, she usually felt so slighted when she didn’t get a physical gift from him, she said gift cards were so impersonal, but she didn’t mind getting them from Vidar or Ran. He would send some digital gift to Oskar, Anders, Christian and Rasmus. Laurits his new brother, now what would he get for him? A new aquarium for that weird pet of his? No, he would give him some cash because he was perpetually broke. An envelope of money virtually assured that the family would not have to deal with Laurits for a few months anyway. Fjor found himself a little jealous of Laurits, he and Saxa had always been Vidar’s “children.” Fjor found himself with a lot of new emotions this year that he had never encountered before. Gry was the easiest person to shop for, he would take a dozen red roses to her house and take her shopping for new clothes. Saxa said that Gry still dressed like a small child and her had to agree with her on that observation. He decided to buy her a nice bottle of French perfume as well. Fjor decided to give Bjorg a bottle of perfume too, it was always good to stay on the good side of a girl’s mom. Smile.
Saxa
Saxa was lying in bed looking at her Christmas list. She loved to shop. Shopping was her favorite vocation, that, and waging war. She liked waging warfare too. She reasoned that she could not think about that now, it was Christmas, a time of peace. Saxa loved Christmas, she liked giving and receiving gifts. She liked seeing the brightly wrapped gifts under the lighted tree. She anticipated wrapping gifts too, she liked the brightly colored foils, the reds, greens, gold, and silver. She liked placing the pretty ribbons on the packages. She liked seeing everyone’s face Christmas morning when they opened their packages. After the gifting, Vidar prepared a large breakfast for everyone and Ran prepared a late Christmas dinner. This year they had wanted to celebrate the season at the cabin. Great, they would have to drag all this stuff to the cabin and back. She and Ran had already put the Christmas tree up several weekends ago.
Saxa checked her list and started looking online for gifts. The shops in Edda usually didn’t have what she needed. Saxa decided to give Ran several handbags for Christmas, she usually changed out handbags every other day or so. Blacks and browns were usually her favorites because they go with almost anything. Ran was just practical like that. Two Chanel’s, Two Gucci’s, and a Coach. That should take care of Ran. Vidar usually liked clothing, she would get he and Fjor a pajama set and a smoking jacket, in her opinion, Vidar already had enough suits and almost all of them were black. She would get Fjor cologne, something with an outdoorsy smell. She would get Vidar candy. He loved candy. He liked handmade imported chocolates and licorice. She would have to place the order soon to get the candy by Christmas Eve. She thought about Laurits. She would give him a gift card; she really didn’t know much about him at all. Laurits didn’t need anything because Vidar made sure that Laurits had everything he needed and then some.
Magne on the other hand…hmmm. She knew Magne still did not like her like she liked him even though they had actually had sex a couple of times, but she found herself attracted to him. She had caught herself looking at him and he was staring at her, he smiled at her too. Saxa’s new year’s resolution was to make Magne hers. She was worried about what Vidar and Ran would say about their time together if they ever found out. Fjor would probably be ready to kill her if he knew. Saxa thought to herself how cute it was that Fjor was still jealous over her after all of this time. She smiled as she went to a shopping website to pick out something to send to Magne for Christmas.
Saxa picked out two pairs of jeans for Magne, she found him two sweaters too. She picked out three t-shirts and a pair of expensive sneakers. She didn’t pick out socks or underwear because her plans for Magne did not include socks or underwear. She laughed softly as she picked out the gifts. He would also look very sexy with a replica of Thor’s hammers on a braid leather chain. He liked sweets too, so she would order him a snack box too. She would have the package delivered to his house anonymously when Laurits was at work and Turid was at her job, she would tell the delivery driver to make sure that Magne answered the door. No one would suspect a thing.
She decided to gift Gry, Jenny and Hilde with bath baskets. Easy.
Turid
Turid was anxious about the Christmas Season, she wanted to do so much for her family for Christmas, but she didn’t always have the funds. She was single mother and only had one income. She had a little extra this year so she could do more. She had decided to get Laurits somethings for his room. Vidar made sure that he had clothing and shoes. Turid decided to get Laurits a new comforter set, black of course and new curtains. He had set the other set of drapes on fire lighting a forbidden cigarette several months ago. Laurits was a bit harder to shop for that Magne. Vidar gifted Laurits with many of his wants so that left her to concentrate on Magne’s needs.
Turid decided to get Magne some new clothing. She would get him a couple of pairs of dress slacks and shirts for special occasions like church. Dress shoes and dress socks too. He needed a dress jacket too. He had a new coat, so he didn’t need a coat. Turid would gift him with a new mobile phone too, his was almost unserviceable.
Eric was easy to shop for, she decided to give him a new book on Norse Mythology and three pairs of wool socks. He liked hiking and the socks would keep his feet warm. Isolde. She knew so little about the young woman and she decided to give her a journal with a set of colorful gel pens, a hat and a pair of gloves.
On the last work day before the holidays, Turid always took a gift bag to Vidar’s office. She usually bought him several types of candies for Christmas. Her gift always seemed rather meager compared to what he gifted her. She always looked forward to his “thank you” which consisted of a smile, lingering hug and if no one else was around, she got a kiss too.
Laurits
Laurits was excited, this year he had more money than he ever thought that he could ever have. Having a lot of money was great, but only if you were spending on yourself. Laurits liked to spend money, so what if he had to spend a little on someone else. Being Vidar’s son was great, he got a weekly deposit in his bank account and he had a part-time job. It would be exciting actually shopping this year rather than shoplifting a large portion of his gift list. Laurits usually helped his mom out when she needed it, Magne was proud and he would not take anything that Laurits gave him if he thought that it had anything to do with Vidar. This was hard, Laurits had wanted to help Magne because they were brothers. Magne had always helped him when he needed it and he wanted to repay him some kind of way.
Laurits went shopping for Turid because she was the easiest to shop for. He decided to give her some perfume, she liked anything that smelled like roses. He could buy her a high end perfume this year, something that didn’t smell like a room full of wet dogs. This year was great, he could buy good gifts for his mom because she had done so much for, he and Magne and he had seldom told her thank-you. He had also wanted to get her an outfit, but her weight constantly changed due to whichever mood she found herself in due to he or Magne’s, mostly Magne’s actions. He was going to buy her makeup too since she had the same taste in make-up that he did and he could use her make-up if he ran out. Clever thinking on his part, he smiled at his plan. A couple of gift cards would probably help her out too.
Magne, what would he get his big, introverted, friendless brother? Mom had replaced the bed that he had cut up to enlarge the headboard to accommodate his big overgrown feet. What do teen brother’s give one another? Toys were out. Maybe he could take Magne downtown to get him a couple of outfits. Maybe a coat too, he had outgrown his new coat before they came to Edda. He would get him a shower kit too, some of that herbal, green stuff that he liked.
Laurits thought about what to give his dad Vidar. Vidar liked bikes, expensive cologne, candy, and food. He would send Vidar and Ran a gift basket of gourmet foods. He would order one online this afternoon. He hoped that they would like it, he had the expectation that Vidar would, because nothing that he did ever satisfied Ran. Screw her, next! Saxa liked luxurious things, this was so easy, he decided to get her some satin pajamas, she had seen a pair in a magazine that she and Hilde were looking at. He liked the pajamas too, he decided to order himself a pair of the same pajamas as well. Fjor was more complicated. He liked clothes, he liked shoes, he liked to read, he liked fine foods too. Fjor’s favorite hobby, besides Gry was reading, but Fjor usually like taking other people’s books. He decided to get Fjor a set of books on Nordic history, that way Fjor would bring back the books that he had borrowed and not returned.
Oskar, Rasmus, Christian and Anders all get gift cards.
Magne
Magne sat on his bed and thought about what to get his family for Christmas. He had worked at the grocery store in the summer and he had done odd jobs too, so he had saved up quite a bit of money. Christmas was the only time that he spent a lot of money. Magne had always like Christmas, he liked the foods the most, his mom cooked the best Ribbe and Goose in all Norway. She made great cakes too. That gave Magne an idea, he would get Turid a set of baking pans for Christmas, she liked to bake and he liked to eat. He could give her a cookbook too. He really couldn’t think of anything else that she might need. Laurits had once said that his gift giving was way too practical.
Magne had decided to give Laurits a black hoodie because almost everything in his closet was black. He also decided on a pair of green Steam Punk sunglasses with the gold tone rims like the pair that they had seen in Oslo last summer. Turid had wanted to get them for him then, but he told her that he would get them later.
Gry was easy to pick a gift for, he would give her a box of candy, he would also give a box of candy to his new friends Iman and Signy even though she was Rasmus’s girl. Crazy how both of the girls that he liked, liked other guys. On the other hand, he didn’t care for Saxa much, but they wound up in each other’s bed. A year ago, they were ready to kill one another and now they had feelings for each other that they could not explain. What would he get her? Would she even want a gift from him, if so, what? Magne decided to get Saxa a silver bracelet with two heart charms on the chain. She probably would not wear it, every time that he had seen her, she always wore gold rings and bracelets. He would order it anyway, he would give it to her when they were alone at their little meeting place at the glacier, if she rejected the gift, oh well.
He had decided to give Erik a book about Norway during the Viking Age, he and Erik could talk about the book together one day. He decided to give Isolde two reusable waters since she had this thing about recycling and plastic water bottles not being environmentally friendly. Thankfully Isolde was the easiest person to shop for.
Erik
Erik never gave much thought to Christmas after his wife died. He and Isolde usually went to see his late wife’s parents or his family in Bergen. This year Turid had invited them to spend Christmas with her and her family. He had accepted the invitation since he had no plans to go out of town this year. He decided to buy Turid and her boys some gifts for the upcoming season. Erik was never good at buying gifts, his late wife had done the gifting.
He decided to give Magne and Laurits a scarf and glove set, Isolde would get one too. He had seen the boys without hats and gloves several times. He would give Turid the same thing, he had seen a set of gloves and a hat that was green and light blue, she would look great in. Isolde needed new hiking boots and a parka too. She needed a new phone too; she had lost her cell phone somewhere on the glacier last month and she had been using one of his old ones. He hoped that she would like her gifts, Isolde could be quite difficult sometimes.
Isolde
Isolde looked online for gifts. She was only giving gifts to two people, her dad and Magne Seier. Her dad was easy to please. She would get him a sweater and a pair of jeans. These were gifts that her mom had given him before her death. He would probably like them better than the water pH testing kit that she had given him last year.
Magne was easy to shop for, she would get him a reusable lunch kit for him to pack his school lunch in. This would cut down on the amount of paper and plastic being thrown away. She would get him a reusable water bottle too. Isolde reasoned that one had to consider the environment even during the holidays.