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For the past few weeks since OC’s first awakening, he’d gotten used to a certain routine. Wake up at midnight, push against the pages, and in less time than it took to blink, someone would help him out. Most of the time the person lending their hand was Albie or Sousuke, but Winn and Giorgio had helped their fair share of times. Either way, every time he awoke someone was always there to help him.
But this time as he pushed against the pages, there was no responding pull. No lifting of the page.
“Hello?” he called. “Is anyone out there?”
OC pushed one-handedly against the paper. His sketch had been redone a few times since his initial creation, Pip adding longer or shorter hair, giving him a few different face shapes and even filling in his missing left arm, but somehow he’d ended up back at square one, half-finished and now missing his right arm. He’d been stuck like this for a week and a half when a creeping doubt began filling him.
What if Pip had given up on him? What if he turned out to be too hard to draw? What happened to him then?
Except, the others had reassured him. Pip was going through a school ritual called ‘Finals’, and would be busy studying for tests. Once finals was over, Pip would return to her sketchbooks as sure as Giorgio inevitably returning to shining his Hop figurine.
Emboldened by the memory of his friends’ comforting words, OC pushed harder and trudged forward until he could see familiar wooden grain. With one last shove and a leap, OC escaped the confines of Pip’s sketchbook and banged his chin on the desk.
“Ow,” he said.
“Oh, OC!”
OC opened his eyes in time to see the swishing skirt and tailcoat of Albie and Giorgio; Sousuke and Winn’s familiar shoes entering his line of sight not too long after. Albie continued, “Oh dear, in all our arguing, we forgot to help you out.”
Sousuke extended a hand which OC accepted gratefully. ["I’m sorry. As brother-in-arms in Pip’s sketchbook, I should’ve helped sooner. We must stick together always, or else a dastardly ninja will find our weak spots and divide us, like what happened to Hebi-nii-chan."]
OC had no idea what Sousuke was saying, but he nodded and said, “Thanks,” anyway. It was the polite thing to do, he figured.
“So OC!” said Winn as she jumped into view, large pink cupcake held over her head, “Who do you think will win?”
“What?”
Winn leaned forward. OC leaned back just in time to avoid a face full of frosting. “The Christmas bet? Who do you think will win?”
OC darted his eyes around for an answer to his various questions. His eyes landed on Giorgio and, Giorgio, sensing the immediate interest in his person, flicked his cap and monologued, “Christmas is nearing soon and every year Pip gets copious presents as she deserves. Inevitably, the presents reflect her interests and thus, most of her presents usually involve us or our franchises we’re from in merchandise form.”
“Like the Hop figurines?” asked OC.
“Yes. Like our Hop figurines.” Giorgio produced a rag from his coat and bent down down to shine his own figurine.
Giorgio seemed very occupied with shining, and so Albie took over.
“You see, the bet is whose merchandise Pip will get the most of. Last year, Sousuke won on a technicality, but this year, I’m pretty sure I will be the one to win.”
["It was no such technicality! I won fair and square and to call it a 'technicality' is to disrespect my honor!"]
“Technically~” said Winn, dragging the end out, “we were all equal but Pip got Super Smush Bros, which features Nobutu, a side character in Sousuke’s show. She also got a DVD box set of Sousuke’s franchise, but it was the spin-off show based on his son. Both of those don't really count.”
["It does too count!"]
“So,” said Winn as she hopped atop the nearest tall, flat surface AKA Giorgio’s Hop figurine. There were crumbs on her cheeks and a devious gleam in her eyes as she pointed her finger in OC’s face. “Now that you know what the rules are: Who do you think will win the Christmas bet this year, OC?”
(“Would you get your filthy shoes off my Hop figurine! I just cleaned it!”)
OC thought long and hard about the question. As he thought, the others offered their own opinions:
[“I won last year. So of course I’ll win again!”]
“I’m the cutest and cute characters always get the best merchandise so it’s obviously gonna be me.”
“Hello? I was voted most popular route for the third year in the row. It doesn’t take a detective to figure out who’s going to win this year.”
“But you forget, its her parents and other relatives buying her the presents. You guys may be popular but that popularity is contained into one demographic, some of them not even centered on this hemisphere.” Sousuke and Giorgio glanced at each other. “As a Wisney princess, I'm popular with kids and adults of all ages, and my movies have a decent worldwide box office. Plus, I have a brand new toy line which cleverly came out just before holiday sales which will definitely make me this year’s winner.”
In the end, after some bickering, recalling of their own Christmas-time merchandise, and a demand that OC make his own bet, all he could say was, “…What’s Christmas?”
After a musical number that involved a lot of twirling, jingling bells, a long solo revering the entrepreneurial masterpiece that was the holiday season, and Giorgio miming the intense PG-13 satisfaction from a well-written will-they won’t-they mistletoe scene, OC thought he got the gist of it.
“So it’s about exchanging presents with friends and family?”
All four of his pagemates gave various nods and words of assent.
“So will we be giving each other presents?”
As one, the group glanced at each other. Albie put her finger on her cheek and tilted her head. “Well, I don’t see why we couldn’t…”
And then, with one big whoop, Winn shouted, “How about a secret Santa?”
It’s Winn’s idea, but it’s Albie who uses the rest of their night to plan out the details. One recurring detail being that it’s already close to Christmas day, December 21st, and they wake up at midnight.
Not counting tonight, that meant there would only three ‘days’ to find a suitable Christmas present which equated to eighteen hours.
“But that’s not enough time!” said Winn.
“Well, we can’t wait another day. You open your presents on Christmas morning. Not the day after,” said Giorgio sensibly.
"Yeah, but we wouldn't be opening on Christmas morning, we would be opening them at Christmas midnight."
"It's still Christmas."
So at the end of the day, they all agreed to use their time wisely, try not to peek too hard at what someone else was doing, and since everyone had limited time, it was fine if the presents weren’t too over the top.
And with that, Albie lined them all up and handed them the names for their secret santa recipient.
DECEMBER 22nd
OC had no expectations when he unfolded his little slip of paper. In fact, having only learned of Christmas a few hours prior, he thought that any person he got would be as equally hard as the next, because well, he’d never given anyone a gift before.
But then he unfurled his slip of paper.
And then he read Sousuke’s name.
And then OC thought that he might be a little out of his depth because OC didn’t even know what Sousuke was saying ever, and he couldn’t ask for help because it was meant to be secret. So while everyone immediately ran off after helping him out of the sketchbook, searching for their own gifts or gift ideas, OC was stuck.
What did you get someone whose language you didn’t speak and the most you knew about them is a few posters and other merchandise placed around the room?
Hmmmmm…
He looked around the room, searching for where Sousuke ran off to, but it was like he disappeared. Like some kind of person known for disappearing.
Hmmmmmmmmmmmm…
Think. Think. Even though they never properly communicated towards each other, OC would like to think he and Sousuke as dear friends. Sousuke was always helping him out of the sketchbook and had, as far as OC could tell, a pleasing demeanor. He should be able to get a good gift for him. If only he could think of a good gift. What did he know about Sosuke?
He spoke Japanese. He had a spin-off show. He was prone to, as Albie put it, monologuing in dramatic lighting. Uh…Oh! Pip also drew him a big knife which he carried around almost everywhere. So that must mean he must like knives, right?
OC knew where to find big knives! The others had given him a tour of the house earlier, and there was a drawer full of big knives just two rooms away. He’d have to be careful and sneaky if he wanted to keep it a secret, but he was determined to have his first secret santa be a successful one. With a happy little skip in his step, OC jumped to the arm of Pip’s desk chair and made his merry way to the kitchens.
It was the smallest knife he found, which was still bigger than any of the knives he saw Sousuke carry, either in real life or in his promotional material. He just had to figure out how to get the knife down and where to hide it.
He’d gotten the knife balanced on the drawer’s edge, when he heard footsteps and a voice. Uh oh. Poking his head out the tiniest bit, he waited in dreadful silence for someone unfortunate to turn the corner; someone who wasn’t supposed to see him like Weeaboo, or Pip’s parents, or Pip herself.
“OC? OC, are you here?” called the familiar voice of Albie. She rounded the corner, her skirts lifted in her hands as she ventured the admittedly, very dirty and crumbs-speckled floor.
“Albie, over here!”
“Oh, there you are, OC. I’m sorry, I know you probably feel like you know your way around, but I noticed you weren’t in Pip’s room and I got worried. So this is me just checking in. Is everything good?"
He nodded. “Everything’s fine, I even think I found a gift for my secret santa person.”
“Oh, that’s great! What is it, if you don’t mind me asking?”
Albie giggled at OC’s ensuing silence. “It’s okay to tell me so long as you’re not my secret santa.” She paused, brows pinching inward, “Oh dear, you’re not my secret santa, are you?”
Cautiously, OC replied, “No, it’s someone else.”
“Well, then it’s fine if we talk about your gift. Tell me, what is it?”
And, well, he had been very proud of himself for getting this far with his gift, and on the first night so less, that OC brandished his gift with glee.
“A knife!”
“No!”
DECEMBER 23rd
So a knife wasn’t really a good Christmas present. Or, it was a great Christmas present, explained Albie, especially considering who he was getting it for, but it wouldn’t do to get one of the big knives from the kitchen, and the smaller knife in Pip’s room did belong to Pip, so it was best OC thought of a different gift altogether.
“But doesn’t everything in this room belong to Pip?” asked OC.
“Yes, but the key is to gift something that Pip might not miss. Don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll think of something,” said Albie.
So OC thought, and he thought, and he thought. He looked around the room for inspiration in the others, but they had all split off again. Someone had even made off with the gaming console that usually sat at the edge of the desk.
Alone, OC perused the shelves for some inspiration. There had to be something he could use… Chess game, fantasy books, board game, DVD boxsets, a decorative plushie, the very not alive spaceman and cowboy holding hands, more DVD boxsets—Aha!
He found it. The inspiration that would lead to Sousuke’s perfect gift.
Not wanting to be caught when everyone came inevitably came back from whatever they were doing, OC set up his work at the top of the shelves. It was tough going with one hand, getting all the materials up there, and even tougher to get all the details right, but by the time Albie came up to check up on him (with his permission) he was putting on the finishing touches and thought it would make a wonderful christmas present.
"What've you got there?" asked Albie.
"A drawing," replied OC simply.
"Oh," said Albie. "That's wonderful!" She clasped her hands as she said this and yet barely glanced at the drawing on the floor. "Say, OC, this is just a random question, but is there anything you want in particular out of this secret santa? I mean, as the one organizing this entire event, I want to make sure we're on the same page when it comes to gift and gift giving."
What he wanted out of the secret santa? "For everyone to be happy, I suppose."
"Yes, but I mean in a more materialistic sense, out of the gifts... is there anything you want in particular?"
OC thought and thought and thought as Albie stared and stared and stared. Finally, he concluded, “No, not really.”
"Huh."
OC didn't know why, but Albie seemed displeased by his answer. Her eyes cast about the workspace he'd made for himself and her eyes widened, "Oh wow, OC. This is a really good drawing, especially one-handed. That's Sousuke, right? No wait," she glanced at the large DVD cover of Sousuke's spin-off show. "Oh, you're drawing Sousuke's son for him?"
"Yeah! Once he comes to life, Sousuke can have someone who understands him and family with him always! That's what Christmas is all about, right? Family?"
A hand landed on his shoulder. OC looked up to see a small but sincere grin, much like the one she had yesterday when she told him a large knife wasn't a proper gift, on her face. Despite her not having said a word, OC's shoulders slumped. "It doesn't work like that, does it?"
"I'm sorry," said Albie. "But when we draw things... Well, we don't bring things to life like humans do. And yes, Christmas is about family, but suddenly dumping a teenaged son on someone out of the blue, whether or not it's canonically in their story line, is kind of...not something you should do for a secret santa."
Oh. Well, there went that idea. Now what was he going to get Sousuke?
DECEMBER 24th
The moment everyone awoke, four of the five figures made a beeline straight for the door to Pip's room. They only had six hours max before Christmas was set upon them and it had sent everyone into a panic. It wasn't long until OC was alone again, sitting atop Pip's desk. What else, what else could he get for Sousuke? What else did he know about Sousuke?
He liked large knives but couldn't be gifted large knives.
He had a son from his spin-off show, but he couldn't bring the son to life or gift someone a son.
What else? His eyes darted the poster and shelves again for some inspiration.
He- He- He-
And then he spotted sitting on one of the shelves.
That was it!
CHRISTMAS DAY
Albie gave them fifteen minutes to get their presents wrapped and in order and bring them to Pip's desk. Having not even thought of wrapping, OC had to do some last minute improvisation, but he thought it worked well. It wasn't like there was much to wrap anyway. He returned to Pip's desk, gift in hand, and then it was time for the big reveal.
"All right, who wants to go first?" asked Albie.
"Oh, I will, I will!" said Winn. She jumped up and down, hopping between everyone. She paused every now and then in front of someone as if to give them a gift, but then at the last second kept hopping. Eventually, Giorgio put a gloved hand on her hat. "Winn, give your gift now or else I'll-"
"Okay, okay. Fine! Here Albie!"
Albie blinked at the box put in front of her. "Oh? For me?" At Winn's nod, Albie pulled at the large ribbon atop and like a Saturday morning cartoon, the walls of the box retracted to reveal-
"A cupcake?"
"Yeah, I baked it myself! I didn't know what flavor you liked, but it has almonds in it and blossoms in it since that's your name, and since you're a princess I put a lot of glitter on it, and it's pink, like your dress!" Winn peeked over the cupcake, her large eyes blinking. "Do you like it? Do you like it?"
At Winn's soulful stare, Albie smiled. "I love it, Winn. Thank you. You certainly put a lot of glitter on it."
Discretely, Albie wiped her glitter-filled palm on Giorgio's Hop figurine. "Okay, who's next?"
Giorgio stepped to the forefront, crouching a little low as he approached none other than Winn.
"Using my deductive reasoning, I have found the perfect gift for you, Winn. Something you yourself never known you wanted. It's all in a day's work for a detective so," he brandished the gift, which seemed sort of large and lumpy for their size, with a flourish. "No need to thank me."
Winn, of course tore into the gift immediately, revealing a...packet of soy sauce?
"WHAT THE FLIP! THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER," shouted Winn at a loud volume. She hugged the packet to her chest until it seemed on the verge of bursting, "Hey, you're right. You did find the perfect gift. Maybe you're a real detective after all!"
"'Maybe a real detective?' What's that supposed to mean?"
"Ooookay," said Albie. "OC, it's your turn. Why don't you go next real quick? Before an argument breaks out, please."
OC nodded and hastily stepped forward. He had this. He practiced all yesterday night. He didn't know if his pronunciation was correct, but it was the thought that counts, right? (Or at least, that's what Albie told him.)
["H- hello Sousuke-san. I'm your gift giver this evening."]
["Ah, you're speaking Japanese!"]
["I learned... a little from Pip-sama's books."]
["You're doing so well! Did you teach yourself in the past four days?"]
["Yes. Ah, well I mostly learned yesterday. And I don't know much phrases. But anyways, here is your gift! I hope you like it."]
He gave Sousuke his gift, which was only wrapped in a single ribbon. Using his sword, Sousuke cut the ribbon and unfolded the sheaf of paper until it stood in all its glory.
["Ah! It's a drawing of me and my son with large knives! What an amazing gift! Thank you, OC-kun!"] As if to exemplify his love for his present, or maybe because Sousuke was used to communicating only through body language, Sousuke gave OC a large thumbs up.
["Y- you're welcome!"]
"Whoa," said Winn. "You drew that and you learned Japanese? That's great! I mean, I have no idea what either of you said the past minute, but it's great!"
"It seems like we have an artist-in-the-making on our hands," commented Giorgio. "That's certainly not bad for someone with only one hand."
They took a collective moment to admire OC's handiwork before a clap from Albie broke their reverie.
"Okay, she said, "my turn."
Albie turned, grabbing a small box resting behind her and walked up to OC. It was a small box made, it seemed, from folded and taped bits of a loose leaf paper; but so well-made that it almost felt like a real expensive gift box. It had a lid and everything. OC stared at the box and for some reason felt sweaty.
His first ever gift. What would it be?"
"Go on, open it," encouraged Albie.
He lifted the lid and inside was... "A hat?"
The hat was bright red and round with a flat, small brim. It felt soft in his hands with a slightly bristly fur texture that was pleasant to run his fingers across. Even though OC was new to the world, and didn't have much experience, he had the sense that it was finely made.
"A good accessory is a paramount to good character design and good market value. Since you're still in the sketching phase, you're not gonna have a lot of noticeable accessories, which is fine, Pip's still learning the basics and she's done a good job with you, but this will make you pop out more, which will also help us spot you easier since black and white tends to blend in a lot at night. So, what do you think of it?"
OC ran his fingers over the hat again. His first gift. His first accessory. He put the hat on, and it fit his head perfectly.
"Thanks, Albie! I love it!"
Albie gave him a gentle smile. "I'm glad you like it, OC. Now that just leaves-"
Four pairs of eyes focused on Sousuke. Giorgio, who had not yet received his gift, had a rather hungry look in his.
"Hey, OC," said Winn, "since you've learned Japanese, you'll be able to translate what Sousuke's saying for Giorgio!"
"Yes," said Albie, "that's a wonderful idea. Oh, I would love to actually understand what Sousuke's saying after all this time."
OC, who had spent the past six hours learning Japanese but had only gotten so far as the really simple stuff necessary to introduce a gift, hesitated. In the end, wanting nothing more to help a friend, he said, "Um, sure?" He turned back in time to see Sousuke nod seriously at him, before the anime character was presenting Giorgio with a medium-sized box.
["Here. I did not know what you wanted, so I played your game a little. According to it, you like this, right?"]
"He says he played the game you're from and made something from it?" repeated OC. "Or something close to that?"
Giorgio took the box and lifted the lid. "Oh! My favorite meal! Seafood risotto. This is the item that earns that increases my affection meter the most and the hardest item to make in the game. In fact, the only way to even know it's my favorite item is to 100% my route. Now this has to have taken some dedication."
In the lamplight, a sparkle seems to have entered Giorgio's eyes.
["Ah, well, I didn't want to disappoint, since this is our first ever secret santa and all."]
"Uh," said OC as Giorgio looked his way in askance. This was a little out of his league, Sousuke talked so fast... "He said he didn't want to disappoint you."
"Oh my." Giorgio took a bite of the seafood risotto, his face becoming one of a man near bliss. Swallowing his bite, he went in for another and another. "This is so good I can't help but think you made this straight from the heart. Tell me, Sousuke, you didn't fall in love with me, did you?" Giorgio finished his sentence with a wink.
["Of course not. It was only for the secret santa! You're a very handsome man, but I find 'love' to be too affectionate of a descriptor."]
"Uhh," translated a very overwhelmed OC, "He says you're a very handsome man, and that he does love you and wishes you...well?"
Giorgio's eyes widened. He choked on his forkful of risotto. "Why Sousuke, I'm flattered but-"
["No, no! That's not what I'm saying at all!"]
"Sousuke's in love with Giorgio!? Has he been in love this whole time?" shouted Winn.
"Oh wow," said Albie, "but Sousuke? In your spin-off show, don't you have a wife and kid?"
Winn gasped. "Are you being unfaithful to your wife and son?"
"Gosh, to think you would have fallen deeply in love with me after just one playthrough-"
["Oi! That's wrong. That's all wrong. That's not what I said. OC, you need to fix this-"]
"Ummm, maybe I- I might've translated that wrong," said OC, but unfortunately, his voice was too quiet amongst the newly risen chaos of a Merry Christmas.
And it is so, that the Pip's sketchbook had a wonderful Christmas morning, a merry secret santa, and a (slightly confusing, still a little mistranslated) new year.