Shopping Together
_Third Person's Point of View_
The snow is falling and the ground is covered in a thick blanket of snow.
The Hanazono Mansion is decorated with festivities and a huge Christmas tree is placed up and decorated in the huge field.
The holiday spirit can be felt across the whole estate. Lavalee is the only one among her siblings that is not in the Hanazono Mansion for she chose to stay in the Mansion behind the Hanazono Mansion.
"Merīkurisumasu, Onee-chan!" Summer Freia greeted Lavalee and kissed her cheek when she saw her sister at the living room of the Mansion
"Merīkurisumasu, on'na no akachan." Lavalee greeted Summer back and kissed her cheek
"Merry Christmas, Jace-chan!" Summer greeted Jace
"Merry Christmas, Summer." Jace greeted back as Summer skipped while passing them
"Merry Christmas, Dreice." Lavalee greeted and Jace kissed her cheek
"Merry Christmas," Jace said and wrapped his arm on Lavalee's shoulder
"Sweet!" They turned araound and saw Autumn holding a video cam
"Are you taping this, Autumn?" Lavalee asked her
"Since earlier, ate," Autumn answered
"For who?" Jace asked
"For the both of you! Ray and I will be the one to make your assignments, we'll be the one taping you!" Autumn said enthusiastically
"You'll be dividing the videos?" Lavalee asked
"Of course not, ate Valee." Autumn said making Lavalee chuckle
"Young lady, the breakfast table is ready," a maid bowed and said in the country's language
"I see, you may leave," Lavalee said in the same language and the maid bowed again before leaving
"Let's go, breakfast is ready." Lavalee said
"Yashiki no Fureimurin-chan de ch ō shoku o toranai no?" Fuego asked when he arrived
(Translation: You won't have breakfast at the mansion, Flamelinne-chan?)
"No, watashi no hontō no chii o himitsu ni shite okanakereba naranai, Fuego." Lavalee answered
(Translation: I have to keep our real status a secret, Fuego.)
"Alright then," Fuego said and walked pass them
They went to the dining table and sat in front of each other.
"Autumn, come on, join us for breakfast." Lavalee invited Autumn
"Sure, ate, wait," Autumn said and placed the video camera on a table to be able to shoot them but she made sure that it won't catch her face
"Ittadakimasu!" Autumn and Lavalee said with their hands clasped
They started eating in silence until the barely teen, Autumn, broke the silence.
"What are your plans for Christmas, Kuya Jace?" Autumn asked Jace while they're eating
"I'll be celebrating with you." Jace answered
"Meaning you'll be staying here until December 27th?" Lavalee asked
"Yeah, you scheduled our flight, right?" Jace reminded her and Autumn nodded
Their conversation took Lavalee's attention.
"Wait, you mean you'll be having the same flight with mine?" Lavalee asked with wide eyes making Jace's forehead knot
"Have you forgotten?" Jace asked her and Lavalee face palmed when she realized that Jace had told her about it the other day
"Yeah, my mind was too preoccupied." Lavalee said and chuckled
"What's your plan this Christmas, ate Valee?" Autumn asked
"Hmm, I have none in particular. How about you, Dreice, any plans?" Lavalee said and looked at Jace
"Buy gifts? Dunno," Jace said and shrugged his shoulders
"How about you, Autumn?" Lavalee asked Autumn who smiled
"I'll probably visit Appa's grave today then video call with Rie and Spring, Summer and Winter probably will join too and we'll eat dinner at Christmas Eve, just like our routine in Breakore." Autumn said and Lavalee nodded in understanding with a small smile
"Which reminds me, Ate Valee, Kuya Jace, you should join us too," Autumn invited them
"We're in," Lavalee said
After they finished eating, Lavalee took the video camera and passed the video to Autumn's phone.
"Just send us the initial draft, okay? We'll be the one to finish it." Lavalee said and tapped Autumn's shoulder, which made the barely-teen girl smile
"Okay! See you later, ate Lav, Kuya Jace." Autumn said and went out of the Mansion
Lavalee opened her video camera and pointed the camera to her. She greeted with a smile.
"So today is December 24, we have no particular plan in mind." Lavalee said and turned to Jace
"Any plan in mind?" Lavalee asked Jace
"I told you, I'll just buy gifts." Jace said
"You heard him, he suggested going to the mall to buy gifts." Lavalee said while facing the camera
"Are you even suitable to travel? How about your wound?" Lavalee asked Jace who walked past her to get ready for their shopping trip
"I'm fine. I got the best nurse." Jace said meaningfully and smirked at the last part
"Anyways, I'll be back, I'll just dress up. Later, people," she said and stopped recording
She brought the video camera to her room and changed into a plain oxblood t-shirt and a pair of ebony high-waist jeans. She wore a fawn colored coat over it and her beige colored boots with 3 inches heels.
"Let's go?" Lavalee asked Jace when they met at the living room
"I already asked your butler to prepare us a car." Jace informed her
"I see," Lavalee said and turned on her video camera
"I'm back. So, we're on our way to the car." Lavalee said while holding her video camera on a monopod.
"I'll drive." Jace said which made Lavalee give him a deadpan look
"I will drive. You're injured," Lavalee reminded and Jace just shook his head
"Here are the car keys," Jace said and handed Lavalee the car key
Lavalee stopped filming for a moment when she got on and only resumed after she started driving.
"Since Jace here is injured, I will be the one to drive." Lavalee said while looking at the camera
"Do you want to roam?" He asked Jace as he looked down the road
"Where?" Jace asked back
"Miyajima, then the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum," Lavalee replied
"Up to you," Jace said
"So what do you plan after Christmas? In the New Year, I mean." Lavalee asked
She still knows the way because whenever she is in Japatreins, she would spend the day buying gifts for her siblings and loved ones.
"How about you? My visa is only until the 27th." Jace replied
"Maybe will come back to Seryphil, or go tour around Asgree or Delcruss before going back to school, it depends." Lavalee shrugged and parked the car in the underground parking lot
She pressed the camera to stop filming for a moment, then resumed it after they got out of the car.
She was carrying a monopod bag because she planned to videotape Jace when they entered the mall.
"Since it's Christmas, the mall is filled with people." Lavalee said as Jace held the monopod
"Do you have a list?" Jace asked Lavalee
"Yep, you?" Lavalee replied
"It's in the bag," Jace said so Lavalee went behind Jace and took the small notebook.
"Where in this?" she asked and took the monopod from Jace
"Here," Jace said and handed Lavalee the notebook
"Okay, first stop, shoe store," Lavalee said after opening the notebook and reading the first thing in their list
They went inside a well-known shoe store brand, Jace
"Kon'nichiwa, how may I help you, Ma'am?" a saleslady asked Lavalee in the country's language
She gave the shoe sizes of Jaxith, Icarus, Franco, Jester, Fuego, Kent, and JC to the saleslady and began choosing shoe designs.
Jace just kept on filming her as she did everything in a meticulous manner, as if she wants every shoe pair to have a different design from the other.
"Jace," she called Jace and faced the video camera
"Which one?" Lavalee asked as she pointed at the two shoes she's choosing between; one white and one blue.
"Blue," Jace said and Lavalee gave that to the saleslady
Lavalee relayed Jace's shoe size and asked the saleslady to wrap it up as a Christmas present, which is something customary for the said store during holidays.
She swiped her credit card in the machine then entered her pin number.