ANOTHER MAN'S TREASURE / o, gifts

[Verdigris]

  [font=trebuchet ms]Gold had told him she was making presents, once upon a time. It had been shortly after the tsunami when he had found her wandering along the shore, hauling along a heavy basket of rocks and other odds and ends. She had claimed that she would make everyone presents- even Caesar, despite their shared prediction that he would not appreciate it in the slightest.

  If literally everyone was receiving something, that must include himself as well, Paper thought. If he was an exception, she likely would have said so- she was too nice to get people’s hopes up. Whether or not he really deserved a present was irrelevant here, it would seem.

  Approaching behind Connor, Paper eyed the crate with a raised brow. That was a lot of gifts to prepare, but given Gold’s chronic habits of overworking herself and not sleeping enough- both of which she’d been lectured about by everyone and their mother, and neither of which she was likely to stop- he probably shouldn’t have been surprised that she managed it.

  ”How long did it take you to get all this out here?” he asked, gesturing to the crate. No one else besides Connor and Gold’s pet eagle was there, so she must have done most of the pushing by herself. Pincher would have a fit, not that Paper could really blame him.