'Twas The Afternoon Before Christmas...!

[Arista]

'Twas the afternoon before Christmas, and all through the mall, everyone was frantically searching for last minute gifts, amongst the rough and rowdy was one, Gil! She had managed to order and send many gifts back home for her friends and family, and even gathered a fair few for her newest pals she made here in L.A.W! But no-one was perfect, and she had a few last minute shopping to do! She stared up at a giant clock in the center plaza of the giant mall, it read: 6:30 PM.

Spoiler

"...My, my... I need to hurry...!" Gil scanned around the place, it was hard to even so much as think with the cacophony of people speaking and Christmas music playing over the speakers, mostly masked by idle chatter...! The mall was decked out with garland, ornaments and lights all hanging from pillars and beams across the ceiling. Store-fronts were also decorated with all too fitting décor, the whole place was like it's own little slice of the North-Pole...!

"...Lets see, Sky, Moni, Wicke and... Dani!?" Gil spotted the red-head in the crowd, she shouted out and practically ran right at her, she couldn't believe it! The two haven't seen much of each-other since Gil's grand-debut, but she thought of her often, and even thought of the woman as a friend! She nearly stumbled and fell right into her, barely managing to keep from her bumping her head right into her face! "...S-sorry! I haven't seen you in forever and I got excited...!" She leapt up and down, holding Dani's arms as she jumped with joy! "...What are you doing here, I figured you'd be somewhere having a nice cup of hot chocolate by a fireplace, melting away in something comfortable and watching a good movie..." Gil melted as she spoke, projecting her own dream scenario...!

[CaptainL]

Danielle was not the type who cared to be in malls. She was above this! Given the choice, she would only shop at the most exclusive and high-end boutiques, free from all the common rabble and their lowbrow amusements that didn't deserve her presence. But desperate times called for desperate measures. It was Christmas Eve - a day Danielle was hoping to spend in the lap of luxury, enjoying her time off. But she had gotten a text from her mother back in France asking her if she would be sending her any gifts, because she was after all her daughter who surely still loved her and would do anything for her and wanted to thank her for all the help she'd been in helping her achieve success.

And that was when Dani realized that...she hadn't done any shopping. It had completely slipped her mind. And this was her last day to act!

Spoiler

She didn't think she could have picked a worse day to come. The mall was abuzz with crowds, the stores were nearly clear of their stock, and the lines at some shops were practically out the door! The Frenchwoman bit her lip with a huff as she stormed her way into one line. This was not how she wanted to spend the holidays, and she could hardly imagine it getting any worse.

...At least, until she was tackled.

"What in the-!?" Danielle sputtered in disbelief, spinning around to get a look at what had hit her - and her face paled. There was Gil, the girl she had faced in a match earlier in the year; a match, in fact, that had been Gil's first, and kicked off a swift ascent to becoming a fan favorite at LAW. What on earth was she doing here, and why was she suddenly acting so friendly? The very sight of her caused Dani's face to grow as red as her hair, remembering how that match had led to a less than dignified defeat for her - even more so as Gil proceeded to lose several matches in a row after that, causing many to mock Danielle for being one of the rare victories she did have. And they still liked Gil, even when she had no dignity, and nothing worth praising! Could all the world be so foolish?

As if that wasn't bad enough already, she just had to rub it in, reminding her of all she'd rather been doing at the moment! Her teeth clenched in frustration, before she let out a sigh. No point in losing her composure here. She let go of Gil's hands, giving her a perhaps more forceful than necessary shove as she stepped back and dusted herself off. "Keep it down, you're making a scene-! And I'm..." She sighed. "I'm Christmas shopping. What does it look like I'm doing? More importantly, don't you have anything better to do than being so irksome?"

[Arista]

It's been so long, too long in-fact! Seeing someone she considered a friend despite the minimal interactions between the two was a complete joy. She chuckled as Dani gave her a rough shove back...! "...Nope!" She let Dani's words fly right by her. "...I'm here for the same thing, I just got here, in-fact! I think I have everything planned out, just a few quick stops to pick up some last minute little gifts...!" She rested her hands on her hips, tilting her head to the side, a curious look on her face.

"...Who are you shopping for? Wait...! Let me guess..." Gil stroked her chin and tapped her sneaker on the tile floor. She hadn't a clue who it could be for, she didn't really know who Dani was friends with...! Maybe it was for one of her fancy model friends...! "...It's for a friend back home isn't it? Or wait, no, it has to be for M- no... Hmm... Wait, I know! It must be a secret, right? Don't worry it's safe with me...!" She gradually moved closer as she spoke, hardly even allowing Dani to get a word in before she sputtered out once more. She looked from one side to the other and cupped her ear near Dani, awaiting the secret to be spilled, though again, she cut Dani short of being able to act. "...Unless it's for me...! Wait, you just shouldn't tell me, I'm no good with secrets, well, that's a lie, but, you get it...!" Gil giggled and nudged the red-head on the shoulder.

A light-blub went off in Gil's head, she had the most genius idea ever! "...We should shop together...!" She hopped in place. "...Wouldn't that be so much fun! I already know where I'm headed, but I'm a little unsure of what to get some of my friends, I have some stuff for all of them already, but some extra sparkle could really make their days, you know...? And a second noggin might help me figure out what to get...!" She lightly tapped Dani on the forehead...!

[CaptainL]

At the sound of Gil opening her mouth again, Danielle let out a sigh, letting her shoulders slump. Now she knew she was in for the long haul. She was hoping that she'd be able to push Gil aside and be done with her, but she was proving just as persistent, and just as obnoxiously, simple-mindedly cheerful, as the redhead had remembered her. This was going to be a long shopping trip.

Dani's eyebrow twitched nervously as she looked back in Gil's direction. "Don't...don't remind me that I'm putting things off-!" she huffed, in a lower voice than normal. Danielle didn't want to admit that she'd been this lazy in doing her Christmas shopping and had now been caught up in this at the last minute, but she wasn't going to be cheered up by knowing others were in the same boat, either. She was supposed to be among the glamorous elite, and she shouldn't have to concern herself with the toils of peasants. She just hoped no one else would hear her.

Either way, it did little to change anything. Gil kept prattling on, and Danielle's patience was wearing thinner and thinner. She let out a sigh, brushing her shoulder where Gil had touched it as though her very touch disgusted her. "Do you ever have time to let yourself think?" Danielle groaned. Certainly she was having trouble processing one thing out of Gil's mouth before she sprung the next on her!

And then came the words that Danielle had really been hoping not to hear. Gil wanted her to join her on their shopping trip. Being around Gil was bad already, but now she was being forced to be around Gil longer. And to make matters worse still, Gil hadn't exactly given her the option of backing out. She'd more or less invited herself into Dani's outing, and as much as the Frenchwoman wanted to shoot her down, she knew that was hopeless. If Gil was going to run up to Dani in the mall and drag her into a shopping spree even after she had nearly wrung the life out of her with a Bronco Buster, there was no way she was going to take no for an answer.

Sighing, she turned to Gil with an unamused look on her face. "Fine, fine. We can shop together - on two conditions. For one, do not touch me again," she demanded, holding a finger up to Gil to emphasize her point. "And, secondly," she added, holding up another finger, "You will not speak of our presence together to a soul, understood?" It was already humiliating being together with Gil, but she didn't want the press acting like this meant they were, god forbid, friends. "Other than that, we can stay together."

"Though," she added, looking over at a high-end jewelry store across the hall, with diamonds showing in the windows, "I don't think you'd be able to afford anything at the kind of places I shop at anyway." The store fit Dani's tastes, and she'd probably scope it out anyway, but hopefully it'd have the added benefit of scaring Gil away with the price point.

[Arista]

"Do you ever have time to let yourself think?" "Nope...!" Gil said before carrying on! Dani very, very clearly wasn't fond of being around someone she considered beneath her, and god and everyone else in the world knew by now that she though Gil was beneath her, everyone except Gil, that is...! She managed to talk Dani's ear off to the point where even the calmest of the calm would become irritated, that's just what Gil was good at doing...!

Eventually, Dani agreed, stating her conditions which Gil just nodded along to...! "...Woo! Let's do this, we'll have so much fun...!" Gil hopped up and down and spun in circle, looking around at the wide-array of shops to pick from, But Dani had her eyes set on one in particular...! "...Oh my, a jewelry store...!" She clapped her hands and held them together. "...I do love jewelry, you see these...?" Gil brushed her hair to the side, pointing at her ear which had two tiny dark loops in it. "...Totally adorable, right? I got them for my last Christmas back home, I wear them everyday...!" She smiled. "...Maybe this place will have some just like it, we could match...!"

Without another word, Gil took Dani by the wrist and yanked her behind her, pulling the both of them through the crowd, nearly taking out a few as the came to the store front, a giant glass display case showing off only the finest jewelry one could dream of buying...! "...My, my..." Gil's smile un0curled into a look of bewilderment, the price on these things was crazy, even with her L.A.W salary, these were just astronomical...! "...You know, If Sky and Sachiko were here we could totally rob the place...!" Gil joked way too loudly, other patrons of the store turned the heads and cut their eyes at the both of them!

[CaptainL]

Danielle groaned. Even when she was trying to belittle Gil, it didn't seem to dampen her spirits in the slightest. And even when the redhead had tried to intimidate Gil by showing her the kinds of places she shopped, places that Gil couldn't possibly hope to afford - of which Danielle only grew more sure of when she saw the simple earrings she wore, earrings that were nowhere near as elaborate or as expensive as her own tastes, and earrings that she was insulted by the thought of wearing for the sake of something so insipid as "matching" - she somehow seemed even more excited! "Whoah, whoah-!" Dani called out as Gil tugged her along, moving along faster than she could adjust to. "Slow down-!"

But it was no use. Gil dragged her onward, and Danielle was forced to dodge out of the way of a few customers, lest her blundering knock someone over. She winced at the thought; she was not prepared to explain that situation if it came to it. "Watch where you're going!" Soon enough, they arrived at the front of the jewelry store - and immediately, Gil made a comment about robbing it, something that nearly made Danielle's heart stop in her chest. Her cheeks flushed red as she felt everyone turn to look back at her, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up straight. This was not the attention she wanted!

After the initial shock passed, the model's deer-in-the-headlights look turned to a scowl. Leaning closer, Dani clapped a hand over Gil's mouth, whispering in her ear with a frustrated hiss. "Be quiet! And don't you dare even suggest I would stoop to the level of those churls! Now, are we going to shop like civilized human beings or not?"

[Arista]

Gil hadn't had this experience in a long while, shopping with friend, hopping from one store to the next, and really, doing more looking than buying...! But now, she could actually buy a fair share of the things she saw...!

"...Mmmhpmm..." Gil felt Dani's hand clamp over her mouth to keep her quiet, and maybe saving her the embarrassment of being associated with her, but, as all the eyes shot in their direction would indicate, it was too late to save face...! Gil just nodded, having the hand still covering her mouth. Maybe mentioning you were going to rob a place in-front of all these people wasn't such a great idea, thinking back on it...

Once she was free to speak again, and the other patrons carried on, still cutting an eye or two at the pair every once and a while, Gil moved over to a section where they kept ear-rings. "...My, my...!" She crouched down, planting her hands on the glass and pushing her face close. "...I know jewelry could be expensive, but this is a whole new level...!" A smile spread wide across her face as she pointed to a pair that looked like her own, well, not really, the only thing they had in common was being hoops, except these were much larger, gold, and looped beneath the first loop were two smaller ones. "...Those are the ones, Dani!" She giggled, knowing this was no J.C Penny's, this was all ritz and glamor, finding a pair like her own here would not be easy, if even possible...!

[CaptainL]

Danielle felt like she was going to explode. Her muscles were tense, and she had to bite down on her lip, trying to hold herself back from lashing out with something she'd regret saying. It was bad enough being forced to spend time around Gil, but was she outright trying to make this experience as miserable as possible?!

Thankfully, the girl seemed to calm down after Dani let go of her, and the redhead let out a sigh of relief. At least now she could feel assured that her uninvited guest wasn't going to cause any security scares...yet, at least. She walked down the aisle, humming to herself and keeping her eyes focused on the rows of glittering jewels that lined the shelves. Maybe, she thought, if she just ignored Gil, she could get through this. It would be like she wasn't even there.

Then, though, Danielle heard Gil call out to her, and her head turned in her direction. "Quoi?" If Gil saw something she liked, Danielle was sure it had to be the tackiest, most disgraceful eyesore imaginable. After all, the girl clearly had no taste, if her ridiculous outfits in the ring were any indication. She had no idea how anyone in their right mind took her seriously-

But, to her surprise, the earrings Gil indicated weren't half bad. In fact, they looked quite attractive! Danielle would've worn them herself, and in her mind that was the most glowing recommendation she could think of. She leaned over, raising a hand to her chin. "...These?" she said. "Those...look quite nice, actually. I wouldn't have thought you were the type..."

[Arista]

"...You think so? I think they suit you like no other...!" She giggled, standing back up straight. "...Oh, look at that one...!" Gil pointed to a random ring, it was pretty, expensive as can possibly be, but pretty, not that Gil really had much of an eye on it anyway, she just turned her, and Dani's attention as well, onto anything she spotted. "...The price tag on these things is astronomical, and I'm not sure who left on my list might need these..." Gil tapped her chin...

Like a light bulb just went off in her head, Gil's eyes lit up! "...I think I know just the person, how much are they again?" She looked down at the ear-rings, a hefty price-tag made Gil swallow her heart, even with her decent L.A.W salary, something like that was going to put a real dent on her wallet...!

"...Oh well, miss clerk...!" Gil called out to no-one in particular, though catching the attention of an employee who tended to her. She left Dani by herself as she purchased the ear-rings, only being away for a few brief moments before re-appearing right over Dani's shoulder. "...Hey! I got the gift, are you going to get anything...?" Gil asked, no matter the answer, she would respond with: "...You picked this store, so I get the next one, I'll show you how to shop, Armagilo style...!" She flipped her hair, trying to mock someone of pride, pride that Gil very clearly didn't have herself.

[CaptainL]

"Me..!?" Danielle had already been bewildered by the thought of Gil having an eye for good jewelry, but what came out of her mouth next caused the redhead to gasp. She wasn't thinking in terms of what would look good on herself, but on Danielle! She stopped for a moment, turning her eyes back toward Gil. Even after all Danielle had done to her in the ring, trying to take her down and humiliate her into never wanting to show her face in LAW again - and even after all Gil had done to her, too, when Danielle's attempts at condemning the girl's career to an ignoble end backfired worse than Dani could ever have imagined - she still wanted to be nice to her. She still cared. Just by a little, Dani felt the corners of her lips turn up into a smile. It almost...put her in the Christmas spirit, one might say.

But she soon sighed, shaking her head with a groan. A mere moment later, Gil was taking off in another direction, unable to hold her attention for long. Dani was starting to feel like a put-upon mother trying to keep her child under control, except that child was a grown woman who stood as a living reminder of her failures. "Careful-!" she chided. "Don't forget that everything here is worth more than I'm sure whatever ramshackle hole in the wall you call an apartment costs! If you break anything..."

Gil didn't seem to hear her, though; she went off to bother one of the employees about her purchase. The Frenchwoman let out a sigh, but at least now she was out of her hair, and she could enjoy a rare moment of quiet. It was then that Danielle looked over to see a necklace behind a glass case, and she held her back straighter as her smile grew wide. Yes, this would surely be just what her mother wanted! At least this trip would be worth something after all!

Getting a clerk to help her and taking the necklace to the counter, Danielle paid...and it was that moment when Gil popped up behind her, causing her to let out a yelp as she jumped in place! "GAH-!" she cried out, spinning around on her heel to face the girl. "Be careful, would you? You startled me!" A nearby shopper saw Dani's less-than-dignified response and chuckled at the sight, to which the model clenched her teeth with a scowl before she looked back in Gil's direction and sighed. "Yes, I got what I came here for. Let's...just get going..." She placed the necklace in a bag and turned to the door, glad to be out of this place before she embarrassed herself further.

Of course, she didn't feel much better when Gil went on to propose picking the next store - a thought that made her slow in her step. She wouldn't dare to be caught dead in anything less than exquisite, something that Gil's tastes were surely not! What kind of foolishness was she in store for now?! "What...what if I don't want to shop Armagilo style!?" Seeing Gil flip her hair, Danielle shot a glare back at her, sure that she was the one being mocked. "And stop doing that-!"