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[....Is it Christmas? Did Christmas happen? Crud. Calendar days got so mixed up with the event messiness.]

That's today?

[She slides out into the hall with him, shutting the door behind her.]

Are you doing okay? After all that?

It was, uh-- yesterday. I was gonna give it to you on Christmas Eve, but... you know.

[They've all been busy. He smiles a little as she steps out into the hall, holding the giftbag out to her.]

So-- Merry Christmas. It's nothin' special.

[It is. Everything is handmade, from the knit doll to her accessories and art supplies to the sugar cookies and chocolate.]

Yeah. I know.

[She'll take hold of the bag, but stops there. Her eyes flit up to Kanji's face.]

You didn't have to do anything special.

I mean-- that's what Christmas is for, right? For showin' our friends how special we think they are.

[He didn't get Christmas presents for everyone, although Riley, Jolyne and Souji would also be getting gifts. This, however, was a little different.]

Okay but.

[She shifts in place, then snatches Kanji's wrist, dragging him to the next room.]

It's still in my studio. Come on.

Whoa!

[His face flushes darker as she pulls him along, and he stumbles a little in his effort to catch and keep up.]

What's up?

[She opens the door and shoves him inside, lingering back to flick on the light. Inside, there are three easels set up, each with a sheet over the actual painting.]

Middle one's yours.

[When Kanji unsheathes his, he'll uncover an oil painting depicting two birds against a sunset.

While he's occupied, she'll turn her attention to the bag still in her hand, finally paying attention to the contents. She gets as far as the doll before she drops it entirely, lower lip quivering. ]

[He does as he's told, lifting the sheet and letting it drop to the floor behind the easel.]

This is--

[Nobody's done anything like this for him before. Knowing how important art is to Maya, how much she loves it, makes the gift much more personal than it would have been coming from anyone else.]

Maya, this is great, you--

[He turns to face her, only to see that her lip is quivering.]

... shit. I messed up, didn't I.

You made it.

[She clutches the doll, fingers squeezing its soft exterior.]

It wasn't for someone else?

'Course not. I made it for you.

[If he'd made it for someone else, it would have had an entirely different theme.]

It's-- it's stupid, isn't it. I shoulda known, you're too tough for dolls, but--

[He huffs, rubbing at the back of his neck.]

I wanted to make you something.

[Of course she's too tough for dolls. Maya Hart is the toughest there is. She's fearless, and strong, and.

And she's moving forward to wrap her arms around Kanji's broad shoulders, burying her face in his chest.]

[He goes incredibly still, unsure of how to react.

She was-- hugging him? She seemed upset, like she didn't like it, but now they were hugging?

He fights the urge to bolt, uneasily putting his arms around her middle. That was how this was supposed to work, right?]

Hey, are-- are you okay? I didn't mean t'make you upset...

[She lets out a small moan and speaks into his shirt, the noise slowly rising up into a howl.]

it's -- just -- so -- niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice~

[His eyes widen slightly. Oh.]

I just-- wanted you to have something that was just yours. An' this is Wonderland, so...

[That's about as much as he needs to explain the theme, probably.]

So you wanted it to be perfect~

[She wails openly, though the sound is muffled in his shirt. She clings to him as tightly as she can manage.

She doesn't thank him, but that might be implied.]

[He nods, but finds himself at even more of a loss than before. He doesn't know what he's supposed to do, what he can do, and he awkwardly lays a hand against her back to try and offer comfort.]

... yeah. Yeah, I did. Wouldn't have been good enough to give you otherwise.

[And giving a girl a gift on Christmas Eve? He's never done anything like that before. In fact:]

I've, uh-- never given a gift to a girl before. I wasn't sure what would be... good.

[She'll calm down on her own in time, and slowly pull away, rubbing at her cheeks.]

Well. Um.

[She clears her throat.]

You did good.

[He quickly takes half a step back, rubbing at the back of his neck as he tries to compose himself, his face only just now starting to cool.]

Yeah? I'm-- I'm real glad you like it.

[It's a huge relief, honestly.]

There's other stuff in there, too. Cookies, and some chocolate. I dunno what Christmas is like where you're from, but back home, we--

[Okay. Here goes.]

We just give gifts to the people who are really special to us. So I wanted to do that here.

[He's never been able to come out and plainly tell someone that he likes them.]

That's really nice. I didn't... [She looks away from the barely-dry painting, embarrassed by how meager it looks.]

I tried to start something when we were stuck around all that lava, but it didn't stay with me when the event was over.

What are you talkin' about? I love it.

[The words slip out before he really has a chance to think about them, but that doesn't make them any less true.]

Nobody's ever done somethin' like that for me before, and-- I know how much you love painting. It means... it really means a lot.

.... Same.

[Because she doesn't know how to talk about any of this otherwise. They appreciate one another, and that needs to be how they leave it, because what other words are there even?

She bends down to retrieve the bag she dropped earlier, though one arm cradles the doll against her chest.]

Hey-- Maya.

[He's come this far. Might as well spit it out, right? It's been weighing on him since his talk with Snart, trying to figure out exactly why as much as he already liked doing things for his friends, he always felt like he had to put in a little extra effort for Maya.

It was a tough feeling to put words to. He'd felt it before, he was pretty sure, and feeling it here--

It almost felt like it wasn't fair to someone else, but that didn't make it any less true.]

I, uh... what I'm tryin' to say--

[Damn it, why was this so hard? Other people said stuff like this all the time, and it wasn't like he was a wimp or anything.]

I really, uh. I really like you.

[..... wait, what.

Of course they like each other. They're friends, right? Why would anyone have to come out and say something that simple? Kanji can be so weird sometimes.]

I like you too, Kanji.

[Except... It feels like it means more to him than just that. She clears her throat.]

Oh -- you mean you like...

Oh.

[Her face feels hot all of a sudden.]

[He feels his face heat up all over again, painfully aware of just how much blushing he's done since walking through that door.]

Y-yeah.

[She gets it. That's good-- he doesn't know if he could fumble his way through an explanation if she'd needed more than that.]

I ain't good at this kinda thing, but when you care about someone, you're s'posed to tell 'em, right?

I guess.

[But now she's fidgeting. Sure, he thinks he likes her. But that's because he doesn't know her well enough. Is there a point of going through the whole production? He can like her fine, but that doesn't mean she's any good at being liked.]

You shouldn't, though. I'm not --

It won't be good for you.

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