Law waited outside the store, leaning on the railing, as Bepo looked around inside the store behind him. The bear insisted he go in alone so that Law wouldn't know what he bought, and he agreed. As much as they both broke the rules of the gift exchange every year, it seemed this one was supposed to be kept a huge secret, at least to Bepo. Respecting his wishes, the Captain looked around at the square.
The carolers had been at the tree all day, and they were still going. Law wasn't a huge fan of Christmas songs, nor would he ever be caught dead singing, so he didn't really pay attention to them. Looking around at the shops, he spotted several stores that sold kitchen equipment, and decided he would go to one of them next to look for Casper's gift.
As his eyes scanned the covered walkways in front of all the stores across the square, he spotted a certain blonde figure leaning against the railing opposite from him. With a smirk, he watched Summer listen to the carolers with her mouth slightly open in wonder.
She was too far away to really see her eyes, but he was sure they were sparkling with awe, just like they always did when she saw or heard something she'd never experienced before. He would have assumed that somewhere along her nomadic way of life island hopping years ago that she'd celebrated a Christmas or two, but suddenly he began to doubt that assumption.
She held her head in both hands, elbows balanced on top of the railing, and she looked like some child beholding the most amazing thing in the world. He smirked. The small things certainly did please her the most.
The singers sang through several songs before Summer realized she'd been standing there awhile. Shaking her head, she straightened from the railing and shook out her limbs. They'd started going numb from the cold. Exhaling into her gloved hands, she wandered over to the next store, hoping that they had something for Penguin or Law.
Unfortunately, nothing caught her eye. Store after store and nothing seemed to pop. Things were either too expensive or just didn't seem right to her. By the time she'd covered basically the entire square, she still hadn't found anything for the engineer or Captain.
During the course of the day, she bumped into several other nakama, but they tried their best to hide whatever gifts they had gotten other people. Reid's goggles weren't too hard, as she just stuffed them in her small bag she'd gotten from a raid the week before.
Finding nothing for either of her friends on the main street, she began to venture into the lower-traffic areas. There had to be a few family-owned trade shops around somewhere.
Summer wandered the backstreets, glancing down at her list every so often. She'd spotted a pottery shop first, but ceramics weren't really anyone's thing onboard. Along the way, she'd picked up a map of the town. Staring hard at the small streets and labeled shops on the paper, she nearly bumped into an older woman herding a flock of chickens.
"Oh! I'm sorry." She said, and the woman chuckled.
"No harm done, deary." She began to walk away, but Summer decided that wandering around all day with no direction was just wasting her time. She raised a hand to stop her.
"Wait!" The woman turned, a question on her face. "Would you happen to know a good place that sells gifts? I've already looked through all the ones in the main square but I couldn't really find anything."
"Well, I would hope so. I've lived here 60 years!" The woman laughed, calling her chickens back around her. "An old friend of mine owns an antique shops just a few streets over." She pointed in the direction opposite the town. "It's the only house with red stone steps and an iron fence. You won't miss it."
"Thank you so much!" Summer called, trying to step around the birds. Watching the younger woman try to maneuver around them, the older one laughed again.
"Oh, french hens aren't exactly the most obedient of birds! Hehehehehe…" She walked away, the feathered creatures following after her.
Shaking her head, Summer went in search for the antique store.
Law walked nonchalantly through the sub, as if he were just taking a leisurely stroll. Conveniently down the hall where Summer's room was located. Yes, completely normal and not unusual.
Glancing around to make sure no one was watching, he approached her door and tried the nob, finding it unlocked. Entering, he flipped on the light switch. He was half surprised to see it so clean, used to the men's messier quarters or his own cluttered array of books and papers and coffee mugs. Hers was well-kept and tidy, and it smelled nice, unlike everywhere else onboard.
Closing the door quietly behind him, he went straight for why he'd gone there in the first place: her closet. Throwing open the doors, it was shocking at how sparse it actually was. She definitely wasn't the stereotypical woman having thousands of articles of clothing and who knew how many pairs of shoes. Two pairs of shoes and enough clothing to fill half the closet stared him in the face. He sighed, wondering when she would ever stop surprising him.
Leaning down, he lifted one of the shoes up to see the size. He kept listening intently for footsteps, or for the door to open suddenly and have Summer walk through. That would only bring about hell on earth, or something similar.
She was a size 8? Shaking his head, he replaced the shoe and straightened, closing the closet gently. He was willing to bet that all of her clothes were size medium or less too, what with her being as small as she was. No matter how much food she ate, she never seemed to get any bigger.
Leaving the room as quickly as possible with the information he'd acquired, his next destination was a shop he'd seen earlier. Summer's second present was turning out to be more expensive than he'd thought. Shrugging it off, he headed down the hall.
The old lady had been right. There was no way she could have missed the shop. The red stone steps were there, along with the iron fence…
And the biggest sign she'd ever seen, proclaiming the place to be, indeed, an antique shop. The thing took up half the face of the building, painted in bright colors.
'Mrs. Mortimer's Antiques, Trinkets, and Gifts'
Well, that was certainly what Summer was looking for. Lifting the little latch on the front gate, she walked up towards the house. She ascended the steps and approached the door, eyeing the ridiculously large knocker. Smirking at the sheer bizarreness of it all, she lifted it up and let it bang against the wood.
There was a small peephole about eye level, and it quickly opened, revealing a single brown eye. It glanced around before finally landing on her.
"Oh!" A person said in surprise, before the hole was covered and several locks were unlocked from the other side of the door. It opened suddenly, revealing a tall and skinny man, wearing nothing more than a one-piece nightgown and sleeping hat. "A visitor! Please, come in, come in!"
Summer blinked a moment, still in shock from what was happening. She allowed herself to be guided inside, and the man shut the door behind her.
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