@archerbird ‘Thanks, I hate it’
“Actually…I made it.” His guess wasn’t too far off, really.
“It’s an early Candlenights, late Fantasy Thanksgiving tradition where I’m from; we try to come up with the ugliest gifts we can think of and give them to people to see who we can convince to take them. It was…a lot more sincere when we were children, but it evolved into something a lot more bitter. As you do.”
“Oh. Well, good job then,” he smiled in an extremely performative, fake way that matched the ingenuine nature of his tone. However, as she explained the tradition, his grin filled with actual amusement and he was wheezing with laughter before she’d completely finished.
“Okay, no, but seriously!” He snorted. “That’s delicious, I’m into it!”
He looked at the candle with much more appreciation, eyes glimmering with a mischievous light his friends knew would only lead down bad roads.
“So... I have some friends I think would... definitely benefit from some Candlenights spirit. What’d’you say we give them something to celebrate, huh?”