Chapter 349: Learning Gratitude
“Here, I got you something nice.”
After all this time spent together, especially after everything she’s done for me, I can’t believe it took spoiled, seriously entitled I this long to reciprocate it all back.
Inside this pristine white paper bag I still held tight was a symbol of my thanks, and Ash timidly, curiously, veered her eyes towards it pretty much seeing it as such – and her reaction was also pretty much as I had expected.
The ever so slight shake of the head, and her narrowing lips speaking quiet, exactly as I surmised. “This, this is for... me, you say?”
I nodded. “Call it a gift.”
“A gift,” That got her even more staring apprehensively. “You... Master, you really didn’t have to.”
“Yeah, I know,” I said, pulling out a little white box from the bag and plopping it on the couch between us both. “But I wanted to anyway,” and that was enough to silence any more of her qualms.
.....
A long eventful life she’s lived, and yet here Ash was, reacting so unfamiliarly and bizarre to the simple human concept of receiving. It was actually kinda sad to see her be so hesitant.
Slowly but surely, however, she was breaking out of her centuries-old mold, and after everything we’ve been through, it was actually kinda nice to see her ears wriggle slightly right after.
And to hear the small spark of interest lingering beneath the edge in her voice, “What is it?”
For an answer, I pushed the small box into her reluctant yet wanting hands. I figured if she really wanted to know, she oughta find it out for herself – I mean after all what kind of gift is opened by the giver instead of the receiver?
Besides this was good practice, ’cause come Christmas day – which was soon – there’ll be plenty more boxes to unpack, I promise you that.
It took a short moment of assessing before Ash was able to fully grasp the subtle intricacies of the cardboard box, and with a little bit of fiddling, and pulling, she finally had the top slipping loose – and thanks to a bit of foresight and quick reflexes on my part, I caught the phone before gravity could send it to an early grave.
“Surprise!” I proclaimed with all the grace and charisma of an introvert addressing a brimming crowd with a severe fear of public speaking. Indeed, the last you’d want for a reception from your audience was silence... yet alas, that’s exactly what I was met with.
With a stare precarious, and an expression mildly puzzled, Ash studied the strange black rectangle in my hands with a sort of vague familiarity flurrying within her eyes.
“It’s... it’s a phone,” Ash muttered out the obvious, before with a stare meeting mine, it finally clicked in her mind. “Of my own?”
“Bingo,” I said, smiling. “Y’know, I figured it’s about time. You’ve been living here long enough. What kind of modern girl in a modern world doesn’t have a smartphone?”
Meanwhile, Ash was still trying her earnest to find the appropriate reaction. “I... I don’t know what to say.”
So, as I plop the phone clad in a beautiful bright emerald green into her other hand, I decided to help her out a bit. “Here’s a hint – it kinda sounds like the sound you make when you sneeze.”
“Yes, of course, Master, without doubt, I am most sincerely grateful to you!” She looked down at her hand, her awe reflecting back at her in the blackened display. “Your kindness, it’s simply just...”
“Barely enough of what you truly deserve,” I cut her off, wanting to hear none of it. “Now if you don’t mind – achoo?”
Slowly but surely, indeed. With a smile, without thinking herself undeserving, Ash was finally learning to simply say, “Thank you.”
I walked her step-by-step through the set-up phase. Making an account, setting the language, skimming through the terms and conditions – the usual things.
Ash was a nervous bundle of curious intents when she had the phone in her hand. She held onto it like she was scared that any moment it was gonna crumble into bits and pieces, and as result, any time something prompted her to tap onto the screen, she first had to build up the resolve and courage because apparently, the risk of cracking the glass display with her finger alone had like a 99.9% likely chance of happening.
In retrospect, giving the Elf-Knight whose strength knows no bounds one of the most abused, and easiest to bruise pieces of tech in the world wasn’t exactly the best idea I’ve had in recent times... but hey, in all fairness, shut up.
Midway through an overly-simplified tutorial on navigating the UI which she could barely even grasp, she nervously asked, “If I may inquire, Master? Is there a reason aside from your boundless benevolence, why you’ve chosen a smartphone in particular as your gift for me?”
“Because I thought you might find it handy on occasion,” I replied. “I don’t expect you on it all the time. But, you know, I’m sure you’ll find a use for it. There are so many things you could do with it, after all.”
“For example?”
“You can take pictures, you can search up something you don’t know online instead of having to ask me, check the weather, send messages... and you can also call me at any time.”
Her ears perked up at that. “Call you? You mean to say, like...?”
“Like what you’ve seen me do when my phone rings, yes,” I wasn’t deaf to the renewed interest I heard in her voice, so I decided to give her a quick demonstration. ‘Remember when Leon gave you his phone number? That’s how you call people.”
I pulled my phone which already had her number saved, explaining to her the process every step of the way. “When we’re not with each other – and say if I want to check up on you, talk to you, or anything, all I’ll have to do is go to your name, press call, give it a second or two, and...”
A buzzing and a ringing in her hands gave her a little startle which was quickly overtaken by the feeling of awe and wonder wide in her eyes, then for a moment, Ash silently stared at the number on the screen with her narrow ears squirming around all eager-like.
“So, now do I...?” She drew a finger close to the big green button to the side, looking to me for direction. I nodded at her encouragingly, already with my phone pressed to my ear.
Breathe with bated anticipation, she gently tapped on the screen, then with both hands as carefully as can be, she raised the phone to one of her still wiggling ears.
“H-Hello?” faintly whispered a familiar lovely voice through the speaker.
At that point, I told myself that I couldn’t care less how many phones she’d accidentally break under her sheer might, the price was so definitely worth it.
“Hello to you too,” I answered back, giving Ash a playful glance to the side. “See? That simple.”
It was like a whole new realm of possibilities just opened up to her after the moment she heard my voice through her end of the line.
“Your voice,” She said to me, looking at me with a twinkle in her eyes. “Master, I can... I can hear it...”
“Yeah,” I replied. “I can hear you too.”
“It sounds so close... so near... as if you’re really right here...”
I couldn’t help but give a chuckle, which she undoubtedly heard, causing her ears to nearly send her in a hover. ‘I am really right here, remember?” I said then with a tone heavy with grandeur, told her. “But when I’m not, and if you call me... then I could be.”
“And I could do so at any time?” She asked, her voice practically dripping with barely restraint fervor.
I encouraged it. “Anytime.”
“I can hear your voice,” I heard her swallow. “anywhere?”
“Anywhere.”
That was it. It was all smooth-sailing from there. Ash was snared, hook, line and sinker. She didn’t need any more persuading, that one phone call was all it took, in fact, it was all that seemed to matter to her even as I went on to explain the other benefits.
I could tell she was itching for another go to give it a test-run, and as fate would have it, the stars had aligned for her perfect a few moments later in the form of a heavily-cloaked, purply-colored individual quietly gliding down the flight of steps into the living room.
From my perspective, Sera was as ever a sullen, silent unmoving figure standing there with a scowl. But through Ash’s ears, perking up, she heard and saw more than most would ever.
From their shared glance, I could pretty much understand what was being told but not said.
Sera wanted to go.
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