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The package has been sitting on the table for a few minutes now. It isn't wrapped in beautiful paper, nor does it have a big, colorful bow on top. There is fortunately no glitter in sight either - it's always such a pain to clean it afterwards - or any other decorations that could distract you from the fact that it is...

Well. Just a box.

As far as you know, some mail services now wrap the presents you buy in the customary festive paper, but it looks like Kodi didn't know about that. Or perhaps the specific retailer he got this present from didn't offer the option. You'll ask him later, when you're done looking intently at the package as if you didn't really know what to do about it. There is a thought you keep on having as you regard the undecorated box.

You didn't get anything for the black wolf! Not the silliest, cheapest trinket, nor a Steam purchase just to fill the gift quota. Nothing! You had no idea he was going to send something to you. You two have known each other for some time now, but you weren't expecting him to send a gift.

What should you do now? Is there enough time to buy something in return? This is exactly why you ask everyone not to send gifts for Christmas. Too much to think about.

But the gift isn't going to open itself, and leaving the box like that on the table isn't going to solve anything, so you walk to the kitchen, grab a small knife and slice through the sticky tape that keeps it closed and mysterious. Once that's done, you open the box.

You're rewarded with the nice smell of cardboard and a smaller, irregular package that rests on a corner of the box. There's also a card. You pick it and read it closely:

Hey, cutie

_Surprised? I'm sorry I sent this gift without letting you know in

advance. You don't need to worry about getting me anything though.

This is just something pretty I saw in a store that made me think of you.

I bet it'll make you think of me as well._

_Make sure you hold it under the light for me, okay?

If you look for long enough, you'll see stars._

_ _

_PS: Forgive me for not wrapping the whole thing, but

I don't think you'll mind anyway._

_ _

You finish reading the note and frown. Even though the note was written in a more or less neutral tone, you can sense Kodi's smugness rising from it like smoke. And where there's smoke, there's fire.

This must be some kind of trick, you think. Why would the wolf be so enigmatic about the contents of the box otherwise? And what's that bit about "seeing stars"? You know him well enough by now that it must be some kind of metaphor for hypnotic shenanigans - a big chunk of your relationship with Kodi is built around the swirly subject, after all - but you might be reading too much into it. Plus, if the wolf wants to hypnotize you, why doesn't he just do it?

Well, it'd be difficult for him, you find yourself thinking. Since he isn't here right now and all that.

You decide to turn your attention to the small package in the box. It's more of a satchel, really, and once you undo the tiny rope keeping it closed you find a tear-shaped jewel inside. Its deep blue color reminds you of a certain wolf's markings, but you decide not to think about that too much. A thin silver chain is tied to the upper edge of the tear-shaped gem, effectively turning it into a pendant.

Yuuuup, you think. Definitely hypnotic shenanigans.

You pick the pendant by the thin chain and hold it in front of your eyes. It dangles freely as you wait for something weird to happen, but it just remains there, spinning in slow motion. A beautiful blue jewel, but nothing too out of the ordinary. Then you let out a gasp as you remember Kodi's words about holding it under a light. You highly doubt the small lights from your Christmas tree will do, so you hurry to turn on the hanging lamp in your living room.

You don't really get why you're feeling so excited. This is just a pendant. It's not like it has the power to hypnotize you by itself. You've heard about self-hypnosis, obviously, but it isn't as easy as just... staring into a crystal and suddenly being in trance, right? Plus, you were staring at the gem just now and you didn't feel anything weird. It's really unlikely that the jewel has such different properties under direct light.

But whenever you position yourself under the lamp and take another look, you let out another gasp and squint.

It's changed. The color of the jewel, somehow, is no longer deep blue. No, it still is - but at the same time, it's an entirely different color. Could it be... amber? No way, you think as you lower the jewel to look at it from a different angle.

Perfectly blue.

You raise it again, putting it between the lamp and you, letting it bathe in the warm beam of light.

Definitely amber.

The kind of color that reminds you of a certain wolf's eyes, but you decide not to think about that too much. Again.

So it looks like the gem changes color depending on whether light is hitting it or not. You had no idea such a material existed and you can't help but wonder if Kodi's gift was more expensive than you'd originally anticipated. And such convenient colors, too. Did he have the jewel made specifically for him? Amber and blue do seem like pretty popular colors when it comes to gems, but...

Now for the stars. You look at the pendant under the warm light. Your eyes focus on its smooth surface. Your arm is raised above your head, fingers holding the thin silver chain in a grip that feels too familiar by now. Kodi told you to hold the gem under the light, so you tell yourself that's what you'll do. The fact that it changes color is amusing, but you don't think that's the main goal of the pendant.

No, it must be something else entirely.

It's a good thing to stare into, though. It was beautiful already when there was no light hitting its polished surface, but now that it's nice and amber and glowing, it's almost like your eyes naturally adjust to the gem and simply keep staring mechanically. Like a magnet attracting your attention.

Your arm is growing tired of holding it above your head, and so it begins to sway almost imperceptibly - so does the pendant. Your eyes move back and forth, tracking the movement with no need to think about it. It turns and spins and swings and all the while it remains perfectly centered in your slightly glassy gaze. You've barely noticed that your eyelids are getting heavier.

But you've noticed now.

Two weird thoughts collide in your head almost at the same time. The first has to do, in fact, with time. For how long have you been looking at the pendant now? You think it's only been a couple seconds, but that doesn't make sense. Your arm wouldn't be feeling so tired, yet so fixed in place. Your eyelids wouldn't be feeling so unbearably heavy. The gears in your mind wouldn't be turning so, so slowly, almost coming to a halt.

The second thought has to do with a theory. It manages to break through the surface of your dormant brain just in time. If this thought had appeared a few seconds, or minutes, or hours later, then it wouldn't have managed to climb to the diminishing part of you that is still awake.

The theory is this: the pendant is blue, but it becomes amber when the warm light of the lamp hits on its surface. And the pendant is dangling between you and the lamp. So the light that goes through the pendant, as it sways and glows - where does it go? Is it being cast on you as you stare, deeply entranced by the bicolor jewel?

You realize it is. You're being hit by the warm light as it goes through the gem.

That's why you're so warm and comfortable.

And if that's the case, then what color are your eyes now? The jewel is blue. But the jewel is amber now, as well. So your eyes, which are absorbing the light directly, must be...

Both colors. Rings. Concentric.

And as you remain there, staring into the swaying pendant, swaying yourself, mirroring the deep, beautiful colors as your mind drifts away... one last tiny idea creeps into your brain before it shuts down completely, one that fills you with a relief that precedes an intense, deep wave of relaxation and surrender.

Kodi was right when he said you didn't need to worry about getting him anything for Christmas.

You're his gift.