#submit: aa

[ It wasn’t like, the first thing Ari did with her modeling money or anything, but after tucking a few months’ worth of rent money away and making a serious dent in her merch bucket list, she realized there was one other person she really wanted to get a nice Christmas present for. And as luck would have it, she happened to know what Kitty Wilde would like, thanks to a serious case of the drunken babbles that happened after a party some time in November.

So Ari put her years of rare merch-finding skills to use and went to work on getting her hands on the doll Mr. and Mrs. Wilde never bought. And it took several weeks and some serious talks with some people who seriously needed to take a chill pill or twenty where dolls are involved, but she did it. Of course, when Christmas came she totally chickened out, but the important thing was, she found the doll and bought it. So what if it stayed in her closet? The intention is what counts, or whatever.

But now it’s Kitty’s birthday, and New Years’ Eve happened, and even if Ari still has no clue what’s going on, she thinks… well, that something is going on. So on January second, there’s a delivery for Kitty, and under the wrapping paper there’s a perfectly packaged doll, with her book, and a note with a line from that same book:]

She is a bright light in the dark days.

Happy 22nd.

Kitty acts tough. Like super human heart of steal from some lame comic book kind of tough, but anyone who actually knows her is probably aware, for the most part, that underneath the whole ice princess facade lies an actual heart. Not that she’d ever admit it. Or that she’s particularly ashamed of who she is. She likes her sense of humor, likes her snark, and her sharp edges. She just doesn’t always like how isolating that is. 

Like when nobody outside of your family (or your roomie) wishes you a happy birthday. Or remembers your birth. Or is actually happy at all you were born. 

Which is why she’s surprised when she receives a package. When she sees the name on the package, however, she realizes she really shouldn’t have been. 

She takes it back to her room, thankful to actually have it to herself for once, and makes quick work of unwrapping it. But when she sees what’s beneath the wrapping paper...

Her heart clenches. She doesn’t know what she’s feeling, she just knows she feels it a lot. It’s dumb, really. Some stupid childhood memory hardly ever thinks about. 

But Ari does. Ari always thinks the best of her.