Chapter Text
Can do.
The way she saw it, she might as well be the designated Christmas emissary anyway. Kanaya was a troll; Jade grew up alone on a tropical island and probably absorbed all her knowledge of the season from holiday special episodes. If there was any one of them who had the power to save Christmas, or ruin it enough to be gloriously rescued as it deserved in the future, the mantle fell on Rose.
Naturally, she'd invited them both to her place. Conifers, frozen waterfalls, seven inches of snow with which to construct frosty eldritch terrors in the backyard--if there were any other ingredients she needed to alchemize the perfect quintessential Christmas, Rose didn't know it. Not that she had any particular predilection towards the holiday, but any traditions involving open flames were automatically out, so their festivities would sadly be free of kinaras or menorahs or yule logs.
... If she really had to be honest with herself, which she'd rather not whenever possible, she'd have to admit that her house was probably not that much of a fire hazard even with all the stashes of alcohol hidden around. But she couldn't give up the fight that easily. In any case, she'd been arming herself for this event for quite a while now. Half a year, to be precise. Only the most conscientious girlfriend prepared for winter gifts before the leaves even began to speculate on the possibility of falling in autumn. Rose could be proud of starting her presents in the dog days of July, when the closest thing you could get to snow were the ice cubes John and Jade shoved down everyone's shirts.
Of course, it wasn't easy coming up with the gift in the first place. What kind of Christmas present would it be if it was? She had to do some serious research in the matter to make up for the others' cluelessness. Kanaya was still learning the ropes when it came to multiculturalism and human customs; Jade might as well be an alien as well. The gift had to be sweet, but practical. It had to be gaggingly thoughtful, but not too overtly so. It had to be a product of her blood, sweat, and tears... or, Rose amended, perhaps just a few strategic all-nighters and a stress line or two on her brow when she hit 50.
She'd been rewatching quality Christmas present infomercials from a few years back when she found it, and immediately kick-started into scheming mode. While she could obviously alchemize it, what kind of person would she be to do something like that? Only the most high quality cashmere would be acceptable. Only the most eye-searing colors. Questions like 'is Kanaya at a high enough power level to understand the irony?' and 'how many yards of yarn would this thing even take to make?' were for lesser souls. She was doing this, she was making this happen.
The gifts had to be absolutely perfect.