001 // a very bear-y christmas

[cardcaptured]

Xiaolang Li shared a photo. 12/15 near Birch Hills

A general question: has anyone ever received something from Retrospec that was intended for somebody else? Or something you were certain WASN'T yours, even if the ticket said otherwise? Because I do have memories of a bear, but it definitely was not THIS one.

((pretend this bear is 100% handmade and doesn't have the Stieff logo or the name on it's foot, okay--))

Comments

[flowrite]

Ah, it's so cute!!

But to answer your question, I received something once that I didn't understand, and it wasn't until several weeks later that I realized what it was or why it was sent to me. So maybe you'll understand in time? (◠‿◠✿)

audio;

[promisedyou]

Maybe your past self was into beary adorable things, then.

[ B Y E ]

On a serious note, though... if you don't remember this bear now, maybe you'll remember it later? Do you like bears? Maybe you collected them!

[me_matey]

dont look a gift bear in the mouth

[keystaff]

The bear is so cute! Are those little wings?

[cornets]

You can have more than one bear in your life!

[cardcaptured]

I guess it is? It looks like it belongs more to Sunny than it does to me, though...

[And given their shared memories, it'd be more likely he'd wind up with something of hers than someone else's.]

What sort of thing did you wind up getting from them? If, um. You don't mind me asking, anyway.

[cardcaptured]

[YOU CAN JUST.... HEAR HIM. SQUINTING. SO JUDGEMENTALLY AT THAT.]

... Mio. PLEASE. This isn't the time. [But lbr, when are you ever up for puns, Xiaolang.....]

To be honest, I'm not even sure what my past self may have liked. All I really remember is wanting to collect some sort of cards to prevent some disaster, some boy with glasses and a classmate of mine being involved in the whole thing. [There was also fighting said classmate for the cards, and Fai's insistence that Xiaolang was her bodyguard, but he wasn't telling Mio that-- not yet, anyway] I mean... I do also remember looking at a bear too, but I'm positive it wasn't this one. It was green, and didn't have those weird little wings.

I don't know how this one can possibly be connected, though. There was another winged animal I recall too, but it was much uglier than this one.

[cardcaptured]

......... I thought I blocked you???

[DIDN'T RETROSPEC HAVE THAT FEATURE???]

[me_matey]

cant block the unblockable baybay

[cardcaptured]

Ah-- I guess so? I don't really think it's mine, but I didn't want to just leave it in the Retrospec mailbox, either.

But yeah, those are wings. I think they're... felt? Maybe? It's kind of soft and fuzzy, anyway. It looks handmade, from what I can tell.

[cardcaptured]

I'm fine without any, to be honest. They take up too much space.

[keystaff]

Oh. Well um. I mean, Christmas is coming up, so. If it isn't something you feel comfortable keeping maybe you could give it to someone else? If you don't want to just give it back to them.

It does look handmade. It must be very special, a lot of work must have gone into making this.

[cardcaptured]

Don't call me that.

[...seriously, where did they place the block button on here again??]

[me_matey]

so hey just so u know theres nothing wrong with being a dude and having stuffed animals

[cornets]

[Too much space?????]

Is it like one of those giant bears from fair game?

[cardcaptured]

Maybe I should... although I don't really know who I'd want to give this to in the first place. With all the work and care that went into it, it wouldn't feel right to give this to just anybody.

[He knew for a fact it wasn't Leon's style, and the bear was much too lovingly made to give to someone like Mio. He liked Li-Na well enough, but he wasn't sure if she liked bears either...

... and then it hit him like a brick.

Oh. Of course.]

Um, unless-- you want to have it? It looks like your sort of thing. With the pink and the wings and... all of that.

[promisedyou]

Lighten up a little bit, Xiaolang!

[ But if he's going to make this conversation more serious, she supposes that she can match him in text. It takes her a while to take this all in before she finishes her response. ]

Well, if you don't know what he liked, then I guess we can put that aside for now. But 'prevent some disaster' sounds pretty big. I don't know how much I'd believe it, but if they're correlated, they might be magic cards.

But onto the main point. Maybe the two bears aren't connected at all! If it says it was yours, maybe it was a gift from someone in your past life? Or maybe you made it for someone? They do say that teddy bears have a romantic implication as a gift, you know. Especially if it's either red or pink. ♥

[flowrite]

Why, because it's pink? I like pink things too. Lots of people like pink. Maybe it was a gift from someone?

It was a long strip of black cloth. I wore it wrapped around my wrist for a while, since the things we get from them are hard to put aside.

[keystaff]

Eh? Me? I wasn't meaning that. But it is cute. If you are sure you don't want it, I mean.

[If he was offering. She wasn't going to deny that the bear was adorable. Sakura just hadn't anticipated him doing so. But if he didn't want to keep it for some reason, she herself had said it could make a cute gift.]

[cardcaptured]

Ah, it's not that-- pink's not my favorite color, but I don't mind it, it's just-- it's the wings, and the style of it. It just seems a lot like her, that's all.[He frowns, unseen on the other side of the computer screen.] It looks handmade, though, so whoever made it must have put a lot of care into it. I just can't imagine who would go to that sort of effort for the me in my memories, though. [... Xiaolang YOU JUST SAID THE ANSWER BEFORE, how can you be so smart but this dense at times.]

[He pauses as he reads the last bit of Fai's message, though. A long strip of black cloth? That sounded familiar, but why would remembering it be signifigant--

--oh. OH.]

... is this the same cloth you wear as an eyepatch now? [He always thought it was weird that Fai never opted for something more sterile, but--]

[redarm]

whoa. talk about fluffy.

and yeah. i got this cat pillow that was meant for another guy at school.

[cardcaptured]

I don't need to lighten up. You need to stop making such painful jokes.

[He'd also say 'take things more seriously', but she seems to be doing that pretty well right now, so he'll keep quiet on that.]

Ugh. I really don't want to consider them being "magic", but there's too much there that's proving otherwise. My classmate has similar memories, about entering some kind of contract with that ugly stuffed animal I mentioned before, and it told her the same thing. It's possible it's all a ruse, and there IS no actual disaster, but... I seemed to take it pretty seriously, so it had to have some sort of weight to it. I haven't recalled anything about the cards themselves yet, either.

[His cheeks flush as he finally reads the last part of Mio's message, though, and he has to steel his hands from keysmashing all over the place before he finally replies. THANK GOD SHE CAN'T SEE HIM RIGHT NOW??]

Who could I have even made it for in the first place?? I was TEN in those memories, there's no way I could have had a

[--girlfriend? Boyfriend? Special someone? He didn't want to say, especially when talking to Mio of all people.]

It's not my handiwork. I can tell that much. Even if I did see it, I wouldn't go and add something like wings to it. It makes it too complicated.

[promisedyou]

Maybe you just have no sense of humor.

[ But moving along-- ]

But if you took it seriously, then the disaster must have been something huge. But even if you don't remember anything now, I guess you'll recall it in due time. Patience is key, I suppose.

Also, ten year olds can totally have crushes on people. There's this thing called a "childhood crush", after all. But if it's not your work, then maybe you didn't gift it to them... maybe it's the other way around? Someone gave it as a gift to you? I'm impressed, though! I bet that means that someone really liked you, Xiaolang.

[complementing]

aww, it's so cute!!

I got a pocketwatch from my other self's upperclassman. She'd found it and returned it to him, but when I got it here I just decided to give it to my boyfriend as a good luck charm

[roseblooms]

I did, sort of. That is to say, I've received something that I'm certain doesn't belong to me, but that I eventually realized I had a sort of...connection to, regardless.