The Horror and the Wild

IX. Spellbound

December 20, Sunday

"Hey, Dani," Owen said, waving the teenager over when he saw Dani slinking out of the kitchen after Mass with what was probably an ill-begotten snack.

Dani awkwardly attempted to hide the stack of cookies, solidifying Owen's suspicions, before giving up and walking over. "Brother Owen—"

Owen cut him off. "I don't care about the cookies. I'm not going to tell the Sisters. I was wondering if you wanted to help me with something."

Dani's demeanour instantly flipped from guilty dog to excited puppy. "Help you? With what?"

"Cillian invited me to his birthday tomorrow. But I have no idea what to get as a gift for someone who can have anything he wants."

Dani nodded solemnly. "Good point. Is he coming to Christmas dinner? We should get a gift for that, too. While we're out."

"Yeah, he's coming," Owen replied. "I'm just praying he wears something appropriate for Mass when he does."

"He's really respectful of other people's practices," Dani said. "I think he'll be fine."

Owen nodded. "Well, I'm going to go get changed into normal clothes and we can reconvene out front in ten minutes?"

"See you then," Dani replied brightly and Owen went upstairs to change.

He hoped Dani would know a bit more about the druid's tastes than he did. He kept trying to think of ideas as he changed. Food was always a safe bet, unless it involved avocados. He'd made the mistake of asking Cillian about that after Thanksgiving, and the ensuing rant had lasted at least ten minutes. Black clothes might also work, he supposed. Or shiny jewellery. It wasn't that he didn't know Cillian at all, just that he didn't know Cillian even half as well as he'd like to.

Dani was waiting for him when he got outside.

"So," Dani chirped. "What's your budget? I figure we could take my car and just do our Christmas shopping for everyone. I've saved up a good amount of money for it, this year."

"Um..." Owen shifted awkwardly. "Not a lot, honestly."

"That's fine," Dani said. "I can chip in a little if you need it. Come on."

Owen just followed after Dani, not quite sure how to feel about a teenager being more financially put together than he was at twenty-six. He climbed into Dani's car, and Dani turned on the radio.

"Any specific music requests?" he asked.

Owen shrugged, not really sure.

"I can play more of Cillian's music for you," Dani offered.

"Sure," Owen said. "I've heard him sing in person a few times and it's kind of unbelievable."

"I'd love to see him perform in person."