Ehla snapped out of her nap when sharp, bright laughter came from the room her little closet was connected to. Her first instinct was to scramble up, but instead she just flinched and wiggled in place for a moment, her heels scraping on the floor unable to find purchase for the moment.

It had been a good nap, the kind that really let her forget whatever she was taking a break from. But waking up and immediately finding herself tightly wrapped up in ribbons reminded her of her plan very quickly.

The need to stretch was unbearable and her mouth was uncomfortably dry, but she would't stay like this much longer. Judging by the voices coming through the door, the others were already there and she just needed to wait for Beki to come find her. Ehla shifted a little to sate her desire for movement and her tail batted the floor impatiently.

"...seen Ehla? ...only one... ...here earlier..."

She could only somewhat make out what the others were talking about on the other side of the door. She definitely recognised Amice's voice, the laughter that had woken her up must have been Mimira, and Reinbryda's melodic yet firm tone was unmistakable. That accounted for about half of them. Was Beki not there yet? Did they not start opening presents?

A slight miscalculation made itself apparent. What if they were waiting for her before opening anything? She couldn't very well be there until Beki came to find her present. In that way, they would be in a stalemate. A rather sad stalemate, in which her friends would be sad and annoyed and she would be stuck in her ribbons.

Ehla tried to find some purchase with her heels, not to push herself back this time, but to drag herself forward, to try and get closer to the doors and hear the others more clearly. Fortunately, the thick dress she was sitting on would easily slide over the floor. Unfortunately, she barely moved and ilm before feeling a strict tug at her arms and torso, accompanied by a quiet rattling.

She extended her fingers behind her and just about felt the base of the vertical metal bar that was one of the legs of the shelf she was leaning against. Turning her wrists a bit and reaching upwards, her fingertips could feel over the ribbons binding her wrists, the fancy little bow, and how they looped around the leg of the shelf.

Ah. She leaned forward, but didn't get very far, evidently tied to the shelf itself for the entire length of her arms. She definitely didn't instruct the ribbons to do all that. Or was that one of the subconscious details that had slipped in? Maybe an additional measure added when they tightened on her for trying to escape?

They certainly didn't react now, though. The magick she had poured into them was almost certainly spent. Still, she couldn't exactly get closer to the door this way. Come to think of it, untying her would also be a pain, if Beki had to bend over and around her to even get at the knots. She would practically have to sit on her lap to even attempt to free her.

No, no, on second thought, that was a great addition.

Still not very helpful to her right now, though, with no one aware where she even was. Ehla considered raising her voice, indicating where she was with some muffled shouts. But that would ruin the surprise, wouldn't it? If she obviously sounded gagged already? Maybe the gag had been a bad idea.

"...start without her..." "...poor Beki..."

Ehla quickly searched the floor before the doors and spotted her sceptre, lying not too far ahead of her. She stretched out her legs and tried to tap her toes or her heels on it to try and drag it closer. Her heels hit the floor right in front of it instead, so she sidled forward as far as the ribbons would let her, stretching her legs like she was trying to do callisthenics, and carefully tried to lower her heels onto the polished wood. For a moment, she made contact, but the sceptre slid away from under her boot, clattering further away and outside her reach.

Ehla let out an annoyed grunt and rolled her eyes, slumping back. She stared up at the ceiling for a moment, then let her eyes wander, searching the shelves above her. And, thanks to her eyesight and some good luck, she spotted something else useful on one of the boards just above her; a pair of scissors, lying just at the edge.

Ehla wasn't an idiot, nor was she ever a bad student, but one trait that friends and professors alike would always hold over her was that she never really thought things through enough. If she saw a problem, the first potential solution was the one to go for, other options or consequences could be worked out later.

With her arms and torso so tightly bound to the shelf, she couldn't shoulder-check the furniture, but her legs - though bound together - still had a good bit of movement range. So she lifted them up and swung them to the side, hitting the shelf with her boots and, unfortunately, also her knees, sending a dull pain through them. But the shelf was rattling, so she was definitely accomplishing something.

Deciding to spare her knees another bruise, she instead pulled her legs in and aimed for the other shelf leg she could see, kicking forward against it and making the whole thing rattle again. Looking up for progress, she was delighted to see the scissors having shifted over the edge a bit more, teetering. She lightly pushed her heels against the shelf, making it shudder and watching the scissors slowly ilm past the edge... and start to fall right towards her.

She flinched and reflexively turned her face away, shutting her eyes and folding her ears down. The scissors hit the top of her head, then bounced off of her chest, and clattered onto the floor next to her, near her hips. Now she'd just have to try and bump it towards her hands somehow, get a somewhat secure grip on it and cut the ribbon on her wrists.

... And then what? Unless she suddenly became a contortionist, she still wouldn't be able to reach the other bindings on her arms. Just as she got annoyed with herself with that oversight, Reinbryda's voice caught her attention again, but much closer and clearer this time.

"Oh, what do you want to bet she's hiding in here?"

Ehla looked up to the doors. On the one hand, she was glad that someone caught on. On the other hand, it was supposed to be Beki who would find her. But before she could decide whether to try and stop her, Reinbryda opened the closet, letting ample candlelight into the narrow little chamber.

Framed by the light, the Roegadyn student looked taller than ever, though maybe that was also thanks to Ehla's seated position on the floor. She was still wearing her uniform, but had swapped the capelet out for a warmer mantle. She stared down at Ehla for a moment, before sighing.

"Aye, no surprise here, really. You two are the same kind of fool, as ever." She looked aside, into the room. "Good news, Beki, I found your present."

"Huh, no way!?" Mimira's shrill voice sounded and her hurried little steps came closer until she poked her head around the edge of the door, topped with a long red cap, ending in a large white pom-pon. "Oh, Scholar's butt, she actually did it!" She cackled and slipped out of Ehla's view just as quickly.

She knew this would be embarrassing, but she had hoped more for amused eye-rolling than the sighs and mocking laughter she was getting. Still, maybe Beki would still appreciate the thought. She looked up at Reinbryda and pleaded with muffled sounds as she tugged at the ribbons binding her to the shelf.

"Oh, typical, you can't get up on your own." Reinbryda shook her head and stepped inside the closet, crouching down to help her up, before noticing how interlaced she was with the furniture. "How and why did you even do all this?" she asked while picking up the scissors and quickly cutting her free, at least from where she was fixed to the shelf.

Rein stood her up and Ehla breathed a short sigh of relief. She still couldn't stretch, but her butt had really started getting sore from sitting in the same spot the whole time. "Well, come on. Your gift is waiting for you, too." Rein put the scissors back on the shelf and just left the closet again, leaving Ehla to make the way out by herself.

Honestly, she didn't have a plan to leave by herself. Maybe she was hoping that Beki would unwrap her right here, or carry her out, but more likely she just didn't think that for ahead. Still, it wasn't difficult in theory. She shifted her weight a little bit, leaned and then went for a little hop, managing to move a few ilms forward.

With her tail still free, she didn't have too much difficulty holding her balance, as long as she took progress hop by hop, her heels making noise on the floor each time. But after a few good hops, she had made it to the closet door and another one got her into the room proper.

The room was bathed in candlelight from all sides, some standing on the table, others levitating near the doors and higher up on the walls. Her friends were all gathered near the table. Mimira was looking over at her, still snickering with a box of cookies on her lap. Amice and her girlfriend Sofine were sitting down and distributing food across everyone's plates. Meanwhile, Reinbryda stood next to the chair in front, gesturing at it with now noticeable amusement in her expression.

"Congratulations, you two really deserve each other."

Beki was seated on the chair, her long dark hair resting perfectly on her shoulders. She had opted for a similarly all-out costume as Ehla, but notably more daring. Instead of a dress, her red and white outfit was split into a tight, short skirt and a thinner top, keeping her midriff bare. Besides short booties, her legs were clad in fishnets, through which Ehla could see her black scales trailing up her legs and contrasting with her pale skin.

A big ribbon adorned Beki's chest, from which hung the name card bearing Ehla's own name in her own handwriting. The ribbon wrapped around her torso and upper arms a few times, tying her to the backrest of the chair. Similarly, ribbons wound around her lower arms and wrists, tying them down to the armrests, and her ankles were tied to the legs of the chair. Additional ribbons adorned the end of her tail and one of her forward-curving horns.

For a moment, both of them stared at each other, before Beki's stunned expression broke, somewhat, as she quickly pressed her lips together to try and stifle a laugh, resulting in a barely suppressed giggle, her body trembling.

Ehla let out a cheerful muffled hum, quickly resuming her hops towards Beki, now just as eager to get to her own present. Reinbryda saw mercy about halfway, walking over to just pick her up and bring her the rest of the way, sitting her down on the Au Ra's lap.

"L-looks like we had the same gift idea," Beki finally managed to say after calming down.

"Mmh-hm!" Ehla shifted in place a bit and leaned on Beki's shoulder. She was still sore and desperately needed to stretch, but for now she was more than content.

"I... ended up asking Sofine for help. But... nobody knew you were here, so... did you do all this by yourself?"

Ehla closed her eyes and relaxed. She hummed, happy to explain her process, but also unable to do so.

"And... why did you gag yourself?"

"Hmm..." Why did she do that? It just seemed like a key part of the package, but now that she saw Beki's far more sensible restraints, maybe she overdid it a little.

"Oh well, I guess that means she doesn't want any cookies!" Mimira exclaimed, snickering again at the protesting growl Ehla let out, snapping her eyes open to glare at the Lalafell.

"All's well that end's well. I guess," Amice said in an attempt to bring some focus back to everyone, as she stood up with her mug. "Happy Starlight Celebration, everyone. Even if we seem to have gotten away from the normal traditions a little bit."

Ehla held still while Rein undid the gag, then sank against Beki again. And as the Au Ra's head came to carefully rest on her shoulder as well, she couldn't help but think that it was as good a celebration as she could have asked for.

Even if she definitely made it a little weird.