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Duplicity Inbox

Martin is away from the phone right now. Pleas leave a message and he'll get back to you.

— Master Martin Blackwood, Beloved of Jonathan Sims,

A gift for the winter, to keep you warm.

In my home, we give gifts at the end of harvest - to keep us in good cheer all through the long dark to come. I think perhaps it shall come as a surprise to you, as it seems Master Sims as thought to deceive his kindness from me by pretending it was you that sent me gifts. But I found your company so wonderfully pleasant, I should dearly like to be a companion of yours, if you do not mind my own. So it seemed right to give you a gift just the same for this Harvest-Tidings. The wreath is usually given at midsummer, then they are kept until mid-winter when we burn them on the longest night to ward off bad omens for the new year.

In all regards, yours,
Gilia St. Loe, Daughter-Sea, She Who Sings the Ocean to Prosperity

[ With the note comes a box that has been carefully packaged, scented faintly with lavender and rosemary. On the top is the wreath of leaves, flowers and berries, bound together with twists of herbs and ribbons that make it faintly sweet, with how it has all been carefully dried. Below it is the main gift itself. A black scarf scarf of the same silk she made Jon's vest and the same silk thread embroidery upon it. Ornate and vibrant to the last. ]

[Martin is not expecting any deliveries, and certainly not gifts, so it comes as a surprise when this arrives. It's beautifully wrapped, and the gift is... it's lovely. And looks valuable. People don't give him gifts like this, he's never- It's a lot. He almost wants to write back and ask if Gilia is sure she's got the right person. But the note is very clear.]

Gillia I- I don't know what to say! This is really lovely! I've never seen something as pretty as this. Did you embroider it? I don't know anything about embrodiery really, but it looks amazing.

Jon is very sweet, but he's bad at showing it. I think he expects people to make fun of him if he shows it, so that doesn't surprise me.

I'm- do you want to get tea or something sometime?

-Martin