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It’s a week away before Christmas comes around and Chloe has already decorated her apartment with Christmas ornaments and lights. Her daughter Trixie even cut out and created some colourful 3D shapes of Christmas balls, trees and snowmen for Chloe to hang them up from the ceiling in red ribbons. After setting up the green, decorated Christmas tree in the living room, Chloe knelt with her knees on the floor and carefully placed all of the Christmas presents around the bottom. All of the presents came in different sizes, half were for family and the other half were for friends. Mazikeen stood behind her, her body leaning against the wall, while watching Chloe organise the presents.
“I don’t get Christmas. It’s so tacky and… colourful” Maze cringed at the look of Christmas decorations spreading all over the apartment.
“Because it’s a time of being together as a family” Chloe lifted herself up and stood on her feet, then she joked, “I guess you never have Christmas in Hell.”
Chloe knows that Lucifer and Maze always tell her and others that they’re from Hell, Lucifer as the Devil and Maze being a demon. Of course, Chloe doesn’t take them seriously and thinks it’s just a persona for Lucifer to use to cover up something bad that happened to him in his life. Although Chloe sometimes wonders why Maze plays along.
Maze replied with a wicked grin, “Na, but if we want to unwrap something, we use our knives and weapons to unwrap the skin of the-”
“Okay, I get it. I get it” Chloe cuts in, so she wouldn’t get that disturbing image in her head.
The demon rolled her eyes and was about to walk away, until Chloe asked, “So, I’m guessing you don’t want your Christmas gift then?”
A sudden chill flew down Maze’s skin that forced her to stop moving and stuck her feet to the floor. Chloe didn’t realise the value in her words meant for Maze. No one has ever offered Maze a present before, well Lucifer has gifted the demon with new weapons and souls for her to torture, but nothing like this. The demons slowly turned around and revealed a puzzled look on her face, “You got me a gift?”
“Yeah” Chloe nodded.
“What’s in it?” Maze asked curiously.
But, Chloe wasn’t going to give up that easily and chuckled, “I can’t tell you that.”
“Then, I’ll open it” the demon marched towards the Christmas tree to end her curiosity.
“No!” Chloe stepped in her way.
“Why not? It’s my gift, I can open it” Maze complaint. She couldn’t understand the purpose of Christmas, but Maze couldn’t object if someone willingly handed her a present.
“You’re meant to open it on Christmas, as we all will do together” Chloe explained.
“Killjoy” annoyed, Maze snarled before walking away.
“You’re gonna thank me later!” Chloe yelled before Maze could leave the apartment, as an infallible smile grew on her face. Knowing that she is halfway through persuading her new friend to join the Christmas spirit.
Later on...
Late after midnight, when Chloe and Trixie were asleep, Maze sneaked out of her bedroom and tiptoed downstairs. The demon is especially good at sneaking around, but she wanted to be extremely quiet when coming to the dark living room because it’s next to Trixie’s bedroom. Successfully, Maze reached the Christmas tree and carefully searched for her present. She checked all the written labels until she found the one that had her name on it. A satisfied smile grew on Maze’s face as she started unwrapping her present and opened a wooden lid. Once, she opened the box, Maze’s smile dropped after finding out that it was empty inside.
“What the f-” she whispered.
Suddenly, a white light flashed on Maze’s face, making the demon flinch her fists and showing her an aggressive face. The white light shifted away from Maze’s face, revealing it to be a torchlight from an iPhone, which belonged to Chloe. She was standing in the dark, hiding in the darkest corner by the walls, just waiting for Maze to take the bait.
“Caught you red-handed” Chloe whispered.
“Where is my present? It’s empty” Maze hissed, not too loud so she wouldn’t wake up Trixie.
“I know. I wrapped an empty box because I knew you were going to unwrap it behind my back” Chleo confessed.
“So, you got me nothing?” the demon’s voice was tarred with disappointment and rage, but it also covered up that hint of sorrow. Maze never really had a gift before, let alone from someone she could call a friend. It shocks Maze that Chloe would ever offer her a gift out of friendship, making the demon think that perhaps the detective isn’t as bad as she expected. Now, Maze just wanna use her knives and use them on something… or someone.
“Oh no, you still have your presets. But, I’m gonna give you them on Christmas day as it should be” Chloe corrected her friend with a smug look.
“What… You got me more than one?” shock is the only expression that could register on Maze's face. The demon crossed her arms over her chest while looking more puzzled than ever, “Why?”
“Because, you’re my friend. And, I like to give my friends gifts for Christmas” Chloe offered a sweet smile. It was a surprise for Maze when she discovered Chloe had bought her a present, but it was a bombshell to learn that Chloe had more presents all wrapped up. Usually, this act of kindness would have made Maze throw up, but instead, it caused a lump in Maze's throat. Thinking, 'What kind of a friend am I stuck with?'
“Cool. Okay, I’ll wait” Maze pulled in her lips and tried to act unaffected by Chloe’s generosity. Gradually, the demon walked away before she looked back and quietly barked, “Don’t be expecting a thank you yet, Decker.”
Giggled, Chloe thought to herself, “Same old Maze.”