"Sure," she says brightly. She takes the candy cane back to unwrap it, then sets it next to his bowl of eggnog so he can sample it at his leisure.

The K'da's reaction to the eggnog gets an amused smile out of Caspar. "Yeah, for me, too." The sweet, acidic taste of his cider is far preferable. "That's strictly a seasonal beverage."

Adia takes a sip of her peppermint-laced hot chocolate and tries not to watch Faris with too cute of an expression on her face. He reminds her far too much of a large cat lapping up a bowl of cream. "Oh, by the way," she says, "I got you something for the holidays." In all the excitement of freeing him from the mistletoe, it had nearly slipped her mind. "It's a book of poetry, one of the longest in my people's history, a legendary account of a famous war on Kobol. But I wasn't sure if you could bring back a book with you, so I can send it to you electronically instead?"

It doesn't feel as meaningful, to give a gift over email, but she wants Faris to enjoy his present, and not be handed something that would turn into more of a burden.