Gift giving!

The UK Elite had left the door open, and it had been written in the letter that they had done so. John turned his head when the door opened and revealing that the Takeuchi siblings had entered the luxurious abode of Ryan, the young man stood up and promptly said "Hey guys! Good to see ya."

"Heya!" Lucy said, she was sitting at the table of Mr Knight. Her legs up on the table, normally this would earn the ire of her Brother. But the young man was still looking at the chess board when suddenly......

"John I will move my rook here, and that's checkmate. Good game though." Ryan said as he moved his piece and then promptly stood up and batted the artist on the back. The artist turned around and looked at the board and then promptly sighed. Mr Knight proceeded without missing a beat and said "John boy why don't you fetch the gifts hm?"

The master of creation grunted and then proceeded to move towards the giant holiday tree to get the gifts of the Takeuchi siblings, meanwhile Mr Knight would move to the pair. "Mr Daisuke. Ms Ami." Ryan would politely shake the hand of Mr Takeuchi and being the British gentleman he was with Ami he would kiss her hand and go on to state "Has the year been favourable to you both then?"

Daisuke and Ami entered the estate, much like their own it was quite luxurious and unique. They were greeted by John first, the siblings only gave a nod of approval to his greeting before Ami and Daisuke stared at Lucy, who was striking a rather inappropriate pose for a lady.

"Right. Hello to you as well" Daisuke said as he moved on towards the main host. He greeted Daisuke and then Ami, kissing her hand as she replied by doing a formal courtsy. "The year has been alright for me, I think we're making progress" Daisuke explained before Ami continued "Oh yeah for sure, things are going quite smoothly indeed and whatabout yourself? " she asked.

Mr Knight liked to be polite in his interactions with others, partly because it was required of him and also because he enjoyed doing so. With Ami it got him that really cute courtesy too, which prompted a nice smile from the handsome Brit. Ryan was looking every bit like the jolly santa, minus the fat belly of course.

Lucy simply smirked at the Takeuchi siblings, but she was feeling a bit lazy right now so she was just content to loaf about. She wasn't leaning back on her chair this time though, not after the whole debacle yesterday when John had recently waxed the floor.

"Ah things are steady, still holding them tag title belts and defending them. That said there's been thorns in our side by the name of Sion and Daisuke Kamiya, I believe you've ran in with them in the past. Then there was some random team that talked shit about us a while back, ain't seen them since though. No matter, it will all be dealt with in the new year. A resolution if you will. Still no dwelling on that for now, John boy you procured the gifts for our guests yet?" Ryan said as he made some minor hand gestures while he spoke, he was nothing if not a good speaker.

John poked his head up and said "Yeppers. Right here." the artist had two large wrapped up gifts with one held in each arm. Mr Carnaby would hand one to Ami and the other to Daisuke and say "Ms Ami we got you a custom and tailor made dress, from the same makers who make dresses for a friend of ours by the name of Eliza Harenwood. And for you Mr Takeuchi we got you something that will keep you warm in the cold for years to come, a trench coat from those who have created my own. Again tailored to your measurements."

Ami giggled and winked at Ryan, which prompted Daisuke to clear his throat and slightly nudge his sister to make her mind her manners. "Whaa?! I was just having some fun" she chuckled before Ryan began to explain how his year had been, just as they did before.

"Ah yes, I've wrestled Sion a couple of times in my early day's. Kid's not that bad but he's not that too good either but Daisuke- erm the girl one- not me, better watch out for her." Daisuke added on, slightly embarrassed at sharing a name with a girl.

Daisuke and Ami seemed quite content with their gifts, with Ami placing the dress next to her body and spinning around, squealing a bit in surprise and happiness while Daisuke nodded in approval at the coat, keeping it folded over his arm instead of draping it over his shoulder.

"Right then, its been a pleasure. I think it's time we take our leave, your other guests must be waiting- until next time!" Ami waived to all three members of the UKE as the two siblings prepared to take their leave.

Mr Knight frowned slightly at the mention of Daisuke, the girl of course. Ryan wondered if there was any sort of official way to tell that blonde chick and the Takeuchi apart, probably just use the sirname too or something like that. Regardless the young man hadn't forgotten what occurred the last time Sion and Dai fought the British team, but still that was for another time and this time was his favourite.

With the gifts given the Takeuchi's departed from the apartment of Ryan, he gave a theatrical bow to the pair and said "Toodle loo. Till next we meet~" John meanwhile simply smiled and waved politely. He could leave the hammy stuff to his boss, who could chew the scenery and devour it when he wanted to. Lucy simply snickered.

The next two people on the list of the paragon of Britain was Yamato and Mariko Ishii, a pair of Japanese siblings who Ryan and John faced at the finals of the Tension tag tournament. It was a hard fought affair with Mr Knight becoming bloodied in the process, but that then and the pair had earned the respect of Ryan and John. So it was a no brainer to send them an elaborate letter with elegant handwriting to give the UK Elite's address and to come on down.

“I still don’t get why we’re doing this.” a somewhat pouty Mariko Ishii said to her brother, who was seated right next to her. Mariko was wearing a white jacket and a purple scarf, along with black leggings pants and matching boots. Yamato was dressed in a pair of jeans, with a black jacket and AFW t-shirt, and a pair of running shoes. The siblings were riding in the back of a taxi, which was taking them to the home of none other than Ryan Knight, outspoken leader of the United Kingdom Elite and one half of the Tension Tag champs. They’d received a letter from Mr. Knight recently that, long story short, had been an invitation for Mariko and Yamato to drop by for a visit. Yamato thought it’d be fun to catch up with them. Mariko...wasn’t quite on the same page there.

“Oh come on, don’t be like that. They just want to chat and catch up.” Yamato replied. “Then wouldn’t a quick phone call or something have been enough?” Mariko fired back, though her brother knew what the issue really was. “Hey, you really need to stop over thinking about what happened in that match.” he said, keeping his voice calm but firm. “We all went out there and gave it everything we had. It just wasn’t our night. It’s not worth holding a grudge like that.”

“I know...” his sister relented, sighing and closing her eyes as she rubbed her fingers in small circles over her temples. “I’m sorry. I’ll be nice, I promise. Just... can we at least try to make it quick?”

“Well, guess that depends on why they wanted to see us. But sure. We won’t stay longer than we need to. Alright?” he said, and Mariko gave a nod in response. “Alright.”

The taxi soon came to a stop outside an apartment complex. Yamato paid the driver as the two stepped out, and they then made their way to the apartment listed in the letter Ryan had sent them. “Should be riiiiight.... here.” Yamato said, stopping at the door, with Mariko standing close behind him. The older Ishii raised his fist and knocked on the door, then waited for a response.

In the room of Mr Knight there was a few computers, and to pass the time the UK Elite had done a number of let's play youtube videos. Ryan had been going over the video footage that had been gathered for their Dawn of War playlist, he preferred to crop out the loading times. One battle was already long enough.

A knock on the door got his attention and Ryan quickly stepped out his bedroom and shut the door to it, making sure to stick his santa hat and beard back on. He never forgot to maintain his appearance, even if this wasn't exactly formal wear he had to admit he looked like a pretty fit Santa. John quickly made his way to the door and promptly opened it and stuck his head out, unlike Ryan he removed his elf hat and ears. No way was he sticking that on anymore, the artist swore it made him itch. Lucy must have stuck power in them.

"Ah Ms Mariko Mr Yamato! Please come in!" John stated with a happy smile as he opened the door for them. The main living room of the apartment was like that of a scenic Santa grotto, Mr Knight spared no expense in making it lavish complete with crackling fireplace.

"Why hello there! It's a pleasure to see you both again! Lucy could you be a dear and get the gifts?" Ryan said as he walked to the Ishii siblings, offering a respectful handshake to the pair of them before looking at his adoptive Sister.

"Howdy folks! Sure I'll get em...." Lucy said, she had been crossing her legs on the study desk before she got off her arse to mosey on over to the very large tree in the corner of the apartment.

"So then while my Sis is off there, has the year been keeping fine for the pair of you my friends? Things haven't been really dull you could say for us." Ryan said with a smile as he ran a hand down the fake beard he had.

When the door opened, Yamato immediately gave a friendly smile. “Hey there, John! Thanks for having us.” “Yeah, thanks.” Mariko added, and the two stepped into the apartment. As they looked around it was clear the Christmas spirit was alive and thriving in this place, and nothing made that more clear than the appearance of Ryan Knight himself, which briefly drew perplexed expressions from Mariko and Yamato.

“Gifts..?” Mariko asked in confusion, shooting Yamato a questioning glance, as if asking if he knew what Ryan and Lucy were talking about. But he was clearly just as surprised by it all as his sister.

Their attention shifted back to Ryan when he spoke again. “Well, sorta.” Yamato answered with an awkward chuckle. “It was our first year as professional wrestlers, and that kind of feels surreal, you know? But it’s been a roller coaster of a year, that’s for sure.” he said, and Mariko just gave a silent nod, electing not to elaborate on that. Issues with the Valkyries in particular had been quite a rough patch to deal with, though that aside, the year had been filled with a plethora of wonderful moments as well.

“And how’s life treating you guys?” Mariko chimed in.

Ryan wasn't surprised by the perplexed expressions of the Ishii siblings, given that he looked like a very fit Santa Claus. Usually Mr Knight was donned in very expensive suits as befitting his stature, this however called for a certain change of attire as it was the merry holiday. The favourite of the young Brit, so it only made sense to Ryan to dress as he did so.

Mariko seemed a bit confused by what Ryan had meant by gifts, Ryan didn't comment on it however. It was mentioned in the letter was it not? John had even proof read it and everything, but maybe the handwriting was a bit too elegant. No matter.

"First year huh? I can relate there my friend, when me and Lucy were just starting out and fighting in street clothes. Man....Well our year's been pretty darn good, there was that really epic match we had of course. And I helped my girlfriend track down her older Brother too, he was in Russia and was a detective it turns out." Ryan said, instead of being the formal and polite chap he usually was Mr Knight was being quite jovial and casual at this point. It was a side that not many people knew of to be honest.

John nodded and chimed in with "Yeah things have been good with the title belts, we've been having these really great matches with two people called Sion and Daisuke. And it's Kamiya not the Takeuchi one. And there's some group called Sem or something that talked shit about us, but meh ya know? Haters gonna hate~ Lucy you got the gifts?" the artist turned his head around to the big tree where the raindeer girl was at.

"Yep! Right here!" Lucy said as she stood up with a couple of wrapped presents, one in each hand and the British girl walked to the Ishii siblings with them and would then hand said gifts to them.

"We had a good think about what to give the pair of you, and we came up with this. Mariko we've heard you like Jazz, I'm more of a classical man and John likes rock. But nevertheless we got a few albums for you that I'm sure you'll find pretty darn good. Songs for Quintet by the recently passed Kenny Wheeler. The Centennial Collection with Billie Holiday and Past Present with John Scofield and a few others there off the top of my head." Ryan said with a smile and a ran hand through his fake santa beard.

Mr Carnaby then said to Yamato "For you pal I got some HD Akira Kurosawa flicks, some of the best too like the seven samurai. Rashomon, To Live and Yojimbo. Seen them myself, some nice movies they are." John gave a smiling nod after he said that.

The Ishiis probably would’ve known about the gifts if not for one little problem. Yamato was the only one who’d actually read it. And while they were fluent English speakers, much of the language used in the letter had gone right over Yamato’s simple head. He’d gathered that Ryan was inviting them for some sort of visit, but that was all that stuck, and that’s what he’d relayed to Mariko, who now felt uncomfortable about the fact that they didn’t have anything to give Ryan or John. Well, nothing they could do about it at the moment.

“Russia, huh? That must’ve been quite an interesting little journey.” Mariko remarked. She tried to tune John out as he talked about how exciting their reign as tag champions had been, though some of the names he mentioned not only grabbed her attention, but brought a slight grin to her lips. “Sion and Daisuke, you say? This one right here’s become rather familiar with them recently. Got inducted into their little club and everything. Isn’t that right, Yamato-kun?” she said, giving her brother a little nudge with her elbow.

“Heh. Yeah, kinda. I’ve actually been dating Lita for a little while now.” Yamato replied with a sheepish chuckle. Then Lucy’s voice drew both of their attention. And when the girl returned with a pair of presents, Mariko and Yamato gave polite bows while taking them.

“Thank you. But really, you shouldn’t ha--” “Thank you!” Yamato blurted out, cutting his sister off, and was already starting to tear into the rapping. Mariko just chuckled and shook her head, then began doing the same as Ryan explained what hers was. Her eyes widened in surprise, not just because of the gift she’d been given, but because of how thoughtful it was. And the fact that she didn’t have any of these albums yet was a bonus. For a moment, she was almost speechless. “Wow, I... Thank you, really. I don’t even know what to say...”

And right next to her, Yamato’s eyes were lighting up like fireworks and smiling like a fool as he saw the collection of Kurosawa’s masterful films in his hands. “Oh my god! This is AMAZING! Thank you guys so much!” he exclaimed joyfully. “I’m so sorry we didn’t come with anything for you. But we’ll think of a way to make it up to you.” Mariko chimed in.