Alric paused--glanced aside, then back to Tiamaris--and although he smiled, still, it was a somewhat more puzzled expression. What about that wasn't clear?

"...ah. Well. Christmas was just over a month ago, after all. ...I suppose perhaps shirts would have been a more practical gift, but I thought that might have been rather too presumptuous, on my part..."

He smiled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"...or... are you accustomed to some... other sort of Christmas traditions, perhaps? I know the tendency to conflate Christmas and Saint Nicholas Day isn't universal."