[zapdragon555]

Hermey's sunny grin dropped off his face at the mention of allergies, a worried frown wobbling over his face. "Oh, really? Hmm... I might actually have some Benadryl on me..." he began patting down his jacket, then blinked in realization. "Course, it would put you right to sleep, so... maybe not. Uh, if you start feeling sniffley, let me know and we can get out of here."

He hoped that that would be enough; carrying chewable allergy pills had its perks when working at the orphanage. Sometimes the dust in there was just terrible, or a kid would have a food allergy reaction, and well... it had become something of a comfort thing to Hermey, to just have them on-hand. He eyed the light pink color to Joseph's cheeks, his brow furrowing a little further. Surely he'd mention something if he was really starting to have a bad reaction... right?

Hermey trotted after him, a bit fretting in his fluttering step, but soon fell into something a little more relaxed as he moved through the maze. Or if not relaxed, then wonderstruck. "Hm? Oh!" he perked up with a grin, nodding with a sheepish laugh. "I'll be our eyes. You keep on the lookout for any white rabbits down there. You never know if those are rabid or not..."

His jest trailed off as he spotted what looked like a sign. All of them had somewhat cryptic wording on them, but this one... it seemed like the right direction. "This way!" he exclaimed, motioning where the sign was pointing and trotting down that way. "I think... oh, yeah! It's right up ahead! Maybe the roses will end here, too..."

[Advent Day 3]

[amanda784]

As time went on Nala began to feel herself slowly sway with the music. After all, music was her favorite part about parties. Nala loved to dance and this music was perfect for dancing. Something about it was magical and new. It wasn't long before Nala was letting the rhythm of the music guide her body. What used to come naturally now came in awkward movements for Nala. Her pregnant stomach made every move just a little more tense than usual. Nala laughed at herself and her clumsy movements for a moment. Then, she moved with both the music and her new body shape in smooth motions. Nala surprised herself on how quickly she was able to adapt her dancing to fit her new shape. She smiled at herself. It was good to be at a party again.

[Jaykobell]

The Fenref started to snarl, their lips curling menacingly. A low growl rumbled deep in their throat.

"No?" the Nonaga said, and they brought the food to their mouth, consuming it without giving it a second thought. "Why not, my dear?"

The Fenref gave no answer. They sat down, resigned, as they looked around them. There were countless creatures and people here, making the air stink.

Only the disgusting eating sounds of the Nonaga clearly echoed around him, beyond the horrendous noise of the party guests. "My dear," the Nonaga said eventually, "I do understand this universe was not the kindest to us, but perhaps not all creatures are malevolent?" They tried another food, positively raiding the table.

[Day 3]

[ToxicShadow]

Ryo gave a quiet, "Hm" of acknowledgement to Prosper's answer to his question. "If you do feel cold, let me know." He wouldn't hesitate to hand over his coat or anything else, should the other man even possibly need it. He could withstand the cold just fine, but Prosper wasn't there yet.


As Prosper pointed something out, Ryo's eyes shifted to follow along, and he soon nodded his head. "For the last few years, there has been a person that hosts a huge party around this time that lasts several days long. They give gifts away each day, serve a lot of food, and usually have other attractions." While he hadn't ever attended before, Ryo tended to know about these sort of happenings, at least. He heard that the theme of the party had changed each year, so far, but had yet to hear about the specifics of this one.

"Do you want to go take a look?"

[FrostWynd]

Why in the world did they have to come to a place like this? It was even more crowded than that old well, and as a whole was far more of a cramped space in comparison! At least over there it was all happening outside! Even with the decorations here making it seem that way, this was absolutely not the outdoors, and was bothering the dog a great deal as they just finished making their way through the maze. So much was going on, and it made things difficult for him to relax as he tried his hardest to stay by the small winged girl who was seemingly making it her mission to wander off into the party.

She was very excited about by all the new and interesting sights, and thought the maze was quite fun, even if it was a bit confusing a couple times! It wasn't long before her pale colored eyes caught sight of what looked to be a game, with hammers and balls and stuff. Before she could go running off though, she'd feel something holding her back by her sleeve, and she'd turn to see Mr. Doggy was stopping her. "Mr. Doggy? What's wrong?" She'd kind of started picking up certain habits from him, and would tilt her head to one side curiously, wondering what he was up to.

[Adelie]

And that was it. Honestly, it was nothing out of the ordinary - it was simply a mirror of half the conversations he had with Fischer on a regular basis. The other half were invitations to parties like these, of course. On second thought, he really should've learned to decline them by now.

But try as he might, he couldn't really bring himself to reject his friend. Call it the power of childhood friends, or accumulated Stockholm syndrome from long years spent dealing with him, or something. Or maybe, somewhere deep in his heart of hearts, he recognized that he did need to go outside and socialize every so often, and this was as good a way of accomplishing it as any.

Whatever. Either way, he was here. Fischer would be here, eventually - whenever that was.

For now, he just had to entertain himself. Maybe eat a few cookies or imbibe in the chocolate fountain, if he could make it there without being crushed by a stray partygoer. Maybe strike up a conversation if he was feeling really daring. Maybe.

[crow]

Prosper nodded, eyes still on the building, until Ryo began to explain what it was. When he heard the explanation, Prosper thought that it rather raised more questions than answers, but none of it seemed dangerous, so he was content to let it go for now.

As for the question of whether Prosper wanted to attend a party... "To be honest, I don't know," he said, but ponderously, rather than with trepidation. "I haven't... been to a party in a long time." Did he like loud noises, he wondered; had he liked crowds? These were questions to which he no longer had answers.

But he could find out. "I'd like to try it, I think," he concluded. "If you... wouldn't mind." He snuck a sidelong glance at Ryo, still too shy to look at him directly, but the gaze was an invitation, and also an offer of its own.

[Jaden Wolf]

"I can't believe you talked me into coming here," muttered the younger twin, "this is ludicrous."
"Oh come on," replied the elder, flinging his arm conspiratorially over his brother's shoulder. " 'tis the season, bro! Live a little!"

The two were an odd pair. One - Reese - had an ethereal, almost supernatural beauty to him, but was dressed in the most garishly festive outfit he could find. The other - Chance's - appearance, pale in comparison but still very handsome, stood out in that he was dressed in a dapper outfit more suited to a high-class business meeting than a seasonal tavern.

Regardless, it was clear to anyone who overheard them (and anyone who even saw them) which brother was more into the festivities. Reluctantly, Chance did allow Reese to pull him through the alleged "maze" to find a seat. Neither batted an eyelash at the choice of decor.

"Tell me they at least serve wine," Chance grumbled.

[Kitsumi]

With his cookie safely encased in a napkin in his hand, Xen headed towards one of the oddly shaped tables. He still understand why they looked like giant tea cups and saucers, but he wouldn't worry about that now. Once he had smelled the sweet aromas coming from the table where he had gotten his cookie, the alien had realized just how hungry he was. He only hoped that the cookie would taste as good as it looked and smelled.

Taking his seat, he nibbled one end of the cookie. It was very sweet, almost overwhelmingly so... and yet somehow, that worked? It tasted incredible, and he found himself practically inhaling the sweet before he could help himself.

(Advent day 4)

[Lunch]

As more newcomers made their way inside, what the Shielupe realized now was a tavern, he decided that he hadn't fully entered into all the festivities. With a huff, he shifted just a bit to give himself room..to change. He moved out of the way and hid behind a panel to morph into a more human-like form. Well, it was a human form. It was a shame he had to give away his true, animal form, but he was new to this area, so he figured nobody would notice in the slightest. They weren't paying attention to him now and that was a relief in of itself.

The change didn't take long and where there were four legs, now there were two. His feet were covered in the finest of dress shoes and as he moved out from behind the panel, a man appeared. His attire was the finest of suits, jet black in color, pressed and trimmed to look his best. His skin was a slightly tanned color with an even darker head of hair, styled to perfection and the hint of actual waves could be seen. He was prodigious in his walk, hands coming up to adjust the beautiful, shimmering sheen-looking red tie against his neck. The only other hint of red was the color in his eyes as he scanned over the crowd again before making his way back to the maze in front of the doorway.

It was a simple little thing and with his built in technology, he recorded the event for his Master. It was a simple, fun little thing, but he did say to record whatever he could out of the situation. This just happened to be a part of it.

As he finished, he made sure not to bump into the woman who was dancing by herself. When he looked back, he frowned a bit, but his look softened when he noticed the pregnant belly upon the lady. Waves of memories flashed before him, and he quickly had to look away. His focus was on the tables now, filled with all kinds of festive foods. Maybe grabbing a little bite to eat would dissolve the past memories that seemed to want to invade him. Now, he was worried it would summon 'that thing'.

[GrayGriffin]

With the Lunafly on high alert, Bonbon and Aster had to tone down their game just a tad. Normally she would be less strict on them if they weren't using any actual magic to get their hits in, but with her in a bad mood they figured they'd better play it safe.

As they continued on with their game the best they could, some of the lights hanging around began to shift, and slowly coiled around in the air before coalescing into a solid form.

"Whew!" muttered the voice. "Man, that took a lot out of me! What are these two bunny boys up to now, hm?"

"Nothing, miss!" called Aster, waving cheerfully. "Just enjoying this Christmas party!"

"Ooooh, a party, huh? Then why are you out?"

"I...made a mistake in my detections. But then I figured I should be here to supervise nonetheless."

The Bandol chuckled. "Aw, don't be so stuffy. Come on, go check out that snack table! I'll keep an eye on them for you."

[Freezair]

Ancient castles? Ancient castles holding arcane celebrations? Tally-ho! This was something he simply HAD to investigate!

Alright... so he knew it wasn't really an ancient castle. It was simply something set up for the Advent Calendar event. But he did have to wonder however did they do it? They seemed to set up such things overnight! And that was a mystery worth invesigating!

If nothing else, Tristan knew that if he went, there would be sweeties and pretty decorations. And that was reason enough to go!

He stuck a pair of stuffed antlers to his pith helmet, donned a red nose, and sallied forth. To the Advent Calendar!

[Isalynne]

That was sweet. Joseph had to chew on the inside of his cheek to stop himself giving into the grin that kept threatening - everything Hermey did was infuriatingly endearing. Ever since the beginning, he’d been determined to be irritated by the man’s quirks, but instead found himself fond and mooning and enamoured.

It was ridiculous. He sniffed his tingling nose hard.

“Sure you’re not the white rabbit? Being late and all?” Though it was a typical jab from him, it had no malice behind it; just a soft, playful tease, accompanied by a quirk of a lip. “Is this real? Am I actually tripping?”

Ah, the end was in sight! Joseph scurried along the path as fast as possible to avoid more clumps of roses, but the pollen had already gotten to him, and it at last came to a head in a... not-at-all thunderous sneeze. A little squeak of a noise was caught in the crook of his elbow.

[amanda784]

Laura was happy to let herself relax at the party. She was a research assistant for a group of hunters, but had recently been running errands related to the holidays. Laura had yet to start her own holiday shopping. The stress of the holidays had started to get to her and the party was a great break from it all. Laura longed to get back to regular life where she could bury her nose in books and send the hunters out after rare creatures. Laura always felt like their catches were partially hers as well. Until life got back to normal, Laura decided to try to have fun in every day to release stress. This party was perfect for that.

[Celtic]

There were signs pointing This Way! and That Way! which was terribly confusing for which way they should go. Jack, however, was confident in the That Way! sign and headed directly there. Seishi, ever the realist, figured it would be good to leave breadcrumbs behind them in the form of melted metal flecks on the wall. She was certain they would quickly get lost.

"I got a cellphone, tramp-o-line, a year's worth of magazines! I even got a new pair of chucks," Jack suddenly was singing. Lovely. He wasn't bad per say, but no one would spend any money to hear him.

Seishi, trailing a little behind him responded, "What?" This clearly wasn't a tune she was familiar with.

"...got everything I wanted on my list! Except for the one thing that I missed" He was really rocking out now. "Was just a kiss!" Seishi wondered if the dramatic pause was part of the song or he'd added it for flair. It wouldn't be totally out of the realm of possibilities.

"My girlfriend! Forgot me! This Christmas Day!"

"Ahhh, it all becomes clear now. It's a Christmas song." Seishi sigh-smiled at Jack. He was now side stepping, crossing his legs as he went and his arms were up like he was doing a rendition of The Slide. "I feel obligated to tell you you are very, very bad at dancing." That comment earned her a very cheeky wink and even more wild and dramatic dance moves. He moved into a spin, which then became several spins, which clearly led Jack to be dizzy as he lost balance and fell head first into a hedge. Full on laughing, Seishi came over to try and help him up and out of the bush.

"Oh I hope you didn't damage it!"