[Kitsumi]

Although he certainly didn't want to be found not having enough holiday spirit, Xen hesitated. Asking people for donations, especially at a party such as this one, felt wrong somehow. The more he listened to these two men speaking, the more he started to disbelieve their words. The problem was, he didn't know how to figure out if he should trust them or not.

Finally, he looked towards the one in the green suit. "So, I hope you don't get mad at me for asking or anything, but how do I know that this is legit?" he asked. "I mean, this whole party thing is about giving prizes out to people, right? So it seems a bit weird that you're here asking for things from people."

[Celtic]

He stood there, looking a bit shocked at the party. This was no ordinary party-- that's for sure. There were all sorts of patrons milling about, from the very to the mildly eccentric and there was more hustle and bustle here than he'd seen in ages. Gritting his teeth together and steeling himself for what was about to be hundreds of awkward, mildly strange interactions, the man stepped forward-- joining the chaotic mess.

His first order of business was to see if he could find Jack-- the man who'd invited him to this grand mess. Usually Jack was incredibly easy to spot with his hot pink accents-- but tonight it was likely to prove difficult. So he abandoned that idea before he even attempted to search, instead getting distracted by the array of caterers and the food they provided.

[Jedi]

They both should have known that it was far too much of a stretch. Their grins fell flat. When Harvey flipped his coin in the air, Ed caught it and glared at him. "Let's not get ahead of yourselves," he whispered. "We don't want to cause a scene." He turned back to the weird looking man. "Maybe we should take our leave. Clearly, you're not in a giving mood," he lied. The two wandered off. As they left, another approached the man, watching their every move as they retreated.

"You were right not to trust them. Believe me, I know."

[crow]

Prosper stole glances as Ryo ate the rest of his strawberry, equal parts embarrassed and... relieved. He hadn't allowed himself to study Ryo until now, but now that he did, Ryo seemed well; there wasn't any sign of the deathly fatigue that had overtaken him before.

It really was exactly as Ryo had explained to Prosper in their first few days together, but everything that had happened the previous day had been so dramatic. And yet now it was as if it had never happened. Prosper felt a sense of something not unlike vertigo if he dwelled on it for too long.

Finding a seat was a welcome distraction--- he was finding that he needed more and more distracting as of late. He mostly followed in Ryo's shadow, happy to let him do the work of pushing through the crowd. If he had been on his own, Prosper would have woven between people at the outskirts of the throng. But then, if he had been on his own, he likely would never have approached a crowded place to begin with.

As they reached the table, Ryo offered to fetch drinks, and Prosper's head snapped up yet again. "No," he said, "let me. What would you like?" He was already looking around, trying to determine where the drinks were.

[Sarah]

"All's fair," Zli grumbled. The words slurring and whispered on his tongue. Raziel tilted his head but didn't pry. After a moment Zli refocused. "That still brings the mystery." He leaned forward. "Why are you here?"

Raziel's lip curled. Disgust shined in his eyes. "You miss each other enough to be foolish."

"You don't run middle ground."

"He needs you."

"I know." Zli stood and Raziel followed. The space they'd been taking up was becoming crowded and Zli needed space. They moved around the room to a darker corner.

[Isalynne]

Joseph stared at his hand. His skin tingled from the contact that Hermey had given it - it itched, seared, made his heart flip this way and that. The delight that his friend had expressed for the idea of hanging out was infectious, and that grin finally broke across his face, ten times the strength of the shy smile it had replaced.

Off to the bar they went. He stared at the menu board for a few seconds, trying to decipher what he was going to order; it was nigh impossible to focus with the thrum of excitement in his veins. It was strange to allow himself to embrace those emotions, but he would let it slide for now. Just for now.

“I’ll get the same,” He said, because why not? His thought process was stunted, and a peppermint hot chocolate sounded as good as anything else. “Thanks.”

Joseph was actually going to see someone for the holidays. Why did he get so much unexpected joy from that?

“I can cook, if you want. When you come.” He cleared his throat and stared at the surface of the counter, as if it might contain the answers. “Nothing fancy, but... yeah.”

[Freezair]

Random was showing up at the Advent Calendar today.

Why? Because Freezair didn't feel like typing up something fun.

"Ah, quit yer bellyachin'," the Merham said up at the sky. "I thought you were supposed to be the 'Christmas Spirit' one around here!"

A booming voice echoed down from the heavens, as if a god had deigned to speak.

"Yes. Yes I WOULD like to quite it, Smartyfins. That's the whole point. I have a terrible stomachache. I don't want to be cute and whimsical."

Random tutted. "See? I told you this would happen. Every time you get raw onions in your salad--"

"I don't need your sass!" the heavenly voice boomed.

"Whatever," Random scoffed. "Hey, party people! Gimmie today's prize for my miserable friend here."

[Jaykobell]

Goodness... where had he ended up?

Something had tickled his magic and had brought him here. Something had called him to this strange place - though, if he had known it would be this bizarre, he most likely wouldn't have followed his gut feeling all the way here.

But, well, he was here now, and something was still tugging at him. Not only that, but he couldn't find the exit. At least he had food to keep him and his hunger company.

"You."

Something made him jump. He heard an aggressive voice, and he turned around to stare, looking like a deer in headlights.

When he recognized the person who had called out to him, he looked sheepishly concerned, despite having a smile on his face. "O-oh... Izzie," he replied quietly. "You're here too?"

[Day 8]

[amanda784]

"Laura!" Piper yelled.

Laura turned around and saw Piper standing not far away.

"Piper!" said Laura. "You decided to come after all."

"Yes I did," said Piper, "but I must admit that I find it a little difficult to not... partake in my old ways."

Laura chuckled a bit and pulled Piper into a motherly hug.

"Dear, stick with me and we'll win so many games that stealing will be the last thing on your mind!" Laura encouraged.

Piper smiled up at Laura in thanks. She was happy to have someone who believed in her, but also understood it was hard for her to make this lifestyle change.

[zapdragon555]

Hermey could have sworn he imagined it—that unbridled grin, out the corner of his eye, on his friend's face. But no... one more glance, and it was real, and Hermey was stunned, quite genuinely. Joseph's usual scowl was... a normal fixture for his face. It didn't make Hermey unhappy to see, nor did neutrality. There was nothing wrong with a lack of smile. But seeing him, now... Hermey's heart flipped in his chest, a dopier sort of grin spreading over his face as he settled a bit more in his seat, and tried to act... well, as natural as he could act.

"Huh, I thought you wanted booze," he mused aloud, a teasing note in his voice, before he hurriedly waved his hand in apology. "I think you'll like this, a lot. I mean, they put so much work into their decorations, I imagine their drinks are top notch, too!"

Hermey fished into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out the necessary number of bills, handing them over as two mugs were set down, and the bartender started preparing them. Hermey watched with a curious light in his eyes, wondering if he could copy this recipe sometime... and make it for...

He blinked, looking up, then over at Joseph with an awed, blank sort of expression. Startled, and... quickly, warmed from the inside out. He seemed to grow still for a moment, perhaps not the explosion of happiness that Joseph had been expecting—but there was a glow of unmistakable fondness in his eyes, an earnest gratitude as he gave a small, soft nod. "I'd... I'd really, really love that. If you want to go to the trouble... that's really special, to me."

His honesty was punctuated by the two mugs being politely pushed towards them, and Hermey took one, still practically glowing. "I could—I mean, if you... trust me at all in your kitchen, I could help! I... I admit I've never been cooked for before. I've... I've always helped, and I'll feel totally bonkers-bad if I let you wait on me hand and foot. No matter how un-fancy your food is. I'll still eat it right up. All the better, too," he leaned in, putting a hand near his mouth to block his words from a bemused looking bartender who had nothing to do with their conversation, "last time I ate at some fancy shmancy place due to some job thing, I got super sick, for like, days."

Hermey trailed off, his cheeks coloring a soft pink, before straightening up and raising his mug to toast, gently. "Anyway... short answer, yes. I accept. And I'm helping, as long as I don't do anything that would make you kick my butt out of your kitchen. Deal?"

[Advent Day 8]

[ToxicShadow]

Ryo looked at Prosper when he declared that he would go fetch their drinks, instead, and remained silent for just a moment, as he considered why Prosper decided to go after he had already volunteered. After all, he was perfectly fine now. While yesterday evening, he couldn't even be bothered to cast a shadow or keep his form from looking like he was about to wither away with his next, artificial breath, he had a fine and healthy complexion now, color in his face, with shadow and all.

"A sweet champagne?" Ryo answered. Given that it was a festive celebration, he was fairly certain they would have something of the sort available. Though, as he thought about it, is eyes went to a man standing behind a bar counter. There were servers mingling about in the crowd, handing out drinks they carried with them on trays, and taking requests, but, certainly, the most efficient way to get a drink was by asking him, the bartender of the tavern. "If not that, perhaps a sparkling cider, or whatever else you can find."

Since Prosper offered, Ryo didn't intend to be all too picky, in the end.

[FrostWynd]

Christmas was practically right around the corner now, and so it should have been no surprise that parties would soon follow in its wake. But for Johnathan, he'd just been so preoccupied with things going on in his life, and had lost track of time. It made this holiday feel like it was coming up way too quickly when the time came for a friend to suddenly spring an invitation on him.

He wasn't exactly in the mood to go out and have fun. Not when he still had lots on his mind to think about, including his son, who was going through some troubles of his own. But it was hard for the man to actually say no to a friend. So when he agreed to come, he told himself that it would just be only for maybe a couple of hours at most. It was the holidays, so he could at least do that much for them.

He might have missed some important details about what kind of party this was going to be. So one could imagine his confusion when he stepped into the party wearing a Santa hat and saw wonderland decorations all over the place. It was like as if he'd just stepped into a storybook! He could see that there was at least something still Christmassy included with the decorated trees and giftboxes for an Advent Calendar, but mostly it was just being drowned out by all the other whimsical stuff going on here.

[Lunch]

A new addition to the party, like so many others, slipped in through the threshold. He seemed to be a man in his mid-30s with sandy colored hair, green eyes, and a slightly tanned complexion. He wore khakis and a green polo shirt. Other than that, he had a cigarette between his fingers. The end of it glowed dimly when he took a delicate puff from it. It was already halfway gone. As he noticed he had to walk through an actual garden maze to get to the more crowded area, the man slipped back outside and dispersed of the cigarette, sticking the put out butt back into his pants pocket. "Shame. I hate that I have to save it for later. Ah, well. Rules are rules. I've followed enough of them." He chuckled softly and made his way through the maze with ease. He was bombarded by many people having a good time.

"Now, this is a party! Haha!" He laughed a little, enjoying the good vibe of the place. He was rather surprised by the theme, finding it interesting that it was something from a storybook rather than an actual holiday theme. Ah, who cared! This was fun! Something caught his eye quickly before he turned his attention towards the bar. "Oh! Tacos! I'm gonna have to grab one of those pretty soon. But for now...Yeah, there he is. I figured he be here. ..I wondered if the Boss has talked to him yet. Probably. Glad I wasn't underneath his rule. I'm already overworked as it is.."

The last few sentences that he muttered drifted away as he made his way over to the bar and sat down beside the man in black. His eyes caught the red of the other man's tie and of his eyes. Yeah, it was him. Sighing, he settled down onto the stool beside the guy and leaned forward. "It's good to see you, old friend. You remember me, right? ..It's Clint." Giving the man a half smile, the sandy-haired man patted the other's shoulder gently. This was going to be...interesting.

[Adelie]

There's a pair of teenagers goofing off in one corner - he's pretty sure they're flirting, but there seems to be a lot of food-related props involved. Maybe they're sharing really bad pick-up lines or something; that seems to be a popular hobby these days.

There's a gaggle of middle-aged ladies, too, sipping tea and talking to each other like they're at a book club, not some weird Christmas party hosted by a mysterious - and supposedly extremely powerful - individual. Instead of making repeat trips to the serving table, one of them simply picked up an entire plate of cookies and brought it over to the table to snack on.

He likes them, though. A few of the ladies have their own plates, and he can see a few of his tacos lying there, either half-eaten or in the process of being eaten. Anyone with good taste in food is in his good books.

There's a bunch of dancers, too, waltzing around the floor with absolute abandon despite the occasional passerby just trying to get to a table. Confused labyrinth-runners, costumed performers, a man juggling a number of oranges, and of course, other people-watchers like himself.

[Celtic]

"Ty! Ty! TY!"

Oh he really should have guessed that he'd be found this quickly. Honestly, when he didn't see Jack at first he thought he might get away with milling about and finding a girl to flirt with. Clearly that was not meant to be as he'd barely managed to grab something from the first stand-- a glorious taco. Jack ran up behind his friend, nearly tackling him to the ground.

"Man, I totally forgot I invited you! How's it hanging?"

Ty rolled his eyes and collected himself, while simultaneously steering the small group over to an empty section of table. "Of course you did. I just got here though, didn't really have much time for anything but food!" Jack gave a big belly laugh and patted him on the back.

"Right on, right on. Oh uh, you remember Seishi right?" Jack didn't actually remember introductions, but Seishi had given him a good jab in the back, reminding her lifebond of her presence.

"Yes, how could I forget. So good to see you again Seishi. How's Jack treating you? I'm sure it's almost like babysitting."

"You have no idea Ty. He's basically a toddler. Not sure why I agreed to let him come here. Would you believe that he took a NAP within the first couple hours we were here?" She looked at Jack with playful disapproval, but he was grinning ear to ear. Any attention was good attention in his book and he didn't mind the teasing.