[Freezair]

How long had it been since he'd been home for Christmas?

It seemed like every year for the past... gods only knew how many, he'd been away from home. Really far away. On the order of Light Years. Being part of the Space Force wasn't for homebodies, and while Boson did get shore leave, it was never at convenient times of year.

But finally, finally, he had a case that had him at home for Christmas. And he was going to take advantage of that.

So he'd groveled a little. Just a smidge. But it had gotten him time to visit the Advent Calendar just like he had when he was a kid, and sip that green-dyed hot cocoa he used to love. (Mostly because it was green. The taste was nothing special.) He licked the whipped cream from his lips, and for just a moment, he got misty-eyed.

It looks like it wasn't just in my dreams after all.

[Jaykobell]

"Oh, yes, yes... This looks like a perfect place of study."

Old, dusty pages were flipped about in a large book by a Nonaga that seemed to have emerged straight out of a fever dream. They slammed the book shut, and they nonchalantly made their way to the entrance of the bizarre castle.

A Fenref followed in their reptilian footsteps. They looked much less enthusiastic. They curled their muzzle. "I don't like the smell of this place," they growled quietly. "And it looks tacky."

"It's quite perfect!" the Nonaga said in response, clapping their hands together as the two made their way through the maze. "What awaits us beyond this silly geography, I wonder?"

[Day 1]

[FrostWynd]

Oooo, there seemed to be a party going on here!

This time of year was not exactly as ideal for the spirits, and trickery and mischief was more or less at an all time low because of all the cheeriness and generosity that the season seemed to spark. Buuut, that wasn't exactly going to stop Eguzki from seeing what trouble he could stir up, especially as he saw more and more people walking in through the door. His green gaze glittered in delight over something not really having to do with the decorations, food, or anything else having to do with the party itself. Instead he could see all sorts of opportunities he could maybe take advantage of, and was quietly hanging around along the edges to observe, waiting for a chance to possibly arrive.

[Adelie]

There was, of course, a reason why he was here, shoved into a bunny-themed vanity seat, picking at bunny-shaped cookies, and watching people in (occasionally bunny-themed) costumes parade around making fools of themselves. That wasn't to say it was a good reason, but it was a reason nonetheless.

The reason is named Fischer, and he has been an unfortunate fixture of Mirny's life for as long as he can remember. One of Mirny's most frequent laments - often announced in person to its subject, of course - is that he is not just friends, but childhood friends with this walking natural disaster of a person.

And as the childhood friend, there are certain responsibilities he has to take on. For example, showing up as a plus-one to parties because apparently, this twenty-six-year-old man can't be trusted to attend one without adult supervision.

But herein lies the dilemma, and a paradox that such a mad tea party would dearly appreciate - if he's supposed to be the plus-one, then where's the person who was actually invited here?

[GrayGriffin]

Now, as fun as it was to smack croquet balls around without a care in the world, knocking over wickets and making other people dive out of the way yelling in fear only went so far. He pulled a toy from his pocket and tugged at its drawstring, waving his wand and making it grow to almost his size.

"Heyyyyy Bonbon!" he called. "I was just thinking I needed a second for croquet, and then I thought, oh, I know my dear friend Bonbon would be happy to oblige!"

The animated toy tilted his head to the side with a creak.

"I didn't know you knew how to play croquet."

Aster laughed. "I don't!" he said, handing a mallet to Bonbon. "And I hope you don't either! A hundred points to the first ball that lands in someone's drink!"

Bonbon shook his head, but took the mallet. "Don't leave me behind if we have to flee this time," he said.

"Hey, you were fine!" said Aster. "You had camouflage and everything!"

Bonbon tilted his head to the side again.

"Okay, fine," said Aster. "I'm not going to leave you behind this time, okay buddy?"

"...okay." With that said, Bonbon took his own hard swing at another of the croquet balls.

[Sarah]

Zli settled in. For now he was throwing innocuous to the wind. A little rebellion at how ridiculous he found his new posting. The building was warm, but not so much so that he's start to sweat under the moving bodies. Although that was a nonissue as he found a place out of the way to sit and watch. People watching. That might be a good use of his time.

[Celtic]

Their first day was quite remarkable. Mostly, it was spent with Seishi repeatedly guiding Jack away from the maze. Corralling him was a fulltime job, and one that Seishi often thought she should get paid for. Jack ate his weight in tarts, cakes and those funny, magical treats called 'cake pops' and at one point, even tried to position his mouth under the chocolate fountain -- thankfully, Seishi had caught him right on time and managed to distract him with a tall glass of delicious eggnog.

All-in-all, day one had managed to be a success.

Seishi relaxed in one of the many chairs placed almost randomly throughout the Christmas display. She was forever dripping small bits of metal, but here was one of the few places she didn't think anyone would mind. The host might even like the added flair her festively colored metals added. Jack was snoozing nearby her, and she smiled to herself, shaking her head. The poor guy was so strange. He was currently curled up in a ball with his suit jacket covering as much as it could, his black and hot pink striped hair peaking through, a hand with similarly painted fingernails was hanging limp at his side, his wrist at an odd and likely uncomfortable angle. She was glad for his fun, she knew that he needed an outlet every now and again, away from real life. Seishi looked around for the quest master, hoping to thank him, but decided then that she should really look after her friend instead. There'd be plenty of time for that later.

[SpringsSong]

Lana. Xyshari.

"I don't know that that would be a good idea, Xyshari," Lana said with a soft chuckle. "Don't you remember how you were last year with that stuff? Your former Padawan and I had to drag you back to our home after that, and you still insist that you don't remember that."

"Well... last year, I wasn't actively practicing my ability to cleanse toxins from my body. He, um... scolded me quite severely last year. I won't be making the same mistake again," Xyshari said with a nervous chuckle. "Or else I'll stick to the virgin stuff."

"I think that might be best, love," Lana said, kissing her wife's cheek before taking a hold of her hand. "Now... shall we navigate this maze?"

[Freezair]

"'Scuze me... excuse me! Coming through... I have this doctor's note... coming through!"

Patrons of the Calendar awkwardly shuffled out of the way as Chamomile bustled through. A rather crumpled and slightly mud-stained note dangled from one of her forepaws, though she often brandished it as she moved.

She would have loved to have stayed and taken in the atmosphere. It was beautiful at the Calendar as always--and she loved this "castle" aesthetic they had going on.

But she wasn't here for herself--more the pity. Well, she was. But she was also the ambassador of her mother, a Paragon too toxic to walk among normal people. Her condition kept her from visiting these little public events. Chammy had to come on her behalf, holding a doctor's notice stating that she wasn't just trying to get twice her share of prizes.

Her mother always told her to relax and enjoy herself. But it felt hard to let herself get lost in the holiday when she knew her family couldn't join her.

[amanda784]

Laura let her weight shift from one foot to the other with nervous excitement before entering the party. She giggled as she entered the party. Everything looked like it was from another world. It all looked so magical.

Laura found her way to punch bowl and poured herself a glass. She took slow sips of the fruity drink as she took in the sights around her.

"It's beautiful," said Laura, taking in the view.

Laura finished her drink quickly and then went over to the games. It was time to try her hand at some of the fun. Laura was feeling like this may just be her lucky day.

[crow]

In all honesty, this was probably a foolish idea.

Prosper walked along the street slowly, bundled up in a long scarf that hid half his face and most of his shoulders. The rest of the ensemble had been chosen for him, and while Prosper was certain that it was the finest that money could buy, he didn't have any particular feelings toward what he wore, beyond that it all felt a little strange after so long. But the scarf had been his own choice. The weight of it reminded him of his old cloak, and morbid as it might have been, he found it comforting.

It was also very warm. He was coming to appreciate that, now that he was no longer impervious to the elements.

He surveyed his surroundings as he walked, taking in the lights, the music, the storefront displays. His expression betrayed little, but it was... strange to see them up close too, in the open, walking among the crowd as if he too belonged here. Instinct pulled at him to slip into a nearby shadow, to steal a few lights from the string decorating that tree, right there--- he could chart out the path, knew just how many he could afford before it started to look suspicious. Tiny, muttering thoughts stirred like bubbles rising through the mire of his mind. He quelled them, and felt, once again, that strange sense of surreality that he was now at his leisure to do so.

Still, all that might have been fine if not for one unfortunate complication.

If Prosper was being honest, half the reason he was studying his surroundings so intently was to avoid looking at the man beside him. Prosper had said he wanted to see the lights, and it was true that he had been curious about them. But now he felt as though he was clinging to them as a drowning man made love to a buoy... No, scratch that thought. Prosper's brows furrowed, and his mouth beneath the scarf pulled taught in a slight grimace.

So many things had happened these last few weeks. And the night before...

... It was just as well that there was a place with especially lurid decorations coming up. Prosper figured he was going to need something like that to ground himself.

[Kitsumi]

In all honesty, Xen had no idea how he was supposed to act at this sort of event. He had heard people saying things like, "Happy holidays!" and "Merry Christmas!" so that at least was easy to mimic. But what about the rest of it? Was he supposed to take part in certain activities? What was the proper etiquette for partaking in the food offered to party guests?

After a few moments of nervous hesitation, he decided that he would simply stay back and watch how others behaved. Once he was certain that he understood the correct actions to be taken, he would get more involved in the celebration. For now, he would simply observe and - hopefully - learn.

[Jedi]

Nigma

Edward decided to wander through the winter "Wonderland" of sorts. He watched as many people joined in on the festivities. He, however, was trying to think of a way to work this to his advantage. He watched and inspected as many of the other partygoers as he could. Some were skeptical, just as he was, while others were rather merry as they went about the party. He also managed to see a few familiar faces.

Dent

"What are you doing here, Nigma?" He was surprised to see the scarred former DA. "For your information, I was invited. And what of you? Are they giving out skin grafts?" The half-burnt man scowled at him. "You're lucky I don't gut you right here!" He shook his head, and continued. "I happen to be invited as well."

[Isalynne]

Finally. Hermey was hardly committing the crime of the century by being ten minutes late, but Joseph's grumpy disposition got the better of him in those kinds of situations. It was ten extra minutes to be standing outside this weird jamboree looking like a loser! He could've been at home with a beer, watching trash TV--

And yet, his heart still flipped when he heard Hermey's voice. It took everything in his power to stop himself smiling; his cheeks were still twitching when his... friend... was right in front of him.

"It's fine, man," He heaved a sigh in an attempt to signal he was incredibly put out by it, even if it was a minor inconvenience at best. No amount of those theatrics had ever seemed to deter Hermey before, though. Why did he still bother? "C'mon, let's get this over with."

The interior was... quite a novelty, that was for certain. Joseph found himself stock still just inside of the doorway, taking in the decorations, wondering what the hell he'd signed up to.

"Well, check this out."

[zapdragon555]

Joseph's heavy sigh did little to deter Hermey's sunny disposition, whether by choice, or by simply being too excited to see the other man to mind his soured mood. He knew by now that Joseph was simply an antisocial thing by nature, and really... the mere fact that he was here, meeting Hermey to go to something incredibly social just by nature of the beast of it... it meant something.

Hermey had to remind his heart to be quiet, as it twisted happily around that fact. That Joseph was going out of his comfort zone for Hermey's sake. Instead of being put out by 'let's get this over with,' he found himself grinning over the proof that Joseph was only really here... because of him. There was a touch of guilt, there, too, soft thing that it was. It pushed words out of his mouth as he fell into step with his friend. "Next time, we'll go somewhere you want to go. Pinky swear it."

He held up a gloved pinky finger and lightly tapped Joseph's arm, knowing full well the man wasn't going to complete the swear, and that was fine. It was Hermey's conviction, after all, to pick some nice and quiet and secluded hangout for next time. Maybe a picnic... oh, but it was rather cold lately...

Hermey realized quite quickly that they had entered the tavern. It was such a strange feeling, walking through that door, that Hermey could've sworn his brain had flown straight out of his head and was squeezed back in through his ears. It was a little bit of a headrush, but...

This... was certainly not what he'd been expecting, fully. Hermey's brows flew high, taking a small stumble back as he stared at the rose bushes, looked up at the way they arched over the small pathway. This... wasn't really a tavern at all, was it? Or maybe it was, further in. Hermey could hear the sound of glasses clinking and the low murmur of conversation, somewhere off in the distance... so... "Yeah, I'm... checking, for sure, golly," he mused, leaning his head back to peer up at an arch as he took a cautious step forward. He adjusted the bag on his arm, careful with it, and bit down on his glove to pull it off. He reached up high to touch the petals of a rose, then lowered back down with a shine in his eyes. "They're real, I think! That's dedication," he mused, once he'd taken the glove back out from between his teeth.

"C'mon, I see signs! Let's look for a way through."

[Advent Day 2]