[Freezair]

It was very, very early in the day--so early, in fact, the day had only barely rolled over. But as far as Advent Calendar prizes were concerned, that was good enough.

Something hadn't been good enough for the very grumbly Lucain who came to the Calendar event... towing behind her an impassive-looking blue-and-purple Quikslyph who drifted on lines of light.

"I hate to do this, but I gotta apologize for my assistant," the Lucain said to one of the staff members. "Apparently her programming is on the fritz, and she was bothering your patrons the other day..."

"Master, there was a 95% chance of a person dressed in such a fashion of being on the staff of this event."

"Ignore her. Hey, since I did the good-guy thing and apologized, is there any chance of me getting bonus goodies...?"

There was not.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

As she stepped into the tavern,  Rheese thought to herself that this was becoming quite a habit. It was getting closer to Christmas day though, and soon she would have to find something else you do with her time. Perhaps she would continue the daily strolls through town - she had enjoyed watching all the people go about their business as she strolled by, and the exercise certainly hadn't harmed her.

She smiled at the barmaid and ordered a cup of tea, figuring she should spend some time paying attention to this place and its occupants before the event ended, though she made sure to request today's gift before she sat down to watch the goings-on.

[Silver]

Amie was pretty excited about all of this holiday business. She loved this crazy sort of stuff, and she double-loved parties. She couldn't get her teammates to come with her, but that was fine. She was determined to enjoy it anyway. Plus, she could come back with heaps of presents for them. That would show them!

She skipped into the party with an almost unnaturally huge grin on her face. Much to her surprise, the place was just jam packed with others, and one of them she actually knew! She bounced over to Gamble to see what he was up to. Before she even said hello to him, she dipped her nose in to smell what he was drinking. She wasn't sure why she thought that was a good idea, but she did it anyway. She recoiled in horror at the strong peppermint smell.

"Woaaaah! What in Santa's sack is that?" she asked, batting at the glass. Gamble held up the glass so it wouldn't topple over and let out a laugh. It was definitely going to get more excited in here with her around.

[Flame]

It had felt like an eternity between when Atlas had gotten his food and when he finally decided that it was cool enough to risk taking another wary bite of. Of course, in reality, only a few moments had passed (perhaps a minute or two tops), but his impatience seemed to stretch the time much farther than his perception led him to believe. Luckily for him, he'd at least waited long enough not to scorch his tongue again this time, and deciding that that was good enough for him, began digging in heartily into the dish of stewed meat and vegetables.

Yeah, that had definitely been worth the wait. Already more than halfway through this new delicacy, he was already planning what his next order would be.

[Mousen]

As the song came to an end, Horatio and Genevieve slipped away from the dance floor. "You know," Horatio said, looking back over his shoulder at Genevieve. "I'm reminded of that house party we attended one new years, with Herringford and Ms. Turpin?"

Genevieve rolled her eyes. "Please, that one was so out of control that Herringford had to write-up his own apology note to himself. You know its bad when a version of yourself from the future comes to reprimand you while you've got a hangover."

"I still think the problem was mixing the drinks. To serve a fine Pompeian vintage with a 2103 Bordeaux is just asking for trouble. It's not like Roman wine is suitable for the modern palette anyway."

"You know he loves showing off."

[Jaykobell]

An interesting... interesting place.

Beyond the fact it had simply manifested itself in front of them, there was the matter of what it represented. At first, they had expected this tavern to be nothing more but a cash grab during this holiday season, riddled with consumerism and the lack of understanding for what it stood. They were expecting nothing but a large building cracking up from an overflow of gifts, and the general bad taste these creatures left in their mouth during this season.

And yet... they were pleasantly proven wrong. The place gave way to an understanding of other hemispheres in the world, adopting a tropical theme rather than the overdone and romanticized snow season. And not only that, there were barely any gifts around. They were given as welcoming gifts, for those who appeared on those days. They were almost like gifts of gratitude, to show appreciation for the patrons. The people gathered up at tables, exchanging laughs, stories, and smiles. Exchanging time together. Exchanging... happiness.

For once... they had found a beautiful place, amidst the many who failed to understand the holiday. Yes... perhaps they ought to stay here a little while longer.

[MythicDusk]

Orion gave a soft smile as he began to thumb through the pages, humming and awing at the art. It as a far cry from what he usually did with a pencil. Perfect lines, plotting stars as they moved, a map of the sky above his home full of notes and movements. He made a new one every month.

It cost him a fortune in paper.

He had an entire room at home full of star maps, from the day he began drawing them to last night. The moment the new year rolled over, he would unroll another sheet of paper, take out his fine pencils, press his eye to the telescope and like a man possessed, joy the placement of that section of the sky.

Gently, he handed the sketchbook back. "Thank you so much for letting me see. Theyre gorgeous."

[Middy]

They were back, this time they were actually in the throng of people busying themselves with the event. Delirium sniffed the air, curious about the festivities of mortals. Seeing as how there were all sorts of other strange creatures, they felt fine walking around as a nonaga, completely unassuming to others. If they were to walk around in their real form, people might be shocked or afraid, and even if they liked that sort of reaction, they decided against it.

[Isalynne]

Cecil had no qualms about leaning over Cyril to take a healthy drain of his cocktail, taking the boy's action as consent. Delicious, indeed. Both of them were strong and delightfully fruity, not at all what he would imagine as a Christmas classic but perfect in their own right. Suddenly, he felt thankful for the tropical theme.

"Are y'sure you're okay, pet?" The hand under Cyril's rotated and curled around it, giving it a long, comforting squeeze. "We can go if y'want. Somewhere quieter, if that's better. Don't wanna overwhelm you."

Together for the evening. The whole evening... sharing a bed, waking up in a cosy tangle of limbs with the sheets caught around their waists. Nothing had sounded quite as pleasurable to him in a long while. They could drink tea in the morning at the table, watch the sunlight filter in through the half-closed curtains. Cyril's father would have nothing to do with it. It would be just theirs.

"I know. You never are."

[crow]

"Hey traitor," said a familiar voice, as an elbow dug itself into the top of Soda's head. "What's this I hear about a place with killer drinks?"

"Gin!" said Soda. Never had Alex heard such a peculiar combination of happiness and dismay. He couldn't help himself, cracking up as Xinyi glowered down at Soda, leaning the full of their weight onto that elbow. "Ow, ow! Take it easy!" Dismay seemed to win for the moment, as far as Soda was concerned.

"Invite me next time," said Xinyi, sliding in next to him and downing the rest of his drink in one smooth gulp. They acknowledged Alex with a slight toss of their head. "Sup."

"Hey, Xinyi," said Alex. "You know this place?"

"This one?" Xinyi looked around. "Nope, never been. Someone else invited me and then bailed, so now I'm just trying to have a good time. I didn't expect to see you guys here."

[Lilith Michaelis]

Kakashi couldn't help but sigh softly in relief as Omen confirmed his name. He looks like a kid, talks like a kid (sort of), and acts like a kid, but that didn't change the fact that the boy was something much more than a child. Probably, anyway.

He smiled under his mask and did a sort of exaggerated fist clench to celebrate his "victory", for Omen's benefit. Seconds later, small, lanky limbs were being tossed around him as the child climbed over him. Well. That was. Uh. Unexpected. It didn't take him long to understand what Omen was doing though. The lights. A quiet "Ah." escaped his lips as he stood and followed after the kid.

[Saahs]

Omen lead his friend over to a faux palm tree that was decked with a particularly abundant amount of holiday lights-- conveniently, one that was shrugged away in a corner, much darker than a majority of the rest of the room. It was prettier in the dark, any ways. He craned his neck to peer up at the glistening plastic coconuts, from which someone had lovingly dangled some sparkly snowflakes from. "Pretty," the child observed, with a hiss of awe to his voice.

Looking up to his significantly taller friend, he pointed to one of the more loose pieces of decorative snowflakes. Help a bro out?

[Mojave]

He'd been so still on his stool, an entire day passed without him acknowledging anyone or someone noticing him. Well, he'd shown up as instructed, he'd even made it a day or two, but he just wasn't having any fun on his own. He pulled out a phone and sent a brief text to someone before he ordered two drinks. It wasn't long before a second party arrived, taking the seat next to him.

The scrawny youth that joined him didn't even say a word before picking up both drinks and slamming them back in quick succession. "So what're we doing?"

[Kyrit]

After a few minutes had gone by and she was fairly certain that Estebanito had come and gone, Kyrit poked her head out above the bar, giving a quick glance around. It seemed as though she was safe now, so she hopped back over to the other side and put a few keystones down on the bar. "Thanks a lot! Looks like I'll be able to keep him stuck here for a little longer now thanks to you."

[FrostWynd]

For a startling moment when she gave the door a slight push, her senses would be quickly assailed by everything going on inside the tavern as the door swung open. From the waves of smells, sounds, and even the heat, it was all enough to take her aback completely.

She needed a moment to recompose herself, and at least shut one pair of eyes closed when it became clear they would not help her here one bit, and once she did, Lydia peered her head in with a mixture of curiosity and caution.

It was like looking into a completely different world. With so much stuff going on that it was difficult for her to completely process properly. In moments she would find herself somehow ushered in without really realizing it, and she tried to maneuver her bulky body around in this smaller space. This was a little difficult to do as there were tons of odd creatures milling around doing their own thing, and by having no clue what was going on, she found herself sitting backed up against the wall staring out at everything.