[zapdragon555]

Whatever Karl had been expecting, it wasn't that. He wasn't sure what to do with his anger (what an awkward, sharp-angled thing it was) in the face of Johan's quiet admittance.

"Okay," the word finally hissed out of him, and he cringed at himself, wanting to say more, to give some kind of indication that he, too, enjoyed this. That he really had enjoyed spending time with Johan this past year, even among all the harrowing fleeing for their lives. Some very small, secret part of him wouldn't have traded it for the world. "...eat some soup," he added with a small smile, and Johan seemed to catch the contagious facial expression as he shuffled forward in his seat to keep eating.

They made quick work of it, after all--they hadn't had a decent meal in a little while. Fast food was only so sustaining, and energy bars got old after awhile. "Mm... they have hot cocoa," Karl murmured as he looked over the dessert menu. "I might get that. It's so chilly outside..."

Johan stared at the menu as if it were a snake. Karl didn't seem to notice. "What about you?"

"Nothing," Johan said pleasantly, despite the hollow look in his eyes. "I'm... full."

That, Karl noticed. He looked up at Johan and immediately caught the haunted expression, his own brows knitting up. "Johan?"

[Claiming Dec. 20]

[Adelie]

She'd practically run out of ways to entertain herself by now, and that was quite an accomplishment considering just how many staff socials and parties she'd attended in the past.

It wasn't that the party wasn't good; she was sure it was, for the audience it wanted to cultivate, and there were certainly plenty of people here who seemed to be wholeheartedly enjoying themselves. But it was not her kind of party, and there was nothing that could be done about that.

If only someone else had been invited instead of her... Once again, she found herself doubting that she was the intended recipient of the invitation.

[Silver]

"Hey Cantare, check this ou... wait, Cantare?" Sprout looked around for his friend who he had assumed was just behind him a second ago. It took him a while to realize they had run off in different directions. He dropped the thing he was holding and pushed through the dancing crowd to find Cantare.

"Hey, sorry, did you see a kid, like my age who... ok," he tried to get the attention of a few adults, but nobody seemed to notice him.

He sighed and plopped down at a table. There were some snacks on the table, so he helped himself. If he just sat here for a while, maybe Cantare would find him. Either that, or he would think of a better plan. Regardless, the snacks were delicious!

[SpringsSong]

"So... what was your first Life Day like?" Lana asked, leaning forward to listen to her wife.

"Well, let me tell you, nothing is more... shocking than seeing Wookiees dressed in red robes," Xyshari said. "Considering what they don't wear normally."

"I can imagine that was a bit of a shock," Lana said.

"They also love hugging people. There was a lot of curato salva involved over the course of that celebration because, even though they were being gentle because they knew I wasn't a Wookiee, my back was still sore from all the hugging," she said. "But the whole village came together like one large family. And... and that family, for a time, was my family, too."

[Freezair]

For the past several hours, Gizma had been trying to explain the concept of Christmas to Meteor. She may as well have been trying to educate a whiteboard. Maybe it was due to his relative youth, having only popped out of the lab a few months prior. But everything she said just caused him to tilt his head and proclaim the illogic of. (So much for having a little fun by getting him to believe in Santa Claus.) Frustrated, she decided to simply drag the creature with her out to the annual Advent Calendar event.

He complained of the snow and chilly temperatures being "sub-optimal" for his species. He noted the lack of nutritional value in the cookies and drank more than his fair share of milk. And he noted, repeatedly, that the music was at a volume capable of damaging hearing.

She wished she'd helped build less of a killjoy.

[Sarah]

Janice didn't think this tavern was quite her type of place to be, but when one received an invitation one arrived.She thought that was also probably a good way to get kidnapped. Whatever. She hadn't been. Instead she found herself in a full blown party. Somewhere around was a place to partake in a prize. That was pretty much the only reason why she'd come. Partying wasn't exactly on her docket. Thankfully she didn't have to look far to find what she came for.

[Mojave]

For his part, tall dark and handsome had retreated to find a distraction. He was trying to bag his prey, not scare him off before the real fun could begin.

Diego had started to relax, he hadn't seen the man for three songs, time for him to dance to one and get comfortable at the bar again. He was half done with a drink and chaser when he felt a heavy hand casually on his shoulder. Looking up while swallowing he nearly choked at sight of the man.

Even from the side, Diego could tell his eyes were glazed from some drug or another, though the man placed a drink order before actually looking at Diego.

"Hey, Lord of the Dance!" He laughed in a friendly manner as he settled on the stool next to Diego, his body pushing the man who'd been sitting there off. From the other side of his bulky frame Diego heard the man begin to protest and cut himself off as he went elsewhere. Unimpressed, Diego chased his drink with the shot before replying, "Beefcake." He said casually, pointedly keeping his tone unwelcoming.

[crow]

"Even on their days off, huh?" said Jay. His gaze followed the direction of Xinyi's exit, though they were already out of sight. Then, shaking his head with a slight smile, he said, "That's dedication."

"Yeah, you should see what happens when I screw up a drink," said Soda gravely. "When they're mad, it's really no joke."

Alex kept silent on the topic, but he knew the truth of the statement. Xinyi hadn't leveled their temper at him very often, but he had seen it in action enough to know better than to invite it upon himself.

[Jaykobell]

It seemed like the group had designated him as the go-to individual to visit this place. After all, the majority of the group was only into it for the prizes — they didn't have any interest in the actual rave or festivities. A shame, really. It would be nice for the group to relax, for a change. But could he get them to come and do just that? Granted, not everyone could relax to a rave such a this.

But no matter. The food was great, and the music was sometimes hit or miss, but for the most part, it was pretty good and catchy. He was having a good time. It was unfortunate nobody wanted to come and share the experience.

[FrostWynd]

It looked like they were busy stuffing their face with food at the moment, and it seemed that they hadn't noticed she was there quite yet. But still, she couldn't help but utter, "Oh for the love of..." under her breath and quickly ducked out of sight behind some people.

Tenebrae was here too?! How could that be?

Something about him and this party just didn't seem to go together at all as she tried to figure things out. But one thing was for sure, she wanted to have fun, and he was so not part of that plan. She couldn't allow herself to get seen by him, as whatever she could imagine coming about from that would simply ruin what few hours she wanted to spend here.

[Silver]

Muse loved parties! She went to this one every year and ate as much food as she could before they inevitably kicked her out. She and the Quest Master had spent so much time playing the chase game that they were practically best friends!

Muse couldn't open doors by herself, so she waited for someone to walk past and slipped in behind them. The door nearly squished her, but she managed to get in with only a single dent in her feathers. Those would straighten out, she was sure. She wasted no time in hopping up to a table and seeing what was there. It was presents! She loves presents, but she didn't have any thumbs. Boring! She flapped over to another table, hoping that one had a nice snack on it.

[Adelie]

She could just sit and rest, she supposed, eying one of the tables by the side of the dance floor. They were built to sit four, but if she parked herself by one of the ones whose chairs had already been stolen away to join another table, she could probably avoid any inquisitive party-goers trying to strike up a conversation.

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like her phone had service here, wherever here was. Not like she'd even know what to say if she could phone a friend, really - that she was stuck in a party only accessible by magical invitation? Her friends would probably think she'd had too much to drink again.

[Sarah]

Hyx found himself once more inside the tavern. He could have sworn someone else had been sent to oversee this calendar thing. It seemed he'd been mistaken. Too bad yet at the same time he wasn't sure how much of an inconvenience showing up there actually was. He imagined it was minimal as it gave him something to do. He made his rounds and saw the tavern had become more crowded the closer the event came to its close.

[Freezair]

Many people came to the Advent Calendar to receive something. Paxia was one of the few who was there to give things. She was a volunteer with a local food and toy bank, and she had brought many things with her to the event.

Technically, she was set up just outside it. She referred to herself as "Santa's Helper" and even had the crimped elf hat to go with it. In her sleigh, she didn't just bring toys for good boys and girls. She also brought boxes of food for families who needed it: fresh produce, and cans of nonperishables, and plenty of crackers and healthy cereal.

It was good to give at this time of year.

[SpringsSong]

"Family... that's a wonderful thing to have, isn't it?" Lana said. "And... we both found a family, didn't we?" she asked.

"We did," Xyshari said, tilting her head to the side slightly and giggling. "This stuff is going down a little too easy. I'm starting to get a little fuzzy," she said, tapping the side of her head.

"I didn't think Jedi could get drunk," Lana said with a smirk.

"Jedi who regularly practice Curato Salva don't get drunk," Xyshari countered. "If it gets too bad I'll take a few minutes to do that."