[zapdragon555]

Johan's mind seemed somewhere else, and Karl felt a small pit of dread open up in his stomach. He shut the menu and placed it aside, which seemed to snap Johan out of it for the most part, his pupils dilating back to something a bit less alarming for the low light in the room. "Johan," Karl said softly, reaching for his hand beneath the table on some impulse and holding it between both of his. "Should we leave?"

The blond shook his head hurriedly, a tiny motion, then cleared his throat. "They just," he began, choosing his words carefully, not wanting to explain much more beyond this, and he hoped Karl wouldn't press. "They served us hot cocoa at 511. Now and then... it was precious to the boys there. But it's a reminder, that's all."

Karl didn't quite know what to say--he never did, when that old place was brought up. So instead he pressed closer until his side was fully touching Johan's. "Maybe... we should get some peppermint bark cake instead," he offered, and when he heard Johan's slight breath of a laugh, he felt his heart soar. When the waitress came by, he ordered one to share.

[Claiming Dec. 21]

[Jaykobell]

Hmm, it was a strange place to pick up a delivery! But someone had asked to meet here, saying they needed something delivered as soon as possible. Honestly, as long as they paid, she was willing to do her best and go anywhere!

The music and the overall atmosphere really wasn't her thing, but it was pretty catchy! Still, if this delivery had to be done quickly, she didn't have time to dawdle in here for too long. Maybe she'd sneak a cookie or two, but then, she'd have to hurry and find her client!

[Mojave]

Grinning at the latest nickname, the stranger accepted his drink and leaned back more comfortably in his seat. Diego mirrored the move, facing the stranger with his arms crossed warily. "What do you want?" He was pretty sure he knew what the man wanted, but best to get it out in the open.

"I want a lot of things, but who doesn't?" The man replied, knocking back his drink and setting the glass on the counter. Diego rolled his eyes, "What do you want from me?" "From you? Nothing. Should I want something from you?" "Then why are you following me?" "It's a small tavern, babe, don't be so paranoid." With a wink, he stood and went off to the dance floor where he easily found a dance partner. Confused and a little intrigued, Diego ordered another drink as he absorbed this surprising development.

[Adelie]

Someone walked by with a plate of assorted drinks, all with a mixture of different bright colors; she picked one up that resembled the orange and white sediments near some volcanic hot springs, and thanked them politely for the efforts.

It tasted a little too sour for her, at first, but she got used to the flavor quickly. Still, it was somewhat pungently flavorful in a way that didn't lend itself to be enjoyed with nothing else by its side, but she really didn't want to get up now, especially when she'd just found such a good spot to chill in.

[Silver]

Muse landed on a nearby table and waddled around looking for something to eat. There was nothing but half empty glasses on the table. What a shame. She stepped in something sticky and tried to shake it off her paws. When that didn't work, she plopped down and started licking her toes in full view of everyone standing nearby.

After she was satisfied with the cleanliness of her toes, she realized that she also had some on her tail. She spent a few minutes chasing down all of the sticky stuff in her fur and feathers. The more she tasted, the more she kind of liked it. Once she realized that it was actually delicious, she started sticking her face into the half-empty cups hoping to find a little more.

[zapdragon555]

"Are you sure this is the right area?" Tenma's voice sounded strange in the alleyway, echoing off of cold stone walls as he rubbed his arms. Grimmer's breath clouded in front of his mouth as he looked the walls up and down.

"I could've sworn... that man must have been mistaken," Grimmer sighed, running a hand through thinning hair. It didn't show very clearly, but Tenma could tell he was frustrated. They were so close to catching up... but Lunge and Gillen were close, too. And that was the hurry. In a small fit of determination, Tenma brushed past Grimmer deeper into the alleyway, surprised to see it kept going. "Doctor--"

"We might as well see," Tenma interrupted Grimmer's concerned murmur, and the taller man adjusted his grip on his bag and followed Tenma into the darkness.

There was a human-height, sizable hole in the wall--Tenma could've sworn he'd passed right by it and not noticed it the first time, but there it was, plain as day. The two men exchanged a glance, and Tenma took a breath, reaching out to gently grip Grimmer's wrist as he stepped forward. Staying connected felt right.

When they'd walked some distance, the sound of clinking glasses, soft music, and chattering came to his ears. Or rather, maybe it had been there for quite some time, and he'd only just noticed it... Tenma felt a little dizzy as they came out into a new area, an outdoor courtyard surrounding a simple, signless bar. "This... this is the place, isn't it? That man said it didn't have a sign out front..."

Grimmer seemed determined to move rather than talk. He sped to the door and opened it, stepping inside with a rather intense look on his brow that Tenma shared as soon as he entered. His eyes darted everywhere, trying to catch sight of a hauntingly familiar blond head among the crowd of people.

[Claiming Dec. 22]

[Freezair]

Taking Meteor to the Advent Calendar had been a bust, so, in frustration, Gizma had asked Drakescale to take care of things for her. She swore that it was due to her own distaste for the Calendar, and how she didn't want to patronize them anymore. Knowing Gizma, Drakescale was pretty sure she just... hadn't been invited back. In so many words.

Well, whatever. Even a curmudgeon like him couldn't really hate Christmas. At least they weren't playing endless repetitions of "All I Want For Christmas Is You" here--possibly they were playing techno remixes of "Carol of the Bells," but he could handle that.

[Sarah]

Was it lame that Sevastion agreed with Arc when it came to parties? Sev had had his party days and he imagined he would again. Right now though? Right now he wanted to be looking over maps and troop movements. Perhaps he would let Zli have his way with the city. Or he could always be the Bad Guy and force his spymaster to actually do his job. Regardless he still had some of his drink left and he saw Arc had not touched his at all.

[SpringsSong]

"As long as you promise," Lana said, placing a hand on Xyshari's. "I don't want you completely inebriated."

"Me? Completely inebriated?" Xyshari asked, perking up almost right away. "I'll have you know, Lana Beniko, I have only ever been deliberately inebriated once."

"And when was that?" Lana asked, smiling slyly as her wife used her full name.

"I'd just decided to tell my Padawan about my Master's death, about feeling every minute of it. About... doing what I could to shield him from it," Xyshari said. "I decided I'd try some Mandalorian whiskey to help... numb myself a bit. I had a little bit of a buzz when he found me in the room we were sharing."

[Mojave]

As the night progressed Diego alternated between dancing and drinking, though he refrained from getting drunk. If he started feeling buzzed he'd stay on the dance floor and dance it out. Fortunately for him his energy levels hardly ever dropped, despite how vigorously he danced. There were strange moments though when he felt his strength ebb, though he usually wrote it off with some excuse or another such as he needed a drink or to relieve himself. In this way the time passed and the stranger from earlier didn't bother him again. But he had been right, it was a small tavern and at some point they crossed paths again.

This time the stranger was sitting at the bar, drinking some water to hydrate after a few too many drinks and lines off a stranger's body. He was contemplating how to get near the intriguing young man with the inexhaustible source of food again when he felt a light hand on his shoulder and his voice next to him calling for a drink. Grinning, he turned toward Diego, "Well, hello again." He greeted the startled Diego who'd jumped back, bumping into the person behind him at sound of that voice again. "Oh. Yeah, hi." Diego glanced between the dance floor and the bar tender who had turned to making his drink. In an attempt to get more familiar, the stranger extended a hand. "Since we keep running into each other, I'm Carlisle." Diego spared a moment to consider before extending his own hand to shake with Carlisle. "Diego." He gave his own name, gratefully taking his drink in hand as it was set before him.

[Jaykobell]

He tried to keep a low profile as he entered the establishment. While it would certainly be unwise to try and commit theft amidst so many people, he would be lying if he said the thought hadn't occurred to him. A sort of challenge, one could call it. But would it be worth it to get caught here? No, it wouldn't. And there wasn't any sort of obvious escape. As tempting as it was, he had no interest in landing in jail.

But this could offer a nice break, he supposed. He could use the distraction to unwind and recover. Those sweets did look appealing...

[crow]

Soda blinked, as though something had suddenly occurred to him, then turned to Jay, leaning forward to prop his head on the heel of his hand, elbow braced on the table. "Hey," he said. "You know what our jobs are, but what do you do? You know, for a living."

Jay seemed caught off guard by the question, though Alex hadn't thought that it was a particularly strange one. It had never occurred to Alex to ask, but now that it had come up, he found that he was curious too. "Yeah, you never did mention it, come to think of it," he said.

[Adelie]

In lieu of finding anything interesting to do, she decided to people-watch. A little bit of observing as people embarrassed themselves or impressed on the dance floor, a little bit of judging the get-ups people were attending this party in - that seemed like a good way to amuse herself for a little bit, at least.

A pair in matching neon outfits passed by, and she gawked for a moment before realizing they were actually perfectly dressed for the theme. Perhaps they'd gotten an invitation ahead of time unlike whatever she'd gotten, or maybe this was just what they wore all the time.

Some people were like that, she supposed. Those people probably didn't have responsibilities to deal with, she supposed too.

[Jaden Wolf]

Joker slid into a seat as he fished a keystone out of his pocket, flicked it in the air, and slapped it down onto the table. "This was meant for this moment," he declared to Ace boldly. Ace just stared blankly at Joker until he grinned and added, "I literally just summoned it yesterday."
'
For a moment, Ace stared at Joker, and then at the keystone. Their expression turned to vacant curiosity. "How can one know this was the moment for a single keystone?" they asked. Joker uninterestedly frowned down at it but then glanced up with a mischievous grin and a glint in his eye.

"I feel it," he barked, eyes wide. "In mah belly!" He smacked his hand on his stomach and shook it. Of course, his stomach was all muscle and the effect was lost, but Joker thought it was a pretty good response. It was lost on Ace, to no one's surprise, as they just tilted their head and stared. After a second, they scooped up the keystone and wandered into the crowd to buy themselves a drink.

Joker watched them disappear, completely accustomed to Ace's behaviour, and reached out a hand. When he turned to look at it, he noticed a pink rubber duck in his hand instead of the mead he was hoping for. "A rubber duck," he muttered - a pause - "okay."

[Silver]

When she was licking it off her fur, the stuff was very sweet but when she got a mouthful of it out of the cup, it made her mouth burn. She yanked her head out of the glass and furiously kicked the roof of her mouth to make it feel better.

A few moments later, she realised that she actually did rather like what it tasted like, so she went back for more. She was more cautious the second time and only lapped up a little. She waved her large tail around with excitement and went after another abandoned drink. She had to try them all! Also why were so many people leaving drinks on this long table? She didn't really care about that part as much as she probably should have.