EVENT LOG: FEAST OF LIGHTS

[inthenightmods]

EVENT LOG:
FEAST OF LIGHTS

characters: everyone.
location: around town.
date/time: december 23 - 30
content: Holiday cheer is here!
warnings: n/a. please cw tags appropriately.

a show of lights

When characters wake on the "morning" of the 23rd, they'll find all of Beacon is lit up beautifully. Spirits have carefully placed candles all around the town, lighting up the familiar buildings and streets with a warm, comforting glow. If others wish to help, they're more than welcome, but it won't take too long: they've clearly spent all night getting things ready. If asked, Rastus will explain the spirits do this every few years, and yes, those candles are lit from the bonfire, but he'll get them back before the end of the event.

Once the spirits finish their task, it's time to hand out dreidels! While the four-sided toy has the usual Hebrew letters on it, characters will soon realize that they've little correlation to the typical rules. Instead: each side offers a certain kind of prize (listed below). Characters can play against the spirits or among themselves, but either way, they'll find a personal dreidel in their possession for the duration of the event.

secret santa

Of course, the spirits aren't the only ones in a holiday mood. Thanks to the tireless (and secretive) efforts of Eleven, quite a number of people wake up to find a present nearby. The wrappings vary from elegant to, well, an effort, and the gifts range form big to small, but there's no doubt each was given with at least a little thoughtfulness in mind.

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Comments

PRIZES AND CONSEQUENCES

[inthenightmods]

• Ten golden coins (made of real gold!).
  
• Twenty-five chocolate coins.
  
• A bunch of really shiny rocks.
  
• A handful of rubies that are always pleasantly warm to the touch.
  
• A necklace with a strange charm on it. Wearing it makes you feel energized, but you do smell of honey . . .
  
• You keep talking in another language. Given Beacon's convenience, everyone can still understand you, but still: now you're speaking a foreign language for the next hour.
  
• You grow two inches taller.
  
• You glow, literally: for the next hour, you emit a very soft glow. Like all lights in Beacon, it doesn't actually help illuminate things, but it's very pretty.
  
• You feel an enormous rush of affection for the next hour, and the compulsion to confess to others just how much they mean to you.
  
• Your hair turns a vibrantly different shade.
  
• You've got an irritating sore throat.
  
• Your nose is stuffy for the next hour.
  
• You can't get warm for the next hour.
  
• You get . . . nothing! Sometimes that's just how the driedel rolls.

SECRET SANTA

[inthenightmods]

[inthenightmods]

To: Aziraphale | lunchbreaks | Inbox
From: Peter Parker | webshoots | Inbox
Wrapping: Wrapped neatly in wrapping paper featuring christmas trees and a red bow
Gift Description: One (1) book entitled 'Sailing: The Beginner's Guide to Sailing and Planning Your First Sailing Adventure'
Notes and Various: A tag with the note 'This might come in handy.' written in fairly neat printed letters.

[inthenightmods]

To: Soldier (aka Bucky) | worthallthis | Inbox
From: Coraline Li | primordialerebus | Inbox
Wrapping: In a gift bag with some tissue paper.
Gift Description: An origami knife (made a little messily). Unfolded, there's Coraline's personal recipe for mapo tofu (spices not includes). Also included: homemade cookies, chili chocolate flavored and a little bit too spicy.
Notes and Various:

[inthenightmods]

To: Buffy Summers | first_summers | Inbox
From: Daylight vis Lornit | sunborne | Inbox
Wrapping:
Gift Description: Repurposing a reasonably sized wooden box he found in the general store, Daylight cleaned it up and redecorated it by painting the interior and exterior black and he also decorated the interior with a cute forest floral theme on its top and sides. If Buffy inspected her gift a bit further, she’ll discover that it actually has a false bottom, able to hold an item or two in there if she needs to keep some things safe and sound. Notes and Various: Inside the false bottom is a handmade holiday card, rather large and obvious against the black backdrop due to its mostly white design and a splash of colour from the Christmas tree. In a sprawling script is the following message found inside the card: Happy Holidays Ms. Summers! I’m sorry if I couldn’t give you a weapon or cute shoes in time for the gift exchange, but I hope this will allow you to fit them both comfortably in here when you receive them from others. I hope you like it all the same and I wish you a new and good year full of tidings and luck ahead! Your Secret Santa,
Daylight. :D!!!

[inthenightmods]

To: Castiel | freetobe | Inbox
From: Miriam Maisel | maisel | Inbox
Wrapping: The bow is blue, the wrapping should be white
Gift Description: Castiel will be getting the Ultimate Cheeseburger recipe on stock card, written in distinct curvey and cursive handwriting. We are talking the ULTIMATE cheeseburger recipe. Easy step-by-step instructions, including how to turn on the stove. It's as foolproof (angelproof?) as she can make it. There will also be a nice tie clip attached to it, which is more for Midge's piece of mind than Castiel's.
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Coraline Li | primordialerebus | Inbox
From: Crowley | sauntered_downward | Inbox
Wrapping: A small package
Gift Description: Homemade candies, including chocolate with chili pepper powder inside of it, homemade pop rocks, and homemade peppermint sticks. There is also a small pouch of hot chocolate powder with chili powder in it, making it relatively spicy.
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Crowley | sauntered_downward | Inbox
From: Jon Snow | song_of_ice | Inbox
Wrapping: It looks like someone wanted to tie the wrapping paper in a way that’d look like a piece of candy. They failed for the most part. The wrapping paper is colourful with pastel unicorns on it, and is tied with purple ribbons. This is what happens when you leave the wrapping to a 14 year old who has never done this in her life.
Gift Description: Jon is going to get Crowley a bottle of Crown liquor, since he mistook what "Queen" was.
Notes and Various: There’s a note stuck to the poor wrapping job, spelling ‘careful glass’ in bad handwriting.

[inthenightmods]

To: Daylight vis Lornit | sunborne | Inbox
From: Rhys Strongfork | rhyses | Inbox
Wrapping: Something rolled up and tied with a ribbon
Gift Description: A poster display of a map of a galaxy. It's much cleaner than this version, with helpful little notes about all six planets displayed in Rhys' scrawly handwriting. Planets explained include the Edens (a cluster of a fair few plants) , Pandora, Promethea, Athenas, and so on.
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Duster | mindofathief | Inbox
From: Rosinante Donquixote | callada | Inbox
Wrapping: A small box wrapped in blue and gold Star of David paper (look, he doesn't know what Hanukkah is he just thinks it's pretty) with a clumsily-tied gold ribbon.
Gift Description: Inside is a compass and a simple, but warm-looking knit wool beanie, as well as a note.
Notes and Various: The note reads: "I've been working on a star chart, but I think it's time we gave them names. Come talk to me and we can pick out a star to name after whoever you want. - Rosinante"

[inthenightmods]

To: Elena Gilbert | otrazhenie | Inbox
From: Castiel | freetobe | Inbox
Wrapping: Wrapped in both christmas and hannukah paper just to be safe
Gift Description: A leather bound journal. The journal is bound in beautifully embossed, wine red leather, closes with a simple clasp, and contains many empty pages. The first page contains a message in strange letters. The journal comes with a simple pencil, as well as a jar of ink, and a quill. The quill is a real feather, pitch black, though there's a strange midnight blue iridescence to it that defies all sense of light sources and lack therefore. Running one's finger along the feather feels almost electric, and it smells, faintly, of ozone and petrichor.
Notes and Various: Includes a note: "It translates to 'Human At Heart’. Remember that about yourself, and pray if you can’t do it on your own."

[inthenightmods]

To: Eleven | savingthrows | Inbox
From: Vanitas | evulsed | Inbox
Wrapping: Unwrapped, but in a gift bag
Gift Description: A hand made lantern clip. It'll attach to her lantern and she can use it to clip the lantern to herself (like to a belt). Attached to the clip will be a relatively crude rendition of this shape
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Ignis Scientia | reigniter | Inbox
From: Elena Gilbert | otrazhenie | Inbox
Wrapping: Wrapped in colorful Christmas paper
Gift Description: A large tin of homemade coffee flavored sugar cookies
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Jason Grace | notthatjason | Inbox
From: Quentin Coldwater | moderatelymaladjusted | Inbox
Wrapping: Unicorn wrapping paper
Gift Description: Homemade brownies (Quentin had a little help from Eliot, but did them himself). Slightly burned around the edges but made with care and cheer. There is also a small pack (5 pieces) of cheap, miniature plastic swords
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Jon Snow | song_of_ice | Inbox
From: Stone | scarsolderthanyou | Inbox
Wrapping: Unwrapped, but there’s a glittery green bow stuck to it
Gift Description: Stone traded some stories of his people to Michelle at the Night Market for a weapons stand decorated with wolves and dragons. It's been (somewhat unexpertly) painted with a thin layer of glue to protect it from water damage and then a thin layer of gray paint so it looks a little less like paper. It will stand about waist high to Jon, have hook-like shelves to hold at least four bladed weapons of various sizes, a taller coat-stand-like hook for a bow and quiver of arrows, and a circle off the other side to hold up a couple polearms stuck through it.
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Maes Hughes | dadandgone | Inbox
From: Duster | mindofathief | Inbox
Wrapping: The gift is wrapped in a Christmas blanket and topped with a ribbon, and comes in one of the widest gift bags available, topped with green tissue paper.
Gift Description: Duster will try his hand at making a pie for Hughes. He can do some cooking and knows a bit of baking, so while his pie may not come out looking perfect, it does at least taste like one.
Notes and Various: ---

[inthenightmods]

To: Mary | withsadness | Inbox
From: Eleven | savingthrows | Inbox
Wrapping: A fairly small box. It’s wrapped (not very masterfully) in three layers of the most colourful wrapping paper that was available, and has way too many ribbons and bows stuck to it.
Gift Description: A bracelet. Or rather…. The box is filled with roughly two dozen bracelets. They're woven from bright, colourful fabric. Some of them look less well made than others, like they were practice attempts. On top of them is a crude but also colourful drawing of a small blonde girl in a dress, and a taller girl with brown hair. They're holding hands.
Notes and Various: The handwriting is bad, but someone spent a lot of time and effort on writting a full on letter: "Dear Mary. I always wear a blue hair tie on my wrist like a bracelet, because my Dad gave it to me and it reminds me that I'm not alone. I wanted that for you, but not just a hair tie. Where I'm from, some people make friendship bracelets, and give them to a good friend and they can wear the bracelet. So for Christmas I wanted to make you a friendship bracelet. But then I needed to practice to make it look good and I couldn't decide on the colors and the style. So I made a few and I decided you should have all of them. Let's always be friends. Please enjoy the bracelets, and remember you're not alone in the dark. Your friend, Eleven. PS I’m sorry if this is a bad gift, I’m new to gifts."

Rosinante Donquixote | OTA

[callada]

The Invincible

Santa's Secret Game is a pretty good game, Rosinante has decided. Waking up to gifts at the door is a lot of fun, and he's especially pleased someone had left something for Mary, too. No elves involved in this gift-giving - for Ambrose had described the stories of Santa Claus and his questionable unpaid workforce to him - but rather, just people trying to make the best of things by bringing smiles to those around them.

The alcohol and the anchor stay in his room upstairs, for now. Because there was another gift they each received that he's not sure what to do with. Figuring maybe others know, he seats himself downstairs at the bar with a cup of coffee and the dreidel on the table before him.

"Any idea what this thing is?" he asks, spinning it idly.

Library

Rosinante was far from the only one oblivious to the concept of a dreidel and its surprises and The Invincible eventually turned a little too busy for his liking. He retreats to the library later on in search of quiet and some space to work. Spread out on the floor around him are a series of hand-drawn star charts that together form one unified whole, and his tablet with all its sky photos. He references those images as he adds to the charts with pen and a ruler, making sure everything is as accurate as he can be. Some of the stars on paper are circled with red ink.

Admittedly, he's not much for conversation, though he'll look up and nod if anyone approaches. Come by at just the wrong time, though, and as he reaches toward the glass he's repurposed into pen storage, he misses slightly, knocking it over and sending it and the pens rolling across the floor and into your path. "Damnit," he grumbles. "Can you get those?"

Easier than getting up and probably tripping over his own maps.

Wildcard

Feel free to adapt those prompts to fit your ideas, or find him elsewhere, generally indoors on account of the weather. HMU at tinylongwing if you like.

Library

[worthallthis]

Good choice, Rosi. Mitigate potentially trip-worthy situations. The Soldier bends to collect the pens in the metal hand, straightens up and holds them out for Rosinante to right the cup again so they can put them away. "What are you working on?"

They've got a bundle of cloth under one arm, but that could be anything, right?

[equinoctials]

the invincible (warning: people getting drunk)

The day - indistinguishable from night, given the persistent and unceasing darkness - started out remarkable. Riku encountered a conspicuous trail of stones and sticks (and the occasional encouraging note) all the way to the town hall, clearing it up as he goes. Maybe on another day he wouldn't have bothered, but he's noticed the spirits are bustling about and they seem to be busy... arranging something.

It would be dishonest if he tried to claim he wasn't nervous now whenever the spirits were working on something. Their intentions, generally, seem to be well-meaning (or at least this is reliably true of some of them). But they've been burned before.

At the town hall, however, Riku found something incredible.

Much later, under the glow of more lit candles than he's ever seen in one place in his life, a glow that makes it brighter in this space than any has been since he arrived to this dark world, Riku is still talking about it, sitting among friends at a table in the Invincible, a dreidel between them - and several bottles and small glasses besides.

"It had all of us! I'm not kidding, that one on the left was you, don't deny it," he teases, jostling a neighbor with his elbow. It's lively and festive tonight, and even the often reserved Riku has been swept up in the celebration.

They've changed the rules slightly. Rolling one of the particular sides means you have to drink from one of the bottles or have a shot and maybe they've already gone through a round or two of these shenanigans.

[originallutece]

[He's in the thick of things, and though she won't ever admit it, it's pleasant to see. He's such a serious young man, and yes, she's aware of the irony of her saying this, but it's not as if she means it badly. He's serious, and that's good for a majority of the time. But it's equally good to see him relax.

In any case: she doesn't join him when the party's at its peak, but rather later on, when he's less surrounded by noise and . . . all that. Chumminess. Whatever.

(Noticeably, she isn't wearing the eyepatch. The scar is still there, but her eye is completely healed, the color restored and the pupil unbroken).]

I don't think this is quite how this is played.

[It's amused, though, as she settles across from him.]

How many shots have you had, hm?

Bucky/Soldat | OTA

[worthallthis]

I. Dreidel

The candles are nice. Pretty, even. Less distracting than a full torch. The Soldier meanders around Beacon admiring the more diffuse glow, right up until one of the smaller spirits scampers up and holds up a little wooden object... puts it in their hands.

Then the Soldier falls from their crouch they'd dropped into to accept the dreidel and onto their ass in the snow. Because they've seen one of these before. They know what those symbols mean. They even think they know how to use it. How the fuck do they know that? It takes them a while to pick themselves up off the ground and continue on their way, after sitting in the snow for a long time, trying gingerly to piece together an actual memory from the intense feeling of knowing.


II. Games and memories

Partly because it's apparently what they're meant to do, partly because it's kind of cute, and partly chasing memories, the Soldier can be found over the next several days playing the silly dreidel game with anyone who seems interested: humans, spirits, whoever. They amass a lot of fun consequences and tasty chocolate coins (and keep those toasty rubies in their pocket all week, next to a knife); feel free to assume one odd trait or another when running into them.

The Soldier also lingers in the Invincible's kitchen, trying to work out a new recipe they got from the whole Santa exchange thing without the general store actually having all of the ingredients... and maybe poking at ingredients that resonates with the vague memories of Before. Without success.


III. Presents

Christmas day, because that's when Misty said it's supposed to happen, the Soldier makes several trips around Beacon with gifts. They don't leave them on doorsteps or windows, because it doesn't seem right to just... leave. They want to see their friends' faces. The gifts aren't wrapped, just folded neatly or pulled out of pockets, and offered without eye contact.

The Soldier's watching reactions, though, like always, and tells each person, "Happy Christmas." (That's what Crowley's note said, so that must be what you say, right?)

III

[shadowsran]

It is, of course, incredibly typical to expect Soldat to drop by, so it is with an equally typical warmth Misty moves to usher him in without so much as a welcome. This is routine, very pleasant routine.

"I was focusing mostly on dinner, but if you want to do something fancier for lunch than sandwiches I'd be game."

Remington Swann | OTA

[axegirlfriend]

So, being completely honest, Remi's been so generally out of it since his death by green-eyed spirits that he completely forgot that any sort of holiday was approaching. The kind gift left outside his door prompted him outside, and then he noticed the candles...

He's too nervous to participate, really, but he's, well, he's here, sitting alone at a table in The Invincible. It's as close to socializing as he can really be expected to do right now. With him, he's brought a large paper bag that seems to be full of small pieces of wood. Carefully, he sets them out. It looks like he's been carving renditions of the more commonly seen forest spirits. There are also other, regular animals. Before long he has an army of carefully-detailed miniatures.

To anyone who comes by, he looks up from his tablet furtively. "You can, um, take one, if you like. As a gift." He'd just been making them as a means of self-soothing, but he didn't know what to actually do with them, anyway. "I thought maybe someone would like them."

[pearlstrings]

It's easier to notice what doesn't belong. Which isn't to say that the boy sitting with his wooden figures has no place here, but instead that he doesn't appear to be part of the image that everyone else makes. People wander between the lights, play games with each other. There's a warm din of laughter and a careful, but familiar weight in the air. New residents are in so small a number and so infrequent that Bruce suspects that it's like introducing a family member- a new uncle, a distant cousin. It's a sentimental parallel to make, but then, the season speaks for itself.

He pauses before the carved shapes and looks, but doesn't touch. His hands remain carefully folded into his pockets.

"Did you sketch these first, or is it all from memory?"

vanitas | ota

[evulsed]

open - 1

[ For all his complaining during the last festival, it doesn't seem to stop Vanitas from getting into the thick of things as soon as the lights go up. It's impossible not to notice the spirits moving around, doing something, but that doesn't do anything to tamp down on Vanitas' curiousity. Whether this results in another mess or not, there's not much they can do about it. Fighting off the spirits for two weeks had made it blatantly clear just what they're up against, and how its better to just see what happens than try to prepare.

But when he comes down to this celebration, it's not so different from that margarita party from before, he thinks. Only this time, Vanitas is a different kind of subdued. He's wearing a thick, cableknit sweater, and a beanie pulled down over his head has flattened his fringe into his face, casting shadows into his golden eyes. Even so, get a good look at him and anyone keen enough might spot that his eyes are red-rimmed and puffy.

He doesn't engage to play with anyone with their dreidals. Instead, he loiters just on the perimeter, half in and half out of all the softly glowing light of the candles, turning his own dreidal over and over in his hand without really seeming to notice what he's doing. ]

open - 2

[ Eventually, when he does get roped into a game of dreidal, he's looking pretty confidant with his pile of chocolate coins and little pile of rubies. The Unversed holding his lantern next to him looks particularly droopy, though; if they could have expressions, this one looks like it will burst into tears at any moment.

It's at odds with how cocky Vanitas looks when he smirks and nods at his opponent. ]

Come on, don't be a chicken.

closed - Riku + Bruce

[ It might be late. Vanitas hasn't been keeping track of time, but then, he doesn't really keep track of time in this place to begin with. Everything has that comfortable, hazy glow around the edges. After discovering alcohol, Vanitas had gone far off the deep end for a few weeks; it was only the siege of the spirits that pulled him out of what could have been a dangerous spiral he was far from any kind of equipped to deal with.

But this is better. This is more akin to what he'd felt that first time, that feeling of invincibility, loose-limbed and loose-tongued. He has a little bag that jingles, filled with those ridiculous things he won from playing dreidal. They knock hollowly against the tin hidden inside, the one he hasn't pulled out once since he found it in his room in the Invincible.

Riku is wearing his hat, and while Vanitas is warmed from the inside out from whatever game it was Riku was playing with the shots and the dreidals, his ears are still cold, especially now they've left the town proper and are all walking back to the museum. ]

Give me that.

[ He snatches the black beanie from head with more vigor than necessary and jams it back onto his own crown, flattening his hair into his eyes. ]

[pearlstrings]

[It's strange in a way, to find everyone in such high spirits after the events of the feast. Town Hall had been full of voices advocating to build a wall, to prepare for war, to go on the defensive. But no small number of the town's residents are here anyway, taking small wooden tops from the spirits and gathering around to play games beneath the gathered lights. Bruce likes it, the resiliency of the human spirit. The willingness inside each person to feel their outrage and anger but to supersede it, to be capable of more.

As they make their way from the square his win? loss? Becomes more evident. The glow he emits had been easier to overlook surrounded by light, but as they make their way towards the winding paths and the dense trees, he stands out more and more. It is... somewhat mortifying. But there's a small comfort too in the casual strides of the two with him- warmed by alcohol, Vanitas's cheeks and nose are pink, and he reaches for his hat with less animosity than he once would have. Even Riku seems to find a smile more easily, had laughed and leaned into conversation.

Bruce keeps his hands inside his pockets and walks a short distance ahead, no more than three steps, turning their group into a kind of roving triangle.]

Watch your step, rocks.

ambrose spellman ( chilling adventures of sabrina )

[necromantiae]

▶ 01. DREIDEL

---

( for the most part, ambrose has been taking it easy. he's been around, drinking at the invincible and wandering down to the beach but otherwise, he's mostly kept a low profile.

but, it's the holidays and he doesn't want to miss a chance to at least see some of his friends so he makes an appearance.

he's mostly keeping busy by spinning his dreidel around with the assistance of magic, letting it twirl and flip and flutter through the air. that's not how it's meant to be used but he's having fun so are you going to tell him that he's doing it wrong?)

▶ 02. WILDCARD

---

( throw anything else at me! i'm at spoonishly for any questions or plotting! )

[notthatjason]

[Jason turned from the door, holding a package wrapped in festive unicorn paper. He'd already pulled back one of the edges and smiled. There were a lot of things here that reminded him of home, but it was usually bad things like nearly being killed every time he stepped too far away from home base. Normally he might be more suspicious, but this time he knew what was going on because he'd given his own package to Eleven a few days ago.]

What are you feelings on slightly over-baked brownies?

[Because while he is a teenage boy and can very much eat all of these himself, it seems rude not to share with his roommate.]

jason grace | ota

[notthatjason]

Dreidel
In an effort to continue building relations with the spirits (despite a previous poor two week), Jason had decided to investigate what this dreidel game was all about. He knew vaguely what it was, but didn’t know what the characters along the side meant or the origins of the game. He also did not know enough notes on the ocarina to try to ask the spirits either. The spirits seemed glad to play with him at least and Jason was glad to be doing something other than fighting for his life.

Of course, when stuff started appearing out of nowhere he started to get a little anxious. Ten golden coins, rubies, and chocolate were all well and good but it made him wonder what might be at stake. Especially after the Night Market.

The spirits urged him to take his turn and he did his best to hide his grimace as he twirled the purple and gold dreidel. What’s the worst that could happen, right?

By the end of the game, Jason is walking away with a smile and is positively glowing (literally). He hasn’t felt this good in a long time and as soon as he sees a familiar face he calls out, “Hey! Happy Holidays. Man it’s so good to see you this evening.”

If you thought Jason was friendly before, just wait.

Saturnalia
Once the effects of his dreidel game wore off, Jason made his way to the Church. He hadn't spoken of it much, but back in New Rome this time of year was sort of a mesh of the modern celebration of Christmas and some holdover celebrations from Ancient Rome and the festival of Saturnalia. Which, honestly wasn't too different from modern Christmas celebrations, all things considered, as most of those traditions came from Rome anyway. The biggest differences were in the length, the selection of a Saturnalicius princeps, and of course special events among the various temples on Temple Hill.

The church wasn't quite a temple, but he'd been making due. Another big part was the making of signillaria or terracotta figurines. That part was a little more tricky since he didn't have the supplies for that and thinking on it now perhaps he should have asked. Oh well, most of the people here weren't Roman, so maybe he could try something else. He stopped just outside the church, eyes drifting over the snow on the ground.

Well, there was one resource he could use. Jason scooped up some snow and began shaping it with his hands. Some traditions you just had to make due with what you had and this time instead of clay, Jason was going to make his signillaria out of snow.

Wildcard
[Any other ideas? PM me or poke me on Plurk/Discord.]

saturnalia

[pearlstrings]

He isn't sure if he feels festive. There's certainly been an effort made within Beacon (he suspects once again the doing of the forest spirits) and despite a very crowded and lively Town Hall, despite the number of voices who insisted on preparations for a wall, for the militarization of their group- here they are. Faces both familiar and otherwise are leaning down to take little spinning tops from the spirits that offer them. Conversation and even laughter drift from people gathered in circles and other groups; some exchange gifts.

Bruce likes it, the resiliency of the human spirit. The willingness inside each person to feel their outrage and anger but to supersede it, to be capable of more. It's important, he thinks, even if it isn't something he's ready to embody just yet. He'd lost someone during the siege, and the broken pieces of his lantern are all Bruce has left. He has every reason to stay shut up inside the museum and be alone with his thoughts- but. He's trying.

And that trying is evident in ways it wouldn't be otherwise. He too is literally glowing, already a mortifying ordeal for an introvert who values his privacy- but when people had begun expression heartfelt feelings for each other, the urge to flee became overwhelming. He isn't religious and never has been, but it's a desire for quiet that's prompted him to seek out the church and also- the memory of what he'd seen here when they'd been so deep in dreams. But in seeing someone else there already- Bruce stops in his tracks. Hesitates.

Like so many times before, it's curiosity that moves him.
"Why build a snowman all the way out here?"

Cao Pi | open

[pure_havoc]

[AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT...

Cao Pi has no idea what the ever-loving fuck is going on. Someone left him a present, that was nice, but he had no idea what to do about it. This spinny top? Well he gave it an idle spin out of curiosity, didn't realize he'd been cursed to speak a different language for an hour because he didn't speak to anyone before it wore off, and promptly shrugged and got rid of the pointless child's toy. It's after the solstice, what's going on with the candles and such?

He will be in the bar at the Invincible, pretty much daily at any time that isn't too crowded, drinking wine and setting out his Go board to entice people to come and play. Or just sit and drink with him. What day is it? They all blur together.]

[callada]

[All of this is extremely reasonable and while Rosinante eventually has the situation explained to him, there's still plenty of lingering general vague confusion from the burst of festivities most others seem to busy themselves with. Must be nice to all come from the same planet and same time period and celebrate the same holidays, huh? Fortunately, he's used to being an outsider, and just accepts it as one more factor in the extended loneliness that is his life.

Cao Pi there, though, he looks like he's up to his usual, rather than eating candy canes or wrapping gifts in paper or whatever the rest are doing. It's all very cute and he's not sure what to make of it but this he can handle, especially on an evening after most of the others seem to have drifted off elsewhere. He pulls his pillow over and has a seat, knocking his knees into the underside of the table - again, as he so often does. Whoops. Hope your wine didn't spill.]

I hear you're supposed to wear red and green these days. Or was it blue and gold?

[It's a joke, possibly, given he's wearing a handmade sweater sewn together from patches of just about every color. It's very warm and it fits him.]