[Mingle Post] Holidays

[passingmod]

Who: Everyone! Open to All
What: Holiday Mingle Log
When: the holiday season
Where: Locations in comments, or add your own.

Tonight, dreams take the form of the winter holidays. Everything is imagined in grand scale, from a winter wonderlandscape to a glorious feast, to gifts under the tree and the inevitable mistletoe. All of everyone's favorite things have made their way into the dreams. And it feels so vivid and real.

(ooc: This is a post to keep threads together for winter holiday antics. Separate posts are also fine, and this one is optional. Feel free to use the location subthreads as prompts, or to add something entirely different. These include hints of the dreams crossing into waking life; those are small and entirely optional as well.)

Comments

Twelve Days of Christmas

[passingmod]

Perfect fir trees stretch right to the high ceiling of this open room. Elegant lights showcase ornaments fashioned to look like many of the common travelers of the Dreamscape. Beneath the tree are presents, labeled with each recipient (and some of the givers). There may even be Santa sightings.

(ooc: If gifts characters give each other could reasonably be given in waking life as well, they may appear in the recipient's room when they wake up, if the players choose. Unlabeled gifts can range from something like candy or a small stocking stuffer to an outright prank such as forcing the recipient to sing carols or sticking them in a santa suit.)

Re: Twelve Days of Christmas

[waterfell]

Ami approaches the tree, and takes one of the ornaments in her hand as she examines it more closely. It strongly resembles her. How strange. It gives her a sense of something else at work as she slowly turns her head to look at the packages.

One particularly large mound of presents is all labeled as being from her. She's sure she doesn't remember buying whatever might be hidden by the elegant paper and tidy wrapping. She's sure they have nothing to do with her at all. And they're labeled as being for so many different people.

She speaks the question aloud to herself, gruffly. "What is this about?"

(ooc: The dreamscape has decided to provide hand-knit gifts from Ami. She's not amused. They can be anything from mittens to scarves or hats or even a sweater. Since the dreamscape is acting this out, they're probably somehow relevant to the recipient.)

[themanoftomorrow]

Superman, a knit sweater bearing the distinctive 'S' held in one hand, approached Ami with a congenial look on his face. If he kept running into this girl, or her double, or...other people, he figured he may as well be friendly.

He offered her a parcel of his own.

"Merry Christmas. Thanks for the sweater."

[waterfell]

Of all the things she might have expected next, running into Superman was not really among them. Running into Superman holding a sweater she apparently knit for him (it does look like her own careful, even stitches and patterns) is even lower on the list.

She's not sure she's the gift-giving sort, so she needlessly complicates it far beyond the simple polite return comment that's all she really would have needed. It results in her simply wordlessly taking the return package.

What does Superman give people on his Christmas list anyway? And does this qualify as one of the oddest dreams she's had? Her fingers gently wean the tape away from the wrapping paper.

[themanoftomorrow]

Superman didn't bat an eyelash, handing over the package with a smile. The package contained an ice blue sweater, crafted from the dreamscape as well.

He thought it was all pretty strange, too. But he knew he'd met her before. Even if she wasn't in the strange costume, or spouting insults.

[waterfell]

When Ami wakes up, she'll be left to wonder why her dream was scattered about with pieces of knitting and sewing and gifts- all things she'd say she left behind years ago. But in the dream, it evokes only that familiar confusion, the sense of something she's missing that she should know.

It feels especially weird to have received a gift in return, somehow. She's supposed to say thank-you. She knows that. But she's not quite sure how.

"I sort of like this color," she says finally, a lame attempt.

[themanoftomorrow]

"I'd guessed you might," Superman said with a nod. "Wasn't sure of the size though, it'll probably be a bit big"

[waterfell]

"The size won't matter," she said truthfully. "However, I don't know how any of these came to be here." Since Superman was claiming his, she must mean the one she just gave him, and others with her name on the gift tags.

[themanoftomorrow]

"Well, you put them there, clearly." Superman gave her an odd look, wondering what she meant by that. Unless it was some sort of prank, which he didn't think was likely given her demeanor.

[waterfell]

It opened up a worse possibility: her mind simply playing tricks on her. It wouldn't have been the first time, and she was uncomfortably aware of the fact. To save at least a little face, she didn't argue any further.

"What about yours?" she says instead, curious about just how far the dreamscape had gone. "Does it fit?"

How could she have possibly known his size?

[one_one_se7en]

A familiar armor walks in the middle of the blizzard. The appearance is more akin to the first time Ami might have seen John: Having survived the Ark, but at the cost of the lives of two friends. And being left abandoned in space. Before Econtra called him. And before Ami rescued him.

Tired. Exhausted. With battered armor. Having seen monsters he does not want to find their way into these worlds again.

In his right hand, there is a tiny box.

[waterfell]

She straightens her posture. He looks worn, the way she keeps imagining him ever since he said he'd be returning to his world. Battle-weary, if such a thing were possible for him. Her eyes drop to the box, but look back up to him soon enough.

There's another box under the tree, big enough to notice and labeled with his name: John. No number for a test subject, no military rank, but also no family name. It's wrapped in silver and blue. She nods towards it. Though she acts almost as if she's never seen it before, it's labeled as being from her.

"There's something there," she tells him.

[one_one_se7en]

His visor looks at it, with the hint of metallic pebbles that had only barely put dents in it. His armor slowly moves down to revise it, setting the tiny box by his side as he grabs the bigger box.

SPARTAN-117 glances at Ami, before opening the box.

[waterfell]

Inside, there's a sweater. There's nothing so odd about that, really. It's a fairly typical example. No, there's nothing odd about getting a sweater for Christmas, even a hand-knit one.

What's more strange is its size. As John unfolds it, it will quickly become clear that it's large enough to be worn over the Mjolnir armor.

[one_one_se7en]

He notices from a glance it fits him. Only when he is using the armor. The Spartan looks at Ami as he holds the sweater in his hands, wordlessly asking her if this was a prank of hers.

Even then, he still tucks the clothes in the carriage compartments of his armor. It could still be used.

And it was Ami's gift. He remains in silence for a while as he does so, but not removing any distance between himself and her.

[waterfell]

She'd say it wasn't. But the thought of the giant sweater is definitely something she'd come up with.

How strange.

But it's not what she really has, and after that awkward silence, she holds out something else. This, is truly from her to him. It's a small package, neatly wrapped like the other one had been, with a blue ribbon. She holds it out without speaking a word.

[one_one_se7en]

His visor spots the small box, extended by the girl's delicate hand. This one was truly from her, and not a gift given by these dreams. He slowly stands back up, once again towering over the girl... and slowly grabs the box.

Carefully, he opens it. Almost taking care of the wrapping. Careful with the enormous power he wielded for something so delicate.

[waterfell]

Inside, there's a small bag, with the planetary sigil of Mercury adorning the front in silver.

"Don't open the bag," Ami says once it's been revealed. "It's a protective charm." A somewhat superstitious gift, coming from her; but it's her own good wishes she's sending with him, more than any magic.

"A charm against physical harm," she adds lamely.

[decaying]

Kanda wasn't sure what he was doing here but he knew he had something to do. Something on his mind. Christmas wasn't a big thing with him, it was hard to be grateful about anything when you lived like him. He didn't have a family as much as Lenalee and Komui would say otherwise.

This Christmas was different, at least in his dreams. He was standing not too far from the girl looking at the tree with the weight of a small slender box inside his black and gold coat. He hesitated until he eventually approached her.

"What's the problem?"

[waterfell]

Ami stayed looking at the tree just a moment longer, as though still puzzled, before turning to Kanda.

"No, it's nothing," she decided. Ridiculous to make a big deal over something so small, she told herself. Though the parcels nearby were marked as being from her, she ignored them completely and turned to Kanda instead. The gift she wanted to give him was not among them.

"Let's go." There was no point staying here, either.

[decaying]

Let's go?

[What's going on, Ami. You don't like Christmas either? If you insist to leave he'll go with you.]

Where to?

[waterfell]

[Christmas leaves her conflicted. And this place is unsettling in itself. No, she'll go with Kanda.]

I just want to get out of here. [She manages a slightly pert smile, and lets herself think of what's ahead instead.]

[decaying]

[He'll follow her but you're confusing him. He reaches for his pocket just to make sure he's still got the box.]

Don't like Christmas that much either?

[waterfell]

[She doesn't quite answer. She's not sure what made her want to leave herself. Something about the room, and that tree, and that pile had just been strange.]

I just decided I wanted to see you instead.

[She waits until they're a short distance away from it to put it behind her, before she reaches over to take Kanda's arm. Her hand brushes the sleeve of the coat.]

[decaying]

[He looked down at her hand and realized he could hardly feel her fingers over all the fabric. Huh. He hadn't noticed this.]

What the hell am I wearing. [He's just going to remove the coat. Don't need all of this inside.]