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 Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2011 3:38 am
There was still a solid eight hours until the big Christmas Gala, but in the Deus Labs, the party was already well under way. Feliz Navidad blasted over the intercom with a conga line in full swing. Office chairs and wheelchairs raced through and across hallways, usually bearing lab techs, but at least several terrified minipets and one keg could also be seen wheeling about.
The only Life Hunter apparently not taking part in the pre-party party was the blonde currently stalking about issuing commands into the runic version of a blue-tooth earpiece. "What do you mean the fireworks are a no-go? No...no we can't just have a bunch of hunters fire off charged attacks into the sky! Do you know how much damage that caused last year?"
The rest of the division gave Clarice her space, and tried to keep it down a notch when she came near. This was possibly out of consideration, it was also possibly due to the current game of See if She Notices. They were only really getting started, but so far their efforts had resulted in Clarice walking about in...
- one pair of reindeer antlers (lighted)
- tinsel (applied to various locations)
- one strand garland (trailing from coat pocket)
- hug me sign (placed on back)
The assistant had yet to notice any of it, focusing instead on the final preparations. If everything was left to Julie everyone would either get sick from food poisoning or spend the whole night tripping balls and watching their hands move. Or hooves, if they actually wore those damn costumes she had sent.
"Did you at least..." she nearly collided with the conga line, cursed, and started making her way to her office for some relative piece and quiet. "Did you as get the DK-1 delivery in order? Big red bow? Excellent. Now just make sure Julie doesn't enter the kitchens. Set yourself on fire if you have to."
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2011 4:08 pm
Presents weren't meant to be given until later in the day, possibly not til evening. Davey's own gifts had only joined the massive pile under the tree the night before, too busy licking his wounds in private for the week since he'd been back to London. There seemed to have been one exception to the rule, however, and that had been Davey waking to find an envelope slipped under his door containing a key and a small card that read 'from your friends from Life'.
(The manual would not have fit under any door, and was waiting to trip him up the moment he stepped outside his door.)
It had taken Davey a few reads to work out that the 'life' in question was the division - in his defense, the sun wasn't up yet and he hadn't had any caffeine, his mind was allowed to functioning at less than full capacity. Tracking down a non-trainee, full Life Hunter hadn't been too difficult. An enquiry about the card had generated a bright, 'Oh, Clarice's project! So, what do you think?'
Which had meant Davey had to go and find the present in question. (He'd asked the Life Hunter for directions, rather than use the map Clarice had included - he wanted to find this gift before sundown, thank you.) Whatever Davey had been expecting - dreading, more likely - the vehicle in the sole 'Disabled Parking Spot' that Clarice had created months ago was not it. Davey had sat down on the ground, opened the brick of a manual that had tried to kill him that morning, and read. It was several hours later that he finally looked up again and realised he needed to speak to Clarice.
The pimped-out golf buggy remained where it was, shining in the sun and waiting for a test drive. Later, Davey promised himself as he gave it one last look before walking back into the building and going searching for the woman in question.
The Labs were more chaotic than usual. Davey could hear blaring Christmas music from several halls away. He had to brace himself to enter, then immediately had to duck out of the way of a conga line. Clearly, Christmas Cheer (and strong liquor) weren't in short supply in the Labs.
"I'm looking for Clarice...?" he tried, yelling over the music to someone by. They pointed to an office without even looking up. Davey shrugged, shouted a, "Thank you," after them and headed in the direction they'd indicated.
He caught sight of a familiar blonde head ahead and caught up as she was advising someone to set themselves on fire. Davey startled for a moment, then shrugged and reached out to tap her on the shoulder. He'd probably heard her say worse to trainees or people who'd pissed off Dr H before.
"Clarice," he said as he touched her shoulder. He raised his eyebrows as he finally noticed her... accessories... Either she was as in to this holiday as Julie, or there was some kind of prank way going on. Opening his mouth to speak about the gift, he instead found himself saying, "Nice antlers." They were glowing red - they were a little hard to miss (unless you were Clarice, apparently).
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Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 1:50 am
Startled, Clarice muttered a quick, "Don't make me come find you," before hanging up and turning to greet Davey with a bright smile. "Oh Davey!" Does this mean he got the...wait, "...antlers?" The smile dropped into a confused frown as she as she looked around and felt something wobble on top of her head. Reaching up, she found the headband...and were those strands of tinsel? The blonde's eyes slid to the party goers in a manner that promised dire retributions to come.
The she glanced back at Davey and remembered that he had to be here to tell her what a wonderful and talented and understanding person she was and the smile was back in full force. "So what brings you here today?" She wasn't quite bouncing on her heels in expectation.
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