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[ Axel & Isobel > Christmas Tree [Fathle] ]

Axel managed to grow just a shade red from Fathle’s words, but she did manage to stick her hand out and shake his hand firmly. “Axel Halkias, it’s nice to meet you Fathle.” She managed to look surprised when he mentioned Isobel and she turned to face the Frei. “I thought you were going to go say hello to Luka?” The guardian had hoped she would at least spend a bit more time with other Raevans than come straight back to her side. Axel wondered if she should have maybe let Isobel meet more Raevans, learn how to make friends properly. Turning back to Fathle, she gave him a small smile. “Yes, this is her.”

While Isobel had previously not been paying attend to the group, the man’s words had caught her curiosity and she’d turned to look at him carefully. “There are a lot of people around Luka, so I can wait until there is less.” Even while she talked to Axel her eyes were on Fathle. “I’m Isobel. Are you a guardian?” The Frei tilted her head slightly, what color were his eyes? She was going to have to ask Axel since she couldn’t tell and she didn’t want to seem rude by just bursting out her question at him.

[Banter > Hot Chocolate Bar : Zul > Cafeteria]

As the offending hand came toward him, The Other went very still. His eyes flashed a stricken 'Don't',

There was a sensation near his jaw. A follicular tickle from the Demon's skin, like the sensitive trigger hairs of a venus fly-trap. There was a brief painless sting, a bit like a static shock. He felt his tongue push against his soft canines in an impulse to bite, the cocoa squirting into his cheeks. In that split second, he wanted very much to bite. He willed himself to bite! But couldn't. Paralyzed. Trying to process whatever change he thought he saw take place in the Demon's eyes.

That flash of blue to black...

He swallowed audibly as the Demon drew away, his tongue coated in a sickly-sweet aftertaste. His expression was a blend of indignant fear. His attempt to look wronged to mask his discomfort at being unable to understand what had just happened. The Demon took it in stride, dispensing an earnest if somewhat cryptic piece of advice.

But if you need help—His eyes narrowed.—seek me out.

His name was Zul. If that name didn't have significance to him before, it sure as hell did now...

After the two were gone, the rigidity drained slowly from his body, and he realized his mug-holding hand was trembling. He smoothed his palm over his face and covered his mouth. He was alone, but felt raw. A big bundle of nerves. The party was back, but every facet of it felt overstimulating. All the noises were too loud. All the lights were too bright. Even the feeling of fabric on his skin was beginning to chafe.

He had to get out of here. That was too close. That was way too close.

He floated hastily to a single glass door that might conceivably lead him somewhere less crowded. A bathroom or maybe the kitchen Lulu mentioned. He entered into a spartan, professional-looking hallway, where the déjà vu feeling increased tenfold, enveloping him like a chilling miasma. He didn't realize that only so many years ago, Genie had once made this nervewracking trip. Walked this same length of bland beige carpet to that fateful examination room, with walls that once bore his fingerprints.

All the doors in the hallway were closed forbiddingly and presumably locked. There was only a large arching doorway that led into a blessedly empty space with tables and chairs. A length of counter. A water cooler. A few vending machines. A highly anachronistic foosball table. This looked like the right place.

He approached one of the vending machines, which dispensed a variety of hot beverages. The face of the machine radiated both an aura of warmth, and a pleasant humming sound. He flicked his eyes over the labels, half-reading. The inescapable hot chocolate. Watered down cappuccinos. Black, lite, and decaf coffee. He made a motion with his hand, realizing fairly quickly that he was not wearing one of their sweatshirts, and therefore had no pockets. No place for loose change. Frustrated, he beat a fist on the front of the machine with a hollow plastic thunnk.

There was a new-ish looking coffee maker on the counter that looked like it had some left in the carafe. Probably leftover from this morning and ice-cold. He didn't particularly care. At this point he would take what he could get.

He set his mug on the counter and splashed a generous amount of black coffee into it, adding to the cocoa. He filled it up too much. If he tried to pick the mug up off the counter there'd be messy spillover. He was forced to lean his face over the mug and try to sip down the levels. ('Please God don't let anyone be seeing this.')

When it was safe, he picked up the mug, drained it by two-thirds, came up for a gasp of air, then wiped his mouth vigorously on his sleeve. The mixture tasted vile, but in a strangely sobering way.

He turned, sliding his back down the counter until he was "sitting" on the vinyl wood floor. His eyes slid half shut. Behind the vending machines, he noticed a landscape painting hanging on the wall. Another by a window with closed motorized blinds. They were both glib and generic nature scenes. Empty beaches and winding wooded pathways. Soothing images by reputation, but not at the moment. His heart was pounding.

That guy, ******** didn't want to be here anymore. He was officially done.

He focused.

"Basil." He whispered. Silence echoed.

He ran his tongue over his scratchy upper lip. He could still taste coffee on it, and for some reason that aggravated him way more than it should have. He was shaving this s**t off his face the second they got home. "Basil."

He was sensing resistance. Wherever Basil was, he couldn't just force a switch. That was bad news. Little by little he was starting to feel trapped. A coil of nervous energy glowing hot. After a minute of trying, he finally felt a tug of connection, but it was faint. Like a bad cable hookup or a phone about to lose service. (They were still working out the finer points of two-way communication.)

("What?") His brother sounded groggy.

He was instantly flooded with relief. "Basil, I've had enough. It's time to tag in now. I just had a really close call and—" He shook his head, "I've just had enough."

("Already? It hasn't been that long, has it? Where's a clock...")

"I said I'm done! Don't argue, just do it, okay?"

("Calm down, what happened out there?") His tone made a flat transition from concerned to suspicious. ("...What'd you do?")

His mouth fell open. The Other wasn't expecting this to be such a long or involved conversation. The fact that Basil wouldn't immediately acquiesce sent a fresh wave of alarm rippling through him. He didn't count on his brother welching on him.

"Basil, I'm serious!"

("Hey, I'm serious too! You can't keep going out there when its convenient for you and then run back inside—")"

"You made me come out here! As a favor!"

("—when the heat gets turned up, and if you ticked somebody off, you can just deal with it for once!")

In his attempt to interrupt, there was a disorienting moment in which the both of them were talking simultaneously. Basil must have noticed it too, and they shared a mutual feeling of perplexed discovery. That was a new one on them.

("Whoah.")

He shook it off. "H-how dare you! I'm always fixing your messes! How about this morning?"

("...Did you even try?") He said, exhausted.

"Why are you—you're not getting it!"

("So explain it!")

He clenched his fists and pressed them to either side of his head. His reply came out all in one hissed breath. "Some guy touched my face and his eyes did a ********, I don't know!" His face colored at his own incoherence. In any case, Basil didn't seem impressed.

"Wait..."

Basil sighed, ("I'm going back to sleep.")

"Basil, you promised!" But the connection was gone, and just like that, The Other was alone again.

At first he was stunned, and could do nothing but sit in horrified amazement. Taking in the silence and the droning hum of the vending machines. The dull noise of the party in the next room. His body began to vibrate with impotent rage. He utilized his rune, balled his fist, and brought it down hard on the cupboard door behind him. The resulting smash went into a vacuum. Soundless.

((Delia - Dinner Table w/Dayo, Cesc, Vivi and Shep))

"How have you been?"

Cordelia was trying very hard to maintain some semblance of happiness when faced with this question. How very much she wanted to spit out everything she'd endured until then to the eagle. Everything from learning about her previous incarnation to that life's untimely demise by the hands of her very own guardian. She still had some very mixed emotions on the subject, but the stress of it was enough to make her want to punch something or someone. And to top it all off, the coup de grace, a mysterious rash the snake was suffering from that itched to high heaven. In fact, right then Delia was trying her very best not to scratch her arms too much, but man did they itch!

Seeing Vivi's anxious arms open wide for the cloud Frei, Cordelia reluctantly let Dayo go to allow her to greet the others proper. In response to the other's question, Delia decided to answer with a little white lie. After all, the girl had just gotten back and she'd hate to ruin her fun of reuniting with old friends. Quietly she replied, "I'm a little under the weather, but okay."

Finally able to accept Cesc's outstretched hand, the basilisk quickly shook it before shoving her hands deep into the front pocket of her hoodie. Typically the smokey Frei wasn't so opposed to touching others, but at the moment she was very, very aware of herself and a touch embarrassed by her current condition. Instead she tried her best to hide it in a tentative smile, "I'm glad Vivi was finally able to find a soul to match her essence. Last I talked to her she seemed very frustrated that she may never find it's perfect pairing. She was quite anxious to meet her own petite chou."

(*slight edit)

[ Domevlo --> Lobby w/ Revontulet ]
[ Moving to Cocoa Table ]

At the mention of knowing where Anita reside, Domevlo followed Leo's guidance and spotted the guardian sitting with another near the sofas. He gave a slight nod of acknowledgement before turning his attention back to Leo and Ethiriel. They seemed ready to find their respective Secret Santa therefore leaving Ren and himself to their own devices. With a slight wave of his hands in departure, he watched the two excuse themselves and head toward their respective tasks.

With his attention now on Ren he gave her a nervous squeeze as he held tight to her hand. Noting the frantic waving of her guardian in the distance he sighed inwardly to himself. The party was growing and it was getting too hot, too crowded, he didn't like it and his irritation was growing. Taking a calming breath he turned a nervous gaze to Ren. "Domo will go with Ren." He finally confirmed. She promised to assist him with Anita so it was only fair he assist her first.

He took a moment to scan the crowd spotting a floating black cowboy hat moving above a sea of heads before his guardian came into view. Seeing the cowboy helped calm his nerves and if he didn't feel comfortable he could deman Thanatos take him home. Straightening with more energy he patted Ren's hand comfortingly. "Let's go."

((Zeke --> Cocoa Bar with Doucette, Trox, Xiu, and Hazeline --> Making a dash outside real quick!))

"I am sure the whole Lab would be lining up from a little peck from you."

Zeke couldn't stop himself from laughing. With a grin on his face - one could almost call it wicked with how the mirth shined in his eyes for the briefest moment - the vet leaned toward Doucette, tapping his cheek with his index finger. "You wanna be the first one in line?"

His tone of voice was full of play and light flirtation but being the physical kind of man he was, in truth Zeke wouldn't mind a kiss on the cheek from Doucette. Tis the season and all that jazz after all! When she kissed his cheek he returned the friendly affection, pecking her once on her cheek, before straightening in time to see Xiu and a human woman come over to join their little pow-wow.

"Hey there, Xiu. Long time no see!" When he said this Zeke was referring to the time before the jungle trip, which had to have been a year or two by now. The mention of 'the situation' made Zeke look at Trox with a puzzled expression before figuring out the obvious. The vet hadn't been in his right mind then and even then not awake very long but knowing what the pilot was trained for made Zeke certain the taller man had done a helluva job to the best of his abilities over the summer. As Hazeline was introduced and her present passed off to Trox, Zeke stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you!"

"Hello Zeke, Troxel, Merry Christmas,"

"Revontulet! Merry Christmas; you're looking as lovely as ever!" Zeke swung around to beam at the Aurora Frei, his smile breaking for a moment into a look of surprise at the gifts the young lady held out to him. He took them from her, grin returning post haste. "Thank you!" He would have reached out to offer her a hug but with arms now full of gifts that was an impossibility. Instead the vet bobbed his head and bounced on his heel, stopping shortly after of his own accord, rather than by the words the Moonstone Raevan next spoke.

"She's under the weather," not wholly the truth but also not fully a lie either, "I will though, you can count on it!" And then like that Revon was gone, tugging along another Raevan in search of his Secret Santa. Zeke wished she could have stayed for a moment or two more - perhaps gage her interest in meeting up with Anastacia at some point in the near future after the big move - but he didn't hold it against her. She wanted to mingle, clearly, and it wasn't like he couldn't pose the question to her Guardian instead. Looking back to Doucette, he did the head bobbing thing to her as well.

"Thank you too, Dou! Could you hold this one for me, please? Since Anya's not here I'm gonna let her unwrap it at home. I'm sure she'll love whatever you two picked for her."

Once the smaller present was handed off temporarily, Zeke became a one-man show. He raised his right leg, bent at the knee, to use as a table. The shiny tricolor paper was a treat to behold and he almost felt bad about tearing into it. Almost. The paper fell away easily and then the cover came off the box that was hidden beneath it. When Zeke saw what was inside, his face lit up.

"This is fantastic!" He passed the box off to Doucette and slipped the Christmas sweater on right there. It was slightly baggy on his leaner frame but Zeke did not mind in the slightest. He had been chuckling again at the sight of his new sweater but when he figured out how to turn the lights on - and set them to a fast, technicolor blinking to boot - his laugh once more echoed off the wall they all stood near. "Thank you Dou! I love it!"

He wrapped her up on the spot, giving her a big bear hug and kissing the top of her head in his immense gratitude. When Dou was released, Zeke turned around and spread his arms to show the other three in the group, beaming as his eyes went from face to face. "Screw 'only wearing it at Christmastime', I'm showing this off whenever I can!" He pushed the sleeves up past his wrists and took the box and Anya's secret Santa gift back from Dou.

"Y'know it's funny, you and I are secret Santas as well, and so are Revontulet and Anya." Throwing his thumb over his shoulder toward the doorway back into the chilly December night, he broke from the group and started walking backward toward the door. "Lemme go get yours. Stay right here, I'll be back in a flash!"

[ Axel & Isobel > Christmas Tree ( Fathle ) ]

Looking a little shocked at the old fashion greeting, Axel raised her hand to touch her cheek. She could feel the warmth emanating from them, and she was sure she’d grown a few more shades redder at that moment. “You have quite the refined manners.” In fact she had never seen such a greeting ever. It vaguely reminded her of perhaps, a greeting that would be performed in older times.

“It is nice to meet you Fathle.” It was only when he pointed out his Raevan did Isobel to turn to get a good look at Dayo. There was more than one female Raevan at the table, Isobel tilted her head. “Which one is she?” She turned back slightly towards him, maybe they’d be able to meet later one. Axel certainly seemed to like him; her cheeks had gone from a soft pink to a brilliant shade of red. This color change had only happened after Fathle had given her a proper, in her books anyway, greeting that was deserved a lady. Isobel decided then that she liked him.

“I do if you don’t mind.” Isobel could see Axel watching her with slightly narrowed eyes. Her guardian always told her that she was too forward when she asked questions, that she needed to work on her subtly when asking people certain questions. Out to prove her guardian wrong, Iso raised her chin a little and asked away. “Your eyes,” she started, floating just a little bit closer to get a god look at them. “What color are they? They are dark and I don’t think I’ve seen such a color on anyone before.” There, Axel smiled, Isobel shifted her floating back to her guardian.

[[Aphismet and Rivener >> Alcohol Bar. Mordekai and Camille ]]

Rivener raised his eyebrows as the two lushes came over to introduce themselves. They were quite gone already! The Scorpion grinned in amusement, though he was quite shocked to see that Camille was not a woman at all. "Well, Camille, I'm pleased to meet you. I'm Rivener. This is my Guardian, Aphismet." The white-haired chef smiled and waved as he continued mixing his drink. "I don't think we've ever met before but in the spirit of this whole Christmas thing, I'd drawn your name for the secret santa. So here," Rivener extended the tall, slim wrapped package he'd been carrying under an arm. "That's for you."

Inside, Camille would later find a rather lovely bottle of Goldschlager, that richly cinnamon-flavored alcohol dotted with flecks of actual gold leaf. Riv winced: he'd bought for a woman's tastes, so he hoped the man wouldn't mind.

Meanwhile, Aphismet moved out of the way for Ebs to duck in and grab something to drink. He grinned at her and wished her a merry holiday, then got to work peering about the crowd trying to spot the two younglings and their stone-armed ward... "Riv," he called quietly. "When you're done making friends, could you see if you can find the Maevins?"