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While Xiu was quite content to muse over the fact that he was missing his guardian, the mention of his name from the woman called. But the mentioning of his name was irrelevant to what was said next. Lee the woman had definitely mentioned it! Although it could probably have been a Bob Lee or Alice Lee, Xiu was at once on the alert. “Miss Lee? As in…Hazeline Lee? Have you seen her? Is she lost? Where?” Xiu blurted out before realizing it. A moment later, Xiu was hit with an emotion called ‘embarrassment’ as he had not only made himself look like some whiny lost brat but had made it seem as though Hazeline was a careless guardian. He had tainted her name!!!

Xiu immediately felt ill and tried compose himself and perhaps think of a suitable explanation to un-tarnish Hazeline’s good name. But before the white haired raevan could utter a syllable, he realized that his hand was grasped by Zul. The grasp was firm, warm and…oddly reassuring. However, due to his previous musings, Xiu had not heard the conversation between Ethan and Zul and was quite at a lost as Zul called him a marvel.

A marvel? thought Xiu a little confusedly. Was he the marvel or the meeting a marvel or…
Oh….
Zul was introducing him Ethan and Niksia.

Xiu nodded once with a pleasant smile as he eyed Ethan and Niksia. “I have met Mr. Blake once before with a certain Miss Finch if my memory serves me well and… ,” Xiu chuckled softly as he eyed Ethan with a slightly mischievous glint in his eyes “ Yes, quite well, thank you. Yourself? How…have…you…been?,” Xiu asked with a slowness that although subtle, could definitely be detected before giving Ethan a look that could easily be interpreted as Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.

Then turning to Niksia, Xiu gave a small grin to indicate that he had heard her question before Zul had taken his hand. “My name’s Xiu, Miss Nick-see-ah,” said Xiu as he tried to vocalize the other’s name. Although unaware of it, Xiu was enjoying the attention given and the chance to actually talk to people. Hazeline had told Xiu sometime before that he could come off as sounding a little pompous if he wasn’t careful but Xiu had only a vague idea of what it meant.


Hazeline took a surprised step backwards at the sudden accusation of the other but when the actual meaning of the words were interpreted, Hazline all but pounced onto the other woman and with a ferocity that could have put a Tasmanian devil to shame, Hazeline grabbed the other by the shoulder. There were many ways one could interpret ‘little puppies’, like how one could interpret ‘the little doves’ or a ‘delightful place with bunnies’ and Zul sounded like someone highly suspicious. “What do you know of Xiu?” asked Hazeline before realizing that she’d probably gone too far. Taking a deep breath as she released her hold on the other, Hazeline stepped back and eyed Grafficha. “Sorry, a little worried…back there but…Have you truly seen him? Where?”

The image of Xiu looking lost and confuse stabbed Hazeline like a knife as she recalled the day Xiu had been told that he was to leave the lab and having an image of him experiencing that a second time worried the young woman deeply. “Please, could you bring me to him?”

Lucia nodded slightly when asked if she was a raevan. Wasn't it obvious? It seems that many humans and even some raevans she met were somewhat . . . slow. A swirl instead of legs. Wings. Cat ears. A glowing rune symbol visible between the cloth of her swirl. What else would she be? "Do you take care of a raevan?" she asked the woman. Lucia certainly hoped that not another dense human was in charge of a raevan.

Lucia glanced at the line. The crowd had been fairly calm for a while, slowly flowing through a steady line of mothers, fathers, infants, and brats. The frei ran her fingers through her hair and pressed her lips together, trying to spread the gloss around. She really wanted to ditch the vest, or at least make it so her wings were more comfortable. Arm holes weren't really the easiest place to stick them, even ones as small as hers. The cat's ears twitched as she felt herself being watched. Standing in front was a little girl who was staring intently at her with a sticky slimy candy cane between her lips. "Where's your Mom?" she asked the girl, trying to be nice as Maili stared a hole in her.

Thoroughly exhausted from giving the puppies all the love she could afford to give, Alessa stretched her arms out behind her back before leaving the small group behind. There were still many hours in the day left, and she was confident enough in her innate mall-navigating skills that she was fully certain she would be able to find the Italian woman she had spied earlier.

Walking casually through the mall, a small smile crept across her face as she spied the Santa Village........and.......

Another floating body. And next to this one----- Alessa. Never completed that thought. A dark shadow came across her face, the corner of her mouth and her eye twitching. Bad vibes oozed out of her as she clenched her jaw tightly, trying her best not to loose her temper. Taking a forced, deep breath, she methodically marched up to the purple-haired woman manning the Village, quickly grabbing her by the shoulder, not really caring for the fact that she was currently dealing with some children.

"Excuse me, but who's in charge of the uniforms in this place? I need to speak to them," she tried to be polite and cheery about it, but really, this was not even funny. "Now."

Maili perked up perceivably when the Interesting Individual addressed her specifically. She gave a slight c**k of her head at the question. "Mom? I live with my uncle Ronan and cousin Chris right now. My cousin brought me here today, but I let her be on her own for a little while since I was getting bored," she stated simply. Wasting no time, she asked, "May I ask what matter of being you are? The only thing that I've seen that is even remotely similar to you is a sea spirit, but I'm pretty sure you're not that," quite oblivious to the fact that most people had never seen a sea spirit in their life, let alone known what one was.

((Santa’s Village))

"Honey, volunteer or not what you got there is not acceptable for you or for this environment!"

Was she serious? Did she often do this to people? First off, she ups and grabs her, then yells at her and now she was coping an attitude all the while trying to lecture her on her wardrobe. Honestly, she was trying to work here and second, no one else had said anything. If they had, it’s very possible they’d gone to complain to the proper authorities instead of attacking a lowly worker in front of all these families. Oh if only she weren’t working then, Ebony might have the nerve to actually kick the other female. Most possibly in the face, she couldn’t decide.

A tiny, tight smile slipped onto the Brit’s lips as she passed more candy to some kids who’d been tugging at her skirt, the same skirt she was being chastised for right at that moment. Between still smiling, yet clenched teeth, “Miss. If you have a problem with the uniforms, I suggest you take it up with the coordinators of the mall. Right now, I am working and would very much appreciate it if you would please move on.”

(( Santa's Village ))

T-Take it up with the coordinators? Hadn't that been what she had asked for in the first place?! She could understand the purple-haired worker getting upset over the whole shoulder-grabbing thing, but really, she could have just directed her to the coordinators in the first place.

A small voice in the back of her head groaned, saying something about how her comment had probably come off as more arrogant than sincere. Alessa swatted it away, instead noticing that she was making a bit of a scene. Wary stares were leveled at her, as the more cautious parents made sure their charges stayed close and within their reach. Somewhere behind her, she heard a meek child's voice asking their mommy why there was lady attacking Missus Santa Claus.

That.....That would definitely explain why she seemed rather upset over the whole thing. ...................................Oops.

Ironically, the situation may not have been such a bad thing after all, as it had somehow managed to summon a mall coordinator. He approached her rather meekly, asking if everything was alright. She flipped the switch on her attitude hiding any signs of aggression under a mask she had perfected over the years.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry, but can we talk elsewhere? It seems I've caused a scene without meaning to, and I really don't want to ruin meeting Santa for all the kids here!" Not giving the coordinator a chance to answer she calmly but firmly steered the man away, turning to the woman one last time, "I really am sorry, ma'am! No hard feelings?"

((Santa’s Village))

Ebony, still passing out candy, quietly eyed the small conversation between the mall official and the rude woman. Oh sure, make like you’re all sugar and spice when the big guns come calling. Miss Claus had half a mind to freaking slug the woman now, but managed to keep it in check. Though it was pretty obvious that she was quite irked by the slight twitching of her eye. Luckily, no one noticed much what with all the sugar hyped children and that big, fake smile plastered across her face.

As they were leaving, Ebony gave a little relieved sigh. Then of course the woman had to go and apologize. Yeah, sure, like she was to believe that was heart felt. But in order to keep face, the purple haired woman smiled as bright as she could possibly manage. Then with as much sweetness and energy as she could summon, she waved the others goodbye. “No problem Miss. And you have yourself a very, merry Christmas!” Ugh, she might have to take a shower later just for that since she felt like physically hurting herself for sounding so sickeningly sweet even if it wasn’t sincere.

((Santa's Village))

Lucia stared deadpan at little thing. The cat-frei didn't like being asked questions, didn't like being stared at by people she didn't want to stare, and generally did not like children. Her ear twitched in annoyance and her wings flapped a little more heatedly. The small inquisitive girl was a combination of three things that frustrated her and Lucia didn't want to give her the time of day. "That's an awfully rude question. Would you like it if someone came up to you and asked what you were?"

She sighed, glad that it was this girl's turn to go up to Santa. "Santa's all ready for you! And I'm a raevan, by the way." Ebony, it seemed, was busy with a loud rowdy woman and the dark haired raevan would have to escort the girl to Kris Krindell herself. Gently grasping her shoulder, Lucia steered the girl up the steps to Santa.