|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:05 pm
The officers found themselves pulled into an intimate hall within the Rift, one much smaller than that used for announcements of war and anger. This room, instead encouraged mingling, the rubbing of elbows with the multitude of Negaverse Agents that rapidly began populating the area.
The hall was made cozy with warm from a large, stone fireplace, its mantle carved with legends long past. The tree, and there was a tree, was large, a centerpiece to the room. It was festooned with tiny, bright points of multi-colored light, garlands of flowers from the youma-garden mingled with ornaments of dubious origin.Those with a discerning eye may have noticed that a 'light' or two seemed to move, just slightly, a reminder that the youma of the Rift could take almost any form, large or small, however, they would find their attention pulled away before any true investigation of the tree could be completed. Beneath the branches of the tree, which itself was of indeterminate wood [perhaps harvested from the village, itself], gifts were placed, the results of the 'secret santa' demanded just the day prior.
Those with any sort of social grace would know to follow the movements of the crowd, and set their own gift with the others, before rejoining the groups meandering through the hall.
Officers were free, for the next half hour or so, of the presence of any General Kings or Queens, left to partake in conversation with those they knew, and to enjoy the spread laid out upon ancient stone tables covered with elegant, golden tablecloths.
The hors d'oeuvres, fortunately enough, were all too human, ranging from deviled eggs, shrimp cocktail, and wraps, to wines and cheeses, to eggnog and desserts. There is more than enough for all, and the small plates and napkins are surprisingly devoid of any denominational decorations. Behind the tables stand humanoid youma, dressed neatly in white and gold, serving drink and food to those that approach the tables.
Eventually, one might notice the slightly raised stage toward the end of the hall, where there is seating that remains unoccupied. Additionally, those with the interest, or sharp eye, might notice the sound system, playing background music blissfully unrelated to the holidays, with a microphone attached. The sound of the music overshadows the slight drone of a generator, powering the few things that require electricity.
--------
**If you did not sign up for the Secret Santa, you are still welcome to participate in the ORP, however, your officer will have to bring an undescribed gift for an unnamed recipient, to be placed under the tree, since ICly, they are participating [everyone is].
**Remember that, ICly, all members of the Negaverse are at this party, though they may arrive at differing intervals.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:34 pm
General Painite could not be happier than with what was happening now. Secret santa, spending Christmas (kind of) with her favorite people? What could be better than that? The Negaverse was more of a family to her than she actually had left, at any rate, and she was more than eager to spend time with them, to see them relax and laugh and hopefully just have some fun.
She smiled warmly as she looked around.
Of course, she was wearing her usual attire, but had donned a wintery hat. It was blue with white, fluffy rimming and jingle bell at the end of its pointed top. It had elf ears on the sides. It made noise every time she walked. It wasn't specifically Christmas, but then, neither was anything else.
She put her present with the others and chuckled to herself, looking around for refreshments and found the snacks. The fancy word for it didn't occur to her, but she was content just to think of it as food and have at it. Looking at the youma ready to serve food, she smiled brightly and basically got one of everything.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:49 pm
The day had been spent out shopping, or attempting to shop. He hadn't bought anything until evening was falling upon them. He'd finally gotten an idea, a combination gift. He really was stretching for ideas, at least in his mind, but he'd finally bought two items and decided the two would hopefully be good. If one was bad the other would hopefully be good, he was hoping odds were on hid side.
He'd been waiting in his room, Lily was thankfully not home right now, when he'd felt the calling and powering up was pulled into the rift. Even now, after being summoned once before, it still felt odd, maybe even odder than the last time. A glance around proved the hall was filled with agents, and more seemed to be arriving, and the food was normal if the smells filling the hall were to be trusted.
Spotting the tree he headed that way, the snowflake wrapped box set under the tree before he headed to get some food, and something to drink. He was hoping to see Painite, he already had her gift waiting at home for her. He had wanted to get the little kitten vet checked, bathed, and taken care of before presenting the General her gift.
"I didn't think we could get any sort of music of lights down here..." Spoken aloud and to himself. He hadn't thought they could get the electricity to operate such things. It seemed he'd been wrong, which was a nice thing.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:56 pm
When Petalite was pulled from her home and landed in festively decorated hall she managed to land on her feet for once, instead of stumbling. Most likely because she was expecting the summons, which was odd in and of itself. She was more used to randomly getting yanked out of bed, or off her couch. She also wasn't used to being summoned when there wasn't a crisis of some sort going on. Celebrating...it was different.
The Captain shook her head looking at the small, nicely wrapped box in her hand. She usually wouldn't be one for gift exchanges, but the General-Queen had made it very clear that it was a mandatory event. Getting a gift for Captain Osumilite had been difficult. She knew who he was, Tag Swagger news reporter extraordinaire, but that didn't help all that much. And it wasn't like she had friends she could ask, one of the downsides of being an elitist b***h was that it left her with a very shaky support system. In the end she had ended up going with something simple and classy.
As she made her way to the tree she glanced around the room at the other officers who were arriving and she couldn't help but wonder who had gotten her and more importantly, what they had gotten her. The giftbox in its snowman wrapping paper was set under the tree, and the redhead even took an extra moment to turn it so the sticker tag could easily be read. Not that it said much only 'To: Osumilite' and underneath that 'From: Petalite'. Was she supposed to write a note? She had no idea, she wasn't exactly good at acts of generosity to those who didn't have the last name Collins.
Standing out of her crouched position she left the tree and looked over the room again, taking it in. Instinctively her sapphire eyes were searching for Pectolite both as his superior and...well whatever they were outside the Negaverse. Wrinkling her nose she stopped looking and instead headed for the food, food was far less complicated.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:38 pm
Zircon, in her day-to-day life, was not the sort of person to celebrate Christmas in a grandiose way. She avoided office parties like the plague, and preferred to spend her holidays at home curled up on her couch with a warm cup of cocoa and a select group of close friends at her side. She disliked the overplayed music, the holiday traffic killed her in-city mileage, and to be honest the smell of pine gave her a roaring headache. It was nice to reconnect with the family, but overall she kept her season's greetings to herself.
However, one did not simply say no to an office invite from the Negaverse.
Shopping for the fellow lieutenant had almost turned into a military operation, and considering the crowds, she could have used a tactical team just to navigate. Being pummeled by senshi countless times didn't seem to lessen how annoying it was to have her personal space invaded by countless other shoppers, and she spent most of her durance in line fuming about how easy it would be to slip into Zircon's skin and rip the starseed out of the woman holding up the queue, presenting her life force as an alternative gift. But alas, her resolve held, and she purchased her items with a held tongue and a pounding migrane.
She waited patiently on her couch for the summons, dressed in her most festive attire and seated primly with Esperite's gift held lightly in her lap. The presentation was quaint, if a little Paula Dean-ish, the paper-wrapped bundles placed in a nest of red and green checkered tissue paper held by a white wicker basket. A red bow tied to the handle held a tag that read 'To Esperite, From Zircon' in small, squared letters, the entire gift smelling faintly of warm sugar.
The lieutenant had been adjusting the appropriate crinkleness of the tissue paper when she felt the jarring tug at her gut that wrenched her into The Rift, causing her to stumble as she stood, clutching the basket tenderly. She frowned as she looked down at her dull non-Festive uniform, but had to let it slide after a moment's disappointment. Being an officer as long as she'd been, she should have known better than to dress for an event where she would be in uniform. Still, it would have been nice if she'd remembered to at least keep a hair bow at the ready.
Zircon took a moment to get adjusted to the ambiance of the room, and then followed suit with the officers presenting gifts to a communal tree, nestling her own present somewhere where it was both likely to be seen and not to be stepped on. Having completed her main objective for the evening, Zircon turned and looked at the crowd before her, trying her best to devise a tactical plan for mingling.
Whatever her plan, in the meanwhile she looked stiff and awkward eyeing her brothers in arms, hoping to see someone she had a working relationship. Other than a few of her students, the prospects looked dim thusfar. Mentally, Zircon added 'social networking' to her growing list of things she needed to do for the Negaverse.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:47 pm
General Painite, food in hand, turned when she heard a familiar voice nearby. She grinned broadly and moved toward Captain Benitoite, offering him the one hand she had free. Then she remembered hand shakes were pointless, so she clapped him on the shoulder in greeting.
"Did you say something about the lights? Pretty nice decorations they have going on here, hm?" She chuckled, already well past relaxed, though she hadn't had anything to help her along. It was just a welcomed reprieve.
She smiled at Beni, then looked toward the pile of presents.
"Which one did you bring?" she asked, though she was not going to press for who he had to get a present for. That would defeat the purpose, after all.
She smiled at her slightly stuffy but oh so adorable friend.
"You plan on having a good time tonight, right? No need to worry about things like the lights when there's good times to be had."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 7:59 pm
Captain Labyrinthite hadn't exactly been pleased with his secret santa assignment. He had absolutely no idea what to get the serious captain who didn't quite seem to like him. He'd been hoping he would get one of the officers he knew a little better, but as always Labby had made due.
His entrance into the decorated hall had been less than graceful, he stumbled under the weight of the two large boxes he carried. Both boxes were roughly around the same size, the general size of a large desktop box. One box was wrapped in a metallic, shiny red and white paper that was sprinkled with snowflakes. The other in a blue.
One was labeled Raite, as he put it beside the Christmas tree. The other Hematite. Neither had his name on it, it was secret santa after all.
He couldn't wait for either to open the presents.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 8:11 pm
It was no surprise to see his favorite General here, and seemingly having a good time. Just getting a plate and holding it out to be filled he smiled as she made her approach. "I did, I'm surprised we can get power down here for them. I didn't think it was possible."
As she pat his shoulder he leaned in to kiss her cheek lightly. "When your free, you know my new address, I have a gift for you. It's waiting at home, I didn't think it proper to bring it down here." For several reasons, the major one was it being alive.
"I had to get one for Captain..." He had to think of the name before it came to him and he pointed to the gift. Snowflake wrapping paper and a blue satin bow, it was nicely wrapped. The name had of course been whispered.
"Of course, it's the holiday season." And he wasn't always stuffy, that was slowly being worked on. It was just a part of him. "Do they have anything to drink aside from the wine I spotted?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 9:38 pm
God damn Negaverse secret santa party. If there was anything she missed about Charonite, it was that he would never have tried to pull off this kind of bullshit.
There was an ill-suppressed groan of general disdain as Uranophane shoved her gift (addressed to Proustite) down by the tree, the noise coming from her resignation at the fact that there really was no escape from this. She had been summoned to this party, it was taking place at the behest of a General-Queen, and she was just going to have to deal with it. Somehow. Even if it meant begging someone to knock her unconscious so she wouldn't have to hear the off-key carol singing that inevitably was going to happen.
Maybe there was someone else around who was feeling just as grinchy as she was. Until such a person showed up, Uranophane tried her hardest to move around the area unnoticed. Instead of doing any real mingling, she glared at the platters of crackers and cheese and deviled eggs as if their presence were some sort of cardinal sin.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:24 pm
Uranophane's entrance came as a relief to Zircon, and trying to be as inconspicuous possible in a crowd full of minglers, the Lieutenant made a beeline for the snack area, increasingly anxious to be out of the clusters of people she only really interacted with or understood on a professional basis.
She made some effort to put together a cracker and cheese sandwich, as if that had been the reason for her sudden rush, and with the finger food in hand she glanced back at the General, as if she'd just noticed her. (Her? Her. Zircon was about 75 percent sure that Uranophane was, in fact, female, but the circulating rumor mill sometimes made her question.)
"...So, were crackers considered military standard in the old Earth Kingdom?" The sullen look on Zircon's face was somewhere between sardonic and apologetic empathy. "I don't recall the Negaverse hosting a function like this last year, I figured maybe we were bringing back old customs."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:25 pm
Painite looked very surprised.
"You have my gift? You are too sweet. I'll pop by sometime soon, with yours in tow." She smiled brightly. She couldn't help but wonder, with all the delight of a child a third her age, what he had gotten her.
And she hoped, with a worry closer to her age, that he would like his gift in return.
She nodded her head as he told her who he had gotten his present for, wondering if it had been difficult for him. Painite tried to know the other negaverse agents, but there were some she had just never met, and some she was far from comfortable just buying them things without knowing them. But that wasn't going to stop her, of course.
She looked around when he asked about the wine, though he obviously could have done that himself and that was why he was asking. Still she shook her head.
"I'm not sure. I'm sure the youma know," she grinned.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:25 pm
Uranophane didn't need to look far.
Lieutenant Hematite made every effort to speed up the process of shoving a box under the tree, as though he were deathly allergic to the spirit of christmas it exuded. It was a pretty perfect example of how little Hematite understood what he was supposed to be doing, wrapped with the Sunday comics and what appeared to be several layers of clear tape. A once saccharine, now torn publication of Family Circus would be the first thing Petalite would see staring back at her upon picking up her gift later. It was her only warning.
Once that was done, he was free to keep to the edges of the party, stare at the floor, and make his roundabout way to the booze. Hematite kept moving even as he snatched a plastic wineglass from a scaly hand. The wine was going to be a god damn necessity.
And that's when he walked right into Uranophane.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:39 pm
"Hell if I know," replied Uranophane, plucking a deviled egg off of a nearby platter and examining it with a scrutinizing eye. Looked like premade s**t for those bargain platters at the grocery store; who know how old it was. The thought made her nose wrinkle in disgust. "Old traditions, though? I don't even know if Christmas was around back then. Charonite never tried anything like this, and Beryl is too--"
Too what, would remain a mystery. Hematite's timely and somewhat noisy interruption made sure of that, as his taller form knocked the General nearly off balance. The deviled egg ended up deviled-side-down on the floor, no doubt bound to become a dusty smear on the ground later. A portion of wine that had spilled over it made it look a bit like a misshapen cranberry bubble sticking its way up out of the stone.
"Good way to prove you still deserve to be a Lieutenant, Hematite," she growled after hopping back to regain a bit of personal space. "Really, do you ever watch where you're going? You could have knocked down an entire platter of shitty party food." The tone she was using was somewhat ungenuine. In all honesty, Uranophane was somewhat relieved to bump into him, as he was someone she could count on to hate this party as much as she -- and Zircon? -- were.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 10:46 pm
"Of course I got you something, it would be rather impolite not to get you something. All things considered." Such as her training him, helping him with learning his way, and taking him in when he'd been stuck as a cat. Over all there was no reason to not get her something and every reason to get her something.
"I just hope you like what I got, though I have a strong feeling you will." If his time as a cat and in her home told him anything it was she was a cat person, who really needed an actually cat as opposed to a Negaverse agent turned into a feline.
He had indeed glanced about while making for the food table, and hadn't seen anything else. Seeing as she didn't know, and he really was reluctant to drink again after the episode involving lots of liquids, he went to ask one of the finely dressed youma. "Whenever you want to drop by is good, vacation starts this week so any day I'll be free." He really couldn't wait to see her face when he gave her the kitten, and he'd been thoughtful enough (and he didn't want his bedroom or the house ruined) to get the necessary things for a kittens care. His attention was taken by the youma who he'd questioned about beverages, it seemed there was water at least. Maybe someone realized there were minors here, or that not everyone was inclined to indulge in alcohol.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 11:02 pm
"I think you're right about that," Painite laughed, though she was mostly teasing. Mostly. It would be a little wrong for him not to get her something, though, just like it would be wrong for her not to get him something. They were friends and allies, after all.
And anyway, they had a gift giving war regardless of the time of year: Christmas was just an excuse to step up the game.
She was not expecting an animal, though, and had no reason to really consider he would get her something like a cat. It was a very well planned surprise, as she would likely scream gleefully at the sight of it.
For her own part, Painite got a glass of wine to spend some time with, humming thoughtfully as she considered it, then took her first sip. It tasted just fine by her standards, but they were admittedly fairly low. Not to say this wasn't far above that level: she was just easy to impress on this front.
"Do you have plans for Christmas?" she asked, knowing that it was a time for real family, if one could get to them. Or still had them, she imagined. She felt a little pain in her chest, and cast her eyes about the room, looking for someone in specific but not seeing them. Her gaze shifted back to Beni, though, and any trace of whatever had troubled her in that very short moment was gone. She smiled easily.
In her casual glance around she had noticed the group of grumpy looking scrooges, waving at them jovially and with extra christmas spirit to pick up what they seemed to lack, but they would lighten up in time. Right? It was a party, after all. Or they'd just leave, she supposed, but where would the fun in that be? She saw Labyrinthite and Petalite as well, giving them friendly waves as well, though she was pretty sure she only knew one of them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
