Ho Ho Ho! Happy HP Holidays!

[mudblood_andproud]

There is something different about the Nexus this Christmas season. There is a light snow falling over the entire Nexus plaza. The snow is gentle, with no real coldness to the falling snow flakes. As one approaches the main gathering area, they will notice that there are many Christmas decorations, including garland hanging from the air, and there are twelve towering decorated Christmas trees, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles. There are also thousands of floating tiny candles in the Nexus plaza, that gently move at their own discretion.

In one corner, there is an orchestra, directed by a Dwarf. All of the musicians are playing music on instruments made from ice. In the center of the Nexus plaza, is a huge banquet table, loaded with holiday foods and treats that showcases a variety of food from different cultures, and some of the different worlds that gather into the Nexus itself. The main delight of the banquet table is that magic can make the food replenish itself, meaning Christmas dinner never has to end. Most will be able to find something they would enjoy. With the added perk that the food is LOL-free.

There are some added little Christmas adventures, for those who get caught up in the holidays. Here are some of the extra options for the Holiday season.

Secret Santa!
There is an added bonus to the Secret Santa gifts this year. The presents will deliver themselves! There are tons of wrapped gifts floating through the air, destined to only drop when they reach the person to which they are intended. Please note that not all gifts will be given in the spirit of the season. There are a few prank gifts floating around too. Be sure to watch out for them!

Christmas Crackers!
There are Christmas crackers scattered among the tables, and in amongst the branches of the trees. They are decorated with festive paper that is twisted at either end like a sweet wrapper. Inside of the tube are prizes, and some contain Muggle prizes such as a paper hat, a plastic toy, and a slip of paper with a joke printed on it. But the rare person will receive a unique, peculiar magical prize, and will envelop everyone nearby in a cloud of blue smoke.

Weasley Sweaters!
Time to try your luck at the Christmas Sweater bin. There is a large rotating clothing rack that seems to have an endless supply of them. Each one more Festive than the last! Pick one and show your Christmas spirit for the rest of the day.

Enchanted Mistletoe!
Be warned Nexus traveler, the Nargles** have hung enchanted Mistletoe all around the plaza. If an unlucky person steps underneath the Mistletoe, they will find that they are magically stuck to the spot, until they can find someone to kiss them. Of course, the kiss can be platonic, familial, or even romantic. For a few unfortunate people, the kiss may be the last thing they would want to do... but it is that or be stuck in the same spot for the rest of the season.

**Nargle Wiki
[Click Here for information on the HP Holiday Event!]
[Your character is free to give other Christmas gifts to people they care about -- HOWEVER, please do not deliver your Secret Santa gift. That will be handled by the Secret Santa moderator. Please post details on your Secret Santa gift in this post please.]

Comments

[shardofwinter]

It takes everything for him to smile instead of cringe. "Well. You look beautiful."

Caspar... lied to her? A lie of omission, perhaps, and one that he will no doubt have a sympathetic reason for that Adia will believe wholeheartedly. Likely a lie that, if Reynard shines a light on it, will make Adia upset with him more than Caspar. And as Adia is now repeatedly reminding him, Caspar has the upper hand in any and all disputes. He's right next to Adia. All the time. He has time to plead his case. But it gives Reynard an opportunity too...

"Mad is not the word I would use..." He laughs breathlessly half-turning away, but then turns back to her with an affectionate smile and gives her shoulder a squeeze. "But of course I told him to take care of you. I would tell all your friends to take care of you if I knew them all."

Reynard's eyebrows lift in surprise. Busy is definitely right. "That's... a lot going on in such a short amount of time..." And then she mentions Halloween. He closes his eyes, shakes his head, then opens his eyes again and gives her shoulder another squeeze. "I'm sorry. I should have come to see you immediately. I should have checked you were safe, found out that you had been drawn into that. How have you been since that whole... nightmare?"

[chiron_survivor]

"Thanks," she says softly. She knows better than to deflect a compliment a second time. Besides, she can't help but be quietly pleased. If she's going to bother to dress up, it is nice of him to notice.

It's also nice of him to reiterate how much he cares about her well-being. Although she can't help but look the tiniest bit incredulous. She's not sure he'd give the same sort of speech to, say, Steve, or even Blaze. Perhaps he's downplaying his conversation with Caspar for her benefit. Either way, she smiles warmly at the shoulder squeeze and kind words. "Well, they do, and so do you. And Caspar, especially."

The one silver lining about talking about the fiasco at the Halloween party is that Caspar's name likely won't get mentioned again. And though her expression sobers, she does not seem disturbed by remembering the events from that night. "It's okay," she reassures him, putting her hand atop his. "You got my text, right? I, um, I saw you with Tina before I left and I didn't want to interrupt. I'm fine, though, honestly. Everything I went through was far, far less traumatic than it was for anyone else."

She touches the back of her head thoughtfully. "In fact, I think, in the end I cam out the better for it. Something, um... something happened to me in there. I was... blessed. By a Great One."

[shardofwinter]

This time he openly hesitates at the mention of Caspar and pats her shoulder before pulling his hand away.

But his carefully chosen reactions to all mentions of Caspar vanish at the mention of the text, and of Tina. He rubs his brow as it lifts. "Yes, I'm sorry. I... completely forgot to reply to you..."

He's halfway through deciding he doesn't want to tell her about his experience in the Nightmare when he perfectly distracts him. His expression drops and his eyes widen. The temperature drops a notch and sucks the air from people's lungs. He grabs her by the shoulders and then lifts a hand to cup her head as he looks into her eyes. Voice low and serious, he asks, "Who was it? What did they do?"

[chiron_survivor]

Uh, okay. What was that about? She almost asks if Reynard is sure that he's not mad at Caspar, but he already said he wasn't, and asking again feels like inviting trouble. So, like a lot of things that involve potential conflict, she leaves it be.

Much easier is another reassuring smile when he apologizes. She's used to him falling out of contact, especially this time of year, and she'd be a hypocrite if she complained. Didn't she disappear as well, set into nesting mode by one newly returned Cylon boyfriend? Gosh, she had barely texted anybody --

And then suddenly he has his hands on her, his touch cold enough to give her the shivers. She had expected him to have an opinion of some sort, being supernatural himself, but his reaction is so serious, so intense, that for a moment she doesn't say anything at all.

"It--" she swallows, her throat dry. "It was a Great One. A... a cosmic being from Micolash's world. An aspect of it was stuck in the Nightmare I shared with Ghost. It was..." she trails off, remembering the horrified account of its origins that the caged scholar shared with her recently. "It was suffering terribly. It hurt to touch it, but I had to in order to cure it of its pain and free us from the Nightmare."

The physical damage from that event -- the broken capillaries in her eyes, the nosebleeds -- those have long since healed. But if Reynard is sensitive to such things, he'll be able to tell that her mind is not the same as it once was.

"It put a symbol into my brain. A moon rune. It's the language they speak, single words that encompass a wealth of meaning. It was beautiful, Reynard. To understand so much at once. I don't know what else it means for me, but I know it was a blessing. A gift for easing its pain, or... or maybe just feeling compassion for it, when no one else would."

[shardofwinter]

The intensity doesn't lighten when Reynard's jaw tightens and he exhales slowly through his nose. Their surroundings creak once in the low, deep way of ice and large wooden structures. Staring into her eyes, or maybe past them, he doesn't blink. When he moves his hands off her jumper and against her skin they burn with the cold, but he holds her head still through any flinching as he examines what he can see and feel of her soul.

There is something there. It doesn't feel immediately bad, but it's there and it shouldn't be. There is no way he can remove it, and he doesn't know how he could find out what it does. It's not Nature. It's Something Else. Something closer to him than he'd like. An icy, sharp anger streaks through him. Whatever it was that gave this to her shouldn't have. Adia is his charge. She's under his protection. The thought that some 'Cosmic Being' has its eye on her fills him with dread and anger both at once. He knows his place. Gods and Elder Things are not beings he can compete with, or beings he wants to draw the attention of. That said, he cannot abide his will, Winter's domain, being disregarded.

Reynard thins his lips and puts both hands on top of her head. The cold wash that falls over her is similar to the last time he gave her a blessing, but she'll feel the temperature drop more strongly this time. With that done, he takes his hands back so she can warm up again. The air heats up ever so slightly as he exhales again, setting his hands on his hips to consider her. "You trust too much, Adia."

[chiron_survivor]

She does indeed flinch, more from the the way he looks at her than the coldness of his hands. It's as if, for a moment, she can see him as he truly is -- not a man in a fancy suit, not her friend -- but Winter itself. His anger, his dread, his domain that somehow encompasses her -- it is all there before her, plain as day.

The chill that spreads from the top of her head into her very bones is a blessing. She knows this, too. A blessing meant to hide her from prying, supernatural eyes. And though she thinks she should feel grateful for Winter's gift, a tiny part of her bristles at the assumption that she needs it.

Rubbing some warmth into her arms, she purposefully doesn't meet Reynard's eyes when he speaks to her.

But from several feet away, someone else is watching Reynard. For a full minute now, Caspar has had his eyes on the two of them. One of his hands is holding a steaming mug, the other is curled into a loose fist. He doesn't know what Reynard has said to her, but he can see her mood shift to something less than bright. The jealousy he initially felt at the way the Winter spirit put his hands all over her with such familiarity gives way to concern for his girlfriend. She's unhappy, he can tell.

And that simply won't do.

"Hey, beautiful." He hands Adia the mug before wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her cheek. "Here's that hot chocolate you wanted."

Adia's unsettled expression melts into a bright, lovestruck smile. She leans into him, as much for the affection as for the warmth his body brings. "Hi. You remember Reynard, right?"

"Of course I do." He gives Reynard a polite smile and Adia's waist a possessive squeeze. "Nice suit."

[shardofwinter]

Perhaps it's good that Adia raised all this talk of Cosmic Beings. When Caspar appears, instead of the reflexive hatred rising through him, Reynard remains cold. He doesn't take his eyes off of Adia until Caspar personally addresses him.

His eyes slide to the other man and, as if nothing had ever happened (between Caspar or Adia), he smiles. "Thank you. Nice..." He hesitates as he looks Caspar over, apparently unsure, before settling into a smile again. "Tie."

Then he looks straight back to his friend. "I had better go and talk to a few people. It sounds as if I have more work to do this year than I expected."

[chiron_survivor]

"Thanks," he replies easily, that same perfectly polite smile on his face. When Reynard says that he has to go, Caspar even manages to look a little disappointed. "So soon? Oh, well. I'll have to catch up with you another time."

"Are you sure?" Adia asks softly. She hates for Reynard to leave her company on such a weird note. Especially because of how fake he's being -- him and Caspar. She may trust too much, but she's not blind.

Giving her a reassuring squeeze, Caspar keeps his gaze on Reynard. "Honey, the man said he's busy. It's his Season, remember?" He lifts up his free hand and wiggles his fingers. "He's got a lot of Winter magic to sprinkle around."

[shardofwinter]

His eyebrow lifts with Caspar's waggling fingers and his smile broadens. "Actually, I'll let you help me out with that. You keep getting Adia hot chocolate here where it's safe and keep spreading Winter cheer..." He turns to Adia, his voice dropping ever so slightly into seriousness again. Though his grin remains, it turns a little bit wicked. "I'm going to ensure we aren't about to be toyed with by ancient unknowable beings."

"Caspar," he says with a nod. Then stepping back, he sweeps into a low bow for Adia. "My dear. Until next time." She gets a wink and a grin before he turns to slip back into the crowd.

[chiron_survivor]

Caspar drops his hand, his smile turning into a smirk. Oh, he sees what you did there, Reynard. "I'll be getting her whatever she wants," he replies casually. "And keeping her safe. Good luck with whatever you're planning."

Well, at least they aren't being as fake nice anymore. Adia sighs and holds back a defense of Great Ones -- where would she even start, anyway? It's Reynard's low bow that finally makes her smile again. She can't stay annoyed with him, not with a farewell like that. "Take care," she says warmly, waving goodbye.

Caspar whispers something into her ear and she giggles, the happy couple off in their little world again before too long.