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

[gorogorogoro_chan]

Before Majima can even process the drink shoved in his hand, Josh has already locked him in a kiss. He staggers backwards as the enchantment abruptly lifts, trying to catch his weight before the drunk kid can throw him totally off balance.

"Holy shit!" he gasps out before smearing a bedazzled coat sleeve over his mouth. He harrumphs and shoots Josh a pointed glare before knocking back the drink in one go. The cup is shoved back into Josh's hand. "Give a guy some warning next time!"

[brother_alone]

Josh laughs, all smiles even at the glares and the grumping. Mr. Eyepatch isn't standing all by his lonesome under the mistletow anymore,s o clearly Josh has done something right here.

"Tis th'season bro! Relax a lil' bit."

[gorogorogoro_chan]

Majima's stink face does indeed relax a little bit. At least he's free (again), even if it came at the cost of a sloppy, drunk kiss.

"Hey, where'd you get that drink? All I'm finding is gross, sweet shit everywhere. Somethin' called fuckin' ... butterbeer? Which is neither butter... nor beer?"

[brother_alone]

"O'er there, bro." Josh gestures with his now-empty glass toward a counter that seems to be made entirely out of carved and polished ice. Several bottles are lining the ice-shelf beyond the counter.

"Haven't seen anyone not get whatever kinda drink they asked for yet."

And Josh has asked for several. He'd know.

[gorogorogoro_chan]

Majima turns toward the indicated bar, leaning into a step before pausing and looking back over his shoulder. "Hey, c'mon. What's yer poison? I'll buy you a drink."

He starts walking in that direction and makes another addendum. "Not like, to get fresh or whatever -- you're not be the best kisser -- but yanno, for helping me outta that mistletoe bind."

[brother_alone]

"Well shit, If I'da known a bit of sugar was the way to get a free drink..."

He laughs all the same at Majima's assessment of his lack of skills in the kissing department. The man's not wrong, not really. Josh doesn't exactly have a plethora of knowledge and experience with this kind of thing and what he does have has all come from drunken encounters. Not really the sort of way to get better.

"Nah, man. I getcha. I wasn't about to leave a bro hanging out t'dry like that."

[gorogorogoro_chan]

"Well, good Samaritan, help yourself to whatever ya like." Majima hums thoughtfully and drums his fingers on the bar before settling on an Old Fashioned.

"Name's Majima. From Japan. Uh, on Earth -- late 1980's." He laughs at the absurdity of the distinction. "I realize ya kinda gotta be specific around here."

[brother_alone]

Josh frowns much harder in thought than such a simple question ought to warrant before ordering himself a Long Island Iced Tea and smiling faintly when it's handed over to him. This oughta keep his buzz going for a good long while. Possibly tip him well into drunk but that's half the point of a party right?

"Majima? Right on. I'm Josh. Earth's Canada, 2015." He takes a sip of his drink and grins. "Guessing the tech jump a lotta stuff 'round here has is a bit of a culture shock eh bro?"

[gorogorogoro_chan]

The drink choice gets a raised brow, but Majima isn't particularly surprised. Explains Josh's current state, anyway.

"Josh. Kanpai," he says with a raised glass. "To Christmas and the wonders of modern technology. I feel like a chump thinkin' pagers and bag phones were hot shit. Now I've got a tiny box that can fuckin' place calls, find a cute date and teleport my ass to another dimension."

He slides the bartender payment and stuffs a few 100-yen bills in the tip jar. "So whaddaya do back in Canada?"

[brother_alone]

"Kanpai!" It might very well be the only Japanese word Joshua knows, but he knows it with gusto and is eager to reciprocate the declaration ebfore he takes a swig of his drink.

"Bro, I'm sure in like ten, twenty years they'll have shit that'll make my head spin too. S'just th'facts of life." The young man chuckles over his glass and waits for Majima to tip the bartender before he keeps talking.

"I don't. Don't live there no more. I'm here full time, working in special effects for tv an' shit. Helpin' out my housemate at his cafe part time too. S'good. I..I like it here."

Much ebtter than his old life had been.

[gorogorogoro_chan]

Majima lights up at the mention of Josh's production chops. "Special effects? No kiddin'! That's fuckin' tits."

He leans in closer, clearly nerding out. "Oi, you ever work on any zombie stuff? Makin' it look like people're gettin' all gobbled up? Guts and stuff?"

[brother_alone]

Oho, now that's a reaction Joshua knows all too well. The man has not a damn thing in common with Chris in the looks department, but that eager reaction when he talks about his specialty is one that fills Josh with a certain amount of pride. It's a foreign feeling these days, having an ego.

Joshua's grinning before he realizes it, too drunk to keep his emotion and pride in check.

"Bro I can make a fake corpse so believable yer own mama would swear it was a real body." Best not to ask why he has that particular skill, but. "My old man works for Hollywood doing that same kinda work so I've been around it my whole life. I do props, makeup, but I also do video work an' editing. That kinda special effects is just as important these days. Wiring up electronics for audio spooks an' scares. Rigging up mannequins and lights for atmosphere. When it comes to horror I am a fuggin' genre savvy motherfucker."

[gorogorogoro_chan]

Majima slaps a hand on the bar. "Shit, I fuckin' love horror! Especially Romero-type stuff!"

"Where should I be lookin' for yer work, man? I wanna see some of these real-ass-lookin' corpses!"

[brother_alone]

"Ah, my boss runs a horror themed game show in the Nexus somewhere, but I've never caught it when it was on."

Josh frowns thoughtfully into his drink. Since it's something he's helped produce, you'd think he'd have seen it by now. Then shrugs.

"I also usually do all the decorations for our Halloween block parties. I did a haunted house last year that was maybe a bit too scary. Didn't get a lot of takers."

[gorogorogoro_chan]

"Ha! Never heard of a horror-themed game show." He furrows his brow, trying to imagine what that entails. "How's that even work? Just scare a bunch of people shitless for a half-hour? Whoever pisses their pants the least wins a new fridge?"

[brother_alone]

"I don't know exactly. You know how NDA clauses and shit are in Hollywood. I keep asking when he's gonna let me see a screening. It might just be a Nexus only thing, too. Maybe I can catch it on tv here."

Josh frowns thoughtfully before giving a shrug. In his inebriated state he can't worry too much about it.

"How bout you? What's 1980s Japan like aside from sentai as fuck?"

[gorogorogoro_chan]

Majima mirrors the shrug and makes a mental note to keep his eye peeled for evidence of Josh's handiwork on the Nexus TVs.

"Me? I run a couple clubs. Yanno, the kind where ya pay women to pretend you're the center of the universe for a bit? Lotsa lonely guys in the Japan."

He sips at his drink and then laughs. "Rich lonely guys. Growin' up, I never saw this kinda wealth bein' thrown around."

[brother_alone]

"Yeah, I know those types. There's plenty of 'em on the West Coast of the US and up where I live too. The parties my old man used to drag us to were the fuckin' worst."

Josh shakes his head around his drink.

"Bet you make bank with that kind of place."

[gorogorogoro_chan]

"Easy money, for sure. Just have to have a good, reliable cast of girls. There's the cover charge, but the real money is in the booze." Majima jingles the ice in his glass to illustrate.

"I hear ya, though. Most rich guys are fuckin' garbage people, but at the end of the day, I'm happy to bleed 'em dry. Pays the bills. Pays my staff."