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

[fiveofnone]

Is he being serious. Does he not know what a shovel talk is? Rather than make another sarcastic comment, Caspar looks to Adia for guidance and is briefly vindicated by the confused expression on her face. No, he doesn't know. Amazing. Please, please, Hermes or whatever other God of communication happens to be listening, please give him the strength to remain polite for however long he must endure this conversation.

And then, thankfully, Harrowheart changes the subject.

"Right now? Manual labor." And he looks real thrilled about that, too. He brushes off some imaginary lint from the sleeve of his jacket. "If I'm a good little Cylon, maybe they'll let me work in a lab again when I'm done."

Adia loses her smile and puts a consoling hand on Caspar's shoulder. "It's only temporary," she says consolingly. "Until the Memorial's finished. Then you'll be back in the lab with me, I promise."

Caspar looks like he has about as much faith in that as he does in Harrowheart's fashion sense. "Unless they find something else for me to do first."

[westfallcorndog]

Harrowheart tries for a smile and with a shrug says, "Manual labor ain't so bad. It's honest work."

He believes that, he does, and yet he can't help the way his smile fades. He looks at Caspar with a new sense of seriousness and his mouth begins to shift from side to side.

"But they're makin' you do it cause of who you are, and that ain't right. Usin' you like a slave, sounds like, if you ain't got the freedom to pick your own work. I'd tell you what I'd do in your situation, but I don't think Adia would appreciate my suggestions too much."

And yet he can't stop thinking about it. He scrubs at his mouth and chin with one hand and his eyes narrow as he stares at Caspar thoughtfully.

"You ain't the only other cylon there, though, right? Do the humans treat them the same?"

[fiveofnone]

"He's not a slave," Adia interrupts before Caspar has a chance to complain more. "The Quorum pardoned him, he's allowed to work on any project that he likes. But the Cylons are stronger than humans, and they've been a huge help in building the Settlement. We're all doing more manual labor than we're used to."

She's looking at Harrowheart, but it's obvious that her earnest explanation is directed at Caspar. His interpretation of things is just as heavily subjective as the humans he interacts with. Trust and acceptance take time.

"There are other Cylons," Caspar confirms. The corner of his mouth pulls into a faint smirk. "But I'm the only 'bad' one. I didn't defect to the humans. All that suspicion is a little 'extra' around me." Maybe they do have something in common, after all, if this man is quick enough to understand where he's coming from.

Adia shifts uncomfortably, her gaze dropping and her hands fidgeting with the fringe on her snowman sweater. Caspar glances at her, his smirk shifting into a guilty frown. "It doesn't matter," he says, and this time he's speaking only to her. "So long as I can be with you, they can have me do whatever the frak they want." He wraps an arm around her waist and gives her a gentle squeeze. "You know the only reason I want to work in the lab again is so I can see your beautiful face all day."

He kisses her cheek, which gets a small smile out of her. She knows he's trying his best.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrowheart listens to their respective explanations with thoughtful neutrality that breaks when Caspar says it doesn't matter. He starts to smile, then looks away to hide it when Caspar kisses Adia. He's a good sort of man after all.

That's when he remembers what he's carrying under his arm. He moves the globe and holds it and its stand on his palm -- a floating Earth in a floating hand. "Didn't you say you had an idea of who gave me this? You gonna give me a clue or what?"

[fiveofnone]

Caspar plants another quick kiss on her cheek before returning his attention to Harrowheart. Some of that softness in his expression remains, or at least takes a while to fade as he casually glances at the floating globe. Has Harrowheart really not figured it out by now? "It was me. I was your Secret Santa."

"Cas, c'mon, you're supposed to give him a clue."

"All right. My clue is that it was me." That earns him a nudge in the ribs which he takes with great amusement. "Adia helped me pick it out. She says you're a fan of Earth, just like her." He eyes the globe, more critically this time. "Supposedly it's accurate for most 21st century Earths. I wouldn't know -- we haven't got to the point of nation-states."

"Do you like it?" Adia asks hopefully.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrowheart huffs a surprised laugh at Caspar's reveal, then laughs harder at what comes next. He reaches out to elbow him playfully and absolutely grins. "I like you," he says with a definitive nod. "You're just like a death knight. Ain't enough people like that around here. Y'know what? You oughta meet my brother Lawrence sometime. You two would get on like a house on fire."

Returning his attention Adia he assures her, "I love it! I'll find a real good spot to keep it in Naugus' tower 'til I get my own place." In a sing-song way he adds, "Which might be soo~oon! I got a place all cleared out and I've been gettin' the ground ready. Now I just gotta figure out where to get the wood to build it all. Once it's up I'm gonna have a house warmin' party slash funeral. You two better show up!"

[fiveofnone]

Unable to dodge the elbowing, Caspar is forced to take his friendship medicine, his posture stiffening but otherwise not reacting much to the jovial display. "Why, is he a death knight, too?" he asks, tugging on the hem of his jacket to smooth out any potential wrinkles.

"No," Adia answers quickly, looking incredulous at the suggestion. "He's human... oh, but he..." And then she just trails off, because like heck is she going to be the one to bring up the robot arm.

There's a look of relief when Harrowheart proclaims his love of the present she helped pick, followed by a bright smile when he announces his plans to build his own house. "That's wonderful! A home of your very own in the Nexus." She laughs and adds, "Of course we'll show up. I'd never miss a housewarming --"

Wait, what was that. "Did... did you say funeral?"

[westfallcorndog]

"Yeah!" Harrowheart says brightly, proud as can be over his idea. "A funeral! I never got one when I died, didn't have any last rites or nothin', so I thought... Shoot, maybe it's about time I do? I figure it's gonna be like a birthday party. Everyone's gonna bring me a gift, then we'll do the eulogies while I lay down in a coffin, and then we'll all walk around my house like it's a wake, except instead of bein' sad we'll have a good time and eat food. Sounds like a blast, right?"

He plants his wrists on his hips and grins between Adia and Caspar. He certainly thinks it sounds like a blast...

[fiveofnone]

Adia stares at him for a little while, her expression caught somewhere between surprise and dismay. "If... if that's how you want to celebrate, Harrowheart, i'm sure it will be fun..."

Sorry, Harrowheart. Her sense of humor is not quite morbid enough to appreciate the idea. Besides, he isn't dead. He's undead, and she can't think of anyone else like him who has wanted such a thing.

Her gaze unconsciously turns towards Caspar, who seems far more amused than her. At least until he notices her looking at him, and then he takes on a distinctly uneasy expression. Nobody told him what happened to his body after he killed himself on board the Chiron, but he has a few good guesses, and none of them involved a funeral.

"Sure, we'll go, but don't you dare try spooking Adia. If you want to do a funeral, play it straight." He can so easily picture Harrowheart jumping out of the casket as if it's one of those giant novelty cakes and yelling 'Surprise!'at the mourners.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow scoff-laughs at Caspar. "Course I'm gonna play it straight! If I pop up midway through then it ain't gonna feel real. I might even close my glowin' eyes and everything. Besides..." He holds his plant and globe in his hovering hands so that he can cross both arms over his chest and lean back smugly. "I can't scare Adia, 'cause she ain't scared of anything. She's brave as they come, everyone knows that."

Do they, Harrowheart? Do they?

In his world, yes.

A friendlier laugh and a wink at Adia precede Harrowheart playfully cuffing Caspar. "But before you mourn me, you gotta get to know me for real. You and I should meet up, have a guy chat, talk about all the stuff we got in common. How's that sound?"

[fiveofnone]

"Of course she's brave," Caspar replies as if he's stating the obvious. "But brave doesn't mean that you can't be scared. It means doing what you need to even when you're scared." He continues to remain skeptical of Harrowheart's ability to control himself. Okay, maybe he won't pop up out of his coffin, but he wouldn't put it past the death knight to peer over its edge, eagerly sneaking a peek at his guests while they eulogize.

This doesn't seem to be a concern for Adia. She's no longer thinking about the future party slash funeral, too dumbfounded by Harrowheart's words. Her? Brave? It doesn't matter how many times she's told this, she never truly accepts it as fact, but the way he says it so proudly, as if this character trait of hers is a given -- the way they both state it with such authority -- well, she can't even work up the words to deflect or deny it.

Looking over at his silent girlfriend, Caspar smiles softly to himself. That smile disappears when he is jostled yet again. "Sounds fine if you can keep your arms and the rest of your anatomy off of me," he replies irritably.

"He doesn't like being touched by anyone except me," Adia says so Harrowheart won't worry that Caspar is specifically offended by the touch of the undead. Also she's smiling a little, but that disappears by the time Caspar looks at her again. She doesn't like him pushed too far outside his comfort zone, but seeing his feathers get ruffled every so often is kind of cute.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrowheart rolls his eyes at 'doing what you need to do even when you're scared.' What a corny take! True, though... True. He laughs then and with a wink says, "I'll keep my anatomy to myself, cross my heart."

He nods at Caspar, then at Adia. "I'm gonna let y'all get back to enjoyin' your night, happy holidays, all'a that." Keep an eye out for a text from me though, huh?"

With his goodbyes out of the way he turns to leave. Seems he's got machinations for the remaining Christmas crackers...