A Tropical Thanksmas (Thanksmas 2023)

[Rebonack]

[Thanksmas Fox]

"Oh geeze, I didn't even think about how this might feel to you. You said the soul thingy is still connected to you, right?" Bella says, obviously concerned by the discomfort Skye is showing.

Apparently the Fox is still listening, even if it isn't obvious that she's doing anything outwardly. She does react, though. Specifically by focusing her meal on the connection still between Skye and the soul shard. If she burns through THAT first then this is going to mean maybe ten or fifteen minutes of discomfort for Skye rather than a couple hours. After all, that would be a pretty miserable way to spend the party.

Bella blinks as the Fox passes a bit of knowledge on to her. "Okay, so, she's gunna try digesting through the shard's connection to you first? So this shouldn't feel bad for THAT long. Umm..."

She wrinkles her nose a bit. Bella isn't quite accustomed to the Fox sharing this much information with her. Usually she's pretty secretive about whatever nonsense she's up to. Maybe this is just so she can focus all her attention on digesting the Name as quickly as possible and letting Bella take the helm? But at the same time the Fox knows that Skye is curious about how her powers work.

"...I'm gunna admit that I dunno if I actually understand everything the Fox is trying to convey to me? But the soul thingy is like... all of you. Just in mini-form. Human soul, divine spark, that gross curse, the whole thing. It's all one thing. It's like... a tiny copy of you? Kind of?" Bella reasons.

It sounds almost like the shard that Sapphira put into Mary.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Skye straightens up. She's clearly still in quite a bit of discomfort, but nods stoically through it, "That's good to know. That implies... unsettling things. Like what my power is meant to do is take the person over by making them a... well, an extension of my being."

"Well, nothing for it for now. This just reiterates that I need to keep this away from people."

As the shard is being digested, the fox should be able to tell more about the curse. Specifically, that it was added later, after the divine power; the divine power itself should be about improving others, providing a muse to them and enhancing the traits that are already present. In RPG terms, it's meant to be the buff specialist in the party. The curse that corrupted it inverted this praxis, changing it to instead dominate the weak and raise up the central user. The curse itself is so complete that it's warped every aspect of the original divine power; there's absolutely no way to reverse it without outright reversing time, and it has been like this for a long, long while. Whatever laid this curse was ancient and far stronger than the being that created the original shard of divine power.

[Rebonack]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Well, it's for a good cause right Skye? Important things will be learned today! Khannie has a pretty interesting cross-section of magical knowledge and even if she can't figure out how to remove the curse she might be able to figure out some way to mitigate it? For now, though, hopefully what they're doing will at least relieve Skye's itch to pawn people a bit? After all, if the problem is that she isn't sure if her friends are TRUE friends or not...

Wouldn't someone accepting the shard to try to help her prove it?

"Yeah it definitely isn't cool. But you've got friends to help you through it, right? And there are ways to remove it, too. So... everything should be okay? You haven't gotta worry about losing control and hitting me with it since I can just gobble it up again. I bet it would probably be easier after the Fox has already done it once. Does it like... it makes you wanna use it, right?"

The Fox, meanwhile, continues to ruminate on her meal. This is one heck of a job someone did. Like... old school primordial gods sorta curse. Just utterly ruin someone's intended purpose. An absolute corruption. But that's making her want to put her head together with Glister on this one. The unicorn's mantle is death of corruption. Purification. She probably doesn't have the raw power pop the curse but hey raw power isn't everything.

If Khannie, in her totality, is anything?

It's a puzzle solver.

And this is one heck of a puzzle to solve.

"Umm... hey, you wanna go get some snacks or something? To get your mind off what the Fox is up to?" Bella asks Skye.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Fox]

"... Sure. I think that would be nice," Skye confirms. The stress of feeling a little piece of her soul be eaten is pretty horrid, but at least that won't last too much longer. Maybe ten minutes or so, right? And maybe they can find another person to talk to.

Bella should, however, be able to tell that Skye is at least more at ease in her presence. Yes, this did actually help, even barring the new knowledge it granted her.

[[brackets lover]]

[Before the Thanksmas Throne]

Asami clicked her tongue, completely avoiding eye contact with Khannie. "Oookay, i'm gonna go... find somebody else to talk to," says Asami as she begins to scuffle away from the throne zone. Thus, she wanders, looking for anyone else she knows.

[Thanksmas Fox]

After walking around aimlessly for a bit, Asami finally comes across two odd people she hasn't met before. First, she glances about for anyone else nearby before deciding to engage, keeping up a cheery demeanor as she walks closer to the pair. Upon getting a good look at Skye's form, however, Asami frowns. Asami is now scowling at Skye with a deep-rooted sense of envy. "Cheater," says Asami scornfully.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Skye looks at Asami blankly, confused. It seems to take her a moment to even register that she was the one being referred to with that scornful statement.

"Cheater? What?" that doesn't even really track. Cheating at what? Competition? She hasn't taken part in any since arriving in the Nexus. Training? Perhaps, but she doesn't even want this power. She's certainly not better dressed than Asami or Bella, being just in a shirt and jeans. Skye isn't even able to think of anything else that it might connect to, and it doesn't seem like Asami is talking to Bella.

[Rebonack]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Okay.

This is complicated sorta.

Bella knows this kid. She was at the big Water Balloon party at Glog. That was before the Sapphira incident where Khannie got stung, died, and turned into a succubus. But thanks to the Fox' tricks there aren't that many people outside of Mary's family and Khannie's that know about Bella. So she's just another succubus at a party fulla succubus to Asami. Albeit a less shapely one.

But cheater?

What's that even-

Oh.

Okay, yeah. Those succubus instincts are picking up on what's going on here.

Bella offers Asami an encouraging smile. "Hey, you haven't gotta be like that. You're still growing, right? Just give it a few years and you'll look like a young lady too in no time!"

[[brackets lover]]

[Thanksmas Fox]

At Skye's confusion, Asami sticks her nose up and looks to the side. However, Bella manages to send Asami over the edge. 「日sふぃじょｄｆｓｄじょｐｓふぉでぃおいｐｄｈしｄｐｈｆｓぴｄｈｆぴｈさいうｐｈｆぴうおｄｈｊｐ」　spouts Asami towards Bella while blushing deeply and frowning with anger. "What the hell are you going on about!? I'm tall enough already, damnit!" shouts Asami in an unrestrained manner. She appeared to be selectively choosing to portray herself as being jealous of height alone so as to save herself some manner of embarrassment.

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Skye regards Asami curiously. The girl was acting... odd. First a nonsense exclamation, and now a too-strong denial about growth? Well, she can work with that. Clearly, this girl is just insecure about her growth, right? That's what Bella seems to be implying, and she trusts the sorta-Khannie succubus to have a better sense of what's going on here.

"It's true. I only had my most recent growth spurt within the lase few months. Eat well, and you should grow well."

[Rebonack]

[Thanksmas Fox]

"Umm..."

Okay Bella didn't catch that.

For whatever reason the Nexus didn't translate the first thing?

Sometimes when someone WANTS whatever language they're speaking in to be what everyone else hears that's just what happens.

Maybe Asami wanted to be able to yell something without it being understood?

Obviously Asami isn't staring because of her height. Bella knows this. It's pretty obvious to her. How could she NOT notice? But pointing out that she's knows wouldn't be that nice, either. That's why she had phrased her comment the way she did.

She wasn't expecting the yelling, though.

Maybe she should have?

"Yeah, Skye's right. You don't have to be embarrassed about it," Bella helpfully adds. Hopefully Asami doesn't blow up. Literally.

[[brackets lover]]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Asami grits her teeth, avoiding any sort of eye contact. "Tch, whatever. It was dumb of you to even bring it up in the first place," Asami copes, a puff of scalding steam coming out of her mouth as her saliva evaporates. The redness on her face remained and was much stronger than humanly possible. Like, Red Skull-red.

"And besides, you're just freakishly tall to begin with," Asami says condescendingly, pointing to Skye in the middle of her sentence for emphasis, "Totally unrelated, but what's your diet plan, anyways?"

[Halae]

[Thanksmas Fox]

Skye, with a smile that says 'oh, I know how to help here!' will launch into a detailed description of her daily intake of food (which is enough for almost three adults) and her daily exercises (which involve her martial arts katas) to give the much shorter woman a good idea of what it is that Skye does on a daily basis.

"If you don't know any martial forms, I could teach you. I'm considered quite skilled."

At this point, she figures Asami just doesn't know how to ask for help.

[Rebonack]

[Thanksmas Fox => NEW SCENE TITLE!?]

Bella could intervene and explain what is actually going on here.

She could.

But she doesn't.

Because not intervening is dramatically more amusing. "Hey, I'm gunna leave you two to it and go get some snacks at the manor, okay? Have fun!"

Oh no Bella.

How could you.

Off she goes on a-!

[Snack Quest]

And immediately finds Maridia captured by Sekhmet. She crosses her arms and gives the fairy dragon a LOOK.

"Has Maridia been getting into trouble?" she asks.

"No!" the dragon immediately replies. That's... mostly true. This time.

[Gullara]

"Oh, y'know," Scarlet shrugs playfully. "Mostly just stuff about you running about and getting covered in snow before they could even catch up to you. I'm sure we could ask for even more if we really wanted to. She likes talking about you."

"Really? Doesn't that like, kinda miss the point?" She quirks an eyebrow. "I thought these kindsa holidays were supposed to be big ol' feasts of merriment to make sure everyone stayed happy and fed in the awful winter, that way no one kills themselves." Seasonal depression is a very serious thing, after all.

Eliseo's face gets faintly flushes. Wait, he remembers that conversation! He was there. How's he letting his mom get away with this under his nose?

"I think my mom came from a pretty messed up place honestly. Like, eternal night, vampires all over the place. I think it does something to people." He taps the side of his head.

[[brackets lover]]

[NEW SCENE TITLE!?]

Asami nods attentively as Skye lists off her routine, taking a mental note of everything. "No, I know all those," says Asami dismissively. "That's a lot of food, though. More than I can afford. Or even store, really."

[Halae]

[Conversation on Growth]

"So it's a matter of practical limitations, then. I know exactly what that's like; I wasn't able to get so much food until I came to the Nexus, which I imagine is why I started growing so much," Skye nods to herself. Yes, that seems reasonable. She's proof that's how it works, after all, "So we need to see about getting you more resources to work with."

[[brackets lover]]

[Conversation on Growth]

Asami clicks her tongue. "And it wasn't hard for you to get used to eating a lot more, huh..." Asami says in a subtly mocking manner, "At any rate, It's not like I can get a job at my age."

[Halae]

[Conversation on Growth]

"Why not?" Skye contrasts, "You look healthy. Even spending a few hours a day to earn some coin would allow you to purchase additional food, enough for quite a bit of eating. Or I could show you how to hunt, if that's your preference. There's always venison."

Wow, she's just bowling right through the dismissals.

[bc56]

Snack Quest
"She was trying to get into the snacks," Sekhmet replies, "But I stopped her. Can you take her or do I need to find Khannie?"

"Oh hey Bella!" Mary is there too, lingering near the door. "I didn't expect to see you, I thought you'd be, you know." With the Fox. "I have your gift up in my room, I was planning to give it to you later." Since she expected Bella wouldn't be at the party as herself.
Bella's Thanksmas swimsuit also attracts a bit of a bemused smile from Mary. You'd think if Bella was going to call attention to her "jingle bells," she would make them larger.

[[brackets lover]]

[Conversation on Growth]

Asami sighs with annoyance. "Someone has to be willing to be employ me. Tell me when you meet someone who would." she rubs the bridge of her nose. "I know how to hunt, too. You really think i'm just gonna be able to take a dead animal back to my dorm to cook without my roommate saying anything?"

[Halae]

[Conversation on Growth]

"Is the problem that your roommate would complain, or that your roommate would ask you to share?" Skye asks, tilting her head curiously, "Besides, why would you not cook it in the field? It'd be easier to transport and store the food at home."

Asami may get the feeling that Skye finds this to be a self-evident path to follow because she's outright done it.

[Arkhosia]

[Scarlet's Day Out]

► SHOW SPOILER

Eliseo's face gets faintly flushes. Wait, he remembers that conversation! He was there. How's he letting his mom get away with this under his nose?

"I think my mom came from a pretty messed up place honestly. Like, eternal night, vampires all over the place. I think it does something to people." He taps the side of his head.

Scarlet's grin only grows wider. Ana's right - he is fun to fluster. She mellows down a little as the topic changes though, slowing to let him take the lead position she'd previously seized. "Huh, really? Man, that sounds like it blows. You're probably right, though - sun's pretty important for your mood, I think?"

A beat. Scarlet glances back at Eliseo. "Wait, is that why you guys live in Westside?" Westside's pretty similar, after all. Except there's a fake sun, and the vampires that are all over the place are pretty cool and civil whereas Eliseo's tone suggests a very different picture.

[quillpleasant]

[Before the Thanksmas Throne]

"Yes, I do believe this chair's previous occupant was confused. But if you want to engage in the spirit of sharing, who are we to say no?" The lad seems so earnest that refusing him would be crass. Askeladd reaches into the bag and produces a magician's cane, with a white tip on the bottom and a glass crystal that shimmers between pink and violet on the top. "And this is your gift, young man."

Before the Thanksmas Throne

Krayger nods to Askeladd. It’s a good gift. He seems hesitant but accepts the one from Darko.
”Unorthodox, but we’re already being unorthodox. A king, eh? You have friends in high places, lad.”

Darko's eyes almost pop out of his head at the sight of the cane. "Really? Oh that's so cool!" he squeaks out, before coughing self consciously and accepting the gift. "I love it, thank you." He gives it an experimental twirl. Now this is the tool of a real magician!

The box, when opened, is found to have a slim stiletto dagger. It's simple in design but clearly exceptionally well made, with a vein of silver running down the center of the blade. Darko raises an eyebrow at it.

"Weird. Yeah, I don't think the Skinless King is actually a king, but I can't pronounce his real name, so. Anyway, thanks again!" And Darko will turn to go, eager to show off his new cane to his friends-

Or just Khannie, Asami must have wandered off somewhere. "Hey, check this out!" he says cheerfully, holding out the cane, "I haven't got this many cool things since... ever."

[Rebonack]

[Snack Quest]

"Yeah I can take the little trouble-maker," Bella says, holding out her arms to take the dragon. Once she's got Maridia she begins rubbing her on that spot between her wings that she likes.
"Nnnng no fair!" Maridia complains half-heartedly, melting under the attention.

"Friendship Fusioned with Khannie?" Bella asks, mirth in her smile. She knows it kinda weirds her sis out but she honestly doesn't mind it when she's all together. "The Fox was slinking around on her own 'cuz of Thanksmas Magic or something so I can hand out gifts faster and ran into Skye. We got chatting and Skye wanted to see what we could make of her weird mind-wedgy curse thing so she used it on me for the Fox to gobble up. It's a doozy so now the Fox is loafing around in the back of my head like she just ate a whole Thanksmas ham. But she figured out some stuff Skye didn't know already! Skye seemed really happy to have some answers about it."

Bella is pretty happy about this! And she definitely doesn't mind getting to enjoy the Thanksmas party instead of sitting in the back seat while the Fox skulks around like a fuzzy little grinning weirdo.

"Oh, I've got your gift too, it's-"

A beat.

"In Khannie's backpack. Beans. And I can't sneak it out like the Fox does either. I guess we'll both just have to wait for a little while?" she laughs. Then she follows Mary's eyes to her swim suit and face-palms. "Ugh. I didn't pick this design exactly I just thought about a Thanksmas beach outfit and let my regalia fill in the details."

Dumb.

That was dumb.

She makes a few minor edits, moving the consciously placed bauble pictures elsewhere.

[Before the Thanksmas Throne]

"Oh, uh, I've got a buncha general gifts too, hang on a sec," Khannie says as she slings her pack off her back and begins digging through it. "Most of this stuff is just cool things I've been doing for enchanting practice so sorry if they aren't amazing or anything."

She pulls out a pair of small brown boxes and offers them to the Santas. "Merry Thanksmas!"

Inside both boxes are a chunk of white marble that has had its rough edges smoothed, giving it an irregular faceted surface. Grooves filled with shadow and tiny drops of gold have been carved into the faces to give the enchantment something to adhere to. If dropped any distance, the stone will instead begin to float in the air, the faces flashing with Thanksmas colors while playing the tune to Carol of the Bells.

Khannie grins at Darko when he shows off his sweet new magician staff. "That is SUPER cool. It reminds me kinda of the one my friend Victoria's got," Khannie says. "She really likes stage magic, too."

This leaves Khannie wondering how Victoria is doing. Staying in contact with her can be hard sometimes.

"See this is what makes Thanksmas so great! Everyone gets to bless each other with kindness and generosity. It's the best time of the year."

[bc56]

Snack Quest
"You let Skye put a mind-control curse on you just to see if you could break it?" Mary asks, confused. That seems like a terrible idea even if it worked. Of course since it did work, that leads to more questions. "Since the fox could eat it, does that mean she has a new mask?"

And swimsuits are altered. "They really do have a mind of their own sometimes," Mary says, referring to the regalia.
"It has to do with shapeshifting magic," Sekhmet helpfully butts in, "Any details you don't intentionally change can vary, and if left alone for a while, can change spontaneously based on your subconscious."
"Oh, is that why our forms sometimes change when we sleep?"
Bella has experienced that firsthand.

[Rebonack]

[Snack Quest]

"Not JUST to see if I can break it. We already knew it could be broken. I think it's kinda like succubus magic for her; if she doesn't use it then it starts building up pressure until it just happens. This way it happens in a way that's safe for everyone," Bella reasons. That's an experience both of the sisters should be well acquainted with. "But mostly Skye was hoping we could learn more about how it actually works. That's the main reason why the Fox is taking it apart. I mean, aside from it being food for her. If she's eating weird curses or whatever then she's not eating people."

They both know the Fox is potentially really dangerous. Keeping her satiated is good for everyone.

At the Mask question Bella looks thoughtful. "I think she's trying?" she says, looking vacant for a moment. "Yeah, she thinks it'll be a new Mask once she's done with it. But not a Mask of Skye. Umm... I don't know what that means, Fox."

She gives her head a shake.

"Sorry, she doesn't usually share stuff with me like this; I don't really have any context for what she's trying to let me know."

Super weird fae things having to do with identities, probably.

Then important conversations! Which Bella definitely has experience with. "Um... is there a way to stop subconscious changes from happening?" Bella asks. It's probably pretty obvious what's on her mind.

[bc56]

Snack Quest
Mary and Sekhmet both just look confused at Bella. Neither of them really get the fae stuff.
But the question about subconscious changes prompts more of a response. Sekhmet frowns. She's not clueless, she knows why Bella's asking. "I'm afraid not for what you want to do. There are rituals to lock a shapeshifter into their true form, but..." Bella specifically doesn't want to wear her true form.
If Bella wanted to ask Sekhmet about her own experiences with fighting succubosity in that respect (and why she gave up), now would be a good time.

[Rebonack]

[Snack Quest]

To be frank?

Bella doesn't understand fae stuff, either.

The Fox rather intentionally doesn't let anyone else know exactly how she works. Everyone is better off not knowing all the details.

But there are more important things to ask about right now! Things about shapeshifting.

"Yeah, I dunno if that's exactly what I'm after," Bella replies a bit uncomfortably. Frankly she isn't totally sure what that would even MEAN. What's her 'true form?' Is that the initial one she got where she basically looked like red-skinned Khannie with horns? She has no idea. "Um... Sekhmet? You were trying to make yourself look... um... a certain way, right? Even though your magic was pushing for something else? How come you stopped?"

She's trying to find a way to ask this question that doesn't sound weird.

[[brackets lover]]

[Conversation on Growth]

"I... Did not think to do that. But, still, the mini-fridges in my dorm are so small, I can't even fit my roommate in them!" Asami doesn't seem to mind how hunting seems like a given to Skye. In fact, Asami's more surprised when people are still surprised, the Omniverse being as expansive as it is.

[Halae]

[Conversation on Growth]

"Then don't store them at the dorm," Skye says with a shrug, "Get a friend or someone else you know to hang onto the food until you need it, take only a little back so that you have food for the next few days prepared."

She's just full of answers, isn't she?