A Tropical Thanksmas (Thanksmas 2023)

[Morty]

[Snack Attack]

Brinika raises an eyebrow but does return to the rest of the swarm. Asami knows what she's talking about. Probably.

Just as she leaves, Hiep (who has finished her conversation with Mogzoku one way or the other) comes running.

"What the- where'd Mary go?"

Keeping track of this kid is a lot harder than she expected.

[Lounging About]

Hiep waves her hand in a vague gesture.

"Eh, it's not like that. She's really humble for someone in her position. She just disagrees with some of my lifestyle choices."

[Rebonack]

[Our Princess is in another Castle]

"Some weird star person appeared outta nowhere, offered to help Mary, then vanished when she said no," Bella informs this green haired person she definitely hasn't ever seen before for reasons she can't quite put words to. "Khannie thinks she teleported Mary somewhere."

Bella is trying really hard not to panic over the fact that her sister just up and vanished.

Khannie, meanwhile, is searching for Sekhmet.

[bc56]

Our Princess is in another castle
Sekhmet is busy lecturing one of the reindeer-succubi about how to treat guests. "Only if they ask you first and you do it after the party and off the grounds. And no draining anyone dead. Understand?"
"Yes ma'am understood ma'am," She has a reverent fear in her doe-like eyes.

"Khannie? What's wrong?" Sekhmet finally notices her daughter's roommate looking worried.

[[brackets lover]]

[Our Princess is in Another Castle]

Asami is spurred to draw her bō and point it towards Hiep, giving a cold stare. "Your sudden appearence is suspicious," says Asami warily.

However, the intent of this was solely to intimidate. Asami quickly moved on to adding to the discussion, "An unsensed being spoke to me a moment ago asking me if I wanted to 'mess up Mary', like that's some form of entertainment for them."

Asami raises a finger to her chin, contemplating. "We should wait for Vallarm-senpai to return. In the meantime, try not to be interesting."

Following through on her own suggestion, Asami pulls out her phone and starts mindlessly scrolling through swathes of social media content, most of which being dull and repetitive.

[Lounging About]

"And she dislikes you because of that?" Mogzoku asks, tilting his head, "That... seems a bit unfair."

[Morty]

[Lounging About]

"Errr." Hiep rubs the back of her head. "I may have expressed interest in one of her priestesses. In a way that she found objectionable."

[Our Princess is in Another Castle]

"I know Mary's mom." Entirely true. "And I've got a knack for finding people." Also completely true. "And I'm very good at staying under the radar." She crouches down near where Mary was, gently touching the sand as she tries to pick up traces of any power that transported her.

[A Fated Meeting]

There are more scars on Naku than the ones visible to him. Wenomir can recognize those and knows better than to ask.

"Go ahead, he simply says."

As for Coco, she's having a grand time. Normally it's Wenomir or Cass' little brother Lucien who play with him, but Civvy is doing a great job too. She chases after the toy like the fierce huntress she is.

[quillpleasant]

East of Santa

Now Darko is here. How did he manage that? Is it actually teleportation, or just a combination of a well placed smoke bomb and running really fast?

Well, that may never be answered.

Regardless, he stands off to the side of the Santa throne. There's at least one more person here that he was meaning to give a gift to- Mat the squirrel, who's currently having some sort of debate with the current Santa. Well, he can wait.

In the meantime, he flags down one of the servers and hands them a present from his bag. After all, he has a lot more that he's been told to give out to anyone he can. What an entirely generous thing that will have no unforeseen consequences at all.

[Mee]

[A Fated Meeting]

"Go ahead" he simply says.

As for Coco, she's having a grand time. Normally it's Wenomir or Cass' little brother Lucien who play with him, but Civvy is doing a great job too. She chases after the toy like the fierce huntress she is.

[A Fated Meeting]

She nods her thanks, letting actions speak for her, and takes a seat. She sits down very gracefully, leaving no footprints in the sand, and adjusts her hat slightly. The angle is one such that she can, with just a casual flick of her eyes, take in a large amount of the surrounding area, and keep an eye on her goddess at all times.
Just in case.
Civvy's a clutz, after all.

Several minutes of silence pass -- unless Wenomir wants to interrupt, of course -- as Civvy, with her unending pool of energy, plays with Coco. What a good, fierce little huntress! Civvy also makes sure that Coco *can* occasionally get the toy she's chasing. Hunting friends have to get the serotonin of catching the thing occasionally, or they'll get sad! And then she can shower Coco with affection during those times too.

"Tea? Strong." Naku offers, letting the simple gesture carry her thanks for both letting her share the spot, as well as the help in keeping Civvy entertained. She offers him a hip flask that she had . . . somewhere. Open, and quite chill for such a warm summer day. She also offers it with her gloved-to-the-shoulder left hand, as the angle at the table just worked out better.

[Earl of Purple]

Thanksmas Throne

Fred takes the eye and heads off, eager to put it in and try it out.

"Right. Sorry, I've... had people accuse me of being unhygienic. Especially in spring, when I shed." Mat smiles a little apologetically, before spotting Darko, "Uh, Gem? You go next, I've got a present to hand out." She'll head over to Darko, grabbing the right gift from the bag the three had brought with them.

East of Santa

Mat approaches Darko, tail swishing as she holds a red-wrapped box. "Hey, Darko. I got a present for you, here. In case you go on another field trip." The box is offered, and it's reasonably heavy. Inside, there's a double-edged dagger, the blade of Wootz steel, with short quillons, and a sharkskin-wrapped hilt. It comes with a scabbard of leather and wood, but no belt or baldric to put it on.

[Morty]

[Santa's Throne]

"And what would you like from the bag?" Askeladd asks Gemini while others are preoccupied. He seems to realize the two girls are actually one, strangely enough.

[Earl of Purple]

Santa's Throne

"Hi Santa! So, I've got a slight issue. I'm one person, split in two, and... sometimes I reach into the wrong pocket. Which I can sort easily, most of the time! But when I'm looking in the wrong rucksack, it can be a bit of an issue. Can I have two bags that share an internal space, please?" It's more an issue when her bodies are further from each other than when they're close together; she loses coherence of her seperate bodies and it's very confusing

[Rebonack]

[Our Princess is in another Castle]

"Mary's gone," Khannie says, getting right to the point. "I dunno for sure, but there was some sorta... star thingy? She showed up outta nowhere and was trying to get Mary to let her help and Mary said no because Mary isn't an idiot."

Both girls have learned their lessons about excepting wishes from strange entities.

"So the thing left, but then all of a sudden Mary vanished. And it made my teeth itch the same way they did when the star-thing appeared."

It isn't quite the same feeling as Fortuna's chaos magic but it sure felt similar to Khannie.

"I dunno where it took her or how to find her."

[quillpleasant]

East of Santa

"Hey Mat! I have something for you too," says Darko, passing over an oblong package covered with dark green paper. His face lights up when he sees the dagger, and he unsheathes it, running a finger along the flat of the blade in admiration.

"Wow, this is so cool! I've never had a weapon before, now I'll really be prepared." A dramatic pass of his hand and both blade and scabbard seem to vanish out of sight.

Mat will find that her gift is a pair of hardened leather arm guards, etched with a pattern of oak leaves. "They're enchanted to guard you, since with that sword you're probably more focused on offense," explains Darko. In practice, they provide similar protection to a large shield, but without the weight and in a less cumbersome size.

[Meowmai]

Gnoll & Unicorn

She's been using shadow magic to disguise herself as a human for quite a while. I just...didn't really expect her to adapt to it so fast? Well either way it's not a problem.
It's not an issue!
He's just envious!
From the sound of it, you're not settled down enough to have any daughters of your own, yes? Though really he's just going by the things she's said. Jace has never met a gnoll before so he can't judge Ginger's age.

Gnoll & Unicorn

Ginger does notice the envious way in which Jace talks about this all, her eyebrow raising ever so slightly, and a slightly amused grin settling on her face. "She sounds very talented!" Not that this champion of the Sun was particularly enthused by the use of shadow magic, but whatever, it's fine.

"Me? Yeah, no. Not sure I'm a kid person, really. Got lots to do still." Like Champion things! Saving the day, healing the wounded. Drinking and flirting with cute strangers too, though that falls well outside her divinely duties. "Dunno though, maybe someday I'll have a change of heart. Hah. Won't be the first time." She touches the symbol of Sarenrae at her neck as she says so.

[bc56]

Our Princess is in Another Castle
"What? Thanksmas is supposed to be safe you can't just teleport someone... Hang on, Mary's calling me right now," Sekhmet surreptitiously reaches into her prodigious cleavage and withdraws a makeup compact. Khannie's seen Mary use a similar one (and Bella has one too). The demon queen snaps it open. The mirror glows and she and Khannie can see Mary in it. She's wearing a tattered pink princess dress that looks like something slashed it apart with claws, and apparently on a pile of books."Mum, I'm trapped somewhere and there's a dragon please find me!" she quickly says. There's a deafening roar from off camera. "I'm gonna hafta call you back. Find me quickly!" Then the mirror goes abruptly dark.
"That's, uh, not good."

[Keeper]

Gnoll & Unicorn

Ginger does notice the envious way in which Jace talks about this all, her eyebrow raising ever so slightly, and a slightly amused grin settling on her face. "She sounds very talented!" Not that this champion of the Sun was particularly enthused by the use of shadow magic, but whatever, it's fine.

"Me? Yeah, no. Not sure I'm a kid person, really. Got lots to do still." Like Champion things! Saving the day, healing the wounded. Drinking and flirting with cute strangers too, though that falls well outside her divinely duties. "Dunno though, maybe someday I'll have a change of heart. Hah. Won't be the first time." She touches the symbol of Sarenrae at her neck as she says so.

Gnoll & Unicorn

Thank you. We're all very proud. Jace says, glowing with pride even with his mental voice.
"Oh but you be careful though. Parenthood sneaks up on you. One day you're just a twenty-something year old adventurer trying to deal with some weird magics and next thing you know you've got kids popping into existence. Stay away from chaos magic it's better for you in the long run. We just got the good result." The rare good result.
I hope your goddess continues to look out for you. Sarenrae's children have always been good to us.

[Gullara]

[Scarlet's Day Out]

Ana's eyes widen. "wait, you got Cresh to - oh my gosh, and I missed out on that?!" The disappointment is clear.

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"Hah, well he really deserved it today. Serves him right for, uh-" Wait, Eliseo, you've stumbled right in an awkward direction. "You know." He gestures vaguely.

[Morty]

[Santa's Throne]

"Let us see what the bag has for you, then." Askeladd once again reaches into it, without the slightest idea what he'll find. This is some powerful magic at work here. It turns out to be a pair of shoulder bags that, when put together, seem to form a two-headed snake, but can be carried separately. "A two-headed snake to keep your belongings safe and accessible. I have heard of such an artifice before, left behind from a past age."

[Arkhosia]

► SHOW SPOILER

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"Hah, well he really deserved it today. Serves him right for, uh-" Wait, Eliseo, you've stumbled right in an awkward direction. "You know." He gestures vaguely.

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"Serves him right for what, huh?" Ana leans her weight into his arm and affixes him with a smug feline look. She knows how to read Eliseo pretty well at this point, and can sense there's something fun in this topic rather than a source of concern.

[[brackets lover]]

[Lounging About]

"Errr." Hiep rubs the back of her head. "I may have expressed interest in one of her priestesses. In a way that she found objectionable."

[Our Princess is in Another Castle]

"I know Mary's mom." Entirely true. "And I've got a knack for finding people." Also completely true. "And I'm very good at staying under the radar." She crouches down near where Mary was, gently touching the sand as she tries to pick up traces of any power that transported her.

[Lounging About]

"Oh," Mogzoku says in surprise and a hint of relief that he wouldn't have to do any guesswork here, "So, you like swing both ways, or just...?"

[Our Princess is in Another Castle]

Asami looks a bit surprised at Hiep's explanation. "That's... even more suspicious," Asami flatly states, raising an eyebrow as Hiep touches the sand.

"I didn't sense anything, so she was likely taken to a different... dimension? Whatever the term is."

Asami looks off in the direction Khannie ran off in, impatiently awaiting her return.

[Morty]

[Lounging About]

Hiep raises an eyebrow, her expression equally surprised and amused.

"Bit of a forward question, isn't it? But yes, both ways."

[A Fated Meeting]

Wenomir seems content to sit in silence and watch the flurry of feathers as Civvy plays with Coco. Naku is someone who doesn't waste words and he appreciates that. When the tea is offered, he takes a look at the gloved hand. He has a feeling there's history here, but it's one Naku will share herself if she wants.

"Yes, of course. Thank you," he simply says as he takes the flask.

[bc56]

Host Gifting
"Honey?" Sekhmet finds Prumathe once again. She's carrying a large bundle wrapped in green paper in both hands. "I have a gift for you. It's not as big as last year's, but here."
She hands it over, but carefully. It's very heavy and rattles like metal when jostled.

[[brackets lover]]

[Lounging About]

Mogzoku chuckles at a mickey mouse-like pitch and retorts, "So what if it is, kupo?"

He slightly raises a hand gesticularly as he continues, "Well, it was nice meeting you. Would you like to grab tea some time next week? Say, friday?" He manages to say this with a completely straight face, maintaining a very bizzare lack of shame blending with a rare sense of confidence.

[Rebonack]

[Our Princess is in Another Castle]

When Sekhmet brings up the fact that it's Thanksmas Khannie looks even MORE frustrated.

There are RULES. Ways things are supposed to be. And having someone just stomp all over the rules and ruins things for people raises her ire.

"Okay so how are we gunna find the dragon library place Mary is at? We've gotta go get her," Khannie says, making it all too obvious that's exactly what she's planning on doing. No way she's just gunna let Mary be... kidnapped by a dragon?

Or whatever it is that's going on here.

One of her ears has been tilted back toward Asami and... whoever that totally normal person with green hair is. It sounds like they might be talking about how to find her, too?

"There's some lady with green hair here who thinks she can find Mary can we trust her?" Khannie asks.

[bc56]

Our Princess is in Another Castle
Sekhmet sighs. "I know her. She can probably find Mary." There's some extreme reticence there. She really doesn't like the idea of letting someone like Hiep near her impressionable young daughter (not that Mary's nearly as impressionable as Sekhmet fears). But Hiep is a capable tracker. Sekhmet knows that. "... Let's go talk to her." Sekhmet leads Khannie over to Hiep and Asami.

[Morty]

[Lounging About]

"I do admire your boldness." She herself is very straightforward, so she's always happy to meet someone similar. "But you haven't told me your name yet."

[Our Princess is in Another Castle]

Hiep seems busy sieving some sand through her fingers and staring off into the distance.

"A library on a floating mountain... I've had worse leads to go on, I guess..."

[Gullara]

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"Serves him right for what, huh?" Ana leans her weight into his arm and affixes him with a smug feline look. She knows how to read Eliseo pretty well at this point, and can sense there's something fun in this topic rather than a source of concern.

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"Uhh-" Shoot. It's not like he's keeping a secret! It's just awkward. "He was just being dumb before and teasing me about being here with his new boyfriend." Eliseo replies incompletely.

[Earl of Purple]

Host Gifting

"Last year's gift was above and beyond, I'm not expecting anything close to it. I do have a gift for you as well." Prumathe pulls out a large-ish box of his own. "I didn't make this, but I'm not sure there's anything I can make that would be useful, desirable and also a surprise." Given the automaton nature of much of the staff, constructs aren't something they have a shortage of.

Elsewhere, Agate's approaching Mary. "Hi, Mary! Merry Thanksmas, I got you a thing." She is, indeed, holding a box.

Santa's Throne

Gemini gasps as the bags are pulled out, a smile sprouting on both her faces. "Thank you Santa! This is amazing. Oh, wow, look at this!" She'll take it and experiment, putting it on and reaching in. She's also speaking in stereo right now, without any delay between her mouths. Normally she tries to avoid this; it can be a little disconcerting.

East of Santa

Mat opens the box and gasps at the sight of the vambraces, taking them out and buckling them on. "Do you know, I don't think I've owned something explicitly magical before? Not counting Oakheart, anyway, and that's... produced using magic rather than enchanted." Her sword is still magic, just not actively so. It does nothing that another sword of Valyrian steel can't do.

[bc56]

Host Gifting
Sekhmet immediately sets about opening her gift, presumably while Prumathe opens his. "I don't mind if you didn't make it, what's important is that it's from you. Uh, but I did make your gift."

► SHOW SPOILER

The bundle contains a suit of plate armor (along with the necessary garments for underneath), a sword, and a shield, all beautifully worked from black hellish steel. Sekhmet eschewed the traditional spiked design of demonic knights, instead opting to inlay fiery patterns into the metal in red and yellow zircon gems. "You're my knight in shining armor, so I thought..." she smiles at her husband.

Meanwhile...
"Merry Thanksmas Agate, I got something for you too," Mary passes over a small box of her own and accepting the gift from Agate.

[Mee]

[A Fated Meeting]

Wenomir seems content to sit in silence and watch the flurry of feathers as Civvy plays with Coco. Naku is someone who doesn't waste words and he appreciates that. When the tea is offered, he takes a look at the gloved hand. He has a feeling there's history here, but it's one Naku will share herself if she wants.

"Yes, of course. Thank you," he simply says as he takes the flask.

[A Fated Meeting]

Naku seems blissfully content to sit in silence, while Civvy and Coco play in the background. Silence is hard to find at times, and Wenomir seems to appreciate it just as much. Good good.

As he takes it, his finger may brush hers, and he may feel that her finger is . . . solid. It has none of the sort of give skin should have, under that glove. Just solid. Hard. Like ice.
She notices him looking at her arm, and he did just bump her finger, so she offers *some* explanation, at least.
"Misplaced it." She offers, just as calm and stoic as the rest of anything she's said, but . . .
Something about it. It was definitely a buried and muffled, dry bit of humor she let slip.

Naku does have a great sense of humor; it's just far far far too subtle for at least Civvy to pick up on.

Her tea is . . . almost tastes *sharp*. It is very very very strong, both in taste and caffeine. It has some fruity undertones, but they're fairly subtle, in the back of 'face punching sharp acidic complexities', though it beautifully avoids being *bitter*.
Just . . .
Very potent.

[Arkhosia]

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"Uhh-" Shoot. It's not like he's keeping a secret! It's just awkward. "He was just being dumb before and teasing me about being here with his new boyfriend." Eliseo replies incompletely.

[Scarlet's Day Out]

"A new boyfriend?" Ana's brows shoot up. "Oh wow! I mean, like good for him. Plus, y'know, maybe he'll stop being such a jerk if he has someone making him happy now." There's some confusion in her expression. Why would that be something he'd tease Eliseo about?

"It sounds like you had fun though. I just hoped you saved some for me." Leaning upwards, Ana tilts her head and nuzzles against him cheek-to-cheek. It's a gesture she's started doing nowadays instead of the older routine of gentle bites and kisses. "Might have to give me a recap later. Scarlet doesn't really tell me anything."