[Nexus] Thanksmasnewyearskwanzaakkah![Canon or Non-Canon]

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin will take the hand and follow Karyana to wherever she leads!

A plot clone will be waiting here for just the right Santa.

[Lady Serpentine]

Karyana attempts to teleport them to her room in HALO.

[Lord Magtok]

Winter Wonderland

Spoiler

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To be fair to NHR and Arel, they probably didn't know the zombies were created out of living people rather than random corpses arising from their graves. But even in the latter case, zombies tend to go after people rather than animals.

"You know what... I don't want to think about that. We lost some good men and women at the barricade." One of them to my grenade. "So, um, I gave your note to Vasquez before the fight. I didn't have time to talk to her or anything until afterwards."

"Did she say anything about it afterwards, then?"

Mag tries not to come off as too curious, too interested in whatever it is Vas might've had to say. It's the 'Also, if you feel like you owe me for this or something, just say yes to Missy and I'll call it even. Deal? Deal.' part of his letter that he's really interested in, but he has no way of knowing if Missy has even been told about that part, so...

[happyturtle]

Winter Wonderland

Missy shakes her head. "No, she didn't." She bites her lip. What the hell had Magtok been writing to Vasquez about anyway. "So, er, I'm on medical leave for at least a week, maybe longer..." Ugh. She hates the way it sounds like she's fishing for a date, so she quickly adds, "It's nothing serious. It happens whenever I overclock myself."

[Morty]

A new Santa has appeared in the chair. This time, it's everyone's favourite demon hunter, Wenomir. Of course, you can mostly tell it by the color of his eyes, because otherwise he looks nothing like usually. He's wearing a heavy red-and-white Santa's robe, stuffed with pillows to make him look fat. His face is largely covered by a huge fake beard and a jolly Santa's hat. Despite this, he still manages to look grumpy.

[Reinholdt]

His grumpy should improve!

One newly evolved fanservice Ilpholin hops in his lap. She winces a bit as she lands on her tail, and has to slither that out of the way. Still not used to that thing.

"Hi Wenomir!"

[Morty]

Wenomir's eyes go wide somewhere between the beard and the hat. He's not sure if he should be more shocked by Ilpholin's "clothes" or her tail. Either way, this is just what he needs... as if the whole Santa sthick wasn't embarassing enough.
Hello Ilpholin. I assume you want a present from Wenomir Claus, don't you? Ho ho ho.

[Reinholdt]

"Don't do the ho ho ho thing. It's embarrassing." Ilpholin says, settling to make herself as comfortable as possible on Wenomir's lap.

"Yes, I came for a present. It'd be too much to ask for Wenomir Claus himself though, wouldn't it?"
Her facial expression indicates she's kidding. Probably.

[Morty]

For the sake of his peace of mind, Wenomir assumes she really is kidding.
Yes, probably. I mean, others are waiting for presents from me. So I'm afraid it'll have to be something from the bag. He motions to the bag next to Santa's chair.

[Reinholdt]

"Oh well that's simple. I want a..."

A ribbon that grants her infinite endurance. She's known since she passed up that collar that that's what she wants.

"I want a..."

Curtains for until she gets bored with them? Especially with a few of her more lively partners. But it appeals to her so much. So much.

"... Wenomir?" She says, glancing away from him and down.

But she had time to think. Too much time to think. If she had managed to just jump in like she usually does back on day 1, she'd be on her merry way and the Nexus would know. But she didn't. She ran into people and looked around and talked and thought. And one thought came to her in particular that she just couldn't get rid of.

"Is there... anything in that bag that could make me and Cessie friends again? I mean! I'm not admitting she's right about anything or that she doesn't need to change and stuff, cause that's not what I'm saying at all. I just... I want things back to the way they were before..." Ilpholin wishes, with much difficulty and embarrassment. She probably wouldn't be able to do this with other Santas that she didn't know. Still, she avoids looking Wenomir in the face, knowing it might be too much to ask and not wanting to get her hopes up.

[Lord Magtok]

Winter Wonderland

"So I take it you won't be joining in any impromptu dance-offs? S'just as well, I guess. The burlesque girl we went up against is probably getting fired for this huge mess of issues she's been causing lately. A shame, too. I don't think there's anyone else who could've kept up. "

Maggy saw that opportunity to ask her out there, but opted against taking it just yet. Has to be something a little flashier, a little fancier, something a bit more impressive than 'Oh, well since you don't have anything better to do while rest and wait for your body to allow you to have fun again, how about a date?'. Missy expects better of him, and he holds himself to too high of a standard to take such a lame butt-face route to asking her about a second date.

He is, on the other hand, entirely willing to have another clone put some mistletoe on a stick, hand it to some NPC children, and pay them each ten gold to play tag and run around Missy with the stick as they do so. That's totally not lame, though! Definitely not!

[happyturtle]

Winter Wonderland

One of the children darts by close enough to make Missy take a step out of the way, hit a patch of ice, and stumble, likely landing rather ineptly right in Magtok's arms. Kind of hard to believe this is the same girl who was tangoing and lindy hopping across the dance floor a few days ago. "Er, yeah, no dance-offs for a while." she says, as she struggles to get her feet back under her without leaning on Magtok too much in the process. Never mind that the dance-off gave them both a sort of familiarity with each other's physical forms. Without the excuse of dancing, she's self-conscious, especially when she's wearing a skimpy Santa outfit that shows rather a lot more of her legs than she's used to having on display.

[Morty]

Wenomir is silent for a while, staring into the distance. It's not what he expected, although he feels like he should have. Then he says:
Friendship is a tricky thing. But it's Thanksmas. Stranger things happen.
He reaches into the bag, hoping that something is there, because denying Ilpholin right now would be like kicking a puppy... and pulls out a small vial.
This is a dream-sharing potion. If you drink it before going to sleep, it'll help you become friends again.
How does he knows this? The magic if Thanksmas, probably.

[Reinholdt]

Ilpholin takes the vial, thinking about that.
"Oh. OH. I see. Well I look forward to seeing you later then. Thank you very much."
Wenomir is using this excuse to share sexy dreamtime with Ilpholin! That sly dog. She winks at him and slides off his lap to head off before he can protest.

And... well... if it is actually what Wenomir claims, Ilpholin supposes talking to Cessie in a dreamscape would work better, since she can always claim it was a dream if it works out poorly.

She clearly has misconceptions about what the vial does. C'est la vie.
Just before leaving the thread, she turns to blow Wenomir a kiss in a somehow suggestive manner.

[Morty]

Wenomir blinks and sighs. Of course she misinterpreted it. Oh, well. It'll clear itself up when she actually uses the potion.
You're welcome. Merry Thanksmas and good luck.

[Lord Magtok]

Winter Wonderland

Gah! Maggy's wimpy noodle arms aren't meant for this sort of thing! Luckily Missy isn't taking advantage of this situation to throw herself at Maggy, or they'd both be stumbling down into the ice!

"Well, I suppose if ever there was a ideal time of year for medical leave and such, it'd be now. All the lights are shining so brightly everywhere, and the children are singing..."

...Did you just quote part of 'All I Want For Christmas Is You' with that last sentence, Magtok? Lazy. It's not like you're bad at talking or anything, you have no excuse for this sort of thing!

[happyturtle]

Winter Wonderland

"I guess. As long as Zombiezilla was the real holiday apocalypse. It'd suck to be sidelined if I was needed," Missy says. She doesn't catch the reference, and instead looks around in confusion. "The children aren't singing though. More just running amok. With sticks."

[Lord Magtok]

Winter Wonderland

"Yeah, kids are weird like that sometimes."

Weird, and incapable of hoisting mistletoe high enough for Missy to see. Stupid kids. Next time he has to bribe someone he's doing it in copper.

"But nah, I think we should be set. For the month, at least. I mean, usually there's a bit of forewarning and some sword-rattling before the main event, and I'm not seeing any of that."

Psst! Maggy! Stop talking about such boring normal weathery things! You're boooooring her!

"So anyway, through some strange series of coincidences, I've ended up with a flying paddleboat accidentally dressed up like a bright-red sleigh, a ridiculously steep pile of candy, and a whole bunch of surplus MagMart toys this year."

Pfft, coincidences. Sure, Magtok. *Rolls eyes*

[happyturtle]

Winter Wonderland

Missy actually doesn't know what mistletoe looks like. She just assumes there are leaves still hanging on to the branches the kids tore off the trees. v.v

She tries to suppress a smile, while pretending to give Magtok a critical look. "You aren't dressed for the part. Or were you planning on loaning the paddleboat out to that guy?" She points a thumb back towards Wenomir Claus.

[Lady Serpentine]

[The Place of Gifts]

Karyana arrives here once again, and approaches whoever is currently in the Santa seat.

[Lord Magtok]

Winter Wonderland

The cyborg shakes his head.

"Nah, Santa looks pretty busy with all the kids over there. And ugly. The diet's been working out, but he's in dire need of some makeup to deal with all his reindeer-fencing scars."

Mag gives a silly sort of . He doesn't exactly like Wenomir, and genuinely thinks the sword-swinging goon is absolutely hideous, but there's no reason Missy needs to know that this is anything other than good-natured ribbing and such, so he maintains that silly tone.

"Say, do you know if the lovely and talented Ms. Claus is doing anything? Normally I wouldn't ask for her help, as busy as she is with her own duties, but it's getting late. Plus, if prior experience is anything to go by, it's a little hard to steer and throw things at people at the same time."

[happyturtle]

Winter Wonderland

"She might be available... If the right Mr Claus asked her," Missy says. "It's a shame there doesn't seem to be another Claus around though."

I feel a sadistic desire to have this paddleboat date run into the other paddleboat date, despite the continuity snarls that makes.

[Lord Magtok]

Winter Wonderland

Blargh, she's insisting on the Santa thing. Looks like we're going to have to improvise.

"Hold that thought for just a moment."

Magtok suddenly jumps right into a huge snowbank! Or rather, it looked like a snowbank. He somehow passes right through it, disappearing and leaving a large hole in his wake, so...maybe it was a hologram?

A few moments pass, likely just enough moments for Missy to contemplate calling her friends to ask if they know any cute single guys who aren't completely out of their goddamn mind, before Maggy suddenly bursts right out of the snow! He hasn't got a bit of snow on him somehow, he's inexplicably aboard his elegantly furnished paddlesleigh, and clad in the classic Coca Cola-red Santa costume!

"Ho-ho-how's that for Mr. Claus, then?"

[happyturtle]

Winter Wonderland

"You look great. All the kids will be impressed," Missy says. She manages to get into the paddleboat, though not without another stumble. It might make one wonder how she managed to pass the physical to become a soldier in her pre-cyborg days. The truth is she's clumsier now than she was then, because she's become over-reliant on the wired reflexes.

"OhandVasquezsaiditwasok," she mumbles, suddenly remembering why she had told him she wasn't sure about a second date. Whether Vasquez will still feel that way after events in the Remnant thread finish playing out is rather doubtful.

[FireFox]

Aurea and that weird dude in the green robes that nobody remembers undeadtime and look around, on opposite ends of the clearing.

[Morty]

Wenomir Claus is still in his seat. His player feels like he should give one more gift before he vacates it.
Meanwhile, a chorus of goblins is singing Thanksmas song like last year. Dipsnig is standing around grumpily. Viima and Kullervo are stretched on the snow next to him, each with a colorful ribbon in their tail.

[FireFox]

The emerald-clad mage approaches the chair. Ah... Greetings, Wenomir.
Hmm... He seems really familiar for some reason.

[Morty]

Oh hey, it's Spyridon. Wenomir hasn't seen him in a while.
Hello Spyridon. As you can see, I'm playing the part of Santa today.

[Shadowcaller]

So Dipsnig isn't joining the chorus? Someone is so getting visited by three thankmas ghosts this year.

But hey, there seem to be another visitor for Wenomir, namely Cessie, dressed in her usual long robe which now happens to be dark red.

She also seem to have come to visit Wenomir, I wonder why?

[FireFox]

Right! Spyridon, the neutral-aligned necromancer with no personality or interesting quirks. ... Who was apparently only forgotten by his player.
This is an amusing festival. I don't believe you regularly give out gifts, but everyone's mood seems to be improved this season.