Thanksmasnewyearskwanzakkah 2018 - 10 Years of Thanksmas!

[Murkus]

[Icy Pond]

"I don't mind trying." Sakura says, trying to stand herself more stable, while still holding onto Adir's arms. "This isn't really like dancing, though. Dancing never feels this awkward." She reasons, as her left foot starts to slide toward Adir. Her fingers dig into her arm as she starts to lose her balance all over again.

[Icy Pond]

Adir tries to steady her again as she death-grips his arm. "Whoah there," the stag says, holding her still until her feet can find balance on the blades. "Trust me, it'll feel like dancing after you learn. It can be beautiful. And a lotta fun. I was just like you are now, and after some teaching..." The stag ponders. "Okay, a lot of teaching, I became nimble as a sparrow."

[Batu and Div]

Batu blushes and smiles.

"If you want. I don't want to pressure you or anything, but if you see something you'd like to get me..." He looks into the ball again. "I don't know where they are, really. Santa just said that looking into this ball can show me someone I'm thinking about."

[Batu and Div]

"Are you thinking about your people?" asks Div. "Do you wanna tell me about them?"

[Arkhosia]

Laz Ruled The VIGIL Grounds, and Never Mind The 'Mir

Fidelia briefly looks a little baffled towards Calm Reed - even she knew who Magtok was! - before remembering she was a relative newcomer to the Nexus. She seems much less fazed by the casual mention of a lady who is currently a bear, however, pausing to look a little forlornly as Señor Sombrero drifts slowly and gracefully down to rest upon the fine snow.

"Godspeed, Kit Harington. You will be missed," the squire states, before bending down to retrieve the hat and hand it to Jenette with the utmost solemnity. "And with his demise, I believe this belongs to you now." The gravity is admirable, Fi, but it could be misplaced. Perhaps he was a traitor who deserved it?

[Morty]

[Batu and Div]

"I think so, yes," Batu admits with a sigh. "They're the Blind Crow tribe. Not a very big one. The Blind Crow is our- their spirit totem and guide, or so they say. They travel through woodland areas and hills on giant boars. It's weird how much I miss them."

[Assorted kids]

Once everyone has received their gifts, Tuskfang will lead them back towards the other goblins. Who seem to be distressed by the loss of their snowmen, but some of them are listening intently to Brinika as she tells them about something that has her bounce around with excitement.

"I think we need new snowpeople," Tuskfang says. "And Brinika is really happy about something!"

[Lord Magtok]

rip in pepperonis

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[Revelation of Snowmen Hunch]

"Well, I didn't know that," Calm Reed says. "As I haven't heard about this Magtok yet. Is he some sort of-" The monk looks around for the snowman. "It seems to have been knocked down by a bear... who is in fact our fellow Vigil member, Anika."

Laz Ruled The VIGIL Grounds, and Never Mind The 'Mir

Fidelia briefly looks a little baffled towards Calm Reed - even she knew who Magtok was! - before remembering she was a relative newcomer to the Nexus. She seems much less fazed by the casual mention of a lady who is currently a bear, however, pausing to look a little forlornly as Señor Sombrero drifts slowly and gracefully down to rest upon the fine snow.

"Godspeed, Kit Harington. You will be missed," the squire states, before bending down to retrieve the hat and hand it to Jenette with the utmost solemnity. "And with his demise, I believe this belongs to you now." The gravity is admirable, Fi, but it could be misplaced. Perhaps he was a traitor who deserved it?

Saint Lazarus puts the sombrero on her head at a jaunty angle, which is wholly unnecessary given that it's already pretty deformed and goofy-looking as is.

"May Vesper Rotunda accept this sacrifice and bless us on this, the holiest of holiday seasons," she says softly, with mock-reverence. RIP Jon Snowman. He died as he lived, as an inanimate object fawned over by a bunch of bored weirdos with nothing better to do.

"So that was fun! What next?" Laz herself could probably go for a light snack, but then, she's always down for a snack. It's just her nature. Calm Reed probably isn't too keen on going out to eat at any of the places that meet the ghoul knight's dietary restrictions, though, so maybe we should think of something other than food.


Aha!

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[The Fairest MagElf in All the Land]

Ithuriel gives Ambriel a look. While there's no way she's going to admit that to Magtok's face, he has kind of raised a point there. Some sort of discussion needs to happen. But that's for later. The focus right now is on tormenting Magtok. "Costume a bit tight, Magtok? I had to use Ambriel's measurements when I was out looking for it, but I figured since he's just some dumb winged clone of yours, it was bound to be a perfect fit, right?"

Hopefully Wings doesn't take that jab at Mags as a jab at him as well.

"C'mon, let's get you back to her before she freaks out too badly. And I promise not to point out to her that you talked about her like she's just an object to collect along with others." She waves a hand to open a path back to the scene of the kidnapping. "And if you are somehow serious about having to save the world and promise not to threaten my city again, I'd be happy to help."

Magtok...snickers? Really? What could possibly have brought that on, given the current set of circumstances? He is not exactly in the lead here, as we can all see.

"Oh wow. Oh man, I can't believe I didn't figure it out until just now. Amb, your girlfriend is desperate to have me as her new nemesis. She's trying so hard, it's adorable."

"...Huh. You okay, Magtok? That costume isn't cutting the flow of air to your brain?" This sounds pretty ludicrous even by Magtok standards. Did he hit his head on the way in when Ithuriel swooped down and nabbed him?

"No no, really! This is the third time she's meddled in some way, making a completely unnecessary nuisance of herself before demanding I swear to never target the city of Inside ever again. She always adds that in at the end, the thing about not targeting Inside. It's reverse psychology, Feathers. She's so bored with her job that she's deliberately antagonizing the person she thinks might make things exciting again. It was actually starting to work, too, until I figured out her dastardly plot here and now!" Magtok grins from ear to phony plastic elf ear, smugly patting himself on the back for figuring Ithuriel out before her scheme could bear fruit.

[Gullara]

[Icy Pond]

Adir tries to steady her again as she death-grips his arm. "Whoah there," the stag says, holding her still until her feet can find balance on the blades. "Trust me, it'll feel like dancing after you learn. It can be beautiful. And a lotta fun. I was just like you are now, and after some teaching..." The stag ponders. "Okay, a lot of teaching, I became nimble as a sparrow."

[Icy Pond]

"A lot of teaching, huh?" Sakura asks after Adir has managed to stabilizer. If he thinks that means she's loosening up her grip, though... "What was your first lesson like, then?"

[Artemis97]

I’d be delighted to give you one of those, Sornnolu.

Fel reaches into the bag and pulls out a tablet.

I think you’ll see that the magic should keep your battery going for a very long time indeed, and it’s preloaded with many, many really neat books.

I actually have one myself and it’s wonderful, especially for keeping up with my list.

I actually have one myself and it’s wonderful, especially for keeping up with my list.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT][/QUOTE]

Sornnolu cracks a genuine smile, looking much like his father, Raril, in that moment. "Thank you." He says, taking the tablet and bowing to Santa before leaving the throne. Before he's down the steps he's already playing with settings and pages, his thin fingers dashing over the screen. He lifts his head, though, to fix his sister with a wicked gaze. "You're next."

Erelae grins at him, and saunters up to Santa Fel, perching herself on the Giantess' lap. "Hello Santa. I think I've been a good girl this year, and as a reward I would like some proper drinking chocolate. Rich melty stuff. I've had some before, but it's a seasonal treat. I'd like to enjoy it year round if I could."

[Raril and Son]


"It certainly seems to have been at least a little bit longer than that." Nadas admits. But of course he can't precisely answer.
Fifteen? And for an elf that should be even younger, right? He's definitely not still a kid.

Raril smiles sadly. "Yeah, it has been. You've got to be what 60, 80, now? Certainly not as old as Sornnolu and Erelae. I'm starting to push 150."

[Felandria]

Sornnolu cracks a genuine smile, looking much like his father, Raril, in that moment. "Thank you." He says, taking the tablet and bowing to Santa before leaving the throne. Before he's down the steps he's already playing with settings and pages, his thin fingers dashing over the screen. He lifts his head, though, to fix his sister with a wicked gaze. "You're next."

Erelae grins at him, and saunters up to Santa Fel, perching herself on the Giantess' lap. "Hello Santa. I think I've been a good girl this year, and as a reward I would like some proper drinking chocolate. Rich melty stuff. I've had some before, but it's a seasonal treat. I'd like to enjoy it year round if I could."

Ooh, now we’re talking.

She reaches into the bag and pulls out a steel growler mug and a leather coaster.

This mug will be the perfect vessel, just set it on the coaster and after a couple minutes, it will be full of decadent drinking chocolate.

Just be aware it stops working for a bit if you use it too, too often,

There is such a thing as too much chocolate, it loses it’s specialness if you drink ten mugs a day, y’know?

[Gnrlshrimp]

[MagElf Achieved]

"C'mon Magtok, do you really think a silly Thanksmas prank is some attempt to set myself up as your nemesis? That's- wow, I'm sorry Magtok but that's just kind of sad. Anyway, enough stalling!"

Ithuriel moves to grab Magtok by the scruff of his neck.

"If you're crying out that badly for a nemesis to kickstart your villainy again, look elsewhere."

And then she'll frogmarch him through the portal, which is sure to be quite the sight for Caelynn.

[Arkhosia]

Mag Laid Plans

Well, it would be, if Caelynn was there to see it.

Right now, she's a fair distance away - though still within sight - and speaking to a very tall goblinoid in stilts and comically oversized earmuffs. "H-hey, have you seen a man by the name of Lord Magtok anywhere?" the doctor questions with a tone of worry just barely suppressed by attempts to keep calm, continuing after a clueless pause from the person she's questioning. "About this tall, bald, one half of his body is cybernetic? Wearing something that stands out wonderfully with a cocky little smirk? No?"

RIP In Pasta

Fidelia pauses to think for a moment, shivering slightly in the cold. "Well... maybe we could get some hot chocolate, or something? I-I've never had that before, to be honest... and it is a little chilly, so warming up would be nice." she suggests. Briefly, she wonders if Jenette would be able to enjoy it along with them. I mean, sure, she can't eat food, but maybe she can still drink certain things? She'd heard stories of ghouls that could still drink coffee, so maybe it wasn't so far-fetched.

[Morty]

[RIP In Pasta]

"I can't say I've ever had it either," Calm Reed admits. "I've heard of people drinking chocolate, but it was considered showy even for Dynasts. If it's so common here people drinking on holidays, I suppose I must try it."

[Artemis97]

[Santa's Throne]

Erelae throws her head back in a laugh. "Ten mugs a day! I could never dance off that much sugar! Just one or two would be great." Maybe three if it were a particularly hard day. "Thank you." The drowess says, taking the mug and coaster, then she'll hop down from Fel's lap and rejoin her siblings.

[Murkus]

[Icy Pond]

"A lot of teaching, huh?" Sakura asks after Adir has managed to stabilizer. If he thinks that means she's loosening up her grip, though... "What was your first lesson like, then?"

[Icy Pond]

"Well, the girl I was with - Temma was her name, I think - she let me fall. Said that was how people learned. Then she skated little circles around me," says Adir. "I think that my face was red enough it melted the ice shavings from her skates. And thennn... I fell down off and on for a couple of hours. Hurt my ass something horrible."

"Now, don't tell me you want it the hard way like that," Adir chides. "I would never want that beautiful bottom suffering such wanton abuse. You know I can't do tough love." His ears flutter. "Well, not with you, anyways..."

[Batu and Div]

"I think so, yes," Batu admits with a sigh. "They're the Blind Crow tribe. Not a very big one. The Blind Crow is our- their spirit totem and guide, or so they say. They travel through woodland areas and hills on giant boars. It's weird how much I miss them."

[Batu and Div]

"I'm sorry you miss them so much. I've only ever wanted a little break from my family." Div squeezes Batu a little tighter, lips pressed together in a pout. "Do you think you'll ever go back?"

[Morty]

[Batu and Div]

"I don't know if I'd want to," Batu admits. "But either way, they wouldn't have me. As far as they're concerned, I'm a non-person. Because I decided to study sorcery. Well... I'm not sure if all of the tribe's members felt that way. But enough of them did. And the law says what it does. The avvar and the shaman didn't really have a choice."

[Lord Magtok]

Keep Calm and Carol On

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[MagElf Achieved]

"C'mon Magtok, do you really think a silly Thanksmas prank is some attempt to set myself up as your nemesis? That's- wow, I'm sorry Magtok but that's just kind of sad. Anyway, enough stalling!"

Ithuriel moves to grab Magtok by the scruff of his neck.

"If you're crying out that badly for a nemesis to kickstart your villainy again, look elsewhere."

And then she'll frogmarch him through the portal, which is sure to be quite the sight for Caelynn.

Mag Laid Plans

Well, it would be, if Caelynn was there to see it.

Right now, she's a fair distance away - though still within sight - and speaking to a very tall goblinoid in stilts and comically oversized earmuffs. "H-hey, have you seen a man by the name of Lord Magtok anywhere?" the doctor questions with a tone of worry just barely suppressed by attempts to keep calm, continuing after a clueless pause from the person she's questioning. "About this tall, bald, one half of his body is cybernetic? Wearing something that stands out wonderfully with a cocky little smirk? No?"

Magtok settles for merely grumbling swears under his breath, rather than drag out this petty feud any further. Ithuriel will get her comeuppance in due time, don't you worry. Just not here, and not now. Yes, we'll make her rue the day she crossed Lord Magtok, and just to prove how incredible we are, we'll do it without resorting to setting a city block on fire. Ambriel will be brought to tears when we humili-

"Wait, where's Caelynn?" Magtok asks, tilting his head to one side. The motion causes the stupid bell on his stupid elf hat to jingle, striking a match to his smoldering animosity towards the two screwballs who made him wear this atrocious costume. The surge of indignation is almost distracting enough to make him forget his question, but he quickly gets a grip on himself and casts his gaze this way and that, searching for the catgirl. Unfortunately he's facing exactly the wrong way, or else he might've spotted her by now.

"She was right here. This is the exact spot where you abducted me for your stupid game, we were standing right here," Magtok insists, trying to sound more perplexed than alarmed, even as his thoughts race ahead to a wide variety of stomach-churning worst case scenarios. Caelynn panicked, had a heart attack, and got rushed off to the nearest magical medical practitioner. Marciano's daughter staged a kidnapping the moment Magtok was gone, collaborating with Kram to make him suffer for daring to quit his job with at Con Z. The reindeer that had been stalking them carried her off into the woods. Blanche showed up, and literally bored her mother to death talking about guns. Reinholdt seduced her again.


Ashes to Ashes, Snowflakes to...Water, I Guess?

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RIP In Pasta

Fidelia pauses to think for a moment, shivering slightly in the cold. "Well... maybe we could get some hot chocolate, or something? I-I've never had that before, to be honest... and it is a little chilly, so warming up would be nice." she suggests. Briefly, she wonders if Jenette would be able to enjoy it along with them. I mean, sure, she can't eat food, but maybe she can still drink certain things? She'd heard stories of ghouls that could still drink coffee, so maybe it wasn't so far-fetched.

[RIP In Pasta]

"I can't say I've ever had it either," Calm Reed admits. "I've heard of people drinking chocolate, but it was considered showy even for Dynasts. If it's so common here people drinking on holidays, I suppose I must try it."

"Sure, why not," Jenette shrugs, even though she can think of six or seven perfectly good reasons why not, and they all involve her horrid dietary restrictions and crestfallen nostalgia for the days when she could drink hot chocolate without it tasting of ashes and shame. Calm and Fi deserve something fun and cheery after their snowman got pulped by a runaway bear.

"I've had it a few times myself, it's pretty good. Just making sure first, Calm Reed, you don't have any religious laws saying what you can and can't eat, do you?" she asks, trying to preemptively move the subject away from her own ability to consume hot chocolate before Fidelia can think to ask anything about it.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Ding Dong Maggily on High]

Ithuriel pauses and stares at Magtok as he does a very poor job of not having a panic attack. Wow. For all his boasting, he really does care about Caelynn, doesn't he? It's kind of adorable, in a really pathetic way since she's looking in the other direction and absolutely can see the catgirl in question.

While there is a little bit of temptation to drag this out for a while longer, it's already the 10th of February it'd be very mean to do, so she'll quietly turn Magtok around to face the right way, and call out to Caelynn. "Hey! Caelynn! Over here! Don't worry, I didn't hurt him! Well, except for his pride. Definitely hurt his pride by getting him to dress up as an elf." She chuckles quietly, unable to hide her delight in having pulled off this little prank.

[Ashen Lilies]

[Drow, some other things]

Iknika's ears twitch.

"Ooooh. I didn't know you didn't know. But neither did I, until Lady Eschelle told me," she says. "Knights are a warriors who wear heavy armor and fight with honor and courage. Usually to defend the honor of their lord, lady or country. Our friend Koshal has a lady he serves."

[Tieflings]

As Fayyaad leads Kal towards the drink tables, he turns to introduce himself with a slight flourish.

"My name is Fayyaad ibn-Haashid al-Zafar," he says. "But just Fayyaad will do. I come from the land of Moran-Ir and the illustrious Zafar family. Though I am currently taking something of an extended vacation."

Human and Humanoids, and Wolves

"My dad was a knight, but his title was purely ceremonial. A knight-scholar, which was awarded for his magical achievements. Basically, he set up a school to teach magic, a very successful one, and his reward from the King was elevation into the lowest rank of the nobility. But knights started as elite cavalry selected from the nobility, with all the best equipment and training. Things just... Evolved." As magic spread, knights found it didn't matter how many of them charged the weird guy in robes- they weren't likely to survive the magical blast the weird guy was about to throw. Cannons also helped change the meaning of knights, since they proved quite effective at killing them, too.

[Drow, others]

"Oh! I see," says Yasril. "I suppose we have people in similar positions, but I guess cavalry aren't as common underground..."

[Tieflings]

"A tiefling nobleman from Moran-Ir? You don't say?" Says Kal, grinning with amusement as Fayyaad introduces himself.

"I am Kal. Of Blackthorne." He says, choosing not to reveal for now that the place he's from and his surname are one and the same. "And I suppose you could say I'm on a vacation of my own."

[Elfsnowmanpocalypse!]

The snowmanity!

The bear would excuse itself but all it can manage are growls that not even other bears would understand.
Finally, she stops as it seems the reindeer got the better of her after she had to attempt to dodge all those snowmen, with empathize on attempt.
Slowly sitting down, she will turn back into her humanoid form, making sure that Rain doesn't just fall off when she suddenly shrinks down to a 'mere' 7 foot in height. "Aw, geez, I got caught up in the moment again. Those poor snowlings." She says as she turns to face the battlefield she left behind. "I guess I should apologize." She didn't sound too sure though, she wasn't even sure who she should apologize to, those goblin kids? Goblins could sue her for everything she owned!
Then she turns to Rain. "You know any, uhm, fitting funeral tunes? For the snowmen I mean." That's very silly Anika.

[Snowmanpocalypse!]

"Oh dear," says Rain, looking regretfully at all the destruction they've caused. "I've left my harp over there, but I think I have..."

She rummages around on her person, before pulling out... a kazoo! Where was she keeping a kazoo, with no purse and wearing a short dress that definitely has no pockets?

In the fur lining, of course.

And with it she plays a most mournful tune.

[Morty]

[Drow, some other things]

Iknika's ears twitch again.

"Right, a lot of knights do ride mounts. Not all, though. I'm still learning to fight, so learning to ride might have to wait." She looks Yasril up and down. "Come to think of it, I think I've seen elves like you back at the colony. They arrived on those big lizards, not like those we have. They came to buy some machinery."

[Tieflings]

"Indeed. And I believe I've heard of Blackthorne. Especially its iron," Fayyaad says, as he hands Kal whatever drink he chose. "It's famous and carried high prices even in Moran-Ir. We're both a long way from home."

[Earl of Purple]

Human & Humanoids

"I'd imagine cavalry and ranged weaponry both wouldn't work as well underground as above it." Natalie's only been underground the once, and that was quite a large and open area, but still pretty dark. And besides, where'd they get the wood to make the bows? ((She may have seen giant mushrooms back then, but I can't remember.))

[Arkhosia]

Caelynn of the Bells?

The angel's call serves its purpose, and Caelynn turns back quickly. A second passes before her expression floods with relief and her eyes light up with joy, and she hurries over to meet them before pulling Magtok into a tight embrace. Probably not with enough momentum to send him toppling over into the snow, but he might need to stumble back a step to steady the two of them.

"Thank god you're safe, I was getting worried." She admits, pulling back but not quite letting go. "I... I don't know if I was just being paranoid or clingy, but I thought maybe something came after you, or that maybe I wouldn't see you again for a long time." Portals are a scary thing; you can never quite know if there'll be one on the other side, or if you forgot the other side doesn't have oxygen, or if you accidentally set the destination to the alternate dimension where everything is the same but all the people are talking cows.

Another moment passes before Caelynn seems to register the change in attire, eliciting a soft chuckle and a wide smirk. "All this worry on my part over a dumb costume, huh?" Hell, it's not even the worst outfit she could picture Magtok being forced in. A purple telly-tubby costume would have been ten times more devastating, followed up by the outfit Sean Connery in Zardoz... well, maybe. There's a chance our intrepid cyborg could actually manage to pull that one off.

Hot Hot Hot, We Got It

Fidelia briefly brightens at this new decision, eager to try yet another Thanksmasy thing she missed out on, before concerns on dietary restrictions are raised. Perhaps St. Lazarus should have chosen a more distant inquiry if she wanted to change the topic.

"...What about you? I- I don't want to do something if I'm the only one who gets to enjoy it." It's a funny turn for a trip to fulfill Fidelia's own long-held desires, but perhaps not that surprising; seeing just how concerned her knight was about being seen in public made it fairly clear it had been quite a while since Jenette got to take her helmet off and just be a normal person out and about and enjoying themselves, just like her squire. If Fidelia was going to revel at a chance like that, she couldn't just leave her behind to watch!

[Morty]

[Theft-of-chocolate Method]

Monks do face dietary restrictions, starting with alcohol, Calm Reed says. "But a cup of hot chocolate on a winter festival shouldn't be a problem, even at my rank. If practitioners of the Wood Dragon style can get dispensation for copious amounts of drugs..."

[Gullara]

[Icy Pond]

"Well, the girl I was with - Temma was her name, I think - she let me fall. Said that was how people learned. Then she skated little circles around me," says Adir. "I think that my face was red enough it melted the ice shavings from her skates. And thennn... I fell down off and on for a couple of hours. Hurt my ass something horrible."

"Now, don't tell me you want it the hard way like that," Adir chides. "I would never want that beautiful bottom suffering such wanton abuse. You know I can't do tough love." His ears flutter. "Well, not with you, anyways..."

[Icy Pond]

"Well I'm sure my butt thanks you." Sakura says with a cheeky smile. "But I have a feeling this isn't working either, unless I'm supposed to hang onto you like this the whole time."

[Lord Magtok]

Diet

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Hot Hot Hot, We Got It

Fidelia briefly brightens at this new decision, eager to try yet another Thanksmasy thing she missed out on, before concerns on dietary restrictions are raised. Perhaps St. Lazarus should have chosen a more distant inquiry if she wanted to change the topic.

"...What about you? I- I don't want to do something if I'm the only one who gets to enjoy it." It's a funny turn for a trip to fulfill Fidelia's own long-held desires, but perhaps not that surprising; seeing just how concerned her knight was about being seen in public made it fairly clear it had been quite a while since Jenette got to take her helmet off and just be a normal person out and about and enjoying themselves, just like her squire. If Fidelia was going to revel at a chance like that, she couldn't just leave her behind to watch!

[Theft-of-chocolate Method]

Monks do face dietary restrictions, starting with alcohol, Calm Reed says. "But a cup of hot chocolate on a winter festival shouldn't be a problem, even at my rank. If practitioners of the Wood Dragon style can get dispensation for copious amounts of drugs..."

"I'll be fine, Fi. I'll just have half a cup." Just a few gulps of chocolate should be easy enough, right? Back when she was at North Portside College she drank all kinds of terrible things without making a big deal out of it; should be just as easy now as it was back then.

"Wood Dragon style...there's a martial art for getting high as a kite? I mean, I thought Drunken Fist was just pretending, I didn't think anyone except maybe Florida Man could do something like that." To this day, Jenette still isn't a hundred percent sure what a 'Florida' even is, or how this infamous meme man gets away with all the terrible things he does, if he's even real. Probably just some weird internet joke, she assumes. He can't possibly be real...right?


And Exercise

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[Ding Dong Maggily on High]

Ithuriel pauses and stares at Magtok as he does a very poor job of not having a panic attack. Wow. For all his boasting, he really does care about Caelynn, doesn't he? It's kind of adorable, in a really pathetic way since she's looking in the other direction and absolutely can see the catgirl in question.

While there is a little bit of temptation to drag this out for a while longer, it's already the 10th of February it'd be very mean to do, so she'll quietly turn Magtok around to face the right way, and call out to Caelynn. "Hey! Caelynn! Over here! Don't worry, I didn't hurt him! Well, except for his pride. Definitely hurt his pride by getting him to dress up as an elf." She chuckles quietly, unable to hide her delight in having pulled off this little prank.

Caelynn of the Bells?

The angel's call serves its purpose, and Caelynn turns back quickly. A second passes before her expression floods with relief and her eyes light up with joy, and she hurries over to meet them before pulling Magtok into a tight embrace. Probably not with enough momentum to send him toppling over into the snow, but he might need to stumble back a step to steady the two of them.

"Thank god you're safe, I was getting worried." She admits, pulling back but not quite letting go. "I... I don't know if I was just being paranoid or clingy, but I thought maybe something came after you, or that maybe I wouldn't see you again for a long time." Portals are a scary thing; you can never quite know if there'll be one on the other side, or if you forgot the other side doesn't have oxygen, or if you accidentally set the destination to the alternate dimension where everything is the same but all the people are talking cows.

Another moment passes before Caelynn seems to register the change in attire, eliciting a soft chuckle and a wide smirk. "All this worry on my part over a dumb costume, huh?" Hell, it's not even the worst outfit she could picture Magtok being forced in. A purple telly-tubby costume would have been ten times more devastating, followed up by the outfit Sean Connery in Zardoz... well, maybe. There's a chance our intrepid cyborg could actually manage to pull that one off.

"We're going home," he answers coldly, his harsh gaze as piercing and frigid as the wintery landscape all around them. That's no way to be talking to Caelynn though, is it? It's not her fault any of this happened, you know. Still, it takes him real effort to remember that and dial things back down, to keep that indignation and petty fury from descending upon someone entirely undeserving. He takes a deep breath, lets it out, and gives himself a few moments to cool down. Once that's passed, he turns his stupid elf hat around so the bell on the end of it stops jingling in his face, and leans in to kiss her.

"I'm fine," he insists, as if saying it with enough force and conviction might make it true. "I'm sorry, I just need to go home, change out of this stupid thing, get back on the treadmill, and...and-" Words fail the cyborg. It's so hard to focus right now, to make himself heard over the storm raging within him. Pride has always been his greatest vice, and right now pride is screaming itself hoarse inside his head. Take disproportionate vengeance on Ithuriel, right here and now. Burn her entire Thanksmas village to ash. Condemn an entire city district to a slow, agonizing death by dumping radioactive waste down Inside's water main. Things of that nature, mostly. Having Caelynn here and holding him does wonders for his composure, though. At the end of the day, this ridiculous costume and those extra pounds he's gained are but temporary, meaningless things. We can burn them both away in a couple weeks, maybe a month or two, tops. Nobody will even remember there ever was a dad bod Magtok! Also screw Ithuriel, she's just a insignificant pest acting like a brat so she doesn't have to think about the implications involved in her dating someone that looks exactly like him. She probably doesn't even have to work for that body; it just magically stays that way forever.

"Anyway, I'm sorry for worrying you; If I get kidnapped again, I promise to punch my way back immediately, or, failing that, at least send you a text message. Speaking of, is the angel gone yet, or is she still watching us like a creep?" Magtok asks, raising his voice on that last sentence just a little so Ithuriel is sure to hear if she's anywhere nearby.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here!]

Ithuriel saunters just a little ways away from Magtok and Caelynn, crouching down beside the gargantuan Thanksmas tree and fiddling about with a parcel.

Over her shoulder, she turns to look back at the grumpiest little Mag-Elf, fixing him with a pleasant, friendly smile. "Oh, you don't need to worry about where I am, Magtok. This is my demiplane. I can see everything that happens here. Nothing escapes my eyes. Nothing. At. All."

And then she's back to fiddling with the parcel. Was it really mid-february already? Where does the time go? She'd figured things would wind down much sooner than this. She'd figured her final little surprise would have been deployed at a still vaguely-seasonal time. Oh well.

Ithuriel backs off as the parcel erupts, celebrating the many years of this strange mish-mash of holidays in a dazzling blast of fireworks that brightens up the entire sky.

HAPPY THANKSMAS EVERYONE!

The fireworks fade. The lights dwindle. The choir gradually falls quiet. Campfires fall from bright flames to soft glowing embers.

Ithuriel's voice rings out across the site, "Alright everyone! Thank you all so much for coming, but that's a wrap! But hey, we'll be doing it all again in nine months or so anyway!"

That done, she strolls back over to Ambriel's side, gently slipping a wing around him. "C'mon Wings. The party's over. But today's the day to shower your lover with love and affection, isn't it?" She winks and takes his hand, walking over towards her cabin as the darkness slowly, gently draws in around them.