(no subject)

[linefacingforever]

Who: The Investigation Team and Nanako plus one death goddess.
Where: Yu and Nanako's apartment.
Summary: The IT celebrates Christmas together away from home... more or less.
Warnings: Yu trying to keep up his mission to bring a Green Christmas to Hinoto-ri. Horrible singing. lulz

It was a bit rushed and last minute -- and most of the work had to be done by other people because a certain grey haired leader was currently acting like an idiot -- but the apartment that Yu and Nanako shared was currently decked out for the winter holiday. Streamers hung around door frames and windows, and someone had even managed to bring in a little fake pine tree to be decorated.

There's also food, of course, though how good it is depends greatly on who cooked it. Taste with care, least you end up poisoned on Christmas.

It might not seem very festive at the moment, especially considering the current state (and presence) of certain individuals... but that will change at midnight at least.

Comments

Afternoon => Night

[linefacingforever]

[linefacingforever]

Yu probably had the most forlorn look on his face ever, staring uselessly at his poor hands. He had been forced to finger-snap himself back into boring, normal clothes once the others had figured out how it worked. Now he was only allowed to participate if he didn't go snapping himself back into a loincloth. Hence the current state of his hands: they were wrapped up in a thick layer of bandage tape, allowing him a little flexibility to grab large objects, but that was about it.

He flexed his bound fingers uselessly, a faint sound of disappointment escaping from him. This was terrible; he failed the Pyro Jacks, and now no one would be able to enjoy a Green Christmas...

Yu flopped over uselessly on the couch, watching his friends enjoy the festivities. It was so not fair...

[celebrity_commentator]

Rise - partly responsible for wrapping his hands like that - couldn't help but feel a little guilty at seeing his expression like that. On the other hand, she felt they'd saved him a lot of embarrassment and everyone else a lot of trouble, but...puppy-dog face. It was amazing what Yu's expressions could do sometimes, when you paid attention to them.

"Cheer up, Senpai," she said, sitting on the arm of the couch. "You still get to spend Christmas with us, right?"

[linefacingforever]

"Yeah, but..."

He paused, glancing outside to where he could see the snow gently falling. Wow, he... actually failed at something. Sure he had taken more than a few missteps in the past, underestimated an enemy, guessed a weakness wrong... but he never really failed like this.

...this sucked.

[handshakegreeting]

Well. This could not be any more awkward if they tried, and in fact... she likely only came to be sure that someone didn't wind up doing something further that they would regret. That, and she had indeed been invited...

So come she did, and in style. Wait, she had something other than a certain uniform and the burial kimono? Perish the thought!

...Though currently she is simply staying near the corner, watching her representative and possibly trying not to give a damn about the sorry state he is mentally trapped within. She tried, children. Apparently those Pyro Jacks did a number on him if even her illusion mastery could not break it for long.

[gigglesnortpriestess]

There is someone close by the woman as she holds out a cup to her. Maybe a peace offering but maybe just a conversation starter. Either way, Yukiko wanted to talk with her even if her persona was starting to feel a little uneasy. While she pushed the red eyes aside for the moment, the one in the headspace didn't.

"I...wanted to say thank you. For what you did."

[disconinjafrog]

And here's Yosuke, staring at her from the other corner with the most awkward, hostile stare he can manage, because Yu is acting terribly strange (as he has been for a while now) and the rest of the people in here were left to fend for themselves against a Death Goddess that really only a few of them remembered facing.

Why Yu trusted her was beyond him. Why anyone could trust her...

Even with the... strange get-up (how could she look almost normal?) whenever he looked at her he couldn't stop thinking about the cold, paralyzing fear of her death curse prying at his legs, dragging him down into total darkness. Sometimes he still had nightmares...

...And yet he can't help but feel like she's also the only one in this room who might possibly understand more about their situation as a whole than he does.

Soooo with that said, he is slowly, and awkwardly shuffling towards her over the course of about ten minutes until he's about five feet away...

"...Do you know how they're making Yu act like this?" Yosuke's voice is quiet, and terribly nervous.

[celebrity_commentator]

"Yeah..sorry about this not being very organized, everyone," Rise said by way of introduction as everyone showed up. "I didn't mean to invade Yu-senpai's apartment either, but we've all been a little distracted, and the important thing is we're all here and okay now, right?"

Besides, the apartments supposedly gave immunity to the singing compulsion, and she's not sure she can handle hearing any more of that after Izanami's network post.

"At least...oh, shoot, I completely forgot a cake too," she said, pouting a little now that she's realized that. "Uh, anyone willing to go out and brave getting one? Unless Senpai has the ingredients here..."

[disconinjafrog]

"Whoa, whoa, I think we're better off buying one!" Even if they have the ingredients, he doesn't trust anyone currently in the house to touch the kitchen without creating some sort of abomination... Even if their last Christmas cake had turned out alright, he recalls Naoto saying it had taken them several attempts.

[gigglesnortpriestess]

You know when they say to keep Yukiko away from the stove area so she doesn't cook? Well, they couldn't this time. It was a special day and she wanted to make something that would be edible or at least drinkable. Maybe Nano's lesson earlier made her think that her skills could be saved somewhat.

So for tonight, she's making peppermint hot chocolate from scratch! She even copied down a recipe and got the right ingredients before coming over. But she looks like she's really concentrating on making it just right for everyone. Hope no one will do something dumb and bug her.

[celebrity_commentator]

"Ooh, is that hot chocolate, Senpai?" Rise asked, appearing at someone's shoulder as she is wont to do in crowded rooms. "It looks good already."

[greaterdays]

It may be Christmas, but Nanako really doesn't seem very happy. She's too worried about her Big Bro's condition to really enjoy the party. Of course, if someone distracts her this will change, but initially she keeps glancing over at him, or approaching him to try and talk.

Despite the noise, she ends up falling asleep before the party reaches midnight - first on the couch next to Yu. Hopefully someone will carry her to bed and tuck her in.

[disconinjafrog]

Yosuke's kind of been on Nanako-chan duty ever since Yu had pretty much lost his mind to the Pyro Jacks. He notices her fall asleep and is quick to go over to her. He wasn't sure that Yu was in any state to take care of her right now.

Very gently he touches her shoulder to stir her. "Hey, Nanako-chan, are you tired? Do you want to go to bed? You can open all of your presents in the morning." Yosuke gives her a smile, trying his stupid best to be a surrogate big brother while her actual big brother was out of commission. "Don't worry about Yu, okay? He'll be better in the morning, I promise." At least, if Izanami kept her word and turned him back to normal during the Thirteenth Hour if he didn't turn back to normal on his own.

[linefacingforever]

Hey, Yu may be upset because his hands are taped up and he can't spread Green Christmas cheer, but that doesn't mean he wouldn't have time for his little sister. He pulled himself up when she went over to check on him, keeping his bound up fingers out of view so she wouldn't be too worried.

"What's wrong, Nanako?"

Hope this is okay, Rise-mun said she could drop some snacks off

[all_wound_up]

After getting permission from Rise and doing some private worrying and fidgeting over whether she'd be intruding on a private gathering, Nano had decided to force herself to get over her anxiety and come down to Yu's apartment with some snacks she'd baked. The wind-up robot is decked out in a festive Santa hat and is carrying a plate of chocolate chip cookies with her. There's also a cupcake sitting in the middle, frosted on top to look like Rise's face.

"Um, excuse me...? It's Nano Shinonome. Kujikawa-san invited me. I won't disturb your party for long, I promise!"

Even though she'd gotten her courage up to do this, she still sounds rather unsure of herself and more than a little nervous about intruding. But that's just how Nano is around large groups of new people - she's just hoping that she doesn't make a bad first impression on these people.

[gigglesnortpriestess]

Nano's here?

Yukiko turns to see the small robot girl coming in and smiles at her.

"Hello there Nano-chan! You're not disturbing anything at all!"

oh this is totally fine~

[disconinjafrog]

Whoa, hey, this girl was unusual... did she have a wind-up key in her back? But she has snacks, that's awesome!

"Hey, if Rise-chan invited you, then you're totally welcome!" She did arrange the whole thing after all. "We've got plenty of food and stuff. I'm Hanamura Yosuke."

[celebrity_commentator]

"Hey, Nano-chan! Merry Christmas!"

Rise greets her enthusiastically as usual, feeling like she's starting to get the hang of this hostess thing. "Ooh, that looks good! Is that..."

Her face? That's oddly not creepy. "Cute!"

After Midnight

[linefacingforever]

[linefacingforever]

...and once midnight had come and gone, and Yu was finally back to his normal, lineface self.

And hiding away from the rest of the group right now, disguising his humiliation with the excuse that he needed to find where he hid everyone's presents.

Because. What. Even.

Next time Velvet Room came around? He was so getting rid of Pyro Jack.

[disconinjafrog]

Sorry, Yu, you are not going to be able to hide from your best bro, he's been wanting to talk to you all night-- longer than that really, and now that you've finally permanently snapped out of your funk, he's approaching you.

Yosuke gives Yu a concerned look. "Hey, let me help out." And in a more quiet tone once they're away from everyone else...

"You finally feeling alright, partner?"

[gigglesnortpriestess]

Nope, not getting away that easily. Yukiko did feel like like maybe she should give their leader some space; after all, he was forced to do something against his will despite the...intentions. But that just made her feel worried. Should she go see him or would it seem too obsessive?

No, it just shows that she cares, right?

"Yu-kun?"

[handshakegreeting]

And as soon as that realization spread over Yu's face, someone quietly slid out from view. Well, for a moment, anyway. She was back before most, if anyone, realized she was gone. Though, at least one seemed back to normal. ...Minus avoiding them. Sad, really. She at least wanted to thank them for inviting her, despite the tension in the air.

No she hadn't used the opportunity of the 13th Hour to stealthily sneak in presents for everyone. No idea what you are all referring to.

No Frost Dolls were given in the making of these threads...just a copy of blackmail material in the form of someone receiving a copy of Green Christmas Style.

[linefacingforever]

It took Yu some time before he came back out, and even then he still looked like he wasn't in the best of social moods. Still, his conversations before had picked him up a little; enough to show his face again as he brought out the presents he had gotten for everyone.

He happened to look up as he was setting the presents under the tree, spotting Izanami keeping to herself as she had been for most of the night (at least that he noticed; he'd been too busy pouting over the fact that he couldn't wreck havoc. He held onto one present, excusing himself for a moment before heading right to her.

"Izanami..." he began. "Would you mind if we talked privately?"

[celebrity_commentator]

"So...you're really her, right?" Rise asked the stranger now that things had settled down a bit. She could probably pull out Kanzeon and verify, of course, but it was already really crowded in here, so she decided to trust her feelings and the process of elimination.