destinystrings | Anyone up for eggnog? (Backdated to the 25th)

Entry tags:

Anyone up for eggnog? (Backdated to the 25th)

Who: The KH contigent of Strings and anyone they invite (closed)
Where: Pisces 7-08; Aqua's Apartment
Summary: It's Christmas; time to throw a party, remember one's loved ones, and
Warnings: Keyderps being derps?

As much as he actually found himself enjoying his job in the Aries district, Terra was rather glad that he had been given Christmas off. But as much as he actually enjoyed the holiday, he wasn't in the Christmas spirit.

It would be the first Christmas that Terra had spent off the Land of Departure in memory without Master Eraqus. Likewise, it was also the first Christmas in four years without Ven to help celebrate. It left the Keybearer in something of an underwhelmed mood.

But ... he wasn't the only one that wouldn't have loved ones present. Xion had lost both Roxas and Lea in a very short amount of time, the two having disappeared not too long ago. It understandably left Xion in need of cheering up. But what could...?

Well. That's an idea. A pretty good one, too.

Half an hour later, and Terra is knocking on Aqua's door in the Pisces apartment complex, a few bags on the floor. What exactly is he up to, here?

The decorations were in place, the food laid out on a table, and the last-second invitations had been sent out. With any luck, this gathering would help raise a few spirits this Christmas.

Now to hope it doesn't backfire horribly.

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[It was a good thing that she had decided to send ~~the bitties~~ Sora and Xion off to have a little fun not long before Terra arrived. Because she had a similar idea and had begun to clean up her small apartment and get a few things started even before he knocked on the door. It was also probably a good thing she has already put away the extra blankets and pillow (really, she should probably look into one of those kotatsu at this point).

So she simply let him in before helping to finish with the decorations and hoping that Xehanort would destroy the kitchen should he show up before the meeting time. That would spell disaster...

At least she cleaned up the place and herself rather nice. and if you want to thread with her during the prep, go right ahead. 8) ]

[The kitchen is the best place to learn about exciting things! Cooking and baking are so fascinating! And thus he makes a beeline for that room no matter where he is. No matter what happens there... fire is only a sign that maybe you should try something different, after all!

This time he has an amusing novelty apron embroidered with "kiss the cook" and the gleam in his eyes that says he's looking to start a few fires.]

Hello, Aqua... what are you doing?

[One of his Bad Feelings had started up maybe a minute before Xehanort had even walked in the door, but Terra had been too busy in the kitchen to even ponder what that feeling might be warning him about.

The second he hears Xehanort's voice, he freezes in place. He places the knife he had been using to slice various fruits for snack trays (why were the apples purple? Another thing he'll never find out) and walks out of the kitchen.

... He is not sure whether he wants to laugh or run when he sees the apron Xehanort is wearing. Sure, he has his own on, and there's flour and the like already on it, but it's a plain black one, not... that.

... Okay. He'll smirk. A little. It's amusing.] She's decorating. I'm taking care of the menu.

[... Oh, he knows he's going to regret this... but the guy wants to learn. Better to have him learn right than to lose another toaster. Or blender.] If you promise that you'll follow my instructions, you can help in here.

[Oh, it's Terra. It's not a big deal for the most part. The last few times he'd been in the kitchen it had been Aqua, but a Terra is fine too. He hovers a bit behind to watch what Terra is doing for a moment, wordlessly.

When the invitation comes, he gives a bit of a face... but his eyes focus all the more intently.] I promise. What are you making?

[Aqua had just left and was going to be back soon; really, all she needed to get was more chocolate for the hot cocoa. That's all. So when she walks in and sees both facetwins beginning to work?

...Okay, she's trying not to giggle at the apron. Keyword being try. She has her own share of embarrassing things, sure...! Not like she'd tell anyone, though. So feel free to hear that soft laugh behind you, boys.]

...Looks like fruit trays. Would you like to help him while I prepare the drinks?

[Nothing alcoholic, too many people under the age of 21 (wait was she technically the only one who was?)]

[He turns to lok over his shoulder at the laughter and ghajkshglakjf now there's two of them. He would frown at the laughter itself, but he's easily turned back to the task at hand.]

Is it just slicing the fruit? That's easy enough.

[Terra can only sigh and shake his head. At least with the promise from Xehanort, he's a lot more at ease. No need to fear for the state of Aqua's kitchen, for the most part.] For the moment, yes. I was going to get started on some baked goods goods once I was finished.

[... hm. He walks over to the counter, where he'd left a recipe book. He leafs through it, and then stops at one page and hands it over to his off-colored face-twin.

There's a recipe on that page for sugar cookies.] Here, you can get started on those; just follow the recipe, and it should turn out fine. Once you're done making the dough, we can divide it up, roll it out, and cut some shapes out of it.

[Easy, right?]

Edited 2013-01-09 08:18 (UTC)

[Aqua nods faintly, calming down with only a faint smile crossing her lips at that. It's... so, so weird.

Oh dear. Yep. She is now the supervisor.]

I can help gather the ingredients... here. [She takes a bag of sugar from the shopping bags. What? She was running low!]

[He takes the book and studies it, looking at it thoughtfully... already considering some sort of change or other most likely...]

Simple enough...

[Terranort. Terranort, no. You will follow the recipe and you will like it. Otherwise you are joining Aqua in dish washing duty. :|]

If we put in a few drops of peppermint oil, it will give them more of a Christmas-y flavour, won't it?

[After all, who would have not explained Christmas and all its trappings to the him...]

[someone doesn't know how to party, and it's obvious by the way he sits off to the side, watching what's going on without participating. He has a drink and a little bit of food that he picks at, but he seems to be more content with hiding out than anything else.]

[So Sora probably saw this guy while he was talking to Xion a few days ago. And possibly stared at him for an extended period of time looking alarmed...and then incredibly confused. Because this dude looks a lot like Ansem...er, or was that Xehanort's Heartless?...but no one seems to mind him hanging around. Better still, he was nice to Xion. Besides, Aqua wouldn't have let him come if he was dangerous or anything, right?

So, then, who exactly was this guy?

Approach him and find out?
> Yes
> No

So, yeah, there's some half-pint with ridiculous hair headed in your direction, looking...well, a little bit cautious, but mostly curious.]

You know, you don't look like you're having much fun over here.

[Small talk was as good a place to start as any, right? Besides, being a wallflower has to be boring.]

[Well now there's someone new. He fingers the glass he's holding carefully so as not to spill, taking a moment to consider his words without raising his glance.]

It's quieter here... I'm just watching. I've never been to something like this that I remember.

You mean you've never been to a Christmas party before?

~~[Well then gosh, if this was Xehanort, then no wonder he had so many issues.~~

Well...so far so good? He was acting pretty normal, at least.]

... if I have, I don't remember it.

[And there, taking a drink now.]

It's... certainly... something.

["Something"? Sora almost laughs at that description, and he for sure cracks a smile, though he can't pinpoint what seems so funny about it.]

It's a lot better when you aren't standing in the corner the whole time.

I'm Sora, by the way. Are you one of Aqua and Terra's friends?

Friends..? Maybe acquaintances would be more apt.

[He sighs, setting the glass down and holding out a hand in greeting.]

I'm Xehanort.

[It's a little awkward, at first; this really is Xehanort. That means that Sora knows who he is, and what he's going to eventually do. What he becomes. ~~Though, of course, he doesn't know nearly as much as he thinks he does.~~ There's a split second of hesitation. But, though he wonders if he should ask them about this later, he still trusts Aqua and Terra and knows they wouldn't have invited him to the party if he was dangerous, and he remembers that he was nice to Xion. Maybe, even if he's going to do something bad, this Xehanort is still from a time where he hasn't decided to do that yet. Sora doesn't know. But he never likes to think the worst of people, even on a day that isn't Christmas. Not even his worst enemy.

So he smiles, completely genuinely, and shakes his hand.]

Nice to meet you, Xehanort.

[He's quiet for a moment, wondering if he should just leave it at that...but he's here anyway, so he might as well find out a little bit more.]

So where are you from, anyway?

[It's an almost-audible record scratch moment, as his slightly lifted spirits sink back down again and he regards his glass.]

I don't know. I don't have any memories of anything that came before I arrived here.

Oh...nothing at all? You don't have any memories?

[Sora's genuinely surprised to hear that - he had no idea that Xehanort had ever lost his memories. In fact, the most he knew about his life before losing his heart was that he had been one of the real Ansem's apprentices. But if he doesn't even know about that...did something happen to him when he came to this world? Or was it something else?

Still, instead of thinking too much about that, Sora mostly notices the fact that it looked like the reminder...well, really bothered him. And Sora feels kind of bad about that. Which is still a little weird, since this is Xehanort, but he's not going to think about that too deeply either.]

Sorry. I had no idea.

It's not a big deal. It's just a bit troublesome at times... sometimes I feel like people know more than they're saying.

[He shrugs a little, taking another drink, tracing the rim of the glass with a finger in distraction.]

It's interesting, though. Not having a past... you don't have anywhere to look but forward. You can make yourself from the ground up. That's not something everyone gets to do... so I'll make the best of it, here. Everyone's been really helpful so far, so I don't have anything to complain about.

[And there's a smile, again.]

What about you? Where are you from? How have you found the city?

Yeah. Maybe it can be a good thing, if you look at it like that.

[It was like a new start for him...so maybe it really was a good thing Xehanort was here. With the way different worlds and timelines were connected here, Sora wasn't sure if this Xehanort changing while he was here would help his world, but that was okay. If he could maybe become a better person than the one who let unleashed the Heartless on the world, then why not give him that chance?

Even if Xehanort's words don't get rid of all of Sora's worries, he would much rather have faith in someone than remain suspicious, and now he feels like he has good reason to have that faith.]

Me? I'm from an island!

[There really isn't much else to say; the islands are pretty simple. Just the way they should be, and probably always would be.]

But...you know, I'm still not really sure how I got here. I was just doing something, and then I talked to that weird guy and woke up here.

I think so. I suppose I don't really have a choice in the matter, either way.

[The thought of being from an island is intriguing, since all he knows about islands is what he's seen in whatever books he's been allowed to read.]

What kind of island? I don't even remember anything outside of that man talking. I was really tired, though... I guess something really big must have been going on. Terra had to carry me... [And he turns his head a little because embarrassing sob]

To be honest, I don't remember much about it either. Just the important parts...I think.

[He hopes he didn't forget anything important from that, at least]

And, well...

[It takes a second for him to figure out where to start. He's talked about the island in bits and pieces before with Donald and Goofy, but it didn't really come up all that often. He doesn't really know if this is what he means by what kind of island, but...]

There are a few islands, but they're all pretty small, and there aren't a lot of people. Most of the time, it's really quiet. Way different from this city, that's for sure.

That sounds really nice, actually... sometimes I wish I had a quiet space to just get away from things. There's always so much going on, and people are usually busy so asking them questions gets annoying after a time, I'm sure.

[He shrugs. A library is in his future, but he hasn't found it yet.]

You don't remember very much? That's odd... I wonder if it's a trait of coming here, not remembering things in varying amounts.

Except all of my other memories are fine...[Apart from that huge chunk that was already missing, but that's a whole 'nother issue.] Still, I wonder if anyone else has any trouble remembering their conversation with that butterfly guy.

[Maybe he could ask around later, now that he's curious and all.]

And I'm sure there's some place like that around here. [Sora is probably the last person who could be helpful when it came to finding a quiet place, though.] Maybe you just have to look around.

There's always room to ask people whether it's your friends here or the people on the network. People seem willing to talk about anything so I doubt there'd be opposition to polling them...

I haven't had time to explore much. Perhaps I should get on that... [There's a cheeky grin]

[Sora, meanwhile, had been out for awhile with Xion, trying to figure out fun ways too keep her distracted - he was still worried about how she was doing, and wanted to help her feel better. At least there was plenty to do in this world, and lots to look at even if Sora was short on ~~munny~~ money right now.

He hadn't been expecting to come back to a party, but Sora thought it was a welcome surprise. He was a little too late to help with the setup, but now he was roaming the party and taking a look at everything, though sticking pretty close to Xion - for the most part, they were wandering around together.

Bother?]

((Note that you can either talk to Sora, Xion, or both here - just say who you're looking for!))

[It was kind of planned that way, so even while he didn't get the chance to help set up, he did help try to cheer up his sister. That's what was important, after all. Aqua hoped that he'd be able to at least get her to crack a smile when she'd spent one of her paychecks this month on presents and materials needed to make certain... objects. Sadly said objects were not ready, yet. She'd have to work on them in secret, later.

Right now, though, she is most certainly going to bother them, having already placed a present or two for them under a small tree.]

Merry Christmas.

[It had been impossible to forget that it was almost Christmas, even with Lea and Roxas gone. Hinoto-Ri, like any city made a big deal about it. The weather had only exacerbated the situation, with it's switching and shifting.

Still, she and Sora had managed to have a not too bad a time. He'd dragged her to a colder part of the city and helped her make a snowman and thrown snowballs at her until she'd thrown some back. And while not a lot of the stores were open, they could still walk the streets, see the lights that lined the stores and buildings, the decorations in the windows...

And then he'd brought her, home, home to a surprise she hadn't been expecting. She smiled, a little sad, but still genuine. Especially when someone who'd already helped her so much came over.]

Merry Christmas, Aqua.

Merry Christmas!

[Sora, for his part, was in high spirits today. Christmas was one of his favorite holidays. Even though he wasn't getting the chance to spend it at home, he would still make the absolute most of it. With all the friends he has around, that was pretty easy.]

The party was a great idea, Aqua.

[She laughed quietly behind a hand, nodding slightly. Mm. She knew Xion would have a hard time; she knew she was without Ven around, too. Still, they needed to make the most out of it, which is why regardless, she helped her brother prepare this for them and the others.]

You can thank Terra, too; it was partly his idea.

[She winked at them both. Yes, even big bad Terra had a softer side. Comes with being the big bro.]

Did you two have fun outside?

[For Riku it's the first Christmas he's celebrating in three years, and with both Sora and Kairi around (ather worlds/timelines/whatever be damned), and things being relatively peaceful over all (what had happened here back in October or just a few days ago, really seems like nothing compared to back home or certain 'friendly reminders' elsewhere) he is kind of actually in the appropriate mood.

And so he makes a quick detour before he goes to join the Christmas party - just a quick trip back to his one room in order to pick up certain baked goods he had picked up just before Christmas Eve (just in case certain dream pets decide to come out to play maybe), arriving some minutes later.

He calls a greeting as he enters, shrugging off his shoes before going for the kitchen.]

Anywhere I can put this?

[Cue, holding up his bag with Christmas pastries.]

[Later on he can be found sitting on the couch, enjoying a cup of tea, a smile sneaking on his face.]

[Eh, who cared about the details; it was the first time several of them were celebrating in a while. So she smiles faintly when she noticed that familiar light coming down the hall, then calling out a small greeting when her fellow Master arrived.]

There should be some space left on the table. Do you need a plate to put them on, Riku?

[It's a party; they're allowed to be informal.]

[True, true. A sound of agreement (that is maybe slightly mixed up with a frustrated huff) escapes him as he fumbles round to keep holding onto his bag while discarding his coat... that may take him a minute maybe?

He's joining Aqua soon enough though, eyes drifting over the Christmas decorations, slightly distracting him when he finally answers properly.]

Sure.

[Wow. This place really looks nice.]

[What can they say? When they wanted to, she and Terra could decorate like pros. True, they'd been used to decorating and using magic to reach the higher places in their castle, but this place was small enough that they didn't need to strain themselves as much.

Aqua nodded faintly, getting a clean and festive plate for Riku to place the treats on.]

Here.

[Make yourself at home, Riku. :3]

[Maybe they should open a decoration office. Or interior design bureau.

Riku gives her a soft "Thanks." before he focuses on spreading about half the sweets he's brought over the plate (and so maybe he is spending a moment or two more on arranging them nicely).

He is really looking forward to spending a nice afternoon here with friends and sort of not!family(?). He might be a skeptical when it comes to the topic of Santa, but he rather likes Christmas itself.]

[Now there's an idea, except Terra would probably nope on out of there faster than you can say "Ven, there's ice cream in the freezer."

...Also don't tell her or Terra that, Riku; there will be wooooords.]

[That quickly? Why that; it's not that bad an idea.

Hey, he's totally entitled to his opinion. :/

There is a reason he's a Santa-skeptic and no amount of words is going to change that.]

[Because he'd get all the heavy labor while she organized, as usual.

But Santa is real! They've both met him in Christmastown ~~or were on the naughty list one year for staying up and seeing him~~, ok. :\

do we need to share stories...]

[Well, that's probably his own fault for sleeping during labour division. ~~I mean-~~

Well, no matter what story you throw at him, he will always take them with some grain of salt - he'll stay skeptic until he's met the man himself. And even then he won't apologize. Because reasons. :|]

[This is very true.

...and she'd like to hear those reasons, someday. :c]

[...One day he might tell her. If it ever comes up.]

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Anyone up for eggnog? (Backdated to the 25th)

HAVING SET UP THIS PARTY... LIKE A COUPLE OF BOSSES.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN

QUICK, HIDE THE TOASTER

NO MY BROTHERRRR

There there... /pats

hmph

Sis... /sigh

...what? :>

you guys

yeeeees?

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in a corner

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Come here, keybitties. c:

Momqua ;u;

keymommy! :D

keybabbies! :3

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