taxonomites | 015: The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer [Location: the Northern Island]

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015: The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer [Location: the Northern Island]

The ordinarily silent entrance hall was alive with light and noise. DG had taken advantage of the hamster's latest offer to hatch every decoration she could think of and, with a spring in her step and tinsel in her hair, she meandered through the piles of boxes and tried to work out where to start. Occasionally, she sang along to snatches of the Christmas songs that floated through the room from the CD player she'd set up in the corner. Although reinforcements would be arriving soon, she'd hatched so many things that they wouldn't be finished before Christmas if they didn't start soon.

She hadn't intended to get carried away. It had happened by accident. The city had been so maudlin lately. A lot of friends had disappeared in a relatively short space of time, and, consequently, DG was more determined than ever to make the most of the time she had with the people who were left.

"You better watch out, you better not cry," she sang, picking up a wreath for the front door, "Better not pout, I'm telling you why. Santa Claus is coming to town ..."

She didn't even know the name of the winter holiday they celebrated in the world of her birth, but she'd intended to enjoy every moment of Christmas in Taxon. In this city, there was no way of knowing what was going to happen next.

OOC: Although this is for Glitch, Tara and Willow, bonus trolling is encouraged. If you can think of an excuse for your character to be in the Northern Island, go for it! (And, yes, I have been watching Elf recently. How did you guess?)

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Glitch stopped halfway down the sweeping grand staircase to take in the flurry of activity, the music and things that sparkled, and DG right in the middle of it all. He couldn't help smiling, especially when she looked so incredibly happy because it was like falling in love again--

...not the sudden, enchanted, all-consuming but thank Ozma temporary love he'd felt for Cain while under the influence of mistletoe. He'd finally resolved to tell DG about that incident, as they'd established that secrets were Bad. Guilt had prevented him from doing so earlier despite knowing that it hadn't been his fault (or Cain's, of course not Cain's), just Taxon doing what it did best. And by "best" he emphatically meant "worst".

All of that could ait for just a few more moments, however, because by the time he approached her Glitch realized there was a more important thing he had to remark on: "You have a beautiful voice, you know."

"Thanks," said DG, abandoning the wreath to close the distance between them and give Glitch a kiss on the cheek. She'd spotted him on the stairs, of course, but she'd carried on singing. (After all, she could carry a tune and, even if she couldn't, it wouldn't have been the first time that he'd heard her sing. At least there wasn't a dance routine this time.)

"Are you going to help me decorate the Christmas tree?" she asked, smiling up at him and ignoring the fact that it should have been Christmas trees. It had taken her a while to get them into position, but her magical abilities - which were still going from strength to strength - had helped her to carry them back to the palace.

"You're welcome," Glitch replied and ducked to accept the kiss, grinning as he plucked a strand of tinsel from her hair. She'd have more silver on her head than he did at this rate.

At ground level the task seemed a bit daunting, but they'd tackled bigger challenges.

"Sure," he declared with a nod and reached into a box to retrieve a string of lights...which turned out to be hopelessly tangled. Glitch grimaced but gamely set about looking for the tail of the string within the tangle. "I don't think I really got all of this last year, you know, the...holiday stuff."

Keep going keep going keep going-- "A-aside from the mistletoe, of course."

"Hey, watch my headdress," she chastised, though her smile was far too wide. She knew that the warning wouldn't be taken seriously. "This is the closest I'm going to get to a tiara."

(Did the princesses of the O.Z even wear tiaras? DG wasn't entirely sure.)

"It's a lot to get used to," she said, picking up a box of decorations as Glitch turned his attention to the lights. When he mentioned the mistletoe, she wrinkled her nose. "I didn't hatch any of that, don't worry."

...that statement immediately solved Glitch's what-present-shall-DG-get dilemma. All he had to do was figure out how to get into the royal vaults and hope that the Witch hadn't gotten there first.

Glitch located the end of the light strand and started working it backwards through the tangle. It was going to take some delicate handling, as was the thread of conversation.

"Yeah, well, hatched or not you might wanna keep an eye out. I-it seems to be sprouting up all on its own now." He grimaced at a particularly nasty snarl and carefully worked on loosening it. "It. Um. The other day when I brought the music player over to Cain it...got us."

DG dropped the box of Christmas decorations with a clatter, staring at him.

"You and Cain?"

She wasn't angry - after all, she knew what the mistletoe could do and she knew that it wasn't their fault - but she was clearly astonished. If anyone else had told her a story like this, she wouldn't have believed them.

"Oh my god."

"...yeah," Glitch confirmed, and finally looked up from the tangled lights to meet DG's eyes. Whether there was fault or not didn't matter, it had still felt like betrayal.

"And...damn hamsters couldn't leave well enough alone." By now the knot was swiftly unraveling in his hands. "L-like they amplified the effect or something, so-- it was like a bad half-plat romance, one second we're kissing, the next we're declaring our undying love for each other, then a few minutes later whoosh! Back to normal."

Well, insofar as "normal" for them now meant exceedingly awkward.

It had been more than a kiss, then. DG frowned slightly, noting that the hamsters had improved the design of their experiment over the twelve months. It was even more twisted now.

Decorations forgotten, DG stepped over to Glitch and took the untangled string of lights off him. Instead, she placed her hands over his.

"It wasn't your fault, Glitch," she said, and, although her voice was soft, it left no room for argument.

Glitch squeezed her hands and sighed, a sad smile tugging the corner of his mouth.

"I know," he said. "But...I still feel bad though. He-- the last person he kissed was his wife, and now there was this silly, pointless thing..."

Not that it had been silly or pointless at the time, quite the opposite, but that just added insult to injury. Having their emotions toyed with for hamsterly amusement just wasn't fair.

As far as DG was concerned, it wasn't silly or pointless now, either. It was cruel. Cruel and twisted and sickening and ... and the hamsters were going to pay for it. One day. As soon as she got her hands on them.

"I'll talk to him," she said, though she had no idea what it would achieve. She knew that she had to, that was all.

Edited 2010-12-30 22:35 (UTC)

Honestly Glitch had no idea what that could accomplish either, but he wasn't going to discourage it. DG and Cain did need to talk, after all.

"Okay," he said, nodded, and pulled her into a gentle hug (very mindful of the tinsel now). "Thank you for..." Not being angry. "-doing that, I I think he was worried about us. A bit."

In a way.

"You're welcome," she said. (Although her words were initially muffled by his coat, she managed to get the statement out properly on her second attempt.) "It's going to be fine."

"I know," he said, with as much conviction as he ever could, and leaned in to kiss her. Better than mistletoe because it was definitely real, and then he really was sure that all would be well.

With some reluctance and a sly smile he drew away again. "All right, no getting sidetracked yet, there's work to do and and company coming over, right? Tara and...Tara and...um."

"... Willow," she finished for him, equally reluctant to pull away but accepting that they had a lot of things to do before their party. (Her expression suggested that she'd be more than happy to sidetrack him.) "She's Tara's girlfriend. And another witch."

His smirk was that of a man who would be delighted to, eventually, get sidetracked.

"Willow," he repeated, hoping to cement the name in his memory. "Willow the witch, and she's Tara girlfriend. Good! I'm glad they're here for each other. And, you know, here to help us with all this stuff."

He cast another look over the accumulated decorations, quietly wondering if there were any left in the hatches.

As she followed his gaze, DG started to wonder the same thing.

"Do you think we've got enough?"

While they were in piles on the floor, it looked as if they had plenty of decorations. It might be different when they were finally up.

"We'll make it work," Glitch replied with a confident nod and stepped back away from her. He rummaged in another box. "We're good at improvising, and...oh, hey holly!"

With a grin he retrieved a loose sprig and nestled it into his hair. "There, now I'm feeling festive."

"And we can hatch more if we run out," she said, reaching up to adjust the holly and make sure that it didn't tumble out. "Perfect."

The only decoration that she wouldn't hatch - and wouldn't put up anywhere in the Northern Island - would be mistletoe.

"Hello?" Tara [and Willow, typist willing] arrive with decorations, cookies and some eggnog. Because it wouldn't do to turn up empty-handed. It had been some time since Tara was here, and she realized she'd missed the place, oddly enough.

Holding as much in her arms as she could, Willow followed Tara closely. She'd never actually been here before, so she's really just taking in the sights and sounds on first glance. It's a pretty unique place, that's for sure.

The decorations were certainly appreciated. Although DG had hatched a lot of them herself, there was still room for more. She bounded across the entrance hall to greet Tara and Willow, tinsel in her hair and a broad smile on her face.

"Hi!" she said, "Welcome to the Northern Island, Willow."

She knew that it was an unusual building, but it was still home.

Glitch followed, grinning away as well. He'd ditched his coat but kept the vest and rolled up his shirtsleeves, and some artificial holly sprigs had ended up in his curls.

"Yes, hello, welcome," he greeted and went into a full formal bow-and-flourish, at which point gravity claimed one of the holly sprigs and it fell to the marble floor. He blinked, grabbed it from his still-stooped position, and held it out to Tara and Willow. "Um. Stuff-in-your-hair seems to be the theme of the day, if either of you wants a head start."

Yes, "head start" just might be a pun.

ooc: ...y'all were waiting on me, weren't you /FACEPALM FOREVER

Tara ducked her head in a smile. "Well, it's your party - we're just here to help however we can?" They could all use something nice, she thought.

[ooc: Noooo worries.]

"Thanks!" Willow answered with a grin, looking around. Everything looked so interesting. It was definitely not something she was used to, but she liked it anyway. Glitch was greeted with a laugh. She was used to puns from Buffy, so his was nothing out of the ordinary to her.

"I'll take it," she replied, picking the holly out of Glitch's hand and sticking it in her hair. "How does it look?"

[♥!]

Although DG rolled her eyes at the pun, she was in a buoyant mood and couldn't help but laugh in the end.

"It looks good," she assured Willow, before addressing Tara. "You could try some tinsel?"

They weren't exactly low on supplies, after all.

Glitch nodded, agreeing with DG's assement of the holly. "The berries go with your hair."

At the mention of tinsel he gave DG a smile and gently prodded her headdress so it balanced perfectly.

"Or ribbon, we've got loads of that," he suggested absently (only princesses got sparkly crowns, as far as he was concerned). "Maybe braid some in, or some bows-- but here I'm dithering about decorating us when..." He gestuered around the massive hall with its columns and imposing, sombre portrait. "Clearly this place needs more perking up."

"I think the hall needs more decorating than we do," Tara said with a smile, but selected some silvery ribbon to braid into her hair as suggested. "But there's plenty to go around."

Willow just grinned in response. "Did you guys have something in mind for the place o-or is it just a decoration party? Every decorator for himself?"

"Every decorator for himself," she said, handing Tara a piece of gold ribbon to accompany the silver. "Or herself."

She gestured at the piles of mismatched decorations that were scattered throughout the room. Her smile showed no sign of fading.

"Just help yourself."

They were unlikely to run out, after all.

"I'm gonna need some help with the lights," Glitch offered. "Maybe mark a path to the ballroom somehow so folks don't get lost."

It was entirely possible. He himself got turned around in the hall from time to time and he lived there.

"That's a good idea," Tara said, taking the second piece of ribbon and beginning to braid them both into her hair. "You could make a sort of path with tinsel, and add signs."

"All right, who wants on light duty?" Willow asked, picking up a bit of tinsel. "I think I'll work on the signs and the pathways. You can't have too much tinsel around a place like this, right?"

Not according to one Willow Rosenberg, anyway. If she had anything to say about it, the place would sparkle by the time she was through with it!

"Definitely not," she said, agreeing fervently with Willow, "I'll start on the trees."

She could levitate them into position if they were too cumbersome to move, after all. That would make things easier.

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015: The Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer [Location: the Northern Island]

[location: the entrance hall]

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[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]

[Location: Northern Island]