Christmas, Christmas time is near

[bringinghopewithme]

Who: Dan, Bunny and you!
What: Dan celebrates Bunny’s favorite holiday of all. The best one. The greatest season.
Where: All over the Pole.
When: After the Halloween plot.
Warnings/Notes: None yet.



I. Time for Toys and Time for Cheer

Bunny tunnels into the Pole and cringes at the Christmas intensity of the assault on his senses. The Pole is always a lot, but this close to the actual day the noise is louder, the hustle is faster, the smells are more intense, and goodness they do this every year? He dodges yetis on his way to checking in with Jack before conducting his rounds through the new Guardians he hasn’t had time to check on in a while.

“Can you believe they do this every year?” Bunny mutters, dodging yet one more Yeti with arms stacked almost too full of toys to see over.


II. No, That’s Enough, Let’s Not Overdo It

As a sort of retribution for being left to his own devices at the Pole, Dan’s decided that he’s going to be extremely annoying this Christmas, and that keeps him motivated and peppy through the darker part of the year in an already dark and cold part of the world.

He can’t help it that Bunny makes it easy to find a ‘bit’ and just dig in. He can’t help it that Bunny makes it so entertaining. That’s why he spends a few hours a day for a week working on hand-embroidering a sweater that manages to thread that needle between legitimately well-made and unwearably tacky. He spares no thread, no sequins, no glitter. The final result is a labor-intensive catastrophe of needlework snowflakes, woven tinsel, fluffy pom-poms dangling from the sleeves and the centerpiece, a patchwork image of Bunny himself wearing a Santa outfit.

Bunny won’t wear it, naturally, which means Dan has decided to rally by going up to anyone at the Pole who doesn’t appear busy and pushing the sweater into their hands. “Can you make my husband wear this? He’s hurting my feelings.”


III. Yeah, Why Can’t We Sing It Again?

“Come on, honey, You got such a beautiful voice. Don’t leave me hanging.”

Dan’s dragging Bunny by the paw room to room, grinning ear to ear, wearing a Christmas sweater with actual blinking lights and felt reindeer antlers on a headband. The more Bunny acts like a stick in the mud, the more Dan amps up the obnoxious holiday cheer, and right now, that means caroling.

Dan doesn’t give anyone an opportunity to object when they open their door. He did, being considerate, bring gifts for each person he stops by with, either something hand-made and intricate for people he knows (coats, wooden puzzle-boxes, a quilt) or cute and useful (a drink cozy, a festive handtowel, warm socks) for those he doesn’t, all wrapped.

It’s a little apology for subjecting them to his rendition of “O Holy Night”, which he starts in on immediately upon the door opening.

Comments

Re: wildcard

[bringinghopewithme]

There's a bit happening, all right, but Dan is doing all of it, and Bunny tries to make this clear with his eyes alone as they pass the cat woman with a rather plain looking - but familiarly plain looking - sword on her side.

Her body language says she wants attention, so Bunny nudges Dan to interrupt his bit. "Met that one yet?" he ask. "She doesn't look much more comfortable here than I feel," and that might be cause for concern.

[hallelujahjunction]

"Well, I done met one of them," Dan says, interrupting himself from just destroying "Feliz Navidad", immediately recognizing Need in her scabbard at Nyara's side. "That sword I slept with, the one who gave me the deepest sleep I've gotten since I was a baby? That's her."

He hopes Bunny isn't too insulted when he says that, if only because it's hard to argue with the reality that Dan sleeps best when his brain is being hijacked and turned off by a magical force. Comfort, security, and the companionship of his loving husband can only get him so relaxed; sometimes, one needs to bust out the heavy-duty fantastical shit.

But he doesn't know Nyara, and right now his arms are full of presents, so he has to set some down before he approaches. She looks, to him, like a bast but in all the wrong attire, so he considers that she may not be human. Feeling like an outsider would be reason enough to be shy around the bustle of other creatures.

"Hi there. I see you got Need. I'm Dan and this is Frosty."

[changechild]

There's this peculiar aspect to Nyara's feline features. She just isn't 'cute' properly, the way it's very easy for a woman or girl with cat aspects to be cute. Her eyebrows have had to fight to show through the very short fur on her forehead. That fur covers her face unevenly, thinning out around her nose and lips. Her philtrum is divided by a notch. Her ears are pointed and hairy but elfin in shape. She also doesn't quite hold herself in an expected way. It's just an odd, awkward point between "catgirl" and "anthropomorphic cat".

Nyara takes a half step back, turning so she can see both of them, meeting neither's eyes. She's a good three or four inches taller than Dan and he's still carrying things. He's probably not a big cause for alarm right now. If only she'd used her magic to hide her appearance, but she hates to use what little she has for so minor a gain as herself.

Bunny seems far more threatening in comparison. Aside from size he's not really similar to any of her father's creations - if Falconsbane modifies an herbivore, or causes aspects of it to be transplanted to something else, it's generally a horse or something with horns - but he's certainly big with a forbidding aspect. Nyara also knows from her sojourn in the wilderness that rabbits, like any other living thing, are strong in self-defense. She'd been scratched up a few times before Need managed to switch her from hunting with her claws and teeth to using weapons.

"...Need is my teacher," she says. Nyara's voice is low and husky, uncertain. Need stripped out the modification that forced her to speak mostly in a seductive purr months ago. Not for the first time she wonders if she'd get on better with men if she still spoke that way, but - no, she'd hated that voice and hates trying to mimic its sound. "You met her in, she called it the wilderlands?"

Need is unhelpfully silent. Nyara has to get better at meeting and talking to people and that means practice.

[bringinghopewithme]

The look Dan gets at "Frosty" suggests that Dan is speedily navigating himself towards a night on the couch.

He flicks his ears so that his scent wafts Nyara's way to catch, the closest he feels is appropriate to a handshake between strangers of species with better senses of smell than humans. It's fair of him to assess Nyara, and he glances over her without staring, nostrils flared to take in the information of her smell. There's something created about her physiology that suggests she started out as something other than what she is now. Her body language doesn't say entirely human socialized, but whatever she was, it's not his business to ask, as much as it is to navigate respecting who she is uniquely.

"We did meet her," he confirms, not trying to catch her eyes, body language relaxed and arms crossed so that he isn't leaning into his own height. Nyara is obviously, in every physiological sense, a predator, but she isn't a threat to him anymore than any of the primate predators here at the pole are, and there are so many of those. She just seems to know, by her body language, that these are distinctions to be conscious of. "We didn't meet you. I'm Bunny," he corrects Dan with a little glare. "You been set up with everything you need yet?"

[hallelujahjunction]

"I'd consider Need a friend. It's nice to meet her student." Dan's fairly certain that Need wouldn't return the sentiment, not because of any antipathy towards Dan but because Need doesn't seem to operate in terms of friends. That sort of bond strikes Dan as atypical for what he knows of her.

He takes his cues from the way Bunny and Nyara interact. He studies their body language closely, and Dan's always been good at interpreting that sort of thing, whether on the people around him or the horses he grew up riding. He notes the way Bunny flicks his ears, the way Nyara's hands tuck into her hoodie pockets, the way Bunny's relaxed but still somewhat closed off. Dan sets his armful of goods down slowly and adopts an air of being casual and harmless. Bunny already looks intimidating enough without leaning into his height, what with the gauntlets and muscle; Dan can be something of an afterthought.

"If there's anything you're in need of, I'm in the spirit of giving these days."

[changechild]

Need doesn't comment on friends one way or another. She has some but given her paranoia and how far apart she is from most people, it's a peculiar sort of relationship.

Nyara's nose is more sensitive than it had been once but her father isn't interested in giving himself a stronger sense of smell and hasn't prototyped it on her. She also hasn't learned to take full advantage of what she does have, so she doesn't pick up on all that much olfactory information and doesn't get why Bunny's ears are moving. Similarly, she wasn't made to communicate with scent the way a cat could. Her scent is more human than not even if most of her sweat glands are inactive. Definitely Nyara's diet is mostly meat, though, and something is regulating her hormones, and she is often in fear.

There's no scent to Need's blade, though there is to the scabbard and the wood and leather of her hilt, things that have to be replaced when they wear out. Her steel is almost inviolate, all the molecules of it staying put instead of drifting into nearby nasal cavities.

"N-no, I am well enough," Nyara manages, trying not to fidget, swallowing the urge to start apologizing. She has developed her Empathy enough to know that neither is on the verge of attacking her. This feeling is in her head, this fear of losing the one good thing she has. "My name is Nyara. She... told me that I should leave her with you for a time." She glances briefly at the sword. If Need had a body and Nyara was more at ease, she probably would have nudged her significantly. Why is Nyara having to do all the talking? This was Need's idea!

Need gives the impression of sighing. :Yes, yes, but it doesn't have to be as abrupt as all that. You two, this is my girl,: she says, student and daughter blurred together into something with a strong protective edge. Need sees Nyara as excruciatingly young. In reality she's about twenty. :It will do her good to get out from under me and think for herself even if it's just for a short time, if you'll help us out.:

[bringinghopewithme]

One of Bunny's ears flicks away from the direction of the conversation, then the second well before any sound actually reaches them. He nods to Need's statement, but it becomes clear in a moment that he's being called from somewhere, probably by Jack, at least moderately urgently.

"Nyara, look, great t'meet ya, you can trust Dan with your mentor and if you need anything from me and can't get me, Dan can reach me right away. Need, good to see you again but I've got to be off."

He pats Dan on the shoulder with raised eyebrow that communicates more to Dan than he can to someone else with just an expression before loping off.

[hallelujahjunction]

Dan gives Bunny a quick nod, catching everything Bunny's putting down. They have a rhythm together. Dan's settled in as well as he can to being Bunny's liaison with the other myths, with being the ear to the ground.

He turns back to Nyara and Need. "Hello, Nyara. Pleasure to meet you, and pleasure to see you again, Need. Nayara, she helped me get some good rest when I was struggling with that."

Well, Dan's always struggling with sleep. Poor sleep is one of the few health conditions he can think of that predated his life getting derailed by magic and violence, and in the aftermath of magic and violence it got even worse. He puts his hands in his pockets and gestures with his head to indicate that Nyara can walk with him as he goes about his errands. "How did your paths cross, you two?"

It doesn't feel at all strange for Dan to talk to both of them at once.

[changechild]

If it's an audible call, Nyara hears it as well. Hearing is one of the senses her father is interested in enhancing and her ears are keen well past the point of practicality. Her eyes are already wide, her pupils slitted against the harsh, dazzling light here, but she hesitates visibly as Bunny leaves. If there's an emergency, shouldn't...

:Nothing to do with us, kitten,: Need says, and against the unmoving rock that is the sword's perfect, calm confidence, and faced with just one person whose attitude seems gentle, Nyara relaxes somewhat.

"That is something she would do, yes," she says gravely. Need likes to send her on dream-quests or show her ancient memories. Nyara still has dreams of her own, but they're so much less troubled that after these several months with her she thinks of sleep very differently than she had before.

Following along a step behind, Nyara evaluates Dan. He's older than and not as attractive as Skif - she's found that she holds Skif as the standard against which to measure anyone who seems like a normal human - but the torn sound of his voice aside he isn't ugly, either, and he seems to have a good nature. He moves well enough... she wonders if he could be convinced to whisper while in bed.

There's a rather long pause after Dan asks the question. Nyara's expecting Need to respond. Need pointedly doesn't. If someone's revealing the facts of her girl's past and existence, if it's not an emergency then her girl should get to decide if and how much to tell.

"Oh! I... s-she was traveling with the princess of Valdemar," Nyara says as she realizes, feeling sweat on her palms. She hadn't prepared an answer and doesn't actually know what she wants to reveal, period. Better stall for time. "That is a country to the north, I believe? Yes. The Princess Elspeth, and her god-horse Gwena, and her bodyguard Skif, and his god-horse Cymry."

:Don't call them that, they're already arrogant enough,: Need puts in, amused and willing to engage a tangent while Nyara decides. :They're 'spirits' or 'angels', if anything, but they'll fuss if they think their Chosen will hear that. Just call them Companions. They're guides, supposedly, there to support their Chosen rather than pulling the strings.:

[hallelujahjunction]

It doesn't matter to Dan that he doesn't understand most of the terminology Nyara and Need are using. He still likes to hear it. That said, he also picks up on Nyara's hesitation to share, and decides that he's done enough digging into their pasts even with the surface-level questions; better that this topic be one they both volunteer, rather than one they proffer up to him as a response.

"Well, I ain't got a god-horse but I do have a magic horse, and if anyone ever put a god-horse in my path I might would love to try my luck riding." He suspects Nyara won't like being around Concrete Blonde; his horse is quite docile and insouciant, but even she has limits, and people that read as large feline predators sometimes make her anxious. She's been flustered around Elle, and Elle's been much less evidently cat-like. "But I'm afraid I don't know Valdemar. I do reckon it's exciting, though, that the world's so big and has so much to it. Can't never get bored in this life."

And if there's anything Dan hates, it's boredom. He drops another present as he walks and kicks it ahead of him with his foot; it must not be anything fragile.

"The spirits where I'm from are more aimless. That's most of what I do, pointing them in the right direction so they can make it to the other side of the veil."

[changechild]

There had been something forbidding and overly knowing about those Companions, although they had also been the most beautiful creatures Nyara had ever seen. She's never been on the back of a horse at all and it's an intimidating thought even when the horse in question isn't some kind of a divine being.

(Poor thing! Need thinks, and keeps it to herself. Even after all this time she's still well inclined towards horses.)

"They... do not cross on their own?" Nyara ventures timidly. She doesn't really believe in ghosts, or she didn't before Need, who does not hide that she is long dead. But ghosts as in people she knew, who couldn't even escape the fortress by dying, she doesn't believe in those. There are plenty of intangible monsters there already.

:At home they do. In Velgarth, consciousness is as tied to the brain and its function as a shadow is to what casts it. A living brain is structure and anchor, so if someone wants to stay present and at all recognizable some kind of alternative has to be made. But the rules are different in other places,: Need says, with her equivalent to a shrug.