X-MEN: CE DEN
After completing decorations and placing several Christmas trees of varying sizes throughout rooms in the mansion, the students - those who remained in the mansion for the holidays - have gathered in various areas to celebrate Christmas Eve.
X-Men Time
Saturday, December 24th
"Good freaking lord why is it as cold as a witch's neglected tit around here!"
Anthony half bellowed as he came into the room, wrapped up in an ugly christmas sweater and a bobble hat. he really missed his hair, specially when the snow was thick on the ground. He wasn't really speaking to anyone in particular, he just liked to voice his unhappiness out loud.
Addy was already sitting in the room, surrounded by neglected tinsel as she attempted to pull it from her fur. The shorts/shirt combo didn't do much in way of keeping her warm, but it did help the static charged shiny plastic decoration to cling unmercifully to her legs and arms. She looked up when Anthony arrived and frowned at his word choices, slightly confused by them as well, and went back to attempting to pick a piece of stubborn tinsel from her leg, which just swung up and stuck to her arm. A frustrated growl later and she was twitching her hand in an attempt to free herself of the clinger.
"There's a fire place right o'er there, bud," slurred and obviously inebriated
René, motioning towards the burning hearth with a beer in his hand. Immediately, he took a swig and followed up with a bite of the cookie he held in his hand. Looking back at Anthony, he grinned. He hated spending Christmas Eve away from his Ma and Pa, but the night was turning out to actually be pretty fun. Now if only he could bring one of the ladies to bed.
A festively bedecked
Valerie, dressed in a short, long-sleeved, scoop-necked, bright red dress with a triangular cut-out on the back, was sitting very still on one of the Den's many sofas. She'd long since removed her matching heels, which lay discarded on the floor somewhere in the room. Upon her head was headband with a pair of reindeer antlers attached, a jingle bell dangling the end of each prong. Well, at least she
thought she was sitting still. In fact, she swayed slightly from side-to-side, the jingle bells tinkling softy with her movement. Her cheeks were flushed with the telltale indication that she was either feverish, embarrassed or drunk. The blonde's wide eyes were fixed on Addy as she tried to free herself of the tinsel, and her hands, which rested on her lap, encircled a cup of some sort of beverage. Both her blue friend and Anthony seemed ill-tempered, and while Val wasn't particularly in a great mental state the past couple of days, she currently wasn't feeling any pain, so, with a bright smile, the Wisconsinite chirped, 'Whadda you guys wanna do? Play a game? Find everyone for the gift exchange?' While her words were a little labored, her eyes were bright with enthusiasm.
"Hey guys."
Anthony recognized Val and Addy, obviously, but the other guy... the name escaped him "Need some help addy?" He pulled his hands from his pockets, rubbing the cracked skin together to try and warm it, then reaching out and gently pinching the tinsel off of Addy's fur. It was an automatic thing, practically grooming her as he spoke to Val "I wouldn't mind a game. I don't think I brought anything appropriate though..."
Kiora wandered wearing a short black skirt, a low-cut red top and looking miserable. Everybody was so bloody cheery tonight. Didn't they realize that Mihir's body was alone in the infirmary,cove
red by a sheet? "Nollaig Shona Duit," She murmured bitterly, half to the room, half to herself. As she looked around the room her eyes fell on the beer in Rene's hand, "Where can I get one of those?" she asked, her accent a little thicker than usual.
"Thanks," Addy said immediately, letting Anthony pick the long bits of tinsel from herself. If anyone else thought that her letting him within touching proximity was strange, she didn't notice as her attention was pulled from a quickly drunkening Valerie to Kiora, who looked ready to cry. She looked back up at Anthony and gave a half smile, so only he could see. "A game sounds fun," she agreed quietly, waiting to hear if anyone had any ideas. But the addition of Kiora seemed like it would bring the whole group down and that would put a damper on things.
René glanced briefly to the door as Kiora entered, raising his eyebrows in response to her greeting, or what he supposed was her greeting. "I don't reckon any of us'ns knows what that means," he commented, almost off-handedly, before he turned to Valerie. He grinned at the blonde before turning up his beer, emptying the bottle, then immediately placing the empty glass bottle in the floor. "How 'bout... Spin the Bottle?" he asked before giving the bottle a good twist so that it spun for a few seconds on the hardwood floor. To him, it seemed like a great game, since there was always the chance he would get to make out with a girl in a closet somewhere.
"No, I guess you wouldn't." Kiora mumbled. She was a little irked that her question had been ignored, not that beer was going to do her much good anyways. "What's that?" She asked Rene, giving another look around the occupants of the room. There was alcohol somewhere and she was interested in finding out where. "Does there happen to be anything stronger than beer someplace?"
'Heeey!' Valerie cheerily called to Kiora, with whom she was unacquainted, her felt antlers jingling. Then, glancing between Kiora and Addy, and without an ounce of forethought, the dancer asked, 'Are you guys, like, related, or something?' Normally, Val would have had the wherewithal to mentally note, but keep her mouth shut, despite what she was thinking. At this point, however, her filter was gone. Since Anthony had no viable game option, she cast him a one-shouldered shrug, not sure what they could do, either. 'The odds aren't currently so hot for that game,' Val offered to René with a crooked smile and a brief, dismissive giggle. 'Besides, she' Val said, gesturing with her drink towards Kiora, 'Looks, like, she's twelve, or something!' Still, she didn't answer Kiora's questions, and whether or not she processed or even heard them was questionable.
"Well I mean I brought cards against humanity but it's not exactly Christmas-themed..." Anthony said with a little scratch of his bald head. He looked around at Kiora, who seemed... off. He couldn't place it, but she was definitely not in the right mood. "I... uhhh... hang on..." he said in reply to Kiora's first question "val, what are you drinking right now?"
Addy didn't like Rene's first idea for a game, but that was quickly dismissed as everyone focused on something different. The conversations were a bit odd, but she managed to follow. She didn't bother answering Val's question as she went back to checking herself over for tinsel. It was more or less just something to occupy herself while everyone was talking. Addy wasn't one for socializing, but she did want to at least spend some time with the rest of the mansion during Christmas, since everyone was making such a fuss over it. Looking over at Kiora for a moment, Addy did let out a small frown, not asking the obvious question of why the girl wanted a drink.
As soon as his brain finally processed the words from Kiora's mouth, René sharply turned to face her, immediately pointing a finger at the girl. "Val is right, you look WAAAAY too young to drink," he said sternly, probably filling the administrative role he had been given upon coming back to the mansion. With one eyebrow quirked, he stared at the blue girl for a second or two before he spat out a laugh. "Like I care!" he added rather loudly and obnoxiously, obviously having had a bit more than beer to drink. Lifting his rear from the couch, the Cajun reached into his pocket with some difficulty and pulled out a silver flask. He placed himself back in the seat just before opening the container and taking a swig, then promptly closing it and tossing it to Kiora. "Just don't tell Shana. She'll skin me alive if she finds out." Relaxing a bit, the man drummed his fingers on the arm of the chair he was in, considering what might be a better alternative to spin the bottle, since the others seemed more or less against it. "Nah, nah..." he muttered to Anthony's suggestion, then he suddenly perked up. "How about charades, then? Seems like the safest game we could pull off."
"Fifteen." Kiora grumbled in response to Valerie's comment about her age, "And back home if a lass can see over the bar, she can get a dink without everybody discussing her desire for one." She looked over at Rene when he said he didn't care and caught the flask without taking her purple eyes off him, "Thank you." she said before unscrewing the cap and knocking it back. She took a slightly larger swig than necessary, enjoying the burn, before returning the cap and tossing it back. "No problem, Shana and I aren't on the best of terms anyway."
'I dunno, something fruity,' Valerie stated, turning her head toward Anthony before raising her cup to finish the last little bit of some red liquid in the bottom of her cup. Licking her lips, she then added, 'Nothing now!' with a gleeful smile, which eventually faded with her subsequent comment. 'Why is everyone so grumpy?' she then asked, her unsteady gaze sweeping the room's occupants. Her stockinged foot bumped against something on the floor-- two gift bags sat there at her feet, one with artfully arranged green and red tissue paper sticking out of the top. 'Ohh! I haven't played charades in...' she started to say in response to René, but she very easily got distracted by the crinkling of paper at her feet. 'Oh, wait... I have something for all of you!'
"All... of us?" Anthony said with a smile and a look around at the others in the room. Everyone DID seem rather down right now really, he hoped Christmas day wouldn't be like this. "I've got a few presents for people..." he admitted, looking down briefly at Addy and giving a small smile "It's so much cheaper over here in America... I'm surprised what I could afford."
Addy immediately averted her gaze when people started talking about presents. She hadn't had an opportunity to go searching for presents. She tried not to look guilty as they both said they had presents for people and sincerely hoped they weren't for her. That would be awkward when she didn't have anything to give them in return. "I didn't get you anything," Addy confessed. "I can't exactly walk into a shop like this." At least she could give a semi legitimate reason as to why she didn't get them things. Not just because all her money came from her father and her father was currently MIA.
Kiora looked around as people started talking about gifts. She didn't really know anyone so she hadn't thought about gifts. She shrugged inwardly figuring no one would get her any anyways. "So what's charades?" she asked, leaning against the wall.
"Can you see over the bar?" René taunted Kiora with a cocky grin that he just couldn't hide. He caught the flask as it was tossed back to him, the sweet smell of the maple-flavored whiskey engulfing the air around it. The man mostly used the liquor to add to his drinks when he wasn't supposed to be drinking, but it was also good for emergencies. He lifted his eyebrows a bit at Kiora's comment on Shana, but figure it best not to indulge in that conversation, so he simply shrugged and turned away. Her perked up a little as Valerie seemed inclined to his gave suggestion, but a blank expression quickly overtook his features and he blinked a few times at the girl. "Ohh," he replied with a small lift of his head as he leaned back in his seat, growing quiet. He hadn't exactly... gotten any gifts for people, aside from the one he was supposed to have for Secret Santa. He really hadn't considered it. "Iiii brouuught... deer jerky!" he said as a last-moment save. He had brought deer jerky. Reaching over to the bag he had on the table next to him, he held it out, tossing it lightly through the air over to Kiora once more. He was happy that at least he wasn't the only one who had forgotten about gifts. "Oh, uhm," began to explain the man when Kiora questioned Charades. "It's a game where one of us silently acts out like, a person, place or thing, or somethin' like that. And everyone else has to try to guess what the person is s'posed to be."
'Yep, something for everyone!' Valerie said, then brightly if drunkenly stated as she took hold of the larger of the two gift bags and tried to stand, 'Ohhh, I don' 'spect anything in return!' in response to Addy's protestations. Well, actually it took about three attempts for the usually graceful dancer to stand, as the young woman plunked back onto the sofa cushions the first two times. 'First, you hafta tell me if you were naughty or nice this year, though, ' she added with a tiny giggle, tottering perilously to the side on her third attempt to stand. This time, however, Val managed to stay on her feet. Her head flopped forward and she looked at her feet, her face scrunching-up as if she were thinking long and hard about something. 'Has anybody seen my shoes?' she inquired-- she'd discarded them by the fireplace not long after she'd arrived, already three sheets to the wind.
"They're by the fireplace." Anthony said, and since there was no denying it any more, and he had a special... protective feeling towards the poor girl, Anthony was by her side in a few moments. "Come on, sit with me and Addy and we'll help you with the presents." he told her softly, starting to lead Val towards the place where Addy was sitting. He knew Addy wasn't the best with other people, or even himself sometimes, but Val... Val was a little too drunk for Anthony's comfort. "Will you help me look after her Addy?" Anthony asked the blue girl gently, looking worried as he carefully guided Val towards her.
Kiora quirked an eyebrow at Rene's question but said nothing in hopes that she might get another sip or two from that flask. Or at least a straight answer as to where she could get some of her own. She stood quietly against the wall, smirking at the heavily inebriated Valerie. Kiora had never been drunk, too many responsibilities, but she thought she might want to try it tonight. When Rene tossed the bag of jerky she caught it easily. Opening the bag, she pulled out a sizable piece and sniffed it. It smelled good. She took a bite and pushed off the wall, moving across the room to offer it to Anthony since Rene seemed to want to share.
Kaia entered the den dressed in black leggings, knee-high reindeer socks, and a loose off-the-shoulder cream cable-knit sweater with her long black hair pulled into a high ponytail with only her bangs and pink streak -which she had curled into a bouncy ringlet- left loose. In her arms she carried a large tray of fresh frybread covered in powdered sugar. “Ayy! Merry Christmas everyone. I made the best frybread you can get outside of a pow-wow.” She beamed a bright smile and looked around the room, observing that a few people were already having plenty of fun judging by their bright outreaching auras. “..and greasy food is the best when you’re drunk.” she continued before setting the tray on a coffee table.
Addy moved to help with Valerie, giving the girl a weak smile. "It's in the punch," she said quietly, not really talking to anyone in particular. It helped that she already tasted and disregarded the punch because it was alcoholic and she didn't want to be drunk. It was obviously a bad idea. She looked up when Kiora approached and frowned at the bag. The jerky didn't even look appetizing to her.
"Come on Val, down you go." Anthony said, gently putting the girl down beside Addy and hoping that even drunken Val knew the meaning of "personal space". He patted Val on the head gently, giving a small smile as if to a child or rather simple person, then turned to see Kiora offering some jerky. "Thanks." he said, taking a little bit. He was never one to turn down food. He nibbled happily on the jerking, looking at Kaia as she entered; lots of people seemed to be entering with food right now, something Anthony was enjoying greatly.
René cocked an eyebrow as high as he could in his inebriated state at Valerie's inquiry. "How naughty are we talking?" was his immediate response, and despite having seen how delicate the girl was in yesterday's mission, he couldn't help but look the girl up and down. The man always tried not to appear too lecherous, but the alcohol was impairing his better judgement, and he was feeling... well, a little energetic could best describe it. However, the Cajun knew better to expect anything from Valerie, but that didn't mean he couldn't look. As Anthony and Addy rushed to the girl's side to help her out, he looked back at Kiora briefly to see that she was enjoying the jerky, but then he was distracted by yet another female entering the room. "This is turning out to be a good night," announced the man as he lifted a hand to wave at the Native girl. "Merry Christmas!" he called back with a white-teethed smile, then added, "You could be drunk, too!"
Valerie did not want to sit down. It took her a moment to realize that that's what Anthony wanted her to do though, and by the time he'd escorted her to the sofa to sit her next to Addy, she'd only just understood that. 'I neeeed to hand these out,' she stated, holding the bag of presents up. But Kiora's offer drew his attention away from the blonde, and she wiggled away from the couch, casting Addy a conspiratorial, if very intoxicated-looking, smile. Hearing Kaia's festive greeting, Val joyfully replied, 'Merry Christmas!' even though it took her a moment to locate the source of the salutation. To René, the blonde looked pointedly, her head swiveling in his direction to answer, 'René, naughty's naughty... you're either one or the other. So I awreddy know your answer is.'
Kaia plucked a palm-sized frybread from the tray and tore it in half and made her way over to René. “I’m Kaia, want some? Got anything to drink?” She was used to champagne with breakfast on Christmas Eve and it didn’t feel like the holiday without being a little tipsy.
Sasaiya entered the room and, still fresh off their mission from yesterday, was kind of glad to see Val and Rene. "Hey guys, watcha up to?" She asked as she walked over to them, making sure to give a nod to the two furry girls and the massive guy she remembered but wasn't sure from where. Well, here of course- but the specifics of their encounter eluded her. Seeing the other girls a bit more dressed up for the holiday made her rethink the blue pajama bottoms and black tank she was wearing. It was silly, but for some reason she hadn't expected much to be going on with the mansion as quiet as it was when they had returned. She felt a little out of place.
After passing the jerky off to Anthony, Kiora looked around the room, feeling rather bored. She was looking for something to take her mind off what had happened, preferably something involving a lot of alcohol. Addy said something about the punch and Kiora hoped she was talking about what she thought. She gave a wave and a mumbled "Merry Christmas." Before wandering out to the X-Men: CE Lounge in search of a good time.
"Oh Val you really should-" Anthony sighed as the girl moved away at once, her teetering walk completely stoppable, but Anthony rather reluctant to try and restrain the girl. He sighed as he watched her stumble around and talk to Rene, sitting down beside Addy and wrapping one arm around her shoulders without much thought. He nodded to Sasaiya when she walked in, but remained somewhat quiet. "I've been to parties like this before... someone's going to be ill..." Anthony said with a little sigh. He didn't drink much, he always tended to be the one looking after his friends when they passed out.
Usually Addy would jump away from such contact. But something was different this time. She leaned into Anthony as they watched people entering and exiting and moving around. "Ill?" Addy asked, looking at him. "I've only drank once. That was...some time ago. I don't remember if anyone was ill because I left early." She turned her head to look up at him with a confused expression, trying to ignore the crowding in the room. "Why would they be ill?"
René suddenly sat forward, eyebrows raised in curiosity as Valerie insisted that he had been naughty. "You ought to watch what you say around me miss, might find yourself in big trouble," the man warned, though for now, he was just talking a big game, not intended on playing it. The girl was nice, but he got the feeling she wasn't as nice as he wished her to be. René quickly turned his attention to the food that was being presented to his face, and he gladly accepted it with a "Thanks!" He only looked to see who had given him the bread after he had taken a bite, and his eyes widened a bit. "This is good!" exclaimed the man before taking another bite. "Name's René. I got Maple Crown, but the good stuff is in the kitchen. Somebody said somethin' 'bout some spiked punch somewhere, too." René glanced to the door, then, as one girl entered and another one left, and he lit up with a smile at seeing Sasaiya. "Hey, Sai!" he called out to the girl, immadiately adopting a nickname for the mutant.
Kaia took a bite of her half of frybread and licked the powdered sugar off of her lips carefully. “Thanks, I’m a Jack girl when I have to be but I like Crown better. Grew up next to the Canadian border.” She explained, following René’s gaze to Sasaiya as she entered. She leaned closer to René and lowered her voice, “She’s cute, in a wild kind of way.” After taking another bite of frybread, she licked powdered sugar off her fingers as she studied his aura. It was golden like Addy’s, but a deeper, rich amber color. Realizing that she probably looked like a creep just staring at him like that, she smiled as sweetly as she could “Ya know, you have a really gorgeous aura.” Yeah, that’s totally less weird than ogling him. No wonder the last guy I flirted with died.
Bending slightly at the waist, Valerie also leaned forward, but she wasn't exactly steady on her feet, so she swayed appropriately with the motion. 'See! That's why you're naughty, you're threatening me, and I'm jus trying' to give you a present!' With that, she thrust her hand into the bag and produced a small packet of coal. Well, it was licorice-flavored hard candy that looked like coal. At any rate, her hand with the candy flopped down in a forceful motion, like she intended to give it to him, and if he didn't manage to get his hand out in time to catch it, the blonde would just let the candy fall to the floor. 'Sasaiya!' she then gleefully said, 'René is threatening me,' even though it was all quite apparently in jest. With a double-take, Val suddenly asked Sasaiya , 'When'd you get here?' Then, forgetting it was Kaia who had offered, the dancer inquired to the room, 'Did someone say they brought food?'
Oh god. Sasaiya thought even as an amused smile crept across her face. It looked like everybody had already started drinking, or at least the three in front of her as she had made out just enough of Kaia's comment to Rene to pick up on what she was saying about the older girl. "You got something good Rene? I could use a drink myself." She said with a nod to the whiskey, then turned to Valerie as the girl all but squealed her name and couldn't help the laugh that escaped past her lips. "Oh?" Still chuckling she glanced back to Rene. "Well that's ah- not very nice of him I guess." Her teammate's state became even more clear to Sasaiya when she appeared suddenly startled and asked when she had gotten here. "Just a second ago, so... what's up?"
"Well, people get sick because... alcohol is a poison." Anthony told Addy flatly, giving a little shrug and a half smile to Addy "It... messes with your body and mind." His eyes roamed to Val, who was the most intoxicated out of all of them "And sometimes people drink too much of this... poison... and it makes them ill. It takes quite a lot to make a person sick but... yeah it can happen. I've had it happen a few times unfortunately."
"Why would anyone want to do that?" Addy followed up with, her eyes scanning the room. She seemed to shrink a little the more people joined and was now wrapping her arms around her legs, still leaning on Anthony as she looked around. The socialness of the holiday didn't appeal to her at all, but she had said she would make an effort (if only to herself) and she was. "Isn't that asking for trouble?"
René gave a bouncing nod as he turned sideways in his seat, reaching down with his free hand to pull his flask from his pocket again. He handed it to Kaia but not without getting powdered sugar all over it, and his face, and his clothes. Taking another bite, he was chewing briskly when Kaia turned towards Sasaiya, commenting on her appearance. "Wild, yes," was the only response she got from René; he wasn't quite sure yet what to think of Sasaiya. She was cute, yeah... at least, her human form. And she was pretty skittish at times. And after the mission from the day before, he hadn't thought too much about the half-animal girl, at least in the way of romance or anything of the sort, considering he had almost gotten her killed. The Cajun lifted his eyebrows as he was then addressed, and looked back at Kaia. "Well, merci," the man said as he waggled his eyebrows up and down, trying and failing miserably in his drunken stupor to appear jokingly flirtatious. It seemed the man's attention was being pulled everywhere, then, as Valerie suddenly addressed him. "I'm not!" he called out to the girl, taking a bit of powdered sugar between his fingers and throwing it at the girl. Of course, the white powder simply fell harmlessly through the air and back onto his own pants. "Ma cherie, I think we both have very different ideas of what 'naughty' means."
'Ohhhhhhhhh,' Valerie quite inelegantly replied to Sasaiya, her lips eventually forming a small O as her voice faded to nothing. She gave her former teammate that vacant look that intoxicated people sometimes do when they're trying to formulate a thought, when she suddenly plucked a small, very neatly Christmas gift-wrapped package from her bag and thrust it toward the red-eyed woman's chest. 'Here this is for you!' she crookedly smiled, not bothering to make sure that the transfer was successful-- as before with the coal, if Sasaiya didn't catch the package, Val would unknowingly let it fall to the floor. Full of drunken indignance, Val turned to René and stuck her nose in the air. 'Well I think... I think...,' she paused, really not sure of what she thought, to be honest, 'I think you're... ,' she paused, turned slightly, then grinned to a blank space of air and finished, 'I gotta go do sumthin',' then staggered out into the hallway, taking her leaving of the Den.
Shortly after Valerie left, Coral entered the room. She was not dressed particularly festively, instead wearing her usual tank-and-shorts combo over her swimsuit. But she was carrying a rather professional-looking camera that she selected specifically because it was good at capturing shots of people in motion with out blurring. The first thing Coral did was scan the room for anything or anyone interesting that demanded her immediate attention--the tree should still be there for her to photograph if she took other pictures first--and noticed a certain blue woman. "Roomie!" Coral grinned and waved one arm enthusiastically at Addy while her other hand held the camera.
Nodding up and down slowly with an amused expression, Sasaiya just stared back at Valerie until the girl suddenly dropped a present, which she did manage to catch. "Oh- um thanks." She said, and felt bad because she didn't have anything to give her back. "You didn't have to-" she started to add, but Valerie was already wandering away. Giving a small shake of her head she turned back to Rene and Kaia.
"Well," Anthony wasn't sure what to say to that. What DID people mess themselves up with alcohol? "I guess it... makes people feel good. It lowers inhibitions. Makes you act kinda crazy. And it can be fun! Specially among friends. But... yeah, it's still kinda dangerous... and people can do real stupid things sometimes."
Addy looked at him with a frown. "It sounds silly," she said finally, settling back against him. She did look over at the others in the room, wondering what they were all getting up to before she looked at Anthony again with a smile. "I do have something I can give you. Not a really great gift, but a gift if you want it." Addy was not very certain that anything she could give him would be enjoyed, but it was worth a shot. About to say something else, she was interrupted by the sight (and sound) of her new roommate. Addy gave the girl a wave and gestured for her to join herself and Anthony.
Even though his attention was divided, having an attractive older guy speak French and try to flirt with her filled Kaia with all sorts of bubbly energy. Attention and approval fed her better that bread and butter and she was at a feast. With the cutest flirty giggle she could muster, she gestured to René's cheek, "You have a little, um, sugar," she made a wiping motion but didn't feel bold enough to touch him. Suddenly blushing to her ears, she noticed a bit of powdered sugar that had made its way into his lap. Oh god don't be awkward don't be awkward be cool be smooth be sexy not creepy, this mantra replayed in her mind the whole time she tried to flirt with him.
René watched quietly, one eyebrow raised, as Valerie decided to make her exit, then chuckled a little as she disappeared through the doorway. The man stopped laughing after few seconds, then looked around him, seemingly searching for something. In fact, he could've sworn he had brought another beer with him, but didn't exactly know where he had left it. It wasn't until Kaia tried to get his attention that he was brought back to reality. "Hm?" he intitally hummed, looking up at the girl with wide eyes, before he realized what she was getting at. With a grin, the man turned his cheek so that the powdery side was facing Kaia, and stuck his head out towards her. "Kiss it off," he urged her playfully, mostly unaware in his drunken state that the gesture might come off as a bit inappropriate.
"MERRY CHRISTMASS!" said suddenly Daniela, barreling into the Den dressed in what seemed to be a reindeer halloween costume, complete with fuzzy antlers, a dab of red paint on her nose and a fluffy deer tail on the back. She was dragging a huge bag filled with mysterious stuff on one hand and Valerie with the other. The girl was obviously drunk, as her cheeks had the typical reddish coloring one gets when flustered or inebriated. "Lots of people here!" she smiled, completely uninhibited.
The entire way down to the Den, Valerie treated Dani to a chorus of, 'Why'd she yell at me like that?' and, 'I don't think she likes me,' in pathetic repetition. The blonde, now dressed like an elf, looked less-than-enthusiastic, as Dani had to drag her almost bodily into the room. '...merry christmas...' she muttered then fell silent, staring down at her festive little green shoes and swaying slightly from side-to-side.
Filled with a little too much holiday spirit and teenage impulsivity, Kaia leaned over and planted a kiss on René's cheek, giggling the whole way. She lingered a second longer than a quick smooch should allow before she pulled back with her heart thumping loudly in her ears. Giggling again, she bit her full bottom lip as another full blush painted across her cheeks. "I'm sorry," she nervously started to apologize before an idea popped into her head. "Hey, wanna see your awesome aura I was talking about?"
With a bounce in her step and grin on her face, Coral made her way towards Addy and Anthony--pausing momentarily to capture Kaia's kiss on film and quite possibly blinding her and René with the flash. "Hey, Addy! Isn't this great? My first holiday here at the mansion! Is it always this pretty and festive? I saw the tree being set up, but I forgot to take a picture of it, then. Instead I went outside to make snow-angels. I wanted my brother to come with me, but he said it was too cold. Well, he actually said a lot of other stuff, too, but I think it's very rude that he made a habit of saying such words... Is this a friend of yours? Hi, my name's Coral! Can I take your picture?" The fish girl grinned at Anthony, holding up her camera slightly.
"You have a present for me?" Anthony asked, smiling, looking a little bit surprised as he gazed at Addy. They'd been... in each other's company for a while now, and true, he'd gotten her a little present too, but sometimes he wondered if how he felt was reciprocated in full. This was a very good sign for him. Then Addy waved at a... strange person. Fish like. Anthony looked her up and down, trying to hide the initial wave of slight confusion as she greeted them. "I'm... Anthony." he said with a little nod, taking a moment as he soaked in her surprisingly quick speech "And sure, you can take my picture if you want."
Sasaiya opened her present and couldn't help but laugh and shake her head when she saw the christmas themed toe socks and plastic penguin. When she looked up though her eyes widened. Shit. With Rene's drunken encouragement, a very tipsy Kaia was macking all over his face and something about the situation made her uncomfortable. Liqueur and sex aren't a good mix. "Hey-" She said, using her foot to jostles Rene's leg. "Come on guys, not right here." She knew there was a chance that they might very well be attracted to each other and willing, but if that was the case she felt like they could wait until they were both sober to figure it out. Her attention was pulled to the door when a festively dressed Dani and Val came bursting in, yelling at the top of their lungs and dragging with them a dubious looking bag. She held up the socks Valerie had gifted to her and smiled, though she wasn't sure the drunk girl would notice. Daniela also seemed to have helped herself to a few drinks. I still need to ask her about her date with Caleb Tonight wasn't the night to bring that up though.
Addy gave a nod to Anthony, but her attention was quickly diverted to her effervescent roommate who proceeded to practically give them an entire story. It was odd, how exceedingly different they were from one another. Addy's smile was weak as she waited for Coral to finish, and thankfully Anthony spoke up before she had to. Being reminded that this was her first holiday in the mansion, and really her first holiday ever, Addy didn't really have much to say in response. She slowly linked her arm in Anthony's, sitting back against the couch and pulling her legs up so her heels were resting on the cushion as well, looking up at Coral with what she thought was a friendly expression.
Daniela was still standing by the door, one hand on Valerie's wrist and the other one on one of the sacks of stuff the girls had scavenged from around the mansion. It seemed that even with the costumes and the yelling at the top of their lungs, almost no one really even noticed them. The girl simply lowered her arms and shoulders and sighed as people continued on with their business as if they were blind or deaf or something of the sort. Even though she was still rather tipsy, she figured this might be time to just quit it and go to her room and just sleep it off. "I'm sorry Val..." said the girl with a sad expression in her eyes, wiping off the red from her nose and taking off the antlers, handing them back to the blonde. "I think people are not really in the Christmass-y sort of mood right now." she added with a faint smile before she dropped the bag in a corner to the room and waved sadly to Valerie. The girl simply said; "Merry Christmass." to the blonde as a good bye before she left the den.
Daniela popped loudly into the room just as René was getting his little kiss from Kaia, and looking towards the door, the man grinned and nearly giggled. He held up his hand in a wave to Daniela, calling back, "Merry Christmas!" before looking back to Kaia. "Aura?" he started to ask, but Sasaiya seemed to be intent on interrupting their fun. Screwing his lips to the side, he slapped his hand through the air, as if shooing her away, and grumbled, "We ain't doin' anything inappropriate." Apparently she hadn't heard any news of the earlier plan to play 'Spin the Bottle'. René was ready to focus his attention back on Kaia, curious about being able to see his aura, or something to the effect, but he noticed Daniela leaving. "Dan-ye-luh!" he called out to the girl with a frown, but seeing her now gone, he slumped back in his chair, looking a little disappointed that the girl had left looking sad herself.
Sasaiya's scolding made Kaia turn as red as beet and start chewing the inside of her cheek; She wasn't ready for any kind of conflict. Picking at an invisible piece of lint on her legging, she mumbled an inaudible explanation about auras. She jumped a bit when René called out to Daniela and followed his gaze to the empty door. "Oh, wasn't that the girl with the presents? Damn..." Deciding it might be easier just to show him, and hoping to lighten the mood, Kaia reached to grab René's hand to use her ability and show everyone his aura. "This will kill your buzz a little but it'll be replaced by this kind of... mellow, happy feeling people get when I heal them."
Valerie, who already looked somewhere between having lost her best friend and her faithful dog getting run over by a car, stared vacantly at Dani as she apologized and handed her the antlers. With her back to the rest of the room, it didn't seem the blonde even remembered there were other people there, despite the ambient chatter. Staggering headlong back into the hallway to follow in her friend's footsteps, it was very likely that Val would later be found, curled-up in the corner of one of the elevators, fast asleep.
The moment Anthony finished giving his consent, the flash of Coral's camera went off in his face. "Thank you! Ooh~ Exchanging gifts? That's definitely something I want to take pictures of! Reaction shots can say so much about the person~" she told Addy excitedly. Then, in the blink of an eye, her face-splitting grin became a frown. "I'm so so sososo sorry! I only have presents for Addy and my brother..." Coral apologized to Anthony with a distressed expression.
"That's alright. No trouble at all." Anthony was more than a little lost, and feeling rather blinded. He wasn't the kind to get angry though, just a little confused and uncertain what was going on, specially after getting blinded by the camera flash. "You... have a brother here?" he asked, uncertain what part of the massive flood of speech Coral had just let loose to concentrate on first.
Sasaiya sat back with a serious expression as Rene drunkenly dismissed her, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. At least Kaia managed to look chagrined, which wasn't her intent really, she was more concerned about Rene's intentions, but it was apparently enough to cool things off between the two. That was enough for her right now. Valerie's exit pulled her eyes back to the door and left her wondering why the girls had run off so quickly. Since they were gone however, Sasaiya resumed keeping an eye on the drunk pair in front of her, though she was starting to wish she had a drink too.
Blinking as the light went off near her, Addy turned her eyes on Coral, certain that the girl, who spent last night trying to photograph her, wouldn't make that mistake again today. "It's fine," she said to her roommate, still trying to decipher the excitable girl's declaration. "You should bring your brother around to meet people," Addy added, not having met him yet. It would be nice to meet more people, especially if she was going to be seeing a lot of the boy.
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