Christmas Is All About Shenanigans

[queenofminiskirts]

Who: Kaoru and YOU
Where: All over Chroma
When: December, before the ghosts appear
What: Two Things: "Christmas tree" and "mistletoe"
Warnings: probably none



i: Christmas is all about finding the biggest Christmas tree

[She goes out into the forest with a Purpose in mind. She'd gotten a good look at the forest from high above, to see if there were any exceptionally tall trees in the forest.

What she brought back in the end was around 60 feet tall. She sets it up somewhere close to the middle of town but then she's left with a problem: how does she make it stand?

Which is why, you'll find her with a 60 foot tree lying on its side nearby as she floats above the ground with one hand out. Dirt flies out of a hole she's digging.]

Hey. [If you're someone she doesn't know she'll just wave you over but if she does know you she'll come drag you over by the arm.] What do you think? Is it deep enough to make the tree stand?

[It probably isn't, alas.]



ii: Obligatory network announcement

so i brought the BIGGEST CHRISTMAS TREE i could find and set it up in town.

[People have noticed already. It is a 60feet tall tree suddenly standing tall in town.]

but it's not really a christmas tree until we decorate it, right? who can help me make decorations? and also, do you think we could make lights to hang on it? maybe with candles? that's what they used to do, right?

[That sounds like a really bad idea, Kaoru...]



iii: Decorating~

[The bottom of tree is beginning to look pretty good at this point but the top still needs some work. Unfortunately, Kaoru's power does have a limit and she can't just pick up the ornaments they've made from sixty feet away. So she's at the bottom, choosing the next decorations she wants to pick up...when she suddenly shoves a pile into your arms.]

Hold onto that, okay?

[Then she's picking you, some more ornaments and herself up with her powers. At least if it's your first time flying with her like this she'll stop when they're two feet up but if you've flown with her before she's taking you both straight to the top.]



iv: the mistletoe option

[So. If anyone should not have gotten a box of mistletoe because she won't be responsible, it's probably Kaoru.

But since that's exactly what she got, she was going to be responsible with it--hahaha. As if.

What happens is: you and someone else will be walking around town, just minding your business when suddenly there's mistletoe floating above you. If you miss it, it will keep following you around until you notice it. And if it takes to long it will swoop down and knock against your head.

Kaoru is hiding somewhere (obviously), but she's definitely observing from somewhere not too far away (and if you're Shiho she's making sure her feet isn't touching the ground and that she isn't touching anything else either).

Call her out, try to escape, ignore this whole thing, or attempt to destroy the mistletoe. Either way, something unexpected might happen. (Or kiss. That's simple enough).]

((OOC: for option 4, Kaoru might show up or she might not...either way she will make the mistletoe "respond". To clarify, the mistletoe is perfectly normal...but Kaoru isn't going to just let anyone off the hook with this prank. I'm assuming people are responding to this in pairs. If not, please contact me on plurk or add an OOC note and she'll make a variation to the prank...maybe try to get them to kiss a horse or a tree or something.))

Comments

[messianic]

[As soon as their fingers are laced together, Minato contentedly squeezes her hand, and...flashes her a smile that's a bit more amused, and a tad bit daring.]

... Yeah. It's absolutely fine if we're sappy behind some buildings.

[And, in a tone more teasing than anything:]

Then if people stumble across us, that's their problem, right?

[He has absolutely zero issues with this, but maybe it's mostly that he's so okay with being sappy with Shiho in general.]

[good_ideas]

[He thinks she's a menace?? He's the menace here and she can feel herself blushing again though her smile never diminishes for a second as she's stuck halfway between flushing with embarrassment and feeling so fond of him that she doesn't know what to do with herself anymore.

How does he always catch her off guard like this?]

Honestly... Saying stuff like that and looking at me like that... [She taps a finger against his cheek.] We're supposed to be admiring trees. [But she's still standing here with him, being sappy.... And she's definitely keeping the option open of hiding away somewhere with him.]

[messianic]

[Shiho is absolutely right here--they came out to look at the trees, not to gaze lovingly into each other's eyes.

(Minato does not at all regret the pause to gaze lovingly into each other's eyes.)

But he takes that gently scolding tap against his cheek for what it is, flashing her a smile that's equal parts amused and sheepish.]

Right, trees. I still want to see the decorations you made.

[He clears his throat, and...finally tugs away properly, though not too far; he still is going to absolutely be holding her hand.

Maximum sappiness, temporarily averted...!! (Even though he's still pretty much metaphorically floating here.)]

[good_ideas]

[She also does not regret taking this time to spend together... though she's definitely getting Kaoru back for this later.

But that's for another day when her best friend least expects it. For now, she's smiling again when Minato pulls away, their hands still linked. In theory she knows it's cold out here but she doesn't feel it at all, buoyed up by something warm and happy much like he is.]

I didn't really make that many, you know?

[messianic]

[At least Kaoru is probably the only person in the world who can be prepared for Shiho at her most Shiho.]

That's okay. [He really didn't make very many decorations either--but it doesn't change the fact that he wants to see the ones she made.]

I'm still sure they're the cutest ones.

[Or Minato is just horribly biased and head over heels at this point.]

[good_ideas]

[That's true, Kaoru is probably safe.]

Flatterer. [But she's giving his hand a gentle squeeze and then a little tug because they should probably start walking, right? She still stays close though, her arm brushing against his.]

[messianic]

[They can definitely start walking. And... in truth, Minato has no idea which decorations are Shiho's out of the decorated trees that they can see along their path.

But.

Almost universally, he guesses the really cute and well-made ones.

It seems Shiho-like to him...?]

[good_ideas]

[Shiho actually lets him make those guesses a couple of times before she finally nudges her shoulder against his with a laugh.]

I'm not that good at crafts, you know. [Mostly it's because she doesn't like putting in the effort unless she was trying to get something out of it.]

The ones you made look much better. [But she hasn't guessed because, of course, with psychometry there really is no question in her mind which are his ornaments and which are made by someone else.]

[messianic]

[Minato's are all origami--like this. Nothing too exciting, but definitely pretty Minato-like.]

You think so...? I could teach you how to make them sometime, if you want. Not that they'll probably be that useful again, but still.

[good_ideas]

[It is very Minato-like, actually.]

Of course. I'd like that. Besides... being cute makes them useful too, right? We could decorate your house with them. [Or her house but who knows if Kyrie would be able to stand all those cute stars.]

[messianic]

Hm... now that you mention it, that would be pretty cute.

[Stars all over...!!]

We'd just need more colorful paper, though.

[good_ideas]

Then let's do it when we find cute paper we can use for it. [All the stars!]

Or maybe we can take apart some of the books. [She's kidding. Mostly.]

[messianic]

[Oh my god.]

I think Cairngorm-san would kill us... They'd give us that gem stare, and we'd be in danger.

[good_ideas]

The gem stare, huh... Sounds scary.

[But she doesn't sound scared...?]

[messianic]

Right?

[Minato also doesn't really sound scared, because these are two teens who have probably never really been afraid of regular things in their lives.]

They're very strict about that sort of thing. I think they really like the library a lot. [...] I suppose someone has to.

[good_ideas]

It's kind of boring in there with just one type of book but I guess if they love it that much, we can't do too many bad things to it.

[Just.... some?? She hasn't decided what those are going to be, but it's fine.]

[messianic]

Yeah, I gave up on reading the fairy tales a long time ago.

[It is waaay too boring to just read fairy tales all the time.]

But so long as it's minor things that won't make them fuss too much, I think that's probably fine.

[Minato no.]

[good_ideas]

All of them are pretty boring anyway. [Because, yes, she went through all of them. But with psychometry because nothing beats the power of being able to read a whole book in thirty seconds.]

Maybe if we just rip out some end pages? Or title pages. [Shiho no]

[messianic]

[Shiho... of course. He shouldn't even be surprised.]

Well... if we just take some blank pages, it's probably fine.

[...]

It's a shame we can't choose our quest rewards. A box of paper would be really useful right now.

[good_ideas]

[Cairngorm is going to give them the longest, scariest gem stare.]

Right? No one needs blank pages. Though I guess it would be better if we actually had paper for this. Maybe we should complain to Mr. F.

[messianic]

Ah, have you found him yet?

[If anyone could, it'd be Shiho, right?]

[good_ideas]

...Not yet. [Thinking about that has her feeling just a bit annoyed. Really... being unable to find someone was a first and she hates it.]


But there's other stuff that I can't see either, using psychometry. I get headaches if I look too hard.

[messianic]

Yeah... that makes sense, I guess.

[Minato quirks an eyebrow.]

They always have to nerf the people who can break the game too easily, right? In stories like this. [too meta, Minato]

[good_ideas]

[She laughs because it may just be too meta but thankfully for him, everyone she knows back home is this way.]

...When they tried to do that back home, I'd usually just look harder. [Having a problem with authority means that when someone tries to stop her, she just doubles down.]

But having headaches is always pretty dangerous for us, so I guess I can't exactly do that here.

[messianic]

That's probably for the better.

[Not only because he doesn't want Shiho to have to deal with headaches.]

We're not that desperate yet, you know? So it's better to keep yourself fit and healthy, because we need you.