merry merry christmas, and I want you to know

[mansionstaff]

Who: YOU
What: KISSLETOES
When: December 14th - January 1st
Where: Everywhere
Warnings: Sloppy makeouts.

SUDDENLY, AND WITHOUT WARNING...



The entire school has become covered in mistletoe overnight. It grows out of the walls! The ceilings! Everywhere you least expect it? HOW CAN THIS BE??

It's probably best not to think about it. Attempts to uproot the plants or burn them away only makes the plants grow back faster. For the time being, it seems the school must live with it.

[OOC INSTRUCTIONS:
+ Post dudes, get kisses!
+ Some (NOT ALL) plants are cursed. If you manage to step under a cursed plant, you will exchange a memory when or if you exchange a kiss. The memories will be first-person and very vivid, and characters will feel like they are experiencing the memory in real time, though in reality the transfer is instantaneous. Memories can be as short, long, happy, sad, or traumatic as you like.
+ If you'd like to participate, we highly suggest making a list of a few memories (with accompanying links/descriptions) that are up for grabs, and linking or posting the list in your top-level comment. Memory exchange is COMPLETELY OPTIONAL. When in doubt, OOC communication!
+ PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE TAG YOUR CHARACTERS
+ That's it, we love you.]

Comments

[redshirted]

Ian is a TEENY bit insulted that Samus' first idea is not just that she should man up and kiss him but he supposes there are. Reasons. For that. Reasons named Captain Falcon.

So, Ian does attempt to throw the mistletoe (far) away, although apparently in vain. It rather comically sticks to his hand as he tries several times to chuck it. It dangles near the wrist of his sweater while he shakes his hand out desperately.

"Looks like we need a Plan B."

[icequeen_aran]

She frowns as the plant defies all laws of everything not in the name of holiday spirit. What an obstinate little thing...

Samus did not have a Plan B.

"Shooting things is usually my Plan A and B." She half-joked. "I don't think you want to be shot at."

[redshirted]

"Yeah. I like this hand in working order."

He uses it to write and eat and change light bulbs so it's really important to keep it that way. He sighs and leans against the ladder. Guess he will just have to be the one who comes out and says it.

"You know. I have an idea for Plan C that's almost crazy enough to work. Pretty painless too."

[icequeen_aran]

Samus had an inkling of what Plan C. She drew her lips into a tight line and congratulated herself on warding off any heat threatening to rise to her cheeks. For what it was worth, she wasn't going for Plan A or B.

"Like the Plan C proposed at one of the Federation holiday parties years ago...?"

[redshirted]

"It wasn't so many years for me."

Ian tries to laugh it off a little bit, but it's a strong reminder of the weird sort of distance that's between them because of temporal anomalies and untimely deaths. It's kinda weird, though. juxtaposed with the two of them being in such an eerily similar situation now, Samus making almost exactly the same expression... A little bit of reminder of time and chances lost that Ian doesn't like to dwell on, which is why there's only a flash of a pained expression as he laughs before returning to his much more characteristic smile.

"And I do need to get off this ladder at some point."

[icequeen_aran]

The brief flicker in his expression is not lost on her and it's perhaps that which gets her to soften up a little. What was the point of holding on to that? If anything she felt awkward about this for entirely different reasons and that was related to Falcon. Kissing was something she did all the time now. It was really nice. It felt really nice.

This wasn't the first nor would it be the last of Kisstletoes. Both bounty hunters knew what went on these holidays never meant anything.

But perhaps in another time, in another place, with Ian, it would have. She exhales deeply, as if letting go of that one residual reservation before relenting to the idea of Plan C. She forces a lop-sided smirk but initiates closing the distance by stepping up the ladder. There's one last bout of minor hesitation, the slightest pause mere inches away from his lips before she completely closes the distance.

"Wouldn't want you to stay stuck up there forever."

[redshirted]

He laughs, entirely genuinely this time as he leans in, offering a soft, "Thanks."

But while he anticipated a soft, momentary brush of lips, he gets something entirely different. Like a jarring out-of-body experience. His balance was precarious at best and facilitated only by the fact that he and his ladder were glued down by magic mistletoe, which is why he is snapped out of a nice, but awkward and very much not his memory by crashing into the floor. Oops.

[icequeen_aran]

Samus is similarly greeted with an equally jarring memory not of her own, but too familiar for comfort once she starts to process what it even was. The time period, the associations, even the smells--this was years ago. She would have been much younger at the time, still in the Federation and under Adam's wing, but this terrible, tragic memory wasn't from her perspective.

The momentary sting of her butt hitting the floor hardly compared to overwhelming sense dread and helplessness that came with remembering--

"Ian..." It came out far more pained and like a desperate gasp of air than she would have liked. She fixed him a hard unblinking stare, eyes wild with confusion.

At least they weren't stuck in place anymore.

[redshirted]

Really, the drop wasn't so bad. His knees sting a little where he bit the dust. It's really the shock of what happened before and being brought so quickly out of it is what's got him reeling.

He's confused, because he's not entirely sure what he just experienced, but, from the sounds of it, it seems like Samus felt some weirdness as well. Her tone has him concerned even more. Instinctively he reaches out for her, grabbing her shoulder to draw her back into reality.

"What just happened? Are you okay?"

She always seemed to know what was going on. Ian has an idea, but it seems a little crazy...

[icequeen_aran]

The wild look in her eyes quickly dissipates as soon as he touches her, and every muscle formerly braced with the sensation of death slowly starts to relax. Ultimately her bewilderment is left as a residual grit of her teeth and clenched fists, and even that eventually gives way to furrowed brows.

"...What was that." Something seemed to happen to him too but hardly what she experienced.

"I... saw the Lusitania."

[redshirted]

"The Lusitania?" Ian's a little confused at what she means, especially since he's still processing. She saw something that actually happened. She was there for it. He saw... what had he seen? Had that actually happened? If it had, Ian definitely wasn't there for it. And when? His brow furrows and he glances down at her hands quickly, looking for evidence.

"I saw..." The hesitation in his voice was palpable, layered with obvious bewilderment. "I just saw Falcon."

Which in itself was pretty darn weird but less clearly traumatic so maybe the clarification on his end can wait a little. He touches her shoulder again trying to figure out what exactly had happened without probing too much thanks to the explanation of her current state. He asks again, "Are you okay?"

Of course she's okay, but he still has to ask.

[icequeen_aran]

She purses her lips as she more objectively analyzes the terrible tragic moments she just witnessed. They were bewildering for good reason: it was from Ian's point of view. Not just visuals, also feelings, smells, associations... it was a brief split-second snapshot of a point in time.

"It..." If she was right that may have put into perspective what Ian saw and she paled slightly. "It was your last living moments. Your memory."

That means he saw a memory of hers, and if it was Falcon it could have been a great number of things ranging from benign to painfully awkward and embarrassing, extremely pleasant to extremely not so pleasant. "You saw a memory of mine too, didn't you?"

[redshirted]

No...

That memory wasn't one Ian would particularly wish on anyone. His mind does an okay job of darting around the exact specifics of it, but there had been a night or two when it had intrusively enters otherwise peaceful thoughts or shows up in a dream. Even now, thinking about it, he sort of grits his teeth and grimaces. Parts of his last moments are spotty, thanks to the oxygen deprivation that accompanied his final moments, but somehow that isn't exactly comforting.

Death isn't pleasant. Even with all Samus must have seen in her life, it isn't easy for a living person to process. He gives her shoulder a quick squeeze, though he's not sure if he's trying to keep her or himself from getting lost in that particular memory again.

"Yeah, uh, I did see something," He nods slowly, playing it over again in his head. He almost feels like he's spying on such an intimate moment, which is embarrassing for Ian, but now that he know's it's true... Well, there are a lot of emotions stirring in Ian's gut ranging from disbelief to very slight tinges of envy deep down never to be admitted, but it's clear what wins out by the soft and genuine smile that settles on his face. It's almost like their memories fit together: an end and a beginning.

"Congratulations, Samus."