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

[welikeike]

Ike tried to move his feet. No luck in the freedom department. He glared at the floor.

"That didn't work out after all," he told R.O.B. "Maybe only a kiss works. ...Um. Are you even able to kiss?" Pardon him for asking. It's a legit question.

[operatingbuddy]

"Negative," he replied. "However, if you were to kiss me, I believe it would have the desired effect."

[welikeike]

"Oh, yeah. I'll do that," he said, and Ike bent down to kiss the robot on the side of his head. Predictably, kissing metal felt weird. But this was just how R.O.B. was, Ike knew, so it wasn't TOO bad. ...And then there were memories.

A man stands in front of Ike, wearing a cloak that permits only the flash of his oddly colored eyes and the marks of blue to show through. Ike had just learned that this was a measure taken to avoid upsetting the folks in the country, who might not like to see a laguz in their town.

The man is in the middle of speaking. "Daein's movements have me concerned. I'll stay behind and see what's going on." He flashes Ike a reassuring smile. A villager accidentally bumps shoulders with him on her way past, and she twirls around on her heel.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she apologetically stammers, and she brings her hand to her lower lip. "I wasn't watching where I was going..."

Ranulf's hood had been bumped down to his shoulders, revealing a pair of ears belonging to a cat atop his head. "No, pardon me--"

The woman blanches and recoils in horror. "Ah! Eeeeeeek! Su-sub-human!!" she cries. At Ike's side, Titania curses.

More villagers begin to swarm around Ranulf, especially concentrating near the girl who bumped shoulders with the cat laguz.

"I-It's true! A sub-human! How dare you come prowling around here!" one man spits. "Eww! It's so hairy! Go on! Scat!" says another woman. The man from before rushes forward and strikes Ranulf, who takes the blow with no resistance. He grimaces.

The lady who originally bumped into Ranulf adds, "Get out of here! Monster!" before lifting her foot and kicking him as hard as she can. Ranulf lets her and falls to the ground. He doesn't move.

Ike feels his anger boiling up inside of him, and he grits his teeth. Two cloaked figures arrive at his side, and Ike recognizes them as Mordecai and Lethe. Mordecai gets Ike's attention.

"Ike! We must leave!" he hisses, watching Ranulf carefully.

Ike glares the villagers and Ranulf's crumpled up body on the ground before glancing back to Mordecai. "What? No! We have to help Ranulf..."

"All of this noise will attract the attention of the Daein troops." Mordecai is strangely calm for what Ike deems to be a situation that calls for outrage. He replies with, "That's why we have to hurry up and help--"

Lethe interrupts. "He'll be fine! Leave him." Her face is drawn up into an angry snarl: it's obvious she's not happy about what's happening. What's stopping her from helping Ranulf?! Ike doesn't understand. Mordecai tries to reassure the both of them, but mostly Ike: "Ranulf is strong. Even stronger than me. It's all right."

Ike shakes the two away and locks eyes with Ranulf's form while the villagers take turns kicking and stepping on him. "Ranulf has no intention of defending himself! Look, he's not even changing forms! I can't just stand by and watch as he gets murdered!" With that said, Ike rushes forward before Mordecai and Lethe can intervene.

Ike dives into the crowd, forcing the villagers off of his friend with unchecked violence. "Stop! Get out of my way! Keep your hands off him!" He stands in front of Ranulf with his arms held out protectively. His rage for these people runs high, and he can hardly think of a time he was this angry.

"Who do ya think ya are? Why would a human want to protect some sub-human?" says one man. "He's a friend to this monster! I saw them talking earlier!" says the 'victim' of a woman.

"What's that to you?" Ike watches the woman with a piercing gaze.

Another man breaks the villager's clamor with what he finds to be astoundingly important news, and everyone goes silent. "Hey. the Crimean royals had sub-human companions, didn't they? Maybe you're one of those army guys the Daein troops are searching for!" He raises his hand and turns in the direction of the Daein soldiers. "You there! Daein soldier! Ho! There are some suspicious folk over here!"

Ike gawks at him. "Are you mad?! Your king was murdered by Daein! And now you're going to cooperate with them?"

The villagers glance at one another. "Well, um..." They're trying to come up with a response, and murmur among one another until one of them comes up with a reason.

"I heard the king was teamin' up with those sub-humans! That's what got him killed!"

"Yeah! That's right! If we need allies, I'll take flesh-and-blood Daein humans over some fanged sub-human freak!"

"Yeah! Yeah! At least we know what we're getting! Trust your own kind!"

Ike takes a step closer to Ranulf and shakes his head out of disbelief. The villagers cheer as Ranulf coughs weakly. "You people are insane!" Ike drowns out the madness of the villagers and focuses on Ranulf, trying to help him up. He can't believe the way these ignorant beorc behave. What is their problem?! How could they treat another person this way? It's barbaric and disgusting. He would never watch his friends go through such treatment. Not ever.

[operatingbuddy]

And as R.O.B. began to experience Ike's memory, something flew through the mercenary's mind.

Activation was a familiar feeling, like all of his circuitry lighting up in an instant as he became aware of them. But something felt off. Diagnostic checks were in. Awakening in a charging alcove, R.O.B. looked down and saw the face of his creator, old but kind, looking back. The kindness was there, but there was something else too. Something that R.O.B.'s rudimentary understanding of human emotion told him was sorrow.

"Query: Why am I unable to move, Professor?"

"I'm sorry, R.O.B.," Professor Hector told him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I'm so very sorry... But I have to leave..."

R.O.B. cocked his head. "Query: Why do you have to leave? Where are you going? How long will you be gone?"

Hector chuckled a bit, smiling weakly. "Such an inquisitive mind," he remarked. "I can't say, for any of your questions. It's for your own safety."

"I do not understand. If there is trouble, I should assist. I will protect you."

"R.O.B., you are the best friend a man could hope for," Hector addressed, lowering his hand. "A better friend than I could ever ask for. You've done so much to help me these many years. But now I have to return the favour." The elderly scientist stepped back from the alcove, lifting a remote control. "Good night, R.O.B. And... goodbye."

"Professor--" But then Hector pressed a button on the remote. And R.O.B.'s shutdown sequence triggered. "Professor..." he tried to say as his vision faded to black.

[welikeike]

If Ike could have a gold piece for every time he would experience being a robot somehow... It was a strange experience for sure. After the memory, Ike felt his own eyes drooping while it felt like his brain was trying to perform a shutdown of its own, simply by the experience of the memory.

But when he felt the air against his skin and felt himself again, he shook himself out of it and stared ahead, bewildered.

Ike already knew about the mistletoe. That didn't make it any more surprising each time. "Was... Did I just see a memory of yours?" It was hardly even a question. Ike was sure that's what he experienced. He bit his lip: the memory left him feeling hopelessly frustrated. This Professor Hector person seemed important to R.O.B. And Ike knew all too well about how it felt to be denied from helping and protecting somebody you cared about.

Somehow, he had a bad feeling about his fate. "Is Professor Hector... alright?" It was strange how he knew his name. It wasn't blatantly stated in the memory, but it was more like an intuitive understanding that he walked away with. The name felt weird rolling off his tongue.

[operatingbuddy]

That was the million dollar question, wasn't it? "...I do not know," he explained. "I have not seen him in many years. The memory you witnessed was my last memory of him."

A moment of silence passed as he reflected on what he had seen through Ike's eyes. "It would appear discrimination based on the nature of one's origin is endemic even in your world."

[welikeike]

Ike bit his lip at R.O.B.'s words. If that was the last he saw of Professor Hector, then it would make sense that he had no idea where he went off to. He wondered if R.O.B. wanted to see him again, strongly. Even though he could feel the situation from his perspective, he couldn't help but feel like that despite R.O.B. not experiencing the world like a human, there was a strong sense of loyalty there. And with loyalty, Ike guessed that there were plenty of positive moments and feelings toward him, even if they weren't the same as a human's.

The feeling he felt wasn't aching or longing - in fact, it could hardly be described as a feeling to begin with. But when Ike tried to translate it into terms he could sympathize with, it resembled to him the hollow feeling of loss. Of the desire to figure out what had happened to him. He swallowed while he turned these thoughts over in his mind, until R.O.B. spoke.

He snapped out of it with a start. "Huh?" And for a moment there, the mercenary had trouble figuring out what that meant. He wasn't so lucky to be privy to the memory R.O.B. received. When he caught up with what the robot was saying, Ike nodded solemnly.

"Right. I'm not certain I know what you saw, but I think I can gather an idea." His eyes hardened. "There aren't any words to describe the types of hatred I've seen from people toward laguz. I've heard something like it happened at Smash Academy, and somehow, it doesn't surprise me." He took a breath, something of a sigh. "People have a hard time accepting what is different from them, or what they don't understand. Of course it would be the same here..."

Not that it made anybody happy.

[operatingbuddy]

"I am aware of that fact all too well," R.O.B. answered. "I am not familiar with the term... Please define laguz for me."