smash_logs | merry merry christmas, and I want you to know

Entry tags:

merry merry christmas, and I want you to know

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

SUDDENLY, AND WITHOUT WARNING...

title or description

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.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The turning into a wolf thing was probably what he was getting at. Her people had spirit animals and such things, but actually turning into a wolf... She couldn't imagine what that was like. She was only animalistic and nothing more.

"I think I can agree with you," she replied with a short little nod. "And I imagine we are not the only ones who share that sentiment, Jon."

"Oh, I daresay not. In fact, some of the worlds people come here from sound fairly miserable. Even when compared to mine." he replied. "I'm one of those who can travel back, if I've a mind to. I got to Raccoon City to attend CapHigh via train. I think I could do it again, if I'd a need to. Some of the other people here who can't get back at all...? I think it's for the best."

He'd spent more time thinking on this than he'd generally let on. He was also an avid reader of the network, despite rarely commenting on anything.

She nodded slowly once more. He had a good point. Some people couldn't get back at all. Some people wanted to. Some people didn't. She hadn't tried and hadn't bothered looking, but she was under the impression since Connor never left of his own volition, that perhaps he couldn't. Or perhaps he didn't want to with his princess in the picture.

"Gordon Freeman was working on a universal portal, I think," she started with some thought. "For people who wanted to have a link to their home worlds and did not have access to one." As she walked alongside Jon, her hands toyed with the rough edges of her leather garb. "People should have the opportunity, even if they choose never to take it."

"Ah, the fellow with the Rotom. I've met him." Jon replied with a nod. "He seemed the sort with that kind of knowledge - Hopefully he gets it working. I mean, you've a good point; Even if it's not a desirable option for some, there are a few who I'm sure would jump at the chance."

He wondered...

"What about you, then? You've a wish to leave? Or no?"

"He asked me the same thing last year," Ziio began. "That if he found a way to send me home, if I would to go. And when I told him I had no interest, he asked me why."

She shook her head at Jon, "There are likely not many here at the academy that could say they knew what their future held. Or their lack of one. What awaits me in mine is not something I am prepared to face. I can do more here and I should, with the time I have."

And then she continued, "So no. I would still rather be here."

"...I see. Fair enough."

He did feel something like a twinge of guilt at that. He was no great scholar, but even he knew about his country's colonial past. The Sun Shall Never Set on the British Empire! Fat lot of good that did folk like her. He wasn't personally responsible, obviously. He'd been born more than a century too late for that. But he saw the same arrogance every day he'd spent around people when he was back home. The idea that anything foreign or exotic was somehow inferior or at best, useful or amusing. He wondered how far England had made inroads into the New World when she'd been brought here. He wanted to ask but... well. It was probably best if he allowed her to talk about it on her own terms. No need to stir up negative sentiment - they were supposed to be enjoying a nice walk together.

"Well, then. That makes two of us. Again, birds of a feather. A merry little flock of two."

It was easier not to say anything. For even when she'd said anything to Gordon, it was succinct and she never let him ask anything further. Or less that she didn't let him, but that he found it wiser not to. If he had, it was unlikely that she would have answered, anyway.

And Jon didn't even pry. She had to appreciate that about him. She caught his eye briefly and after a moment, nodded.

"We are birds. We are wolves. We are animals." Ziio shook her head slowly. "I never expected to meet someone like here." Or someone so like me in some ways, without the relation.

"Well, I'm happy to be a pleasant surprise." he replied with a little smile in her direction. It was... rare. That he thought of himself as a pleasant anything.

He'd take it.

"It's especially nice to know that we're alike, considering we've both decided we're here to stay. Always nice to have a like minded individual about to chat with. Or walk with."

The outdoors was actually very nice today. The sky was blue, taking a break from either snowing or raining, and the wind was gentle. Everything looked bright and felt fresh. Utterly pleasant.

If she hadn't been accustomed to the cold, it probably would have stung her face. Instead, she felt as unmoved by it as she did most other things. It was difficult to stir a creature like her. Ziio often felt like she was stone. And perhaps that was age and disappointment that touched her and left her in such a manner. She could have blamed Haytham. She could have blamed the Templars. She didn't. They were just pieces to the larger puzzle.

She nodded along, unable to find anything to disagree with. "Yes," Ziio began. "There are not so many here that I can do that with. Many that I enjoy the company of. But not many who would truly understand me." And not many that she was completely comfortable with. And to be fair, Ziio had never portrayed herself as the kind of woman that was easy to get on with. She knew she was intimidating, but had no intention of changing that.

All for protection, she supposed. Only the stupid would prod her.

"I can empathize." Jon replied. "Even the folk who have tried will never particularly get it... I'd not expect them to. I really wouldn't. But it's nice to know there's at least one soul here who's on my page."

Jon had grown less intimidating over time. And really, he didn't mind. He knew that he'd never be the most approachable lad on campus, and that was OK. But he'd grown accustomed to living with others to the point where he could comfortably move around here without feeling as though there was something he needed to prove. Unlike the scrappy, surly, mean spirited man he'd been when he first arrived.

He thought she was on his page, hm? It was almost flattering, if Ziio really knew what flattery was. She peered sidelong to him with thought and offered only silence to begin. She didn't know what else she really had to give. She was pretty certain that at the end of the day the only thing she had was herself. And maybe that was all he wanted. She could respect that.

"Yes," she found herself repeating. "Of course. Better to have one than none. Seems I was more fortunate in that respect. Ratonhnhakè:ton understands me well enough. As he should. So I have two, then."

"Ratonhnhakè:ton?" Jon repeated to the best of his ability. He... wasn't familiar with the name. He knew of Connor, of course, but he hardly knew the full name of every staff member.

Right. Because the only people who seemed to know his given name were Gordon and Eirika. Ziio hesitated for a moment, if only because trying to call him anything other than it was difficult and sat awkwardly on her tongue. "You likely know him as Connor. He and I are of the same place, though not of the same time." Considering she imagined he'd prefer it if she didn't spout off about their familial relation.

After all, the people who needed to know, knew. That was good enough, no? It'd have to be for the time being, she supposed.

"Ah, yes. Connor. I do know of him as that. Quite right."

The two had never really spoken at length, but Connor seemed a hard working sort. Dependable. Professional in what he did. All admirable qualities.

"I was unaware he was tied to you, even by place of origin."

"Oh, really?"

She was smiling again, because she honestly thought it was obvious. But perhaps it was because her company with Connor was usually not blatantly in front of others. Sometimes they were together publicly, but usually they were not.

"If you put the two of us beside one another, I believe we would look like siblings. When we are together, there is familiarity. Or so I have heard."

Jon took a step back in the snow and raised his hand to his chin, studying her face thoughtfully for a second. Not that he was unfamiliar with how she looked - he would admit, though, that he'd never really looked very carefully at Connor. Connor did not have the same appeal for Jon as Ziio did.

"....I can see it. I suppose it might be possible that you're related? Same place but a different time and similar appearance? I'd wager it's possible."

She nodded as she heard him. "You're very intuitive." She was biased. Of course Ziio saw herself in Connor. How could she not? Mother and son. A mother knew when her son was her son, and briefly she replayed the first reunion between him and her. An awkward crossing of paths that they still weren't really as close as family should have been. And they never would be, either.

But Ziio accepted that, even if a bit begrudgingly.

"You'll have to take a closer look in the future. Provided you get the opportunity to. Ratonhnhakè:ton is a private man and not always convenient to catch an eye of," she admitted with a subtle smile.

"I'll see what I can do about getting a good look. I'd prefer to be somewhat covert about it. I'm sure he'd feel no great comfort in another fellow staring at his face, and I'd certainly take no satisfaction in him seeing me taking a gander..."

He imitated the look of someone trying to study something intently. Not the sort of look anyone liked to receive.

She chuckled a little, though it was quiet and to most people, it probably wouldn't have even been considered a chuckle. "You do not even know him and yet it must be obvious about him. He has no great fondness for attention." Something they had in common.

But then she elbowed Jon as carefully as she could when he demonstrated his look for her. "In the event that you should ever look at me in such a way, at least I will know what it is you are trying to accomplish."

"Oh, of course." he replied with a chuckle of his own. "Though, I would like to think I've a good enough memory that I can just call your face to mind without the visual aid."

"It would be a bit disconcerting if you could not," she agreed. "You've seen me plenty of times by this point. If you still needed to see me to put a name to the face, then I'd think everything that's happened today would be without point."

Because she was relatively certain that he wouldn't have come to the rescue of anyone that he didn't remotely know.

"I'd think so, too."

He smiled at her, then.

"No. I daresay yours is a face I'll remember well for a very long time to come."

Hey, just because his hair was silver, that didn't mean his memory was any worse for wear.

"...Oh?"

Ziio stopped for a few moments and then she cocked an eyebrow. "You like looking at it that much, then." Kind of jesting. Sort of. She never noticed if he looked at her that much. Not necessarily because she was expecting it, but rather that most of the time he seemed like the kind of guy who'd simply be straight forward about what he wanted and when he wanted it.

But on the other hand, Ziio had never seen herself too much of a romantic, so it was easy to use that as an excuse, too.

"Aye." he replied, without any further prompting required. She had a pretty face. Strong, stoic, often serious, but pretty. And when she DID smile, it was like the sun coming out.

"I don't go out of my way to spend time with a great many people. You're one of the few. Your face does, indeed, brighten my day."

"I detect flattery," she replied, unable to keep her mouth from slipping into it's characteristic subtle curve. "You seem to be holding a lot of that today, Jon. Dare I ask why none of this has come up before? It's not the first time you've seen me, after all."

And it wasn't like they'd spent a good deal of time apart. Ziio liked thinking she saw Jon on a fairly regular basis, even if they didn't have the frequent heart-to-heart conversations. Because to be fair, she wasn't any good at those and wanted to keep them as low in number as possible.

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