HARK! How the bells, sweet silver bells...

[piper90npcs]

Who: Everyone
What: Holiday Events
Where: Piper 90 - The Rig
When: Post-Rose Tattoo
Warnings/Notes: Holiday cheer, smooches, tactical snowball action

It's the Holiday Season in the Gone Away World and on the Rig in particular! Though they claim to be open to any cultural celebration of this time of year, the dominance of Santa Claus, reindeer, and elves in decorating really kind of blunt that claim. But the PA system, when not blaring alarms or fuzzy announcements for working party C to show up at the maintenance bay, play Christmas tunes of all sorts at inconvenient volumes. Decorations hang limply from the walls. And every worker with children has been issued a shotgun and a bandoleer of shells loaded with pellets of cold iron.

Just in case.

Comments

DESTINATION: DECORATIONS

[piper90npcs]

It had to happen. You and a few others have been pulled together, had a box full of ribbons, paper, jars of fake snow powder, singing toys, and/or balloons slammed down in front of you, and told to make this area of the Rig look appropriately merry. Some helpful guides have been given. If you need more sticks of glue, call this number for a delivery. And do not eat the glue. They've heard about you types and they don't appreciate that sort of activity. This is after all, a good, Christi-ah. Multicultural company full of decent people of all religions. None of whom eat glue.

With a final admonishment, they leave, but the last one through the door turns and points at his eyes, then the New Hires. Then promptly turns around to walk into a closed door. Swearing, he opens it and slams it behind him, catching himself in his ass as he goes.

There are menorah and unity cup patterns, stuffed into the very bottom of the box. Diversity, such a high priority among these people.

[princesspower]

Adora is, surprisingly enough, actually kind of into decorating. Even it is kind of kitschy. It's sort of soothing to just be hanging decorations and pasting glitter on things as appropriate. She can be found in the area of the mess hall, trying to run tinsel or put up paper cut-outs of reindeer and snowflakes. She even has a step ladder.

"Hey, would you mind holding this end in place over here-?"

Of course, sometimes you need more than two hands. Just watch out for the scattered boxes.

Of course, she gets a text from someone important and so at one point, she's just waiting, using the stepladder as a seat, toe tapping against the floor. What's Catra want? It sounded kind of serious, weirdly.

[heterochrocatic]

Catra makes an appearance shortly. She laser-focuses in on Adora and heads straight for her. Without saying anything at first, she just wraps Adora up in a hug and holds on tight. Finally, she steps back to hold her at arm's length, her face twisted into a conflicted frown. She pauses, obviously trying to gather the right words. Unfortunately, they never quite seem to make an appearance and she finally just has to blurt out what's on her mind.

"Tenten is in love with me." There, that's said and out of the way. "We got stuck in one of those stupid mistletoe things." Her discomfort about what's transpired is probably obvious, especially to Adora. Her ears splay flat, her tail flicks wildly, her whole body seems tense and on edge.

[princesspower]

Oh. Adora starts as Catra goes straight in for the hug and then returns it, giving Catra a tight squeeze. Something is definitely wrong and her eyebrows knit together as she takes a step back to get a better look at Catra. Before she can ask, though, Catra spills the beans and Adora's mouth falls open. Wait, what?

"Tenten... Tenten's in love with you? Like - in love?"

Yes, Adora, that's what that means.

[heterochrocatic]

"Yes!" Catra snaps, then takes a breath. Calm down, Catra. Calm.

"Yes. Sorry. It just... it was a lot. She was really--ugh, I don't know how to put it." She frets, turns away from Adora and starts to pace, then turns back around to pace back towards her. Nervous energy seems to just be pouring off the girl.

"I'm barely used to being loved by one person and now she goes and--I didn't want to hurt her, I tried to explain as best as I could and this sucks."

[princesspower]

"Oh, Catra..."

Adora's mind is racing a thousand miles a minute, maybe a little worried about how this is going to impact everything. She doesn't think that's bad, it's just - wow. She tries to follow Catra, reaching out to settle a hand on her shoulder.

"What'd you say to her...? Uh-"

She pauses, frowns.

"How do you feel about her?"

[heterochrocatic]

"I--What do you think I said to her?" Catra snaps, teeth bared for a moment before she takes another deep breath. Calm. Calm.

"Sorry. I'm--I'm working on that. I told her that I wasn't sure I could actually return that feeling and--" She paused, then added in exasperation. She could feel energy thrumming under her skin, demanding to be let out. Of course there were few enough places to run off and burn energy on this damn prison.

"Aren't you even a little bit jealous? AGH!" She covers her face with both hands and scrubs at herself furiously.

"I like her. She's nice! I just--I don't know if that's the kind of thing I can give her."

[princesspower]

"I mean - a little? A lot? I don't know," Adora frowns and folds her arms, "...I just - you wouldn't mess with me like that or drag me along. Not..."

Not anymore, she almost says and then swallows the word.

"I trust you, basically. And I'm worried. A lot worried. Because this is tearing you apart and I hate seeing you like this."

That's Adora. Always willing to put everyone else ahead of herself. She doesn't allow herself to be selfish. Not really.

[heterochrocatic]

"She's--" She's my friend, is what Catra is about to say but the idea of claiming her as a friend to someone besides Tenten feels odd. Foreign. She's not supposed to have friends. The only one she had is standing right here in front of her. She crosses her arms tightly over her chest and speaks in a quiet voice.

"She's my friend. I like her. I think she's a lot like me." It felt weird saying that out loud to Adora.

"I don't know how to deal with this. I wish I could tell her that I could, you know, be what she wants but--" She fidgets and her tail flicks around to rest against Adora's leg, seeking comfort in touch.

"And I don't know if I feel ready to be loved by anyone but you right now, okay?" She mutters at last, quiet and unhappy.

[princesspower]

Adora drapes an arm around Catra's shoulders and tugs her into a loose hug. She's worried about all of this. There's a thousand thoughts in her head and none of them seem to want to go in the right direction. Although the fact that Catra admits to having another friend makes her heart swell up a little.

"...I... think I get it."

Adora frowns.

"...I'm not sure I'd want that, either. But if it made you happy..."

She'd let it happen. Because Catra being happy is more important than her.

"I still love you. And this - I don't know. It sounds really complicated. I get that you don't want to hurt her, but... I think it's going to happen."

She sighs.

"Do you wish you could be what she wants? Do you... like her like that?" She says it out loud, because she doesn't know what else to say. Although maybe it's not the best thing to say. But Adora seems determined to light herself on fire to keep others warm.

[heterochrocatic]

"Adora." Catra reaches up and presses her hands to Adora's cheeks. Holds her face so that she can look her in the eyes with an intense stare. Her mismatched eyes peer into Adora's.

"Adora, if that was what I wanted, I would only do it if it was something you were okay with. You're the best thing that's happened to me. Nothing else... no one else will come before you." She takes a breath and exhales slowly, clearly trying to focus and center herself.

"And I don't know if I like her like that. Maybe? I never thought about it. Everything is happening so fast, Adora... I already told her no, pretty much, anyway."

[princesspower]

"Then... I think you just... have to let things play out for right now," Adora replies slowly. She is not the best at handling her own emotions so she feels tentative about handing out advice to Catra. It's not like Adora's had that many relationships!

"And process. Which sounds dumb, I know, but getting worked up about it isn't going to help you or Ten..."

[takenalive]

What Alloran would consider a good way to decorate this space using these materials doesn't really go with the guidelines. His inclination runs towards trying to make things look like foliage, and he's not put off by not everything being green. Plants on his homeworld come in many more colors. If not for the repeated insistence on not eating the glue, he wouldn't have thought about it.

After the last staffer leaves, the Andalite steps back for a few minutes - no one wants to watch him morph, if anyone does follow they're not going to be comfortable with the sight - and returns in Aria form, tying Aria's long hair back.

And tastes the glue. "It's good. Not very flavorful though," he says in her voice. Big surprise. It's not a stimulus he's familiar with or can really map onto his own Andalite sense of taste, but the stimulation itself is a positive.

[monkey_wrench]

[Trusting Jack with the responsibility of decorating the rig was a mistake. That should have been obvious from the start, when he asked "Can I feed you the glue?" and made no attempt to even feign remorse after a brief shock. Today was a day of causing as much passive aggressive chaos as he could with his meager supplies and taking whatever consequences may come.]

I. It’s a Diverse Holiday, Right?

[It starts off small, spreading out the unity cup patterns and slamming down menorahs in the most prominent places he can find, while sweeping anything distinctly Christmassy back into his own box. Or on to the floor. It’s a case of wherever they happen to land is where they stay.

But slowly he escalates to more “creative” forms of “decoration”. Like taking the glue sticks to the walls and drawing any symbols from Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and yule that he can manage to google, and covering the sticky residue with pulverized Christmas tree bulbs. That’s close enough to glitter, right?]

II. Poking the Bear

[Eventually he gets an idea in his head that turns his ire more pointed, and more aggressive than passive. Wandering far away from the area he was assigned to decorate, he just so happens to find himself at the entrance to a certain physical trainer's office, and aw would you look at that? There are no decorations in this hall, and that just wouldn't do. Clearly if anyone needed some Christmas cheer it was Planker, right?

So the garlands go up around the door frame, along with some sprigs of holly, a single sprig of mistletoe, and some cheesy pre-cut red and green letters above the door that read “Seasons Greetings”. Just to make things look legit for five minutes.

But then, using more of that glue and powdered bulbs, he draws a mural of sorts on the door itself, depicting a rough sketch of a blocky man, who was likely meant to be Planker, struggling in a massive snow drift at the bottom of a set of stairs. And encircling it are the words "All Hail The GOD Of The Snow, May He Reign Eternal In His Tiny Kingdom".

And then, the garlands starting to sag as he adds dangling fishing wire with christmas bulb hooks attached. They’re not sharp or barbed like fish hooks but surely Planker will appreciate the call back to one of his own torture training rooms.

Standing back to look at his work he looks distinctly unimpressed.]

This needs something more.

III. Silent Night

[And he ends the night, possibly worse for wear if he's already been caught, by going up to the top deck to stand at the railing with what's left in his box of decorations. Occasionally he fishes something out of the box to either drop off the side of the rig or pitch at a target.]

III

[heterochrocatic]

[ Guess who else comes up here to brood sometimes, Jack? It's your villain pal, Catra! She arrives with her usual stealthy tread--she's a cat, after all. She announces herself by plucking an unused decoration from the box and chucking it over the railing. As it smashes into something (not even what she was aiming at, but who cares?) she leans up against the railing next to him. ]

Looks like you had a busy day.

[monkey_wrench]

[There's a moment when he sees that hand go for the box out of the corner of his eye and he flinches away, alarmed, either expecting someone more hostile, or just jumpy as usual. But at the sight of Catra plucking a decoration from the box and hucking it, he quickly relaxes, leaning back against the railing again with a smirk. Like nothing happened.]

Sure did. I was put on decorating duty.

[Picking one of the few bulbs from the box that had remained intact, he gave it a little toss in the air, before chucking it at what he assumed was a large exhaust pipe and watching it burst into a shower of glittering broken glass.]

Personally, I think I've done a smashing job.

[heterochrocatic]

[ Catra smirks. Another time she might have made a remark about his flinching--laughed at him. SHe even opens her mouth, like she might. But then--no. She's trying to be better than that, right? Like Adora wants. So instead she laughs at his pun. ]

Yeah, you've definitely smashed expectations.

[ She leans over the railing, watching the world go by. ]

How's it going?

ii

[zerofield]

[ Tio is not, as a general rule, the petty sort. It requires a level of emotional investment she normally finds it a struggle to reach, so those who earn her ire are more likely to simply be ignored than anything else.

But as she surveys Jack's handiwork on Planker's door, she can't help but feel a little twinge of satisfaction. This is a cause she can get behind. ]

I think it needs something cute. I'm sure he'd appreciate cute and heartwarming, right?

[ Such as, say, the item she's helpfully holding up from her own box - one of those tacky window clings, a large one of a ridiculously saccharine pink kitten sporting a sparkly Santa hat. ]

[monkey_wrench]

[Caught up in his own musing, when he first notices that Tio's walked up next to him, he jumps slightly, as if for a moment he mistook her for Planker, as ridiculous as that was, considering that physically she was practically his complete opposite. But even as she's just surveying his work he looks at her with more than a hint of nervousness, as if he half expects her to start lecturing him or maybe even threatening to rat him out. But at her suggestion, and offer of tacky Christmas kittens, his eyes light up.]

Oh, I think he would absolutly adore that!

[Then there's a pause and thoughtfully look before he asks-]

You okay with being an accessory to this?

[If she was already offering the answer was pretty obvious, but the possibility of getting caught and facing Plankers retribution was something he was prepared for from the start, and outside of offering the stickers, it might not be something she was really down to deal with. So best to ask.]

[zerofield]

[ She nods. ]

What's he going to do? Send us through more of his training rooms?

[ At some point, it's impossible to discern an actual difference in the amount of hell you're being put through, after all. ]

And anyway, we're still within the letter of the law, even if we're playing fast and loose with the spirit of it.

I

[humandroid]

[ Finally, Data is free to live his best life in a low-stakes environment. To perform per his usual preferences one of his favorite recreational activities.

Watching people he hasn't interacted with do things and then sticking his nose into it.

This is his business now. He lives here in this moment in time, with his armful of crummy generic Christmas decorations. ]

Intriguing. An unconventional use of extant materials to transform their purpose. There have been many historical observations of the ways in which creativity and destruction may complement one another.

[ Are decorations art theory? Maybe they should be. ]

Your technique lacks refinement, but I find your intentions quite impressive. Good work, Jack.

[ (Although if Jack doesn't have a Jorgmund-issued nametag on him at the moment, that can be edited out, just lmk) ]

Re: DESTINATION: DECORATIONS

[myagents]

Price carefully places the various Christmas decorations around the halls, carrying the box with him as he takes his time to empty it. When he sees the menorah at the bottom he tilts his head. He remembers the Director mentioning he was jewish. Tucking a single small menorah somewhere and lighting it was the most he would do, and he wouldn't even do it every year. He must've given up on faith, and there was even a look of shame on him whenever he brought himself to 'celebrate'. Agent Carolina didn't seem to stick to those religious beliefs - why would she when he didn't? - and would keep other agents company, even when they left the ship to celebrate somewhere else, with the head staff's permission.

In those occasions Price, who didn't have a family of his own, would simply remain alone with the Director and work with him as if it was a normal day. It was nice to catch him glance at the menorah in reminiscence and then pretend not to see him when he would snap back to reality. Any remark or invite about celebrating with Carolina would earn Price a scolding, which was utterly rude by the way. Then again, he himself didn't celebrate. Nobody ever thought much of it, though, they never questioned it. He loved to keep up on the gossip but that would mean that he would hear unpleasant comments about himself, the ones he found most offensive were about being weirded out at the mere idea that he needed to sleep, eat or go to the bathroom like any regular human being, so of course they wouldn't even conceive the idea of him celebrating the holidays.

He used to be so thankful for the head staff never ever time off or free days...Yet Project Freelancer was the period of his life that offered him the best holidays, as he could get to do the job he loved and watch the Director and the Agents. In his own special way, he liked them, he just had to keep them close in a way that made them unable to leave, even if that led to them seemingly disliking him. At the end of the day they would always come to him whenever they had a problem. He was important to them whether they liked him or not.

He shakes his head almost violently, embarrassed of how his thoughts spiraled even though nobody saw him. Then he proceeds to put the single menorah that was in the box on display, taking his time to light it and place it in a way that makes it look as pretty as possible.

[notvulcan]

Michael needs to draw from long-ago memories to create appropriate Christmas decorations—and she had barely known anything at all about Hanukkah before being brought to Vulcan. She takes a popsicle stick and squints at it for a moment before deciding what to do.

"You want to make a few more of those?" she suggests. "Out of these, I mean." There are enough markers that they can color up a variety of lit candle arrangements.

[myagents]

For some reason, he is surprised that Michael came to speak to him and was friendly about it. Maybe he should stop provoking people since most of them are strangers and could be useful.

"Oh! Yes, thank you."

[humandroid]

[ Data is more than on board for decorating duty when it rolls around. Seeing how no one has a choice in the assignment, that's probably for the best. It's a mixture of historical Earth culture that he likely would have gotten around to studying and experimenting with for the sake of knowledge, and the sort of low-tier preparatory "grunt work" he routinely found himself assigned as an Ensign.

He takes to it with palpable curiosity and enthusiasm for a unique experience. He's well and impressively repaired, there's no longer an immediate existential threat to the crew of this Rig in the form of Rose Tattoo, it's a new day. It's a social activity. What's not to take to?

Having given the instructions a cursory flipping through for memorization, his contributions all match up to that rubric with precision.

But he can be found, sometimes, standing back from his work with a tilted head-- adding more ribbon or snow, perhaps, in an attempt at "taking creative license." Data is very able and willing to turn to the nearest party to ask if they're willing to offer their opinion on his work. ]

The decoration guides all seem to indicate that merriment is quantifiable through means that are primarily material, rather than emotional. I find that assertion to be questionable at best.

[ Data has not written his small-talk subroutine yet. He's trying.

He is equally able and willing to stick his nose into someone else's efforts with observations or praise or guidebook quotes, etc. Set 'em up doing literally anything! He'll talk to anyone, he'll go right for it.

Also handy for: relocating heavy objects, opening difficult containers, anything that requires having someone stand very still for an extended period, giving boosts so someone can reach a high spot, overall moral support. ]