F4/OP) Snow and Fun! (Eggnog Included)

[Vigilon 0]

Ah, Christmas. The once in a year celebration. The fact that this holiday was still being celebrated still had Vigilon surprised. Sure, he didn't have enough Col for certain things, but he could afford to celebrate with others, and be able to dress warm for the cold weather, now that he didn't have to worry about spending col over having to find some sort of lodging when he couldn't find a bench to sleep on, from before he had his shop. He had noticed something about a Christmas party on floor 4 from floor 7's bulletin board. He checked his pockets. Sure, he could afford to get a few extra things and stop by. It wasn't long before he reached the town of Snowfrost, and looked through a few Vendors before heading over to the party. He was able to get himself a festive red coat that went well with his white shirt and black pants. sure, he was still cold, but obviously his familiar didn't seem to mind. He didn't know what would be at the party, so he decided to think about some possible refreshments he could bring with him. He dropped the idea and decided to bring one thing. He walked over to an NPC vendor. As he ordered a six-pack of eggnog bottles, he asked, "Nothing has been added to these, right?" The vendor responded with, "Why, of course not! *Chuckle* If there was, I wouldn't be selling these to you, now would I?" Vigilon hesitated before finishing the order, then he walked to the door where the party would be. "Come on, Veriost. We might even make some new friends here." This time, the small white frost dragon seemed eager for what the day had in store. He entered the building, seeing some players he recognized. Others he didn't. He noticed one player in particular that he hadn't seen in a bit. "Hey Stryder! How's it going?"

@Stryder

[Kairi 0]

It was Christmas! Which had brought Kairi a lot of happiness as this was the time of the year where she could wear cute Christmas outfits and many parties were soon to come! However this year it had almost turned to a bummer, she had waited a fair bit of time for a party to come, however she had gotten pretty worried that one might happen this year. However she had finally received a message about a party that had been going on. With excitement, she had opened her inventory and equipped her Christmas Dress and looked around, she had stepped out of her room and said out "Hestia, are you home?" she had repeated the same sentence a few times and each time had received nothing. She had looked around with a curious look and thought to herself "Maybe she was just busy and wanted to get stuff done today..." Eventually she had made her way towards the shop that the message had said, and entered the store extremely cold "Man... I hate this cold weather." she had thought to herself. Looking around to the crowd that was here, one had caught her eye: Hestia. She had walked over with a somewhat upset look as she had tugged on her shirt saying out to her "Thanks for leaving me home Hesty."

@Hestia

[Koal 0]

Hanging out in Aster's store he had scrolled through his messages looking for something, anything entertaining to do at the current moment. Eventually he had received a message inviting all to a Christmas Party, Koal had hummed as he had opened the message reading it. Koal didn't really think much of it though, it was only a matter of time honestly before someone was going to make a party and inviting all to the party. Turning to Aster which had been busy at her work he had said out "Hey Short stuff." he stood up and walked over to her "I'm bored, and I am sure you are too, how about we hit up the party that's going on on the fourth floor. It's better than you know sitting around doing actual work and leaving me bored it you ask me." he had placed a hand on his hip as he leaned forward to Aster and said to her "C'mon I was only joking, it will be fun, at least in theory it will. C'mon let's go."

@Aster

[Hestia 0]

I feel someone tugging on my coat and turns to see Kairi. 'oh crap i forgot about her.' I think to myself and chuckles nervously at you stating that fact. i am sorry Kairi i didn't mean to leave you at home. I just got kind of wrapped up in the holiday spirit and was so excited that i left, and forgot to mention to you about the party that these people were hosting. I say with a small nervous chuckle. Can you please forgive me Kairi i promise i will make it up to you later in some way. i ask you in a gentle tone of voice. For now however lets just try to enjoy the nice part and try to make some new friends or catch up with people that we might've not seen in awhile. I say to you as i look you in the eyes. I look around to see where Kuro is after i say that wondering where that little lion is to see if he is causing any kind of trouble for anybody. Eventually i see the little guy just laying in bottom left corner of the room just observing everyone.

[Kasier 0]

A step onto the snow was all that should've been needed to redirect Kasier from the place that she was going. Christmas had been one of those holidays that she had spent with her family in real life but thought useless since the beginning of this game. It was really a family holiday, not one spent with friends or acquaintances necessarily. It was meant to be a jolly time, but Kasier felt somewhat empty. It had been a large gap of time since she had last spent any time with her beloved, but it wasn't because of that that she was feeling an emptiness, it was the memories of her family that she should be spending the holidays with. She could imagine her home being lit up with bright, yellow lights, and red, blue, green lights decorating the outside of the humble house, with her extended family eating the same turkey and dishes prepared like any other year. It would be the same as any other year, but it was simply not the same without her. Her parents could only hope and pray for Kasier to finally wake up one day and spend a Christmas with them. Indeed, it had been far too long since she had spent one with them - and it was for that reason that she felt empty. And it was for that reason that her parents would feel empty even though everything was the same, everyone was the same, but Kasier was not the same.

Nevertheless, it was Christmas season, and naturally, Christmas was to be spent with others. With her guild being practically dead from the terrible year they were having, she figured that it would be useless going to any of them for companionship. Instead, she would head out and see if she could find anything interesting that was going on. Naturally, a Christmas party was best held on the fourth floor, where snow would be falling lightly from the sky and the towns would be clothed with holiday lights and Christmas trees. And a party she did find, although she figured she'd rather stand on top of a hill and look down upon it before actually going to it. She was curious. How could players continue to be this festive even though this game was death itself? How can happiness be felt from a holiday that should be celebrated in real life, not in a video game. After staring and thinking about it, Kasier shook her head at her naiveness. Perhaps it was she, not them, that was wrong here. Perhaps Christmas was not a holiday, but rather a feeling that there are others with you no matter how bad things seem.

And thus, she found herself walking into the party silently, keeping an eye out for anyone that was remotely familiar to her eyes. Luckily, she found Stryder, someone that she had completed several quests with, but had not acquainted herself with personally. A shrug followed and she walked over to him, "Nice party." Kasier exclaimed simply.

@Stryder

Edited December 25, 2017 by Kasier

[Pinball 1]

One after another, party guests filed in. Fae offered Pinball a cookie, which he accepted, with a small smile and a thanks. Next came Mina, one of the two people he had completed Worn Out Welcome with. When she greeted him, he waved, smiling. He took a bite of Fae's cookie, and Hei came up, offering a Santa hat. He laughed, put it on, and twirled the top of it around with his head. "Merry Christmas," he said in-between bites, finishing his cookie. There were a few more people that entered he didn't recognize, too. 

As the room filled, Pinball felt himself edging towards the walls of the room, not really associating himself with the party. Stryder was hollering for everyone to try his eggnog, and for a second, Pinball's mind wandered. He saw himself walk over to Stryder with an exaggerated flair. "Hey Strydie-poo," he winked, snatching a cup of eggnog from the man. "Nice day for a Christmas party." Pinball twirled around, and skipped to the center of the room. "Is it hot in here, or is it just me," he yelled at the top of his lungs, pouring the eggnog all over his face, his tongue lapping up only a portion of the liquid that now covered his face and armor. He whirled around to face the girl nearest to him, and snapped a finger gun. "Hey cutie," he said with another wink, his voice slurred, eggnog dripping down his face, "have you been naughty or nice?" 

Pinball was hysterical now, laughing himself to tears; a loon in the corner. The thought was so obscene and bizarre, there was just something absolutely hilarious about it. His hands went to his face, and he wiped his eyes. The game's system had a way with accentuating emotions in the face, and so it may have appeared as though Pinball was crying. After rubbing his face for a moment, he straightened himself, clearing his throat. He took a quick headcount, muttering the numbers out loud to himself. The party, so far, seemed to be a success. 

 

[Stryder 0]

Sky watched as @Fae ran over to him, grabbing the Eggnog off him. It was quite heavy for her, considering how many bottles were in there, but she seemed to be doing completely fine. It only reminded him that in a game, anyone can do anything. It didn't take long for her to run back, climing right into his back with ease. She seemed to love it up there, on his back. He lifted a hand back and patted her head, smiling. "Its good to see you to Fae, hope your enjoying yourself" He says to the young girl. As he looks around, and at the door he just entered through, more and more people were coming in. He was quite suprised, but very happy! His party, well, his guilds party, was a success! As long as no one ruins it...

As he was thinking that, he heard a very familiar voice, one that he was quite glad to hear actually. Turning, he see's @Mina. Smiling as he looked at her, he was glad she showed up. She was cool, and he considered her a friend. He had a bottle in his inventory still, so swipping the menu open he grabbed it out, offering it to her. "Look what you have done Fae, everyones calling me mister now" He says, laughing as he pats her head a pit, handing the Eggnog to Mina. "Its nice to see you again, glad you showed up!" He says to her. When Hei walked over, he realized he was right. He had forgotten to dress up..... He laughed a little, before opening his inventory and switching out all his combat gear and just putting on his suit. He had a suiyt which used to be his armor, but thankfully he had a little bit of a touch to it, making it have some snowy lines on it which made it look a little christmassy. 

"My bad, this is probably better"  He says in response to Hei, still patting Fae's head.

He then heard a familiar voice... Someone he often called Boar Bait, but today he would be nice. "Hey man, good to see you, eggnog?" He asks, offering him a bottle as he takes another one out of his inventory. He got a few to many...

Then, the last person he expected to see showed up. Kasier. She was very closed off, but she had come to this party anyway! She said it was a nice party, though to him she seemed a little unentertained, but that might change.. Well he hoped it would.

"Thanks, hope you enjoy yourself, Here" He said, pulling out... another bottle of Eggnog and handing it to her. His inventroy had two more in it, after that the rest would be on the table.

[SoulNova 0]

It was Christmas season again, and Marx wanted to gain some allies. A Christmas party would be the best chance to do that, and it was being hosted by a guild from what Marx had heard, so it was an even better chance to get into a guild, just showing up at the party and then joining. It was simple, yet so practical at the same time. Marx straightened up his usual jester's hat, but then decided against wearing it today in favor of a santa hat.

Marx walked down the streets of Snowfrost and found the shop that the party was being hosted at. He stepped through the door and put on a wide smile, seeing that the party was already in swing. There was a man that he suspected was the guild leader, seeing as he was the one with all of the eggnog. Marx grabbed a bottle from him and gave a quick smirk. "Hey hey hey, good day sir! Quite a merry party you have going. The name's Marx, I take it you are Stryder, the leader of the guild?" Marx introduced himself, tipping his hat to Stryder.

Marx moved on and arrived at the food table to greet the host. She seemed to be much more formal in comparison to everyone else at the party. "You look dashing, and here I am thinking this is a casual party. But I must thank you for setting up this party. I am Marx, nice to meet you." Marx complimented Eatos, before tipping his hat off to her.

[Eatos 0]

Despite being the 'host' of the event, Eatos was off to the side, on her own. It didn't bother her too much, she wasn't usually for these events. She found them, well, somewhat silly. She much prefered small gatherings, these style of events were far from her strong suit. It spoke about her clothes, she wore an all-black suit, compared to everyone else. Santa hats, dresses and, Stryder was even in his combat gear. She honestly wasn't too surprised at that, he seemed to only live on the battlefield. A whole wave of players had arrived, and the girl was somewhat worried. Would her store even be able to handle everyone? Hopefully, although if not, surely she could have them us the front? The back of the store, which included her forge, was crowded enough as it was. 

So the girl, eating nibbles at the table off to the side, was somewhat taken aback when a youngish looking boy, in a jester outfit, came up to her. She smiled softly, swallowing the cookie in her mouth "Pleasure to meet you Marx. It is indeed a casual event, i, well..Lets just say i much prefer this style of clothing to a frizzy dress or skirt. I hope you're enjoying yourself Marx, there is plenty to eat and drink..." The girl let out a sigh as she shook her head "Angel, what did i say about behaving?"

Behind Marx, a large Husky stood with bared teeth. At being spoken to, Angel, Eatos' Familiar, tilted her head to the side and ventured off. The Husky eventually found @Hestia, barking once before sniffing at the girls legs. 

[Fae 0]

Fae was loving it on Stryder's back, as she always did. It was just such a fun place to hang onto. It was just his leadership position and their friendship that made Fae want to cling onto his back, no one else. Plus, being on his back let Fae see above the crowds that she would otherwise be lost in. "Thank you for letting Fae ride on your back mister Stryder, it's nice and comfy up here." Fae thanked, ruffling Stryder's hair a little bit.

Fae heard the door open again and noticed a guy in jester's outfit walk in. Interesting choice of attire for a Christmas party. Fae looked over at the jester that had now walked over to Eatos and Fae realized something. Stryder and Eatos hadn't said a word to each other this whole party. "Hey mister Stryder, are you gonna say hi to miss Eatos? You two worked together to set this up, you should at least say hi. Come on!" Fae said, leaning forward on Stryder in Eatos's direction.

[Kairi 0]

Kairi had puffed out her cheeks when she had said that she didn't mean to and she just had gotten wrapped up in the christmas spirit, she had placed her hands on her hips as she had leaned towards Hestia's face when she had made her final statements saying that she would make it up to her later in some way some form and to just enjoy themselves. She had said to Hestia with a smile saying "You are lucky I love you. But you owe me dinner and a kiss later." she had giggled. Eventually she had straightened herself and looked around the party grabbing onto Hestia's arm to be sure that if she had gone somewhere that she would take Kairi with her and if Kairi wanted to go somewhere she would take Hestia. And eventually a familiar had gone up to Hestia's leg and began to sniff it. Immediately being the girl that she is she was immediatly attracted to it, moving down onto her knees she had said out to the familiar with a smile "Hello you cute doggy, aren't you the cutest thing. Do you know where your owner is?" she asked out to it.

@Hestia @Eatos

[Hestia 0]

I chuckle a bit at the stipulation as i just nod my head completely fine with that. Of course i promise to make you the best dinner that i can, and give you a kiss later. I say with a smile and then kisses you gently on the cheek. Here is just a small little sample. I say in a playful tone of voice with a grin on my face. I do feel you wrap your arm around my mine as i just look around trying to figure out who i actually know in this room. Only knowing a very small sample, and knowing only one based on the fact i have heard quite a bit about them at this point. However, before i could think of interacting with any i feel something near me and looks down seeing a husky at my leg. I see Kairi quickly  on her knees and talking to the dog. I just smile and gets onto one knee slowly to show the thing i don't mean any possible harm and moves my hand forward for him to sniff it. I don't mean any harm, and neither does the girl next to me. we just wish to enjoy this party. I say gently to the dog before me encase its intelligence is high enough to understand. Myself not entirely sure what the average intelligence of a familiar even is. Not noticing my familiar looking over directly towards where i am and getting ready to move if need be.

@Kairi@Eatos

[Paglikha 0]

The notion of Christmas escaped Kalu for many years. The idea of gift-giving and celebrating with others was foreign to Kalu as his idea of a perfect day was to stay inside playing the guitar.

However, Kalu wanted to break the old habit. He wanted to feel life within Aincrad fearing that he will never be able to have emotions in the real world ever again.

Christmas in the Philippines was an extremely long festivity (lasting  a good portion of the wet season), so Kalu wasn't able to experience caroling around a community (although he felt as if his singing would be more frightening than  inviting) or paying respects to anyone in particular (having already done that plenty of times with Axios). However, Kalu planned on visiting the people he most related to family (or friends for that matter) in this world.

Kalu heard of a Christmas party going on in Eatos' shop on the Fourth Floor. However, he had nothing to bare except a barely-less-than forced smile and an out of place Santa hat. If I'm going to do one thing, it's celebrating Christmas with others.

Kalu walked into the shop and noticed a peculiar smell (which he quickly discerned was this white substance in other people's cups) and festivities going around. When he noticed that there was a dog familiar, Kalu walked over and bent down to give it a few scratches all around its neck. "You're an interesting fellow, aren't you?"

[Saphira 0]

Saphira smiled as Hei greeted her, still smiling she took a green hairband from him - Nice to see you Hei, or should I say Santa? It looks good on you - she smiled again. And after she waited some time for an answere of the strange girl she walked away, around the crowd of guildmembers and people she didn´t know, looking for someone she could talk to, someone who was just standing around. She reached the table with the bottles of eggnog, curious she looked at them - I wonder how it taste. - she thought. As she took one bottle to have a closer look on it she heared a more or less familiar voice. Searching for the owner of the voice she walked through the room. While she walked around someone opened the door - Nice to see you, Kalu - she greeted her guildmate with a smile.
After some time Saphira found Pinball laughing and with tears in his eyes - Are you alright? - she asked smiling and looked at him. - It is nice to see you again Pin. How are you doing? - She said as @Pinball wiped his eyes.

[Vigilon 0]

Stryder noticed Vigilon and offered him a bottle of eggnog. Unexpected. Absolutely unexpected. Vigilon looked at the six-pack of eggnog he was holding in his left hand. "...Huh." He looked at Stryder to respond. "I should have expected that, honestly." He said as he started lifting the case of six bottles up to where it could easily be seen. "Guess we have six extra bottles, then." He began looking at his surroundings, as well as keeping an eye out for the refreshments table so he could find a suitable place to set the extra bottles. He noticed a player who was handing out santa hats and green headbands(@Hei), and decided to receive a hat before continuing on. It seemed to work well with the attire he was currently wearing. When he noticed there was less weight on his left shoulder, he looked and spotted Veriost headed straight for the desserts on the refreshments table. "Uh oh. I better get her to calm down or something before she eats it all."

@Stryder

[SoulNova 0]

Marx chuckled a little bit at Eatos saying that she preferred her formal style of clothing compared to frizzy outfits. "Haha, yes, just do your style. I just prefer to be a pseudo jester, probably even less fitting than your suit. But I am enjoying myself, it really gets me in the festive spirit being at parties like these." Marx said as he grabbed a cookie off of the refreshment table. Eatos had told her dog Angel to behave, which made Marx turn around to see Angel with her teeth bared at him for a few seconds.

Angel walked away, but Marx still felt just a little bit uncomfortable being near Eatos if Angel was going to behave like that. "Well, it was nice meeting you Eatos. I'll just take a gander at everyone else here." Marx said as he walked away from her. Marx moved on to a boy who he had seen crying just a little bit earlier who was with a girl. "Hello miss and mister. Just a dandy party this is. I hope you two are enjoying yourselves, and not crying. Are you two from the guild?" Marx asked, putting his hands behind his back.

@Pinball @Saphira

[Eatos 0]

The girl, well, she liked this Jester boy, Marx. He seemed, well, fresh and honest. They weren't, perhaps, the best words, but the words that came to the blacksmiths mind. The glare from her amber eyes moved the familiar away, and the girl smiled weakly as an apology. The damn dog was so territorial sometimes, excessively so! "It was a pleasure to meet you Marx. I do hope to see you more in the future, either as a customer, or perhaps..." the girl went silent, before shrugging.

What was the harm in saying it? "Maybe, one day, you could join our guild. You would get along well with our members i believe" While she wasn't intentionally trying to recruit the boy, it did her no harm to mention it. Worst comes, he doesn't join, the same as before. But, the idea would be in his head. Would be act on it? She stared at him as he walked over to Saphire and Pinball, who were off to the side of the party. The blue-haired girl shrugged before eating herself a slice of cake. 

 She spotted a player she hadn't seen heading straight for the food table, well, the familiar of that player. She couldn't not let out a quiet laugh at @Vigilon's situation "Good to see my familiar isn't the only one who acts up"

 

Angel, the large Husky Familar, was enjoying the party. With his owner safe, her attention was split between @Hestia, @Kairi and @Paglikha. The husky did only spend a short amount of time with Paglikha, spending her time with the pair of girls. The dog seems to be able to understand them, barking softly and looking over at Eatos, who stood at the food table. Sniffing the hand offered by Hestia, it wasn't long before the dog was to climb onto the lap on either of the girls, used to sitting with/on its owner. 

[Aster 0]

'Look who's talking.' Aster held her tongue before the thought aired itself. The ginger was pouring herself over a large leather-bound book that rested atop a workbench in her alchemy shop on the first floor. While the place was rarely, if ever, open for business, she still spent much of her time there. And it seemed Koal had taken a liking to the space, much to her chagrin.

"Your entertainment is not my problem." She said matter-of-factly, not taking her eyes off of the printed pages laid out in front of her. She suddenly felt a small nudge on her ankle as Reginald brushed up against her leg, his bushy orange tail twitching lightly behind him. "Oh, don't encourage him." Aster scolded the fox familiar and sighed. Her eyes traveled past the rim of her glasses to the edge of the table, where a simple flyer rested. Koal had waved the announcement of a holiday party in her face earlier, and she had promptly disregarded it. Her amber eyes stared at the piece of paper, brows narrowing slightly at Koal's continued urging.

Aster was visibly pouting as the duo approached the armory on the fourth floor. Reginald trotted along happily through the high piles of snow, occasionally hopping into particularly high mounds and splashing fresh powder onto the ginger's boots.

[Saige 0]

Christmas parties weren't really Saige's thing. Being more of an introvert, she preferred to spend her Christmas with a small group of friends and family and if she was presented with a situation wherein all of them weren't available (or rather, her situation right now) she would much rather stay at home, binge-watching her favorite anime series and treating herself to some ice cream. But anime and movies weren't available in Aincrad, all of her favorite food stalls had long lines, and she found herself craving a little bit of human interaction (okay, now that sounded weird). And the Christmas party in floor 4 seemed like the best place to socialize.

The girl lingered outside the player-owned armory and double checked her appearance in the small pocket mirror she brought with her. She had changed out of her usual white and purple outfit into a pastel pink dress accompanied with shoes of the same color and knee-high socks. It wasn't very Christmassy, but it was the nicest outfit she had in her inventory, so it should do. She placed her pocket mirror back into her inventory, took a deep breath, and entered the armory.

The Christmas decorations were minimal, just a few banners hung around the room, and it was evident that the party was some sort of last-minute thing. Saige quietly closed the door behind her and almost immediately regretted her decision of coming to the party. This looks more like a Christmas gathering between a bunch of closely-knit players, she thought as she observed players already divided into groups, talking and laughing amongst themselves. I know they put up flyers and all, but I'm starting to feel like I'm intruding...

But she supposed it was rude to leave now. A few players had already seen her, so she forced a smile and walked up to the nearest and friendliest-looking person in the room: a man handing out Santa hats and green headbands (@Hei). "Hello," Saige greeted simply. Once prompted, she took a Santa hat and placed it on her head, tugging the edges down. "My name's Saige and...I'm not really familiar with anyone here." Uh oh. First introduction was already going south. She quickly scrambled for something, anything to say. "Hope you don't mind my joining in."

[Hei 0]

Hei had been really successful with giving away his Santa Hats and Hairbands, as shortly after he had given away the last one, Pin had taken one too, and instead of just putting it on his head he started acting kind a weird. Letting the tip ply by whirling his head, but what should he say about it, so he just laughed and complimented him for his "great" technique. After that, Pin walked away and Hei went over to offer Stryder a hat, who not just took a hat, but also changed his cloth to a less combat and more party styled outfit.

Now Hei was on his own again, walking through the players he knew and didn't and was looking for someone he could talk too, when a boy with a Jester outfit entered and went straight to Stryder and Eatos. As he wouldn't want to interrupt them, and the boy already wore a hat, he let the boy do his thing, and he was looking for the next person entering the shop. It was one of his guildmates, but one he didn't know very well. Paglikha had arrived and instantly turned his attention towards Angel, who was busy playing with Hestia and a second girl, who seemed to be her friend. When Saphira took one of the green hairbands he had offered her, she made a silly compliment, saying he looked like Santa, but before he could really reply to it, she had already left to walk over to Pinball.

A new player he didn't know entered the store and after walking to Stryder and talking with him for a while, he exclaimed, that there was even more eggnog than before. After that, he came over to him and took one of the Santa hats, and by now nearly everyone had at least a Christmassy accessory made by him. The guy quickly left, as his snow dragon left his shoulder to fly towards the foodtable and Hei was sure he would try to stop it from whatever it was about to do. When a girl in a pastel pink dress walked up to him, he was surprised, as he had not seen her enter the party. She greeted him and took a santa hat and put it onto his head. Then she told him, that her name was Saige and that she didn't know anyone around here. "Nice to meet you @Saige . My name is Hei, and we are happy for everyone who comes to our party. Fell free to stay and have some fun. If you want to get a drink, or grab a bite of food, the refreshments table is right there. And if you just want to talk, I am happy to help you with that. By the way, I don't know half of the people here, and it's my guild that hosts the party"  he added the last part with a smile on his face.