hugtopia_logs | ♥ December Event Log

♥ December Event Log

December (Ranir) Event Log
The city of Havenwell is recovering very well thanks to your efforts, offworlders. The hole in the wall is sealed up and, while maybe not looking like new, it certainly looks sturdy and safe. The city itself has removed much of the rubble from the battles you fought, and the people are back to their regularly scheduled lives. They're eternally grateful that you continue to put in the time to rebuild this final bastion of civilization and are pleased to see that you enjoyed their festivals so far. As the weather of Ranir turns colder and the nights longer, some may even see snow dust the cobblestone and paved streets in the morning. The time of Rawna has come and with it...

❥ PROMPT I: At Least It's Not a Sweater

a pair of hands holding each other with a red ribbon tied around their wrists

Normally when a new season belonging to a god rolls around, the temple priests gear up and start with temple festivities. Seeing how this is Rawna's month, however, nothing much of the sort seems to be happening. In fact, it's almost as if Rawna's priests don't even care that their god's season has started. Rawna is, after all, chiefly the god of Apathy, so is it all that surprising?

What might be surprising is the sight of Ainea's priests in pairs out around the city in their stead. Each pair carries with them a single bright silver sash and they alternatively stand in broad daylight or hide in the shadows of the buildings. Walk by on your own and you'll be left alone, but when the priests spot two people walking even remotely near each other, they spring into action.

The two robotic priests zip around you and another person with surprising speed, tying the sash off around you - either around your wrists, your waists, your legs, whatever it takes to tie you to another person. With a triumphant buzz of excitement, they declare "Happy Ranir! Kindness comes in many forms!" and depart to find a new pair of ~~victims~~ patrons. As they leave, one of the pair calls out an additional clue for you: "Be kind to unwind!"

Good luck, everyone, you're now stuck with this other person. You can either wait until the sash naturally falls off in a few hours, or you can take the direction of the priests and be kind to the other person to encourage the magical knot to come undone. Each compliment, word of encouragement, or other act of kindness directed at your new partner seems to loosen the sash a little each time, so get to winning the Niceness War.

Oh, and in case you were thinking of blasting, teleporting, or cutting your way out? No amount of magic or physical force seems capable of cutting or removing the sash. Hopefully you went to the bathroom before they got you.

❥ PROMPT II: A Delicious Delight

After a long hard day of dodging Ainea's priests or just slogging through the colder weather around the city, what could be better than imbibing a seasonally festive drink? Well, the scientists in charge of Experiment 73 certainly think so! They've added a limited edition drink selection to all of the replicators and have some delightfully festive booths spread about the city staffed by a few robots wearing Rawna's colors in their sashes and hats. There are five drinks in total to choose from and you should certainly try them! They're only here until the end of the month and then the scientists say they'll be gone! The best things in life are fleeting, aren't they? The best things in life are also surprises, so when you take a sip of these exquisitely delicious (honest! For once they're good) beverages, prepare yourself for a little trick with your treat.

Ginger and Honey Tea: A hot, thoroughly warming drink with the bite of ginger and the sweetness of honey. Drink this and you'll be shored up against the cold, but also feel compelled to tell or blurt out the truth. Whether you're asked a question or trying to tell a little white lie, you find you can't say anything but the truth. This effect lasts for up to an hour after drinking the tea.
Strawberry Shortcake Smoothie: A cold sweet treat of vanilla smoothie topped with sweet strawberry pieces and whipped cream. At the bottom, you'll find a layer of sweet sponge cake cut up into pieces. Drink this with its own special thick straw and enjoy the taste of cake; and the effect of a personal miniature snow cloud that appears over your head. The cloud dusts you and your immediate area within a foot of you with beautiful multicolored snow - and that snow leaves splotches of color behind that last for up to an hour after drinking the smoothie.
Hot Cinnamon Apple Cider: A deliciously steamy beverage that tastes of apple and cinnamon and comes with a cinnamon stick stirrer for effect. This beverage smells as delicious as it tastes and the aroma wafts around the area more strongly than the others. Drink this penultimate holiday drink and you'll find yourself heating up so much that you'll want to stay cold by giving your heat away via holding someone else. You'll want to be everyone's personal heater for up to an hour after drinking the cider.
Gingerbread Latte: A nice piping hot latte with the hint of gingerbread threaded through the coffee, topped with whipped cream and dusted with gingerbread spice. Served in a tall red cup that seems to transfer the heat uncannily well through its thin walls, sip this and you'll find yourself painlessly sprouting an animal's appendage at random. You can have one functioning or non-functioning, cosmetic animal appendage like a cat's ears, a dog's tail, a duck's beak or whatever else you can think of for up to an hour after drinking the latte. They can replace your original body part (e.g. your ears become cat ears) or grow superfluously (e.g. you have regular ears AND cat ears). You can move the appendages or talk with them as if they are your own, but they don't confer any special magical powers with them. So you can fly with those griffin wings, sure, but you're going to need to put the effort into it.
Hot Mulled Wine (alcoholic): This one isn't for children - and in fact, under 18 people might find it hard (but not impossible, be industrious, little ones!) to get their hands on this drink. Red wine is heated with spices and citrus fruit over low heat for several hours - or it would if it wasn't all synthetically created. The effect is the same though, a delicious adult beverage that's a nice way to spend an evening with someone special. And you'll want them to be someone special because drinking the hot wine makes you inclined to get a little steamy with people. Kisses, both chaste and passionate, seem to alleviate the urge which you'll be under for up to an hour after drinking the wine.

❥ PROMPT III: Winter (VR) Wonderland

a wooden lodge at night, blanketed in snow

There isn't quite enough snow on the ground to allow it in reality, but in the VR Cafes anything is possible. This month, the VR Cafes are decorated with snowflakes in odd patterns and designs - holograms, naturally - that spin and change shape and color in a timed routine. Plug into the games and you'll find a new selection among the usual offerings: Winter Wonderland.

There are two modes to Winter Wonderland and each are fun in their own ways.

Snow Fight! Head out into the powdery snow where fantastic snow forts await and battle it out with snowballs to claim the most territory or just see who can hit the other side the most. You can choose Team Battle, Solo 1vs1, or Battle Royale. All magic, skills, and cunning are at your disposal. While the snow might not be falling outside, it's definitely going to be raining down on you here, so bundle up and have some fun. You earned it!

Ski Lodge But maybe you don't want to go flinging snow down someone's shirt and would rather cuddle up on a couch in front of a big warm fire, huh? Sure, we understand that. Welcome to the Ski Lodge, a cozy getaway up in the mountains where you can relax with a hot chocolate (or cider, or glass of wine even) and curl up on the couches and experience a lazy afternoon in thick fluffy sweaters. It's even better with a friend, they say, so why not create this private little getaway for the two (or three or four, we're not judging) of you? For people wanting a romantic lean, you can always slip out the back (and out of your clothes if you prefer) into the private jacuzzi on the wooden deck, too.

For people who want to have some fun tearing it up on the mountain-side though, we suggest trying Ski-venture! A year-round game that lets you ski or snowboard your way down the mountain.

❥ PROMPT IV: A Mysterious Gift [REGAIN EVENT]

Toward the end of the month starting from the 20th and on, some people may find themselves drawn to Rawna's temple late at night, when most of the priests are offline or elsewhere. The only native creatures you can see here are the fledgling rainbow dragons which watch you from their various perches all around the sanctum. As you approach the temple's altar, you realize someone else has been drawn here as well. In the quiet, dim lighting, the barest of candles still burning and the watchful eyes of the dragons, you feel compelled to unburden yourself to the other person. Tell your tale of woe or sorrow, relieve yourself of a secret you've kept hidden for too long, and listen to your companion as well. They say a burden shared is a burden halved after all.

Once you've both shared something, a pair of dragonlings crawl up into the altar's clawed hands. They wind around each other until an iridescent light shines from their scales. The light is blinding and you must look away as it reaches its pinnacle and releases a burst of rainbow light. When you look back, the dragonlings are slithering away and in their places are two objects - one familiar to you and one to your partner - so long as both of you have shared. It seems your tithe has been rewarded with something from home.

OOC: These items from home must be approved by a mod. They cannot exceed the Medium Item regain limit. It cannot be a power or other ability. It cannot be something your character did not own or have knowledge of in their canon or their CRAU. Please post your regain request in the Regain Request thread before threading out the receipt of the item.

This event will run from December 6th to December 31st. Click on each prompt's title to see the text. You are welcome to use this log, or create entries of your own! If you have any questions, feel free to direct them to the FAQ or to the Mod Question thread.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

That seemed to really put them into a titter. Shaved ice? That made... almost more sense! A bag of shaved ice wasn't that much different from their smoothie, they could see it. These foreign ice delicacies were seemingly a little less otherworldly now! One moment, one moment, they'd see what they could do!

"Did you have a flavor you'd prefer?" Inquired one of the more prominent looking robots.

"Uh," said Kai, "no, just plain is probably best. Just ice. Thanks."

There were some more dubious mutterings about how that wasn't very seasonal, these were meant to be seasonal treats. Grinding the heel of her good foot into the ground as she leaned heavily on it, Kyoko tried to keep her impatient glowering subdued. "Strawberry, without cake or whipped cream, please. No straws."

Well that just perked them all right up. Strawberry, a perfect choice! There were a few more titters going on, of the assorted oh it could be allergies. Those still exist! We'll have to be mindful and so on and so forth.

In the end, all that mattered was that two comically large bags of pink cold stuff was dropped into their hands. Do come back and give them pointers on the consistency...!

"Uhhhh yeah, thanks. We'll, yeah."

Now they just had to. Hobble somewhere else. With all this.

A long, aggravated sigh escaped Kyoko as they turned away. "I guess there are worse things than strawberry-scented cooling packs, but--aah! Why didn't I ask for peppermint, if it was gonna be like this?" She was nudging one of the bags into Kai's free hand as she spoke. "--Here, there's no reason for you to wait. Hurry up and put it on your head."

"It's fine, strawberry'll get the job done," he assured her. He went ahead and plunked his behind his head without fuss as if to say see? It works just fine.

Not quite noticing how much looser that silver sash around their other hands were, Kai nudged her over towards some spots they could ease down on in their current state. "C'mon, let's get you on ice too so we can both smell like parfaits."

Complying with her fussy demands did the trick; Kyoko quieted and let Kaito steer her. She didn't even move to unhook their arms until it was time to sit down, leaning just a little more on him despite herself. That was probably easier on him than dealing with the extra jostling from a more dramatic limp would have been, right?

"Parfait perfume... we'll be real trendsetters," she deadpanned, before a soft hiss escaped her as she shifted to lower herself down.

The fact that she started leaning on him at all was a bit of a red flag, considering how much of a fight she put up about it earlier. It wasn't that much of a surprise to hear that hiss then, prompting him to be extra ginger as they worked their way down.

"We can market it with our dire tale of discovery, it'll go great," he went on as he looked down at what they had to work with. She would want him to keep some ice on his head, and it would be best if they could get her ankle elevated, so. Huh. Hm. H m m m.

"If you turn a bit, can you get your leg up on my knees?"

Kyoko was firm in her opinion that it still wasn't that bad, but she also couldn't avoid the nagging feeling that Kaito... had pretty much been right... about making it worse....

Well, that was what all this strawberry ice was for. Now that she was safely off her feet, she could disentangle their arms and return to minimal contact and minimal burdening him! Also known as the opposite of what he was currently suggesting!

"What? Why do you need my leg. For what purpose." Did he have a plan? Surely she'd already given him plenty of hug dollars for today?

He couldn't say he hadn't expected another wave of resistance.

"To elevate your ankle?" He offered. He knew he was right about the making it worse thing, you know. "At least for a little bit while we ice it."

Oh. Yeah, elevation was a thing, wasn't it? She hadn't actually thought that far, but it still seemed unfair that this should be the only way!

"... You don't have to hold my leg for that," she said after a long beat. "I'll put my foot next to you." Should work fine if she sat on the ground! Already she was slithering down out of her seat.

"Next to--" Oh. There she went. Bye.

Kai blinked, leaning a little with her to accommodate this change in plans. This seemed a little extra? Then again, Kyoko seemed a little extra.

"Sure. That works."

She'd had to do some contortions to twist her hand around, and it was still twisted uncomfortably, the sash biting into her wrist; also there was the small matter of being sort of permanently in a half crunch since she couldn't adjust her angle too much without pulling Kai down, but other than that everything was perfect! Great plan, good work everybody!

Kyoko tipped her head back to look up at him as she carefully leaned back a little on her free hand. "Y-yes! Could you just put the ice on it for me?" A pause. She bit her lip briefly, looking aside. "And... I'm really sorry to ask for something like this--you can say no! But... would you... be okay with taking off my shoe... maybe, do you think...."

Yes, other than... all of that. All that Extra. Kai wasn't going to push the issue unless this was really starting to seem like it was doing more harm than good, because right now it was just a fight waiting to happen. ... Maybe? He honestly wasn't sure at this point.

"I was kinda planning on doing the icing, yeah," he told her gently. "I can grab your shoe though, yeah." There wasn't anything weird about that, it made sense? It was probably going to get painful if she left it on with the swelling.

So please don't mind the surprisingly ginger touch at your leg, Kyoko, as Kai attempted to push up a bit of that pants leg. He just wanted a bit of better access for when he moved on to her shoe. He tsk'ed a little at the sight of her ankle, slipping calloused fingertips down to grab the heel of her shoe. Carefully! Carefully. Doing this one handed meant extra careful as he slipped it off.

Kyoko had already been able to feel the leather biting into the tender swollen flesh near her ankle, and suspected she'd be better off walking home barefoot at this rate even after the strawberry ice treatment, so it really just made the most sense to go ahead and take it off. It would probably make it easier to ice anyway, right? But it was a pretty scandalous favor to ask of a guy, so she'd been ready to reassure Kaito that no, he really, really didn't have to! when he inevitably gave her a disgusted look. Or maybe he was more the type to awkwardly laugh it off until she gave him an out?

Or maybe he was the type to agree without so much as a blink. Oh.

The type to not even get a little flustered about rolling up her pant leg, who didn't waver or fumble as he slowly, gently slipped off her shoe. That type. Or was this level of ease even unusual, here?

Kyoko's face was very still through the whole thing--lips a thin line, cheeks flushed, eyes wide and locked on him. "Thank... you." The intense stare would probably have gone on longer if not for the sudden extra slack in their bindings, made extra noticeable from the strain Kyoko had put on them. "--wuh!"

It was just taking a shoe off. What was there to get flustered about here? Did other people get flustered when they took shoes off? So weird. He had feet too. Most people! Had feet! Not everyone, of course, but. Most people.

So he really has no idea why she was staring at him so intensely. Ah, had he not been gentle enough? Maybe it had hurt. He might have asked about that specifically, but-- whup!

"Whoa, you good?" It sure had gotten roomy all of a sudden. Somehow!

Shoes counted as clothing! Kyoko was pretty sure she wasn't the one with an unusual level of fluster here! Right?? In a normal setting, anyway!

But this wasn't a normal setting, in many ways--a thought that weighed heavily on her mind as she steadied herself and looked at the loosened bindings. "Y-yes! I'm good." It was still too tight to wiggle her hand out, but, hm. "I guess it makes sense that there would be a special trick to breaking the spell, but... stripping down can't be the answer, right?"

They'd gone from 0 to 60 Revenge so quickly that any echoes of "be kind" had been lost to time. There'd been a hint, Kai was sure, but it was ???

It definitely wasn't stripping though. Kai had been nodding along as he moved to grab his bag of strawberry ice, but he stopped just before applying it to her ankle to give her a perplexed look. "Huh? Who's stripping?" Here came the ice, pressed gently against that scandalously bare ankle. Yowza.

"All I did was take your shoe off."

Kyoko leveled a serious look up at him. "That's the first step." Stripping had to start somewhere.

"... But I don't know why they would want that, unless the real goal is to scavenge all our clothes for scrap and recycle them into more of those fancy cloaks and hats the robots like." Surely the robot clothes trade wasn't in such dire straits. Tilting her head, Kyoko hrmd. "And, now that I think about it, didn't it kinda seem like the sash got looser once or twice before now, too? Just a little bit?"

Kai gave this clothes scavenging idea a longer amount of consideration than was really necessary. He even gave her shoe a sideglance, as if it was about to start sliding away for harvest. No, this was a silly idea.

"Huh... Yeah, I guess it did? I'm not sure getting injured is really the idea here either."

Ridiculousness aside, removal of clothing just didn't match up with the other instances of the sash loosening. If she thought about it... well, it wasn't like she could be sure she'd noticed everything promptly, so maybe there were other details, but hadn't it happened after he'd caught her? And... after she had given him a hand up, maybe? Something like that?

... Something like that. Yes, it would be. Pushing herself up until she could rest her forehead on her knees, she let out a long sigh.

"... It's just about making contact, right? It has to be."

"Y'know, I'm not so sure on that one."

Which wasn't even being said because of how resigned she had just become about the whole thing. Kai gingerly shifted the ice around to another side of her ankle.

"Usually it does the trick, yeah. 'Cept we've pretty much been making contact this whole time? If it was Ainea's... maybe something helpful..."

Something helpful.... Kyoko was quiet for a few moments, her shoulders sagging uncharacteristically. When she piped up again, her voice was still low, but the tone wasn't resigned so much as... discouraged?

"Then, I really don't know what to do. From the very beginning, I've relied on you way beyond what's reasonable, you know? If it's helpfulness, they should let you go ahead and cash in everything you've already done. I don't... know how to compete with that level of kindness."

And yet, the ribbon became that much looser around their wrists. Kai gave it a small glance, but his focus was mainly on her.

"Mm. I think your definition of unreasonable's a bit...uh. Wrong. It's not like I'm putting up with anything. You're fine just being you, y'know?"

Those were awfully nice things to say--so nice, in fact, that the sash kept going--look, it was almost sagging around their wrists now. So nice that Kyoko had to look away, something like shame staining her cheeks pink.

There was quiet for another moment, before she mumbled, "Jeez... concussions aren't something to put up with?"

There was a quiet note of that reaction, but Kai otherwise just huffed softly. "Hey, better me than you. Breaking a fall is one of the only thing's my hard head is good for. Gotta put it to good use so it doesn't go to waste."

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