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.

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There was a little bit more to the story.

Kai made a thoughtful noise of acknowledgement. It was a little surprising to hear Kei's name come up, but it really shouldn't have been. It had to be curious, framed with everything else. Kai took a moment to sort through it, since no matter how you laid it out... it was a little... stupid. But it felt like, maybe, Shinji would understand a bit more than Kotobuki would.

"He was my first friend."

The only one that ever meant anything. He sighed a little.

"He was planning on becoming a doctor though, like his folks."

Up until he didn't die that one time, anyway, Shinji assumes.

But, ah, someone with high aspirations, from a successful family, versus 'a criminal's kid'. He sees where that might have been a tricky friendship to maintain at best, and at worst... well, he can really only speculate from here.

"I'm sorry," a genuine sentiment for however difficult that bond ended up being, and once again leaving space for Kai to continue at his own pace.

Kai shook his head a bit. "S'just how it is. His sister's got... some kind of thing no one's been able to figure out, so... that was more important." It was, up until he didn't die that one time. Eri was a good kid. He hoped she'd been doing alright.

"None of that's really mattered here though."

Studying to be a doctor in order to help your sister... that's gotta be an enormous amount of pressure, he thinks. Whether it was 'more important' than someone else, he can't really even imagine, but it sounds like a tough spot to be in for everyone involved. Probably even more tough if no one's seen or heard from Kei in a while, hopefully that sister is doing okay. What a truly awful situation.

He gives that another moment of quiet, respectful thought before humming slightly in acknowledgement. "Kind of like a fresh start, huh?"

Even if it's a fresh start with a lot of baggage brought along, at least they're the only ones who really have to dwell on it.

It really just depended on if they let that baggage get into everything else. Kai still had a lot of bad habits draped around him that he wasn't even all that aware were really bad-- they were just way things had always been. It was possible he might have just ended up in the exact same position of his own volition, had it not been for some of his encounters along the way.

"Something like that, yeah. A second chance or something." Kai looked at him. "For you, too."

It's hard to drop all of that just because there's a change of scenery and company. Everyone was brought here with just themselves and their experiences, after all. Even if there's no real obligation for him to feel tied to his past, no one to hold him accountable for it besides himself, and even if he wants to be a better person in the future, it's still tangled up so deeply in who he is that he's not sure he can completely escape being haunted by it somehow.

"Maybe." He does want to believe that, though. It's easy to feel optimistic for that to be true on someone else's behalf, while for him it feels almost unattainable, but... maybe. Maybe.

Well, if Shinji found it hard to accept for himself, that's what Kai was there for. "Maybe," he repeated softly, as if he didn't want to push that notion too strongly on him. There was an earnest intensity to his gaze though, betraying a bit of his hopeful beliefs.

Their pasts made them who they were, for better or worse, so Kai wouldn't say he'd change them. He'd deeply wish it would have gone differently for Shinji in the first place, because fuck he didn't deserve it, but... Some good company couldn't hurt, could it?

"We'll figure it out."

He leans in a little heavier against Kai at that last statement. By all accounts, it shouldn't be surprising to hear that 'we', but it serves as a great comfort to have it affirmed like that, that Kai isn't planning on taking off on him or anything.

He had done his best to discard the idea once before, but considering everything, he really can't help but vocalize it this time. "We're probably both pretty lucky."

Dangerous as that thought is.

No, he wasn't going anywhere. At least not for the forseeable future, if he could help it. It was a little odd to think about how when they first arrived, he'd spent days wondering if he was going to wake up in his cell thinking this interlude was just a dream. Now there was the lurking, unspoken worry that this was going to happen. Funny how that worked out.

There was a bit of shifting after Shinji leaned in a bit more, just so Kai could wrap his other arm around the other boy in an honest-to-goodness hug. It was just one of those times. "... Yeah."

Dangerous thoughts led to dangerous actions, you know.

Oh. So. Is this what's happening now? This... is nice, actually.

Shinji just kind of... lets this happen for a second or two before shifting his own position, allowing him to return the gesture. Letting his forehead come to rest on Kai's shoulder, he wraps his own arms around the other boy, any thoughts of how risky or dangerous this might be suspended for now.

"Thank you," he says quietly.

This was what was happening now, yes.

The risky business of it all wasn't a factor at all as Kai held him close. Of course, that was kind of a bad barometer. 'Risky' was not a factor he ever took stock of before he plunged in headfirst. It's what made it so easy for him to gently rest his head back against Shinji's.

Or maybe it was Shinji that made it easy. A thought that should have been odd, had Kai not accepted it so readily.

"You trusted me," Kai said softly in turn. "I should be thanking you."

He can't pretend like it isn't a big deal for him to give his trust out like he's done with Kai, despite the little warnings in the back of his mind, 'Careful, you remember what happened last time'. This time, though, he can't even imagine this being a bad choice for him to take. It does feel strange to be thanked for it, like despite it being something rare to offer, all he's done for it is offload awful things on to Kai.

Even so, he holds on to Kai tightly. Like he didn't realize how much he needed this, and truly, he didn't. Whatever chances of this proving to be an Unwise Move on his part later seem small in comparison to how safe it feels in the moment.

Keeping his head down against Kai's shoulder, he shakes it a bit. "It doesn't feel wrong to trust you." You don't have to thank him for it.

You can't go saying things like that and then not expect the sheer amount of gratitude he was going to feel. That wasn't fair. What was he supposed to do? He'd already curled his fingers in Shinji's hair. He was already holding him as close as he could.

Try to keep him safe, perhaps. Make that trust truly worthwhile. There may have been nothing that Kai could do for Shinji's situation, but here-- at least here, Kai could try to protect him. Maybe not from all his own demons, but there were other things.

He'd try to make it worth it.

"That's all I can hope for."

Shinji's not sure if his trust is truly enough to make up for how much Kai's done for him, but right now, being held like this, that feels like too much to think about. All he can really bring himself to do is soak in how surprisingly pleasant and secure this embrace makes him feel. How nice it is to have Kai held so close in his own arms.

In spite of how difficult physical intimacy is to navigate, it'd be really easy to simply sit here like this for a very long time, he thinks.

If it weren't for the quiet surrounding them being interrupted with gentle plunk of something being deposited into the hands of the altar next to them, followed up by the sounds of tiny dragon claws scurrying away from the site. Shinji doesn't let go quite yet, but he does lift his head with a soft, "Hm?" to try and see what may have just happened.

Kai had been well and truly settled in for the long-hug-haul, perfectly content to just sit in the quiet for however long they would have sat there. Hours? He'd be down for hours, he did that in other places anyway. Spending them with someone else was... well, maybe it was just appealing because it was Shinji and they were already so cozy.

But then there was a flash there behind his eyelids, and that plunk-- oh, this had happened before, right? Kai lifted his head as well, craning it to look up at the altar as he rubbed Shinji's back. "Hm." There was the briefest flicker of a dragon tail sliding out of sight, and below it there was a something something up there.

"Think the dragons did a thing," Kai said quietly. Giving Shinji's back another pat, he carefully disentangled himself to investigate!

'Hours' might be stretching it on the hug front, but Shinji definitely would have been okay with continuing for a long while without any interruptions.

Alas, there had been an interruption.

As Kai manages to separate himself, Shinji lightly places his hand on the other's arm, not quite ready to be without even just a small point of contact after all of that. But, that should still make it easy to investigate what the dragons had brought along with them tonight. Said investigation yields that, for their efforts, a prize has been granted! A wonderful gift! A... honestly very out of date looking walkman? One that earns a soft, "Oh," of recognition from Shinji when he lays eyes on it.

Huh.

Shinji did you know that sleeping together was basically hugging for hours. Wild, right.

But, huh!

Someone was into vintage stuff. Or... maybe it was retro future tech? Kai couldn't tell from first look, but it did seem pretty well loved, especially if that soft 'oh' meant anything. Kai gathered it up, plopping himself right back down so Shinji could curl right back into all that warmth with minimal absence.

"Get the feelin' this is yours," Kai said, holding the device out to him.

It's different when you're awake for it! And he's not planning on catching any sleep while they're in the temple! Too cold for that, remember?

Shinji still settles back against Kai once the opportunity is there for it, not quite as deeply as that hug had facilitated, but making sure that they could both get warm and cozy once again.

"It is, yeah." His voice remains quiet, almost awed, and he seems to handle the gadget with a little extra care as it's passed to him. He turns it over in his hands a couple of times, checking to see that it isn't somehow damaged in any obvious way, before his attention falls to the tape inside. It had been run to the end last time he used it, hadn't it...? Let's just... rewind it now. Right back to the beginning. A fresh start.

Don't worry, he knew of a few good cots if they needed them.

"Ohh." Kai went about making sure they were both wrapped up in whatever blankets they had. Just cuz it was too cold for sleep didn't mean they had to actually be cold. It didn't take long for them to be good to go, so his gaze fell down to Shinji's hands and the device quietly whirring away.

And then it quietly clicked. Ready to start again, just like that.

Just like that.

And what does Shinji do now? He gives it a moment of weighty consideration. There's a part of him that wants to make sure it still works fine outside of just a simple rewind, but at the same time, he doesn't want to shut Kai out for it. Besides that, something about it makes him... anxious, in a way he knows he couldn't really articulate. And he remains quiet for a moment more.

When he does speak up again, it's after he takes the earbuds in his hand, giving those a brief, contemplative look. "I can't promise you'll find it too exciting," he holds one of them out as he turns to look at Kai. "But, did you want to listen for a little bit...?"

From the beginning, for however long.

Kai blinked owlishly for a moment, glancing briefly between the offered bud and Shinji's face. Somehow, despite everything, that was unexpected. It was as if somehow, despite everything, this was the thing that would have been too intimate to have offered to him.

He took it though, expression softer than before. "Sure," he said with a hint of a smile, gently tucking it in his ear. "Doesn't need to be exciting."

If nothing else, he's been generous about sharing all sorts of treasures with Kai up to this point. Why should he stop now? Having someone he trusts this much at his side makes him want to share these things, and maybe having him there will make accepting the idea of a clean start a little easier.

"Okay."

The other bud goes in his own ear, then, leaning back against Kai once that's set. All he has to do now is hit play, and settle in to listen.

Those first few notes floated in, and Kai's brows lifted heavy in surprise. Oh. Huh! Kai had been pretty curious about what kind of music Shinji listened to, but he hadn't quite expected this. Of course, that was probably just because this wasn't something he would have thought to reach for.

Which didn't mean he didn't like it. Once that initial surprise waned, Kai settled back in to give it a proper shot, his arm finding it's way back around him.

Feel free to ask him about it, or perhaps simply be surprised if another one of his tapes shows up later and is all synthy pop jams.

But, for now, he lets out a soft exhale. What a relief, everything is in working order. What a relief... He moves to rest his head gently on Kai's shoulder as that arm winds around him, returning that gesture in order to close the gap between them that much more. By now, he's feeling far too emotionally fatigued to worry about what might be too close and too intimate. Besides, compared to that hug, this is relatively tame, right? Sure. Sure.

This was fine, this was good. This was just a return to form to how they had been before. Kai let his head dip to rest gently against Shinji's, eyes slipping closed as the music wound between them. While maybe not his thing usually, he could see how it'd be easy to get lost in this.

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