MISTLETOE IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 2025

[siberia]

you know what to do. whether it's magic compulsion (feat. magical attraction or not), that you're trapped until you kiss, or just tradition and social pressure, you've been caught under the mistletoe and that means you have to kiss.

platonic is ok too. feel free to leave your own comment or reply to one of mine with a blank if you want me to write a starter!

Comments

[d957]

[ Do forgive him, Alexander, for staring up with an expression somewhere between dumbstruck and aggravated as Ebenholz fails to move away from the spot he seems strangely rooted in at the moment.

Let's be real, there was no way this mistletoe thing was going to be happening without the charmed version of it, and the wheels in Ebenholz head have finished spinning to understand what is happening here, why it is probably happening, and to decide just how angry he wants to be about it when he finds the culprit.

He looks about ready to take out bystanders too when his head whips around to look at the approaching figure, ready to snarl out something particularly odious, though his mouth snaps shut as the movement in his peripheral takes form and he sees who it is now. There is actually a visible relaxing of some of the tension in his shoulders, and while his brow doesn't unfurrow, it does at least ease in knitted intensity. ]

Herr Alexander...

[crackedpot]

[ NOT GETTING YELLED AT BY EBENHOLZ FRIENDSHIP LEVEL ACHIEVED 👏👏👏👏

honestly, Alexander probably isn't even aware that he's achieved anything out of the ordinary here; his view of others is informed almost solely by his own interactions with them, and so even if Ebenholz is notably rude to others, Alexander sees him as nothing worse than standoffish. He's the guy who helped him while he was stuck and has been giving him safe shelter since! Therefore, he's a good boy.

He's rather enjoying the holidays, as someone who's never celebrated any. When he reappears, he has a (sizable) poinsettia garland draped over his shoulders - or the little pot-handles that serve as shoulders, anyway - like a proper decorative urn. ]

Ah, Ebenholz! Excellent timing. I have something here for you! Go on, don't be shy. [ he holds out his hands, evidently completely unaware that Ebenholz is currently bothered by anything at all. Cradled very, very carefully between his two big stony palms is... an earthenware jar. One that looks almost identical to Alexander himself, actually - save for the fact that it's the size of a mug and appears intended for use as one. ] I've heard this is the season for giving gifts, so I made this for you, as thanks for all you've done.

[d957]

[ Abrasive as Ebenholz can be with most people, there's something about the earnestly kind that makes it hard for him to maintain his usual churlish behavior. Alexander is the perfect mix of genuine and upbeat that makes it hard for Ebenholz to be any more than a bit snippish and rude at worst, rather than the sort of aggressively biting he can be when he truly doesn't like someone.

And how is one expected to maintain that sort of unpleasant demeanor towards someone who will walk up to them and unprompted offer them a gift? Sure, there is a seasonal precedent for something like this, but Ebenholz still looks taken aback as he reaches out to take the little jar from the man, his own difficult predicament momentarily shuffled to the side so he can blink down at the jar with a sort of wide-eyed bemusement. ]

You made this?

[ Surely he means in the traditional way instead of...

The jar doesn't have arms and legs, and isn't moving around. He definitely means it in the traditional way. ]

I wasn't aware you were skilled at pottery.

[ He's also not entirely sure what to feel about the fact that the man who is a large jar is good at something like this. ]

[crackedpot]

[ he chuckles to himself, a proud sort of hm-hm!, and folds his arms over his front. ]

Indeed. Though I may be a fierce warrior, I also harbor a sensitive, creative side, you see. [ a beat. ] In truth, a great many of our kind are old hands at sculpting jars and the like - we'd have a jolly hard time fixing ourselves up if we couldn't patch a hole every now and then.

[ and maybe they also create more of themselves this way. Who can say? Ebenholz can rest easy knowing the one he's holding is nothing more than a regular clay mug. It's quite nice, especially considering the man who made it is essentially a giant. ]

And it's a time-honored tradition for us to give them as presents to our goodly allies. I thought about making you a helmet, but I confess I couldn't figure out how I'd make it fit with your horns.

[ yes the helmet is just a jar you put on your head. ]

[d957]

[ Put that way, Ebenholz sees the purpose of learning pottery as a jar. Strange to think that learning to work with clay is the equivalent of someone learning to become a doctor, or at the very least learning to field dress a wound.

Something that Ebenholz could not admit to being a deft hand at, despite having gone on several field missions for Rhodes Island at this point in his career. Field missions where a helmet could in theory be useful, but...

Ebenholz's nose wrinkles for a second at the thought. ]

I assure you, this gift will do just fine. For Leithanian casters such as myself, we don't typically wear armor into skirmishes. Beyond needing our field of vision completely unhindered, we tend not to find ourselves in the front where things get quite so...

[ He makes a vague gesture with his hand. Stabby. Smashy. Cutty... What have you, really. ]

I also admit, I do not think I own anything that would go well with a helmet anyway. This jar, however, I can put many useful things inside of.

[crackedpot]

Hah! Silly lad - a jar goes well with everything! [ thus indirectly confirming that the helmet would, indeed, be a big jar that goes on his head. ] But, no matter now; it is what it is, and that one there is more fit for a hot beverage than a battle. When it comes fighting, I'll be all the protection you require.

[ Alexander is expressionless, as ever, but he seems pleased that Ebenholz accepted his present. Without complaint, even. Just because he's clueless to Ebenholz's mean tendencies doesn't mean he's ignorant to his generally-grouchy demeanor. With his present exchanged, he leans down a little bit again, inquisitive. ]

Now, what is it? You looked quite troubled ere I approached.

[d957]

[ When you're a jar... everything else is a jar too, huh?

No, that doesn't quite seem like the right metaphor for life, but Ebenholz won't question it too much. He's found that sometimes Alexander is easier to understand if he just quietly accepts these things about him.

Besides, what's the point in focusing on the little things like how many jars the man crafts in his free time when he can instead go through the rapid emotions of being touched by the offer of protection, and then immediately after somewhat embarrassed by the question that he knows he'll have to answer.

He has no sense for whether the two of them are stuck here together or Alexander can just mosey on his way as he pleases, but for his part Ebenholz isn't going anywhere, and he can make some guesses to what actions need to be taken in order to set him free. ]

I assure you it's not you personally, Herr Alexander.

[ Ebenholz pauses for just a few seconds, before clearing his throat, eyes closed so he can maintain some dignity and composure here. ]

I've found myself trapped by someone's idea of an Arts infused prank.

[ He'll gesture vaguely upward, still not entirely certain how Alexander's range of vision works when the man has no visible eyes. ]

[crackedpot]

[ jar is a lifestyle...

Alexander does tilt his rim upwards to follow Ebenholz's gesture. Is he doing that because he's actually seeing from there, or because the collective memory of being human compels him to mime out the action?? No one will ever know. ]

A magicked prank? You mean this little dangling bit of shrubbery?

[ he can tell Ebenholz is vaguely embarrassed by it, but he has no idea why?? One stony arm unfolds to poke at the mistletoe (very gently). Seems like... a plant. Maybe he's become too old to understand the humor of the current generation... ]