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

[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... ]