FV and Friends

[lieutenantsteward]

Drifting off to sleep has never been easier. When your character wakes up, they enter into a beautiful, almost picturesque home. Everything is brightly lit with candles and different colored lights. The entire place smells like sugar cookies. Or maybe pine. Or maybe it's whatever your character finds homey. There are several rooms to this home, each with its own charms. A kitchen and dining room, with any ingredient known to man and a spread of already prepared foods on the table. A living room with a cozy fireplace and very inviting rug. Bedrooms with various types of furniture and all the privacy you could want. A lovely backyard that's cold, but there's a firepit to warm up with. Snow crunches underneath boots (or heels, we ain't picky) and there's the occasional glimpse of wildlife in the woods.

All characters will come with the knowledge that this is a dream. There are no consequences to their actions, save what happens in the dream. They are also not trapped. When they want to leave, they know that they can simply leave through the front door and wake up in their own time, in their own bed.

And sprinkled throughout the house are sprigs of mistletoe. Is it the dream that makes people want to get a little cuddlier underneath it? Or is it just the spirit of the moment?

Either way, it sure is a fun way to get to know each other!

Comments

[bestsir]

Similar to his wife, Harry now looks more like he did when he first boarded Erebus in Woolwich, as yet bearing none of the signs of hardship from the years in the Arctic. Thomas will find him there in the backyard, prodding at the fire.

[littlewhiteheartbeat]

plep plep plep

glingleglingleglingleglingle

The goose has somehow managed to get a little bell on a ribbon around their neck, and jingles brightly as they trot into the kitchen.

[wishiwasatree]

That sound. The consistent jingling. Trixie freezes up for a moment, then cranes her head over the countertop to see the goose, as festive as ever, proudly plep their way into the room.

"Merry Christmas," she grins. "Lookin' pretty with the ribbon, my feathered fucking friend. You want something to eat?"

[goingtobeunwell]

He hooks her arm in his, eyes glittering as he brings her on the grand tour. First the dining room, then the kitchen, then whichever bedrooms happen to be open. "We've been missing you. Finding yourself lots of trouble to meddle in, I expect?"

[friendsfordinner]

"Obviously," Hickey laughs. "D'you expect me to say anything different?"

[littlewhiteheartbeat]

"Honk?"

Whatcha got?

The goose comes over to Trixie's side of the counter, looking all around for things to eat and things to ruin.

[una_persson]

"When do I not? Twenty-first century's got no shortage of it. I've been in Ukraine recently—what a bloody mess. You don't want to know."

She tries to think of some good news, and then—

"They've found your ships, Francis."

[adaptiveimmunities]

When Shaun turns up in the dream, he looks... rested. He has much less of the frenetic energy he's always seemed to carry with him, and long time observers will note that he's not talking to himself anymore. It doesn't seem to be bothering him to be alone in his own skull. It might be the first time anyone in the dream has ever seen him really relaxed, and he's happy to be back in the dream and to see everyone.

[kindnessinfinite]

There's a pause before he nods. "I didn't have holidays, of course. Not like this. But I kept track of time. Every time a momentous occasion happened, it became a new month. Even then, there were things that happened regularly despite my calendar. Fish tend to migrate and give birth around the same time. So the arrival of more fish was always noted, even if it wasn't celebrated like this."

Matthew shrugs. "I've got to admit, I still don't really understand some of these holidays. I know the theory behind mince pies and giving gifts. But can't you just eat a mince pie or give a gift whenever you want?

[lieutenantsteward]

Thomas sits beside him with a happy smile. "I thought you might make an appearance," he says with warmth.

[goingtobeunwell]

He both does and doesn't want to know, but the change of subject is enough to make him outright stumble.

"My - my ships? Terror and Erebus? My god. My god, Una - where? When?"

He takes her hands. "You must tell me more!"

[wishiwasatree]

Considering it isn't her house, Trixie is more than happy to let the goose loot the pantry. She shows them the fridge and all the good stuff on the counter.

"Anything catch your fancy? Lots of nuts and seeds in this cake over here."

[hesalumberjack]

"No. In fact, I don't expect you to say anything else." Because he's going to kiss the hell out of him now.

[friendsfordinner]

And Hickey indulges in that kiss, kissing Aadit back with an aggressive amount of passion. He's fucking missed this man. He's going to kiss him and make it so Aadit doesn't ever forget this moment.

After he pulls back, he gives Aadit a grin. "There. How was that?"

[hesalumberjack]

He takes Hickey's face into his hands. "Not long enough," he says, happy to give him notes on his performance. "Let's find an empty room."

[bestsir]

"Thomas!" Harry reaches out to embrace him. "Enjoying yourself?"

[16thperson]

The Season of the Spawning Fish, she thinks. Or The Season of the Nesting Gulls. Makes sense, really.

"You can. Maybe you should, honestly. Always feels a bit weird, when you think about it—people making a big deal about charity and brotherhood and looking after your fellow humans around Christmastime, but the rest of the year ..." She shrugs. "I dunno. Maybe it's just like ... some animal instinct, to huddle together in the middle of winter."

[una_persson]

She tells him as much as she can—the search around King William Island, how Erebus was found in 2014 and Terror two years later. How the indigenous accounts led the researchers there, once they were willing to listen.

"They're still examining the wrecks. Trying to bring up what they can, a little at a time."

[littlewhiteheartbeat]

Cake! The goose will definitely have some cake, thank you very much.

"Honk!"

[lieutenantsteward]

Thomas happily returns that embrace, holding him tight. "I am! Or - well, I am now that there doesn't seem to be much to do to maintain this."

[goingtobeunwell]

"For the love of Christ -- they wouldn't be the first not to listen to Netsilik," he grumps, annoyed with that specific point. "None of them ever did, save a couple of would-be rescuers. Still, how odd, found in Terror Bay."

The skeleton crew he'd left must have tried to complete passage. He'll be mulling on that a while.

He reaches down to take Una's hand. "Come sit by the fire with me."

[wishiwasatree]

"Cake it is," she grins, slicing a giant piece and setting it on the floor for her goose. "Gonna cause some mischief tonight? Interrupt some smooching couples?"

[wishiwasatree]

Trixie automatically goes to Shaun and has herself a tight embrace. "Evenin', boyo," she grins, slightly rocking on her feet with him still in her arms.

[goingtobeunwell]

Crozier isn't seeking privacy, per se, but he is hoping to find some magically-appearing gloves in one of the drawers so he can sit around the firepit. When a certain magician sticks his head into the door, he jumps about a foot into the air.

"Jesus Christ, Jonathan!"

[friendsfordinner]

"Happily." And with a little nod, Hickey pulls away so he can give Aadit's hands a small squeeze. Let's go enjoy the hell out of that privacy.