// HOLIDAY PARTY

[eluviomods]

WHO: EVERYONE!
WHERE: The Atrium
WHEN: December 24th
WHAT: Holiday party!
WARNINGS: None (but please mark if there is questionable content!)

// Jingle Mingle_ ➣ Sparkles and Spirits Late the night before, visitors will be asked to leave as the atrium is going to be closed for a few hours. It's completely blocked off from sight. In the morning, it will be open once again and the entire space is covered in a soft padding of snow. With more still falling! It's not entirely clear just where it's coming from or how they rigged it up to not even melt, but it's here. Throughout the day, the snow will keep falling though won't get any higher than one foot. Except for a designated area on the western side of the atrium. There characters will find copious amounts of snow to build forts or snowmen or wage an all out guerilla warfare snowball fight. Stationed throughout the atrium in various places out of the way are buffets and bars to provide everyone with delicious delectables and delightful drinks. These stations are constantly manned and refreshed so that nothing is ever empty or anyone is left wanting. Don't see a food you're dying to have? Ask and one of the workers will be happy to seek it out for you! Late morning to mid afternoon, there will be a gingerbread house contest. Everyone is encouraged to participate and show off their creative skill! All items needed will be provided to create your masterpiece. Various awards will be given out, including Best Use of Gumdrops. Once the magic hour begins, all the lights in the atrium will begin to flicker on. Twinkling lights in the trees and candied garden lights will mark the path appropriately called Candy Cane Lane, which is little more than a means to encourage a more romantic atmosphere with a walk around the atrium itself. ➣ Flannel and Frost Once night falls, the party is still going strong. More food is brought out and the drinks just don't stop flowing. Because what's a party without booze? On the east side of the atrium a large canopy is stationed with a dance floor beneath it just waiting for everyone to cut loose. A DJ will be playing all night with pulsing, hypnotic beats that not one booty can say no to. Invite someone to cut that rug or dance by yourself like no one's watching. It's time to cut loose! While walking through the atrium, be careful! There's enchanted mistletoe that will spring up anywhere at anytime and will trap anyone without restraint. (Did you think we wouldn't have this?) It hovers in the air with a soft green glow, encasing two passersby within an arm's length radius. Get those lips to puckering to get yourselves free! (A kiss anywhere counts, so don't fret!) Tucked away on the north side of the atrium is a large maze. It boasts to be the best activity for the holiday party, but those in charge could be a little biased. It's a mystery as to what goes on beyond the entrance and the only way anyone can find out is to just march right in. The rules of the maze are: 1.) No one goes in alone (max. 2 at a time) and 2.) If you feel too trapped or lost, take off the visor and the experience will be over. Upon entering, everyone will be given a visor and set loose inside. Each group will experience something different should they choose to go into the maze, so please go HERE for a customized maze trip! Everyone is free to stay as long as they wish, but around 3:00 in the morning, workers will begin dismantling things and ushering people out so they can clean. Once everyone is nestled all snug in their beds, they'll be visited by someone to get their holiday gifts! Happy Holidays!

Comments

[genice]

( Victor adds the black tea to his order, sending it in with a flick of his fingers. It's a fascinating process, truly; he wonders when something similar will crop up back home. Paying via phone is similar, but not exactly the same.

He leans back, settling his hands on the table. His mostly empty cup sits to the side of the table, within reach of his fingers. )

Would you say so? I admit that none of the moments closest to what I would call a vacation were quite like this. ( Tea, however, is a nod to his time in Japan. In ways, that had been a "vacation" from his competitive career, coaching Yuuri instead. ) Then again most of those were in the days between competitions.

[finethanks]

[Immediately and clearly, the word "competitions" lights something up in Eichi's eyes. His own hands stay folded together but lower back to the table so he can speak properly.]

Well, most of my time "off" has been spent in the hospital, watching my comrades carry on without me. Anything where I can do something more naturally like this is a little more freeing, even if I do miss the stage. I hope I can return to it soon.

[So... He leans in a little more.] Competitions, did you say? What do you compete in?

[genice]

( He always enjoys seeing what makes people light up, and it's difficult to miss how Eichi seems to come alive at the idea. Paired with what he's saying, it's understandable; at least to Victor, who so enjoys competing as he does. Twenty years of passion poured into one field may have stretched him thin or to the point of lacking in some areas, but the challenges, the surprises, the competition with both good natured and less good natured competitors...

He nods his head, dismissing the menu fully as he leans forward just enough to make this a conversation where he's meeting Eichi's interest on some level. )

Men's singles in figure skating. On the international level.

( Olympic, too, though he doubts he'd have been seeing the next Olympics... but perhaps he would have. Either way, he would have been sure to see Yuuri there. There's little more rewarding than knowing there's so much beautiful skating he would have had to look forward to — and how heart-achingly bitter to know that no, that's not within reach anymore. )

For you it's the stage? In what capacity?

[finethanks]

My, that's huge. I'm surprised I haven't heard of you... But then, all of my attention has been entirely on my own work, and my health, as well.

[So, he's been closed to the outside world a lot. He's not really surprised he hasn't heard of someone at all, different worlds aside. That excitement stays in his eyes as he gestures towards his own chest with one hand.]

I'm nowhere near as talented as you are, to be at such a level. I'm an idol at Yumenosaki Academy. It's a private academy for idols just like myself to grow and step into the world of performance. My unit, Fine, is the top at the academy, but I owe that entirely to my companions who have carried us so far while I was holding them back.

[He drops his hand back to the table.] By singing and dancing on stage, I'm constantly challenging my own health, my past self, and those around me, as well as working to bring entertainment and joy to my lovely fans who mean everything to me. I can only imagine how you must feel to compete at an international level.

[genice]

( He chuckles, less concerned about being unknown. Figure skating is its own unique, insular world in so many ways. For all they compete in the Olympics, and for all he's medaled there, for all that he competes internationally, it's not being a rockstar. (Thank goodness.) In his own country it would be stranger, he supposes, but it's such a far removed reality anymore he simply sets that to the side.

Eichi has his attention and imagination with what he describes. What an out there concept! Schools teaching for entertainment; well, more focused on something like that. )

Considering my inspiration usually has to do with surprising the audience... ( He lets himself trail off with a small shrug and a smile. What it feels like competing at the international level? Amazing. Enthralling. Once upon a time, nerve wracking. He grew out of that. ) Every time you manage to pull off a successful performance, no matter how exhausting, it's worth it. Your fans and the rest of the audience always lets you know. Though your performances likely go on for longer than anything I do on the ice.

( Said with a quick smile; glancing up as their server brings them their teas. He happily strips off his gloves (... probably he had them on), wrapping his hands around the warm mug with a soft, pleased sigh. )

Is it anything you think you'll pursue while here? Health complications aside.

[finethanks]

Of course.

[Eichi finds himself amazed by all of Victor's words, thrilled at this shared sense of competitions and just pursuing something like this that they both enjoy, while entertaining others. He loves it. Victor is a sort of "idol" himself, Eichi decides.

His hands also move to wrap around his tea, after he's put in the sugar and creamer he wants, letting the warmth soak in.]

Every moment I spend not pursuing my dream is a moment I'd regret. So I'm pursuing it, even now, even here. I'll practice, I'll perform if I can, and I'll see what I can organize or practice if not. I don't know how long I have to live, so I intend to use every bit of my energy towards this.

I do hope I'll return home before my end, though. There are a number of people I can't wait to battle on the stage. They would be as disappointed as I would be if I were to no show. And after that... I'll take my first real step into the entertainment industry, once I've graduated.

[genice]

( part of him thinks yes, it's sad for someone Eichi's age to be so aware of his own mortality. most of him accepts it. Victor's all too aware that none of them know how long they really have; some can hope for longer than others, based on statistics, but where health might not fail, accidents or luck might happen instead. Knowing you had a more finite future could not be an easy thing.

It still was. Denial doesn't change reality. Perspective helps people reach for and achieve what it is they dream, as long as they have that confidence (and support) to make the attempt. )

All indications are that it's unlikely we'll ever see our homes again. ( said lightly, because it is indeed what he's heard and gleaned and been told with as many people as he's been wheedling conversation out of over the last two weeks. ) Still, if such a thing is discovered, then I also hope you're able to perform for the people who you've been made to leave behind.

( his hands leave the mug behind, thumb of his left hand coming up to rub the ring on his right ring finger. he has his own associations and wishes that he knows, for better and worse, are ones he should learn how to tuck away in his heart and carry on with and without. still, he smiles. )

In the meantime, if there's any role I can assist with, even as just an audience for your performances, let me know. It's been some time since I've had that pleasure for anything off the ice.

( because of how much of his world is on the ice; and because, in the end, he hasn't minded it. he just also hasn't stepped too far away. )

[finethanks]

That's such a sad thing to hear that I don't even want to acknowledge it.

[He's spent his whole life battling against this illness, struggling to survive to accomplish his dream, and now it's just been stolen from him? He refuses. He won't settle at this. There's a few moments of pause as he thinks about this, and then he offers his smile again, even if his eyes are a little sad.]

I would love to be able to perform and have someone watch. I don't have my unit here, but since I'll be graduating soon and stepping into the world of entertainment, I'll be performing on my own more often. It would be great practice.

[Yes... he's determined to get back. So.]

[genice]

( he wonders if idols have glass hearts, just as figure skaters do. but he doesn't feel that driving need to shatter Eichi's; has learned, in his fumbling way, it isn't always the way to motivate another. that what had worked for him; that what had torn him down and allowed him to rebuild himself with every program, isolated and beautifully self contained, will not be what allows everyone else to do the same.

for the man who isn't here, but for the part of him that remains in Victor's memories and the ring on his finger, it had been staying by him and believing in him when he couldn't believe in himself. for Eichi, he wonders.

ah, but the answer is right there. Eichi's glass heart, encased in his wish to graduate and perform in front of, for, and with his friends. Victor tucks that away, a kernel of knowledge to settle in its own drawer in his mind. to be forgotten, perhaps, or remembered sometime later. even Victor is never sure when it comes to his own capricious recollections. )

I'm a big fan of practice! I look forward to being able to see the fruits of your own. In the meantime...

( he lifts his tea, tipping his head forward as he gives this quiet little cheers. )

... To the dreams our futures bring.

[finethanks]

[A toast. How nice. Eichi lifts his own teacup to mimic Victor, a soft laugh slipping out of a more genuine smile.]

To our futures, which will hopefully have us standing grand and proud, like lions. [what]

[genice]

... Or elephants!

( Victor adds in. Partly to be contrary. Partly because lions put him in mind of Yuri Plisetsky, and he's not sure how to feel about that unanticipated farewell either. Less heartbreaking than Yuuri. A different kind of importance, but not a lesser one.

He takes a good swig of tea to wash down that thought alongside all the other unpalatable ones. )

[finethanks]

[Eichi waits until after he's had a slow, relaxing drink of his tea to chuckle at that.]

Elephants, is it? I suppose they're also grand, in size and ability. They were used in wars, after all. An elephant could make all the difference. ♪ How powerful.

[genice]

They also have trouble wit forgetting. Not to mention, interesting family groups. Did you know they bury and mourn their dead?

( sure, say this to the guy talking about his own mortality. it's still a salient point of curiosity! or so he thinks, sipping at his own tea with a look of gratified pleasure after that first inhalation, followed by that first swallow. aah. )

[finethanks]

I do recall reading on that before! [It seems that Eichi finds it a nice and interesting thing to know, as well, since he's found it out before. He sometimes thinks elephants have more feelings about death than he does, for how used to it he is.]

They're such gentle animals. I've heard they've even been known to bury humans they've accidentally killed. Having the compassion of an elephant isn't a bad thing at all.

[He smiles over his tea.] Do you like the tea?

[genice]

( He's also heard of them stomping down huts and crushing entire families inside, but there's no real reason to mention that. Fun as the topic of death is.

No, he'll focus on the tea, flashing a small smile. Compassion and tea. )

More than I expected.

( He mostly still wants something with a bite to it, but this is nice for now. Besides, his mulled cider's cold by now.

Makkachin stirs at their knees, sticking his face out from under the table and sniffing at whatever's being carried past. Victor chuckles, balancing his tea in one hand as he reaches under the table to ruffle the fur at Makkachin's shoulders. )

Am I neglecting you, Makkachin? We'll get extra treats when we go home.

[finethanks]

Tea is an endless library of flavor. If you'd ever like to try a new taste, I've taken to bringing some each day to the atrium in the afternoons. You're welcome to join me for picnics.

[His own little tea club. The atrium usually seems to have nice weather, so. It works out.

Setting his teacup down, he rests his arms on the table and glances over to Makkachin, smiling fondly.]

I'm amazed that they were able to take your pet with you. He's very beautiful. I'll bring him some treats the next time we meet. ♪

[genice]

( he smiles, feeling Makkachin's tail thumping against his leg. it's still one of those strange mysteries he's grateful for, in the end. having his best friend here with him in spite of being separated by several thousand miles at the time Victor was taken from his world.

frankly, the only other incidents he's witnessed related to that are starships. people showing up with space-flight capable vehicles. )

How can I say no to something like that? Makkachin won't forgive me for being so cruel.

( Besides, tea sounds nice. Making friendships sounds important, and Eichi would hardly be the most eccentric person Victor knows. )

It's all a little strange to me still. Makkachin was back in Japan at the time, and I was in Barcelona. Times like this I wish he could talk so I could ask him if he remembers anything happening... most likely he'd just tell me he's hungry.

( it's an admission followed by a smile; Makkachin is very, very food motivated. to at times frightening results when he forgets to chew. )

We'd be happy to join you every so often. Mind sending me a text when you head out for tea on... well, do days even count the same here? Just send me a message when you're heading out and I can get back to you.