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WHO: Sort of open. This is for of Themyscira-Zatara Family & friends.
WHERE: Diana and Zee's place and elsewhere.
WHEN: Throughout December.
WARNINGS: Enough of them.
SUMMARY: Cute winter holiday stuff. Please specify in the subject line if your threads are open or closed (and if they are closed, to which people).
FORMAT: Whatever you feel like.

[Come December first, Zatanna's already done a number on the house. Mostly in that she has finally relinquished her death-grip on the spooky Halloween mansion that it had been for Halloween (that had morphed into Thankschilling Day).

By the eighth, she has given up on normalcy and forced snow upon the house itself and the front and backyards; it is natural and cold and wet to the touch. More importantly, it's clean. It doesn't melt much or get sloshy and muddy. The forest she'd created for Halloween remains, though not overgrown. The air is sweet with the smell of pine, but not thickly so. She's cleared it out a little, made it easier to navigate. There is now plenty of room for building snow people and snow forts, in addition to the occasional snowball fight.

The inside of the house no longer (quite as) spooky. The fireplace in the living room seems to permanently be full of logs and remains lit even when no one is home. Halfway through the month, a pine tree also appears, growing through some dimensional wormhole so it remains real without having to cut one down. The dining room has a warm glow from candles and wall sconces and the kitchen seems to always have some wonderful smell wafting from it.

There is a fat orange Persian walking around, dressed as a reindeer. It doesn't seem perturbed by its costume and appears quite content, although trying to curl up and sleep almost anywhere in between desired pettings. Hermes has become more mellowed out since Halloween (and much larger, too) and only wears antlers on his head. Teekl and Gabranth declined to join the festivities.

This holiday season is going to be good. Or, hopefully at least much better than last year's.]

► OPEN: COOKIES FOR ME, COOKIES FOR FREE (ZATANNA).
► CLOSED: VESPER & ZATANNA.
► OPEN: ROASTING MARSHMALLOWS (APRIL).
► OPEN: AWKWARD SOCIALIZATION (GIL).
► OPEN: EXTREME MANLINESS CHALLENGE (JAMES)!!!
► OPEN: S'NO PROBLEM (TEREZI).
► OPEN: CUTE CHRISTMAS SWEATER PART II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO (MOLLY).
► OPEN: HOW DO I SECRET IDENTITY? LOL (WALLY).
► OPEN: PRETTY MUCH JUST A FUN-HATER (MITCH).
► OPEN: SNEAKY SANTA (HAN).
► OPEN: A LOT LESS OF A FUN-HATER, APPARENTLY (BRADBURY).
► OPEN: THERE'S ALWAYS ROOM FOR PIE (NED).

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[ It would have been rude to turn down Diana's generous invite, so surprisingly and against his sometimes shy nature, Gil arrives at Zatanna and Diana's place with the promised goods he said he would bake. It's a small vanilla cake, not big enough to feed more than five or six people, but he figures there's going to be plenty of sweets for others to feast on in the household.

After finding a table to set down the cake, he keeps mostly to himself. Zatanna had been kind enough to use her powers to send him to Montana for a brief visit of sorts. Once he had been able to confirm his Chain's return, he made a note to thank her somehow.

But Gil being Gil, is a little on the reserved side to start a conversation with anyone. He doesn't mind it, anyway. He's keeping an eye out for Zatanna or Diana. ]

[Zatanna honestly hadn't been expecting him to show up at any point. He'd been more shy than usual after that whole... thing. She won't bring it up because he's a sweet kid and he deserves to get over it (whatever "it" may be). It doesn't seem too busy or too loud right now, no one rushing in and out and thankfully no one pushing and shoving or screaming.

It's pretty quiet, actually.

Zatanna was upstairs, but she comes down for a cup of tea only to find him quietly, politely sitting on his lonesome. She drops the thought of something warming and turns to move toward him, lopsided smile spreading in the blink of an eye.]

You should have yelled.

Oh, good evening, Zatanna. [ He almost forgets to greet her properly. He does give her comment some thought. ] Wouldn't that have disrupted the party?

[ Or gathering. Dinner. It didn't seem to have a formal title attached to it, but he understands the intentions behind it. It's rare he goes to gatherings like this. Normally on holidays Oz, Alice, and Gil would be granted the day to explore the city and enjoy festivities. Well, they did; Gil had to run after Alice so often to ensure she wouldn't get lost or steal. ]

Assuming this was a party, yelling would only enliven it. What kind of parties do you go to that are quiet, Gil? [Boring ye olden timey parties, she bets. But who knows? Considering the way he acts, he might have been traumatized by some really awesome party at some point in his life. That makes as much sense as anything else, doesn't it?]

I'm glad you came. Could I get you something to drink, maybe? I was going to go make some tea.

To be honest, I don't tend to go to many parties.

[ And there's no one to force him anymore back home. They're not too loud, but raising one's voice at social events back home would be considered uncouth and showing a lack of respect and etiquette. Besides, the quieter he is at dinners and balls, the less attention from women looking to marry he gets.

Sometimes, anyway. ]

Tea would be alright. [ He looks to his hands and realizes they're empty. Damn. He must have left the flowers with the cake on the table. ] Sorry-- I'll be right back!

[ It doesn't take long anyway. He returns quickly with a small bouquet of agrimony. He barely gets to raise it toward her before his cheeks glow. ]

Ah, well. Always time to change that, isn't there?

[Probably not the answer he was looking for on her end, but he could use some fun every now and then. Of course, it probably helps that she's not trying to marry him off to a beautiful young lass or some other crazy backward olde timey bullshit.

That's all parties consisted of back in his alternate universe way back then, right? Probably some duels, too. Slapping guys in the face with gloves. That sort of thing.]

Is chamomile oh--[She's a little lost, assuming he probably had to go to the bathroom or his phone was stuck on vibrate or something (it would be nice if he got a phone, wouldn't it?). She barely gets to fill the teapot before he's back in and... being really adorable. She sets the kettle to the stove with a light clink to reach for the floral arrangement.] Agrimony. You don't see that too frequently. I like out of the ordinary bouquets. [Especially ones with magical properties.

She turns on the stove to heat the kettle before she gets to pruning the bouquet a little and filling a vase from under the sink with a bit of water.] That's very thoughtful of you.

[ His cheeks burn brighter. He's not accustomed to giving anything to friends, especially women. He had been worried it would come off as a romantic gesture so he was sure to find something that represented otherwise. ]

So you like it?

[He is pretty awkward about it, so it does cross her mind for a second that it the flowers were given for that reason -- but Zatanna's well aware that Gil also is the kind of awkward that isn't stupid. If for whatever reason he was crushing on her (and really, who wouldn't?), he wouldn't go about this way. Hopefully.]

I do. I'm sure Diana will like them, as well. I'll put them on the kitchen table. [Which she does, right after she shuts off the faucet.]

[ He could never act on "urges" like that. He's too shy and too well, self-conscious and carried very little self-worth. Dalia's the closest he might have gotten... but... she did try to murder him after.

So yeah.

But Zee's approval makes him smile a little. ]

I'm glad.

[Diana spots Gil the moment he enters the house, but she thinks to give him a little space before she approaches him. She eyes the cake with a smile and makes a note to ask him if that's his specialty -- she doesn't think she's ever mentioned that cake is her favorite delicacy.

When things have quieted down a little, she makes her way towards him.]

I tried your cake -- it was delicious.

[ At first he's surprised, which eventually fades and he's overtaken by a pleased feeling. He may not be a four star chef or whatever they labeled it in this world, but he knows how to bake and what makes something sweet and delicious. ]

Did you really? I'm glad to hear.

I'm pleased that you came, as well. [Taking a closer look into the Thunderdome incident, Diana now knows why Gil's mood has taken a turn for the morose lately.] Are you enjoying yourself?

[ It's difficult to push aside those fresh and vivid memories. Or forget with the scar on his neck hidden beneath his tight collar. He still wonders about Lenalee each passing day. But this is supposed to be a joyous celebration and it would be inappropriate for him to bring a dampening mood into their home. Diana and Zatanna have been so kind to him; he wants to pay that back somehow. ]

Ah, yes, it's been alright. [ He doesn't know many people here, so he's been keeping to himself. ] Oh, I forgot--

Hm? [She raises a curious eyebrow, waiting for him to finish his sentence.]

Um, I brought... [ Flowers... that he seems to have put elsewhere. How on earth has he done that twice now? ] A small gift. Flowers.

I wasn't sure what to bring, really.

Flowers are perfect, Gil. I'm sure they look beautiful. [She places a hand on his arm lightly.] Where are they? I have some empty vases in the kitchen we can put them in.

I must have left them in the other room... [ He didn't want to stand around with flowers in his hands if Diana and Zatanna were busy tending to guests, but now that he thinks about it he should have sought them out when he arrived.

He takes a step toward the next room and glances over his shoulder quickly to see if Diana is following. Sure enough, he did leave the small bouquet of pink roses. He didn't know the language of flowers like Elliot had, but the florist had ensured him both agrimony and pink roses represented thanks and gratitude. ]

Sorry about that.

Don't worry about it.

[She clasps her hands in delight when she sees the flowers. She's familiar with their meaning, and Diana is touched that Gil took the time to get some that had a message.] Oh, they're lovely. I'll just go put them in water.

[She starts walking to the kitchen, assuming that he would follow her into the room.]

[ He does! And he looks a little pleased that she likes them. ]

I know it's not much. I wanted to say... thank you for everything so far.

[She's quiet for a moment, the only sound the gentle flow of water from the faucet as it filled a glass vase.]

There's nothing to thank me for, Gil. I'm your friend, and I'm just glad to be able to help you in what little way I can.

[ Friend.

A shy smile emerges. Does Diana only see good in people? Or perhaps she can see both. He's been so frightened with what people have seen and everything he's done, despite regretting it and beating himself up everyday. ]

Then... I hope to do the same.

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