capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

Who: Moonybase and YOU
When: 23 December 2009. 8am - 10pm
Where: Moonybase.
Summary: An open invitation to a party never looked so good. Check your weapons and powers at the door.
Warnings: Probably everything. Please see this post for details.
Format: Whatever works. Don't forget to add your tag.
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Remus had been to enough Christmas parties in his lifetime to know when one would end disastrously, including those that had been specifically dated to avoided interfering with other Christmas plans that the guests might have. This was one of them. But his tolerance had kept him quiet, the happy act of cleaning and decorating taken to as easily as any other task he did.

The twins had also been enlisted to help, given the important task of stringing a length of bright red ribbon and pine up the staircase to the second floor. The soft white lights that followed were magic. In fact, none of the lights, save for whatever lamps or overhead lights that Miles insisted upon, were run by electricity, and many were candles, kept only from setting anything ablaze by a flame-freezing charm.

By the time the morning of the party rolled around, the house looked as if it had been pulled straight out of a Christmas card, Remus borrowing from what he remembered of Christmases as Hogwarts and the Burrow, including a single bit of mistletoe in the entry. The snow helped, piling nicely (if in an oddly organized fashion) outside thanks to a little help from Miles, adding to the image; if nothing else, Remus was happy with it, the certainty that he would wind up having to transfigure another person into some sort of object nagging at the back of his mind.

Tin whistles, toy rocking horses, and sprigs of mistletoe were likely going to be very common later in the evening, he mused, tapping his wand rhythmically against the palm of his hand in thought as he checked everything over once more, walking through the sitting and dining rooms and out into the backyard where the tree house had been built out of ice and wood into the tree there. The floating green structures that Kyle Rayner had promised to provide were still missing, but they would be there soon enough.

He pocketed his wand and walked back into the house, shaking free the snow from his boots, and glancing at the clock. People who had offered their assistance had been asked to come early, which meant that the kitchen was soon going to turn into a madhouse, the extra stove only offering so much help. It also meant he had best make tea before he was banned from the room.

ooc; alkdsjfa you guys are amazing <3 For your convenience, links to the separate comment sections. To keep the death to your bandwidth down a little.

EARLY ARRIVALS: VARIOUS PREPARATIONS
TIMELY ARRIVALS: CHECK YOUR MOTIVES AT THE DOOR
SOCIALIZING FOR FUN AND PROFIT
GO AHEAD! TALK WITH YOUR MOUTH FULL!
I'M GOING TO PISTOL-WHIP THE NEXT GUY WHO SAYS 'SHENANIGANS'
THIS IS WHY MANKIND INVENTED THE 'GUEST BEDROOM'
AND THEN EVERYTHING ELSE HAPPENED HERE
TAKING YOUR TOYS AND GOING HOME

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I'm Pantalaimon. I'm part of Lyra... or rather, we're part of each other," Pantalaimon said, Lyra felt a flicker of apprehension. She wasn't sure whether it came from herself or Pantalaimon, and in the end, there wasn't much difference. Pantalaimon speaking was unusual- most of the time, he only spoke with her, since there were no other daemons in the city.

It was a curious and fascinating thing, watching it--them?--speak. His head tilted that his seeing eye could observe more clearly, glancing at Lyra when the mood shifted slightly. Had he done something wrong in questioning?

Looking back at the daemon, Blue respectfully nodded his head. "It is an honor to meet you as well, Pantalaimon," he said, straightening and smiling down at the both of them.

"Well, if you've met Lyra, than in most ways, you've already met me," was the response, before Lyra took over speaking again.

"It's... Sort of strange, having to explain. In our world, everyone was like us."

As Blue sat back down, he offered an empathetic smile. "I do admit it is very unusual, from my perspective. I can only imagine the trouble it must be to having to explain it. You do not have to if you do not wish." He tilted his head, contemplating. "You are both the same, despite appearances."

"Mm!" Lyra said, nodding happily.

"How have you been, Blue?"

"It is an adjustment," he replied, at the same time gesturing to the open spot nearby. "I have never been in a climate such as this."

Lyra sat down in the open spot, Pantalaimon curling up in her lap.

"Huh... I've spent time in the North, so the weather here en't so bad, in comparison."

A thoughtful pause. "From what I have read about this planet's climates...places north of here are rather extreme. Yet still, many call it home. To adapt to such things is admirable." Blue stopped, catching himself trailing off and flashing an apologetic smile at the girl. "Though...do you prefer such things? The dramatic cold, that is."

"It is very cold. But it's beautiful up there," Lyra told him, remembering the aurora, and the vast expanses of snow.

"And... I don't know. I don't think I'd like it to be like that all the time, but thinking about the North reminds me that no matter what the weather is like in the city, I've been through worse," she added as her mind drifted back to the parts of the North that sometimes haunted her dreams- the battles, and Bolvangar.

The images that came to mind of that snow-covered world were foreing, but beautiful. As they dissolved into the notion of sound and violent fury, Blue's head turned back to regard her with a less-than-passive look. True that he knew his own young kind to endure danger, but nobody, he figured, would think such things normal or right.

"You are quite a strong individual," he observed, whether in response to what she said aloud or thought in quiet was unclear.

"I guess?" Lyra averted her eyes, although Pantalaimon gave blue a questioning look before turning his attention back to Lyra.

Blue's gaze fell and drifted away, frowning softly. Conversation was hardly his strong point. "I do apologize," he said, changing gears. "I am aware that gifts are customary, but...I could not think of what would be appropriate for you."

"It's fine. Talking with you is good enough for me," Lyra assured him. She had sent out some cookies to him, but she hadn't brought them with her to the party. She wasn't sure if they'd arrived yet.

"I am glad to hear it," he replied, smiling weakly. "As I would like to hear more of...whatever you wish. Your world, or your time here..."

"Of my world... Blue, have you ever seen the Aurora? I saw it in photograms first, but that doesn't really do it justice," Curtains of light, full of such profound hues, and then, suspended within them, the image of another world? No, Lyra doubted anything but the real thing could ever be as amazing as that.

"It's like... curtains of light, in all kinds of colours, all over the sky. And the one in my world was special- you could see another world in it."

Blue listened silently, eyebrows raising at the description, but more importantly--"Another planet?"

"No. Another universe... Like how we're all from different ones," Lyra explained.

The idea was hard to grasp, at first. "This aurora," he said slowly, "it is a window to a whole different world?"

"It... You couldn't go through it, but you could see it, yes. Because the earth's magnetic field made whatever is between our worlds," she paused, "Weaker. But I don't know if the aurora here is like that."

He frowned, considering this. It seemed extremely improbable from the perspective of someone who had made a living out of space travel, world to world, but...as this city was witness, anything was possible.

"It could be something to investigate, perhaps," he mused. "But...did the world you could see from your side bear any similarities to this one?"

Lyra shook her head.

"No. I went to the world we saw in the aurora. It," Was beautiful. Was rotting. Was dying. "Wasn't this one."

Another door closed as suddenly as it opened. Disheartening, but...

"It would be too simple," he said aloud, shaking his head.

"The price would have been to high anyway. But... I think there's probably a way back to our own worlds that doesn't involve the 'porter," Lyra assured him. She meant it, too.

"Considering the marvels that this world has seen already," Blue said, "there must be. If not now, then...someday."