Event Log - Mistletoe

[lucetimods]

Who: E'eryone
What: Mwah Mwah Hanky Panky
When: December 26th - January 1st
Where: E'erywhere
Summary: Mistletoe has once again cropped up in Luceti. It's time to kiss!
Rating: Anything about PG-13, take it off-comm.

Comments

Cliff -- All the Days

[aerialassault]

[The winter ultimately didn't matter too much to Cliff in the long run. It was cold...and, for an opinionated Atheist like him, that was all that mattered to him. However, he was well aware of Christmas as a holiday and tradition for many Earthlings, and he enjoyed the basic concept of fun and good will that it represented.

The mistletoe was something barely recognizable for him-- something he knew about from the Earth-centric media that spread through his galaxy, but not something that he had ever experienced for himself. So, the offending little plant that appeared out of nowhere was an entirely new problem for him that was stacked on top of the Shift that had changed his appearance.

Eventually, once he realizes the connection between the little plant and the frustrations, he will be out trying to tear down the ones he can find. Unfortunately, he is now to short to reach most of them...

He meanders anywhere and everywhere that week, though he's frequently near the Ground Building, around the Plaza, or screwing around with the programs at the Battle Dome. Come join a petite bluenette?]

Battle Dome nps

[misterbrief]

[He's just finished with his own training, walking out with his towel. He walks past the panel Cliff is working at, looking over and eyeing what the man now woman was working on. He stops, walking over in interest. Maybe it was a simulation he could use. Shit gets boring here fast if he doesn't constantly make new sims for himself.]

And what exactly are you working on now? [He scrutinizes it a little further, not quite knowing what it is yet.]

BATTLE DOME IT IS THEN!

[aerialassault]

[Shit was getting very boring for Cliff anymore in the small town they made their beds in. His surprise trip to visit the egg heads who ran the place had given him ample time to think, and he plainly saw the sheer amount of time that he could spending on actually doing something productive.

He needed to keep himself working, somehow. The simulation rooms would just be a start.]



Just a little something to keep busy is all.

[He looked over his shoulder and cast Vegeta a lazy grin before stepping aside to share his work.]

It's a little training set up, like the one I used back on the Diplo to blow off some steam. It ain't much, really,

[Truth be told, he just missed looking out the window and seeing the stars pass by between reps. That was the tricky thing to recreate.]

ALLLRIIIIGHT

[misterbrief]

Well, when you're finished show it to me. I'd like to see if it would fit my needs. I'm starting to run out of ideas of my own, and you know that won't make me happy. [He turns to go, but he maybe, maybe, gets one step off before he finds himself stuck. Very stuck. The same sort of stuck he's been growing accustomed to.

And this man doesn't cuss very often, but there's a very low, under his breath-] Fuck- [before the effects of the mistletoe kick in, and he turns around, back toward Cliff.]

[aerialassault]

[Cliff had been about to casually offer his assurance to Vegeta that, yes, he would share the specs once the program was completed, when the soft curse caught his attention. For a second Cliff wasn't even certain that he had heard it properly, as Vegeta was a smoother speaker than he was in a few respects. He turned around himself and leaned back against the console--

And there it was, hanging just outside of his reach.

Too late.]



...Did you want to say anything else?

[misterbrief]

Yes. You've been stuck like that for quite a while, haven't you? [All of a sudden he's very concerned about this. Very.]

[aerialassault]

Yeah...it's been about a month.

[The tone that Cliff replied in was just as sober and sincere as Vegeta's, and he trailed off in uncertainty. He hadn't actually thought about the nature of the Shift, but in retrospect it was starting to seem awfully long.]

[misterbrief]

How much longer are you going to be stuck like that? Not even my shifts lasted quite that long.

[Nothing is permanent, but what if they were attacked with him like that...?]

[aerialassault]

I dunno. I was just trying to take every day as it came.

[Although he was starting to see the point. Perhaps he really should have been more concerned about this Shift...]

[ahappylie]

[After all the recent losses, Souji had been more than a little apprehensive that Cliff's long absence was a sign of something worse. It wasn't until a little blue-haired girl returned, speaking in his familiar style, that the swordsman had relaxed some, but even then, having his friend come back in such a changed state had been...difficult.

He'd even thought it was just Fayt's sister having come into the enclosure at first.

Some days after the mistletoe had begun to surface around Luceti, Souji finally tracked Cliff-nee-Maria down as he meddled with the Battle Dome control system. Now that he was shorter, it was easier to look over his shoulder and with how good Souji had become at being patient and sneaking, he couldn't help himself but take a peek at what his now petite friend was doing.]

Trying to vent your frustrations?

[aerialassault]

[Cliff looked up when he heard Souji's voice, briefly startled by the man's sudden appearance. The strange distance that had grown between the two of them since Cliff's return from Malnosso custody was both confusing and disheartening for the Klausian. He understood that Souji was an intensly troubled and private person underneath the vibrant smile that he showed the world, but it still bothered him. Out of all of the people that Cliff had met over his short time in Luceti, Souji was one of the ones that he wanted to see the most.

Between the haze of pain and anger that punctuated his stay outside of Luceti, there had also been periods of quiet. A man, in any situation, gets to thinking...but it wasn't prudent to speak of his realizations for the moment, and the Shift that was thrown on top of everything else only made it more complicated.

'Frustrations' was a mild term, in Cliff's opinion.]



Ya could say it's something like that. If it wasn't so cold, I'd probably go take a trip down to one of the lakes and do something there, but that just ain't so easy in the snow.

[ahappylie]

[He smiled, still unused to the height adjustment between them and turned around, leaning back against the edge of the console. One hand traced a long strand of hair over his ear before Souji settled both into his lap.]

Well, if someone would only wear a proper coat, it wouldn't be so bad.

[aerialassault]

I dunno...that's kinda hard. Even back home, it's tricky finding a coat that fits.

[It was his size. Although he was far less conspicuous when he was among his own people, he was still tall by Klausian standards. Shopping was only moderately easier when he was on his homeworld.]

[ahappylie]

[Souji tilted his chin back, finger touching the edge of it as he looked up, thinking.]

You could always commission someone in the village to make one for you - it isn't like there's a shortage of...

[He trailed off, noticing something red, green and horribly familiar hovering over their heads.]

Mm... Cliff-san? Can you look up a moment?

[aerialassault]

Look up? What--

[His words were cut short when he saw the inconspicuos little plant hanging just outside of reach, too high to even be grabbed if one stood on the other's shoulders.]



Yanno. I never understood that little tradition.

[ahappylie]

[Souji shrugged himself and reached up toward the mistletoe, knowing he couldn't reach it, but wanting to try anyway, it almost seemed to dip down to his fingertips as if to taunt them both.]

It isn't a tradition of my country so I wouldn't know.

I remember it appearing before in Luceti, but not what you were supposed to do about it.

[aerialassault]

It's no tradition for me either, but I've heard things.

[Like how it was a cute little thing to put up at parties, and how anyone who met under it was supposed to play along with it. Cliff laced his fingers together and dropped down to a knee.]

I've got an idea-- I'll give you a boost, and you grab it.

[Although he knew it would be useless, in the long run, it gave them something to try.]

Day 1 - Whatever effect is cool with you

[yourfononsarewhack]

[Well. It looks like this girl couldn't reach this mistletoe by the Ground building and has been trapped instead. Jade tsks as he hovers around the vicinity of the misletoe.]

My, my. You certainly look like you could use a helping hand.

[aerialassault]

[Mistletoe was such a silly tradition, in Cliff's opinion. It was just another subtle example of how far Earth-centric opinion had spread throughout the galaxy, in his experience...not that he had any right to complain when his own world had only been active on the intergalactic scale for barely a century. The sheer fact that the Malnosso had picked such an innocent looking thing as their game of choice was just another frustration piled on top of many since he had returned from their care earlier that month.

He was already Shifted, he was stuck, and injury was added to insult by the fact that he was too short to do anything. He had been standing on his toes, arms outstretched in a vain attempt to reach the little plant, by the time he heard Jade's voice. Of all the people at all the times....

Jade wasn't the worst person that could have come upon him.

Dropping his arms, he looked over his shoulder and heaved a sigh in obvious frustration. He wasn't going to lie about this one.]



Yeah. Could ya? I don't get what this is getting at-- and they're late!

[yourfononsarewhack]

[He raises a curious eyebrow. Something in the speech pattern, the posture... It seemed very familiar to Jade. Still, he gives a shrug as he approaches.]

Oh. Are you expecting someone?

[aerialassault]

[Suspect anything you want. Cliff has nothing to hide here, except the identity of someone who isn't even in Luceti.]



No. Nothin' like that. This plant-- [He swiped at it once more, and made an agitated noise when it danced out of reach.]

Aagh. It's for a holiday that's popular with the people here...that was yesterday. The guys who put these things up have a bad sense of timing.

[yourfononsarewhack]

Oh, is that all? [He offers a simple shrug as he draws closer.] The Malnosso seem to have a preference against following rational schedules. Of course, the possibility also exists that with the number of cultures represented here, perhaps there's one in which the holiday truly is celebrated later.

[aerialassault]

Maybe, but I'm noticing that they like Earthling holidays...what, with all of the Earthlings here and all. That's why it's weird.

[He cut himself off.]

Not that it would matter any, would it?

[yourfononsarewhack]

It doesn't, really. The Malnosso will simply cling to whatever holidays coincide with whichever tricks they have up their sleeve. All I know is, that Earth place seems increasingly troublesome.

[aerialassault]

Don't get me started on 'troublesome.' [There was no use in hiding his agitation. He's a wanted terrorist, after all.]

Some of them are cool, but I've got a few issues with 'em as a whole. Now-- you gonna stand there looking pretty all day, or are you gonna help me get that thing down?