rekindleme | ☃ While the merry bells keep ringing

Who: Everyone who wants to show up
Where: Building One- The Lobby
When: December 24th, early evening
Summary: When Cupid says she's throwing a party, she throws a party- and pretty much everyone's invited, if they want to be.
Warnings: Excessive Holiday Cheer and overall Cuteness Overload.

'Tis the Season

[Cupid has never been the type to do anything halfway- and that includes celebrating.

With the help of everyone who had offered, the main lobby of Building One had been rearranged, decorated, and generally spruced up in order to prepare for the party. There are small, bright lights strung between garlands and in long streams against the walls, snowflake cutouts hanging from wherever they could be attached, and the food tables are flanked by small, light-laden shrubs. A spot has been cleared near a wall for a gilded mirror roughly the size of a tablet, somehow hooked up to a pair of speakers and playing Christmas music just loud enough to be audible over people as they mingle. There's even a tree of sorts against one of the walls, complete with a bright star.

The hostess herself and her tiny assistant greet everyone at the door as best they can, and Cupid makes sure to take the Secret Santa gifts from those participating to put away until it's time to hand them out, and always, always chirps out a-]

Happy Holidays! Enjoy the party!

[-before moving on to greet the next entering guest.

Of course, Cupid being Cupid, there are a few hidden bits of mistletoe around- but decidedly nowhere that they'll be seen unless someone is looking for them.

So by all means, everyone eat, drink, and be merry! It's all in the spirit of the holiday, after all! Careful about starting any trouble though- Cupid won't stand for anyone ruining the party.]

Mingle Threads

Open Threads (those marked with a star have not been tagged)

((OOC: I'll be doing my best to keep up with linking everyone's open threads, and I'll be available via both PM and AIM to troubleshoot any issues. Feel free to shoot me a line on either! Otherwise, have fun, and happy holidays Rekindle!

Edit A: Feel free to start your own threads if you like, the mingle threads are just to give ideas!
Edit B: Secret Santa gifts can be PMed to me and I will relay them to the recipients!))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Wow, yeah. She's really talented. [In magical sewing, apparently. Magic usually makes him uneasy, but fluttering fake wings are harmless enough.]

I used to have a Labrador retriever. What kinds of puppies do you have? [He doesn't know much about hunting dogs...]

And really nice! I am so glad I got to meet her!

[Diarmuid giggles as the wings flap once more and then he turns around to properly face Shinju again.]

I don't know exactly what my brother's is called. White is all big and fluffy. She has really long fur!

[That could be any number of dogs, but in this case, Diarmuid is describing an English Sheepdog.]

Grey is a Wolfhound! Like the ones we have back home!

[They aren't called it yet in his time, but the dogs Diarmuid is thinking of are the ancestors to today's Irish Wolfhounds.]

A Wolfhound... [Well, they certainly sound like good hunting dogs.] I'm sure they'll be good companions for you two. I'm guessing you've been out with them in the parks, huh?

[The thought makes him a little jealous as he remembers when he was younger and had just gotten his puppy. He misses those days.]

[Diarmuid nods his head so hard it's amazing it doesn't fly right off.]

We do! We go to the park all the time. Or we did until it started to get cold.

[He giggles softly.]

The puppies don't like going out in the cold even though they both have long fur. I don't like the cold either, so I can't really blame them.

Are you going to get a puppy sometime since you have one at home? The pet shop sells them. That is where we got White and Grey at!

That sounds like fun. [Diarmuid sure seems like he was having fun, anyway.]

I was thinking about getting one for a little while, but the friend I live with decided to get a cat, so it's probably better if I don't. It is a nice cat, so I can't be unhappy about it.

"Oh! A kitty! What is it's name? Is it a boy or a girl kitty? What does it look like? Does it purr a lot?" Diarmuid has never had a pet cat, but he's heard just enough about them to be extremely curious.

Besides, kitties are cute even if they aren't puppies.

"Well, it's a black cat... but I don't know much else. Yu is the one who takes care of it. I don't think he's named it yet."

It hadn't been more than a couple weeks, but that needed to be put on the agenda. They couldn't just keep calling it "cat" for the rest of forever.

"It does purr a lot, but that's because Yu is always petting it. It seems to follow him everywhere."

"That won't do!" Diarmuid stomps his foot softly and pouts, "Everything needs to have a name. It will be sad without one. Make sure you name it soon. You don't want it to be sad!"

You don't, do you?

"Yu must be the kitty's person. Every animal has one. It's the one person who always makes them happy no matter what. I am Grey's person and my brother is White's person, though she listens to me better for some reason..."

With a reaction like that, there's no way he can say no.

"Okay. I'll go talk to him later tonight and we'll come up with something. Promise."

He supposes Diarmuid isn't wrong about that in some sense, even if it's just an idea he has because he's a kid.

"Probably," he agrees. "He's definitely a cat-person."

He brings a hand to his chin and looks thoughtful for a second. "Well, you can like someone and not want to do everything they tell you, right?"

"Yay!" Diarmuid cheers happily when Shinju agrees. His happiness becomes something more contemplative as the man keeps speaking, though.

"I suppose that is right. Just because you like someone doesn't mean you will always want to do what they tell you, but if they are your friend, why would they tell you to do something you don't want to do?"

It seems someone has gotten a little off course when it comes to the topic of conversation. He's thinking people now, not pets.

He doesn't really mind the change of subject, though he is a little curious if there's a reason for it, more than what he just said.

"Sometimes your friends might know more about something than you do," he suggests. "And they might think that you'll be happier in the end, if you do something you don't want to do right now."

As long as they were a good friend, anyway. And as long as they didn't do that kind of thing all the time. At some point they'd stop being a friend and start being a parent...

There is no reason other than he's seven years old and his mind, much like the rest of him, doesn't tend to stay in one place for very long.

"Maybe. All my friends back home are adults. I'm the only kid in father's home..." There is an odd hesitation in his voice, but it is very quickly gone, "The only friends I have my age are here, so it would make sense that back home my friends would know things I didn't."

Hearing a kid hesitate in such a way definitely catches Shinju's attention, but he doesb't think it's anything worth asking about, even if he was the type to pry...

"Right. I would think most of your older friends would want to look out for you like that. It's just a different way of helping."

Shinju finally tried on the scarf, wrapping it around his neck loosely. He could definitely see himself wearing this often.

"Speaking of, you've really been helping Cupid out with the party, huh?"

"I've been trying! She is really nice and I like helping people!" Diarmuid gives Shinju a closer look now that he has the scarf on and then nods, "It looks very good on you!"

And it's not attacking. What a well-behaved scarf...

Diarmuid looks back toward the stack of presents he has been handing out and then nods again. As much fun as he is having talking to Shinju, he probably should get back to work, "It was really nice meeting you, but I still have a lot of gifts to hand out. I better get back to it. Come visit sometime, okay? Since we live so close together?"

"Okay, good luck," he replied with a nod and a smile. "And I will. Maybe we can get together with Suzaku and do something fun."

"That is a good idea! I would really like that! It can be a big Building 3 party!" Diarmuid giggles and waves at Shinju, "See you soon!" He waves once more and then disappears into the crowd.

☃ While the merry bells keep ringing

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