[ open ] for i've grown a little leaner, grown a little colder, grown a little sadder

[holyshihtzu]

Who: Juliet O'Hara + You
Where: Juliet's room
When: December 1st-4th
Rating: PG
Summary: Juliet is getting into the Christmas spirit early by hosting a little get-together at her place. Network video and party post below the cut!
The Story:

[ ✹ .002 [ video ] ]

Happy December, Wonderland!

[ Juliet offers a brilliant, if somewhat strained, smile to the network. The camera isn't directly aimed at her face at first--she's still getting used to video chatting--but she reaches out to adjust it quickly before continuing. ]

I know not everyone here celebrates Christmas or... Even knows what Christmas is, but! In the O'Hara household, Christmas is a big deal. I mean, I really big deal. All my family comes in and there are games, and arts and crafts, and a ton of food...

[ People probably get the idea, Juliet. ]

So! I know things always get really crazy during the holidays anyway and I wanted to get on top of things so I'm having a little pre-Christmas get together at my place. So whether or I know you or not, come by room three on the seventh floor anytime over the next few days and I promise we'll have a lot of fun. Open door policy.

[ She pauses. ]

Not literally. Knock first.

[ room 3, level 7 ]

Juliet has gone all-out for the holidays, as an O'Hara is wont to do. With no financial limits and no job to distract her, she's put everything into decorating her place. Anyone walking past room three on the seventh floor will be greeted immediately with an timely wreath and equally festive doormat.

The decorations don't stop there. Juliet has decked the halls to the point that they are bursting, having even extended her living room quite a bit to accommodate food, fun, and hopefully a lot of guests. Every wall is decorated with some kind of garland, wreath, or lights. She's even got a sprig of mistletoe hanging in the corner for any couples who visit that might be so inclined.

And, of course, there is the the Christmas tree in the corner of the living room.

Anyone who visits will also be greeted by an unimaginable spread of food from cookies, cakes, and various snacks to some traditional Scottish fare like mince pies. There's another corner table dedicated to just Christmas crafts, from cutting out paper snowflakes to sewing Holiday themed pajamas.

Maybe it's a little early to go full out, but Juliet couldn't wait. Christmas is her favorite time of year and she hopes that getting to it early will help her miss her family less - and maybe help her find a new family in Wonderland.

[ This is a party/mingle post! Feel free to top level and tag out with other people, or just thread with Juliet, or just respond to her network post if you so desire. Have fun and get into the holiday spirit before shit goes down! ]

Comments

[teamfun]

[That terrible first Event was a living nightmare, and is remaining his Least Favourite Thing Ever. Luckily, this whole thing looks relatively trauma-free, and he'll take that. ]

I absolutely just did that and yes, yes I am, thanks for noticing.

[He'll have the title of 'ridiculous' with no small amount of pride. He picks up his own decoration, eyeing it critically, before hanging it on a branch.]

So. What is Christmas like here? Are there any wacky shenanigans I need to worry about or is it all parties and good times?

[waitin]

Mmhmm. That's what I'm here for.

( Clementine murmurs, but she's trying (and failing) very hard not to smile at the moment. She lifts up her decoration to put it on some branch that ends up being too thin for it so it kinda pulls the branch down with it. She frowns and reaches forward to keep it from shattering on the floor. ...Oops. )

It's Wonderland so there are always wacky shenanigans, but it changes every year as far as I can tell.

Sometimes it's not so bad. One year we all fell asleep and had dreams about an alternate Wonderland where everyone only knew Wonderland. Not... anything that came before.

[teamfun]

Ohhhh, so that's what you're here for. Good to know.

[He watches her, his own smile unabashedly big and goofy. The holiday has helped boost his usually upbeat mood - but having Clem around makes it all the better. He likes being able to share this with her.]

Wow, that's- well, yeah why not, let's just have ourselves a good 'ol plate of brainwashing for Christmas.

[waitin]

( Clementine turns to him, trying to give him a Serious expression as if to say, Yes, that's exactly it, but once again, she utterly fails. She winds up breaking into a smile instead, and this is kind of already the best Christmas she can remember celebrating in a really long time.

Because he's here, and she likes being able to share this with him too. She likes him- like-likes him a lot. )

They don't even wrap it. Just toss it into your brain. ...last year wasn't like that so maybe this year will be good too. Trying to predict Wonderland's just an easy way to get a headache from what I can tell.

[teamfun]

[He grins at that attempt at a serious expression, sticking his tongue out briefly in response- always the height of maturity. He like-likes her a lot , too, though, and this...well, this is just about the best christmas he's had in a good long time.]

Wow, that's just plain rude. You'd think they'd at least offer some half-assed paper shred or something. Pretend they made an effort when they were giving us our annual dose of Probably Awful.

[He lets out a soft, slightly smug hum.]

Good thing I just take everything day by day then. I'll deal with whatever as it comes.

[waitin]

Wonderland's pretty talented at being rude. But sometimes it surprises you in a good way.

( And maybe this Christmas will be like that. It already kind of is. It's been fun, good, warm already. She'd like to hope nothing will happen to fuck that up especially since this is Louis' first Christmas out of the walker world in a... long, long time. He deserves to have a good one. She taps gently on an ornament and then turns to look up at him. )

I don't usually like taking everything day by day, but it's too hard to prepare for what's to come in Wonderland. Even if you fill your room with food to stock up, some Events just take all your food and stuff away.

[teamfun]

I do like the good surprises.

[His smile softens at the edges. He knows how hard it is for Clem to follow through the 'take every day as it comes' credo he lives and breathes by. She's a planner, someone who prepares, and it's kept her alive. He does appreciate her trying to see it the way he does, though. ]

Exactly. Tomorrow, this whole place might be underwater. Or everything might be in a void of nothingness. Or we might all be kicked out back home. You can't prepare for that kinda thing. [He waggles his fingers, putting on a spooky voice..] Tomorrow is an illussiioooon~

[waitin]

( Clementine reaches up to grab his fingers and stop their waggling except now she's basically just holding his hands as she smirks at him in amusement. She lifts up an eyebrow. )

I don't know if I'd go that far. ( Some preparation is still required, but for now she's into this whole Christmas celebration. Thing. )

...the void of nothingness never happened, but the underwater thing? That happened. It wasn't fun.

[teamfun]

[Hahaha he was aiming for hand holding the entire time, his victory is complete! Except...no he wasn't, but he's absolutely not going to complain about holding her hand. ]

Eh, you're close enough, I'll take it.

[That gets a raised eyebrow.]

Wow, really? So it wasn't like the song the Disney crab sung? It really isn't better down where it's wetter?

[waitin]

( Clementine tightens her hold on his hand, and her face might be a bit flushed. Maybe. Shh. )

Really.

No, it was Wonderland style so it was a lot of... try not to drown instead of having fun with a fish band under the sea.

( It was the Event that she had to kill George and Shaun after they turned into walkers- zombies, whatevers too. So it wasn't much fun. She'd love to be an actual mermaid though. That'd be cool. )

[teamfun]

[He flashes her that gap-toothed grin of his, very much happy with this development. ]

That's...yeah that sounds like Wonderland. Here you go, everything's underwater now, but you still breathe air- just our little joke.

[So rude, Wonderland.]

Wellll, I hope this one has marginally fewer threats of death.

[waitin]

( Clementine smiles. It was a long time ago even if it was a shitty Event. )

Yep, all laughs now. Hopefully, that won't happen again.

( Or they're at least given the ability to breathe under water next time. )

Me too. It's Wonderland so y'never know. Death threats or mind fucks are usually par for the course. But it'd be nice to just... celebrate Christmas this time. You haven't, right? Or did the boarding school hold little celebrations every 25th?

[teamfun]

All we can do is see what it bring us.

[Take every day as it comes, as he usually does. His smile softens at her question, glancing at the tree, using his free hand to tap a bauble, watching it spin in janky little circles on the branch.]

We tried? It was hard to remember the date, but sometimes we found a little tree that was already half-fallen down and stuff. Omar always tried to do something nice for dinner. And by 'nice' I of course mean he made the same perfectly boring dish of rabbit stew, but added like...a leaf to it.

[They couldn't do much, but dammnit if they didn't try.]

Nothing like this though. This is something else. [He turns to her.] What about you and AJ? Gotta have been harder, on the road all the time. Did you manage to do anything?

[waitin]

( Clementine laughs softly when he mentions Omar adding like a leaf to make the meal better. She knows- She knows in their world it's impossible to really celebrate it. They've all lost track of the dates, and they're just trying to make it from one day to the next. )

In a couple of the groups I was in, they tried. When I was with adults, they really wanted to hold on to some of that.

( They wanted to keep their traditions, to decorate the trees, and all the rest. )

I never really taught AJ about it though, no. I don't think he'd believe most of what it was supposed to be about. ( That's her fault. She focused so much on helping him learn to survive. She didn't want to lose him- not again. Material goods have no meaning to them. They generally can't afford to give anything that holds actual meaning to them. Giving in general is a difficult concept for AJ to understand. )

[teamfun]

[The leaf was absolutely a flourishing touch. That no one but Mitch would eat. Timing was always tricky though. They often went for what 'felt' like Christmas.]

I guess that makes sense. Trying to remember the old world.

[They remembered it best, after all. He lets out a soft laugh.]

Yeaaaaaaaaah no, he's pretty cynical. I mean if you told him about Santa, he'd probably end up laying traps on the roof or by the fireplace or something. Lacing cookies with sleeping medicine. Catch him in the act.

[He's joking, mostly. Still, it'd be nice for AJ to have something like that. It's not looking likely, with how fucked up things are back home. Still.]

It'd be fun to see, though.

[waitin]

( That makes Clementine laugh too if only because she can picture it. It's a truly wonderful and accurate description of what AJ would do if he heard tale of some Santa who would come into someone's house in the middle of the night. It's painful too, of course.

There's no way it can't be, but she likes Louis puts a more funny spin on it. She'd still make sure he got presents of some kind. AJ. )

...that sounds accurate, but yeah, it'd be kinda hilarious.

I'd still try to get him a present or something. He just definitely doesn't believe in make believe or anything

( A smile tugs on her face. ) I'd like him to be able to. He really likes getting to stay at the Boarding School, stay in one place, stay with so many amazing people.

( Maybe eventually he could have learned how to have fun again if raiders and shit hadn't kept happening there. )

[teamfun]

[He loves hearing her laugh, if only because he knows it's something that's not come easy to her for a long, long time. Knowing he brings it out in her makes it all the more special.]

I'm sure he'd appreciate that- a gift from you, I mean. It'd be more significant, coming from you rather than some make believe beardo guy. Who, let's face it, sounds kind of like a creeper from an outside perspective.

[Which AJ for sure has. He also has the boarding school- though he very almost didn't. Louis still feels some guilt about that- voting to get them kicked out- AJ nearly getting killed because of it. He acted out of anger, and it was a lesson for him to not do that again.]

Well, assuming we don't all die horribly in our valiant rescue attempt, you two get to keep that at least.

[waitin]

Yeah. It's so weird that we were all convinced that guy exists, and we were happy to have him crawling down our chimneys while we were asleep.

( Clementine gives a little shudder at the very thought. She doesn't think they have to keep all the elements of Christmas back in their world, but it might be good, beautiful to keep the better parts of it. The whole Giving part, the family part.

She'd want that. She lifts her head toward him with a tiny smirk. )

We do. Home. I think that'll really help AJ to get to be more of a kid. ...and we're not all going to die horribly in our valiant rescue attempt. ( :| serious look as she gives him a nudge. of course, she doesn't know this, but she's learned believing goes a long way. despite how many times she has learned otherwise: people die, things go boom. she has to hope for other people's sakes at the very least. )

[teamfun]

Clearly, we were a gullible bunch.

[His smile turns a touch sheepish, at the nudge and that very pointed look. He raises his free hand in surrender. ]

Okay, okay. I'll put my faith in your utter confidence in our not dying. Let's face it, if anyone can get us through this, it's you.

[Marlon WAS right when he said they hadn't ever seen anything like Clem before. She's in a whole other league of survival compared to them. He doesn't like to believe in the future, but he does believe in her.]

[waitin]

( Clementine smiles faintly at that, nodding, knowing he has- he has a lot of faith in her. She sure as hell's gonna fight like hell, but for now, there's this Christmas party to enjoy with her- with. Louis. )

We're gonna fight like hell when we get back.

But for now, we're gonna Christmas-like-hell.

( She smiles at him, lifting up the next ornament. It feels like it's going to be a really good Christmas. Of course, she has no idea what's to come. )

[teamfun]

[He grins, taking the decoration from her to hang it on a higher branch.]

Fuck, yeah. We're gonna Christmas like it's never been Christmas-ed before. It's gonna be a blast.

[It's going to be better than all the other Christmas-es combined, obviously. ]