Tilly chuckles at Dom's mention of the electric star, but her smile disappears quickly at the mention of him no longer having an electric type. She takes a large drink from her glass and looks down. As Dom begins stumbling over his own words, Tilly notices Vega had discovered the nearby Riolu and seemed to be chatting with it about the festive finery bedecking the tree. Witnessing that small moment of comradery reminded her why she was here. Tilly touches Dom's arm gently to calm him without interrupting him, but before she gets the chance to reassure him the caroling begins and he's ushered over to the piano and the exceptionally talented pianist. [break][break]

Stepping nearer the tree to get out of people's way, Matilda looks over the ornaments and listens to Vega and Riolu chatting at her feet. She takes another drink and rolls one of the ornaments in her fingers, watching her reflection distort and wondering when Riolu was going to notice Dom had left. Her eyes grow wide with realization and she turns toward the piano - and right into Dom. Intimately familiar with the look in his eyes, she squeezes his hand in hers and readily follows him to the music, joining in on the singing.


[break][break]

Remiel Calcifet prompt: caroling!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

With a pleased sigh, Barnaby finished off the last of his eggnog. The creamy drink was a nostalgic way to kick off the holiday party, but now he desired something a little stronger. Luckily, the waitstaff here were fantastic and immediately offered him an array of festive cocktails. Within moments Barnaby was enjoying a warm Hot Toddy.

"Oh, looks like there's a group over in the main drawing room." Stepping into the space, he arrived just in time to see an ensemble of carolers preparing to perform. Most of the guests gathered here were unknown to Barnaby, save for one. He returned Mars' acknowledgement with his own raised glass and a smile.

"Hm?" Cobalt eyes flicked from Felix Gallagher to the familiar face across the room. His bodyguard's amicable nod was noted with genuine curiosity. "You know Martín del Mar , Felix?" Barnaby's tone was light, conversational.

In between sets the journalist made sure to applaud the carolers' efforts. He was especially impressed by Eris Halla 's piano playing.

☉

As Cap meandered through the halls—some looking, in a labyrinthian fashion, curiously the same as the last—he had to admire just how much stuff it took to fill a house of this size. How many of the beds in this estate had never been (and would never be) slept in? How many tables had never been eaten at? Surely the homeowner wouldn't miss a trinket here or there. But, as he passed a massive central fireplace, Cap caught sight of a massive oil painting surely depicting the lord of the manner.[break][break]

One he recognized immediately.[break][break]

Cap frowned, stuffing his hands into his pockets. Remiel Calcifet might not have remembered him from their chance encounter, but that was a face Caprice had been sure to commit to memory. This was not a joint he wanted to case. Fine.[break][break]

The sound of singing in a nearby room caught his attention and he began to walk that way, now taking big drinks of his wine. He had to make sure he was going to get his money's worth from this party, after all. He rounded the corner to find the main body of the party, howling delightedly by a piano. Cap grinned and leaned against the doorway, content for now to be a sideline observer. He was just in time, though, to see several people begin to hand out gifts.[break][break]

Shit. They were supposed to bring gifts?! Wasn't there a Delibird somewhere who was supposed to take care of that? He began to pat his pockets, despite the ever-present knowledge that they were empty. Eventually, he produced a single Pokeball and a string. Eh, good enough. He tied the string around the Pokeball with a festive bow on top. Beautiful. His attention turned to the room and he cast around for the nearest person. FERNANDO SILPH caught his eye and, without hesitation, Cap stepped up to the elegantly dressed man.[break][break]

"Merr Crimmus," he said, extending his hand with the string-adorned Pokeball. "It's special—" a lie and a wink "—but you won't know how 'till you use it."[break][break]

The irony of the gift and recipient was, indeed, completely lost on Cap.

[break][break]

+ prompt: give a gift

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Between the alcohol and the jovial atmosphere, Matilda feels herself relax as the sounds of caroling grow. She catches a smile from Martín del Mar and smiles back. As soon as he begins singing she looks away abruptly and polishes off her drink, the echo of every missed note that she'd floundered her way through that morning taunting her. [break][break]

Once people start exchanging presents, Matilda's heart sinks - she hadn't even realized she was going to be in Hoenn by now, let alone had the forethought to bring presents. She looks at Vega with a grimace as Vega looks up at her with wide eyes and shrugs, then points to her purse. Mattie sighs and opens her bag to reveal everything she owns - five pokeballs, a few dollars, and a folded piece of paper with a handwritten recipe for one of her favorite dishes. She looks back to Vega and the Bulbasaur grins proudly back at her. With a small sigh, Matilda grabs one of the pokeballs and thanks her lucky stars that she'd at least finished a couple of them.[break][break]

Holding the capsule in one hand, she rolls it around to inspect it one more time. She loved painting, and with her recent lack of canvases she'd taken to painting pokeballs. Sometimes she'd paint the name or imagery of the Pokemon it belonged to, sometimes it was simply a pattern or blocks of color; the one in her hand was painted to look like a flower. Orange to pink to almost red at the tips of the petals, it mirrored the colors of the flower on Vega's back.[break][break]

Matilda takes a steadying breath and begins heading toward Martín del Mar. A few feet from reaching him however, Matilda sees Eris Halla press a pokeball into his hand that appeared specially made, metals and colors intermingling in a way that denoted care, professionalism, and top-notch artistry. Her cheeks flush red as Eris bolts past her and Matilda palms the pokeball, praying Mars hadn't noticed her.[break][break]

She turns on her heel and stands there for a moment, not sure if her cheeks were still flushed from the embarrassment or the warmth of the room, now fairly packed with people. Looking around, she does her best to find a potential recipient who may enjoy her 'gift'. Her eyes light on Locke Jamison, and she pauses. Wasn't that the person Dom did a job for? The Delibird delivery, transporting mail...it must've been. Well if they owned the mail delivery system for this region, they definitely didn't need one random pokeball. Scanning the room, her eyes quickly alight upon a barely familiar face. Mattie does her best to ignore her pounding heartbeat and heads for luka chêne, the lovely woman who had been decorating the tree with Dom.[break][break]

"Hi!" Matilda greets the other woman, giving her a small wave. "I didn't realize gifts were in order so it's not much, but if you're in need of another pokeball..." Cheeks still red, Matilda holds out the orange and pink flower to Luka.


[break][break]

Remiel CalcifetGive a gift!

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky

Dom howled his way through every song that was played, less and less embarrassed with his pitch with each one (and with each cup he drank; he could've sworn he'd swapped to the punch hours ago). At some point during the singing, Lynx made his way over to Dom, face twisted in concern. He nudged the ranger's leg once, twice, then harder a third time. Blinking, Dom looked down at the Riolu, who pinned him with a stare. Snickering, he pat the little Pokemon on the head.[break][break]

"I'm not dying, I promise. It's just singing." The caroling came to a close and Dominic gave a brief round of applause to everyone gathered. He watched as the gifts began to flow, his hand wrapped around his own small gift in his pocket. Everyone else was giving such beautiful objects—hand-made, rare, treasured things. He chewed his lip for a moment.[break][break]

Working up the courage, he walked over to Eris Halla and knelt down to be (somewhat) on her level. From his pocket, he produced a small plastic box. Inside was a pristine figy berry, ripe and ready to eat. Dom grinned and offered it to Eris.[break][break]

"Merry Christmas. Your piano playing was great, thank you." He looked at the berry as he pressed it into her hands. "I grew this in my garden. It's organic, guaranteed the best figy berry you've ever had. It's actually a cultivar of Ficus carica, a little bit harder to find them around here. They're surprisingly mild if you pick them when they're just starting to ripen; the later in the season you harvest it, the spicier it gets. It actually has medicinal properties if you—" He caught himself, cleared his throat, and gave an awkward smile. "I hope you like it."

[break][break]

+ prompt: give a gift[break]
Remiel Calcifet

[attr="class","pokeclass"]

[attr="class","credit"]milky