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mossdeep observatory. the last time he had been here, it had been during the soiree. the minior shower had happened early. assassins with unown had attacked from another dimension, and the interdream zone had opened up.

he was on edge this second time. but he’d kept it to himself, except for moments of silence that had stretched a little too long not to notice on the way there.[break][break]

”this place is pretty impressive, huh?” he asked willow atkins as they entered, his eyes lingering on the comets in the decor, and then drifting away to familiar faces that reminded him to smile. it was natural, once it was there on his face.[break][break]

it would be fine. they’d have a good time. they were always in danger no matter where they were anyways.[break][break]

”oh, look, the telescope’s a tree. that’s cool.” he carried over the bluk berry pie that willow had baked as a gift from the two of them (he’d been in her company during the process). it was placed beneath.[break][break]

”bet they got eggnog.” he looked around. it was somewhere, along with food. there was a lot going on. ”there’s ollie.” he waved at ollie morales as he hugged GIDEON GRAVES , surely easy to spot at his height in a bright red sweater, with thwackey and charmander and a smiling togepi embroidered on the front, exchanging gifts beneath a tree themselves.[break][break]

“Oh? These ‘ole things?” The antler’s bounce under the gentle tease of the other woman. The little bells hanging sporadically off brown fabric chime softly. Eva keeps it going with a little shake of her head, ramping up the chime of the sleigh bells. The professor’s own bright laugh harmonized with them for a moment. It was a ploy to draw a genuine smile out of Freya. That’s something she hadn’t been privy to for quite some time. She missed her friend.

“Sometimes I think they do it on purpose,” her voice dims to share a secret with Freya. Her head subtly nods towards the likes of PENELOPE LIVY and ollie morales, “You know, to show us all up? Be the belles of the ball,” there is a light-heartedness to her tone that suggests her teasing is all in good fun . . . or is it?

For a fleeting moment, her gaze moves past Freya to watch MATIAS SILPH make his way to the bar. It may have lingered longer if the rest of the Silphs hadn’t arrived. Delilah Silph looked lovely, as usual. She’d offer the familiar sister a soft smile should she look Eva’s way. The redhead beside her, evelyn silph, Eva had heard of in passing and could only assume as to her identity.

Of course, there is FERNANDO SILPH looking as cookiecutter as usual. It’s exactly what she expects from the Councilman. That means he isn’t looking very festive. Continuing with her playfulness, she motions towards Fernando, “Think I can convince him to wear these?” her eyes dart up to her antlers and her bright red lips sport a wide grin.

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freya morningstar
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Aspiring to eavesdrop unnoticed, a startled Derek finds himself lightly choking on his drink when PENELOPE LIVY waves towards him.
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don't smile at me like that...
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It's not like it was even an invitation to head over. He would've preferred going unnoticed for now anyway. If it wasn't the mere thoughts surrounding Ollie, there was also annalise henderson's harsh words to make him feel inadequate among this influential collective.
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...what am i even doing here?
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Averting his gaze helps, in that he notices Genevieve Cromwell offer up a small wave.
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too many distractions. they're useful, but which should he choose?
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A half-hearted wave and smile were returned to them both before drowning himself in the greater sum of his drink that remained. He had half the mind to finally go and say something to Penny. To at least try and have a good time, were it not for the inappropriate remark made by paxton concordas.
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He felt the need to do something about it. Remiel Calcifet and him may not have had much of a rapport. Yet it was still better than this. And even if Dahlia did say such a thing, relaying it here like this just wasn't the move.
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Sweeping towards them, the ranger's hand is likely to clasp around the blonde's shoulder in hopes of turning them around. And his words would be...mostly polite, contrary to Derek's grip. "Hey, lighten up a little bit, will ya?" Unfortunately, it didn't stop there.
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A sudden spotlight is cast from on high, courtesy of the Beldum that he'd let loose. It's mistletoe and deadpan eye proved quite imposing, even to it's trainer. "...Ah. Now that's just bad luck." For Paxton, who would soon find himself on the receiving end of some rather misplaced 'holiday spirit'.

this is what she's done to her. this is why she's kept her distance. eva gives a silly little shake of her head and laughs with all her heart and freya feels so indescribably happy. in an instant, she is reminded of bright spots of light in a doomed world, eva offering her a smile even though that's all they had left. 

i've missed you, she thinks. too much.

and eva can never fathom why.

her own laughter trails off as eva makes a good-natured, albeit catty remark to her brother and his date, and all freya does is raise a brow and take another swallow of her prosecco. she watches eva's gaze linger over matias, but says nothing. fernando had been right - eva's more than likely getting accustomed to the separation. 

'think i can convince him to wear these?' coupled with fernando's timely movement over to them makes freya somewhat... well, she pinches thumb and forefinger and teasingly tugs them off of eva's crown to put them on her own.

"mmm, not if i take them first," she quips. 

"silph," freya responds pleasantly as he approaches. "bringing the whole family, i see." save for yui. and stormy, but that's a sobering thought that requires more drink. 

Eva Morales  FERNANDO SILPH

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Freya is too quick, or Eva is too distracted by the approaching Silph, to stop her from plucking the antlers right off her head, “Ah…” she winces as the hard band snaps out of her hair but she keeps a broad smile. Eva nods approvingly when Freya puts them on her own head, “They look better on you, anyway,” Eva Chatot’s the move from Freya earlier and reaches up to jingle the bells on the antlers.

Eva uses her free hand to smooth out the strands of hair left standing by the headband, “Hi, Fernando,” her smile is warm, as usual, but the way she give him an obvious once-over is unmistakably judgemental, “Couldn’t even manage a festive tie, huh?” Getting him into anything but that suit would be quite the feat. When they worked into the wee hours of the morning he maybe took the tie off and released a few of those tight buttons. That’s about as casual as she’s seen him.

It’s ok, he’d have to get into the festive spirit eventually, because a decorative, roaming Minior wrapped in tinsel and donning a MISTLETOE was settling above her two favorite council members.

She purposefully takes a step back to avoid being caught under the pokemon. That cheap trick to randomly stir the pot was probably ollie morales’s idea.

Eva’s gaze flashes between Fernando, Freya, and the Minior, “It likes the two of you.”

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freya morningstar
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