closed 🪶⚡ all i really, really ever want is under the mistletoe

[garudas]

Who: Cidolfus Telamon & Benedikta Harman.
Status: Closed.
Where: Around places.
What: Cid and Benedikta follow a lead and sneak into a fancy holiday party. Event stuff TBA.
Warnings: it's them, what do you want from me



🥂 🎄 ❄️

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[garudas]

[It would be a sad, sad day if he popped her...

When he reaches his hands around her, she grabs onto them, clinging fast to whatever she can reach. Her feet start to float up instead to make up for it, so he'd better catch and hold onto those, too!]

You started it... You know exactly what you are doing.

[ramuhs]

[He will definitely hold onto those as well, though he's probably not going to make any of this better for her.]

Do I? You mean if I do something like this...

[And he'll bring her in closer to shower her with little soft kisses on her giant little head.]

[garudas]

[She sputters at the kisses, and she'd be surprised if he didn't feel her head growing warmer with each little peck he plants upon her. She tries to fight him off, but her efforts are futile, all by the fault of her short arms betraying her. Bigger and bigger it becomes, and he'll have to really hold onto her to stop her from floating away.]

I swear to Greagor that you are going to pop me if you do not stop! [She spits a feather out of her mouth.] Are we going to try to find answers or not!?

[ramuhs]

[He'll just give her one last kiss on her nose before he pulls back laughing.]

Can't have that, can we? But aye, let's head back down.

[A smirk as he trudges through the snow back to lodge where their belongings are.]

Should I tie a string to your foot to make sure you don't float away?

[garudas]

[She glances at him, and for a second—a split second—it might appear like she actually considers it. Because she does. She just cannot have him know that, so she snaps out of the thought quick enough, feathers puffing out again.]

What, like some sort of children's balloon!? No, I will just hold onto you.

[Wrapping her tiny little claws around his thumb.]

[ramuhs]

[Another laugh as he brushes his fingers against her back and holds her closer to him.]

All right, just keep that hold tight.

[garudas]

Stop that.

[He provokes a little shiver, her wings shuddering when his fingers run along her back and tickle her. Not that it feels terrible—quite the opposite really—but it's about appearances! And she is certainly lacking much of hers right now!!!

But she'll hold on tight to his hand as he carries her back to the lodge, bobbing around awkwardly with every step he takes. Once in a while, her grip slips and her feet kick up into the air or she falls backwards into his palm when her head starts to weigh a little too much, and she grumbles each time.

The inside of the lodge, while big, is quite crowded with people, most of them skiers that are trying to warm up after an afternoon on the slopes, some drinking some cocoa, others warming up around a fire and chatting. Benedikta glances around, searching for any toys in sight...

...]

Cidolfus, look.

[There are a few scattered about, all moving around like they might have been cursed like her.]

[ramuhs]

[Whenever he feels her moving, he has to try not to laugh or look at her for too long because she's both cute and hilarious. And he knows he shouldn't, but let's face it, she'd do the same to him if he were in her place. Still, there's no hiding that smile so he doesn't even bother to try.

Until they reach the lodge that is.

After removing his skis, he looks around before she catches his attention. Seeing the toys, he frowns a bit... It doesn't seem anyone is too alarmed, except for the toys that seem to be a bit more frantic and even conversing with others. With a low hum, he tucks her a little closer.]

I'll get in closer, see what we can hear before pressing for more.

[Cute and humorous as this is, he's also more protective of her since she is in a more vulnerable condition.]

[garudas]

[She clings to his coat when she's close enough, the little nod of her head bobbing her feathers around and tickling his chin.

There aren't many others like her, three she counts from what she can see, but she can't see much from where she is and there no doubt could be more. But there seems to be a stuffed version of a person waddling around, a wind-up otter desperately trying to wind themselves up, and a plush cat being held just like she is, all of them whispering with what she assumes to be someone they came with.

When they get closer, Benedikta starts to clamber up onto Cid's shoulder to get a better view.

"—and I swear, it was like one second I was human and the next, I was a toy."

"So far they said they don't know how to turn us back, only that we should sit tight and wait. It's too dangerous to go out there right now."

"—toys running around Eltrut and the other Leviathans? I hear that people were reporting theirs gone missing."]

[ramuhs]

[His frown only deepens as he listens.]

Sounds like there's been trouble around town...let me send a message to some of the crew, see if they've heard of anything while we continue investigating here.

[As he speaks, he pulls out his shellphone to do so. He can do it onehanded, but it does mean he has one hand less on her.]

[garudas]

[She peers over his shoulder as he starts to type—a dangerous thing since she almost loses her grip on his coat when she does, and she has to clamber for purchase. She clicks her tongue at him, as if this is his fault. Please keep a firm hold on your little balloon wife please???]

Perhaps we should try speaking to one of them. I had overheard that cat saying that there were reports of toys gone missing...?

[ramuhs]

Aye we should, but given where we are news may travel slower.

[Especially since so many still seem so clueless. So never hurts to have more ears on the ground. But it doesn't take too long, and once he's done he pockets the phone back and replaces his hand on her before walking around.

And as he thought...there really isn't much as the ones in the lodge only recently experienced it the same as they did. There are those who confirm of hearing something strange going on with the toys in town, but it's still ongoing and things are...strange to hear. An uprising? Are they exaggerations or the truth? While there are some who have gone out to investigate back in town, it doesn't seem that anyone really knows a way back yet...]

[garudas]

[Once they've gathered some of the information, she makes a face at the mention of—]

An uprising?

[Her brow furrows, the lines in it thickening. Her head might also be deflating a little. Which could also pose another sort of problem...]

Do you suppose this has anything to do with what happened last year?

[ramuhs]

[He moves to a place where he can sit and they can both rest comfortably while also discussing what they've heard.]

Hmmm... What was it, a certain rat king? He was never really caught, was he?

[garudas]

[Ah, yes. This is much better than moving around or even standing, and once he's sitting, she slowly starts to climb down so that she can sit on his lap. It's a difficult climb, but if he tries to help her, she will swat his hand away, and she finds a perch on his leg close to his knee.]

Yes, I did not face off against the Rat King myself, but I had heard the stories.

[ramuhs]

[He does try to help, but she makes her feelings clearing on that with that swat :(

Won't stop him from trying to stroke her feathers and set them right—]

Likewise. So I suppose it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to consider he could have some hand—or paw—in all this.

[garudas]

[Listen! Her dignity has already deflated into a limp balloon, this is all she has left!!

But she does appreciate the feather wrangling, even if she might not say it, and even if she does glare at him a little, those feathers do ruffle a bit at the touch, though not in a bad way.]

He was the one who had cursed that island last year, yes?

[The details are a bit fuzzy...]

[ramuhs]

[Her head has indeed shrunken down a bit...but even though it might be for pitiful reasons, it's better than expanding to the risk of floating away and popping. Have some gentle head rubs.

...It's like petting his own little bird—]

Aye, he is. The one that turned us all into toys. [Hmmm.] Yet how he placed that curse I'm not sure, and if it is him he's using a different means to do so.

[garudas]

[Oh, but the little head rubs are making her warm and fuzzy, and thus making her head expand again. This is a problem—]

I do not know many others who can curse people into toys like this. And I can only assume it is him because...

[She gestures down at herself. This is the second time that it's happened, and—

Chirp.

He manages to hit a particularly nice spot with his finger on her head, and she accidentally lets out a pleased little sound, so surprising that she startles herself.]

[ramuhs]

[Her reaction also startles him, his hand momentarily retracting a bit.

...

And then he rubs that spot again.]

[garudas]

[There's a moment where the two of them just stare at each other, both stunned into complete silence, but when his finger touches that spot on her head again, she makes that same sound, her eyes fluttering shut briefly.]

That feels...

[Only it turns into more of a hiccup at the end when she tries to stifle it.]

What are you doing!?

[THIS IS EMBARRASSING, SHE FEELS ALL WARM AND FUZZY]

[ramuhs]

[He just laughs at her reaction, but he doesn't stop because she is too cute again.]

What, seems like you enjoy it.

[Yet somehow with the way he gives her that playful smirk and his low voice, it sounds different from the actual context...??]

[garudas]

[She's at an impasse. The longer he goes, the more those feathers in her wings and atop her head seem to spread, like an all too relaxed bird about to doze off into a deep, peaceful sleep. And then there is the way his voice rumbles at her, and oh how she wishes that she were not a toy version of her Eikon right now, because she could both slap him and kiss him for what he is doing.]

Just because it feels nice does not mean that you should continue to do so!

[She huffs and pouts, and her white cheeks grow flushed again in her embarrassment, and as a result, her head is starting to grow warmer and bigger, her body lifting slightly off his leg.]

We are in the middle of a crisis, and you ought to be figuring out how to turn me back before you are transformed, too.

[ramuhs]

[He probably should stop, but what if he just slides his finger down from the top of her head down the length of her spine instead?]

There's not much we can do except to wait for information, and we seem safe here at least.

[garudas]

[Her spine shoots up straight, her wings suddenly stiffening for a moment before they relax with another ruffle.]

You are having fun, aren't you?

[Can he feel her glaring!?!??]