[OPEN EVENT] Weekend Winter Wonderland

[wintershepherd]

Characters: All?
Date: March 8th-11th
Location: All of Keeliai
Situation: It's been a stressful month thus far for a lot of people, but Jack is determined to Make All The Happy and decides he needs to get back to his wintery roots by giving the city a proper snowing.
Warnings/Rating: People high on snow glitter?
NOTES: Actionspam OR prose, whatever is preferred! (Settings were just easier to prose.) Make your own thread headers if none of these suit! ♥



Jack had spent the last three hours balanced motionlessly on the top of a flagpole, head tilted back as he listened to the wind and the sound of the city below. Where is Winter? it asked. I'm here! the spirit replied, but he knew it didn't mean his physical presence. He'd had too much on his mind and too much in his heart and in that sense he had indeed been absent these last few weeks.

Eyes closed and thoughtlessly trusting, he tipped forward into open air, letting the wind catch him and hurl him upward into the misty cloud cover that scudded across the stars tonight. At his touch they thickened, fat and pale grey against the indigo backdrop and Jack swirled them up, the motions so ingrained in him they felt just like breathing. In the small hours of the morning snowflakes began to fall on the sleeping city, specks at first but then quickly becoming heavier.

Now with a fresh canvas to work with, Jack was really in his element. He could never have done something like this back home, not anywhere in his world. It would have been too strange, too inexplicable, drawn too much attention. But here on the turtle, things were different. There wasn't really a semblance of normal and Jack poured his imagination and heart into the things he wanted most to share, and from the snow rose gleaming swirls of snow and blue light, forming things of exceptional detail and delight.

By the time the sun rose, a solid three feet of the snow had blanketed the city, glistening and crisp and Jack went rocketing down the streets, rapping on doors and windows to leave spirals of frost on every surface.

"Whooohoo! Snow day! Get up sleepyheads, everyone come out and play!"


THREAD STARTERS
Ice Skating | Snowball Battle | Sledding Hill | Ice Cityscapes | Kids Playground | OOC Plot Post

Comments

[monstrous]

As dusk has fallen, the snow filled city is just calling to Romantic vampires. Of course, the encounter happening between Dorian and Henry was also calling to Toby, setting off all the worst sort of alarms in his mind.

And so, with a friendly and sweetly unassuming smile, Toby approached the two old friends.

"Dorian! There you are, I --" Toby stopped at the sight of Henry. His hand moved to scratch the back of his hair before dropping the hand quickly. He stood a little taller and straighter, like a schoolboy just caught by the headmaster. His smile turned a shade more polite and respectful as well. "Oh, Lord Wotton, sir. I didn't expect to see you here, too. How are you?"

And Toby Matthews may have been intentionally using the improper form of address with Harry, but as far as Jim Kirk was concerned he was being proper and polite.

[depicted]

Dorian's words die in his throat the second he hears Toby speak. One foot steps back from Harry, and Dorian turns towards his dead immortal companion, registers the act with a frown, and moves with one more step to be at Toby's side, so close that they might as well be touching, though Dorian does not bridge that final space.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to disappear on you. Should we get going?" His gaze doesn't flicker back to Henry. Dorian doesn't permit it.

[epigrammatical]

There's a penny on the edge that is just on the verge of dropping, but it hasn't yet. Just a misgiving, an echo of the one he felt when "Jim" left him the other night. He greets the new arrival with a nod, and notes Dorian's movement away.

"Ah, good evening," he says to the newcomer (interloper). "I didn't realise you knew each other."

[monstrous]

"And I didn't realize you two knew each other. Then again, all of us foreigners have to stick together, right?"

Toby still smiles, seemingly relaxed, as he looks to Dorian.

"We only have to go if you want. We're all friends here, there's no reason we couldn't make a night of it." Toby looks between Dorian and Henry. "What do you two say?"

[depicted]

Dorian is shaking his head before Toby is done talking. "I'd rather we didn't." A line of anger in his jaw, an imploring bend to his brow. Restrained and stubborn, Dorian still wears his emotions without a masking expression. "Come on. Let's just go." A hand half-lifts, but he doesn't move it further. Toby isn't easily pushed into anything, and Dorian has a sense that trying to pull him along will only make his heels dig in.

[epigrammatical]

Several deductions are, in this moment, starting to click together in Henry's mind, drawn from disparate facts: the voice post on the network that had so obviously stirred Dorian and led to that uncomfortable conversation; the cheery fatuousness of "Jim" and his insistence on discussing Oscar; the vague misgivings Henry himself had felt that night; and now Dorian's obvious discomfort—he knows the boy too well to not read his expressions.

He has a hunch, and it does not please him, but he is willing to play along for a little while.

"Please don't let me detain either of you," he says, all graciousness. "It is very good to see you again, Dorian, and a pleasure to see you again—Jim Kirk."

He's looking at "Jim" as he says the name, but he is also watching Dorian's face.

[monstrous]

Toby's smile broadens at his chosen alias. He looks between the two men, seemingly confused and amused by their behavior.

"You two are very insistent. If I was interrupting something, I can always come back."

Toby thumbs over his shoulder towards the sledding hill.

"How about you two finish whatever it is you're doing, and then if you want to find me Dorian, I'll be over there." Toby looks to Henry. "And if you'd like to come over too, the more the merrier."

Toby stuffs his hands in his pockets, bouncing back and forth between his heels and his toes, as he smiles at the two men. "All right?"

[depicted]

Nothing shows up, except a plaintive irritation at the tack Toby takes. After all, Toby has already told Dorian about the earlier encounter, and Dorian is more than accustomed to settling into false names. "No, I'm done here." In Toby's presence and unmasked irritation, Dorian's voice becomes harsh, his syntax modern. "See you around, Harry."

He starts back off towards the sledding hill without another word, just a brief tug on the fabric of Toby's clothes to indicate that he'd really like Toby to come with him, please.

[epigrammatical]

Either the fellow's real name actually is Jim—or Dorian knows the story, and in his lack of reaction, clearly remains aligned with his friend, opposite Henry. That and the brusque farewell—it stings, but the day Lord Henry Wotton lets anyone see they've wounded him will be a cold day in the nether regions of the afterlife.

So he raises his hat to the other two, still smiling pleasantly. "Very well. Thank you for your message, Dorian," the faintest extra emphasis there, for Dorian's benefit. "And good evening to you, Mr Ma—Mr Kirk."

Of course it's deliberate. Henry never stumbles over anyone's name unless he intends to.

[monstrous]

Toby looks towards towards Dorian at the tug. He looks back at Henry and shrugs. He can't help smiling at the deliberate slip. At least he assumes it's deliberate from everything he's learned about Henry from Dorian and Dorian's book.

"Looks like he's made his mind up. Cheers then, Harry."

Toby turns on his heels and walks quickly to catch up with Dorian. "Oi, Dorian, wait up!"

[depicted]

Dorian replies to Harry with a lazy lift of a hand in farewell. He makes himself breathe, takes his forehead in his hands and presses at his temples.

And the moment he is out of sight, he stops, turns on his heel, and scowls at Toby. "You ass. What was that supposed to be?"

[monstrous]

"What was what supposed to be? I was just being friendly!"

Toby still smiles, his boots scuffing the snow as he forms small powdery ankle high forts.

"It seems I wasn't the only one being friendly either. Harry got your message."

Toby smiles cheerfully at Dorian as he kneels down into a snow patch, fingers digging into the cold snow.

[depicted]

"Ah—" Like a kid caught with his hand in the jar. "I just—I didn't want to just walk past him."

[monstrous]

Toby continues digging in the snow, his demeanor still pleasant.

"Of course you didn't. So what was your message?"

[depicted]

"There wasn't any. I only greeted him, asked if he was well." Dorian toe scrapes up snow as he moves it back and forth.

[monstrous]

"Harry's under a different impression. Maybe you should correct him."

Toby smiles at Dorian, a handful of snow in his hand as he stands. He comes over to Dorian. He moves to put his hand on Dorian's shoulder, using the movement to slip some snow down Dorian's shirt.

[depicted]

Dorian was expecting something much like that. It doesn't stop him from yelping.

"You—" Dorian slams into Toby that he might tackle him to the ground.

[monstrous]

Toby sidesteps Dorian to avoid the tackle, in hopes of Dorian crashing into the snow. If Dorian were to crash into the snow, Toby would of course have to put his foot on Dorian's back or stomach, whichever was facing upwards. He's nice like that.

[depicted]

Dorian of course loses to a vampire. Which leaves him scowling up at Tobias Matthews.

Not helplessly, of course. There is a lot of ammunition on the ground, and Dorian doesn't waste a moment in scooping up snow to launch at Toby's face.

[monstrous]

Toby does in fact get hit in the face with the snowball. He doesn't lose his footing on Dorian. He wipes the snow away without a second thought, a smug grin still gracing his face.

"Having fun?"

[depicted]

"Having a ball." A second snowball is launched—and immediately, Dorian grabs Toby's leg and yanks it to try to bring him down.

[monstrous]

Toby falls -- with all of his weight on top of Dorian now.

He lets out an oomph, and then through gritted teeth, "Good to know."

[depicted]

It hurts, but then, Dorian wouldn't spend this sort of time around Toby if he couldn't handle a little pain. He scoops up more snow and presses his advantage in an effort to stuff it down Toby's shirt. Then, he'll have had justice.

[monstrous]

That ice is cold, even for a cold blooded monster like Toby. He can't stop himself from shuddering visibly.

"You little brat."

Toby grabs some snow and stuffs it in Dorian's face in retaliation.

[depicted]

Dorian spits out the snow. "Fine, I give up! You win!"

This is less surrender than acknowledgement that Tobias Matthews is a stubborn brat who can't stand surrendering the upper hand.