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[retroductions]

( art credit )

[ INMATE REGISTRY ]

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[velluminous]

There will be no next time.

[retroductions]

I do love your confidence, my dear, but how can you know? Danger is no rarity in this prison.

[velluminous]

[ sometimes. you have to pick your battles. ]

I will call on you.

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Good.

[He will trust her on that.]

Well, in the meanwhile… if you are not keen on returning to Basilisk, would you like to spend some time at Phoenix? We could pick out matching sweaters for fun — and not for points!

[velluminous]

[ certainly there is no way this trust will be betrayed. certainly.

still a touch morose, she glances towards the phoenix door and sighs. the spirit of the game... she never fully understood that, nor the decorations, nor the core concept, really, and now she's just being sulky. but. it would feel cruel to shoot down what she recognizes as a wholehearted attempt to cheer her. ]

Mn. Alright.

I have another gift for you, as well.

[retroductions]

[How about don’t do that!

And come now, even if the holidays aren’t understood, at least it is distraction. And Phoenix certainly can be distracting.]

Another one? You spoil me. Shall I wait for you to fetch it first?

[velluminous]

[ this is not a game-sanctioned present. and doesn't it feel a tad irreverent to be considering gifting it now? maybe so. ]

I will be quick.

[ gently extricating herself from his arms, though reluctantly. ]

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[He’s reluctant to let her go, too, but it’s easier knowing that she’ll return.]

I’ll wait at the entrance of Phoenix. Take your time, my dear.

[And so he will, once she departs.]

[velluminous]

[ she will not take her time, because she's like a shark: if she stops moving, she'll die. or something.

gone only long enough to slip the cat tarot deck into a drawer alongside... the first cat tarot deck... and to fetch the perfectly-wrapped other gift, which she Wristpockets away for the sake of discretion.

in just a few minutes, Basilisk's door opens again, and she emerges into the lobby looking, at least, less miserable. ]

Shall we?

[retroductions]

[He’s waiting, about to light his pipe, but she arrives just before he can and he pockets the items instead.]

Let’s.

[Into Phoenix they go! Sholmes toddles over to the common room sofa, where there are spare ugly Christmas sweaters folded along the back. Why? It’s Phoenix, why not.

He tosses one at her.]

Catch!

[It has a big Christmas tree on it, with red chevrons in the background.]

[velluminous]

[ her reflexes are surprisingly good. she catches it with only a small fumble, and holds it up without any recognition or understanding. ]

What is purpose behind this tree?

[retroductions]

To decorate and put the gifts under! It is emblematic of the holiday itself.

[He’s finding another exact same sweater and slipping it on. His hair’s a mess once his head pops out of the sweater’s top.]

Go on, put it on.

[velluminous]

[ so, so skeptical. still, for Herlock and his infinite enthusiasm. bunching the fabric up to the collar, she tries to get it over her horns without catching in the knit... and pulls it down and clumsily on. ]

They are very unattractive. Do they know they are unattractive?

[retroductions]

I think that is the overall point. To look silly.

[Sholmes does not mind it at all; he rather likes this new tradition.]

To not take one seriously while in the company of those you care about. It’s just for a bit of fun. You look striking, by the way.

[velluminous]

[ do i look like i do "fun" to you? ]

Honey-dripper.

[retroductions]

[He's sure that potential exists in there, somewhere.]

I only speak the truth, my dear. As a consulting detective should.

[This contradicts what he's told people in the past, but that's fine.]

[velluminous]

[ SKEPTICALLY, ] Hmmm.

[ she drags her hair up into a haphazard ponytail, unravelling the necktie from her blouse beneath the sweater to hold it in place. it's messy, frizzy from the wool being pulled over her head, but it stays up. ]

Can you tell me more about this holiday?

[retroductions]

[Well, her hair's in a better state than his floof, even so.]

It is a religious one, primarily. Though that is not solely the reason for its celebration these days.

[These days = Victorian era. Still pertains.]

It is a time of giving and gathering; with friends, family, and other loved ones. Individuals often exchange gifts, which you can no doubt gather from the nature of this game. And they feast, too, on Christmas day.

[velluminous]

[ it feels particularly bad, then, that she flounced off from Basilisk, but it's too late to undo a petty attitude, especially given how ingrained that is in her.

again, ] Hurrmm.

And tree?

[retroductions]

Often an evergreen! Decorated with candles and ornaments and where gifts are to be housed beneath, until the holiday itself.

[Hmm. He could get into the history, something about it mainly originating in Germany, but he's banished that useless tidbit from his mind long ago; that, and what does such a nation mean to Sprezzatura when she has no context?]

My dear, do you have nothing similar at all in your world?

[velluminous]

[ you can see the self-consciousness begin to creep into her frame: the way her tail begins to wend about her ankle.

everyone else seems to know what this holiday is, or else they know of something nearly exactly like it! she does not like not having a comparison, or of the incredulity in the question, "don't you have ANYTHING like it?" as though somehow she is missing a vital piece of information ]

Well, I cannot speak for all of Toril, but we do not have such thing in Waterdeep. And we have many celebrations in Waterdeep.

[retroductions]

[Well. It's Christmas, after all. The biggest holiday in all of Europe. It is strange to imagine a life where there is not some sort of... winter celebration.]

Well, you will have to tell me a few of the more prominent ones. I am curious.

[velluminous]

I could name each one and none would mean anything more to you than this "Christmas" does to me.

[retroductions]

And that is why I am asking for you to detail them to me, no?

[velluminous]

[ hmm. shuffles forward to kneel on the sofa facing him, wrists folded delicately across the back. she looks up, all poised and pretty ]

Caravance. Simril. Fleetswake. Trolltide. [ sighs and begins counting on her fingers ] Dragondown... Day of Wonders... Reign of Misrule... Gods' Day, then Liar's Night...