[OPEN] Did you just what? Is what you yes?

[spaghettification]

Who: Siebren de Kuiper and you
When: December
Where: Downtown Hollow, the Library
Warning(s): Discussion of unreality and demon metamorphosis

1. You say, stuff is way [Shopping]
Siebren's noticed something odd over the past few weeks: his clothing, regardless of what color it started at the beginning of the day, leaches color and turns pale by evening. Which means he has to make a choice now: does he shop for dark clothes that'll take longer to go pastel? Or start light so it won't change as much?

Find him in the shops in Downtown Hollow, considering both options.


2. Way to go, go away [Sinterklaas]
Anyone who leaves their shoes on the doorstep or porch in the month of December might come back to find small treats like peppermint sticks or chocolates from Ambrose's candy shop waiting inside said shoes. This just happens.

Perhaps you're in Ambrose's yourself, and catch Siebren buying in bulk, instead of catching in tampering with someone's shoes. Either way, welcome to Dutch Christmas traditions 101.


3. Who had you was? [Aimed at Siebren's demon-favored]
Crossing paths with certain people in town, Siebren catches himself staring. Like they're drawing him in, or highlighted somehow. He doesn't quite understand it yet, but if someone notices his intense attention, he might frown and look away.

"My apologies."


4. I yes, you would [Wildcard]
You know where to find me.

Comments

(Allusion to drug use) Throw 1 and 3 in a bowl and spread it on a wildcard

[misbegottendreamer]

There’s something she’s been noticing since the Casino that she hasn’t been able to shake: there’s a cloyingly sweet smell clinging to Siebren like adulterated Skooma on a Bravilian sugartooth’s breath. She knows that that can’t be what it actually is, but the associations of the smell disturb her, and what’s stranger still is how the smell seems to be with him at all hours. She’ll wake up beside him with the smell wafting all around her, and drift off into dreams with it accompanying her into that hazy other realm.

It’s not even a bad smell. Not necessarily a good one, either, but it doesn’t offend her. It does, however, put her on edge.

She decides to bring it up one morning, after breakfast.

“Siebren, kena… have you perhaps begun taking a new medicine?”

[spaghettification]

"Medicine? No, though Artemy wants me to visit him for better treatment of my arthritis."

He's at the sink, taking care of the dishes now. And if perhaps some of the plates are floating as the towel dries them of its own accord, that's only a minor misuse of his talents.

[misbegottendreamer]

“I see. Then I wonder… this is perhaps a strange thing to observe, but I’ve begun to notice a difference in how you smell. You don’t smell bad, or anything like that. Just… it’s a noticeable change, and I want to be certain it isn’t a symptom of something worrisome.”

[spaghettification]

"A sweet scent, perhaps." Right, it's now time to have that talk, isn't it? Siebren pauses in his dishwashing, and returns to the kitchen table, sitting across from Drelasa.

who had you was

[goodweather]

Phil blinks a little slowly; he hasn’t been sleeping well for months, and last night was particularly restless, so the gears are turning without oil today.

“… Oh, no, it’s okay.” He raises a clawed hand. “I know I look weird.”

Look, just because he’s floating doesn’t mean Phil can assume he’s used to seeing half animals.

[spaghettification]

"I'm involved with Drelasa; your looks aren't a particular issue for me." Siebren looks closer, mostly at Phil's head. "It's something else. Brain fog making my own view cloudy. You're, ah...perhaps having a rough time, right now?"

[goodweather]

Phil laughs, not a little bitterly.

“That bad, huh? Yeah. More than. But, uh… why do you ask?”

Through whatever composes Siebren’s second sight, there’s a sense of excess. Not abundance; overgrowth and overwhelm, beating along with the same insistence as a metronome or the taking of a clock, or a machine, set to on, and never switched off. No rest.

[spaghettification]

"Your bucket is overfull. No, not bucket. Balloon, more like. Or...tank? Water tank. Incredible internal pressure."

He frowns.

"What is going on inside your head?"

Sinterklaas

[theydrewfirstblood]

It's a rare day that John isn't rising before the sun, but he'd gone for a late run in wolf form and was kinda tired.

So he's up at seven instead of five--and up means about to walk out and grab his boots when he catches a familiar scent just as his hand touches the doorknob. By now, that candy-sweet smell is a comfort, and he's grinning as he opens the door to find a big Dutchman leaning over the household shoes with...

John blinks, then chuckles as he sinks into a crouch of his own.

"Are...you putting candy in our shoes?"

[spaghettification]

"Who, me? No, not I. Sinterklaas must have. I was just...checking to see what you received." There's a look of mischief in Siebren's eyes as he offers John one of the sticks of hard candy as a bribe. "Don't tell your family."

[theydrewfirstblood]

“Hey—what am I, cheap?” John huffs as he accepts the candy—then leans in to catch his mouth in a soft, lingering kiss. He swears he can taste the sugar on his lips, and it makes him smile as they part.

“Okay. Now I’ll keep quiet.” He laughs, unwrapping his treat and shifting to sit on the porch instead. “Sinterklaas…so this is a Dutch tradition? Like…stockings by the fireplace?”

[spaghettification]

"Exactly so. Traditional for St. Nicholas Eve, children leave wooden shoes out with a drawing or a carrot for his tall white horse. And he replaces the gifts with treats of his own."

Siebren settles down to sit beside John.

3.

[abhorrently]

"I don't usually mind people staring, but I generally like to know the reason."

The words are gentle, teasing in a sense, but she still raises a brow.

"Everything all right?"

Well, no. It's not. Something's been off with him for a while now. But that's what people ask, right?

[spaghettification]

"It tastes red when I look at you."

That sentence has meaning, really it does!

[abhorrently]

"...fruit, syrup, or iron?"

Which red matters. It matters very much.

[spaghettification]

"Syrup. Thick, coating my tongue. So much of it. I could drown in the red, almost."

It's a metaphor for blood. He realizes this.

Sinterklaas

[stonecoldtop]

George is a light sleeper — he doesn't know a Changeling who isn't — but the floating makes it easier for Siebren to sneak away without immediately waking him.

When he does wake, the initial assumption is that Siebren has merely gone to the bathroom, or for a glass of water, but there isn't a light on in the ensuite and there aren't the noises he'd expect in the rest of the flat...

Curiousity gets the better of him and he goes looking.

George doesn't normally have any grogginess on just waking up, but right now that seems the best explanation for his confusion at finding Siebren over his shoes of all things.

"May I ask what you're doing?"

[spaghettification]

"Well, I suppose saying 'nothing' isn't going to work right now, is it? It's a Dutch tradition for St. Nicholas's Day, leaving treats inside shoes. Children will leave something for Sinterklass and he'll replace it with candy or small toys."

Don't worry, no toys are going into George's shoes.

[stonecoldtop]

the kinds of toys he likes wouldn't fit in a shoe anyway

"That's very sweet," George says with a smile, "Thank you, and thank Sinterklaas for me."

It's a joke of course, but he's also not ruling out the possibility of it being real. You never can tell with these things.

who had you was?

[incomingchoppers]

"...Dr. de Kuiper?"

Radar frowns. Right at the edge of what's audible, he thinks he hears music again -- but it's not the same tune he heard at Mr. Rambo's barbecue over the summer. It sounds more like being a mile out from the state fair and hearing the merry-go-round music swim in and out of range.

"You okay, sir?"

[spaghettification]

"Yes, I'm fine. Good, even. But...are you?"

He's starting to recognize a pattern in who registers to this new sense of his. He wouldn't have guessed Radar would be among them.

[incomingchoppers]

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine."

He says it as easily and unperturbed as ever. Truly, he is fine. But if Siebren listens in turn --

dishes clattering at the tavern someone whistling and chopping wood max'll pull something out of the bakery oven in five seconds merry-go-round music three different radios playing the same broadcast a grocery list someone's trying to remember yorick's gonna slip on some ice so get the paperwork for him asap when he yup there he goes and there's someone new down by the docks better check on 'em soon

All of it gets organized, processed, and filed with barely a thought as soon as it hits Radar's ears. But it never stops, and there is so much of it.

Who had you was?

[pineapplesalmon]

César looks confused when he realizes Siebren is staring and reflexively goes to fix his hair. "Did the wind mess it up?"

[spaghettification]

"No, nothing like that. I just..." Siebren shakes his head like he's clearing an etch-a-sketch, blinking rapidly.

"Sorry."

[pineapplesalmon]

"You're okay, Siebren." César will walk up and say the appropriate social greetings, but be careful not to touch him without warning. "It's good to see you!"

Huh that is an interesting shade of clothes that he doesn't see often. He didn't know they dyed with those colors?