[SpringsSong]

After a few moments, Lana and Xyshari went back to milling about, with Lana ending up with a mug of the same drink Xyshari had picked up in hand before long. She sampled it, too, and she offered a smile before looking back at Xyshari.

"Well, I can definitely tell you that this isn't the version meant for children," she said. "However, it's no Corellian whiskey."

"Yes, but it's definitely smoother than Mandalorian whiskey," Xyshari said. "That stuff burns."

"And you sound like you have experience with this?" Lana half-asked.

"Master knew a former Mandalorian that was in the military. Father, who was Mando, disowned him," Xyshari said. "They came to be good friends, and... well... he acquired a taste for the stuff," Xyshari said, grimacing. "I never did."

[Freezair]

Anywhere there was loud music and bright colors was a place Vince loved to be. He loved hearing what other creators were doing, and he loved dancing among ordinary people--the kind of people who didn't make music, just knew what made their body move and loved it.

He'd slipped into the crowd in anthro form, the tendrils on his head hanging low and crackling with subdued energy. This place was vibing even harder than usual--people weren't just here for the dance, they were here for the seasonal festivities! A number of the participants were even families with children.

Vince thought having a safe place to dance was worth celebrating enough. But what did a little Christmas hurt?

[Sarah]

"He looks like he's having fun," Raziel noted. Sev hummed agreement before tossing back the rest of his drink. They both knew they had no reason to be there.

He turned shining eyes on Raziel who met the expression with exasperation. "Be a dear and bring me another," Sev said, handing his glass to the archangel. Raziel look entirely disapproving but did as he was told. Sev watched him walk away for a moment before he turned his eyes back to Zli.

[Mojave]

The tavern door opened to the appearance of a large man. Tall, muscular, and confident in his looks he traipsed in, low slung form fitting pants hugging his hips while his even more snug shirt showed his chest muscles rippling as he tossed his jacket over a chair by the door. Despite the size of him his thick boots didn't make unnecessary noise as he crossed the tavern to take a place by the bar. After signaling a drink order to the barkeep he let his piercing blue eyes scan the room for his next conquest.

[Jaykobell]

Ah, so this was the loud, blinding rave the others had talked about? So far, certain members of the group hated it, and some either liked it, or were indifferent.

Admittedly, he did fall in the category of those who enjoyed it.

"This is pretty bangin'," he pointed out as he reached the entrance. "I like it! Something fun for a change."

At first glance, it looked like the man was talking to himself — perhaps an expected behavior from someone with tattoos and too many piercings to count. Anyone who cared to take a closer look, though, would notice a peculiar brooch on his chest, one that looked almost too big to sit on his breast. If someone stared long enough, they would notice the wings of the bug-looking brooch buzzing. "Take the prize," the bug instructed with a buzz. "That's what we're here for."

"I know, I know," he sighed. "I got it!" He looked around the place, trying to locate the counter or table where he could pick up the daily prize. "But doesn't mean I can't have some fun while I look!" he grinned, and he walked in nonchalantly, his body moving just subtly to the music.

Under the said loud music, nobody could hear the bug buzzing what almost sounded like a sigh.

[crow]

Alex and Xinyi both blinked, momentarily left at a loss for words. Xinyi was the first to recover. "What, that womanizing pretty boy?" they said, their surprise shifting into a narrow-eyed look of suspicion. "What's he doing here? He's not following you around, is he?" They turned to Alex, but Alex had no answers for them.

Soda frowned slightly. "I dunno. He looked like he was here with his own party... But I didn't get a close look or anything since I rushed here to tell you." He gave a shrug. "I thought you guys hit it off that time, but if he's a creep, we can---"

"No," said Alex, a little too quickly. Xinyi and Soda stared at him, so Alex cleared his throat and smiled, trying for a little more composure. "No, really, it's fine. We just talked last time, that's all. He seemed interested in my work. It's not what you're thinking," he added, clocking Xinyi's dubious expression. "Nothing happened. Really."

"Nothing happened yet. I've seen that guy. Different girl every time he shows up, and most of them look loaded. We both know you don't have that kind of money, so I'd stay away from him if I were you." Xinyi folded their arms over their chest.

"Well, it's not like he knows we're here," Alex pointed out.

"Guys?" said Soda.

"Not now, Sodapop," Xinyi said.

"No, really, guys, I think---"

"Alex? Is that you?"

[FrostWynd]

Well now this was exceptionally different! Much like what she could remember from before, the very second that familiar scents reached her nose, it was like stepping into a completely different world the very moment Amala had set foot inside this peculiar building. Though this took "different" to a whole new level as everything about it was changed from what had been done to it during her prior visit last time.

Stepping on through to mostly just wander about and explore, her blue gaze was glittering with curiosity as she saw the lights flashing, heard the music that was being perhaps a touch too loud just filling the room, and smelled more of the interesting foods she had tried once before. She kind of knew what she wanted to go do now that she was here, though she wouldn't be getting to that right away, as observing what sort of folks were hanging out here as well was also proving to be quite interesting.

[Adelie]

The food, at least, was not lacking.

That was a serious understatement, of course; the cookie she had had, despite looking like something out of a comic supervillain origin series where the eater would spontaneously develop superpowers, was legitimately good. Simple pride made her refuse to admit it.

Hungrily eying another snack, she decided against taking it for now - even if she didn't want to be here and could care less about what the other participants thought of her, it wouldn't do to appear greedy. But it wasn't like there was anything else to do here besides eating, unless she wanted to - god forbid - talk to someone.

Yeah, no. With some finesse, she navigated her way over to the drinks and helped herself to a cup of punch there.

[zapdragon555]

In the end Karl tried for something familiar, a hearty stew that seemed to have enough of a portion for them to share. Despite having traveled with the other man for a year, and whatever gnarled-yet-soft feelings in his chest were clearly being known between them, Karl still blushed slightly at the concept of sharing food. It was a strange notion. That one thing alone kept his mind off of the worst of his anxiety.

He mainly didn't want to get arrested, but there was more to it than that. He wasn't sure what their relationship counted as--harboring a fugitive? Would they think Karl an accomplice to Johan's crimes? Would it affect Karl's foster parents? So many questions lacked answers.

Most of all... Karl didn't want Johan to be caught. It was a silly thing to think that he could protect the blond man, but his heart damn well wanted to try. And public places like this were directly contradicting to that wish.

Even so, their stew came in a sizable, white oval dish of heavy ceramic, two spoons tucked neatly in a napkin beside it. Karl caught Johan's eye, placid and blue as always, before his dark ones darted to the silverware and began carefully, clumsily unwrapping it with a pink tint to his face.

[Claiming Dec. 17]
(Also if anyone wants to interact with these two they can, but please put a sort of "@Zap" at the end or beginning of your post so I can tell!)

[Jaden Wolf]

Flay eagerly slipped in through the doorway and started stripping off the excessive layers upon layers she wore. She never did handle the cold well. And boy was it cold. It seemed boiling inside though, with all those layers on.

A moment later, the door opened and in slipped another young woman. Though Coral was dressed for the weather, she was far less bundled up. She gave a light huff when she saw Flay. "You didn't have to rush out here like the devil himself was after you," she chided in good humour, "it's only a little bit of cold air."

"Right, whatever," drawled Flay. "Just get in here so we can get 'sister time' going already." Nothing said the holidays like spending time with family after all; and though Flay spent a lot of time hanging out with people, she rarely got to see her siblings. It was too bad they couldn't get any of the rest of the family to come!

[Silver]

The little dragon sat outside the door and waited for someone to open it up so she could slip inside. Iggy managed to remain unnoticed as she scurried under feet and into the party. Her mischievous grin widened as she surveyed the decorations. She was almost expecting the party to be lame, but she was pleasantly surprised.

Iggy hopped around the dance floor, occasionally nipping at any feet that got too close to stepping on her. Before anyone could notice who was biting at them, she was already gone. When she was bored of that, she climbed up on a table for some refreshments. She dipped her entire nose into a huge bowl of... something and gobbled down.

[Freezair]

Christmas was one of the little things that made immortality so rewarding.

Alright, so Jaya wasn't immortal, exactly, she'd just discovered a means of regressing in age and then growing up again while retaining all her memories. And if you wanted to get more technical, she was only around 20 years old, despite having fiddled with the regrowth spell a couple times. But she was extremely wise and powerful for her age, dang it. And she enjoyed Christmas dearly... even if she had to admit, Easter was her favorite holiday, Easter being her birthday and all.

But she was letting herself get distracted.

She sipped her favorite non-alcoholic cocktail--a cola with real cherry and vanilla syrup--and let the thumping music wash over her.

[Thunder]

When the envelope appeared before Briggson with his name on it, he knew what it had to mean. A quest! Just for him! Delighted, the chubby bird bard had picked it up to read its contents, only to then be magically teleported to the front of a very brightly decorated tavern, with the heavy beat of music roaring inside.

"Ahh, so this must be the location of my mission!" he mused aloud. "Perhaps...I am to be a performer at this cheery holiday event?"

And so Briggson burst into the tavern singing Christmas carols at the top of his lungs, strumming his ukulele all the meanwhile. Nevermind the fact that the carols were grossly incompatible with the rave music and atmosphere, and the fact that some of the guests were now giving him strange looks. This was a quest only Briggson Banaff could fulfill! And by golly, would it fulfill it!

[Sarah]

"They are oddly well-staffed," Raziel said as he returned to Sev's side.

"Are they?" Sev asked. He took his drink from Raziel and saw the man had gotten something for himself as well. Good. They'd probably be in the tavern for a while. At least until Zli found something more interesting to do.

"I don't know how you can stand to drink that," Raziel complained. Sevastion only shrugged. It wasn't about the flavor, and he knew the archangel didn't care to consume anything that impaired him.

[SpringsSong]

"Didn't Shae try to get you to like Tiihar?" Lana asked, and Xyshari gave a groan as she rolled her eyes.

"That party on Darvannis was a nightmare. Drunken brawling, tales of all the Mando's previous conquests - a few glares in my direction as they mentioned putting my people in their place - you know, typical Mandalorian debauchery."

"Shae doesn't strike me as the type to indulge in that kind of talk," Lana said.

"Yeah, she apologized to me afterwards. I told her it wasn't a big deal, it was just a part of my people's history, you know?"