|
Rickie "Of course, sorry. We are a non-prophet organization." She continues to paint, filling in the mother bun's eye and carefully curving her mouth into a smile. "...Technically I still need to paint all three, because I'm doing it in waves. Paint the base, paint the details, paint the accoutrements-" that last word in an outrageous French accent "-paint the second set of details. You know that thing where artists are temperamental perfectionists? That's this thing riiight here. I am moving as fast as I can," she turns the canvas and leans to check how shiny, and thus wet, the paint still is, "but I want to do this right." She adds more colors to the palette and begins painting the painting supplies of the little buns and the simple flower and sun they're painting on their mother's back. "I would have done this in oils, because there's a look you get with them, but those need, like, eight hours between coats." As she adds each color to the bunnies' painting, she takes the palette knife and feathers it so it looks like actual paint on fur. "It will be..." Rickie stands on tiptoe and blows on the mama bun's eye, "juust a few more moments." A sparkle is added to mama's eye, light pink details are added in the ears, and finally Rickie paints a tiny rainbow in the bottom corner like a signature. She steps back, studies the painting, and crosses her arms triumphantly. Accidentally whapping herself on the sleeve with the paintbrush.
|
#
?
Mar 30, 2016 20:03
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:38 |
|
|
While Rickie's joke didn't seem to land for the Gold, Michelle is otherwise deeply impressed by the Bob Ross like live painting demonstration. She listens and nods along as Rickie explains just exactly how she needs to paint the bunnies and details in layers, watching like a hawk from over Rickie's shoulder. Which was no great effort with the gulf in height between Rickie and Michelle. "Perfectionist is perfect. Sam wouldn't want a rushed painting. Or rushed oily bunnies." Michelle seems to agree, adjusting the santa hat just a little bit. The Gold girl smiles as Rickie adds the flower. "This is wonderful. You're a great artist, Rickie. Sam will love this." Michelle enthuses, handing Rickie a rag soaked in turpentine to clean the pain blotch off her sleeve. While it was drying, a still smiling Michelle turns to all three Blues. "Who is getting their Secret Santas first?" She excitedly asks, her eyes darting between the stuffed fluffy toys, the living fluffy bunny, and the almost-dry portrait.
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2016 08:54
|
|
|
Elly By now Elly has managed to wrap her elephant, boxless, in an acceptable if not exceedingly skilful manner. At least the paper she managed to find, a deep yet cheery blue with little white stars on it, is suitably Christmas-y. It’s what is enclosed in it that matters the most, anyway. “Has any sort of special Secret Santa swap place been designated?” she asks in response to Michelle’s enquiry. “My present is for Spider-Bot, so I’ll have to head to the Gloomdome, I think.” The Blue blinks and smiles. “In my opinion, getting the bunny to its new home first would be the responsible thing to do. The plushies are infinitely patient by their very nature, after all.”
|
|
#
?
Apr 1, 2016 21:28
|
|
|
Anna A warm place, with food. The thought of sad and hungry once-pets making their way to the school plucks at Anna's heartstrings, and she decides to buy into that explanation before she gets all sniffly and misty over it. "That's seriously adorable, Rickie," Anna says, pausing to watch. "Makes me think of... not Harry... ah! Beatrix Potter. No offense, if she's your creative nemesis or anything." Carmilla and Mr. Webby each sit on a few layers of tissue paper, waiting for Anna to fold them up into bundles and seal them with a bit of ribbon or string. As typical plushies, they're pretty mellow about the wait. Anna smiles a little bit. "Powers can be cool, but there's... I dunno. Something about watching someone make something. The way things just kind of build up. Probably said something like that before, but it's true." Realizing that her gifts are waiting patiently to be wrapped, she goes back and gathers the corners of each up into a makeshift bag. Allusions to storks delivering babies had better keep to themselves. "I dunno if we're supposed to get together to do this, or be all secret, or... I dunno. Gail was at Red house earlier, talking with the Professor."
|
|
#
?
Apr 3, 2016 04:48
|
|
|
"There is no Secret Santa swap place." Michelle confirms, her eyes fixed on Rickie's painting. She was literally watching pain dry right now. Wisely, perhaps, getting the bunny to her new home as soon as possible was the course of action to take. It also knocked out a couple birds with a single stone, as with all things being equal Spider-Bot would still be at the Red House as well. So, after Rickie declares that her bunny portrait is dry enough to safely move, they set off. Michelle helps Rickie carry the painting, so the painter can pick up the bunny as well, leaving Anna and Elly to haul their stuffed gifts on their own. The Gold girl seemed really quite excited now that the gift giving was so close. As if on cue, a small amount of snow starts to fall as the Blues plus Michelle exit the art room. Which would be nice and scene setting, normally, but now threatened to ruin the painting before Sam even got to see it! Michelle seemed to understand the gravity of the situation, because when the first snowflake lands on her head she bolts towards the Red dorm as fast and safely as she can manage. Wouldn't do to damage the painting on the way, either. And this being Michelle, she probably wouldn't do anything that would break the picture on accident. Didn't seem to be part of her powers, that. As was now normal, the defence systems surrounding Red House spin into life as the Blues approach. Michelle is left alone, the guns only training themselves on the Blue girls. And the bunny. Though she doesn't seem too worried about any of it. At the door, Michelle is almost bouncing with excitement. It was very unlike Michelle, but to be fair this was the first christmas they had seen her at and maybe she just liked the holiday season. But, to her horror, Michelle discovers that she is holding the painting. So she doesn't have free hands to knock on the door or ring the bell. "Knock! Knock! Knock!" Michelle solves the problem in a very Michelle way, shouting at the door to do what her hands could not. "Doorbell!" She continues to call into Red House, while Anna, Elly and Rickie catch up with her. Even with the shouting, Gloom's weapons of doom don't seem at all interested in her. When everybody was standing at the door, it finally opens. "Who the hell is shouting-" Jean answers, opening the door. She was wearing something that looked like a very cheap Halloween costume, some sort of space man deal. All tin foil and space blanket. "Michelle?" Her eyes go to the shouty one first. Then drift to the picture, and Rickie, and the bunny and Elly and Anna yet again. "Umm." She doesn't quite seem to know what to say, or why such a motley crew wearing santa hats were at the door. "Hi guys?"
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2016 03:58
|
|
|
Anna It occurs to Anna, right as the first flakes fall and all of that cold starts to worm its way toward her bones, that she should have wrapped herself up in batting again before leaving the nice, warm arts and crafts room. Before she can ask for a minute to insulate herself, Michelle is already haring off in the direction of Red House. There isn't much to be done but follow, so Anna grits her teeth and brings up the rear. Reaching out with her powers, Anna tries to form an anti-snow fort over the crew... but quickly discovers that sending each individual flake swirling off from its own chaotic path is more headache than she can handle. Watching Michelle do her doorbell and knocker impressions almost makes up for standing around in the cold like this, wearing that silly hat, and with the guard lasers twitching and glaring. Glaring at everybody but Michelle, that is-- maybe she has a power like Sarah's? Or maybe she has the same weird understanding of things she has with people. Jean answers the door before she can speculate further. "We thought we saw a star, but then we realized it was Elly lighting the way. But she and Rickie have presents to deliver, anyway!" Forcing a grin through her pluming breath she says, "And I love your outfit!" "...And I'd carol, maybe, but I feel more like the little match girl right now."
|
|
#
?
Apr 14, 2016 17:51
|
|
|
Michelle doesn't seem terribly phased by her act. The ends justified the means in her mind. One can assume, not a soul knowing what exactly runs through her mind in the first place. With the door open, Michelle wastes no time in sliding in and saving the portrait from a fate worse than dead. Getting slightly smudged. "Um. I guess we have presents, everybody?" Jean calls to the Reds, causing those in the lounge to look up at the gaggle at he door. Jean raises an eyebrow, but with a friendly smile. "Is that her cool new code-name? Star of Bethlehem?" Elly could see by starlight alone, so the comparison wasn't totally out of order. Seeing as Michelle had already slipped into the dorm, Jean clears the way and lets the Blues all in before they freeze. "You like it?" Jean gives Anna a bit of a twirl after closing the door, keeping her wings in tight against her back. "It's the latest from the House of Spiderbot space blanket couture range. Keeps birds warm." Mentioning the little match girl, Jean gives herself pause. "You're dying of hypothermia?" Michelle seemingly wastes no time, hauling the painting over to Sam. She is very careful to not drop it or bash it against a chair or get it anywhere near the fireplace. But she doesn't say anything, just holding it up in front of Sam. "Umm." Is all the technicolour girl can say in response, very much confused.
|
|
#
?
Apr 22, 2016 01:00
|
|
|
Anna "Could be!" Anna chirps in agreement on Elly's potential code-name. Anna, making and playing along with well-intentioned Christianity jokes? The goth's got to be in a rare mood, indeed. "Brr! Not dying, but close," Anna shivers as she scoots in with the others. "Should've made a blanket while we were in the crafts room." Anna nods vigorously, totally not to dislodge any imaginary ice that's formed on her plumage. "I like it! It's... very retro. Shows nice against your feathers." And anybody who makes a crack about tinfoil and turkeys is going to have the world's worst luck, if she catches wind of it. "I... Tabby told us there was a Secret Santa thing going on, and each of us had to get something specific for someone in particular, but I'm starting to think she did a snow-job on us."
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2016 19:11
|
|
|
Elly “It was purely a metaphor,” Elly notes with a small smile. “If I had to choose a code name, it would be one that is more neutral. And less ambiguous in nature.” “I have been wondering about that too,” she says in response to Anna’s musings. “Certainly nobody asked me what sort of present I would like. But,” she adds along with a small shrug, “that’s fine. I don’t really want anything. And it would be just like Tabby to do something like that.”
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2016 20:38
|
|
|
"Well, how about we hurry up and get to the Disney remake part where the little match girl gets adopted into a warm house?" Jean offers, getting Anna inside to warm up as quickly as she can. "Make a blanket? We have spares in the linen closet if you need a blanket." The Red winged girls goes on to offer. "What were you doing in the art room?" She asks, looking at the arms filled with bundles of plushies and gifts for secret santas. "Did you guys actually make gifts by hand? Like Santa elves?" Jean smiles slightly. "Birds like shiny things, right? I guess that works." She supposes. "All I know is that it's keeping me warm. Don't care about much else other than that!" Michelle was still holding the painting for Sam, waiting for Rickie to come in with the one-two punch of the bun-bun. Sam was still rather stunned and still didn't really quite know what to say. Or what to look at. Her skin goes a rather vivid shade of rose/pink though. "Wait," Jean looks to the visiting Santas. "We never got told about anything like that. Like Gloom didn't and Spiderbot would've told us if something was happening. I don't think the other houses did either." With the theory seemingly confirmed, she smirks. "…yeah, I think your House Mother set you all up. So, who she'd tell you to give presents to?" Jean asks, the nosy bird sticks her beak in.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2016 04:31
|
|
|
Anna "I should be okay! We hurried over. But thanks," Anna smiles, moving in and a bit off to the side so she can slide her wings a bit around her shoulders without knocking anything. "Neither do I, really," she admits to Elly. "I'm just kind of bummed that not everybody is getting something, unless she has something else up her sleeve. Y'know?" With her arms occupied with bundles, and partially concealed under her wings, Anna tips her head toward Elly. "She made a... something for Spiderbot. I was supposed to give you charity, Jean... so I guess giving you a chance to get warmer clothes counts?" Anna's wings rustle softly as she shrugs them and smiles. "And Rickie was supposed to do something for Michelle, who wanted her to do something nice for Sam. I think she's got stage-fright." After a glance at the packets she's taken under her wings, Anna says, "...and then I went to the crafts room, because I wanted to do something nice for Regina and Tara, because Lenore's been a huge brat with them sometimes, and they've been totally gentle with her."
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2016 05:02
|
|
|
A lightbulb goes off in Jean's head. "When you were here earlier!" She snaps her fingers. Which was quite a feat considering she actually had large talons there instead. She must have been practising. "Oh, that's really sneaky Anna. Super sneaky." She smirks, quickly taking Anna up in a swift wing hug. "Thank you, secret Santa Anna." Jean manages a sneaky little play on words. "I'm surprised Michelle is moving around this much at all. It has to mean a lot to her. Rickie helped with the painting, right?" Jean asks the obvious, because there probably wasn't anybody else on campus who was quite the painter like Rickie was. And it was a very lovely bunny picture. "You're giving gifts to make up for how bad your cat's been to your housemates? Seriously?" Jean seems to be stifling a small laugh.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2016 09:52
|
|
|
Elly “Walking into a store and buying a gift was out of the question, obviously,” the Blue points out. “And I had fun making mine, at least.” She blinks. “Actually, Jean, is Spider-Bot in?” “I would not be surprised to find our house mother does have something up her sleeve, Anna. But if she doesn’t…” Elly shrugs slightly, clearly not bothered by going present-less. She’s used to that sort of thing.
|
|
#
?
Apr 25, 2016 18:21
|
|
|
"Spider-Bot? Yeah, she should be." Jean answers, directing Elly to the House Mother's room. Naturally, both for technically not being staff and for technically being a robot, Spier-Bot probably didn't get a room of her own. Or really need it. Did she sleep? A joke about dreaming of electric sheep had probably already been made about the assistant Powers teacher by the Reds. Excusing herself, Elly disappears down the corridor and knocks on the bedroom door. "Yes?" It was the digital intonations of Spider-Bot, no doubt about that. When Elly opens the door she sees a quite messy bedroom of Professor Gloom, who herself was nowhere to be seen. Toiling away at some evil plot in the Gloomdome, no doubt. Spider-Bot, for her part, was at the tremendously cluttered desk against the far wall. It was overloaded with old manuals and home-bound instruction books. Tablet screens with information that only one who can real digital could decipher. A small selection of tools; screwdrivers, a soldering iron, spanners and an impossibly small welding torch. "Elly?" The faceless visage of Spider-Bot betrays nothing, but her tone seems a little surprised.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2016 03:43
|
|
|
Anna "I don't really want anything either, but it feels kind of cruddy going around to the other Houses and just giving out to one or two people," Anna points out before Elly slips away. Anna rolls her eyes and frowns lightly at Jean. "Hey, both of them have got in trouble for eating things they shouldn't. Before they got here, anyway. They've been really good about Lenore, and I wanted to do something nice to thank them, instead of just apologizing for her. I mean, she bats at Tara's legs until spiders come off, and chases them around. She used to get into Tara's room when she was sleeping and..." ...and Anna struggles not to laugh, waving a hand. "Okay, so it's funny, but you know how Tara can be. And Lenore keeps trying to prove she's the apex predator in the House, doing things like curling up on top of Reggie when she's raptored out on the couch. If we had mice, she'd probably be leaving them on her pillow."
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2016 05:30
|
|
|
Elly She pauses on her way out. “I suppose it does, Anna,” Elly concedes, “but that’s the trouble with giving gifts in a place like this, isn’t it? Making sure nobody feels left out is even harder than it would be ordinarily,” she says, and smiles. “At best, Tabby has us covered. At worst…we’ll have a great deal of making it up to people to do next year.” In the Gloomroom, Elly absorbs its considerable messiness in the blink of an eye before focusing on the many-legged figure busying itself at the similarly untidy desk. “Umm. Hi,” she says and takes a slightly hesitant step into the room. “I’ve got something for you, Miss…Spider-Bot.” Having hidden it behind her back so far, she now produces the gift-wrapped elephant and holds it out to the school’s sole arachnoid member of staff. “So, um,” Elly continues, smiling just a little awkwardly, “happy holidays! Or merry Christmas, if you are of that particular persuasion. Or happy Hanukkah, or…um. You get the idea.” She smiles a bit more brightly. “I hope you’ll like it.”
|
|
#
?
Apr 28, 2016 23:43
|
|
|
"Lenore chases Tara around and sits on top of Reggie? Yeah, okay, that sounds like they deserve a couple presents." Jean continues to struggle to contain her laughter. "Out of all the cats you could get, you end up with the one who thinks she's a tiger. That's really funny."Jean seems to have her giggles under control now, but she's grinning ear to ear. "Maybe that's why you were allowed to keep her?" Jean postulates. "Like, a living lesson for you and your house? Teach you how to be all responsible for her annoying people and the consequences and all that jazz." It seemed like a distinct possibility. "Just that I don't think anything happens here without it being a lesson masterminded by Ms. Frost." ~ "Hello, Elly." Spider-Bot returns in kind after Elly took the first step into the Gloomroom, still waiting for the Blue to reveal why she was visiting. "You can call me Gail if you like." She offers after Elly hesitates on what to actually call her after 'Miss'. Clearly Elly was having trouble here, so she wanted to try and help ease her nerves if she could. A name helps with that. Elly reveals what she was hiding, and Spider-Bot's photoreceptors track the mysterious wrapped thing all the way into her… arms? Legs? Spiders only have legs, but this spider was also a robot so maybe they were both? Either way, Spider-Bot takes the gift with her forelimbs. "Oh!" She has no face, but it's clear that Gail was quite surprised by the present. "Happy holidays is fine." She clears up, as the spider-like limbs carefully but efficiently remove the wrapping paper. Once the gift wrapping had been removed and folded up neatly on the table, Spider-Bot is left staring at the plush elephant. Presumably, without visible eyes it was hard to tell. But it looked like she was staring at the stuffed animal long and hard. And she has but one question for Elly in return. "Where did you get this?"
|
|
#
?
Apr 29, 2016 03:14
|
|
|
Anna Anna closes her eyes and just nods shallowly, trying to look disappointed in her fuzzy friend, but... "It is funny. And it's adorable when she curls up on Reggie like that. Not as much when she curls up on the side of my head in the middle of the night." A smile puts the lie to that last claim. "I've wondered about that, sometimes. I'm glad they let me keep her, and I don't think about it a lot, but if it's some kind of a test... I guess I'm okay with that. It's better than that weird thing they used to do, giving people eggs and telling 'em to pretend they're babies." Anna rolls her eyes, and silently thanks her fortune not to have been born in a backward decade, like the eighties, or something. The goth's eyes go big when Jean explains her hypothesis about the school. "I think the same thing, sometimes!" she exclaims, then stifles herself and glances to either side. "Not too loudly though, y'know? But it is supposed to be a trial run, isn't it? Get the bugs out, see how things work when something goes weird... like those times the gym floor got wrecked."
|
|
#
?
May 3, 2016 04:24
|
|
|
Jean smiles along with Anna. "She cuddles up on your head? That's so cute. You're lucky she's taken to you so quickly, Anna. For just finding a wild cat or stray cat or tabby cat or whatever made her end up out here, she could have been way nastier. Especially to something with wings." She points out, perhaps further fuelling the idea that things were more orchestrated than the at first seemed. "Anyway. I think that if it is some sort of test, you're totally passing with flying colours. No pun. If you weren't there's no way you'd still be allowed to keep Lenore. Hell, you probably wouldn't even be allow to keep just a bag of flour." Jean manages a small laugh. "Yeah!" She agrees. "I don't know if it's a test run exactly, but I think we're totally canaries in the coal mine. If nothing really goes wrong with a bunch of quote unquote delinquents like us, then Ms. Frost can work with anybody here." The Red winged girl elucidates with her usual unerring insight. ~ In the GloomRoom, SpiderBot holds the Christmas gift out like she was studying it for some inscrutable reason known only to Glooms and Robots. "I used to have a stuffed elephant when I was a kid." She reveals, no doubt with a smile if she had the facility for such an expression. "I loved that old thing, I took it everywhere with me. Until Val needed insulation for some micro-reactor she was building, cannibalised the whole elephant for that." Seemingly done with looking the mighty beasts over, Spider-Bot passes the fluffy animal down to a lower set of limbs. "Topsy had bigger ears, though." She notes. "And he was fluffier. But this one is just as cute." Getting a warm hug from a spider based robot would no doubt feel odd, which explains why Spider-Bot restrains herself. But the tone of her voice alone conveys her deep appreciation of both the gift itself and the consideration to even get her a present. "Elly, I don't know how you guessed this. Or who tipped you off to it, Kris Kringle I suppose. But thank you." ~ Sam jumps up and hugs Rickie. And then Michelle. Though only after the picture was safely put down. And also the bunny, albeit much more gently than the hugs Rickie and Michelle received. "This is so kind!" She gushes, her skin turning a lovely shade of rose pink. "And it's so nice! I can't believe you did this for me! Thank you!" She seemed awed by the picture, both by how lovely it was and the amount of care that went into the Christmas gift. "And… I don't even know what to say about the rabbit!" Sam holds the little fella up to look the bun-bun in the eyes, nose-to-nose. "How did you even get a pet bunny in school!? This is just amazing! I love it, you guys!" She quickly brings the rabbit in for more cuddles. "Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Michelle, through her muddled mind and abstruse perspective, manages a happy smirk at delivering her Christmas present. ~ The rest of the very Christmassy day was spent revelling in the company of good friends. Even for those who weren't strictly followers of the Christmas season, the spirit of the holidays was enough to see everybody enjoy themselves and their friends. Gifts were exchanged. Sweets and cookies were baked and everybody indulged just a little bit. Nobody was quite game enough for a huge Christmas roast, but with food enough already it wasn't missed. Roaring fires were lit in the hearth, keeping all warm from the snowy Christmas night outside. One may think that with all the Gloom defences the school had that there was no way jolly ol' St. Nick could land his sleigh and deliver presents that night, but by morning there was not a single stocking left unstuffed in the entire school. If that wasn't Santa then maybe, just maybe, Father Christmas had a little helper delivering Christmas cheer in the school all along. Let's sojourn to the OOC thread linked here please! 
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2016 14:22
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 19, 2024 22:38 |
|
|
|
|
#
?
May 14, 2016 14:22
|
|