21:01 <Crion> It's the night before Christmas, and all through the Wherehouse, there's a goose playing with his beer, like a cat with a mouse. Thankfully it's unopened, but who knows how that's going to fizz up when he finally -- ah there it goes. Well damn. He got pretty much all of it in his mouth. 21:02 <banana> Okay, we're not going to let beer stains become a norm. Melanie will interrupt her mournful contemplation to grab a towel, wet it, spend a minute futilely trying to convince Steve to clean up his own mess.. 21:07 <CBN> Tony's in his bachelor hovel. He disappeared about an hour ago with some tape and some wrapping paper if anyone was paying attention, because being sneaky is an outdoors activity. Nevertheless, his door (A DOOR!) is shut and a tinny radio playing classic rock can be faintly heard behind. 21:08 <Crion> The handover of power from Autumn to Winter went off a few days ago without muss or fuss in a private ceremony at the law offices, and the Winter King once again swore the proper oaths and made the proper signs, so on and so forth. There will be a Christmas dinner at The Sidereal, but it's mostly a quiet affair for Freehold changelings with nowhere else to go; attendence is neither officially 21:08 <Crion> expected nor even informally encouraged. 21:08 <Crion> What does the Wherehouse have planned for the holidays? 21:09 <banana> "If you can open beer bottles you can manipulate a cloth rag. This is a different kind of business, the business we make immigrants do." 21:09 <Crion> honk 21:09 <Crion> Steve is arguing he didn't even spill any. Well. Much. 21:13 <Crion> Business Steve is taking a vacation, for his part. Steve is currently wearing a tiny Santa hat. 21:15 <CBN> After Steve emphatically veto'd Tony's plans to hang up Christmas lights and an inflatable Santa on the roof, he's kept the Christmas'ing relatively low-key, current activities notwithstanding. Nevertheless, he emerges from his bachelor hovel, shuts the door behind him quietly, and pops into the kitchen to check on the stove, where he's had some cider coming to a low simmer in a pot on a burner. 21:15 <dammitwho> Maggie is making a honey baked ham, mashed potatoes, green beans, stuffing, and some nice rolls. The ham was a substitution for avian meat, out of respect for Business Steve. 21:15 <CBN> He of course has to jockey around Maggie and her items for burner space and kitchen room, but this is a ballet known well by now. 21:15 <dammitwho> She's chewing gum, also? 21:17 <VoxPVoxD> How does Lauren feel about spending Christmas with the motley? Despite wrapping all these presents Stewart is ambivalent. 21:18 <Crion> Lauren would be delighted to. 21:19 <banana> Melanie enjoys living with two people who cook. Apart from that she's got no plans, which is a first.. and also very much isn't. 21:20 <banana> Having kept the floor from going fully bachelor apartment, she returns to ham observation. "This hasn't changed much, has it? Not across however many generations." 21:22 <Crion> For the time being, Steve is avoiding the kitchen except when he wants a beer, and even then he sneaks in, grabs one, and runs away. Perhaps he Googled "Christmas goose" or something. 21:24 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Pigs are mostly the same, I guess? Pigwise?" 21:25 <CBN> Tony retrieves some cinnamon sticks in a bundle he got from the (regular) market, and begins rummaging around for mugs in the cabinetry of the kitchen. Everyone's gotta have at least one, one assumes. "I remember newspaper circulars used to have a big piece of pineapple on the ham. I never did that, and I don't know if I want to." 21:26 <CBN> Success. Mugs. "I do know, ham and pineapple on pizza is awful, so I have to assume it's not good if you just have more ham." 21:28 <banana> Melanie: "A lot of familes in Westminster had ham as well as turkey because it was like.. I guess it was a sort of prototypical meme." 21:29 <CBN> Tony: "Aren't those pronounced 'may-may'? Stewart said....anyway, ham and turkey seems like a waste. So much meat." 21:29 <banana> "There's a general sense upcounty that ham is, basically, patriotic. Because of stuff like Smithfield and how liberals object to it... the pigs themselves haven't changed, but there's context." 21:29 <banana> Melanie: "So I used to know a bunch of people who would like.. eat too much ham smugly, in the hope that it would piss off people in the city. Or ideally people in a city in California." 21:31 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart and Lauren arrive late in the morning, possibly having picked up Nels. They're all lugging presents, a legion of patterned snowmen staring out at the motley with placid expressions. 21:31 <CBN> Tony: "It tastes good and the only pigs I've seen in the flesh were the ones that tried to shoot us, so put me down for ham. Here, hold this." Tony offers Melanie a mug with a cinnamon stick poking up past the lip, and freshly-ladled hot cider steaming in it. 21:31 <banana> "It does taste good." Melanie holds this. 21:32 <CBN> Tony nods to the mug. "Taste that quick. I'm trying something." 21:33 <Crion> By the by, the weather has turned a bit in the Hedge. While it's still an unusually warm winter on the other side -- kind of grimey rain today, and it's supposed to be even warmer tomorrow -- you're getting a white Christmas in the Hedge. Probably don't go out in it, though. Could be things hiding in the snow. And you didn't see who built those snowmen. And they seem to be moving around when 21:33 <Crion> you're not looking at them. 21:34 <banana> A couple of sips. "Also good. You've got enough aldehyde in there to really bring out the camphor." 21:34 <CBN> "Hey, good's good enough for me." Tony hollers from the kitchen. "STEVE you want some cider with that beer, get it while it's hot!" 21:35 <CBN> And dutifully, Tony will ladle out cider into a mug with a cinnamon stick to anyone who comes around, but only once they're there. It's best that way. 21:35 <VoxPVoxD> Setting them down on something waist-high, Stewart's face is obscured when he says "Merry Christmas," to the room. 21:36 <Crion> honk 21:36 <Crion> That's a Merry Christmas in return. Steve will cautiously toddle into the kitchen after the cider, wary of a trap. 21:36 <banana> Melanie's still leaning on the kitchen island and sipping the same mug when the others arrive. "Yeah." 21:37 <CBN> Tony: "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" From the kitchen. It smells amazing in the Wherehouse right now. And not even faintly bird-y, for once. 21:38 <CBN> Acknowledging Steve's care, Tony gives him a...lord in heaven is that a ceramic sippy cup with a (plastic, one assumes) straw? It is. "Here ya go buddy, Merry Christmas." 21:38 <CBN> It of course has The Cider. 21:38 <Crion> HONK!!! 21:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Man, it smells good in here." 21:38 <VoxPVoxD> "Need any help, Maggie?" he calls. 21:38 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Howdy, Stewart, Lauren! Shouldn't be but a few minutes." 21:39 <Crion> Lauren: "Merry Christmas!" 21:39 <dammitwho> "If you could set up those TV trays and put the ceramic bowls and such on 'em so we have kind of a serving area that'd be grand." 21:39 <Crion> Lauren: "On it!" 21:39 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart bustles to help as well. 21:43 <CBN> Tony sets a few spare mugs with cinnamon sticks in them down in a corner of the kitchen, returns the cider pot to the range on Low, and disappears into his hovel again for a minute. 21:43 <banana> Melanie gets out of the way of the helpers; there are plenty of corners in this place. "How's it going? Did you guys manage to get a holiday break from the internet-hours jobs?" 21:45 <Crion> Lauren: "Angelfire is officially on call." 21:45 <Crion> "Thank God for that." 21:45 <dammitwho> Maggie, being wise and smart, has timed her cooking such that everything finishes at once. "Alllllright, pulling 'em out! Be careful, folks, it's hot!" She transfers everything but the ham to the serving trays, then pulls the ham out to start slicing it." 21:46 <Crion> Lauren's gotten more and better sleep in the last few nights than Stewart's ever seen out of her...with the caveat that they stared routinely sharing a bed in the midst of her being stalked by a movie monster. 21:46 <VoxPVoxD> It's nice. Makes everything feel orderly. 21:51 <banana> Melanie: "Speaking of, should we.. does anyone say grace?" 21:51 <CBN> Tony is at the table with a mug of cider and looking real chill . "Only bad thing about ham I can think of is, no wishbone. Looks real nice though, great work here Maggie." 21:51 <dammitwho> "Thank you kindly." 21:52 <Crion> Lauren giggles at that. 21:52 <dammitwho> ??? 21:52 <VoxPVoxD> With the new league morphing into the new job, Stewart's own sleep schedule is still bad. "Yeah, this is amazing." All he has for Melanie is a slightly sheepish look. 21:53 <Crion> Seeing Maggie's look. "It's nothing. Just reminded me of a videogame I played once." 21:53 <banana> It's fine. It's not like she wanted that per se, it's just.. how things used to go. 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's family said grace... 21:54 <VoxPVoxD> ...but Stewart always hated it. 21:55 <CBN> Tony looks around and claps his hands together. But just once, not like church-y or anything. "This all looks great. You all are great. Here's to many more of these." 21:55 <Crion> Steve honks an "amen." 21:56 <VoxPVoxD> "Hear, hear." 21:56 <CBN> Tony clears his throat. "And I know it's a little late to mention this to you all now, being that it's already Christmas and all. But I think...we should get a boat." 21:56 <banana> Melanie holds out her mug and taps it on anyone's who wants to toast. 21:57 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Cheers!" She'll mash her mug against Melanie's. 21:57 <VoxPVoxD> ...is it "hear, hear" or "here, here"? Stewart doesn't actually know, and after toasting begins eating with a slightly furrowed brow. 21:57 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Cheers!" She'll mash her mug against Melanie's. 21:57 <CBN> Tony tinks mugs with Melanie and Maggie in turn. 21:57 <Crion> Lauren will toast too. 21:57 <VoxPVoxD> "What kinda boat?" 21:57 <banana> Melanie's going to take a seat and wait for a moment before pointing out the no-waterfront thing. Maybe someone else will do it. 21:57 <dammitwho> "A boat?" 21:58 <CBN> Tony: "I was thinking a houseboat. Something with at least a couple doors in it, because of that cool door thing we can do. Maybe figure out if we can hook it up to this place on a side-entrance or something." 21:59 <dammitwho> Maggie: "There isn't any water, though?" 21:59 <CBN> Tony: "Just think about it. All the fun of sea travel, and being able to come back here to grab food, or use the bathroom with privacy, and sleep without getting seasick, which is probably a thing I've never been on a boat before." 21:59 <banana> Melanie: "There's a drinking fountain just outside the elevator on the Market side." 22:00 <CBN> Tony: "There's no water here, but like...the door thing. We don't really have an elevator here either, but we know how that...works? Sort of? It's still in the early stages." 22:00 <CBN> Tony: "But I think it could be fun and after the fall and winter we've already had, it might be nice to spend part of spring and summer getting sun somewhere that doesn't smell like pee outside so much." 22:01 <Crion> Riverways exist in the Hedge -- they're just another form of Hedgerow, really -- so there's utility to it. Unless you mean a boat out in the real world. That's probably even easier to swing. 22:01 <CBN> He waves the thought away. "Something to ask Santa for maybe. Putting it out there now though, in case anyone wants to get captain's hats and boat shoes, which I'm told are what you wear on boats, early." 22:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "So like, renting a slip in a marina, docking a boat in it, joining it to the Hollow with a portal... you mean a boat in the normal world, right, like the real Patapsco?" 22:02 <banana> "...I wonder about swimming actually. Do you float? I don't think I do, but I haven't tried.. we could go to a pool or find some kind of naiad glade outside." 22:04 <CBN> Tony: "Yeah exactly! Real boat, all that. And probably safer to do real-world-water-stuff than Hedge-water-stuff, since. Hedge." 22:04 <CBN> Tony: "I'm wearing a life vest before finding out, Melanie." 22:04 <Crion> Lauren: "Something to be aware of: Any arched bridge tunnel can be turned into a portal by covering it with a tarp." 22:05 <Crion> "Summer's done some rather daring raids involving that." 22:06 <CBN> Tony: "That sounds...I'm using this correctly sick as hell?" 22:06 <CBN> He looks to Stewart mostly for confirmation on the hip lingos of today. 22:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods. 22:07 <CBN> Tony beams. 22:08 <Crion> Lauren: "I can confirm." 22:09 <trenchfoot> Nels is playing in the background - she's on a Mariah Carey original at the moment. 22:10 <banana> Has everyone got some of Maggie's ham? Melanie's going to try hers silently if so. It's comforting stuff, all the carbon you'd expect and a fructose glaze on every mouthful. 22:10 <CBN> Tony already got seconds. It's hungry work doing [absolutely nothing to see here], and he is jazzed at the prospect of a boat. 22:14 <Crion> Lauren has eaten perhaps a bit more than she should, and has asked if she can take some home for Chup, as a treat. Chup can have a little Hedge ham. 22:15 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, comparatively, has eaten a lot less (though he did make sure to clean his plate!) and is drinking the special cider. 22:16 <trenchfoot> Is that wise? Nels isn't exactly an expert, but, introducing things to the Hedge goes poorly in her experience. 22:16 <Crion> Lauren will have offered to DD, if Stewart's willing to trust her with the car (she's licensed). 22:16 <Crion> Or they could stay over... 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart wouldn't mind staying. 22:16 <VoxPVoxD> Put all that work into his room, and it hasn't seen much use since Halloween. 22:17 <Crion> In that case, she'll partake as well. Santander can make any parking tickets go away anyhow. 22:17 <VoxPVoxD> Man. Life is pretty good, objectively speaking. 22:18 <banana> As everyone eats, there are plenty of gaps in conversation. Melanie keeps wanting to fill them and stopping herself; she doesn't want to bring people down tonight. None of the topics buzzing in her head are appropriate. She imagines what it would be like to hear actual buzzing in there, a hive of the kind that produced this glazing.. little parasite organisms with their own extended family 22:18 <banana> and bee holidays. 22:19 <Crion> It never stays like this forever. But maybe, this time, it could. 22:19 <VoxPVoxD> I always told myself tomorrow would be light, free and easy~ I don't know, I still could be right~ 22:21 <CBN> Tony, fatly sated, would unbuckle a belt but he's wearing track pants. God, 2019 is a beautiful time to be alive. 22:21 <trenchfoot> It really is. 22:21 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Uuuuuuuuwaaaaahhhh." 22:21 <Crion> Lauren: "That was all delicious." 22:21 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "For real. Thank you so much." 22:22 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Amazing." 22:23 <dammitwho> Maggie who has gone in on the cider, slumping back with a handkerchief over her face: "So be EASY and FREE when ya DRINKIN' wi'me, I'm a MAN you don't MEET everyday..." 22:25 <banana> Melanie: "Ehehe. Ham radio." 22:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart snorts. 22:25 <trenchfoot> Nels will immediately begin accompanying Maggie on guitar. Abandoning what's left of her meal to do so, too. 22:26 <Crion> Lauren will begin clearing places for those who are finished. Is there dessert to be served, and thus new plates required? 22:27 <CBN> Tony: "Sounds like it's time for presents!" Tony looks meaningfully at the corner, where there's apparently been a large wooden coat rack with a piece of paper taped to the mid-section reading 'SYBOLOLICALY a tree not really one though 4 melanie - tony' in the middle. On the top there is what must've been...a 4th-of-july star pinwheel? It's red white and blue, and spinning faintly. The important thing is at the bottom, where, 22:27 <CBN> arranged on a few carpet samples, are nicely-wrapped presents of all shapes and sizes, each addressed to a different member of the motley. 22:28 <CBN> Tony, in mock-surprise, or maybe feigned-and-he's-bad-at-this: "And it looks like Santa came! For everyone!" 22:29 <VoxPVoxD> Oh, wow, Stewart somehow missed that completely. He stops helping Lauren to go get the presents he set down near the entrance. "Yeah! Everybody gather around." 22:29 <trenchfoot> ! 22:29 <banana> Melanie: "Oh.." 22:30 <CBN> Tony goes over and starts handing out the wrapped gifts to the motley as they approach. 22:31 <banana> She didn't think. All those memories and associations but it didn't occur to her to get presents. That's.. something to remember next time. Tony's so nice. 22:32 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's got packages for Lauren, Maggie, Melanie, Nels, and Tony. 22:33 <CBN> Stewart's gift is rectangular and roughly the length of a forearm and hand, and about a third as wide. Maggie's is loosely wrapped, and feels like some article of clothing in there maybe, or a blanket. Melanie's is...well it's obvious it's a book, c'mon. But its wrapped. Nels gets a box about the size of a hand, that jangles faintly on being shaken. Steve's is slightly larger than his head, and kinda lumpy. 22:34 <trenchfoot> Nels has gifts for Stewart, Maggie, Melanie, Tony, and Steve. 22:34 <banana> Melanie's pale-faced and very smiley accepting hers. Technically her Mien is always pale since it's white and flaky, but her Mask is wan too. "Thank you to Santa. We'll have to get a letter to him, there's got to be a contract out there." 22:35 <CBN> Tony trades Stewart and Nels for their gifts, and looks expectantly at everyone else before opening his. "Of course, Melanie. We have an extra day this next year to track him down, too!" 22:36 <trenchfoot> Nels cracks her knuckles meaningfully. 22:37 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart unwraps his gifts as he looks around to see what other people got. 22:38 <CBN> From 'Santa,' Stewart got a keyboard. It's a mechanical one, and it's missing an Escape key. Tony holds his hands up. "Now, I tried to get all the dirt off, and I don't know what it does yet, but, I have to assume something cool." 22:39 <trenchfoot> Nels' gifts are almost all joke-gifts; she was never good at giving gifts, and being thrown 100 years into the future didn't improve that. So Stewart's gift of a CD copy of Zork - don't ask how she got that - is well within her wheelhouse. 22:39 <CBN> He looks around at everyone: "This shouldn't spoil it, but, they're all, whaddya call them, tokens! Fresh-brewed out in the Hedge! I spent like fifty bucks on compressed air cans!" 22:40 <CBN> Tony unwraps his gifts now that he's let the cat out of the bag for everyone else's. 22:41 <CBN> His own gifts, crucially. What'd Stewart and Nels get him? 22:41 <trenchfoot> Nels' gift for Tony is a boxset of horror movies... that have no horror. The kids just go home. It's fine. 22:41 <banana> "Oh that's clever. We can have Wyrd-selected surprises and you get to find out too." :) 22:42 <CBN> Tony clutches them to his chest. "Thank you." Almost a whisper. 22:43 <banana> After kind of hugging her gifts to her trunk for a few moments, Melanie will open them. Thank God at least she's not the only one receiving presents, that would be too familiar. 22:44 <dammitwho> Maggie's not very good at giving gifts either, so she made a real tapping-temple decision and got everyone candy. Those huge chocolate bars you hope you get trick-or-treating? Yup. Those big tins of butter cookies that never have cookies in them, only sewing stuff, except THIS TIME IT HAS BUTTER COOKIES? You got it. 22:45 <CBN> Melanie's token says on the cover that it's Kant's Grounding for the Metaphysics of Morals, and half the pages are pretty heavily dog-eared. 22:46 <CBN> Tony: "Maggie, where do you even GET these, with the cookies still in them?" 22:46 <banana> Melanie: "..but whose morals? Wow, this is really going to be something." 22:47 <CBN> Tony: "Melanie I ....I don't know if it's still that book. Or what that book even is. But it looked like it would be your kind of thing, hopefully it still is." 22:47 <banana> "Yes absolutely. Thank you. Like.. even experimenting to find out what this is will.. thank you." 22:47 <Crion> "Oh wow," Lauren says three or four times. 22:47 <dammitwho> The exception here is Chup, who got a little kitty hideaway shaped like a big slice of pizza, where the cat climbs in and lurks between the cheese and the bread. 22:47 <Crion> Lauren: "!!!" 22:48 <Crion> "Omigosh thank you Maggie! He'll love it, though pretend not to!" 22:48 <trenchfoot> Her gift for Melanie is a bonsai tree: make it as good as you are. Maggie gets a more purposeful gift; moonshine with cherry flavoring, for the perfect mix of promise and menace. 22:48 <trenchfoot> Steve gets the nicest hat a goose has ever had. 22:49 <dammitwho> Maggie: "You have to order 'em from Denmark. All the ones here just came over with granny from the Old Country." 22:50 <dammitwho> What, if anything, did the others get her? 22:51 <CBN> Steve also gets the second-nicest hat a goose has ever had: it's a helmet with space for 4 beers on it. "They adjust! I gotta admit, I tried yours out first Steve---when I say they adjust, I mean, you can put anything you can drink on them and they adjust to fit. A pony keg if your neck will support it, even." 22:51 <CBN> Maggie's Tony-Santa gift is...bless his heart, it's a smock, with some paint smudges on it. Unprompted: "Gardening apron!" 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Ahhh!! This is so cool!" 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> From Stewart: 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Lauren got a new mechanical keyboard and a silver necklace. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Maggie got a blocky, bronze-colored vaporizer and a box of cartridges. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Melanie got a sturdy tray of ridged and polished wood, and a bookstore gift card. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Nels got a new computer! The box says it's a 'Chromebook'. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Steve got a toddler-sized velvet cape, black on the outside red on the inside, with a brass clasp that juts out a bit and looks like a trout and a bottle opener. 22:52 <VoxPVoxD> Tony got a set of heavy orange pots and a big Dutch oven with delicately handled lids. 22:53 <banana> The little tree will get a planting spot in Melanie's bedroom. She's got plenty of water to spare for a guest. "This is called Arbor Initiis Novae." 22:53 <Crion> She loves the keyboard almost as much -- maybe more -- than the necklace, but it's not the keyboard she asks Stewart to put around her neck for her. 22:53 <trenchfoot> Nels' version says FATAL CUTIE on it, has holders for drinks, and is perfectly sized for a goose. If one were to concentrate very hard, it could become any other type of hat... 22:53 <Crion> That'd be weird. 22:54 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Well now, what is this here Stewart?" 22:54 <VoxPVoxD> This is the part that just feels good. 22:54 <Crion> Steve has a wealth of drinking headwear to choose from now. He'll be spending the rest of the night going back and forth. 22:55 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That's called a vape. I noticed you started smoking again, and I wanted to see if you'd like this instead. The cartridges have nicotine in them but they come in all different flavors and you're not, you know, sucking in smoke." 22:55 <CBN> Tony: "COOL beans Stewart, hell yeah. I'm gonna make so many burgers in this bad boy." He pats the top of the dutch oven. "You got no idea." 22:56 <VoxPVoxD> To Tony: "It was super hard to find good cookware that's not cast iron. But I found those online, they're from Denmark in the 70s. Steel and ceramic." 22:56 <CBN> Tony: "Denmark! Wow! Thank you!" 22:56 <CBN> Quietly, to Steve, in awe: "That's from Europe, you know." 22:56 <trenchfoot> Nels: "They - books made from chrome???" 22:57 <VoxPVoxD> To Nels: "That should be a lot faster and easier to use than your old iMac for schoolwork and the internet and listening to music." 22:57 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oh lord, that's just what I needed. I was worried I'd have to start going outside or something, because I'd read about the smoke gumming up the works of the alphabet piano." She gestures vaguely towards her room and, presumably, her computer. 22:57 <dammitwho> "Thank you very much, Stewart." 22:57 <banana> "Hey that's a really good idea." Also to Nels: "It's the same kind of laptop I was showing you stuff on." 22:58 <CBN> Nels's gift from Tony-Santa is...christ, what is this? Is it a keyring? It's like 3 key rings kinda jumbled together, with different...guitar picks on them? Okay? 22:58 <trenchfoot> Quietly: "Oh my gosh." 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> To Melanie: "Speaking of which, I noticed you moving books around with your mind and realized that that's a lot harder to do with a computer because it's all plastic and silicon. But pretty much any laptop you use will lock onto that tray, and then you can move the tray around." 22:58 <VoxPVoxD> "It doesn't block any vents or ports or anything." 22:59 <banana> "Oh!! That's wizard thinking for you!" 23:00 <banana> Melanie experiments with the tray - she can 'lift' quite heavy things, floating them around on the wooden tool-surface. "This is so much better than picking up, like, an end table." 23:01 <CBN> Tony is eating cookies while eyeing the pans and oven, and just thinking of all the stuff he's going to make. 23:01 <banana> ugh this is all too toughtful and the candy bars she'll have to put off because too much sugar at once isn't good for the roots but like.. the elephant is not leaving this room. "Can I say something everyone?" 23:02 <CBN> Tony looks up at Melanie (he's seated on the floor, hugging the pans). 23:02 <trenchfoot> Nels is simply beaming while surrounded by her gifts. 23:02 <trenchfoot> It is faster! 23:02 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Oyez, oyez!" 23:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, who was studying the Zork CD (did it even ever come out on CD??), looks up. 23:03 <banana> Melanie: "I don't have presents to give out, I didn't think of it. Giving gifts. Wasn't something I mentally associated with Christmas, at least not anymore. I want to change that.. I want us to keep doing this, I want to participate properly. I.. love you all." 23:04 <CBN> No shut up you're crying. 23:04 <dammitwho> Maggie levers herself out of her chair and will hug Melanie unless it looks like Melanie really isn't into it. 23:04 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart reflexively swallows the lump in his throat before he says, "I love you too! All of you." 23:05 <banana> No, they can definitely hug. Maybe with a few clanging and thumping noises but who gives a shit. 23:05 <Crion> honk! 23:05 <trenchfoot> Nels will immediately hurl herself into a hug. Fuck to all the rest. 23:06 <trenchfoot> Even you, you shithead goose. 23:06 <CBN> Tony hauls Steve into the group hug too. 23:06 <Crion> Steve's not quite sure what's going on, but he's enjoying himself. 23:06 <VoxPVoxD> Group hug! 23:08 <CBN> Tony: "Next year we should go caroling. This is not the cider talking." It was. 23:08 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Go what now?" 23:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I'll jingle the bells while Nels sings." 23:08 <CBN> Tony: "Singing Christmas songs door-to-door to people. Probably real world doors." 23:08 <banana> Melanie: "From- from the deck of the boat. Sing our way down the Patapsco." 23:09 <CBN> Tony: "People on TV shows wear big pom-pom hats and scarves and it looks really fun." 23:09 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Oh my gosh." She gets a gleam in her eye. "Do you think they know caroling in the hedge?" 23:09 <CBN> Tony looks to Steve. 23:10 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Sounds like it would be... dangerous." 23:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's about to say, 'Shit, we could probably find a bus to take us to Whoville' before he realizes what he's actually saying. 23:10 <Crion> honk Honk honk!! Yes, there are the Singing Swarms, and they're uncommonly gentle on the Dead God's Eve. 23:13 <trenchfoot> That revelation sends Nels back to her guitar. She immediately sets into All I Want For Christmas Is You. 23:16 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart leans against Lauren on the love seat and listens. 23:16 <Crion> She'll nuzzle into him. 23:18 <VoxPVoxD> He wonders what the Kingsley brothers are doing tonight. And Santander. And Gaunt Rose. And Lister, Cuth and Kolsch. Are Stu and Maura traveling or hosting? 23:18 <CBN> Tony quietly excuses himself to go clean up the table, house some more cookies, chug some more cider, while soundtracked by pleasant live music. Next year, there will be Christmas lights, though. 23:18 <VoxPVoxD> There's that lump again. But it's nestled in the heart of something very warm and at peace. 23:20 <trenchfoot> Santa won't you bring me the one I really need Won't you please bring my baby to me quickly~ 23:23 <trenchfoot> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tH4Tw3_uFas 23:26 <Crion> It won't be too much longer until Lauren excuses herself to get ready for bed -- she had a biiit too much cider. 23:27 <trenchfoot> No such thing. Or, well, there is, but. Coward. 23:27 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart joins her, once he makes sure there's no cleaning left to be done. 23:29 <CBN> As long as no one's looking, Tony handles the cleanup far faster than anyone else would with help. He's good for that. 23:31 <Crion> You'll have a couple days of peace and quiet to yourselves...until word reaches you that your presence is requested, as a motley, formally, at The Sidereal. By the Winter King himself. 23:31 <Crion> This time it doesn't come through your courts, either -- Spring informs Tony, Canterbury the rest. 23:32 <VoxPVoxD> ! Interesting. What does Lauren make of this? 23:32 <trenchfoot> Hi, I hate this? 23:32 <VoxPVoxD> In the absence of further context, Stewart's inclined to assume it's just a difference in how Winter operates. 23:32 <Crion> Lauren is apprehensive. She doesn't think it's bad news for you -- but if the Winter King is worried about something... 23:32 <VoxPVoxD> Hmm. 23:33 <trenchfoot> Tell him to fuck off. I mean, make someone else do that, because that sounds rude... 23:33 <VoxPVoxD> Strangely, the prospect of real tension makes Stewart calmer. Having work to do is better than being called in to be silently judged, or rewarded. 23:34 <dammitwho> Gosh. Well, it's only polite to go and see what the Winter King wants. 23:34 <CBN> Tony's feeling some real optimism, after the last couple of days. He'll put on a solid game face (because he assumes the Winter Court requires you to look at least professionally sullen to some extent), but he's ready to go when everyone else is. 23:36 <trenchfoot> Nels just looks sullen. What are they gonna do, ban her from the mission? Good. 23:36 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart's not gonna dress up *that* much, but this is one of the shirts he always remembers to iron, which therefore classifies as one of his 'good shirts'. 23:37 <VoxPVoxD> (not literally iron) 23:38 <dammitwho> They don't make them out of iron anymore! 23:39 <VoxPVoxD> Who's working security at the Sidereal now? Is it Spring? 23:40 <Crion> The mood at The Sidereal when you arrive is subdued, but that kind of feels like it's probably Winter's thing. Canterbury and Spring are on the doors, yeah. 23:40 <Crion> Jameson's inside, muttering something with Cider Stitch. 23:42 <VoxPVoxD> Everyone who makes eye contact with Stewart gets a very gentle nod. 23:42 <trenchfoot> Nels tries to hide her distaste at the mood. She succeeds admirably. Honestly, they just... display this sort of thing? 23:42 <Crion> Spring -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYUtXkmHeG8 The only one who's willing to play the game today, is the same as the one who ran away. 23:44 <CBN> Tony catches himself about to smile politely at Spring on the way in and settles for a game-face-chin-nod, before hustling inside. 23:44 <Crion> Jameson will nod towards the stairs. "He's in the upstairs bar. Hey, Tone. How you doing, man?" 23:45 <CBN> Tony: "Hey! Ah-oh you know. Cold out. Pretty good. Still alive. You?" Respectful handshake. 23:46 <Crion> Jameson: "Can't complain, can't complain." 23:47 <Crion> Jameson -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrE4cVTIdpE I watched the flood run in and take your hand from mine; I watched you save your own life. 23:48 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart makes his way upstairs - what's the situation up here? 23:50 <Crion> Gemma's here too, chatting with Jordan Kit. ...Other than Angelfire, this is the entire Winter Court. 23:50 <Crion> That you know of, at least. 23:50 <dammitwho> I mean, they're supposed to be good at hiding. 23:51 <VoxPVoxD> Gemma and Jordan get full-sized smiles. 23:51 <trenchfoot> Nels has no idea who these people are. Big smiles all around. 23:51 <Crion> They're returned, to the extent those two ever really go for big smiles. 23:52 <Crion> Upstairs, the Winter King sits alone...brooding? 23:52 <dammitwho> Very good. 23:52 <Crion> He certainly seems troubled by something. His Mask is a new face now, still quite handsome but older, more lined. The Mien remains the same waxless face. He'll greet each of you as you arrive. 23:53 <banana> Melanie trails behind the others, keeping an eye out and trying to memorise faces. She greets Gemma excitedly, but most of them.. it's not like they're enemies or anything, seasonal alignments aren't literal, and yet: these people are cold. No fire can be allowed to blaze, not out of fear of the flame but because there simply isn't fuel for passion. 23:53 <banana> Hiding, though- she understands that. They're still her people. 23:55 <Crion> No Name/Face -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ftuaEV-3Ao Why trade old habits for newfound devotions when you can shed your skin, and slither in with some new friends? 23:55 <CBN> Tony nods to his King. It helps thinking of him as the head coach, makes this slightly less weird. "Sir." 23:56 <trenchfoot> Does it? Make this less weird? 23:56 <VoxPVoxD> This isn't weird at all. 23:56 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart stands behind Tony, attentive, but not exactly at attention. 23:56 <trenchfoot> If you say so. 23:56 <banana> The Court structure is weird. It's useful enough to not raise any objections; the seasons are real, and strong, and our friends. 23:57 <Crion> "Lock the door behind you." 23:58 <banana> Since she's at the back, Melanie twigs the lock. 23:59 <Crion> "This is all going to seem kind of strange. And anxiety-inducing. But I'm doing this this way for a reason. I need you to understand that," the Winter King says. 00:00 <Crion> "And that's why I need your words that nothing we discuss here leaves this room." He pauses. "Not even to close friends in the freehold. Or lovers." 00:00 <trenchfoot> Oh no. 00:01 <Crion> "I'm invoking an emergency power vested in me. The authority of the crown itself. I wouldn't do so if it wasn't urgent." 00:01 <trenchfoot> Oh no. 00:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart folds his arms, but he doesn't raise any objections. 00:01 <CBN> Tony nods. 00:01 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Golly. Alright then?" 00:02 <banana> Melanie glances at Tony, then steps forward when he nods. "You deal with things that dangerous. We'll promise." 00:02 <Crion> He'll seal it with glamour. 00:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart swears with no real hesitation. 00:02 <Crion> Atop the brow of his Mien, a crown flashes. 00:03 <trenchfoot> Nels says and does nothing. Give her the awful visions of her past. It's - she should know. 00:06 <banana> Is this going to be something we can handle? Melanie suspects.. it is. Working together with a purpose.. her friends are luckier than most and better than many. 00:07 <Crion> The King leans forward across the pool table and splays out his fingers. "Things have been...happening recently. First, Lauren's Herald found her without tripping the, ah, early warning system we had in place. Unfortunate, but no big deal. Two Fae-touched security workers are snatched up and dragged into the Hedge last week through suspiciously open portals. Upsetting, and Summer is angry, 00:07 <Crion> but not unheard of. And then, last night, Samaritan was nearly snatched from her home. Unclear by who or what, or how it got on this side of the Hedge and stayed here, but it wasn't a Keeper. She was hurt, but she escaped, and she'll be fine. But." 00:07 <Crion> "Four events in two month's time. Three events in the last two weeks. There is something going on. And Jackie Ordinary has been...curiously absent." 00:08 <dammitwho> "She's okay?!" Maggie gasps, putting her hand on her chest. 00:08 <banana> "Would they - Jackie - normally patrol the hedge against just this sort of incursion?" 00:08 <Crion> The King: "Not missing. They still check in from time to time, when expected. But distant. Unreliable. And unaccounted for during every one of these incidents." 00:08 <Crion> "They would." 00:09 <Crion> "Which makes their professed lack of knowledge even more concerning." 00:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What state is the early warning system in? Like I don't know if it's a guard or a charm or some standing divination, but is there any sign if it was tampered with or simply bypassed?" 00:09 <trenchfoot> Nels is - uselessly - prepared to throw something at an unknown attacker. 00:10 <Crion> The King: "Its nature is classified. You understand. But no, it was not tampered with. It simply didn't go off. There can be a number of reasons for this...the most likely and effective one being, someone instructed the Herald on how to beat it." 00:11 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "You're talking about a loyalist." 00:12 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Awful. Hate them." 00:12 <Crion> The King: "I am." 00:12 <trenchfoot> still right. 00:13 <banana> What's the most obvious question here... "What are the strongest reasons Jackie would or wouldn't be involved with this? Roots of trust, susceptibility to influence.." 00:14 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "How long has Jackie been with the Freehold?" 00:15 <Crion> "I want you to go into the Hedge, find Jackie Ordinary, and bring them back here. I'm tasking your motley for this and not my own Court because, to be quite frank, if worst comes to worst I don't want just my people implicated, and I have the privilege to make this so." 00:15 <Crion> "This is not arrest or imprisonment." 00:16 <Crion> "You all know what the penalty is for loyalism." 00:16 <trenchfoot> Well, holy shit. "Well, holy shit." 00:18 <banana> Melanie: "Winter King, if you want us to kill Jackie Ordinary we definitely need to know more about them and under what circumstances it would or wouldn't be necessary." 00:18 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Do you have any concrete evidence of loyalism? Obviously we can't hunt the Magus on coincidence alone." 00:19 <dammitwho> Maggie scratches her neck. "He wasn't asking us to kill Jackie Ordinary." 00:19 <Crion> The Winter King: "You are expressly forbidden from rendering judgment yourselves." 00:19 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart relaxes a little. 00:19 <Crion> The wax-faced man sighs through a mouth he doesn't have. "Should worst come to worst, well. Heavy is the head." 00:19 <trenchfoot> That isn't actually... 00:20 <banana> "Okay, I don't get the thing about it not being arrest. What do you want us to do that doesn't constitute arrest?" 00:20 <Crion> "State a charge." 00:20 <Crion> "Rather, don't state a charge. You are merely invoking her oath of loyalty to this freehold." 00:20 <Crion> *their 00:21 <Crion> "They are bound to return and face me." 00:21 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I don't care for that." 00:21 <trenchfoot> "I'm - my parents - no." 00:21 <VoxPVoxD> Ah jeez. 00:22 <Crion> The Winter King: "Presumably you care much less for letting someone running around letting your courtmates get attacked in their sleep." 00:22 <trenchfoot> "Give me a reason." 00:22 <banana> Melanie turns to watch Nels, concerned. "Is it.. the idea of being police?" 00:22 <CBN> Tony: "Any idea where they were last, or where to start our search?" This whole thing's an inevitability, so any delays are just us stewing in it. 00:23 <trenchfoot> Nels, to Melanie: "It isn't. They were slaves." 00:23 <Crion> The Winter King: "They were last seen in the Hedge around the Inner Harbor. Near...Camden Yards." 00:24 <banana> "I don't get it. If this isn't something you can do, we won't ask you to come with us, but I don't understand. Ordering Jackie back to answer what's going on.. it doesn't seem that wrong." 00:25 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Does Jackie have any known associations with vampires?" 00:25 <Crion> The Winter King: "None of which we're aware." 00:25 <VoxPVoxD> "Suppose we invoke their oath and they say no." 00:26 <Crion> The Winter King: "That is an admission of guilt, and they will know it as such. Return, report...and we will take care of the rest." 00:27 <trenchfoot> Nels will quietly back out of any report. They don't need her. 00:30 <VoxPVoxD> "And 'back here' means to the Sidereal? Will we need to contact you once we're back out of the Hedge with Jackie to arrange a handoff?" 00:33 <banana> Melanie follows Nels into the corner. She's worried! "Hey. If we're doing the wrong thing I want to know, so that we can not do it." 00:33 <banana> "What do you see that I don't?" 00:34 <Crion> The Winter King: "Yes, to The Sidereal. We'll meet you when you leave the Hedge. Hopefully with Jackie in tow, but they can come back separately if they like, so long as they honor their oath." 00:34 <CBN> Tony: "Well. Camden Yards, then?" He looks over his shoulder to the rest of the group. 00:34 <dammitwho> Maggie puffs thoughtfully on her vape. 00:35 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What are you worried about that makes you want to send a full motley? Tony's our best navigator, we'd basically just be slowing him down if all that's needed is to deliver a message." 00:35 <trenchfoot> Nels: "They want to go. Let them." She's seeking out exits now. Not necessary! And yet. "It's - freedom?" 00:36 <trenchfoot> "Less bad than the whole slave thing. But." 00:36 <Crion> The Winter King: "I'm worried about accomplices. Wild cards." 00:36 <CBN> Tony: "Honestly Stewart, I'd probably ask you all to get my back if I was supposed to do this anyway. If we DO stumble into something, it's going to be bigger than just me anyway, and if we don't, hey, it's a quick evening." 00:36 <CBN> He nods. 00:36 <Crion> And, as the King already said, he wants political cover. 00:36 <banana> Melanie: "Tracking Jackie down.. that would feel like taking away their freedom?" 00:37 <trenchfoot> She nods. 00:37 <VoxPVoxD> "Alright. Do you want us to go, like, right now, or..." 00:38 <Crion> The Winter King: "As soon as possible, please. I will not bundle you into a car and drive you over there, but I would prefer alacrity." He pauses. "As for Nels...her oath only covers divulging what was said in this room, not the act itself. If she's unable to participate, I will understand." 00:38 <banana> Melanie frets, which to Nels's eyes means: shedding extra fast. "I don't think it's- yeah, of course you don't have to do that. But I don't want to be saying I think you're wrong or overreacting or." 00:38 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Sure thing." 00:39 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I get it. It's weird and upsetting. But. I don''t want to do it." 00:39 <CBN> Tony: "Well alright then. Hopefully, back soon." He turns to go. 00:40 <dammitwho> Maggie looks like she's come to a conclusion. "Yeah. I think I get what you're saying. C'mon, gang." 00:40 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart nods one more time to the Winter King, brow knit in thought, as he walks away. 00:40 <Crion> The King clasps his hands behind his back as they leave, and turns to look out the window. 00:40 <banana> Melanie: "Okay. And you really don't mind if we do?" 00:41 <CBN> On the way out: "Probably smartest if we head over to the Yards first, then hop over from there, right?" 00:41 <trenchfoot> Nels: "That's not up to me. It's all you, babes." 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart, to Nels and Melanie: "Everything alright?" 00:42 <banana> Melanie: "I'm sorry to be so thorough about this since it's, like, pressing on uncomfortable stuff, I just want to be sure that we aren't getting things wrong. For you or for the rest of us." 00:42 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Mmm. Lads and lasses, we should find someplace quiet to huddle up before we start working on this. Nels, you okay?" 00:42 <Crion> The rest of Winter will watch you go with interest, but they're professional enough not to ask. 00:42 <banana> "..anyway if you're not coming the only babe is, arguably, Stewart." 00:42 <Crion> The safest place away from prying ears is the obvious one. 00:42 <VoxPVoxD> Did Stewart hear Melanie say that? 00:42 <Crion> Lauren is back at Stewart's place and Steve can be easily enticed into a wild goose chase. 00:42 <banana> Probably best to get out of here, yeah. 00:43 <Crion> Involving just the goose. 00:43 <trenchfoot> Nels has a song for this, actually. 00:43 <trenchfoot> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3Ytu2feXng 00:44 <CBN> To the Wherehouse! "Yeah, regrouping back at home before we head out in earnest is probably a good idea, right? Get suited up for something other than talking to a Winter King, stuff like that. Maybe we ask Steve if he's heard anything while we're there." 00:45 <VoxPVoxD> With no direct acknowledgment, Stewart can simply pretend he didn't hear Melanie say that. "I'll meet you guys there, I gotta grab some stuff." 00:46 <VoxPVoxD> First, Stewart is going up to the Belvedere to make a search, then, down to the apartment to get his gun. He can drop Nels off, too, if she wants out. 00:47 <trenchfoot> At the moment? No, she's happy being around the rest of the crew. 00:47 <dammitwho> When we're all, including Stewart, hanging out back at the Wherehouse, Maggie will sit back down, but lean forward. "Now, I'm no cloak-and-dagger gal, but I like to think my brain works okay, and I know the Winter King is supposed to by law be the most paranoid sumbitch around." 00:48 <dammitwho> "I don't think 'just find Jackie and tell her to come in from the cold' was the job. I don't think he thinks he can tell us the job. Not out loud." 00:49 <banana> On the way back Melanie's lost in thought. There are things she wouldn't do - but are there things she wouldn't do herself and yet wouldn't think less of others for doing? ............yes. Yes actually. 00:49 <CBN> Tony: "Do you think Jackie has the real job for us, then? A fake punt?" 00:50 <dammitwho> She rubs her hands. "Sort of. So, say you're a Magus of the Gilded Thorn or whatchacallit, out roaming the Hedge, and you come across information - good information - that someone, you don't know who, back in the Freehold is giving away the keys to the kingdom. And you're in the Winter Court. You don't dare tell anyone, because anyone you tell might be the loyalist, or might let something 00:50 <dammitwho> slip that gets back to the loyalist. How would you act?" 00:50 <banana> She returns to reality after arriving home. "More likely it's true that Jackie's been distant but ______ expects us to, by following this lead, discover somethng else." 00:50 <dammitwho> "Well, you might be distant. Apparently unreliable..." 00:51 <banana> "Oh, so you think Winter doesn't know Jackie knows something, but guesses, and Jackie knows he'd guess?" 00:51 <dammitwho> Maggie: "But that's the same as how you'd act if you were the loyalist. Hence his Majesty's problem. He doesn't know if Jackie's the loyalist or not, and he doesn't know what tricks the loyalist has. Is the throne room bugged? Is anywhere safe?" 00:52 <dammitwho> Maggie: "If he sends us out saying, 'Jackie's got the goods, get them back here safe', what if that gets them killed?" 00:53 <CBN> Tony: "So our biggest risk here, then, is that someone else figured out what you're thinking, right?" 00:53 <CBN> T: "So we should probably run the play, assuming the coverage has a read on it and we're going to need to take some hits." 00:53 <banana> Melanie: "It was until you said that. Now the risk's that we figure out what they've figured out about what we're thinking." 00:54 <banana> "...joke." >:-D 00:55 <Crion> Stewart learns from the book that Peter is...mostly who he says he is, as far as the Book is concerned. Born in Montgomery County, went to St. Joe's, was enrolled in Georgetown when he was "taken." He wasn't particularly reticent about the fact that he went willingly with the Mistress of the High House into the Hedge, and that as far as he's concerned he left willingly, too. It does note, 00:55 <Crion> however, that he hasn't had any contact with her since...and narrates that as pretty cut-and-dry fact. Now, the Book could be cleverly employing a technicalism here -- "ah, he's only had contact with his Mistress's servants, or with another one of his Mistress's Titles" -- but the Book doesn't traffic in those. It seems pretty clear that, as far as the book is concerned, he is abiding by his 00:55 <Crion> oath to the Freehold, and the Mistress herself is abiding by her agreement with you not to try to coerce him back herself. 00:55 <dammitwho> Maggie: "Don't know what that means, but maybe! What I figure is, the job is to untangle as much of this as we can without anybody in official channels knowing about it, because official channels are - as of now - suspect." 00:56 <Crion> ...There's an odd link, though. See also: Paul Montgomery. 00:56 <Crion> But it doesn't seem to go anywhere... 00:56 <VoxPVoxD> Hmm. Probably nothing yet. 00:57 <VoxPVoxD> Back at the Wherehouse: "No matter what level of awareness we're operating on, our actual job is the same, and very simple." 00:57 <CBN> Tony: "Until it isn't! But let's be ready for either, right?" 00:57 <VoxPVoxD> "If it gets complicated later it gets complicated later. We shouldn't try to complicate it *ourselves*." 00:58 <banana> Melanie: "I think ordinary activities just take on a more Wintry cast for now. We're still who we are." 00:58 <trenchfoot> Weird guy. Also, totally understandable why he wouldn't reveal his origin. 00:58 <dammitwho> Maggie nods. "I'm just saying. Jackie probably has what they think is a very good reason for not coming in, and we have to remember that it's on us to noodle it out before we act. Can't just follow instructions." 00:59 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Why can't we?" 01:00 <CBN> Tony: "Well, speaking for myself here, if whatever's going on is going after Winter folks, eventually, that's me, for one thing." 01:00 <CBN> T: "And also, probably Jameson and Spring, who against all appearances are actually pretty okay too, along the way." 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "It's not going after Winter folks. At least not exclusively. The events are like, Lauren, who's Autumn, and Samaritan, who's Spring." 01:01 <VoxPVoxD> "If these events do all correlate it's a freehold-wide problem." 01:01 <banana> Melanie: "Spring is a douchebag, but that's irrelevant of course." 01:02 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "What? What happened?" 01:02 <CBN> Tony: "Well if it's freehold-wide then that's all of us, at least." 01:04 <banana> Melanie: "Ah, she's not like.. evil.. but she does personal guardianship for Winter and she decided Maggie and I were both physical and moral threats to Gemma Franklin. Also talking shit about-" she specifically doesn't look at Nels. 01:04 <banana> "Anyway, we could work with her but she isn't, by default, to strangers, nice." 01:04 <trenchfoot> Nels pointedly sips her water. 01:05 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "...huh. Okay. Let's go." 01:05 <banana> "On Maggie's idea- shall we basically say that we find Jackie, investigate what situation they're in, ask for them to return and be prepared to listen to the answer?" 01:06 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "That's basically exactly what the Winter King told us to do, so, yeah, sounds good." 01:07 <dammitwho> Maggie nods. 01:07 <trenchfoot> Nels: "Is that - should we listen to them?" 01:07 <banana> "In case of 'the goods'." 01:08 <banana> Melanie: "The only thing I'll note is that ______ specifically enjoined us not to use our own judgment." 01:08 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Of course we'll listen. We just can't make any decisions." 01:09 <banana> Melanie: "You mean, have been instructed not to make any decisions." 01:09 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "Right, we may not make any decisions." 01:09 <trenchfoot> Nels: "I ducked that bit. It's all fine." 01:10 <banana> "Ah no I'm not quibbling about grammar, it's solipsism-sophistry. Like, in plain language, we have our orders and perhaps we will follow them, you know?" 01:10 <VoxPVoxD> Stewart: "I mean, so we're clear... I'm not intending to defy the King-in-Court." 01:10 <trenchfoot> Exaggerated voice: "Ohhhhhhh nooooooo everything is bad now" 01:10 <VoxPVoxD> "I just want to do what I was told." 01:10 <banana> "Frankly," Melanie declares, "It would be ideal if we did choose to follow instruction to the letter. That would absolutely be the most convenient and I'll take it into account at every opportunity."