redmarsshit | mistleglow: a winter kiss meme

mistleglow: a winter kiss meme.

The month of December has been a cold one in Anchor, with the bots working hard to bring a little winter joy to the city. This year, there's a little extra surprise - the bots welcome the participation of the nanites, who are able to join in with the winter holiday protocols for the first time in a long time following their long imprisonment.

And what are the nanites doing? Well...this winter wonderland has been missing a conspicuous offender: the mistletoe. That's where the nanites come in...

▶ The nanites will be floating around in little swarms, lit up bright with various colors, and when they run into any sentient creature, they will enclose them in a harmless invisible shield with a radius of approximately three feet by three feet. Once the characters are entrapped, they'll be stuck for exactly one hour...unless they kiss!

▶ There is no compulsion to kiss, and characters are welcome to just wait out the hour and hope they're stuck with a good conversationalist, but if they want to get on their way, they'll have to kiss their fellow captive, in a specific way depending on the color of the nanite swarm that's trapped them.

▶ The bots will be helping by helpfully informing any trapped characters they need to kiss as they pass by. They won't say what kind of kiss because that would make it too easy. But at least now you know, right?

▶ This meme can be counted as game canon and used for AC if threads continue into January (don't forget: December is check-in only) if both parties wish. Characters who are not in the game are welcome, and threads from this meme can also count for application samples! Come join us!

▶ How to Participate: Just post a top-level detailing the types of kisses you're interested in, and then tag around to other people's top-levels.

▶ Kiss Type Legend:

RED: MOUTH ● ORANGE: NECK ● YELLOW: CHEEK
GREEN: FOREHEAD ● BLUE: HAND ● VIOLET: BUTTERFLY

Navigation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As Elleru speaks, Rey listens. She doesn't interject or ask questions until her final word, to which she just nods, understanding.

"So, in a way it's like family? Don't really have much of one either, but it felt... something like that." Her mouth tightens as she draws the distinction in her head, at least. She might not have had one growing up (for the simple fact that Rey never did, in fact, 'grow up' in the conventional sense) but, if only for a brief period and with one person, she had something similar to what Elleru described.

And maybe that's what Orion wanted to give her. A piece of what he had, and she never did.

"I believe it is like family, in a way," Elleru agrees. "And like home, family can take many shapes and be many things."

It's like Elleru herself, in a way. Liking that thought, she gives Rey a coy smile. "Perhaps you have a people already, and simply do not know it."

It makes sense. She's seen soldiers often share a tribal-like relationship among each other... not that Rey ever got to experience that much herself, oftentimes being an outsider by design.

"Well, had a person." She huffs at her own admission, scratching the side of her neck before she adds: "A brother. Never did have what he did, though."

Orion was able to accept familial figures his entire life -- if only because he actually had one, unlike Rey.

Elleru's brow knits in quiet confusion as she turns Rey's words over in her mind.

"But... a brother is family, no? Then you have had one."

Or maybe there's some upright distinction she's missing?

"Weren't family for long. Rather, didn't know he existed until a few years ago." She shrugs. "We were, um. Separated recently, too."

God, she hopes he's okay. Not that she'd be able to help him from where she's at, even if she was able to get back to her world.

Oh, oh that's even more distressing. Not only does Rey have a family, but she's separated from him? Is that why she's afraid to get close to people? It must be, Elleru thinks to herself.

She clasps her hands together, pressing them to her chest. "You were separated by being here? Or before? What happened to him? How did you not know him? Do you miss him, Rrey? Are you afraid others will be separated from you, too?"

She could probably stand to ask one question at a time, but she can't help how her heart bleeds for her companion.

It would probably help to answer one question at a time, but the bombardment is almost overwhelming because a.) what one is she even supposed to answer first? and b.) most of them segue into long anecdotes themselves. Rey practically deflates as she runs a hand down her face, trying to piece together how the hell she's supposed to unpack all that.

"Happened before here, yeah," is all she can muster at first. "Everything else is... loaded. Would take a while to get into."

It's not like Rey has anything better to do or anything, but she doesn't assume everyone wants to sit for a longwinded yarn.

Moreover, it would take more for her to try and explain things in a way that someone like Elleru might be able to understand, but she's reluctant to admit that at the risk of insulting the other woman's intelligence. It's not that she thinks she's dumb; just that they're literally from different times and places.

Elleru's ears dip; as complicated as common may be, she understands that Rey doesn't feel up to answering her barrage of questions. Perhaps it was too many at once... or they are personal in nature, and Elleru isn't privy to such secrets just yet. The former, she decides, trying to avoid feeling deflated herself; Rey did just go through a terrible experience, after all.

"Yes, of course," she murmurs. "You may tell me another time, then? When you have a while. I would like to learn more about you, Rrey, if you would let me. For now, let us just rest. Your stories are going nowhere without you."

Much as Rey would appreciate having someone she can share such things with... it's already been a stressful event without reliving any more past trauma on top of it. She exhales a heavy breath, her shoulders relax, and she nods.

"Another time," Rey concurs. It's not a promise and she might not be as adverse to Elleru's queries now as she was at the start, but it's not a flat out rejection, either.

Until then, she shifts her position to settle down next to Elleru, her shoulder pressed to the other's side. Her own body is warm against the chill that's fallen on Anchor recently.

Reluctant, she casts a sidelong glance. "This okay?"

She did say something about resting. For now, that's about all Rey wants to do.

Rey settles down next to her -- even leaning against her without being told to do so -- and Elleru goes from disappointed to delighted in the span of a breath. Giving Rey a nod, she props herself against the tree at her back once more, tilting her own head to the side and allowing her long ear to brush along Rey's hair.

"Of course," she replies quietly. "You do not need to ask for such things. We are friends, and it is what friends do for one another."

And maybe one day, Rey will see that -- for now, Elleru can only hope she'll slowly come around.

mistleglow: a winter kiss meme

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