All The Decorations And The Lights Up On The Tree

[missrecalled_mods]

Festival Planning

After listening to so many stories and traditions, Mal and Ben worked together on a new plan. Ben had been about to get Sylvando and Mallia in to help, but Mal stopped him. They have both been working so hard, she wanted to give them both a gift as well. So this was planned by the Royal couple as a gift to all the Missrecalled.

And so one evening when everyone gathered for cocoa and stories they would find the usual room and the halls leading to it decorated in a fashion that was a mix of traditions. There was soft cotton fluff, the sort of thing used for inside stuffed animals and pillows pulled loose and spread about to look like small snowdrifts here and there, and a steady fall of pale magical glitter that vanished half a minute after landing somewhere just to reappear on the ceiling to fall again. There were garlands made of twisted greenery and feathers cut out of paper. There was a potted tree from the greenhouse in one corner decorated in lights and tinsel and glitter snow and... little plush creatures. Chocobos and the little rabbit like creatures that still lived in one of the ballrooms and some small cute creatures from other worlds. Any adorable non-sentient critter that anyone ever told Mal or Ben about, even in passing, in a positive way might be represented if one looked hard enough.

Mal was curled up in a large purple chair, sipping one of Mallia's little glowing drinks, looking tired but pleased with herself. Ben was sitting on the arm of the chair.

Once everyone was gathered, Ben stood to address them. "Before we start with the stories, we want to present you all with a surprise. Call it a gift for the winter holidays so many of you mentioned in your stories." He gave them all a warm smile, even as he reached his hand back. Mal took his offered hand and held it, but for once, let him do the talking.

"Tomorrow will be the first of a two day celebration. It will start in the evening where we will exchange gifts. If you have any you want to add, please place them under the tree with a note on it saying who it is for. If anyone needs help with any gifts between then and now, feel free to talk to Mal, she's promised to help." He glanced back, and when Mal nodded he looked forward again, continuing. Mal and I will also be preparing tomorrow's feast. Mallia has done so much for us, when it has come to food, we wanted to give her an evening off." He offered Mallia a smile.

"So tomorrow evening, instead of stories, we'll have music and gifts for those we like and those we love, and a small feast and hopefully just a good and joyous time for all. The morning after, I have a special surprise for anyone who has been itching for something more physical to do. A few of you talked about games this time of year. While we don't have enough people to play Tourny, even if the field were accessible... Roar is a sport that can be played one on one or in small teams. While it has traditionally been a male only sport, Auradon Prep has recently had cause to revisit that particular tradition, and anyone of any age or gender will be welcome to join in. though we do ask anyone with healing abilities or medical skills that do not want to participate to still come and be on hand, just in case."

"Alright, so that's the big speech. We'll do more stories tonight, and Mal is going to be hanging out in the next room, so if anyone wants to slip out and speak to her one on one for help... she'll be there waiting. I think that's everything. Thank you all, again, for everything. This... isn't the situation any of us would have chosen. But you have all been wonderful despite being ripped from your worlds, and we are beyond grateful. To all of you. Now... that's enough talking from me. Let's settle in with some cocoa. Who wants to tell the next tale?"

Holieve celebrations

As magical as the room had looked the night before, it was more so when people stepped in for the celebration. The tree was now on a platform to accommodate all the gifts under it. There was a table laid out with foods. There was a huge bowl of very red punch that Mal assured everyone was neither blood nor alcoholic, but made to look that way as a nod to Cassidy and Grey's traditions. Ian had agreed to serve as DJ and was playing tunes throughout the night. Mostly Earth Christmas songs, because that was what they had on their phone that was suitable, but a few non-holiday songs did slip into the mix. Like Lola and Shine Through (Warning for one non-game approved word that the magic of the world would of course change in game). Look, so long as no one ratted them out, there was no reason for the King and Queen to know those weren't holiday songs from Ian's world...

Speaking of Ian and music, at the end of the night, after the feasting and the gifts would be an open mic section for Karaoke, acapella, and even spoken word. A chance for everyone who wanted it to have a turn on the stage.

The feast would be a mix of foods, but far heavier on the deserts and sweets than on the proteins and grains. For proteins there just a few options, fish and ham. For sweets, however, there were cakes and fruit salads and ice creams and puddings. For drinks there was the afore mentioned punch, as well as sparkling cider, soda, coffee, water, tea, and even bubble tea!

There was a ton for everyone to have as much of everything they might want. But as people eat they might notice something... they didn't get full. Actually as the night went on they might even get hungry. The food all felt and tasted real enough, but apparently there wasn't enough to it to actually feed people.

The gift exchange was done open and public as a big event since there were gifts for everyone, though there were chances for people to exchange gifts in private as well, if they wanted.

Over all it was a very festive night, mixing in as many traditions as they could. The room carried a fragrance from countless scented candles that also produced most of the lighting, other than the lights on the tree and on the walls. The glitter helped some there, and somehow they had created or found a disco ball that threw the dim lights into spots around the room.

Ben and Mal were the ones to hand out the gifts from under the tree to the people whose names were on the tags, cards, and notes. But while she was trying to hide it... those who knew Mal could see how tired she looked. And Ben was tossing her concerned looks whenever he thought no one was looking at him. Of course the rest of the time he was all smiles for everyone.

ROAR!

There were many gyms and ballrooms in the school, and the one opened for this was one that few of the Missrecalled would have seen by this point. The room had upper level balconies - at least 2 stories up - for those who wanted to watch. and was draped in the school colours of blue and gold. There were boxes that seemed like part of the floor, they were so heavy, scattered about the room. There were similar boxes on parts of the walls, under the balconies.

Ben stood at one side of the room with a tall slender bin of what looked like fencing foils, complete with blunted tips. He stepped forward as everyone gathered, wearing padded armor, a helmet under one arm, and a foil in his other hand. He smiled warmly as he saw them. "Welcome. This is Roar. It is kind of like fencing, if fencing was designed by a hyperactive child and then given rules and safety precautions by adults," he admitted with a chuckle. "Since you are all beginners, we'll stick to the floor and the boxes on the floor," he said as he set his helmet on one of the boxes. "If any of you are interested tomorrow, I can show you some more advanced moves that use the walls. For example..." he pulled on his helmet and took a run at one wall. When he got close he jumped at it, twisting in the air so that when his foot and free hand hit the wall he was able to use that momentum to launch himself forward. He tucked into a spin and landed on his feet on one of the floor boxes, sword held at what would be neck height on some floor bound foe, had he any here.

Panting a bit he pulled off his helmet again to address them. His hair was a mess and he was panting a bit, but he was also beaming a bright smile. "In Roar, valid targets are the chest, stomach, back, arms, and legs. We wear helmets to be safe but head shots are not allowed. You can use the whole floor and any boxes to stand on, leap on, or trap someone against. A touch is a point and once the point is scored, both competitors are to back off. You cannot go after that same person for at least 30 seconds, either the one who scored the point or the one it was scored against. A judge sits in each balcony during an actual team match to watch and count points. One on one matches only need a single judge. You may only touch an opponent with the point of your foil. No other parts of the blade, and no using your body against them. you can, however, assist teammates or accept assistance in the form of physical contact, but if you hurt your teammate, even accidentally, your team loses half their points, minimum ten, and you are pulled from the match. So it is important to practice any team maneuvers carefully in advance of a match. Today is just some basics to get you all up to at least a basic level, and then a practice scrimmage. Now, who here has ever held a fencing foil before....?"