Merry Christmas!

[juststeverogers]

It took an awful lot of work to track down everyone and get their gifts in order, but Steve's going to be running around the Nexus giving out presents to all of his friends. Or inviting them over to his apartment. Whatever works for them!




((Stealing verity's setup--please go to the top level for your character and begin commenting as you like. Feel free to make Steve work to find you, he's got gifts for you all!))

Comments

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow rubs his cheek and the back of his neck. "Heck, Steve, it wasn't nothin'. I got all the time in the world, and for the first time since I left my family's farm I can spend it makin' things rather than destroyin' 'em. I've been takin' lessons from a lady like myself who makes sculptures like these. It's a little easier than it looks with the magic and all, but I figured you'd get a kick outta it."

With a lopsided grin and a nod at the statue he adds, "She's all about justice and freedom and open arms. I think you two got a lot in common. I figured she'd make a nice girlfriend for ya."

He starts to laugh but suddenly he's struck by a memory! He leans in and quickly says, "I met a lady who said she'd go on a date with you! Shoot, but I didn't have a phone and I never got her number! And you were livin' in that hotel! Shoot, Steve... I gotta find her again! She was a pretty red-head lady with a warrior's eyes. She said you sounded sweet and cute as all get-out." Did she say that? Is that a lie, or a false memory? Well, it can't be a total lie, Steve is both of those things.

I love that icon

[juststeverogers]

"You're a great artist." And he means it. If sculpting is his calling then Steve hopes Harrow will continue to create as much as he can. Little Miss Liberty gets the prominent showing position at the center of the coffee table.

He's gonna show her off to everyone, Harrow.

"I...wait, what? You set me up on a date with a lady you don't even know the name of?" Is Harrow joking? Is she alive? That's an important question when you're friends with a death knight.

[onemorebounty]

*The text comes back swiftly.*

[Of course.]

*If he's texting her as he's leaving, though, she may be waiting at his door for a while. She tends to be prompt when people ask her to be somewhere.*

[juststeverogers]

With the weather being what it is in the Nexus lately, Steve has been going out for as little time as possible. Samus won't have to wait long. She'll hear the telltale wheezing as Steve gets to the top of the stairs, bundled up as much as he can.

"Oh! Samus. Sorry. Let me unlock this..." Steve fishes for his key and hurries to let her inside. "Sorry I made you wait. Had to run out for an errand." He almost let slip that he was delivering presents like the tiniest Santa ever.

Close one, Rogers.

[onemorebounty]

That's alright.

*A quick apology merits quick forgiveness. Samus is wearing the circle shawl Verity gave her over her vacsuit, and watching the way it hangs on her may suggest she's concealing some kind of bundle. Stepping into his apartment, she glances around.*

This is a nice studio you have. Good light.

:D

[westfallcorndog]

"Oh, I know her name! It's Nat! She seemed very normal and friendly. She smiled a lot, and that was nice. I ain't seen her since. I hope she didn't go back home and can't find her way back here. Wouldn't that just be our luck?"

[juststeverogers]

"It really is. Mister Schon helped me find it, and he asks a very reasonable rent. It does keep me busy." Steve almost looks like a healthy weight in all those layers. Let's fix that, shall we?

Stripped out of his hoodie, hat and boots, he's much more his stick figure self.

"I've been practicing that trick you taught us!" He calls from the kitchen, getting two mugs of only slightly old coffee to warm the both of them up. "I can't do it consistently yet, but better than before." Samus may recognize the mug as one of Verity's from her old apartment. Steve has a lot of hand me downs from her in his home.

[juststeverogers]

Steve doesn't know anyone named Nat. He wonders if Verity knows who harrow is talking about.

"Well, if you see her again, I wouldn't say no to meeting any friend of yours." Steve doesn't expect anything to come of it, but helping Harrow make new friends can't be bad, can it?

[onemorebounty]

*Someday, Steve will look like he's been eating properly without a dozen extra shirts on. His report on his progress gets a smile, though.*

That's good. When you start being able to do it reliably, work on being able to do it without looking.

*She does recognize the mug, but doesn't comment on it, simply smiles. Accepting hers, she takes a sip and suppresses a face; she's never quite gotten into the burned-something taste of coffee.*

It's good to see you settling in.

[westfallcorndog]

Harrow hurriedly gulps down the rest of his coffee and takes his cup to the kitchen area, where he quickly washes it out. It wouldn't be fair to make Steve do all the cleaning up, after all.

"I'll keep my eye open for her. If I see her again I'll tell her where you live. So, if you see any pretty ladies at your door, they aren't lost."

He winks, finger-guns, and heads for the door.

"I love the mana potion, man. I'll see you 'round. And... Steve? Merry First Christmas in the Nexus."

[juststeverogers]

"Okay. I had hoped to be able to show it off to you today, but it's not something I want to brag about yet." Steve gives a tiny shrug before setting his mug down and moving to grab a gift bag from the kitchen counter.

She could have probably guessed it was hers, considering the tissue paper is a very similar blue to her Vacsuit. Inside is a knit yellow bird hat.

"I thought you might get cold with the suit...so..." Steve gives a small shrug. "Merry Christmas, Samus."

[rekindledtitan]

"Yeah, there's an old cosmodrome up in the tundra where they used to launch colony ships. Half'f them are still in the cradles. Makes a pretty impressive sight." The implications of all those ships lying dead and docked, she's breezing right by.

"Snow won't harm us," Ghost assures him - and for a demonstration, the little bot dives into a pile of snow and out the other side, shaking himself off afterward to Blaze's laughter.

"Been in any good snowball fights here, Steve?"

Narrative wall of text inc

[rogueinladysclothing]

The next few days are another blur for Amelia. She paces the apartment often, sleeps as infrequently as Steve will allow, and eats only when prompted. She even goes so far as to make them a sleep schedule to make sure someone is always standing guard over the apartment. Although he's never able to get her to answer the question of why she's acting the way she is, Steve gets the impression this is one of those bad things that people in the Nexus are always talking about.

With each passing day, though, Amelia gets a little bit better. Her attention isn't always focused on the dangers she believes are all around, she sleeps just a few minutes longer, hesitates before not agreeing to do something that would take her focus off her worries. Finally, one afternoon after one of his "scheduled" naps, Steve wakes to find Amelia out cold on the couch in front of the door. Rather than pester her about it, he drapes a blanket over her and lets her sleep it off. The little extra time to himself means he can get in a shower without her nagging about him taking too long, anyway. When she doesn't wake during that time, he lets her sleep through the rest of the day, hoping that this signals an end to her paranoia.

When Amelia wakes in the middle of the night, it takes longer than she wants to admit to figure out where she is. As the realization settles in, she relaxes for the first time in over a week. This place isn't home, but it's truly safe. Having slept for so long, she takes the time to use her stealth skills quietly move about and clean up a bit. Nothing noisy, but small chores that can be done silently are all taken care of before she settles in to wait out the night. Her curiosity and boredom will have her peeking through his old sketchbook by the moonlight at some point, which in turn will make her both happy to see her friends and flabbergasted to see herself among the sketches.

The following morning, Steve wakes to the sound of breakfast being made. On the table are some fruits he's sure weren't in the apartment the day before, some toast, and two mugs. In the kitchen, Amelia is finishing up making eggs and sausage, as well as a pot of coffee. It's not much, but it's the best she can do to make up for ruining Christmas.

[juststeverogers]

"I haven't actually." Steve admits with a chuckle, helping Ghost brush a few stray flakes off his interface screen. "I made snow angels outside my apartment though, the first night we got real snow.

"Speaking of winter things though.." Steve hands over a gift bag to Blaze, and holds out a significantly smaller one Ghost's way.

"I got you both Christmas presents. I hope that's okay.."

:D!

[juststeverogers]

Steve hasn't been able to get a full night's sleep in days, not with Amelia waking him on the nose every scheduled shift. He's startled to see the sun already up, and that there isn't the now familiar sound of pacing and muttering coming from the other side of the apartment.

Steve sees to his hygienic needs before padding quietly to the kitchen, trying in vain to push his hair back in order.

"...Are you feeling alright Amelia?" He'll thank her shortly, but her health is the most important thing.

Glad you enjoyed it! :D

[rogueinladysclothing]

She doesn't look up at him - the eggs would burn if she did. It may look like she's hiding, but it's not that. Really. Yes it is.

"I'm feeling like myself again, if that's what you're asking." It's the best non-answer she can give right now. "My sleep schedule is completely fucked, though." A small sigh escapes her as she portions the eggs and sausage onto two plates. After setting aside the skillet, she motions toward the table and brings the plates over, then the coffee a moment later.

"Sorry I ruined your Christmas," she says softly as she sits down at the table. "It wasn't my intention to do so." She's going to keep her eyes down as much as possible as she pours then each a cup of coffee - it's all she can do to hide her face since her hair is always pinned up.

[juststeverogers]

"That's good to hear." No need to focus on it if she doesn't want to. The fact that he's managed to help her calm down is good news enough. She didn't hurt herself. She ate and slept. She'll get better as things go on.

Steve's sure of it. So he sets a small box down on the table and pushes it her way.

"Merry Christmas, Amelia."

[rekindledtitan]

"Snow angels, huh? Talk about going the extra mile." Yeah, she's totally sure those are extra fancy snowmen. Seems to fit with Steve's artistic sensibilities, and they already saw how much thought he puts into quick little sketches.

Ghost starts and glows a little brighter at being offered his own present. "Well, I- thank you!"

"'Course it's okay. So long as you're okay with us giving one back." Like anyone could turn down a gift from Steve anyway. Blaze peers in the bag before she reaches in. "What is it?" she asks, her curiosity getting ahead of her despite the fact she's about to open it and see.

She's feeling carefully in case it's something made of paper or otherwise delicate. Easier for Ghost, who can suspend the bag and pull out the gift inside with a surgeon's care.

http://tinyurl.com/otc64bf

[juststeverogers]

"It's really not that big of a deal." Steve laughs and shakes his head.

Inside Blaze's bag is a black and white knit panda hat wrapped in tissue paper. Ghost's present is similarly wrapped, though inside is a much smaller unicorn hat. Steve can barely contain the smile on his face when they open them up.

"...I really wanted to get you two matching gifts. I hope you like them alright."

"That's odd, never had a 'cuteness' stat before..."

[rekindledtitan]

"Hey, new hat!" And not the usual kind, either! Blaze stuffs the paper back into the bag and tucks that under her arm while she feels the wool. "This is crochet, right? Our commander makes this kinda stuff. It's good stuff!"

That's going straight on her head. She adjusts it around her antennae while she looks over at Ghost. The lack of hands is starting to tell: the little bot's got his hat draped rather lopsidedly over his various points like a spiky shoulder pad of knitted doom. "Need a hand there?"

"Uh... yes. Steve, could you...?"

Omg imagining this is even cuter than I hoped it would be

[juststeverogers]

"Sure." Steve shifts closer and adjusts Ghost's hat until it's sitting more or less centered. The little unicorn horn can just be an extra point!

"It is, yes. I saw a variety of them and couldn't resist. I'm glad you like them." He grins wide enough for his whole face, truly happy that he's made his friends happy.

"You both look great! Merry Christmas Ghost! Merry Christmas Blaze!"

[rogueinladysclothing]

After everything she just put him through, the last thing Amelia expects is to receive the Christmas present Steve mentioned when she and Verity brought him his presents. But there's that small wrapped box again. And given the way he's pushed it toward her, it seems rude to not accept it.

The pot of coffee is carefully set aside before she takes the box and opens it carefully, gasping softly when she finds the oil and the tea inside. "Steve, I... I didn't expect... I mean, certainly not after... But this..." Despite her inability to find the proper words, she looks up at him and smiles brightly. "Thank you. For everything. Really."

[juststeverogers]

"I had the oil scented especially for you." He figured she liked flowers form her hairpin, so it's rose and wildflowers, with a hint of some kind of meadow grass. Ravari did a good job with it--that much he does know.

"The tea is just...it's something I saw you drinking before. I hope it's the right kind." He shrugs. "I didn't want to give it to you until you felt better. Merry Christmas."

[rogueinladysclothing]

"That's very kind of you." Part of her wants to say 'sweet,' but it wouldn't feel right if she did. Carefully, she opens the bottle of oil and wafts the fragrance toward herself. It's light and subtle - and it reminds her vaguely of home. "This will be perfect for oiling my leathers. Thank you."

She sets aside the oil and then picks up the tea, opening up the container and taking in the light floral scent. It's a combination of rose and lavender, which, although an odd combination, is Amelia's favorite. A slight blush comes to her cheeks when she looks up at him again. "I can't believe you remembered the tea I like. I only remember ordering it once when we went to the Harp together." Because she doesn't think it's memorable when others watch her make her own tea when she visits them, apparently.

[juststeverogers]

"Don't give me all the credit on that one. I described it to the elderly gentleman and his nephew who work in the tea shop, and they were the ones who came up with the blend. All I did was pay for it." He laughs a bit to deflect the compliment as much as he can.

"But I'll be sure to stop by again and let him know it was the right selection."