#ah whatever. hope y'all are having a nice holiday season

[justicefanged]

"Well now, who is this?" Though he had approached the young man with goodie-bag in hand, the moment Sigurd laid eyes on the puppy he had become distracted, depositing the goodie-bag into Linus's hands to kneel to the dog's level, smooshing the dog's cheeks affectionately. "I had seen that we would be expecting a four-legged friend, but I hadn't expected such a good boy!" 

(The bag is of a plush sapphire velvet with braided gold drawstrings. If he were tempted to peek inside, he would find the festive goodies of the typical Chalphy holiday season: roasted nuts coated in a caramelized warming spice mixture, a hand-pulled twisted peppermint stick, decadent candied orange peel, and a holiday cracker to be pulled later with little knick-knacks within.) 

It took a moment of this for Sigurd to recall that he'd also a human guest to attend to, and he rose, laughing, to clap a warm hand on Linus's shoulder. "Welcome, my friend – we have met before, have we not?" Winking, Sigurd recalled the moments he had seen Linus as a blur during trick-or-treating, when he had barreled to his door and snatched handfuls of candy in truly spectacular fashion. "But now you are not here merely as friend, are you? Or, perhaps you are – you are close with my niece, are you not?"   

Sigurd's eyes flicked across the young man in assessment; built hardy and strong, with large calloused hands. But it wasn't the ability to destroy that made a man; it was the ability to create. 

Sigurd smiled. "I hope that the two of you enjoy the party. Ah! Apologies - " He knelt, rubbing the pooch's ears vigorously, "The three of you!" 

Linus barked out a laugh as the goodie bag is handed off to him, and then he's almost completely forgotten in favor of the puppy that had been padding alongside him. He didn't really mind -- after all, puppy's had this effect on a lot of people -- and it gave him a second to poke around in the bag. He pulled out the peppermint stick with a noise of appreciation and promptly shoved it into his mouth; it really wasn't meant to be eaten in such a way, and was sort of awkwardly placed in his mouth, but all it took were a few well placed crunches and that was all sorted.

Honk is ecstatic to be here and get attention right off the bat! The puppy is quick to scramble closer when Sigurd kneels down, doing his best to slobber over the hands that are squishing at his face. His whole body is being wiggled by the forceful wagging of his tail, the little green and red bowtie that has been incorrectly tied around his neck looks like it'll come loose any second.

"Figured it'd be good to let y'all know 'bout him." A rare instance of foresight on Linus' part. "Think we did -- ya know, bit of a fast an' furious first meetin'," he grinned, "Nice to know that first candy run wasn't a fluke!"

At least some rich folks didn't have a problem with sharing their good food around.

Linus swallows at the question -- ah, minty fuck -- coughing a little. "Definitely more than friends, but I dunno if we're at the...y'know...Goin' at her comfort. Whatever, uh--"

Wow, that was weird and awkward, and more than a little embarrassing.

"'M mostly here for, like...if 'Tena needs a quick exit. I want her to have a good time, if she can. You're her family, yeah? That's...important, even if it's also messy and complicated, and a major fuckin' pain in the ass sometimes," Linus huffed out, stashing his opened goodie bag into one of the pockets of his jacket to keep his hands busy.

He was lucky that his brother was alive, that his sister was here. But there were others that were missing. Blood and chosen family alike. There would be no more gatherings like this. No stupid jokes told over cheap ale. No more songs or stories shared by firelight and dancing shadow on sturdy walls that kept cold winds at bay.

Linus wasn't going to have that sort of connection anymore with those of his family that were gone now. But Altena had a chance. Whether it turned out good or bad, he wanted her to be able to make that choice.

"It's a party, what can go wrong?" Linus tries to recover the utter embarrassing sappiness that had been this greeting so far, forcing out a laugh that was too loud. "I'm sure we'll have a blast!"

Honk, who had been exceptionally disappointed that he was not the focus of attention anymore, had been clumsily dancing around the two men's feet while yapping away. He almost bowled himself over in a rampant return of excitement when Sigurd returned to rub at his ears, oversized puppy paws making uncoordinated attempts to hold on to such good scritches.

[mer-birdman]

Plans for Being Alone on Valentine's Day

Before you start, let me preface: This isn't a bad thing.

I know, I know — Hallmark and Walgreens and all of the Big Companies like to make you feel bad if you're not buying oodles of chocolate and roses for your one or two or fifteen lovers (hey, I don't judge). They want to make a big buck or two, and they know exactly how to wrap it up in this sort of modern holiday mass hysteria. Oh, you should get them sweets! Gifts! Flowers! Gift cards to Target! Dinners out on the town! A romantic rendezvous behind an Italian restaurant while the chefs sing to you with an accordion accompaniment— no, wait, my bad, that's Lady & The Tramp. Where was I?

Right — to balls with all of it.

And Look, that's entirely not to say that you shouldn't do something nice with, to, or for your significant other(s) if that's what you want! Better yet, don't stop there! Do something nice for your friends, or your parents, or your cats. (Especially your cats). I'm pretty sure there's no mystical Valentine's Day Scripture saying the love you're celebrating has to be romantic (or sexual) in nature. (Quick Note: It hella doesn't! So for all y'all Aros and Aces and Aro-Aces out there, don't worry! You're doing great and I love you in a very platonic way!) In fact, last year on Valentine's Day? I bought my friends boxes of those little candy hearts, and my mom sent me a new pair of pants. They're very decent pants, too. So like, to each their own, right? Do what works best for you and your situation at the moment!

I could go on for a long ways about all of this, but the long and short of it is — I don't know, just don't worry about it too much, okay? If you want to celebrate Valentine's Day, then all the power to you! I hope whoever you love appreciates your feelings and/or gestures, and I hope you get something equally lovely in return! And if you don't want to celebrate it? Hell yeah! Enjoy your day! Don't force yourself to participate in anything you don't want to, and make sure to eat and drink and get enough sleep! You rock!

Personally? I do not have a Significant Other to celebrate with. Right now, I'm pretty okay with that. I've got some fantastic friends, so I think I'll get them some candy again this year. I'll probably send a nice email to my mom, who is ever-patient and ever-supportive even when I'm grouchy and tired and stressed. And since it's been a rough term, I'm thinking of maybe treating myself — the hypothetical plan being to take myself out for sushi (well, not actually sushi because I don't like fish, but there's this nice place downtown that also has really good yakisoba—) and then stop by the seasonal ice rink. Self-love has never come naturally to me (although I suppose kindergarten-me's "I am special because I like myself" could argue against that), and it's been a difficult year, but the one thing I'm not feeling right now is any sort of bitterness about being alone this Valentine's Day.

(To be fair, if anyone wanted to get me a flower or a kiss on the cheek, I wouldn't be opposed... but ah, what will be will be. Besides, my Bio lab has another dissection next Wednesday — I'm going to fucking deserve whatever I give myself afterwards. Fetal pigs are way worse than the sheep's heart. Blegh. Fun Tip: Maybe don't give either of those to your S.O. for Valentine's Day. Just a suggestion.)

Love (love love love love!) you all! Be kind to yourselves this week!

Birb Out!