#asuevent009

[kinglyben]

🎄 for our muses to put up Christmas decorations together

Ben had been blessed in his life to have two sisters who were just as much friends as they were family. After decorating his office with Mal had turned out to be a tense affair, he’d opted to do his next castle decorating project with Len instead. With so much going through his own head lately, it would be good to check in on his baby sister and focus on her for a while, and as he met her in the foyer, he cracked a genuine smile for the first time in what felt like days. “So... I have an extra special project for us,” Ben informed her, holding up a red sack so similar to the ones Santas always carried around with kids presents in them. “We are going to go put Santa hats and various other things on the suits of armor -- brighten up the halls a little bit.”

@lenflorian

[ava-tremaine]

Send 🍪 for our muses to bake Christmas cookies together.

Ava threw on a apron and tied it tight before throwing her hair our of her face. She couldn’t believe she had to make Christmas cookies of all things. While she didn’t mind baking, she wasn’t exactly thrilled to be making holiday themed cookies. It’s not that Ava was a total grinch when it came to the holidays, she just didn’t get all crazy about it. She wasn’t the type to spend her days binge watching holiday movies or dancing around to Christmas music. The holidays were never some magical movie type Christmas for her growing up. Ava sighed and looked at the recipe card and double checked that she had all the correct ingredients out and ready to use. She looked around trying to spot her sister. Where was she? A sigh filled the room. “Abby come on, I’m not doing these cookies by myself.” she shouted.

@abigailtremaine

[emmett-thunderstrike]

🍸 for our muse to get drunk off eggnog together + ❄️ for our muses to get snowed in together

Winter’s plan had been to just stop by the frat house and say a quick goodbye to Emmett before heading home for the holiday, but faced with the prospect of spending two weeks without her, Emmett had kind of purposely derailed her plans. He’d poured her an eggnog and patted a spot on his bed for her to sit and tell him all about what her holidays had in store, and right as he was offering to pour her another one, his phone had started vibrating like crazy. A severe weather alert. Winter had groaned when he’d showed her the warnings to stay off the road as a snowstorm rolled in, and even jokingly accused Emmett of rigging the whole thing just to keep her from leaving. But a quick search revealed that it was a real threat, and all Emmett had had to do was pout and say he didn’t want his best friend frozen to death in a ditch somewhere for Christmas to get her to agree to stay and wait the thing out. “May as well have another one, you’re gonna be here a loooooong time,” he told her, scrolling idly through his weather report and showing her how much snow was expected to fall on the house by hour radar before turning to pour her another drink. “Cheers!” Emmett declared, raising his class to clink against Winter’s. “Bet you didn’t know that winning Gamma Chi sweetheart was actually our way of trapping you in this house forever...” 

@winterpumpkin

[marykatehood]

�� for our muses to decorate/paint ornaments together

Mary Kate had a tendency to either to not take things seriously enough, or to take them entirely too seriously, and as she sat working on her ornaments with Len, she was probably more in the latter zone. The ornaments she was working on weren’t for her, after all; she was planning to donate them to people who couldn’t afford their own Christmas decorations this year but who deserved a little Christmas cheer all the same. “Ugh, do you think they’re going to notice that Rudolph’s left eye is way bigger than his right one?” MK asked, holding her ornament up for Len to see and wrinkling her nose at it. “Please tell me I’m just being too picky, I’m afraid if I try to repaint it and fix it I’m only going to make it worse.”

@lenflorian

[ailsbroch]

🌿 for our muses to get caught under the mistletoe together

Aileen loved parties all year round, but there was something extra special about parties that had themes behind them. The holidays meant an excuse to wear red and green without anyone being able to complain that red clashed with her hair, and she’d taken full advantage of it tonight, dressed up as a sexy elf. It was a huge hit, too; she’d had two people fight over who got to be her beerpong partner, she’d done a killer kegstand, and she’d been tugged onto the dance floor for a grind/makeout session already. If there was such a thing as too much fun, Aileen might have been hitting that point, but in her books, a good time never ended. After finally losing and being wiped off of the beerpong table, she headed towards the kitchen to grab a bottle of water, then stepped out onto the back porch for a blast of cold winter air to wake herself back up and get back into her party A-game groove. “Hey you!” she said excitedly when she spotted Ajax, punching his arm lightly by way of greeting. “What are you hiding out here for?” she asked her ex-boyfriend, leaning against the porch railing beside him and glancing out at the snowy, almost picturesque night. “Usually you’re almost as awesome at this whole partying thing as I am, but I had no idea you were even here!”

@ajaxapostolos

[bashbell]

Send 🌿 for our muses to get caught under the mistletoe 

Bash had been strolling through the halls of Zeta Beta Delta saying goodbye to his friends there who were going home for the holidays - he’d been hitting up all the houses on Greek row, really. He wished everyone would stay like he did but he didn’t want to dwell on that as much as he wanted to hug all his buds and promise them a fantastic next year of parties when they returned. It was turning the corner that he saw Sydney Andersen and he raised a hand in greeting, kind of hurrying over to meet her. “Hey, dude! Just making the rounds to say adieu to all the people ditching to go home for the holidays,” he laughed “I hope I’ll see you around more come next year, though. I meant it when I said we should hang.” He was about to ask for her number but then something caught his eye; he looked up and there it was, some mistletoe hanging innocuously. He was equal parts stoked and wary. Sydney was obviously super pretty and cool, but she felt like the kind of girl he could easily scare off and so he tried to act chill as he smiled at her. “Hey, look that that! Just to make sure it doesn’t go over your head, I think it’d be pretty cool if we followed mistletoe law and kissed right now. I bet you’re a good kisser and I’d be so down to find out. But you know, your call,” he shrugged with a grin, hope all over his face.

@sydneyandersen​

[happyevieafter]

❓ for my muse to catch yours dropping off a present 

Evie must have had a dozen or so sketches scattered around her room, which was nowhere near as neat as she ordinarily kept it but for once, it didn’t bother her. It was the new normal by now, even, with how often she stayed up late sketching instead of trying to sleep. She was starting to develop actual bags under her eyes, she was certain of it, but she didn’t mind. It was better to keep herself busy, because the second she stopped was the second unwanted thoughts came flooding in to stay for days. She stifled a yawn as she started shading in the blues and purples on her newest design and her eyes closed for a long second. When they opened again, her sleepy hand had let go of her indigo pencil and it was rolling away from her, halfway to the front door by now. Evie stood, getting to the door as the pencil rolled underneath it and, with a sigh of annoyance, she threw the door open to follow. What she saw instead made her forget her pencil instantly. It had been so long since she’d seen Ben or Mal face to face and now here Ben was, beside her door at what had to be the middle of the night. She was confused and delighted and concerned and scared and excited all at once, the familiar rush of feelings sweeping through her at the sight of his face and leaving her even more unsure of what to do next. “So do you sleepwalk now?” she settled on asking, biting her lip and folding her arms tightly across her chest as her heart soared and broke all at once at the sight of the man she shouldn’t be in love with. 

@kinglyben​

[fredcilier]

❄️ for our muses to get snowed in together 

As much as Freddie had enjoyed Thanksgiving at the Bayou, she wasn’t the type to crash the same party twice. She knew that the invitation had been more as an extension of Cece and less because of Freddie herself, so Christmas she planned to hit the road, stop and visit Jordan and maybe Ally during the holidays, instead of bumming off the Dubois and keeping an eye on whatever was happening with her baby sister and Reggie. Still, she couldn’t resist the urge to stop there for a while when her bus brought her through, asking Cece to come meet her at her favorite jazz bar, Bass Notes and Beignets. Freddie had made herself at home inside of the club, leaning back and enjoying the music as she waited for her baby sister to arrive, when they told her a storm was rolling in and to get home as soon as she could before the roads all closed down. “Aw, hell no,” Freddie grumbled, trudging in the direction of the Dubois house and texting Cece on her way. Looked like she was crashing the Christmas ‘party’ after all...

@cecefacilier

[theomedici]

❄️ for our muses to get snowed in together

Theo had intended to head back to his room in the frat house ages ago, but he’d gotten cozy in the commons, with the smell of chicken nuggets coming from the co-op at one end and the smell of a roasting fire at the other. It had been easy to get lost in all of his new AuraTube channel comments and lose track of the time, and when he looked up, it was already after ten, the food had shut down for the night, and it seemed like there was only one other person even still hanging around. Theo waved to Ava Tremaine as he packed up his stuff and got ready to head back home, only to reach the door and realize that there were inches upon inches of snow falling. As much as he loved the idea of filming himself falling on his ass in the snow, he didn’t have a cameraman, and if he wasn’t doing it for his channel, what was the point? Instead, he turned back to settle in in the commons for the night, glad he’d at least gotten trapped somewhere with couches, and plopped down next to Ava with a groan. “What do you think are the odds they’d deliver us a pizza in this weather?” he asked her, rubbing his stomach dramatically to let her know that he’d forgotten to eat for a few hours, too.

@ava-tremaine

[hookedonharriet]

❓ + getting caught leaving a present at her door

Harriet never slept particularly well in Auradon. Back on the Isle, she’d slept near the docks, with the sound of the waves always crashing in the distance. The water might have been dirty, their supplies might have been meager, but it was peaceful in a way, too. Here, she was too far from the sea, holed up in a dorm room that sometimes felt more like a prison, and no sleep machine or attempt at recreating the ocean seemed to help her be at peace. Harriet had just rolled over to take a sip of water and make another attempt at sleeping when she heard a slight scuffle outside of her door, and never one to lay in wait while an enemy might be approaching, Harriet hopped up out of her bed and padded towards the door, flinging the door open without a second thought. “Who dares come here?” she demanded, expecting a prank or maybe even a predator. Instead, she found a present, and spotted an all too familiar retreating figure in the distance. “Slade? What’s the meaning of this?” she called, padding towards him even in her barefoot, pajama-clad state. 

@tobiasslade

[jungleboyblake]

👜 for our muses to go gift shopping together

“So uh...” Blake began guiltily. When he’d invited Ruby shopping with him, he’d done it under false pretenses. He’d promised that it would just be a quick trip in somewhere, grabbing one thing that he knew he needed, and then boom, they’d be out and on their way to tree-surfing lessons instead. Only Blake had no idea what he was going to buy; he really just needed moral support. “I might actually be a little freaked out about not knowing what to get for Will’s parents? Before I always just got them like, a candle and some summer sausage or something, but now that I’m his boyfriend and like... soon to be his fiance, I kind of need to do better than that this year, right? And you’ve got the coolest parents who aren’t mine around, so... help me?” he pleaded.

@ruefitz

[kinglyben]

Send 🍪 for our muses to bake Christmas cookies together

The kitchen was normally Sophie and Lucas’s territory, but with the way they acted like baking could solve all their problems in the world, Ben had been more eager to get in there and try some of it with them this season. He’d told Soph he’d meet her at 3:00, but he’d showed up early, wanting to make her proud by having all the ingredients and tools they’d need out and proving that he could find his way around the kitchen. Only... the kitchen was already a mess. So far, Ben had distractedly dropped an egg on the floor, slide on the yolk while he was trying to clean it up, and ended up bruising his elbow badly during his fall. He’d also managed to gnarl a measuring spoon in the garbage disposal, and drop flour all over himself, making him look like Ben the friendly ghost. When the door finally cracked open, he whirled to face Sophie, a defeated look on his face. “You’ve really got your work cut out for you with me, buddy. Who knew making a cookie was going to be so hard? I haven’t even started yet and...” He waved his arm around at the mess behind him. Seemed like he was making messes in all aspects of his life these days...

@wndersoph

[selenasrivera]

🍪 for our muses to bake Christmas cookies together!

The days before Selena headed home for the Christmas holidays should have been more stressful -- exams, final papers, packing. But instead, they felt a bit like the calm before the storm. Her family was so large, and there were so many people crammed into the house during the holidays that sometimes, she hardly felt like she could breathe, much less think or write. And so, when her parents had asked what day to come pick her up from Auradon City, she’d stalled her plans an extra day, citing plans with a friend as a reason to delay her departure an extra day. And she was looking forward to those plans; seeing Jane Darling was always a delight, and everything was better when there were cookies involved. “Am I allowed to sneak some music-note shaped ones in here? I know that we were going for Christmas themed, but I promise I’ll put red and green icing on them to make up the difference!” Selena giggled as she started laying out ingredients on the counter, pausing to carefully examine the eggs they needed and make sure none of them were cracked. She knew her own proclivity for eating dough before it was baked; she didn’t want to risk any that were more contaminated than usual. 

@ncturdarling

[racheladale]

⛸ for our muses to go ice skating together

Rachel was having the best December she could possibly imagine. All of her Christmassy costumes had been a huge hit -- and she’d had so many that she barely had to do laundry! She had so many fun photos of all the Christmassy things she’d been doing to remember how happy she’d been, but there was still so much more to do, too. When Luca invited her ice-skating, she’d immediately thrown on candy cane leggings, a puffy red coat, and dangly candy cane earrings to complete her costume for the day, and she bounced almost all the way to the rink to meet her friend. “Oh yay, the skates are white instead of brown, now I don’t look like a burnt candy cane!” she giggled as she laced them up, imagining she could stand up and twirl around to show everyone how happy she was to be here. Only twirling wasn’t something she knew how to do; she tried the instant she and Luca hit the ice, clunkily moving her skates to try and look like an elegant figure skater, and instead she toppled down, first minute on the ice. Looking up at Luca from the ice, she just laughed at her own plight, calling, “You look like a giant gingerbread man from down here, Luc! Help me up, pretty pretty please, so you can be a regular sized gingerbread man instead.”

@fairyluca

[marykatehood]

❓ + picking out presents to gift to the less fortunate

Mary Kate’s favorite part of the season was picking out presents to give to kids who had had unfortunate years. Although the circumstances were sad, knowing that they still got things to enjoy during the holiday season, even if they’d lost homes or parents or gotten sick during the last calendar year, made her holiday season feel a little brighter, and this time, she’d dragged Will along with her. "Okay, you’re going to have to hold me back from buying like... half off this toy store for people, I always get so excited about how cool kids toys are these days, I love imagining them getting to play with them... and maybe I like testing them out before we get them for them,” Mary Kat sing-songed happily as she grabbed Will’s arm and steered him down the first aisle.

@willofnottingham​

[quincydavis]

❓to run into each other at a Christmas tree lighting

It had been almost two holidays since the big Halloween break and Quincy had been through a lot, emotionally. She'd gone from wanting to kill Emmett to wanting revenge to feeling sorry for him to blaming herself to mourning the loss of what they'd cultivated to mourning the loss of those years. It was a complicated scenario and it didn't get any easy to dicepher the longer she dealt with it but what did get easier was the emotional burden. After all, she'd have been lying if she said she didn't stand to gain something from the split that originally felt like she was losing everything. She had a better idea of what she wanted now, and good practice at dealing with people different than herself; she knew what red flags to look out for that spelled long term compatibility and she had that relatability factor to normal girls now that might just help her jump start her therapy-personality career. Yes, it wasn't all bad at all, and losing Emmett meant gaining new facets of herself. That was easy enough to tell herself, anyway, as she spent time with friends while the town buzzed with a count of how many post-breakup hookups her ex had indulged in. Even then, the premise that she was better for it all was something that kept her going but all that was much much much harder to hang on to when she saw him again. She hadn't thought he'd be at this Christmas tree lighting, hadn't expected it at all, and had already gone through the phase of looking up his moves on social media so she was actually thoroughly shocked. Her first impulse was the fix her hair at the sight of his frame at a distance and she felt all kinds of nervous. She couldn't tell if that was just because the situation was new or because some traitorous part of her was still in love with him but as she breathed in the courage she had and walked over to him, the closet she got made it all the more evident that no matter how handsome she still found him and no matter how much history she could remember while looking at him, it was indeed history. This was already another Emmett. A freer one, hopefully, since that was what he wanted. She tapped his shoulder almost as if daring herself to, as if she wouldn't really be over him unless she talked to him and walked away feeling nothing. "Hey," she said by default, hoping that she seemed like a different Quincy to him too. He wasn't the only one moving on as a person and he needed to know it.

@emmettvardaros