17 [voice and action]

[stungunning]

Action!

[During the morning, Milly is out and about, safely and warmly bundled up in the snow and pulling a wheelbarrow along with an equally bundled up baby Noah strapped to her front. In her wheelbarrow she has a pair of pruning shears, a small handsaw, a blue plastic tarpaulin and a few balls of string, and she is clearly a lady on a mission.

A decorative mission.

That's right Luceti, Milly Wolfwood is on a mission to find a Christmas Tree and is taking no prisoners! Feel free to stop and say hello.

When she's back home and Noah's napping, she'll be trying to wrangle the Christmas Tree into place and attempting to dodge Kuroneko and Donut who seem to have been entranced by the decorations.]

Voice

Goodness, I can't believe it's so late in the year already, it seems like we've only just had spring after all! Before we know it Christmas will be all over and done with and we'll be looking at the New Year. I know a lot of people have probably had a very tricky year and perhaps a lot of horrible things might have happened, but you know, I can't believe that it could possibly be all bad.

Does anybody feel like sharing their high and low points of the year?

Comments

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[In their exploration of the forest, they'll find a now-teen monk who somehow manages to survive the world's extremities in his not-very-covering monk robes. He lights up, in the manner that should be expected of a Christmas tree, as he points towards the bundle of joy strapped to her.]

A baby!

[Action]

[stungunning]

[Noah seems to know when he's being talked about because he squirms happily and tries to reach out a pair of pudgy hands to grab the finger pointing in his direction. Milly beams and then notices the lack of clothing on the boy and her mommy radar kicks in.]

Oh goodness, aren't you cold out here like that?

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[He smiles sheepishly as he lets the baby cling to his finger, with a frost in his breath.]

I'm fine. Really! Maybe I shoulda just grabbed a scarf.

[Action]

[stungunning]

Oh dear well that won't do... Why don't you borrow mine?

[Milly's already unwrapping her scarf as Noah burbles happily at the finger and his new friend who owns the finger. Milly offers up her scarf- a not especially well knitted number she made herself- with a big smile.]

You don't want to go getting a cold at this time of year, it would be too sad if you got sick for Christmas!

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang waves his free hand in protest, caught between smiling at his new baby friend and feeling guilty about her taking off her scarf.]

Y-you don't have to, really! I can always make myself some fire if I start to feel too cold. I don't know a lot about this Christmas stuff, but I'll make sure I'm well for it, honest!

[Action]

[stungunning]

Don't be silly, I'm wearing a lovely thick sweater with a turtle neck so I'll stay nice and warm, and my coat's pretty warm too, I won't be at all cold, see? Besides, my grandma used to say that when it's cold out like this, folks should always have some wool on them, not that it ever actually got cold where we're from.

[The baby on the other hand has caught sight of the scarf dangling within reach and is watching it like a cat.]

I'm Milly, and this is Noah. What's your name?

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

If you say so. [He smiles and starts to drape the scarf around his neck one handedly. But catching the baby's eye, he offers him one end of the scarf to pay with.]

Nice to meet you, Milly and Noah! My name's Aang!

Re: [Action]

[stungunning]

[Aaaaand naturally, as is the way of a seven month old, after some flailing is done with the scarf it is soon making its way into Noah's mouth to be slobbered on and is deftly fished out by his long suffering mother.]

It's nice to meet you too, Aang! That's a very nice name, I don't think I've ever heard one quite like it.

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[Aang gives a nervousl laugh as he takes back the scarf, slobber-covered end and all.]

Really? I guess it's not used much outside of my people. But your names are real good too! I don't think I met a Noah before - I'm glad this baby'll be the first!

[Action]

[stungunning]

Oh dear, he made a real mess of that didn't he? Just hold on one second...

[She delves into her pocket and comes up with a packet of wet wipes which she uses to blot the drooly end and turn the wool back into something nice and fresh, albeit a little damp.]

There, good as new! He's at that age where everything looks delicious and it just has to go into his mouth, we're going to have to start putting the catfood up somewhere that he won't be able to get at it once he starts crawling.

[Noah appears to want that scarf back and is duly reaching out for it.]

I'm sure Noah's very glad that you're his very first Aang, I know I am.

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[He tries to wave her off in vain as she cleans at it.]

Gee, thanks. I hope I make a good first impression, then, for any other Aangs out there! And it's no problem - everything babies do are too cute for me to mind. But I understand why you're concerned about what he eats. After all, with how little he is, you don't want him to start thinking he's a cat!

[And Aang pokes at Noah's outreaching hand, unsure if he should surrender the scarf again.]

[Action]

[stungunning]

[Noah seizes the proffered finger in a tiny gloved hand and fixes Aang with a big, blue eyed stare as he tries to size him up. It apparently doesn't take him very long because there's a big gummy smile following it up.

Milly in the meantime chuckles at the idea of Noah thinking he could be a cat.]

Oh goodness, I don't think his daddy would like that very much at all, he has a vendetta against the cat enough as it is.

[She quietly fixes Noah's hat on his head before carrying on.]

So are you planning to do anything nice for the holidays?

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[He gives his own smile right back to the baby. And the mention of of the father... Suddenly Aang's heart feels good. He's heart too much about families being splintered in this place. He still remembered a woman who was here for a short time whom had been separated from her baby. Knowing that there was one whole family here... Aang couldn't help but feel good about it.]

Yeah, I want to do lots of nice things for all these new holidays! Mostly I wanna spend lots of time with my friends who are also my family and as many of my new friends as I can, and I want to get everyone presents!

[Action]

[stungunning]

[Milly laughs.]

Well it sure sounds like you've got the spirit alright! Christmas is all about being with people who you love and care about. It's going to be my second one here and my second one ever without being surrounded by my brothers and sisters and parents and nies ces and nephews, but I think we try and make it as cheerful as we can at home. My friends are my family here, and then there's my husband and this little man... it's different but that doesn't mean it won't be just as special as a big family Christmas.

What sort of things do you celebrate in the winter where you come from?

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

I see. Yeah, as long as you have people who are like family... there's still a lot of good from that.

[If Noah still has Aang's fingers in his grasp, Aang lazily starts waving his arm as some odd kind of handshake.]

In my world, there's a few different nations who do different things in the winter. Mostly there's just a few festivals and stuff, but nothing like these holidays. But there's still plenty of opportunities to have fun in the snow!

[Action]

[stungunning]

[Noah certainly does, and as he grips Aang's finger with one hand, he flails the other one as he bounces excitedly in his carrier, making pleased noises. This is fun!]

Oh so you're already used to the snow? That's good; it was a bit of a shock to the system coming here where there are actual seasons and the weather changes. Where I lived was a big ol' desert where hardly anything ever grew without a whole heap of hard work to get it there. I do love the snow even though it's so cold, it's just so pretty!

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[Excellent. It's liken a little ride with his hand. He keeps it going as he talks, sometimes making it a little wavey.]

Whoa! Really? I can't imagine what it's like to be stuck in the desert and not know all the seasons. It makes me kind of sad, but it also must be real good to experience them for the first time here. In my world, my people lived in the mountains, and I visited places all over the world, including the south and north poles, where it was really, really snowy! So I'm used to stuff like this. But that doesn't make snow any less beautiful.

[Action]

[stungunning]

[Milly gets a wistful look on her face; it's been quite some time since she's talked about Gunsmoke like this. Noah meanwhile is enthralled by his newest favourite person and is enraptured by Aang's magical wavey hand.]

It wasn't a very easy place to live, or very peaceful most of the time. I used to travel all over the place for work, and there was only one time I ever came across somewhere like Luceti with trees and grass and green spaces. I think that was what most of the people were trying to get when it comes down to it. When I woke up here two springs ago it really was like being in a very very strange dream. But goodness, you're lucky you already knew about snow and seasons and mountains. It still seems like something very magical to me, I don't think I ever want to think of it as something normal.

[Action]

[savedtheworld]

[He just keeps it up for a little while longer, slowing down but also pausing every now and then to flash Noah a silly face.]

It's still magical for me, in a way. All of nature is, whether I know it or not. But I guess that's a good thing about this place. Getting to experience all these kinds of things you couldn't at home. Does that mean you've been here for two whole years?

[thedicearecast]

[You know what's pretty interesting to watch? Milly wrestling with the Christmas tree. Especially with cats in the mix, and Amelia oh so helpfully nods toward Kuroneko.]

Think she's trying to make a break for it with one of the ornaments.

[stungunning]

[Milly can't exactly see, she's hugging a spruce tree that's almost as tall as she is and so there's a wild flailing from the other side of the tree.]

Could you maybe try and stop her Amelia? I don't want to drop the tree and I've almost got it just-

[stungunning]

[The tree suddenly lurches sideways and Milly yelps as she throws herself after it!]

[stungunning]

[HAVE NO FEAR! THE TREE IS SAFE!]

Heheh, maybe I don't almost got it.

[thedicearecast]

[OH CRAP FALLING TREE.

Amelia steps forward too, but Milly's got it. Sort of.]

Sure you don't want help with that instead? You can get one of the guys to chase down the cat.

[They're so good at it, you know?]

[notabluesbro]

[... Wolfwood is certainly impressed with her... gumption and eagerness for Christmas. He's certainly surprised to find her magically dragging along a Christmas tree to set up in the household, like it's no big thang. Milly, dear, what have you been up to?

And worse off, Wolfwood hasn't really even gotten into the holiday spirit.]

Oh, right... the tree decorating business...

[I'VE BEEN SO FOCUSED ON OTHER IMPORTANT THINGS.

Like getting chased into tombs.

And practicing my aim.]

[stungunning]

[Milly takes pause for a moment to catch her breath as she tries to figure out exactly where the tree would look best, wiping her brow with the back of her hand as she does. It's not that the tree's heavy but the sucker sure is ungainly and prickly.]

Well darling, I figured that somebody should get going on the Christmas tree or all of the good ones would be gone by the time we got round to it. I think this one's just about right, but I don't know... do you think we should have got a bigger one? This one just looked such a pretty shape, and I wanted everything to be lovely for our Christmas this year, I think it needs to be extra special don't you?

[notabluesbro]

I think so, yeah...

[He wanders over, his hand moving around her shoulder as he observes the tree carefully.]

Is it weird that after two years, I'm still surprised at how many trees I see a day?

[stungunning]

[Milly's arm snakes round his waist as his encircles her shoulder.]

Hmm... if it is then we can just both be weird together. I bet if someone back on Gunsmoke saw us putting up an actual real live tree in our living room we'd probably be lynched for wasting precious natural resources!

[She tilts her head to one side, nibbling on her bottom lip as she does so.]

Does it look wonky to you?

[notabluesbro]

[ertgdfg--

Talk about a hideous thought, thanks Milly.

But he recovers with the line of questioning.]

... I'm not sure. Anything feel off to you?

action

[derringers]

[ Meryl spots Milly trucking along with Noah tucked close to her, apparently on her way for some yard work. Or... that's what what Meryl assumes. Meryl has been out, hanging laundry. She sets what she's about to hang back down in the basket she has and walks over to her, waving. ]

Hi Milly.... what are you doing?