White Elephant Gift Exchange, [Main Event Topic]

[Jani]

❄ white elephant ❄

A gentle snow was beginning to fall as the festival-goers began gathering for the final official event of the day. Benches, which were no more than driftwood balanced on rocks or bricks and then draped over with thin cloth dyed in reds and golds, were staggered about the beach. The people were separated into groups of a manageable size, with a peace officer or other member of Beta's organization assigned to run each group's event.

As luck would have it, Beta himself was in charge of this group. The older man's joints protested the chilly weather somewhat, but he still moved with confident poise and a fluidity that was uncommon for a man who was nearly seventy years old. He approached and greeted those who were ushered his way with a small smile- not an easy smile, as he was not one who was particularly used to entertaining large groups of unfamiliar people, but a sincere, if uncomfortable smile- and in his deep voice bid them sit on one of the quaint benches as he handed them a simply and cleanly wrapped gift, each identical to the last.

Whenever he had an opportunity to pause, stand quietly, and observe, he would. He would listen to the waves crash and rush onto the sandy beach, melting the few gentle snowflakes that had landed to close to the coast, and the crystalline formations would meld and become one with the cool, dark sea. Crater City stood not far away, its newly improved walls standing proud and erect, roofs peeking up from behind the defensive structure. Smoke spiraled lazily upward from the many inhabited homes that stood protected behind the walls. In another direction, a couple storehouses and a dock stood on the beach and reached out into the ocean, a sign of his people's determination and resourcefulness as they reached their grasp out into the unknown and attempted to tame it. In the distance, snow-capped hills formed the easterly horizon.

Beta was confident that there wasn't anything more beautiful in all of Terrene than Crater City's bay in the winter. It filled him with pride, but also with a sense of longing and heartache, as this season always did. He breathed in deeply, pulling the emotions deeper within him, and returned to his duties. He had a festival to host, after all.

(This is the official white elephant gift exchange thread! Beta is greeting people and handing out gifts. Post to bring your character in, sit them down, chat, whatever you like! If you have questions, let me know.)

[Jani]

White

Elephant

(Ya'll are gonna make me roleplay by myself, aren't you D:< IF NO ONE ELSE IS GONNA APPRECIATE THIS EVENT THEN I'LL DO IT BY MYSELF)

[egg:6]

This was a cold season, but Cynth could say quite honestly that she enjoyed it. It was her first winter here- her first winter ever if her memory was to be believed, though she knew it wasn't- and it was an enjoyable experience. She heard that Ashfield never got snow, but here in Crater, the snow fell regularly during this season. And it was... stunning. Snow capping the hills and the distant mountains, snow blanketing the plains in a thick white blanket. It was truly magical.

There was less to do at this little "winter festival" than there had been at the Anniversary Fair in Ashfield, but this quaint gathering had a different feel to it. It was... cozy. Cheery, but in a quiet, comfortable way. It felt sort of unfair or unreasonable to compare this more peaceful, thoughtful event to the crowded, loud energy of Ashfield's yearly fair. Even the weather of the season itself seemed to lend a hush to the world, as if encouraging everyone to slow down, calm down, relax.

Or maybe it was just her. Trick certainly didn't seem to want to calm down any. The season made him restless and even grouchier than usual. He was off running around somewhere, burning off his excess energy.

Cynth, though, was looking forward to a relaxed affair here. This white elephant gift thing seemed to be a great idea- donating what you didn't have use for, in hopes that whoever ended up with it could find more use to it. And, maybe she'd end up leaving here with something useful for herself, as well!

She had been ushered in and led to a seat by a man that she hadn't recognized, at first- but now, after sitting on the bench for a couple of minutes and watching him move around the area, talking to people and organizing the event... She wondered if it was Beta. She knew the name of the man who was in charge of the city, but she had never seen him before. If this was him, he was... older than she had pictured, though she supposed his greater age made sense, because she stories she had heard had said that he had been in Terrene since before Ashfield was built. She wasn't sure she believed all the stories she'd been told about him, but she had to admit that, if this was him, he definitely had a presence about him and a certain charisma to him.

Brushing those thoughts aside for now, she readjusted the egg on her lap and looked at those more closely surrounding her, the others who had been ushered into this particular area for the white elephant event. Perhaps there would be some familiar faces?

Tag @all

Count 456

#fcecb6 #402d26 #772229

spenny

[Blackbird]

A shadow is cast wherever she stands

Call Her Ten

Ten wasn't sure what she was doing.

It was rather cold, and unfortunately she didn't have much in the way of a jacket. Po didn't seem to mind the cold much, trotting ahead of her with his snout in the air. Ariadne, unfortunately, didn't seem to like it much, and was huddled tightly against her back, the instinct shivering against her. She felt bad for it, but the little Pokemon didn't seem too excited to get into a Poke Ball, so that was its perogotive.

She'd admit she rather enjoyed Winter. However, she hadn't experienced any other season, so she couldn't really say otherwise. But it felt good on her skin, and each chilly breath was invigorating.

The Winter Festival was... different. There were many people, but not much to do. It was cheery, different from how Ashfield had been rather sober, everyone focusing on getting by. But here, people seemed to be fine with wasting time, lazing around and playing in the snow. She loved snow; it quieted her footsteps and made everything look rather pretty.

A man suddenly came up to Ten, ushering her towards some seats. She squirmed, trying to break free, only to be pushed into a seat. There was another girl a couple seats away, and she stared at her in surprise, not entirely sure what was happening. Ariadne quickly clambered off her back and into her lap, taking advantage of the human's body heat, while Po trotted over to sit at her heel. The trainer looked around awkwardly, not sure what to do.

for name

Ten Speaking
Ten thinking
{Po speaking}
{Ariadne speaking}

Po "What's goin' on?" Ariadne "C-c-c-old."

&

---

[Jani]

White

Elephant

(<3 thanks Blackbird~)

[egg:7]

More people trickled into their little section of the snow-coated beach, being guided to sit in the available spaces on the quaint little makeshift benches. Each and every person that entered the area was given a gift as they were ushered in, all identically wrapped.

Thinking of the gifts, Cynth checked the bench beside her to make sure hers was still there; it was. So she continued looking around, letting her gaze wander over the other people in the area as she absentmindedly rubbed her thumb against the egg nestled in her lap. So far, she didn't really recognize any faces. Then again, many people were fairly bundled up against the cold, making it harder to see the person beneath the layers.

Cynth herself had on a long, though bland-looking brownish coat. The right sleeve was tied off at about where her elbow should have been, keeping the excess and unnecessary material out of the way. Her right pant leg was also tied off at the ankle, helping to keep the calf of her footless leg a bit warmer.

As her eyes scanned about, she made eye contact with a girl she didn't know. Cynth smiled in automatic response to meeting someone's eyes. The other girl seemed to be about her age, but had a very unique look about her... Pale, white hair, ruddy eyes. She almost looked like a ghost, actually, and the thought made Cynth's hair want to stand on end. She pushed away the thought and the accompanying uncomfortable feeling, though, as she recognized a feeling of discomfort on the girl's face. Perhaps she could use someone to talk to?

Holding her egg very carefully against her, she scooted toward the other side of the bench to be closer to the girl, who was sitting on a different bench fairly close to her.

"Hi," she began with a gentle smile, stopping to clear her throat as she hadn't spoken in a while, "My name is Cynth. Are you enjoying the festival?" Beginning conversations always felt a bit awkward, but it was an awkward that she was used to. She perhaps wasn't the best conversation partner, but at least she was willing, right? That had to count for something. She hoped.

Tag @Blackbird

Count 373

#fcecb6 #402d26 #772229

spenny

[Blackbird]

A shadow is cast wherever she stands

Call Her Ten

The girl awkwardly brought up her hand, petting the spider Pokemon uncertainly. She still wasn't quite sure how it would react to things, so she was hesitant when approaching it. Thankfully, it seemed like she was rather cool-headed, not caring what Ten did so long as she wasn't harming her. The bug's carapace didn't exactly feel good on her fingers, but it didn't hurt her, either. The repetitive motion of stroking it seemed calming, so she kept it up.

The little fire-pig she'd met when she'd first arrived was sitting at her ankle, watching him with something not-unlike jealousy in his eye. It's not that he wanted to be stroked or anything, no way! It's just... he was there for her first, shouldn't he be the one she lavished attention on? Not some creepy little bug. The little asshole was even smirking at him!

As she looked around, she met the gaze of an odd-looking girl. Her brown hair and hazel eyes were rather average (from what she could tell, at least; the majority of the people she'd seen had brown hair), but it was her clothing that drew her attention. The right sleeve of her coat was tied off, ending where her elbow should have been, as well as her pants ending where her ankle should have been. The woman was holding an egg, and suddenly began scooting over on the bench.

"Ah, hi." she muttered, gaze dropping to the ground. "I'm Ten." she answered instinctively to the girl giving her her name. The white-haired girl looked up as the other continued to speak, singular red eye focusing on her. "This is Ariadne," she gestured to the Spinarak in her lap, "and this is Po." she pointed at the Tepig at her heel.

"Ah, it's alright. I don't really have anything to compare it to." she grinned awkwardly. And she didn't; she'd only been in Terrene a handful of days, so it was a break from routine. "Are you?"

for @Jani

Ten Speaking
Ten thinking
{Po speaking}
{Ariadne speaking}

Po "Did someone say my name?" Ariadne "Scratchies..."

&

---

[kira]

The Winter Festival... It was cold and Venom seemed to appreciate the least, while Yuki seemed unaffected the most. Honestly, Ri had mostly come out of curiosity, similar to her reasons for participating in the Anniversary Fair, back in the Fall. She'd appreciated the chance to meet Blue again, but she wasn't particularly looking to talk to anyone else. Yet, here she was. There was.... This thing called the White Elephant Gift Exchange. It seemed interesting enough to get Ri involved. She had some... Powdery substance that was apparently of substantial enough value... So, she figured it'd make a good enough thing to bring.

Honestly, aside from this... The festival didn't have much to offer. Mostly, Ri had been hanging around snacking on free samples and watching Arashi run around. Sai kept sticking her head in the snow, though. She wondered if it was for the Psyduck's headaches. Probably. Venom always seemed to be sulking through the snow. Though, he'd been extremely quiet and distant since.... She'd parted ways with Blue earlier. He seemed to be in better shape now, but... Things were a little awkward and tense. Anyway....

Here Ri was. She was still chewing on the toothpick of a skewer that used to have glazed torchic meat on it.... Before the redhead ate it. Though, now she was just holding onto it for... Well... No particular reason, honestly. She'd noticed that a familiar face was already here: Bird. Though, the woman was talking with someone else she didn't recognize.

She was guided to a seat by some guy who she didn't know the name of, and it happened to be next to Bird. Without trying too hard to alert Bird to Ri's presence, she just said hello. Maybe a bit louder than she explicitly had to.

"Hey, Bird."

The last time she saw Bird was.... A long time ago. The incident in the forest with the Scraggy lead pack of Poochyena. It hadn't been the greatest encounter, though it could've been worse. She hadn't seen Bird at the Anniversary Fair for whatever reason. Perhaps she hadn't attended or she'd just managed to miss Ri at every turn.

@Jani @Blackbird

[Jani]

❄ white elephant ❄

@Blackbird @kira

People seemed to keep trickling in, with apparently nobody in any particular hurry to get to where the events were actually happening. He bit back his impatience- did no one have any sense of punctuality? surely it was the Ashfielders and the other outsiders that were so inconsiderate of others' time, and not his own citizens- and finally paused his ushering in of the latecomers and turned his attention to what his duty truly was: leading these people in playing the simple little white elephant game.

He took his place right in the middle of the benches all loosely arranged in a circle. "Alright, everyone!" He attracted everyone's attention in his deep voice, a bit gravelly with age, waiting only a handful of seconds for the conversations around him to peter out. "It's time to begin passing the gifts." As he spoke, he pulled out a small scrap of writing cloth which had markings on both sides. He glanced down at it, then looked back up, holding out his left arm and standing, "Pass your gifts four times, to your right!"

Beta waited with patience (well, he tried his best, and at least kept his inklings of impatience and awkwardness hidden) while the gifts were passed and people murmured to themselves and one another in low voices. After the passing was finished, Beta continued, "Alright, now. Each round, one person gets to open their gift. The gift will stay in rotation unless the person with that gift chooses to leave. At the end of each round, anyone who wishes to leave with their gift, can, whether the gift is opened or not."

From another pocket, he pulled another bit of cloth out, this one to help him randomly select who would be the one to open a gift this round. After reading what was on the cloth, his eyes grazed over everybody, his mouth moving slightly as he counted to himself. Finally, his eyes settled on Ri. "You get to open the gift you are holding this round- go ahead."

Ri would see, upon opening the gift that she had been passed, that she held a small box containing a potion and a wepear berry.

Beta would then allow some time for people to converse, and decide whether or not they wanted to leave with the gift they were holding or not. Then the game would continue...

❄❄❄

[ Reminder of some of the rules: At the end of each round, one random character will get to open the gift they are holding. From then on, everyone will know where that particular gift is. Your character can leave the exchange early, if they like, taking with them whatever gift they are currently holding, opened or unopened. Late-comers are also always welcome to join the exchange. ]

[Rixie]

White Elephant

Gift Exchange

Cynthia arrived at the scene with a somewhat uneasy look in her eyes. She was told to join one of the small groups, but when she walked over that location, she froze in place when she saw the man who was facilitating the group. He was tall, gray, and exuded a sense of confidence and... well... power... that she did not appreciate one bit. He was easily old enough to be her father. And for some reason, the thought that he could even be her father filled her with a seething emotion. Anger. Disgust. Hatred. She stood uncertainly a few feet from the group, seriously considering just leaving.

”Ooh hey isn’t that your friend?” a chirping brought Cynthia back to the world. She had nearly forgotten about Amnisiad sitting there on her shoulder, pressing into her neck so they could keep one another warm. Amnisiad was flapping her wings and staring straight at Cynth.

”Hm. Yeah. It is,” Cynthia spoke with a strained voice. Why was Cynth so close to this old, arrogant man who took what he wanted without regard for others? She couldn’t just leave, particularly not while Cynth needed protecting.

She noted with a slight twitch to her face that Ri was here too. However much she wanted to believe that the woman would make a great potential ally, the redhead wound her up more than anyone in the world. She would have to try and control her temper, if they ended up interacting. The man gave out some instructions, and the people in the group complied. Ri opened the little bundle that came into her possession. It wasn’t terribly impressive.

Finally making up her mind, Cynthia took a deep breath of the crisp winter air in attempt to calm herself. Then she walked determinedly to the group, taking a seat on the other side of Cynth. She gave her a warm smile, ”Hello, Cynth.” The smile faded quickly as she addressed the young woman on the other side of her friend. She gave a respectful nod, which held none of the warmth she extended towards Cynth, ”Ri.” She turned back to Cynth and continued, ”You both seem well. That’s good.”

She shot a glance at the man, darkness in her eyes that she did not want nor care to conceal. ”Who is he?” her voice sank to a low whisper that could barely be heard by the women just near her.

The Fletchling cocked her head at Cynth. The fire pony was nowhere to be seen. She reflected that it was lucky she was small enough to constantly be perched on Cynthia’s shoulder, without causing any problems in terms of crowding. She looked around, eyeing all the people and Pokémon with intense curiosity.

**Leave these 4 lines in, unless the post is short enough to show**

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Notes: Instant hate for unknown reason

Tag: @Jani, @kira

Word Count: 457 words

[Jani]

White

Elephant

[egg:8]

Cynth kept her smile easy, even as the other girl- Ten, as she introduced herself- seemed to react with a tinge of shyness or awkwardness, averting her eyes and speaking hesitantly. She considered backing off from the conversation- she wouldn't want to make the other woman feel awkward, or like her personal space was being invaded- but then Ten continued the conversation, introducing her Pokemon, and reflecting the question that Cynth had asked back to her.

"It's nice to meet you, Ten, and Ariadne, and Po." She looked at them each in turn. She was pretty sure she had seen other spiders similar to Ariadne before, but Po's species was completely unique to her. She returned her gaze to Ten to continue the conversation.

"I am enjoying myself. This place is beautiful, all covered in snow, and I had a really delicious piece of some kind of pie earlier." There wasn't always a ton of food for her to eat at big gatherings like this, as for some reason they always seemed to be saturated with various roasted meats, so she had been thrilled to discovered various fruit sauces and pies. They seemed to pair well with the wintery season, for some reason or another. "My Pokemon aren't particularly enthusiastic about this season, but I certainly am."

Then another voice reached her ears, a distantly familiar one. It didn't attract her attention immediately, as it had been a while since she'd been referred to by the name of Bird- but after a couple seconds, the gears in her mind suddenly jump-started, and she turned around with a happy smile spread across her face.

"Ri! Hi! It's been a while, how have you been?" Cynth tried and failed to keep her enthusiasm about meeting an old friend down- Ri herself had always come off as very grim and serious, so Cynth didn't want to be annoying by being incredibly perky and bubbly- but she just couldn't help herself.

"Oh, um, Ten, this is Ri, and Ri, this is Ten. And this is," she struggled for a moment to recall the names of the Pokemon she had just been introduced to, "Po, and... Ariadne. Ten, you're new to this place, aren't you?" She'd figured as much when the other girl had mentioned that she didn't have much to compare the winter festival to. That meant she hadn't been around in the fall for the Anniversary Fair, right?

Then Beta's voice rumbled over the area, drawing out a hush from those in attendance as he began to lead the event that they were all there for: exchanging presents. Pass four to the right, he said, and so she did, offering her gift to Ri to begin passing in that direction, and taking the gift that Ten, who was to her left, had been holding. Something about this all felt familiar. Had she exchanged gifts in a similar fashion before this? The wrapped gifts with the little bows on them certainly made her nostalgic.

She patiently passed until the fourth gift reached her hands, and then she watched and smiled lightly as Ri was selected to open the gift that she was holding. A potion and a berry. Simple, but useful, particularly the potion, if one got in a lot of skirmishes with Pokemon. Always good to have medicine with you, right? She didn't go exploring much, herself, though she wondered if she might want to in the future.

Cynth was absent-mindedly studying the wrapped gift in her hand, identical to all the other gifts, and wondering what might be inside of it when a second familiar voice pierced through her thoughts. This voice belonged to a more recent acquaintance, as noted by the fact that the voice referred to her as Cynth, her somewhat recently discovered name.

"Cynthia!" Cynth replied, the name still sounding and feeling so odd in her mouth. She had the inkling of a feeling that... it was her name, too. The similarities between Cynth and Cynthia were undeniable. But at the same time, calling herself Cynthia didn't feel natural, either, and so she stuck with Cynth. Still, her mixed feelings regarding the name itself didn't extend into her feelings toward the woman who bore the longer name. She wasn't close with Cynthia, as they had only ever had the one interaction at the Anniversary Fair, but they had connected extremely well and she was overjoyed to see the woman here, as well.

It was wonderful how these fairs and festivals brought people together. "I'm so glad you're here!"

The sudden change in tone and expression when asking about the man leading the event, though, confused her greatly. Cynthia was asking who the man was, and yet seemed to already have a great dislike for him. Cynth stared past her at Beta, who to her eyes was nothing more than an old man standing in the middle of a field rifling through his pockets.

"I haven't met him before myself, but, I think it's Beta...? He fits the descriptions I've heard, anyway. He founded this city, like, forty or so years ago, I think? I've heard a lot of stories, but I'm not sure how much to believe, because some of them seem a bit..." she struggled to find the right word, "grandiose? Most people here hold him in high regard, though, so I'm sure he's great." Cynth was more than happy just taking Beta's reputation at face value unless she actually had the opportunity to meet with him and get to know him personally, which seemed unlikely given how busy she kept herself lately. And if she was busy, how busy was someone who had an entire city to run? "I could be wrong, though. I'm just guessing. He looks old enough to have founded this city a long time ago, though."

So she gave a light shrug and allowed her easy smile to return, turning to look at the red-headed bird that perched on Cynthia's shoulder. "And what was your name again? I only remember it starting with an A... I'm sorry, it's been so long since I've seen you two!"

Tag @Blackbird @kira @Rixie

Count -

#fcecb6 #402d26 #772229

spenny

[kira]

Ri's approach was met with a wide smile from Bird. It was nice to know that Ri's uh... Crankiness during the Poocyena-Scraggy-Pack incident didn't turn off the crippled woman from redhead. She was a little torn between disappointment and relief. On one hand, maybe Bird should have better friends. On the other, Ri thought Bird's friendship was one maybe... She didn't want to throw away like last week's garbage. Whatever that phrase meant, since Ri didn't remember the context.

She shrugged with an easy grin. "Oh, I've been good. Been... Traveling. It's been good. How about you?" She asked in return.

Then suddenly Bird was introducing Ri to some girl who seemed... Roughly around Ri's age... Probably. Bird introduced Ten's pokemon as well. "Ten of what?" The redhead joked. Honestly, it was right there. She couldn't resist.

The man who facilitated the group, whom Ri had no ideas as to his identity, didn't impress the redhead much. So, she was paying the minimal amount of required attention to him. Meaning, she listened to and heeded his words... But didn't actually show much interest. The identically wrapped gifts were passed around four times. She got singled out as the person who got to open their gifts. She wasn't really being careful, just about ripping it apart to repeal the berry and potion inside. It was alright of a gift, though Ri didn't feel like leaving yet. She didn't have strong reasons for leaving or staying, so she figured she might as well stick around and have a chat. So, she'd stay in rotation.

Though, first Ri noticed someone approaching. A face she hadn't seen in quite a while. A face who didn't seem too happy to see her. Ri recalled the name, and general... Hazy memory of being rude. But that wasn't too special, considering the redhead's general behavior. Well, less so as of late, since she didn't meet new people too often and... She was nicer than average to Blue and Andrew.

She wore a casual grin, that didn't show too much commitment. She waved. "Hey." She replied to Cynthia. Then she shrugged in response to the woman's question. "Other than the guy facilitating this whole thing... Haven't got a clue." She replied.

Though.... It seemed that Bird and Cynthia had met before. Interesting. It seemed that Bird had made a better impression which was to expected. The crippled woman was rather friendly and trusting, almost to a point where Ri was willing to consider it a possible flaw. But then again, it probably meant that Bird had no trouble making allies. Ri tried very hard not to think too hard about how Bird's responses might convey a higher opinion of either Ri or Cynthia. Because she wasn't. It wasn't even a temptation, ha. There was no way being jealous of Cynthia was anywhere within in the realm of possibility. Besides, even IF Bird did like Cynthia better, that was alright. She wasn't Cynthia's number one fan, but she'd probably make better friend material anyway. But that was all based on the idea that Ri was searching for signs that Cynthia was more liked. Which was a total lie.

Ri listened to Bird's information on the man. She'd heard of Beta, but hadn't quite connected the man to the name. Interesting... In full honesty, she still wasn't too impressed by him. She'd have to meet him personally before she made a real opinion about him but so far? Yeah uh... She didn't quite trust anyone who placed himself at the top with all sorts of crazy rumors surrounding him, while a city was ready to believe the sun shined out of the man's ass.

She suddenly cut into Cynthia's and Bird's conversation. "Amnisiad. The Fletchling's name is Amnisiad."

Meanwhile, Venom was coiled up behind the redhead human's spot on the bench. The duck and zebra stood next to him. Yuki's basket lay on the bench, thankfully not under some other stupid human's rear.

@Blackbird @Jani @Rixie

((I would like to apologize for my character being garbage :')

[Blackbird]

A shadow is cast wherever she stands

Call Her Ten

Ten smiled, somewhat awkwardly, at the other girl, still not entirely used to talking to other humans. She'd rambled to Ariadne, and Po, but neither seemed to understand her. Of course, that also meant they got to listen to her fears and insecurities, but hopefully they wouldn't be able to spread them around.

"It's nice to meet you as well." she'd echo, seeing the girl look at her Pokemon. It was... nice, to have someone else acknowledge her Pokemon. Most people seemed to focus soley on her. "The snow is really pretty," she agreed, tilting her head. "I'll have to try it before the festival ends, then."

And then someone else approached, and she allowed Cynth to take the lead. They seemed to know each other, and she was content to let them talk. But then she turned back and introduced them to each other. "Nice to meet you." she'd say and Po, recognizing his name, would snort. "I am, I've only been here for a week or so."

She bit down a quiet laugh at the others joke on her name, surprised at the reaction. She hadn't met many people who were into jokes.

But then the man's voice echoed across the gathering, and she followed his order, passing the gifts as he said to. She watched as Ri opened the present in her hands, recognizing it as the one she'd brought. And then another girl approached, and she looked down at the gift in her hand, wondering what it was. She was content to merely listen to the conversation, not knowing the girl.

for @Jani @kira @Rixie

Ten Speaking
Ten thinking
{Po speaking}
{Ariadne speaking}

Po "I'm bored!" Ariadne "Cold..."

&

---

[Rixie]

White Elephant

Gift Exchange

It was with some relief that she noticed Ri’s greeting. Albeit lukewarm, it was civil. Which she had not expected given the ending of their first meeting, during which it had taken all of Cynthia’s self control to not throw herself into a fight with the other woman.

Cynthia continued to frown in the man’s direction, losing a bit of the hateful edge to her gaze. "Beta, hm? Yeah, he does look old enough to be the founder of the city...” If he was actually that well known, he probably wasn’t her father. She found herself surprised that that alone took much of the venom out of her glare. But she still didn’t trust him, and she grumbled this fact under her breath, "I don’t trust him. He looks... suspicious to me. Maybe he’s got everybody in his city fooled but I don’t think I would let him get too close.”

Just then, a shadow seemed to fall over them. A behemoth of a man appeared behind Beta, matching Cynthia's glower with an icy cold stare. "Is there a problem here?" he spoke lowly to Beta, but did not move his intimidating gaze from the woman. His voice rumbled deep within his chest. A large Ninetales, nearly white in comparison with his flowing black coat, stood at his heels, the tips of its tails flicking discontentedly.

Cynthia stiffened and her dominant hand instinctively shot to her left shoulder, though she didn't understand why. It felt like the thing to do, even though there was nothing there. Every muscle in her body tensed. Despite her pride, she knew she and Amnisiad would not be able to win a fight against this huge man and Pokemon, so she bit her tongue and looked away, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. Think of Cynth and Ri, and the other innocent bystanders here. I've got to focus on my friends, not this *******. Another deep breath and she was able to relax, letting her hand fall from the rather odd position it had taken on her opposite shoulder.

She jerked with surprise when Ri spoke the bird’s name. Her head, as well as the bright red-orange head of the Fletchling on her shoulder, swiveled to look at her. It was almost comical, actually, the way both human and Pokémon moved in sync and had matching expressions of curiosity. "You remembered,” she said flatly before she could stop herself. "Yeah, it’s Amnisiad,” she confirmed as she looked away from Ri and back to Cynth. She remembered how... poorly... the woman reacted to even friendly inquiries when they met.

Amnisiad did not follow suit, as her curiosity burned much stronger and her desire to befriend the other random human did not particularly exist. Rather, she continued to stare at Ri for a while before a tiny movement caught her eye.

“Oh, hi!” She chirped somewhat nervously as she realized the large, dark colored Seviper that was curled right nearby. “Haven’t seen you in a while.” She looked around further, noticing the other nearby Pokémon, “Oh. Are you guys with Venom, now?” She flicked her beak towards the Blitzle and Psyduck that stood beside him.

Eventually Cynthia noticed that another who was just on the edge of the conversation, but not really joining in, at least not yet. She turned to her and spoke kindly, trying to wipe away thoughts of the tall, angry-looking guard, “Are you a friend of Cynth’s? Forgive my interruption of your conversation.” She glanced at the spider-like Pokemon in the woman's lap and leaned closer with intense interest, "Ah, who’s this?"

**Leave these 4 lines in, unless the post is short enough to show**

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Notes: Don't mind the tall man. He's just making sure no harm comes to Beta. P.S. Probably going to change Amnisiad's text color some more... still seems a bit painful to the eyes.

Tag: @Jani, @kira, @Blackbird

Word Count: 601 words

[Jani]

White

Elephant

[egg:9]

(Sorry for the short post; don't have time to write much but wanted to keep this going.)

"Looks... suspicious...?" Cynth repeated slowly with a small degree of incredulity, brow furrowing slightly in mild confusion as she glanced back at Beta. She wasn't sure what physical features made one look suspicious. She tried to look harder. Slightly graying brown hair. Some wrinkles, especially on his forehead. Dark eyes of a color she couldn't determine from this distant. A serious face that seemed to crease into a frown when he wasn't making the (somewhat awkward) effort to smile.

She didn't get it, but she politely kept her thoughts to herself. Besides, it's not like the founder of a city would ever want to do anything with her right? So she didn't have to worry, and she didn't feel pressured into casting a judgement that may or may not be unfair on a man she'd never met and would likely never meet.

Cynth shifted back to Ri when the other woman interjected with the little bird's name. "Amnisiad! That's right." She gave Ri a thankful smile for providing the name that had been missing from her memory, then turned back to Cynthia. "I didn't know you two knew each other. That's great!"

Then as Cynthia moved to address Ten, Cynth suddenly felt both embarrassed and ashamed. "Oh! Oh I'm so sorry, I forgot to introduce you two to each other." She had been distracted by both excitement at seeing so many familiar faces all of the sudden as well as by the odd reaction Cynthia had to the man who may or may not be Beta. "Ten, this is Cynthia and Amnisiad. Cynthia, this is Ten and Po and Ariadne." She wasn't sure why she felt obligated to make the introductions between everyone, but, ah well.

Cynth was almost unaffected by the appearance of the looming man, though she did shift uncomfortably, pulling her egg closer to her, as his seemingly unfriendly gaze fell on Cynthia. Not that she had been making any friendlier glances in Beta's direction, but... still, to have such a look fall upon someone she considered a friend made her uneasy. For the most part, though, she shoved the feeling aside and paid the man no mind, assuming that nothing but a number of exchanged glares would come from the awkward (and entirely unnecessary, in her opinion) standoff.

Tag @Blackbird @kira @Rixie

Count -

#fcecb6 #402d26 #772229

spenny

[kira]

Ten revealed to the group present (Ri, Bird, Cynthia) that she was new. Though, it sounded like that Bird had asked Ten about it earlier, and had only asked again to share the information with Cynthia and Ri who'd only just come onto the scene. Hm. Ri was thinking that Cynthia was a bit long. Then again, it sounded plenty fitting for... Well... Prideful and proper was how she struck Ri. She wondered how offended she'd be if the redhead started calling her cinnamon. Whatever cinnamon was.... She'd forgotten. Eh. If the opportunity came up she'd try it.

Ri had noticed that Ten had suppressed a laugh. She only grinned in response. She'd noticed earlier that Ten had responded with recognition at the redhead's revealed gift. Probably what Ten brought. Made sense that someone who wasn't here long wouldn't have anything immediately recognizable as valuable.

As for Cinnamon... She seemed to slightly less venomous in Beta's direction, though she still seemed rather disapproving of the man for whatever reason. Honestly, Ri wasn't sure what poison had crawled into Cinnamon's heart at the sight of the man. She wasn't trusting of Beta, but she hadn't tried to melt him with a glare. It was... Curious. She kind of wanted to know why, but at the same time she didn't really want to get close to Cinnamon to figure out why. Ugh... Whatever. She could figure it out by observation anyway. Maybe Bird could weasel out the answer and the redhead could eavesdrop. Yeah, that sounded better.

She did not comment on the discussion about Beta. Though... She agreed with Cinnamon's more logical reasoning.

Then some asshole walked up to them, apparently noticing Cinnamon's glare... To be fair, she hadn't been hiding it and was pretty damn obvious. She wasn't surprised. Ri noticed how Bird didn't seem too bothered but did hold her egg closer. Cinnamon on the other hand, immediately began showing less subtle signs of discomfort, grabbing her shoulder. The redhead figured either the man or the Ninetales behind him triggered a trauma. Though... Ri had forgotten if Cinnamon had ever revealed if she was an immigrant or not, but if she was... She imagined the reaction was from a past trauma, even if it'd been forgotten. Hell, Ri did a lot of shit without realizing why. Apparently amnesia doesn't wipe everything and spit out a clean slate. Though, Cinnamon demonstrated some late control over herself, forcing herself to relax. In response to this interaction, Ri tilted her head and crossed her arms.

Then she shrugged. "Yeah. I did." She replied simply. She noticed how Cinnamon was rather curt and short with her. The redhead didn't mind. It made rejecting any friendly advances easier... Since there weren't any. She only grinned at Bird for the thankful smile the cripple sent her. Ri shrugged. "Eh.... Know is a strong word. We've met. Once. Briefly." She clarified.

Meanwhile, Venom around her feet was staring up at the tiny robin, who he hadn't seen for a long time. Still, he suppressed the urge to just eat the stupid tiny bird. "(.... Yeah. They're with me.)" He gruffly hissed.

Sai, Arashi, and Yuki remained silent. Though, Arashi seemed interested, her eyes almost sparkling as she gazed up at the Fletchling.


@Jani @Rixie @Blackbird

[Amissa]

Cecilia found herself arriving late to the White Elephant event and she quietly hated herself for it. At least she'd brought a gift, or else she'd feel even more awkward. She scurried in, willing herself to look small, (it didn't work, she was a tall muscular woman and no amount of willpower would change that) and whispering apologies to everyone. It didn't help that she was followed by a cheerful Mr. Mime who paused to wave happily at every person present, wasting more time.

She was instructed to take a seat, and she was given a gift to hold. She did as instructed and perched herself rigidly on a wooden bench. Cecilia sent a few shy, nervous glances Beta's way but didn't dare do more than smile in greeting. This guy was famous, the man who she'd heard had kept his memories. She had so many questions for him. She wanted to ask him about everything he remembered in the hopes that it would help her to piece together her own fragmented past. However, she couldn't work up the nerve to speak to him.

There were too many people here, and this was a celebratory event that he was hosting. It might be inappropriate to bring up a person's sad memories at a time like this. Thus, Cecilia kept silent and glanced around at the small group around her. She didn't know anyone, but that was no surprise. The girl with the seviper definitely looked familiar, and Cecilia had probably seen her once at the Anniversary fair.

Sugar sat beside her trainer on the bench, and Cecilia found the fairy type's presence comforting. Sugar made her feel like she had at least one friend wherever she went. When orders were given to pass along gifts, Cecilia awkwardly obeyed, trying to hide the fact that she'd missed all previous instructions and didn't really understand how this event worked.