Chapter 17: The Season for Taking

[Tuesday DeCastro]

Tuesday grins. "Yes lets!" She agrees, and looks in the box of decorations.

She shrugs. "It's alright, we'll still make this tree look spiffy."

She takes one of the red ones and hangs it on a branch. "Marx mas was a really good idea, Hilja. I think its going to be a load of fun."

[Capricious Crest]

"I didn't mean she was his like that! Gosh, Cali-thing, chill." Capricious rolled her eyes. Her brother was always so quick to jump down her throat. "Tuvi is Dinari's assistant, which still makes her his, in a manner of speaking."

"...And did you really just call me Caps-lock? Really?"

"Skiing? Oooh! Sounds fun! I've never been either, Dinari, but we can learn together."

[Bonifaz Artz-Lehrer]

"There is one thing you could do for me. I would like you to attend that Manala Mas party with me. You see, I could attend...on behalf of my father again. But I fear that people don't trust me. If I came with someone from the Invisible Hand, I am sure it would give me more credibility. " Bonifaz asks. He looks at her blankly, seemingly disinterested in her answer, but at the same time polite and honest.

"Are you busy?"

[Toolah "Tuvi" Renee]

This whole situation made Tuvi really uncomfortable. But she comes out of it for a second. "I do not belong to anyone." She replies stiffly.

"I am my own woman. Plus, Dinari is my friend and my boss. Duh."

She pauses and sighs. "I like snowboarding actually. Skiing is for old people." Tuvi adds, eying Capricious.

[Tristan Tuzanic]

"Here's the deal. The sooner you cooperate, the sooner I'll be out of here. It's simple. I could hang out all day. I would like to. I'm sort of lonely. Can I come in. I think you and..that other woman look cool. Where do you get your clothes?" Tristan asks. He steps closer to the door and peeks inside the castle. He sighs and looks down at his shoes. They are worn out, but he admires his mismatched laces. One is purple, the other is green with a Japanese character on them.

[Anneli Laukkanen]

Anneli thinks for a moment, considering his offer. She didn't have anything else to do after this, well, nothing that required immediate attention anyway.

"No, I'm not busy. So, sure, why not? I'll go with you." She said, smiling.

She closed the file in front of her, now that her interrogation was over, and stretched, popping a few of her joints. She was feeling a little restless from sitting still so long.

Anneli led Bonifaz out of the poorly-lit interrogation room, and out to the front of the building, blinking a little as her eyes adjusted to the new light. She filed the two files that she held -- the one from Bishop's interrogation, and the one from Bonifaz's -- and turned back to him.

"I don't think I'm really dressed properly..." She says, looking down at herself. "Is there time for me to go home and change quickly?"

[Calithin Crest]

"I think it's really crazy to think about all the different things water can do and be. Look at the ice in my drink, it's like... TIME OUT! This is actually water! Same molecules, same everything, and yet totally different. I think it's a metaphor for how people change when exposed to different... Environments, but really, they're still the same people. Same molecules, same everything, and yet totally different."

I hold my drink up to the light and move it around a little bit so the ice hits the sides of the glass and makes that 'clink clink' sound.

"So, so cool."

It takes a minute but I regain focus in the conversation after that brief pause to contemplate existence, and look around genially at my fellow party goers.

"Perhaps... We all could... Compromise... And go... Like, ski-boarding. Or, if that doesn't fit into reality, we can... Um. Maybe go... Sledding. I like sledding less than skiing, but either way you're going fast. So it's like whatever."

[Dinari Dollar]

"Hey, I was just going to suggest sledding. You must have read my mind!" Dinari exclaims. Since there isn't a lot going on at the party, he feels like doing this right now. "Let's put on our warm clothes and do this. I saw some really big, old, dangerous looking sleds made of wood out front. The kind with the metal ..track thingys." Dinari explains. He starts putting on some winter clothes he brought along...snow pants, boots, jacket, gloves, and so on.

[Heikki Toivonen]

"Here is the address of the party. I guess you can finish things up with Jack here. I will go on ahead of you, since I would hate to be late." Heikki replies to Archer. He writes down the address in Helsinki on a slip of paper. "There is no sign of Bonifaz yet, so I may try to find out what happened to him while I am in Helsinki. I ...think we made a mistake not resisting the Hand more, but...what could be done?"

Heikki takes a sip of what remains of his cold coffee. He gives the cup back to Jack, then wanders off alone to head to the party.

[Bonifaz Artz-Lehrer]

"Hmm. It would be nice if I could change as well. I have been wearing these same clothes for over a week...or at least, I should take a shower. Could I accompany you home and freshen up a little. I don't care much what those people think of me, but if I show up too smelly, they might not let me in to their little party." Bonifaz replies to her. His clothes look only mildly dirty, but they do smell quite a lot now. His hair is messy and his teeth feel filmy. He hadn't noticed the state of his appearance until she brought up her's. But, what can be expected? He was detained for over a week now.

[Anneli Laukkanen]

Anneli nodded. "Of course you can." She still felt somewhat guilty for how long he'd been left alone in that holding cell, even though it hadn't been her duty to look after his accomdations.

She grabbed her bag from where she'd left it earlier, before leading Bonifaz out of Invisible Hand HQ, and toward the nearest teleportation booth.

"Do you want to stop at your place and get something else to wear as well? Or do you just want to wash that at my place?"

[Calithin Crest]

"But guy, I look stupid in, like, snow gear. In fact-- everyone looks pretty stupid in snow gear. You're looking a little straight up stupid right now, in fact, in your own snow gear. I'm not sure how I feel about that fact as it relates to the rest of the... Situation."

A genuinely concerned expression comes over my face and I frown intensely as I look at Dinari in his clothing. I am constantly faced with this dilemma during the winter months.

"What do you, uh, ladies think? Sledding? Snow gear?"

[Toolah "Tuvi" Renee]

"I don't need snow gear. I don't feel cold like that." Tuvi replies simply. She wholeheartedly agrees with Calithin but she keeps it to herself.

"Sledding is... interesting. Never gone but I'm game."

[Abigail "Abbie" Applegate]

Abbie walked along the sidewalk, stretching her limbs. She'd had a performance earlier that day, and was still feeling exceptionally lithe and springy. She hummed some joyful, silly tune under her breath. Abbie was on her way to the marx mas party being held for the political rebels at Hilja's house.

If she were a more rational person, she'd probably think that the party was kind of a waste of time...but, because she is irrational, it was something she'd been anticipating since she'd recieved the invite. She wondered who else was there, and what kinds of games they'd play. Abbie loved games, especially board games, even though she usually didn't finish them.

The pink haired woman tapped out a beat on Hilja's front door, followed by two rings of the doorbell, announcing her arrival.

[††Venice "Cephrien" Ashgrove††]

(( To everyone at the Marx Mas party ))

A few footsteps behind Abigail was a young man dressed up in a completely black, suave attire. He looked as if he were dressed for some kind of ball, rather than a simple party. Though the only thing that wasn't taimed was his bob of black hair that hung infront of his face.. though the ignorance of his hair looked to be intentional judging from how well he had dressed himself. He wasn't wearing much of a facial expression as he stepped up to the door, not taking the trouble to knock or ring the door bell, seeing as how the girl before her had already taken care of that.

His chilly black eyes trailed over to her direction and stayed locked on her pale face and hot pink hair.