And We're Gonna Pull Through [Bendytimed to After System Shock]

[iselldrugstothecommunity]

It's probably a solid two weeks before Christmas is due, assuming that their Thanksgiving dinner was on schedule which, given the nature of the ship, it presumably wasn't. But the robot attack was terrifying and disheartening and exhausting, and Howard wants a holiday, so according to him, it's Christmas. A nice, relaxing break from things trying to kill them.

Aside from this strand of Christmas lights doing its damnedest to strangle him, that is. Howard's managed to get it around his neck, and if it weren't for the fact that finding light strands is hard enough on Stacy, would be cutting it off with scissors.

He's still a bit beat-up, bandages around his head and his knees and one looping around his torso, under his shirt, but thanks to the healers and medical technology on Stacy he's not in much pain. His foot being in a brace is the worst of it.

He's managed to salvage an old plastic tree from a run-down building. A few packets of hot cocoa from the Warehouse sit on the table. Flossy Raptor is downstairs and dressed in a Santa hat and bizarrely, a feather boa in a shade of green too lime-ish to be Christmassy. A clunky-looking dog-sized gift for Zouichi is by the couch, wrapped in tin foil and newsprint, and another is on the table for Karis, although it's unwrapped. No one else quite makes Howard's list this year.

He pulls his way out of the tangle of lights. Christmas numero dos sans his family. Christmas numero uno on Stacy. He finds he's less okay with the former than he was last year, but more okay with the latter than he'd presumed.

Anyone who walks into the kitchen of the Susono Inn will be greeted by the rare and unusual sound of Howard humming. Go Tell It On the Mountain, actually. He even sings the section of the first verse that he vaguely remembers under his breath.

"Go tell it on the mountain, up over the hills and everywhere, go tell it on the mountain, tell them something, I don't care."

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Words to live by," Zouichi said, patting Flossy briefly on her fuzzy snout. By now any damage he might have sustained from the attacks had healed completely, leaving him free to rummage through a box and take out a glittery fake icicle.

Some of the glitter came off on his glove.

There were several presents from Zouichi under the tree and one of them was for Howard. For some reason, it was wrapped in cloth rather than in paper; it was also relatively compact and felt metallic under the wrapping. Hmm. Maybe a tin of some sort?

"Is that a Christmas song?"

[kaya-waterwave.livejournal.com]

Kaya needed a break. Between the attack, losing Zhin and finding out that Negi, the only little brother she had on the ship was gone, it was important for her to try and find things to make her happy. Sure, there was Billy and Ronnae she was staying with, and seeing Nokosi anytime was good, but her heart had been feeling heavy nonetheless.

She took the wandering the ship, as she was inclined to do a time like this, and was happy to find an inn she hadn't been to before, and more than pleased to see Howard, although her first instinct was to make sure he was recovering comfortably.

"Hey," she greeted him, a small smile on her face. "Sounds like you're keeping busy. It's...Christmas time, right?"

[teethofneedles.livejournal.com]

Karis sauntered in. It really was a saunter instead of her usual sullen half-shuffle. She was in a (relatively) good mood. The robot outbreak had given her a chance to do what she did best: break things. She had a few more nicks and bumps, but considering her current state of being, that wasn't really all that troublesome. When she spotted the tree and the lights, she froze for a moment, eyes narrowing.

"...is it that time of year already? Damn."

[theboywhodied]

When Cedric sees the familiar lights appearing on the house, he knows what Howard's up to. He also knows that it's time to quickly round up some presents! He scampers away, hopefully without being seen, and returns a few hours later with a lumpy green bag.

He's humming a familiar tune when he slips inside the inn, piling things around the tree. What a lovely day this is going to be, a far cry from the past week.

((Threadhopping's cool! Cedric has presents for all the people and pets he knows, go wild.))

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Oh maaaaaan, home sweet home... nice to see ya made it, buddy," Allenby slumped against the doorway and gave Howard a little wave, her eyes taking in the bits of decorations and the continuing struggle with the string of lights, along with the bandages on her roomie. She had some of her own, of course. Laser blasts could be pretty painful.

The song wasn't familiar to her. Actually, Howard humming wasn't familiar and none of the decoration stuff was either. "So what are you up to now?"

[futureisclear.livejournal.com]

Ildraniath does not believe in knocking. Knocking is for people who are Not Eldar. So she simply glides into the kitchen (well, really, she's been poring through the inn on her own, the kitchen is just her latest stop).

"I'm looking for Zouichi," she announces in a cool, collected tone of voice. The kind of voice that people use when they're being polite because of social norms, not when they really mean it.