Diami clung to the top of a very tall ladder that was swaying just enough for her to feel in the slight breeze outside of St. Jude's. In front of her was a very large fir tree, brought in to celebrate the season. She glanced down once and then clung harder. "Remember," she murmured to herself, "it's for the kids..." It had been her mantra for the entire climb.
She took a deep breath and then started yelling instructions to the children who were waiting down below. Small dots on the hard ground below.... wrong chain of thought. For the kids. "Okay, let's start with the popcorn chains!"
A cheer wafted up to her from the ground as children and adults of various species with wings took the ends of strands of popcorn the Children's Ward had strung over the week. Many of the bedridden children were propped up at the windows, cheering on their friends. Even some of the adults inside had stopped for a moment to watch. High above it all, Diami felt like a cross between a flight tower operator and a kindergarten teacher. Without the hazard pay.
"Okay, Jessie, watch how you're wrapping your strand..."
"Deacon! No nibbling! Leave that for the birds to enjoy!" A high pitched reply. "I don't care that you're an Avian, are you going to insult St. Jude's by making them think they don't cook enough good food that you're nibbling on popcorn strands for a Christmas tree?" A mournful reply. Diami sighed. "Don't worry... there's still plenty of leftovers from the stringing for when we're done.... Deacon! Slow down!"
"K'zak, you can start with the cranberry strands now. Get some of the others to handle the orange halves marking the foot-lengths, okay?" Various adults around the hospital had strung the harder cranberries and oranges. The oranges were soon swarmed by a group of small winged beings. Diami could hear the captains of each orange giving directional cues to each gang.
"Where are Gid and the other icicle makers? That stability spell is going to have to be completed soon..."
A pale white face peeked out at her from the evergreen's branches. The frost fae gave a cheery wave and mimed toward the ends of the branches.
Diami nodded exaggeratedly. "Perfect! Scatter them about but not too heavily, okay? We still have more to put up," she yelled. Icicles started to grow on the end of every branch, each one unique and of a different length. Frost glittered on the outmost needles.
She waved toward the windows of the Children's Ward. "Okay, send out the bubbles!"
Strands of wire slowly ascended up from the ground. At regular intervals, globes of what looked to be glass bobbled along. Each sphere caught the light, bouncing it back like a tiny giggle, as the wires were carefully wrapped around the massive tree. Diami made a mental query to Tome, who was keeping watch over the bubble solution in the courtyard. It seemed that all was well, though the contest for the largest bubble was still going on strong. The spell on the solution she had created would keep both the bubbles and the icicles looking as perfect as the moment they were created until the entire tree was taken down.
As one strand ended and another began, Tome sent up a mental alarm. Diami sighed.
"Timmy!" she yelled. "What did I say about hooking up the oxygen tanks to blow bubbles? If these bubbles break, they will spark. Oxygen plus sparks are a bad thing if we want the tree to look pretty. Got that?" She wasn't sure if her tone of voice was making it all of the way down to him but every little bit would help. Little Timmy could come up with all _sorts_ of ideas... most of which were dangerous to little children... and downright scary for the adults in charge. Diami leaned against the ladder for a moment, closing her eyes. The trick was to keep him busy doing other things. That way he wouldn't have the time to wonder what exactly would happen if oxygen bubbles sparked... or if one of the hydrogen tanks was used.... She opened her eyes again, looking down at the activity around her.
All around the tree, beings of every shape, size, and description were bringing a holiday beauty to life. No lights were needed on this tree, for every ornament picked up enough light from the streetlights and the early moonlight to glisten in the night-time darkness. Well, maybe one light.
"Okay, Tome, who blew the biggest bubble? They need to come up here and put the star on!" Diami yelled toward the windows.
A loud cheer burst out of the Ward's windows as Tome came floating up, the winner of the contest and a star three times her size carefully situated on his flat surface. "Yay, Noel!" an elfin child cried out loud and clear. This lead to the children on the ground and who were still putting the finishing touches on the tree to chant "No-el! No-el! No-el!" along with the children hanging out of the windows.
Diami couldn't help but smile. Noel, a tiny little fairy girl, was sitting on Tome, waving at her friends below and blushing at all of the attention. Her parents had enjoyed the sound of the name in English without knowing what it meant. But it was very appropriate, and probably not too unusual. There were only so many names in the dimensions. There was a little boy by the name of Solstice in the ward somewhere...
Tome reached the top of the tree and came to a careful stop. Mentally, he helped Noel lever the star upright and then pushed it onto the top of the tree. The top of the fir swayed back and forth for a moment under the weight.
Diami took a quick breath and whispered "_Luminus_" under her breath. The star slowly began to glow as Tome and his passenger floated over to the ladder. It reached a bright silver intensity, casting a curtain of sparkles over the entire tree and all of its ornaments. Once again, a loud cheer washed over the entire courtyard as the evergreen stood in all of its glory.
Diami smiled down at Noel. "Very good job, Noel! It looks very beautiful."
The little girl blushed at her and waved as Tome floated back to the Ward's windows. The other patients and staff were also returning to the warm indoors, occasionally looking back at the tree, the bubbles and icicles catching the red, yellow, and greens of the stop-lights in an every changing pattern.
Diami was about halfway down the ladder when a voice yelled up at her like a police bullhorn.
"Di-a-miiiiii!"
She clutched frantically at the ladder, her mind racing with what had happened... had Tome been hurt? Someone wanted more popcorn? Little Timmy was loose? She carefully looked down at the ground... and saw a woman in a pink jacket. A fuzzy pink jacket.
She sighed and then yelled down, "I'll be right down, Ambrosia." As she climbed back down, Diami tried to empty her mind of any nasty thoughts that had first popped into her head once she had seen the young witch below. After all, Ambrosia didn't know that she wasn't fond of heights... or that the ladder wasn't exactly rock-hard stable. Diami found that she had become perfectly calm once she reached the ground... for all of the five seconds before Hurricane Ambrosia hit her with a hug bears would have admired.
"Hi Ambrosia," Diami wheezed. "Happy holidays."
"Like, happy holidays to you too, Di!" Ambrosia burbled as she let go of Diami. A faint frown crossed her face. "Which 'ism' are you celebrating _this_ year, Di?"
Diami laughed. "I don't know if they have a name for it yet, Amb. Let's just say, celebrating peace and good will toward all, and leave it at that. Which are you celebrating?"
Ambrosia raised her purse high into the air. "Tis the season... to shop!"
"Ahh, commercialism," Diami said wryly. Ambrosia stuck her tongue out at Diami. At this moment, Tome floated over, Ambrosia's cat Endymon regally walking underneath him. "Hello Endymon."
"Hello, Miss Diami," Endymon replied. He sat down and started to wash his face with a paw.
"Hi-ee Tome!" Ambrosia squealed in delight. "I was just trying to talk Di into coming _shopping_ with us! There's this _fabulous_ dress over at Hampton's that I think she would look just _killer_ in..."
"Amb," Diami moaned. "I don't really think I'm in the mood to go shopping right now..."
Ambrosia stared at her as if Diami's head had just fallen off... "_Di_! New Year's is _right_ around the corner and you need to look totally bewitching for the party..."
"But I'm not a witch, Amb..." Diami started. She stopped for a moment. "What party? I haven't been invited to a New Year's party."
"Yes, you _have_!" Ambrosia laughed. "_MY_ party! It's going to be _tons_ of fun and there are going to be _soooo_ many cute guys there. You never know, one of them might go for you! Now about that dress, do you think black or a dark blue? It's going to be dark..."
Diami rolled her eyes at Tome. She hadn't told any of her friend's about the dance at the last Christmas party she had been to. But it was still a little fun to see Ambrosia trying to fix her up with a few of her warlock friends. Although Ambrosia did seem a bit annoyed when Diami called it 'networking' instead of 'dating'...
"..._completely_ backless! Ooo, you would look _so_ hot in a silver..." Ambrosia sighed in ecstasy.
"Amb!" Diami yelled, snapping her friend out of the daze she was in. "How about we find something to eat first? I'm starving. The tree-decorating took a lot out of me..."
Ambrosia looked up at the tree in its silent splendor. "And it looks _totally_ fabulous, Di! You and the kids did a _fantastic_ job on it, given the magic limits around this place." She looked Diami over critically. "You do look a bit peaky. We'll go lunch and gab and then it's back for some late night shopping!" She looked around the streets. "Now, where was that little chocolate bar we found the last time, Endy? They do _delish_ hot chocolates..."
Endymon looked up and down the street. "I believe the shop is through the door with the holly twined about the lintel," he said in a very proper tone, pointing with a paw at the door across the street.
Ambrosia squealed and grabbed Diami by the hand. Dodging cars, rickshaws and the occasional pedestrian, she dragged Diami across four lanes of traffic, Endymon and Tome following close behind.
"You are going to _love_ this, Di," Ambrosia promised before dragging Diami inside....
...to a view of the street outside a restaurant. Diami blinked a moment, trying to get her bearings. "This doesn't look like a chocolate shop, Ambrosia," she pointed out. She felt Tome slip into one of her winter coat pockets, specially made to hold him out of the nasty weather.
The group looked over at the small gathering of beings across from them. A couple seemed familiar to Diami, though it was still a surprise when the pieces clicked together. "Tasha? And George?" she asked.
"Di!" Tasha beams, embracing the blue-haired alchemist. "I was hoping you'd be here!"
"Happy holidays, Tasha!" Diami exclaims and returns the hug. She looked around her. "Hate to be nosey, but... where is here?"
"Rinaldo's," Tasha explains with a knowing grin. "Rinaldo decided to throw another party this year. 'Cept this time, thing've changed around his place, so he decided to have it -here-."
"Rinaldo's?" Diami echoed worriedly. She looked down at her pocket where Tome was. He reassured her that he was all right, though he was a bit confused too. When they were both a bit younger, Diami and Tome had entered a 'normal' reality. Tome had gone completely silent, a regular nonmagical book. Frightened, she had left the reality and a stunned Tome had regained conciousness. She had avoided traveling with Tome to 'normal' realities ever since, afraid how the reality would change him, possibly permanently.
"And how're -you- doing, Witchie-poo?" she adds with a grin, hugging Ambrosia in turn. "How's tricks?"
"Diami! Good to see you've arrived. C'mon inside - this isn't where the party is." [George says.]
"Tasha!" Ambrosia hugged back. "You would not _believe_ the cute guy who came in the other day. A tad bit older than I like 'em, but he had a really-tall furry friend with him. I _think_ the furry guy's name was Huey... or _something_ like that."
Tasha laughs. "You'll have to tell me all about'im."
"Hiya, Di!" says Paulie. "Welcome to my Pop's Christmas party! Guess you're one-a the ones he caught by surprise again, huh? Dunno if you remember me, but we met at his party last year, at King Kuranes's place."
Diami blinked a moment, remembering. "Umm... you're... Darn, I'm horrible with names but you're the son of the warrior woman with the frying pan, right?"
Paulie coughs. "-Warrior- woman?? Uh... oh! Yeah. The bit with that knight. Heh... yeah, that's me."
Ambrosia sputtered, "You went to a _party_? Without _me_?!?!? What if there had been some totally cute guys there?" She stopped for a moment and looked thoughtful. She whispered to Tasha, "_Were_ there any cute guys there?" She eyed the young Cabrini male for a moment. "Other than that one..."
Tasha follows Ambrosia's gaze and grins mischievously. "A few, yeah. I met one myself, in fact. But it was a Dreamlands thing, so it was kinda hard for things to go anywhere, y'know? Of course, -this- isn't a dream," she adds, nodding secretively in Paulie's direction.
Diami blushed a bit. "I'm afraid I left a bit early from that party, Amb. I... spent most of my time in the ballroom."
"George and Tasha you know, and this is Zach and Gwyrr-a-... uh... *ahem*" He smiles apologetically at Gwyrr. "Sorry. I didn't quite get that.
"-y go?" she [The Mexican Blackbird] finishes, before realizing she no longer is in a cheap room in a low-class whore house, but rather in the street in front of Rinaldo's. Maggie and Maria stand in front of her - Maggie seems similarly suprised, but Maria simply look interested. [Continued from [a href="Trial_of_Joe_Black.html">The Trial of Joe Black]
"And who's this in the swanky jacket?" he adds, favoring Ambrosia with a grin.
Ambrosia smiled, holding out her hand. "My name is Ambrosia." Her eyes half-closed as his hand gripped her's. "_Very_ pleased to meet you."
Maggie looks towards the group of humanoids, and spots Paulie and Tasha. Instantly, a deep blush flushes her normally pale face red, and she smiles. Then she sees the brightly dressed and very pretty young woman shaking Paulie's hand and frowns.
"'Ambrosia'," Paulie echoes, playfully mimicking deep thought. "Now -there's- a name that fits the owner." He gives her a sly wink.
Ambrosia giggles a little. A light blush creeps its way over her face.
A cough down at her feet snapped her out of it for a moment. "Oh, and this is my familiar, Endymon. I call him 'Endy' for short." She went back to gazing into his eyes...
Endymon rolled his eyes as he sat down primly. "I am pleased to meet you as well, young mister..." His voice faltered. "I believe I did not catch your name?"
"Well, how d'ya like -that-?" says Paulie, kneeling to shake Endymon's paw. "-Two- talking cats. I'm Paulie Cabrini, Endy. Nice ta meetcha."
"_Two_... was the other tom I saw a familiar as well?" He shakes appendages absentmindedly.
The Blackbird begins walking towards the group, a frown marring her copper face. "Paulie," she calls out. "What the hell has your father done now?"
Paulie looks up from the cat and, seeing Josefina, stands up frantically like a lounging soldier called to attention. "Miss Guitierrez! Uh, it's like this..."
But before he can finish his reply, still more guests arrive.
Burkett stops at the sound of that voice. If Josefina is here, perhaps he can see if she has anything to tell him that might lighten his mood. Perhaps she knows things he doesn't know.
*****
"Vincent, wake up. I want to show you something."
Vincent opens his eyes and sits up, but reluctantly. "What."
Nathan throws a black cloak to him and strides from the room. "Come on! You've been resting long enough."
Vincent pulls on the cloak and follows his brother outside and to the portal. "What?"
A smile tugs itself across Nathan's cheek. "A party!"
Surprise flickers across Vincent's face, then indignition. "Hey, I don't -want-..." But before he can finish, Nathan has pushed him through.
*****
Brat feels her arm being yanked again. "...stop stop OW!"
The curly-haired girl pauses, giving her a wide smile. "Then get up, already! There's people over there. They look nice."
With her best scowl in place, Brat hauls herself to her feet. She staggers after the other girl, who is already dashing over to the motley group of people. "Oh fer the love of... Millie, would y'just leave 'em alone?" she hollers after her.
Millie's cheeks are rosy as she stops before the small crowd and dips a curtsey. "Hello! My name's Millicent Chantarelle Quarlicious the Sixth. But you can call me Millie, and please do." She beams at them. "This is a party, isn't it? A nice party, right? I can tell."
Pointing behind her, she adds, "That's Brat. She's pleased to meet you, too."
Brat frowns. "Am not."
Millie grins. "Even if she doesn't look like it."
Two men appear directly behind the new arrivals. One is in light bluish robes that look thin and warm. The man is tall and has light red hair that manages somehow not to clash with his clothes. The second is in black, has a decidedly angry look on his face, and seems to have been in the middle of a sentence when they entered. Almost immediately, however, the look of anger is gone, the sentence is left hanging, and there is nothing but emotionlessness (and maybe a tad of resignation) left behind.
Without hesitation, Nathan strides up to the group to greet them. Vincent walks slowly behind him, but stops when he recognizes the girl in front of him. // Oh great.//
Seeing the new young men arrive, Ambrosia steps back a bit and murmurs under her breath, "Like, oh, my gods, check out the _cutie_ in the _blue_!"
Diami rolls her eyes, used to Ambrosia's appreciation of the male form.
At the sudden influx of crowd, the Blackbird stops, her dark eyes flashing her irritation. "Never mind, Paulie, I'm going inside to speak with your padre." She leaves the group abruptly, following the lights into the warmth of the high-class cucina.
"Miss Gutierrez?" Burkett calls after her. But she seems not to hear. He sighs and considers his options. Should he follow, or just leave?
"But... uh..." Paulie stammers, looking from Josefina to the newcomers. Seeing that the former is already on her way, Paulie forces a hostworthy smile for the latter. "Hiya!
The Blackbird leaves the crowd behind, glancing back to see that Maria and Maggie are blending in neatly. As she moves into the warmth of the restaraunt, she notes the assorted patrons near the bar and window. She pauses for a minute to stare at Andre, a small frown wrinkling her forehead, before turning to Rinaldo as he gives a short, bloody woman directions.
Maggie stays behind and allows herself to drift over to the group, giving the younger Cabrini one last look and then turning to Tasha and bringing a smile to the fore. "Hey, Tasha! Is Mr. Cabrini having one of his crazy parties again?" she asks in greeting, eyeing the newcomers with some interest, especially the men who seemed to be arguing. Suddenly her eyes snap back to Tasha, "Hey! And what's with you being... well, you?"
Tasha blinks in surprise, freezing mid-embrace. "What do you... oh! Why aren't I a human flapper or something?" She chuckles at the thought. "The axioms around here changed for some weird reason a while back. As near as anyone can tell, Rinaldo's is an 'anything goes' reality now."
Diami breathed a sigh of relief, glad to have an answer for Tome's continued presence in her mind in the Cabrini reality.
"Dude, really? That _rocks_!" Maggie forgets her earlier discomfort as her now reeling mind contemplates some killer parties. //It's nice to know I don't just look like an ugly girl here anymore. I can look like an ugly crow girl instead!// She can't help but grin to herself at her own thoughts. //Geez, get of the pity pot, Maggie!//
"Heya, Maggie!" Paulie interjects, surprising the younger girl with a hug from behind, his head resting playfully on her shoulder. "Merry Christmas! Have you met Ambrosia and Diami?"
The smile suddenly freezes in place, as a rather delicate pink flush sweeps uniformly up her neck, over her face, and into her hairline. She manages to force out a, "Merry crossmas, Paulie-o," and actually turn her head to the two young women being brought to her attention. //Hold totally still,// she thinks, examining them.
The pleasant good cheer radiating in waves off the Diami girl instantly soften Maggie's heart, the heart she really wanted to harden against anyone so good looking and their friends. Her face breaks into that head splitting grin she's famous for, and she even spares some for the aforementioned looker in the pink jacket. //Hey, she's gonna be just as shit-outta-luck as me if Malody shows up this year,// she thinks with great charity. //And the hell I'm giving up what looks like a potentially really fun friend.//
Diami smiled back, automatically grinning back. She felt that it would be hard not to smile around the interesting young woman. And she just seemed so upbeat...
"Hey there, Diambrosia! I'm Pretty Maggie Money-eyes, but you kin call me Maggie, 'cause most folks don't have enough patience to say the whole thing, let alone talk to me for longer than 10 seconds!" She waves at them cheerfully.
Ambrosia cocked her head to the side. She momentarily studied the picture of Maggie with Paulie hugging her. She nodded minutely, making up in her mind, that this was one of the good ones. A fellow combatant perhaps for Paulie but, like, what else was new. But she had had problems with people skills too... "Really? That happens to me too! And I have _no_ clue _why_!" She smiled, always liking making new friends.
Maggie bites her lower lip into her grin. "I think what it really must be, is people are totally overwhelmed by our _killer_ charisma."
"Oh, and any idea why the Blackbird's on such a tear?" [Paulie continues.]
"Ooh!" Her shock at being touched by the mystical, magical Paulie now completely gone from her mind, she spins around and grabs said Italian's hands. "You mean you haven't _heard_!?" If there was anything Maggie loved truly in life, it was spreading news and, well, gossip. But then again, it was sort of secret what the Blackbird was doing...
"Well, I guess I can tell you guys, 'cause we might need your help," she begins, glancing over at Tasha with bright golden eyes. "You know how Joe Black's all in prison now and stuff? Well, Josie, she's..." here she pauses for drama and to put on a bad Southern drawl,"...fixin' on bustin' him out. So we were in this middle of this high power brain storming session, right?" She frowns suddenly, thinking of Carl and Luminous Frank. "Well, anyways, so she sent me and Maria off to do some important-with-a-capital-m shit, and we end up here. So she was kinda thinking about some pretty serious stuff. But I guess she has to talk to your dad, anyways, so it's all cool."
"A -breakout-?" Paulie says, blinking incredulously down at Maggie. "From -Arrow of Justice-? Wow..."
The crow girl nods seriously. "Yeah, this is some big time shit."
"Yeah, Wow," Tasha agrees with a whistle. "That's pretty hard core. If you and Paulie here weren't vouching for that Black guy, I'd throw in 'insane' and 'very, very wrong', too, but... well, you are. So if I can be any help, you guys just let me know."
Ambrosia's eyes are very wide. "That is just like _sooo_ romantic! Breaking out an innocent man from prison and it's obvious she loves him..." She sighs happily.
"Oh, hey, me too," Paulie adds. "With the big leaguers they'll be calling in, though, I dunno what they'd need an average Joe onna bike like -me- for."
"For coordination! I mean, like, she's trying to get a bajillion different folks, most of who don't know each other, and those that do hate each other, ya know? She is _so_ in need of some messenger/transport kind of folks to get people here there an' everywhere. I mean," and her she grins, "I'm good, but I'm not _that_ good."
"Oh," Paulie chuckles. "Yeah, messages, I can handle."
Diami is thoughtful on the other hand. "If you think he's worth fighting for, Tasha, count me and Tome in too...."
Ambrosia piped, "And me!"
Maggie's hair flutters as she snaps her head to look at the two girls, an extremely birdlike gesture. "Seriously? Oh, man, we can use all the help we can get! And Joe, he's good people, ya know? Like, a total champion for the little folks kinda guy."
"Yeah, Ma and Pop'd do anything for the guy," Paulie adds. "Probably -have-."
Diami thinks for a second. "I think I saw him with your friend Blackbird at the Dreamlands party last year... he looked nice." She frowns a moment. "Tired too... worried."
"That's Joe for ya," Maggie agrees, suprisingly succinctly.
Maria, on the other hand, immediately wades right into the middle of the crowd. Small goosebumps visibly prickle her arms, as a pair of loose over-alls with nothing underneath are hardly winter appropriate. She sits on the ground in the middle of everyone, and leans over to try to touch noses with Endymon.
"Cat!" she exclaims pleasantly, her warm brown skin giving off the scent of coyote extremely strongly for any of those with beyond human sneses of smell.
"Coyote!" yelped Endy, trying hard not to scramble back from the young werewoman's touch. He cautiously touched noses with Maria in a friendly gesture.
Maria, meanwhile, ignoring the other human type people's, is busy trying to pet Endymon, a prospect which seems to amuse her to no end, as she keeps giggling.
Endy, on the other hand, is bearing this with the stoic quality years of living with Ambrosia has given him. He mentally tries to tell himself that he is simply at another of the slumber parties Ambrosia had held when she was littler. He decides to assume the meatloaf position and try to enjoy the petting.
Maria tires of her cat game in a minute or so, and lifts her head, sniffing at the air. She glances over at Maggie, deep in conversation, and shrugs to herself, getting up and trotting away from the group.
Endymon breathes a quiet sigh of relief and makes his away over to Ambrosia's side. He is agast to hear the group planning a break out of a man on trial. "Ambrosia, is this the Joe Black whose trial has been in all the papers?"
Ambrosia looked down at him. "_Yes_, Endy! Isn't it _exciting_?"
Endymon just shakes his head....
The ground shudders as a scowling Carl Carlton leaps through the same interface through which Josefina and the girls had stepped, crouched and primed for action. But when the scene starts to sink in, he straightens, blinks... and rolls his eyes.
"Uh... hi, Carl," Paulie offers. "Merry-"
Carl waves off the greeting, turning and stepping back through the interface with a weary shake of his head. He re-emerges a few moments later behind Lady Farrington and Luminous Frank.
"Hello, everyone!" Farrington calls, waving happily. "A Merry Christmas to you!"
"Oh, yeah," chimes in Maggie, "This is those other folks that were there."
"Paulie, dear! How wonderful to see you again!" says Farrington, hurrying up to give him a matronly hug.
Paulie blushes like a child accosted by a doting great aunt in front of his peers. "Uh, hiya, Lady F. Hiya, Frank."
"A pleasant and wonderous Yule to you!" Frank adds with an elaborate bow.
"Happy holidays to you as well, Mister Frank," Diami replies, remembering Luminous Frank as one of her semi-regular customers.
"Yeah, Merry Xmas, ho, ho, ho, and all that jazz," Carl grumbles. "Listen, kids, this's all real cute, but we're kinda busy just now..."
"Oh, Maggie already told us all about it," Paulie assures him. "Doan' worry about it. The Blackbird's gone in to talk to my-"
The Blessing Way chant echoes into the dawn as Sammy stands and follows his sister out of the hogan. He has finished. The sand painting is no more, and the bad fortune and ghosts will not come to him. Hozho has been restored.
Sam stands, facing east, where all thought begins. She wears only a loincloth, despite the chill of the mountain air that fills the small valley where Coyote Twins chose to build their hogan. Sammy watches the gooseflesh rise across her arms as the wind caresses her. "We're done," he says. "You're clean."
Sam is quiet for some time. Normally, both she and Sammy are talkative, garrulous sorts, but when their fortune brings them home, they drift into the long silences that typifies the Dineh manner. Sammy does not repeat himself, but merely stands behind her in the hogan entrance, watching the sun rise over Sis na'jiin, which the Biligaana call Blanca Peak. They stand watching, until the sun is almost fully above the mountains. Finally, she shivers slightly and turns to her right, facing south. "Good," she says. "That one got ugly."
Sammy snickers. "Yeah. Zombies get ya both ways; fighting the walking dead and touching the dead. Could've been worse, though."
"It has been. And will be again." Sam stands silent, watching the southern skies lighten as the sun rises. She sees a hawk flying low, hoping to catch night creatures that are late getting to bed. Pleasant hunting, sister, she thinks. She can hear the quiet whicker of the mustangs behind her. She and her brother rode up to the hogan nine days before, so that he could serve as hataali for her Blessing Way. She had been down among the dead, and needed to be clean. "I need a break, Sammy."
Sammy rummages in his coat. "Got a Kit Kat in here somewhere," he responds.
"Idiot. I need a rest. I've been hunting too long."
Sammy shrugs. "Kid's not needing us for a gig for a while. He's spending time with his folks, or so I heard. You wanna go down to Jack's 'n' hang out?"
She shakes her head, the quick, single negative of the Dineh. "Something else." She thinks for a while, watching the land wake up. The sun is four fingers above the mountains before she speaks again, "What month is it?"
Sammy seems intent on an anthill that has been built near the hogan. The first ants are leaving it, scouting for the colony. He stares at it for a bit, before responding, "December. Why?"
"December," she repeats. "I think I need some Christmas cheer."
Sammy laughs, his coyote muzzle snapping as his barks bounce off the mountains. "Turning onto the Jesus Road, sister? Whatever will the family think?"
Sam smiles. "Not like that, stupid. People. I need to see people, and enjoy the sense of the season."
Sammy grins at her. He walks around her in a full circle, examining her critically. He squints at her, first with his brown eye, and then with his blue eye. He sniffs her hair, sneezes at the remains of the yucca soap that she had used to clean herself during the ceremony, and then, stopping in front of her, steps close and sniffs under her chin, his black nose barely touching her neck. Finally, he steps back and looks at her, announcing, "You wanna get laid."
Sam slugs him, a fast hard right that lands like a striking rattlesnake. Sammy is expecting it and rolls with it, laughing. "Tell me it isn't true, Sam," he cackles. "Lie to me."
"Asshole."
"Aw, you love me and you know it."
"Look, I just want to spend some time among people."
"So, go down to Window Rock."
"I want to see more than Dineh. We do have Biligaana blood, you know."
"Is that what it was? I thought we were just crazy."
"Fuck you. I'm going."
"Sam." Sammy's tone turns serious for a moment. "I'm just funning. You know that."
"Yeah. You okay with it?"
"Like I can stop you?" He makes a shooing noise with his furred hands, and continues, in a voice like a Jewish grandmother, "I'll just sit here in the dark. Don't mind me."
Sam smiles. "Asshole. I'll let you know if I need you." She turns west and steps forward to the hogan, ducking inside to get dressed.
Sammy watches her go inside. "While you're doing that, I think I'll head over to the Living Room. I think they got a Tivo."
Her voice comes out from inside the hogan. "What do a bunch of homeless guys do with a Tivo?"
"The same thing they did with the flatscreen television, minifridge, and Barcoloungers. Only they don't have to worry about missing the big game."
"Hey, Merry Christmas!" Rinaldo says to the dragon. "Yeah, I remember you! Rinaldo, he doan' forget no fine-looking women like -you-, eh? Ha-HA!" He gives her a merry wink. "An' hey, you in luck! I jus' have-a new washroom put in! Jus' go up th'stairs an' take th'second door onna left. I think the controls are pretty easy, but you jus' call Rinaldo if you have any trouble, eh?" He winks yet again.
Gwyrragedd nods a bit distractedly, then suddenly turns a wide smile on Rinaldo. Even her teeth are coated with a good red and brown mixture, as if she had been eating what she was killing. Either that, or she had been popped a good one in the mouth. "Aye, I'm sure ye'd be pleased to help me oot if I have... trouble," she returns the flirt with a broad wink of her own, and hurries up the stairs.
George makes a low whistling sound, even though cat lips are obviously not suitable for whistling with. "Yeah, that's not the sort of stuff that I like to have to groom myself of. Hello, Rinaldo! I'd ask whose crazy idea it was to have a surprise Christmas party for the entire Nexus, but I know Sophia's way to sensible for this. How are you doing? And how come you broke the portal leading here?"
Rinaldo laughs. "Hey, Rinaldo, he's a pretty smart guy, but he no can break-a -portal-! Nah, use that big metal thing out inna street I buy from Dr. Mysterious. It make-a -new- portals, jus' for Rinaldo's friends!"
//"Dr. Mysterious", hmm? Name sounds familiar...//
//It never ceases to amaze me what that guy can take in stride,// thinks the Blackbird with some admiration as she approaches Rinaldo. //It's not like I have time for another party, but then I _did_ need to talk to him, and this as good a time as any, I suppose.//
"Senor Cabrini," she greets him, taking care to smooth out any lingering irritation that have been ungracefully dumped on the younger Cabrini. "I'm afriad your new... interface?... has caught some friends and I rather in the middle of something, but if you don't mind us using one of your back rooms, we'd be happy to continue it here. That is, if we aren't in the way..." she glances around. "It's about Joe, you see."
Rinaldo's jolly smile of greeting immediately grows more subdued. "Hey, how you doin', Birdie? Yeah, Rinaldo, he show you tha room you gonna use, eh?"
The Blackbird raises her eyebrows in suprise, then mentally berates herself. //Of course he would know that I hardly have to time to enjoy a lengthy party. Still, it's very thoughtful.//
"Hey, Angel!" he calls to the bartender, his "party smile" reasserting itself. "Rinaldo, he got to take care of some business with-a Birdie. You take care-a Rinaldo's friends, eh? S'cuse me, everywan! I gonna be right back!"
He leads her through the bar and the dining room beyond, where Sofia is frantically adding her own touches to the elaborate banquet spread on four long tables. She greets the Blackbird her customary rib-crushing hug, but her smile seems nervous and uncertain. She gives Rinaldo a furtive glance, and he responds with a small nod.
//Now I _am_ worried. What's going on here?// The Blackbird gives Sofia a hard look, but as the older woman is obviously not revealing anything, she follows Rinaldo.
Rinaldo leads her onward through the dining room to the door at the far end, which opens into the small, cozy room in which Joe and the Blackbird had shared dessert with Rinaldo and Sofia on their first 'date'. All is just as she remembers it, except for one thing: The room seems to have picked up a third door after the one from the dining room and the one to the kitchen.
The Blackbird looks around, unsure of what to expect. The third door is only minorly puzzling, considering the wealth of other changes in the restaraunt.
[OOC: Nexus flashback:]
"Rinaldo, he get you a lil' Christmas present," Rinaldo explains, walking up to this third door, "but he doan' wanna tell you before he know if it gonna work, eh?"
"Senor Cabrini, wha-"
With that, he opens the door.
On the other side waits an elegant library decorated in late Victorian style. A window that should open onto the alley behind Rinaldo's -- if there were room for the library itself, that is -- instead displays the lavish Queen Anne garden of a walled estate and the emerald hills rolling down to a quaint fishing village by the sea.
Now silent, the Blackbird stares into the room with her head coked to the side, for all the world like a puzzled dog.
Two seated men look up from a conversation as the door opens. The older man wears a regal Edwardian tuxedo, while the younger (although graying) man wears formal attire from several decades prior. A gold watch fob in the form of a bullet glints from the latter's waistcoat.
Both men stand and smile warmly in greeting. The younger man is the first to speak.
"Hello, 'Bird. Merry Christmas."
Her mouth does not gape open in wonder. Her eyes scarcely widen, and her hands do not clench in startled fists. But suddenly her deep brown eyes are much shinier, slick with moisture. She breathes gently, "Joe?" far too quietly for any to hear, and in two steps she is next to the portal, one hand braced against the upper edge of the doorframe. She turns her head, and the expression on her face is unreadable.
"Rinaldo? Can I... go through?"
Rinaldo, his own eyes looking suspiciously moist, clears his throat. "Yeah, you can go on through," he explains, waving her in. "For you, it's just-a 'nother interface."
"But Mr. Black cannot leave," King Kuranes hastens to add, "for he is Dreaming."
As she steps over the interface and into the tight embrace of her lover, the Blackbird merely stares in mute wonder into his eyes. She lifts one hand to brush lightly over his cheek, the backs of her finger brushing with an imperceptibly soft sound. She is eye to eye with him due to her own significant height, and so she hardly blinks as she rains soft kiss after kiss on his cheeks, chin, forehead, and jaw. Finally, she finds his mouth and loses herself for a moment.
Rinaldo clears his throat again and sniffs. "Rinaldo, he gotta go see to his other guests, eh?" he mutters, exchanging nods with Kuranes before quietly exiting for the main dining room. Kuranes, too, quietly excuses himself from the library with a sentimental smile on his lips.
"I'm so sorry, 'Bird," Joe says when at last he reluctantly breaks the kiss. "Kuranes said something must've gone wrong with that memory blessing he gave you when you didn't show up again. And then something was interferin' with him just drawin' you -back-. I would've had Maggie tell you about my still bein' here, but I couldn't -remember-, dammit! I think it's that goddamn null field of theirs -- I remember everything that happened while I was awake once I get back here, but I can't remember -here- when I'm -there-."
She nods slowly, lacing her hands behind his neck, not yet ready to let go. "I... I don't think there was anything wrong with his blessing, Joe. I think I may have chosen to forget." She sighs softly. "I don't know, because I don't remember, but I might have still been angry... or confused, and thought it best to forget a... dream. I'm sorry, mi amor."
"It's okay, 'Bird," he says, pulling her to him. "You're here now. That's what matters.
"That," he continues, pulling back a bit to look in her eyes once more, "and what happens -next-. Josefina, I need to know what you're doin' about all this. And I -know- you must be up to -somethin'- by now," he adds with a small, fond smile.
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