It's the season to be merry [closed / catch all]

[schachmeister]

Who: Armin, Bertolt, Eren, Jean, Mikasa.
Where: Goldenrod City
When: From now until the end of the year
Summary: Catch all log for a variety of holiday stuff and things.
Rating: Gen
Log:

Please see individual threads.

Comments

EGGS - Jean

[schachmeister]

[Armin carefully, quietly, eases open the door to Jean's room, trying not to make more noise than he needs to. It's still early, after all. The winter sun won't be ready to rise for a few hours still, but right now something Important is happening. With his egg bundled up in a blanket and clutched to his chest, Armin makes his way over to Jean's bed, nearly tripping on at least three carelessly abandoned clothes on the floor.]

Jean.

[His voice is soft and hissed, as if he is trying not to wake anyone else --not that there is anyone else sleeping in the room-- but the way he is shoving and shaking Jean's exposed shoulder makes it clear that whoever he is trying not to disturb, it clearly is not Jean.]

Jean, wake up. Come on, wake up.

[Stop drooling and wake up already! It's time.]

[notvaljean]

[Would Armin believe Jean if he told him there were clothes everywhere because Blitz likes to knock them off the bed? Yes? No?]

Mfuh... go 'way...

[Jean, still more asleep than anything else, pushes crankily at the hand on his shoulder. The action dislodges the blanket, exposing Blitz, who has wedged himself up against Jean's flat belly and is snoozing away. The Electrode opens one eye and glares sleepily at Armin, making a half-hearted crackling noise before going back to sleep. Is this really necessary, Small Yellow? Is it really?]

[schachmeister]

[Next he'll say Sandy Claws came and left them all over the floor.

Armin adjusts the blanket when he hears Blitz's half-hearted crackle, partially exposing the egg he is carrying. Peace, Blitz. You wouldn't zap a guy carrying an egg, right? Armin hopes he won't at least.

Either way though, Jean is not getting peace. Armin shakes Jean's shoulder a few times more, before he bends down, putting his mouth close to Jean's ear.]

Shadis is coming.

[notvaljean]

[This Sandy Claws guy sounds awfully suspicious, although he could, in theory, lower their heating bill. Jean wouldn't be entirely opposed to a visit from Sandy Claws.]

[For once, appealing to Blitz's better nature works; his eyes widen when he sees the egg, and instead of crackling, he decides to start helping and nudges Jean in the belly. Come on, get up, something is happening with the eggs!]

[Neither shaking nor nudging is enough to get Jean up, until he hears a whispered warning in his ear. Shadis. The scourge of the 104th, the man who taught them all the meaning of utmost fear. Jean's eyes fly open, and he jerks into a sitting position so quickly that he nearly headbutts Armin.]

What! Where!

[If Armin is watching, he'll see Blitz roll his eyes before gently head-butting Jean's side again.]

[schachmeister]

Good, you're awake.

[There is absolutely not a shred of remorse in Armin for scaring Jean the way he had. Some things had to be done. Ends and means and all that. And right now, he's here with an important purpose.]

Look.

[His voice is a little breathy, an odd mixture between excited and nervous as he adjust the blanket again so Jean can see the crack running down from the top of the egg Armin is carrying.]

It's starting. How is yours?

[They had received them at the same time, after all, and had walked roughly the same distance. Maybe Jean's will be ready to hatch too?]

GIFTMAS - Bertolt

[schachmeister]

[It is the season. Apparently. Armin is still fairly iffy on the whole meaning of Christmas and how it is supposed to be celebrated, but it seems that one key part is giving gifts to the people you care about. Luckily, he has a good few of those here in this place.

First up is Bertolt. Luckily he's not hard to find, not with how he literally sticks out. Armin approaches him, looking just a little embarrassed and excited, clutching several wrapped packages to his chest.]

Ah, Bertolt. Do you have a moment?

Re: GIFTMAS - Bertolt

[bertall]

<sub>[Between his height and the fact that the hotel they were staying at was pretty close to some nice little cafes, Bertolt really isn't hard to find.

Especially when one of those cafe-slash-bakeries put out a fresh batch of... well, something. Bertolt didn't know what they were, but they were good. He'd have to bring some back with him for sure. He even managed to find a cleared off bench nearby to sit at and watch everyone walk by.

When he hears Armin behind him, Bertolt jumps a little and nearly drops the odd little cake he's eating, but he quickly recovers. It's a good thing, too, because that would've been a travesty!]</sub>

Ahmuh-- _{[Pausing to swallow, Bertolt sits up a bit and offers up his little discovery of the day.]} Try this and tell me what you think first. S'got this stuff called pepper-mint in the frosting.

[schachmeister]

[Armin obediently opens his mouth to taste the morsel of food. A quick chew and a swallow later, he's quiet for a moment, pondering the flavour.]

It's really nice. Sort of rich though. I'm not sure I could eat a whole one.

[Almost all the food here is very rich to his tastes, loaded with fats and sugars and so many spices. It had taken some getting used to. And, quite honestly, it's a miracle none of them are fat and round like pigs yet with all the good eating they've been doing. Armin knows he's gained a few kilos, but he was pretty skinny to begin with.]

[bertall]

It's got a lot of chocolate in the middle, but it's a little bitter.

_{[He's not sure if he could eat it straight, but everything else sort of balances it out. He definitely prefers the sweeter things by a mile.]}

They've got a bunch of other stuff too, but these were really fresh so I thought I'd get some.

[schachmeister]

Sasha probably could've eaten a mountain of these.

[It's true. If she was here, Sasha could've devoured an entire mountain of cakes and then gone back for seconds. No regrets.]

If you don't mind me interrupting [You exploring food is grand, Bertolt, but it isn't really Armin's area of interest] there is something I wanted to give to you.

GIFTMAS - Eren

[schachmeister]

[Light has only just barely broken outside, the dark grey skies tinged with a little pink. Even though without Shadis they've all started waking up later and later, today Armin is up relatively early. It's strange. Despite never having celebrated Christmas before and still not entirely understanding what it is all about, he's still a little bit excited over it. It was a good excuse to give gifts to his friends.

Rolling onto his stomach, Armin fishes inside of his pack for the pokeball he had hidden in it far down below. There is a small and neat E.J. pencilled onto it just shy of the button. There is a second ball in there too, with a neat M.A. on it, but he'll give that one to Mikasa later. Eren is first.

Armin quickly makes his way across the room --floor cold, floor cold!-- dumping himself onto Eren's bed. Eren should exist somewhere underneath that pile of messy blankets.]

Eren, wake up.

[Or don't and Armin will steal all your blankets and maybe your pillow too.]

[greatrage]

[Sleeping in is such a blessing. Even after months here in this beautiful, wonderful, perfect place, Eren still feels a little guilty sleeping in past sunrise. The military really pounded that kind of thing into you! But even the mental ghost of Keith Shadis and the new excitement of this "christmas" thing couldn't keep Eren awake.

The other thing Eren did differently here was the amount of blankets and pillows he slept with. In the military, they had one of each. Back home, Eren also had Titan powers to keep him warm (running hot, actually, and slowly sapping his life away... little does he know that, now). But here? No Titan. No limit on blankets and pillows. So he piles them high, so high that he's barely visible in the nest. Just a poof of brown hair. Hildegard sleeps on the bed near him, her head tucked under her wing. Next to her is a ball of black fluff -- the still unnamed Zorua that followed Eren home from the Ilex forest. Eren's Pokégear rests on the bedside table between his and Armin's beds, and the screen shows a few little "Z"s, indicating that Zappy is indeed home.

... does that little jerk even have a pokéball?

WHUMPF!

Eren grumbles, pulling the covers around himself. Hilde and the little fox look up. Said fox wags his tail. Hello!

From the bedside table, the pokégear beeps to life with an electronic yawn]

Wake up, dummy, bzzzrt! It's Chrizzzztmas!

[schachmeister]

[Armin reaches for the blankets, trying to peel them away like layers from an onion. Normally, he's okay with letting Eren sleep in, but right now, he wants to see his face when he receives his present. Besides, what good is having a best friend if they can't pester you awake on a nice day like, apparently, Christmas.]

Come on, Eren. Wake up or I'll give your gift to Jean.

[Low blow? Yes. Absolutely. No regrets, no remorse.]

[greatrage]

He izz the laziest human larva I've ever seen! [thank you, peanut gallery. The pokégear whirrs to life and starts floating nearby, as it is wont to do when Zappy is inhabiting it.

Which he usually is.

Eren grumbles more and holds on tight to his blankets. Just a few more minutes, Armin, he was having such a nice dream...



I'll give your gift to Jean


Eren suddenly sits up straight in the bed. If Armin isn't quick, and has his head in the way, there might be a collision. A head on collision, if you will.]

I'M AWAKE!

[and sporting the most glorious bedhead ever]

[schachmeister]

[Armin jerks his head back just in time, grinning just a little mischievously. It's a rare expression on him, but Eren brings it out in him.]

Good morning, Eren.

[The glory of Eren's bedhead is only matched by the glory of Armin's bedhead. There is not a hair in place here.]

BERTDAY - armin

[bertall]

<sub>[For once, Bertolt was up early. A brief, groggy glance at the clock on his pokegear even confirmed it - 5AM, December 30th. It wasn't the way he wanted to start today.

However, no matter how much he tried, he couldn't fall back to sleep. It's fortunate that the hotels allow them all to have their own beds, because if they were all in the woods in their tents, he's sure to have woken Jean up with how much he tosses and turns. Half an hour later, Bertolt makes a soft noise of frustration and he pulls himself out of bed to find his shoes. Before he leaves the room, Bertolt hesitates, his attention fixed on his thick coat hanging door, but he shakes his head and shoves his hands into his pajama pockets instead. He's not going outside, not right now.

When he shuts the door, he can't help but wince at how loud it echos though the hallway. Hopefully it didn't wake anyone up.

It's fortunate that this world integrates with Pokemon like it was second nature, too - in the center of the hotel, just on the ground floor, was a large, circular room not unlike a park for trainers and their partners to hang out and relax. It's here that Bertolt settles in under a small tree and calls his Growlithe out into his lap, immediately moving to scratch him gently behind the ears. Maybe if he spends some time with his own thoughts and without Jean's snores, he'll be able to sleep better later.]</sub>

[schachmeister]

B'tolt?

[Alas, it does seem Bertolt woke one person with the door. Armin had stumbled out of bed just in time to see Bertolt move down the hall, and after debating himself for a few moments, he had grabbed a vest and his new little litten --he couldn't just leave it, what if it needed him? what if it sneezed and set everything on fire-- and followed Bertolt. It's rare for Bertolt to be up this early by his own accord and it makes the part of Armin's brain that isn't screaming for sleep worry.

He manages to find Bertolt down in the garden like room, cradling his litten to his chest and trying to hide a huge, jaw-cracking yawn behind one hand.]

Why you up?

[bertall]

<sub>[Bertolt flinches, jostling Marcel a little in his lap and causing him to lift his head for a few moments. One or two curious sniffs to the air, the growlithe plops his head back down and stretches his front legs out with a content little dog-groan. Sorry, buddy!

Giving Armin a bashful look before dropping his eyes down to his lap, he doesn't answer him right away, taking the time to think carefully. Finally, he settles on just telling him the truth - he doesn't have to dance around the subject with him, right?]</sub>

I couldn't sleep. I, er... Sorry if I woke you up.

[schachmeister]

s'okay.

[Armin will live. Sleep-deprived and maybe a little grouchy later on, but he'll live.]

Was it-- was it a nightmare?

[Armin's face is full of sleepy concern.

Armin knows they all have them. The people who deny it are simply liars. And normally Bertolt would have Reiner to help him with those, just like how he helps Eren with his nightmares and Eren helps Armin with his own. It must be hard to deal with them in this place, now that he doesn't have Reiner to help him.

(which makes a small and tired part of his brain wonder how Jean does it)]

[bertall]

No. I don't remember having one, so I don't think it was that.

<sub>[His expression shifts to something a bit unreadable as he moves his hands on Marcel from his ears to rub at the back of his neck, fluffing up his fur in the process. He's had nightmares before, yes, but this was different.

Something had felt off to his system and it had woken him up. After he looked at the time he understood why.]</sub>

M'pretty sure I think I know what it was, but it's... _{[Bertolt's brows furrow and he shakes his head.]} It's a little dumb.

FIREWORKS - Jean

[schachmeister]

[Armin really had made it far too late. Still, for as long as they are in Goldenrod, he really wants to take advantage of it. The library in town in huge, far bigger than the ones in the other towns they had visited, stocked to the brim with so many books he wants to read, books about pokemon battling, about the world, about the history of this place. He had stayed right up until the kindly librarian had chased him in an almost teasing manner, wishing him a happy new year.

New year, huh?

At the first crack and the green light spilling across the sky, Armin jumps, ready to-- yes, to do what exactly? He isn't really certain. All he knows is that the sudden noise and light has set him on edge, has him feeling trapped in his skin. What's going on? Is something wrong? Was the peaceful nature of this world really only temporary as he had suspected in his darker moments?

But. No. No, despite the bangs and lights flashing across the sky, everything seems to remain calm. The people that are on the streets don't seem bothered at all. If anything, some of them turn to admire the lights, softly ooh-ing and aah-ing and... celebrating?

Shivering in a way that has nothing to do with the weather, Armin turns uncertainly, watching fireworks arc across the sky, bright as signal flares, the smell of gun powder sharp on the air.]

[notvaljean]

[Jean is hanging out in his room, doodling in the book Armin gave him for Christmas, when he hears the cracks outside. He flinches away, neatly rolling off the bed and ducking down behind it, dislodging Polo from his lap and startling Blitz, who had been sitting beside him. He crouches on the floor, his heart pounding and his breath fast in his throat, waiting for the next disaster to happen. He half-expects the ceiling above him to cave in, and giant, stupidly grasping fingers to spread out above his head.

The only thing that happens is Blitz and Polo peeking over the edge of the bed, clearly concerned.

From the window, Blume starts making noise, and Holly, who had been in the room with her best friend, joins her. They don't sound distressed or upset, and when Polo tumbles off the edge of the bed, Jean catches him with one hand. He looks over the edge of the bed, and sees the bright lights in the sky. Flares... they look like flares.

After longer than he'd like to admit, Jean creeps up to the window, Polo cradled to his chest and Blitz rolling at his side, and looks out. The sky is alight with flares, loud and crackling, and Jean catches the first whiff of gunpowder. He averts his eyes, not wanting to see it, and then spots Armin. Why is he outside? Why is he just standing there, when the sky is falling in around them?

Idiot.

But Jean can't just leave him out there. He leaves Polo with Blume and Holly, and takes Blitz with him as he creeps outside, hugging the side of the inn until he's directly across from Armin.]

Armin. Armin, hey!

[Pay attention, dummy! Get yourself back inside!]

[schachmeister]

[Armin jumps at the sudden sound of his name, whirling around.]

Jean.

[Don't-- Don't scare him like that! It feels like his heart is going to collapse in his chest now, thudding hard behind his ribs.]

You startled me.

[notvaljean]

Get over here, dumbass!

[Jean gestures frantically towards the building. Fuck, did Armin freeze up again? And there's no Reiner here to save him this time.]

Get out of there!

[schachmeister]

[Not frozen up, not this time.]

It's okay, Jean. I don't think... it's something bad.

[Strange as that sounds.]