2019-11-27 - O Christmas Tree

Thanksgiving doesn't seem like long ago and now the reminders that Christmas is fast approaching are everywhere.

Still, the setup is something to behold; August and his team always do good work and the first thing Isabella does upon arrival is gravitate to the scent of roasted nuts and mulled cider, obtaining a small paper bag full of shelled chestnuts and a fragrant paper cup full of the drink. The wet and cold are kept away by what she wears at the moment: jeans, boots, a long-sleeved sweater tucked under a reddish-brown leather jacket, a scarf draped over her shoulders and a knit cap over her head. Her moonstone pendant is at its usual place, scattering rainbow motes against the dark fabric of her top.

The bonfire attracts her attention like a moth to flame, already on the hunt for familiar faces, green-and-gold eyes flitting over one head after another as she passes. She takes the occasional sip of cider, a nibble of chestnut, and the occasional checking her smartphone and firing off of texts, but otherwise most of her attention is at the goings on this evening. There's a curious glance on the display of trees, wondering whether she ought to get one of her own for the houseboat - she's there to buy a full one for the Reede's presently empty Tudor-style residence in Bayside...whatever she does settle upon for the boat, if any, it would have to be a tiny, bonsai-sized one.

Lilith hits every single stand for goodies and drinks because she's all about holiday spirit and doing things the semi-traditional Christmas way this year. It's kind of a novelty for her considering how she grew up here and how she lived when she went away from Gray Harbor. It's not just the ask-and-ye-shall-receieve planning she's doing with Byron for both her loft and his penthouse that has them out for trees in multiple, he also has building lobbies to decorate and she wants the whole experience and ambiance of a holiday tree farm.

That and she's on the lookout for a small tree to decorate for a certain little Mallory she ran into while at the church feeding event so she can grant a wish for the girl to have a whole Christmas tree for herself. In fact, she's thinking about those big eyes again and the pride-bent shyness involved in stepping forward and the absence of the parents, it seemed, when she ran into the little six year old. She's been pretty quiet and reflective in spells ever since that time yesterday, but today? High-flying Lilith enthusiasm has her sheer animation.

Therefore, she's eyeing the biggest trees on the lot and the smallest trees from a distance while waiting in brief line and getting her collective of goodies after arrival. Wearing fitted jeans, laced cute boots, and crop-red cashmere sweater over the tail of a layered white button up underneath, she points with gesture to speak over at Byron nearby, "What about that one for the building lobby that you're in?" Overdo it much, Lilith? That tree is huge, but so is the lobby and so are his pockets. While pointing, she sees Isabella too and waves enthusiastically, suddenly, with a wrapped bag of cookies in hand while waiting for the mulled hot drinks at the stand.

Joey had told Jaime to show up because Christmas trees and so here he is, standing around, waiting for Joey to show up and for them to do Christmas Tree things. He's got on his usual work boots and jeans, long sleeved t-shirt, plaid flannel, and a jacket over it, nice and warm for the November weather. His old beat-up truck seems to have gotten an overhaul and it sounds much more vibrant even if it looks like a heap. He parks and wanders toward the table with the candied nuts, because until someone tells him what the plan is, he's going to find himself some food and a spot by the fire.

Day after Turkey involved not a lot of sleep, but it does mean being up to go shopping at 5 am. It's been full go. This is how he shops when he shops and the Kelly shop, dammit. He's late. He might blame Nicole for it jokingly later, but they show up to find Jaime. An eyebrow arches to Lil and Byron with a wry amusement, "Shit, w're one Poe short of a full team." He hands a hot cocoa to his brother, greetings the familiar, "Suuuup B. Heya Lil." Hey, Joey seems to be keeping good company at least. He asks Nicole, "I dunno where the hell ya'd put it but they might have a skinny one for your place. Jaim, You bring the truck?"

Erin has always loved the Christmas season and she'd started early this year by purchasing a few things in Portland during her free time. Tonight was all for her though. Making each stand she buys a selection from each and stores the bulk of it in the vehicle. She carries the cider and a small bag of the mixed nuts. Some roasted, some candied, the remainder in the truck she had borrowed to get the tree. She mingles a little while just enjoying the evening and the idea of getting ready for Christmas.

Wearing a pair of chinos, or something like them, she has on a sweater over it and an overcoat with a belted waist. It's still fashionable enough but also serviceable for the job at hand. Choosing a Christmas tree.

Several familiar faces are noted and Erin nods to Jaime and Joey. It's more Lilith and Isabella she walks over to though. "I'm glad to see you both."

Thanksgiving had just passed, though even before that Christmas decor was going on sale. Most likely as far back as Halloween. But after the start of the holidays, Byron, like many, is in good spirits despite the remainder of the holiday crush that is now approaching among other Gray Harbor events that will probably ruin the rest of the holiday seasons. Dressed in a green sweater, black jeans and boots, he wears a heavy black coat thrown over it all, his neck wrapped around in a gray scarf.

By now, Byron already has a few bags full of ornaments and decoration hanging on his arm by the time they wander over to the Christmas trees as he's sipping at some hot apple cider. He's been eyeing the trees ever since they got here. There's three lobbies to decorate and his own penthouse apartment. And maybe even the Pawn Shop. So he's in the market for trees and lots of 'em. His chin lifted, dark eyes peering all the way up the length of this tree, he nods, "That could probably work actually. It's huge, but there's a lot of empty space there."

When he spots Isabella, he gives her this easy smile, "Izzy. How was your Thanksgiving?" He knows where she dinnered at. Looks like the Kellys are here too. Interesting. "Kelly. One and Two." He says with a friendly grin. And then there's Erin... "It really does look like the gang's all..." You know what, it's a small town. Nothing to worry about. No, he'll stand here sipping his cider.

Nicole is sipping an espresso, because after that early morning shopping, she needs it. She'll grab a snack later. She's come dressed for the outing in dark jeans, aged professionally by some poor factory worker, brown calm boots, a plaid flannel in cream, gold, and purple, and over it, a fartoolargeforherbutboyitlookscozy purple belted cardigan. Fingerless gloves keep her hands mostly warm, the espresso cup does the rest. Chuckling to Joey she says, "I was thiking... maybe I could get a tiny tree in a pot, plant it after... I would really rather not get some fake two footer piece of crap." She lifts her hand to wave at everyone. "Hey Jaime, long time no see," probably since last evening. "Byron, Lilith, good to see you both."

The wave from Lilith catches her attention immediately, Isabella's expression brightening considerably when she espies her and Byron nearby - only growing when she sees the clear excitement on the other brunette's features, all the more visible the closer she gets to the couple. There's relief in her expression also, at seeing the two of them alright.

"Hey you two," she greets to Byron and Lilith, a lingering grin keeping the pliant line of her mouth curved upwards. "How was your Thanksgiving?" There's a glance at the Kelly twins and Nicole when they arrive, the latter earning a blink - she had just been thinking of her golden-haired schoolmate just two days ago. But before she can call out to Nicole, Erin arrives.

"Hey, Erin, how are you? So am I." Concern slips over her expression, checking her over quickly. "Doing alright?"

Byron gets a smile - at the greeting and the nickname. "It went surprisingly well, actually. A little hiccup or two." For a moment, there seems to be more that she would say, but decides against it in lieu of a festive occasion. "But otherwise, it went as well as it could be for someone meeting the boyfriend's parents for the first time. A little worried now, though. I think they didn't think I actually existed at first but now that they do..."

Her words are cut off when she hears something in the distance, turning her head in that direction. "...did you all hear that?" she murmurs. "I think someone's trying to break the Hammonds' fence on the north side."

"Heya Nicole," Jaime says with a smile, and then accepts the hot chocolate that Joey hands him, tipping the bag of candied nuts in his and Nicole's direction in case either of them wants to share some. There's a nod over at Byron and a lift of his hot chocolate in greeting. Nods to anyone else who seems to make eye contact, but he seems pretty happy with enjoying the warmth of the fire and the goodies he's acquired. "Nope, I brought you a pair of rollerskates and a leash. Figured you could walk the tree home," he says to Joey, deadpan. The fact that the truck is /right/ there says otherwise, however.

Lilith seizes onto that hiccup comment visibly like a dog with a bone to tuck away for later in texts or over coffee and danishes while listening to Isabella answer to the state of her own Thanksgiving, pausing to hip nudge Erin with greeting bump, "Our dinner coincided with... well, you know, but honestly, it was pretty... well, good, considering. It's funny what ends up making you thankful sometimes." Oh, Isabella and Erin and Byron know exactly what she means. After taking a drink and popping a candied pecan over into Byron's mouth, then her own, she stows the bag in her shoulder handbag with the cookies and ornaments and whatever else she's picked up for now to socially nurse the mulled hot drink by the fire with company.

Then when she sees the Kellys and Nicole, she grins and upnods, "Hey. We get two handsome rowdy bastards to drink with today. And you... gosh, it's been a hot minute and your hair is fabulous." Nicole of course, in that comment, given the snaps of her fingers with self-reminding afterwards, "And I'm also reminded that I need a haircut, I'll have to stop in, this mess is getting unruly." It's currently twisted up and out of the way for the time being given the weather, showing some antique dangle crystal earrings that are simple stylish class in lieu of having styled hair to complete her casual chic outfit.

Belatedly spotting Isabella, Nicole too gets a wave before Jaime offers the bag od candied nuts her way. "Ooh! Don't mind if I do..." She pinches just a couple out, popping them into her mouth with delight. After licking the spiced sugar from her fingers, she waves towards Erin, then tosses her hair over her shoulder playfully and says towards Lilith, "why thank you, darling! You should. Come in while I'm working and we can chat while I do the do?" She smiles but something grabs her attention and she is looking off in a couple of directions, not quite sure where she heard it from. Nodding towards Isabella, she says, "something... like a fence anyway... that's.. I wonder if a tree fell?"

Byron remembers everything about his and Lilith's Thanksgiving and what they were pulled into that day. "The day that those invitations came into play? That was our Thanksgiving." Then again, Isabella probably knew part of it, as Byron had mentioned doing all the shopping and such the day before. "Thanksgiving proper, though, was spent serving food for the community." He knows that Isabella was there too, but they hadn't spoken. To this, however, he flashes a smile at Erin, "There was a great turnout for the event, volunteers and guests alike. It's always a good feeling to give back to the community."

To Nicole's greeting, he lifts his chin with a friendly now, "Nicole.." He's about to say more, probably inquiring about the Claytons when he quickly turns to stare off into the distance, to the northwest corner of the property. "I definitely heard the chain link fence being smashed and someone yelling over there." Great... His hands were full, but now that they've just got their drinks and treats, it's safe to get out of line to, perhaps check it out, even though he's already having regrets about it.

Joey shut down the gym for the weekend. You're welcome Erin, you are still getting paid cause holiday and her boss isn't a dick. He greets her with a lift of his coffee cup and a flash of fingers, "Hey, shortcake." Jaime deadpans to him. He blinks. He looks at the truck. He blinks at Jaime. Oh yeah, hilarious these two. "I can work with rollerskates." His hand dips in teh bag to thief the snack. And there's teh dimpled grin at Lilith's comment agreeing, "Seems like ya do."

"Oh sure, I'm doing exceptionally well. Spent Thanksgiving out hiking. It was a lot of fun. I had some leftovers from the event, there were plenty." Erin smiles reassuringly. "Now I want to get a tree and decorate my first home for the holidays. I'm really excited about it."

Looking between Lilith and Byron, Erin gives a warm smile. "I'm thankful you both found happiness. Finally." Only just now noticing Nicole, she smiles, "It's good to see you again. I agree with Lilith, I should get in and get a trim and style. It's probably past time." She hears and sees nothing, but the mention of the fence gets a shake of her head. "Was it a tree falling against it maybe?"

"I'm glad it went okay despite...the thing." Isabella's expression darkens there, and it looks like she's doing her level best to keep conversations light and casual today. After another sip of her mulled cider, as the girls round on Nicole to see her about cut and style, she fiddles with a strand of her hair and squints at it, wondering, privately, if she also should - it's getting rather long.

"I was just thinking of you the other day," she tells the blonde with a quick grin. "Are you still doing your photography? I wanted to ask you about a few things about the subj--"

And then Moose happens. There's a blink and a glance towards the kerfuffle, chestnuts and cider in hand and looking relatively undecided about whether she ought to stay and go. But this is the Hammonds' property - they should be following their directives, right?

"Maybe I'll come help you decorate for kicks if I find time, I'm all about that this year and you have a whole house now to..." Suddenly, as Lilith is speaking to Erin, Isabella goes mentioning Nicole's photography and she looks between herself and Byron for a thoughtful moment, mouth opening with idea. But then people start yelling about a moose, which apparently, she didn't expect given she hasn't heard a damned thing, so occupied with company and the festive ambience of the tree farm.

Her lashes bat a few times fast, and yes, there is a tiny step to try and see in the direction the yells came from, but moose? You don't mess with moose, they're probably scarier than wolves and bears, all told, people that grew up with the woods around them in PNW probably know that. She's not thinking much beyond 'figures' and 'I wanna see' about it, though, if anything is about to get strange, she's pretty unwitting about it. Instead, she stays with edging near Byron and drinks down the rest of her cider as they're instructed to stay where they are while things are handled, "Poor moose is just feeling festive, probably. Can't blame him."

Tugging at Joey's sleeve with her free hand, right as someone comes running and yelling about a Moose like it's a shark in the water at Amity Island. "I have -that feeling-," she whispers, looking that way before the woman comes busting out of a door with a shotgun. "Shit..." Nicole says, eyes wide and looking for a place to run to if she needs. Distracted as she is by MOOSE!, she keeps her eyes looking all around before overhearing Isabella, and Lilith. "What... thing?" she asks, glancing their way. Nodding to Isabella she says, "yeah. Mostly just for myself, but I do some promo shots for local business sometimes. What's uh... what's up?" Yes, she's still on the lookout for the Moose, or shotguns pointed too close to her... and things.

There seems to be a commotion coming from the direction where he'd heard the sounds. Byron can't help but be wary, then again, many of them have gone through a lot recently so any sort of commotion is something to be concerned about. The cry of 'Moose' should have him looking more relaxed and yet that pensive look never leaves his features. A big bull moose was nothing to sneeze at either, so he half turns to Lilith, "Let's find a place where we won't get trampled on."

There's something about this whole that confuses and disturbs him. Heading over to one of the stalls, he looks to be handing over some of his packages, "Can you hold these for me. Put it under Byron Thorne, I'll be back for them later." He's most likely talking to Lilith, but anyone in his vicinity might be able to hear him, "There's a shift in the air. I can't explain it. Like, you know when we use are abilities? It's like that. But different. I don't know how different, but... whatever it was, I don't think it was human. It was something else." Right now, he's trying to survey the crowd, in case he's wrong. Someone... or something just has to stand out and shine, right?

Jaime smirks a little bit when Joey says that he can work with the rollerskates and shakes his head, taking a sip from his cup of hot chocolate. Then there's a call out through the trees that there's a moose and he says "Well shit, I've never seen a moose up close before. That's kinda cool." But he doesn't go running off into the trees to go find it, after all. He's just curious to see if it comes wandering in their direction, so he leaaaans over in the direction in which people ran off to see if he can get a glimpse through the trees.

A moose? Erin hears Isabella and the conversation suddenly ends at the interruption. A moose, despite their popularity in the area, isn't something she's seen even living here all her life. She really didn't go traipsing through the woods often.. except for Thanksgiving this year. She pockets the small bag of mixed nuts then tugs out her cell phone and captures a few pictures without the flash, not wanting to draw attention, but seemingly as curious as Jaime is about it.

Joey looks to Nicole when Isabella asks Nicole about the photography and back to Lilith, "Somethin I need to run by you. You in, Monday?" Then there's that sound and somehow refrains from asking if it's a Bull or a Moose because they're different animals. His brow furrows, "Jaime, don't sound like a fuckin moose." He looks to Byron and nods slowly in agreement. "Erin, Iz? Might want to get back so you ain't trampled." He looks to Nicole and hands her his coffee looking at teh trees curious and follows Jaime to keep his eye on his brother. "You see anything?'

"Would it be alright if I came by at Curl and ask you about it?" Isabella replies to Nicole, though when she grabs Joey's hand, she blinks. There's a half-smile, there. "Besides, there's a rampaging moose. Hey Joey, Jaime." Once there's a break in conversation so she could greet the twins properly, a quick and somewhat wistful smile when she looks at the brothers.

She is quick to follow Joey's assessment of the situation, knowing him to be an able eye when it comes to such things. Reaching out to touch Erin's elbow after she's taken a picture, she will attempt to steer herself and her friend away, if she allows. "I need to talk to you, also, but later," she murmurs. "It..."

And then the tree comes alive and sends someone flying. "What the--!"

"Yeah, Joey, stop on by, we'll..." Lilith starts to reply and follows while knitting her brows and listening to Byron. And after getting a glimpse of what precisely she's staring toward, that seems to make a lot of sense, suddenly, despite the feeling of strangeness he can't quite explain and is trying to verbally compare while laying out the warning. Then she just starts to curse under her breath while in the process of pulling off her shoulder bag to just drop by where he's checking his things. She meant to check it too, just in case, less to keep up with given the warning, but seeing what she thinks she just saw and then... oh hell, all the reaction afterwards, she's both a little afraid, because moose are scary, unnatural moose thing?

Damnit. She's also a little pissy about her holiday ambience being ruined on the flip side, so that string of curses that comes out of her just kind of goes on quietly and innovative with her nerves and frustration, "Motherfuckshitdamnfuckgoddamnwhorefacetreefarmbullshit..." And so on. At least she's quiet about it, though. Then after a clear of her throat, she looks around at everyone else nearby, their immediate surroundings, then she checks her bag with a moment of recovery, "Yes, this under Thorne too, thanks." Then she grabs the hell out of Byron's hand to squeeze when their hands are free and side-eyes him.

Nicole now has two coffees. One in each hand. She doesn't seem to think this is a bad thing, as she idly sips her own while trying to follow the chaos. It is then she sees this beautiful spruce seemingly swat a dude with its branch. Her mouth drops open in shock, asking whoever remains near her, "did you see... was that... did that?" She likely hears Isabella but, her attention is fairly well diverted at the moment. She does give a gentle nod of her head though, her eyes straight ahead for a moment before she watches all the people rushing to gtfo the tree farm. She downs the rest of her coffee, thankfully not scalding hot, and Joey's. Waste not want not, but she wanted her hands free for... whatever she might have to do.

The strange sense that something inhuman is using glimmer has Byron too distracted for most small talk. He's given a ticket in exchange for his purchases but by now all hell seems to be breaking loose. He's trying to find the sou-- It doesn't take him long, once the large tree begins to not only move, but to fling some poor sucker off into the distance. "I'd say 'pinch me', but by now, I'm sure we all know that that's not necessary."

A sentient tree... This is new to Byron, though it shouldn't be. Probably. He feels Lilith's hand gripping tightly onto his, just as he sets his near finished cup of cider down. No need any of that spilling all over him. Out of curiosity, he reaches his mind out to try to gauge the tree's emotions. Was that even possible? Did it think and feel like a person? Then again, this was a Dream, right? So that probably didn't matter overly much.

"Hey Joey, come take a look at this. Somebody's topiary got loose," Jaime says over his shoulder in Joey's direction. Then some dude gets flung down the aisle and he winces. "That's gonna leave a mark." He pops another handful of candied nuts into his mouth and continues to watch this scene unfold as people run about and scream and try to make sense of it all. He doesn't seem to be helping anything, but he doesn't seem to be running, either.

Whoa, whoa, whoa! Erin had snapped a picture of the moose, not moose. She absolutely does not check it yet, she's got cider in her hand and she slips the phone back into her pocket. "What the hell? The tree just hit that man!" What the hell? "What was the swampman thing too?" That gillysuit, that Erin has no clue what a gillysuit is, so it's a swampman!

As Lilith's suggestion of what they'll do later descends into swearing Joey keeps his eyes on the yard and answers, "Dunno if I'll have that much time, Lil." A pine tree swats a dude. "Dude Spruce Springsteen: 1, Hipster: 0. Fuck." He trots to a stop next to his brother, and looks to Nicole, the rest, and the lady on the porch pointing to the tree, "Lady, how much for that one? We'll take it off the lot for ya." Christmas just got better!

Tree monsters are coming and suddenly, the forest comes alive. The scream rakes through her senses like nails on a chalkboard and it's nearly enough to split her ears apart. Her heart starts to race, Isabella stepping back, panic on her face as she instinctively dives into the well of ridiculous potential within her, managing to barely bite back a cry of surprise.

There is plenty of rope around, and the physical world moves to protect her. Coils of it go flying and head straight for the threat - not for the elk, her frantic mind is unable to process what that is due to the scream rattling in her mind, but rather the other standing next to it, with the deadly spearpoint that it could throw, and potentially kill someone long distance. She nearly topples over as she keeps scrambling back, nearly choking on the heart in her throat, but the ropes snap taut and bind it - whatever that creature is, spear and all, before he (she? it?) can throw it on anyone near.

Byron's surrounded by a panic of people, several of them who glimmer. It's difficult to sort out those familiar to him from anyone or anything outside of that circle. There's a crease in his brow as he's picking up all kinds of emotions, some coming from odd glimmer sorts as well. Through narrowed eyes, he looks from giant tree, to person, to... centaur tree thing, to other tree, to person. In his mind, his eyes flickering between all potential players in this, though there's one thing that he's certain about.

Lilith might be holding onto his hand, but his grip tightens on hers and he moves to drag her away, back to where everyone else who are sane are heading,, "Whatever those things are and whoever is accompanying them, they are incredibly pissed off." He takes a quick look back, "I'm picking up, I dunno, there's so many people around to get a good read on anything. Three like us and two... something else. From what I can tell, we're looking at those something else's right now." Was it the tree? Was it the Centaur thing? He's not sticking around to find out.

It'd be real neat if Lilith knew what she might be capable of with all that power to manipulate the natural energies on a base level, to take the trees and animate them from a core in the name of defense or offense or tactics and she does admittedly take a moment to think of that. She thinks of it after the roar sounds and jolts her standing there surveying what they're all suddenly up against, like, what would August do in this situation, seriously? She has no clue, herself, and to be fair? Fire takes down trees pretty well. But there's people everywhere, she has to wait for them to clear out or make sure no one's charging in (there are KELLYS here) before she goes slinging fire.

Besides, she doesn't even really have time to sling anything, there's a split second where the part of her that knows Byron passively senses a bit of his bodily tension nearby during the raging Dryad roar, squeeze on her hand aside. Then she's being dragged backwards and away by the bigger and stronger man while pulling her firepunch that's reactionary reflex and tactics with a whole lot of just in case to try and make the next moment a little more 'hers' with sheer will and a little of that so-called Winslow luck her dad used to talk about in case there's an opening, "Trees burn, baby, it's just..." So many people. She doesn't resist him, she focuses on what she's planning once she has a chance in case shit comes down on the others she knows instead of some randos.

The thing about Nicole is, she isn't fully and completely aware of what she can do. She is beginning to, slowly, ever so slowly understand somethings, like Glimmer. She feels it, sees it, senses it. But what is it, exactly? She's witnessed people do things her rational mind can't explain away.

She's even seen French speaking crustaceans (as some others here have as well).

But most of that she has thought of as dreams. Weird. Dreams.

Surely she can't do anything special....

But she's had some rough times as of late, okay? And she's a little stressed. And all this chaos is making her feel tense and confused. People are running, some away, some towards these creatures, and is that Joey trying to buy an ass kicking tree? And... she's just standing there, taking it all in, her eyes going wider and wider, locking on that HUGE spruce way in the back. It angers her to the point she lifts her hands to her head, feeling a pressure build within her. And all she can do is imagine the branches, the limbs falling off that giant ass tree and leaving it helpless. "Fuck you Spruce! I like Fir's better anyway! Your needles just fall out everywhere!" She screams it, louder than she needed to, and afterwards, just stares, calming down slowly, and feeling embarrassed at her very strange outburst.

It's the sudden /screaming/ of the tree creature rather than the creature itself that assails Jaime's ears and causes him to clap both hands over them. Whatever Joey's doing, he's not paying attention at the moment as he has a bag of nuts pressed against one ear and a cup of cocoa pressed against the other. At least his ears are warm, even if his senses are assailed and he has no idea what's going on at the moment. He just winces and says, "Oh for the love of.." and he trails off muttering under his breath. It's only when that god awful screeching stops that he finally looks around to see what is going on. Then Nicole is screaming at the trees, and he blinks over at her and says, "Uh, tell it how you really feel, girlfriend."

Erin has seen so much lately and tree people and swamp things are pretty damn crazy on that list. The Dark Men though, and their tendrils are still fresh on her mind. "Is that a baby one of the bigger things?" Intrigued by the reactions of those around her, she watches Nicole a moment, then watches Lilith being dragged off by Byron. Erin just.. watches. Not freaking out or anything. Just holding in any sort of reaction at all.

Joey agrees it'd be super neat if Lilith didn't set him on fire today.It's true. Okay Nicole's upset, this shifts his mood slightly not that his face changes much. He wants a tree he can fight. That's awesome. The screech though? That's not alright. "God blessed! On it Jaime. Sec." yeah that noise needs to...stop. He rushes over and bear hugs the 'Tree'. He doesn't punch it but he is going to try to subdue it from beating people up. "Connifer Anniston... or...whatever your name is Piney, I'm a need you to chill out."

She's able to entangle one of the Sylvans with the spear, but another one goes flying. Eyes widen in horror when she sees the knife. "Joey!" Isabella shouts in warning, extending her hand out in an attempt to mentally grab the knife and hold it....but the Sylvan is moving too fast and her control isn't great - the knife slips from her mental grasp.

Like always, Lilith gets this subtle look of annoyance from Byron when she halts him from taking her out of this picture and towards safety, like a normal person, and instead mentions possibly burning down the forest! He knows Lilith's temper, OK. That... didn't sound like a good idea at all. It does cause him to stop and swerve around to regard the places of each and every player still lingering about.

Look, there's Joey being Joey over there, wrestling with a tree creature. That's the first thing he notices and he's almost about to light up himself, if to prevent anyone from attacking his old buddy, But seeing that monster of a tree looming over everyone, he knows that that's the one he needs to take out... or keep occupied. Rather than absorb and build up the electricity in the air as a weapon, he, instead, decides to strike fear into their plant-i-ful opponents. And what do trees and plants fear most? Humans, probably. But then there's fire.

Drawing in a deep breath, he conjures up an illusion that would start as a spark, then quickly grows into something more violent and angry. Fire. Fire threatening to burn down the whole forest.

Lilith is at least not temper lashing today, which actually works to her benefit, perhaps, in a couple of different ways. See, it's not that she wants to be a superhero or retaliate like other times because she hasn't been attacked yet. But they were in the good kind of company she actually cares about and Byron catches onto that himself there on releasing her after initial rational reaction, seeing Joey like he is wrassling a tree and getting charged. Isabella is still back there and Erin and Nicole and... Erin keeps talking about... what?

Lilith remembers watching August in his greenhouse and with her orange blossom plant, making it move. Lilith sees the figure next to the giant dryad when she's able to stop and survey with turning whip snap of realization about taking things out at the root, which would be the animator? Is that how this works when everything's on a bigger scale? She thinks it might.

Suddenly slow motion, heartbeat long thought process turns into a yell and an unleash of air-shimmering and summoned flame to forceful harness while she aims, "There's something animating these! In the back, the little one next to the big one!" She's mostly yelling at Byron, but it might be fortuitous to overhear at some point if it becomes relevant for the others.

Joey is tied up with a tree. Perhaps he's trying to invent Sap Wrestling to compete with the Jello Wrestling coming up. But Nicole sees another ghillie suited figure wielding a rather deadly looking knife charging at him. "Joey!" She calls out, the same as Isabella. "Watch your back!" She stares at the racing figure and, she has no weapon. She has nothing, but somehow, she has to help. She tries focusing her thoughts, willing the figure to drop the knife, to trip, to break their arms, something! ANYTHING! Nothing seems to happen, not for her anyway, so she keeps charging, What she does when she gets there is up in the air, but she is determined to at the very least be an unfettered barrier between them!

Jaime makes his way over to the truck and he opens up the case in the back, getting out his rifle. He's not running, screaming, flailing, or otherwise causing a commotion. He just calmly gets out the gun, checks it to make sure it's loaded, and then he turns to assess the situation, and what crazy beast out there looks like it could use shooting. He lifts the rifle to his shoulder, and takes aim.

Just watching gives a lot of perspective. Joey almost gets stabbed for it so Erin doesn't really handle that very well. She takes several determined steps forward and after a moment her eyes close before she opens them again and they look unfocused. After a moment, she's back and she widens her eyes watching the smaller swampperson thing in the back. "What did I do?!" When she heals, she heals from the inside to out. When she harms, she does the same. Expecting bark and branches, she doesn't find that at all. There were bones in there.. It wasn't a tree baby at all! "Oh God.."

Joey calls out to everyone yelling his name, "I see it! Can't just let go...and get... stomped." He tries to plant his feet but the branches make this difficult to effectively do. The knife coming in makes his back clench bracing for impact that comes close. Too damn close! Ya know, what they don't tell you about is the micro abrasions from the tiny whippy branches smacking him in the face. The big swinging branches? Sure those get mentioned but the pain is really in the scrapey parts. "Jaime..."

Thankfully Lilith pegs the source and Byron sets everything on (imaginary) fire with his mind. It sends the dryads and their cohorts retreating, leaving Isabella to stare after them. They scream though, and it sounds like nails on a chalkboard again, easing backwards even further as she clutches both sides of her head, eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched.

It's strange to see your opponents freak out the way they do without even realizing the why they are freaking out or what they are so afraid of. But Byron knows what the dryads and sylvans see, what's set them off, the expression on his face a mixture of relief and a hint of smugness, seeing how well this all turned out. Then again, the illusion of a fire makes them panic and frenzy, the final scream of one of the creatures is enough to make his blood chill as a flying Joey is tossed out of terror in his direction. The scream was enough to stop him cold, thus keeping him from reacting quickly enough for the boxer and thug to slam into him, cancelling out the illusion completely finally.

Not that most anyone saw it.

"Jesus!" He calls out, only being able to lift a hand to try to defend himself but being unable to stand his ground when Joey comes crashing into him, making him falter back and fall into the dirt and leaves. "You're welcome!" He mutters in annoyance, but obviously, it's not Joey's fault!

There's two different gasps that Lilith makes and both of them probably aren't indicative of anything good going on in that pretty little head of hers as far as more rational tactics and thinking through things goes. She notices after she's unleashed the fireball that Byron isn't right on her anymore and immediately catches her balance to look around and see him standing with lapse of thinking or focus or... the first gasp comes when she notices Joey is flying right at him like a trajectory. The second gasp comes when the scream of terror and cacaphony happens and immediately, she starts to shimmer with reflex heat before she realizes it's a terrified retreat, not a battle call like it seemed to be before.

After putting her hands over her ears at press and staring at the slow-motion crash that becomes a smash, not at all in Byron's favor, her hands snap out and all that heat around her starts to wash into bright collected flame to throw at the retreat with retaliatory ire, but... then she stops and starts to shake out her hands with a few flicks when the fire drops instead of flying out with force, fizzling out before it hits the ground. She's not trying to burn down the tree farm and ruin Christmas for tons of people, afterall, and Byron can take a hit from Joey, they do it in the gym. Just... not like that.

Once she has herself under control, she looks at the tumble of manpile with her teeth bared in wince.

Some time after the whole matter has calmed a bit and Nicole is dabbing at the small scrapes on Joey's face, she has one thing to say. "I think I'll opt for the fake tree this year after all."

The Joey, er, Joey goes pirouetting through the air, though usually it's not laterally, at high speeds, at someone else. The impact sounds the collection of meat and limbs that one would expect. It happens all the time just usually...intentionally. He can at least roll with the impact after the collision to mitigate damage to he or Byron. There's a grunt of, "I owe ya, B...thanks." Erin looks horrified but whole. Isabella and Lilith shaken but not stirred.

Looking to Nicole as she cleans Joey's face he argues picking up the damn knife off the ground, giving the blade a flip to grab the handle in palm, "But that was a really healthy tree. Usually they wilt. That'll survive straight through February." Quality's important. He does relent as it's not his trailer, "Fine, we'll get you a lil Snoopy tree." Looking to Jaime, tired he says, "Think ya spilled your drink. C'mon I'll get us another." They still need a tree for the house. This time he'll let Jaime pick it out.

Jaime lowers his rifle once all is said and done, but only after making sure that there's nothing left that requires shooting, and he then returns it to the truck, locking it back up and then turning to check on Joey. "Nothing wrong with a little Snoopy tree," he says as he comes up on he and Nicole. "Sure, I want to get some more of those nuts, too, and we still need to pick out a tree." Now that they're not attacking them and all.

Erin recruits some help from some bystanders to load the tree parts, "They will decorate my garden. I think they will look great there." She even pays them. After getting some more cider, she does a last minute check on people, then a check on making sure the branches were tied down before getting in the cab of the truck and heading off. Totally not her usual ride but she looks comfortable in the old Ford.

Joey's not light, so the crash did hurt some. But then so did the fall. Pulling himself up to standing, Byron quickly dusts off the leaves and dirt that may have collected on sweater, before checking to make sure that Lilith (and the others) were doing fine. Like always, it's difficult to tell where everyone is and what they are doing in the chaos. "That wasn't so hard was it?" It actually was hard. The ground was hard. The annoyed face goes away and he even grins over at Lil. A skeptical look is given the oddly human-like-limb-looking things and he knows he's not going to touch that. And Joey picks up the knife.

"Let's go pick out some trees.. if you're still up to it." And at this point, Byron is 50/50 about obtaining any trees from this farm. They could go out of town and get some elsewhere! Draping his arm over Lilith's shoulder, a slight relieved, yet somewhat wary expression returns to his face, his brows lifted, as they mosy on down to get a better look at those trees. Hopefully, not the ones that tried to kill them.

Lilith doesn't touch strange things, she learned that the very hard way this past summer. She also lets Byron get up on his own, but once he's standing, she tells Joey with a tactile hand lookover rubbing at the dark-haired man's sweater and torso with needless investigating once the arm goes around her, "... thank you for not breaking my Byron. Glad you're alright, slugger." Then, after dropping her hands and leaning into Byron, she makes a visual survey of everyone else before tipping her head to indicate start with a tree over that-way, "Oh, we're getting trees, damn all. We came, didn't we?"

Then, when they're walking that way, she wonders of him, "Remind me to ask you later what you did to make them start screaming like that. Because I'm pretty sure a single fireball didn't do it." Her brows are knit a little, some of what Byron can do is still a little foreign to her, even though she knows he can project imagery in other circumstances. She hasn't quite witted that might have been a twist on what he maybe did. Maybe he mind screamed at them too! Who knows.

The trees go directly to August's place, Erin had been there a couple of times. All she asks for, for it all, is a heads up if he learns anything.