2021-12-12 - Carolers go boom

It doesn't matter that Gail shines - or that she's lived in Gray Harbor for almost her entire life. She's a Christian through and through. So she throws herself into Christmas with all of the energy that a good Christian can. There's a group of old women and the assorted children, grandchildren, and person at the wrong place and time decked out in white fur rimmed hats made out of red velvet and winter clothing. Singing loudly by the town Christmas tree. IT's all a beautiful heartwarming - if not totally in-tune, kind of scene.

Alexander has a very...complicated relationship with religion, Christianity included. But he does enjoy Christmas in his own way. And as he's making his way home on a cold winter day, he hears the sound of caroling, and can't help but change his course to intersect with the Christmas tree. He's a slumped sort of figure in his coat, but he's humming with the carols that the group is singing, and watches with a pleased smile just daring to change the lines of his face.

Finch de la Vega, the town's future most likely homicidal maniac (Thanks Curse!) isn't here for long, but she is heading towards the singers. She's just come to deliver hot cocoa, courtesy of her Grandmother, to the carolers. She is also not solo. Her father has come with her, driving her in his truck, no doubt lovingly badgered by Granny Dove to assist his spawn in this delivery mission.

"It would be good for the Chief of Police and his daughter to make a show of being in the holiday spirit!" the elderly Celaeno noted. And so here they are, the two least likely souls to deliver Christmas Joy to others, doing it nevertheless.

Finch is wrapped up in a sweater, a hoodie over that, and a wool coat over that, with a knit hat crammed down over her long dark hair, jeans, and winter boots. She carries a cardboard box, the sort canned goods come in, full of lidded to-go cups that smell divinely of hot cocoa.

Badgered is certainly right. But Javier Ruiz de la Vega is many things; a man who defies the wishes of little old ladies is not one of them. He, presumably, was raised to respect his elders. So the Chief's close on his daughter's heels as she marches off on her mission to deliver Christmas Joy. Hands stuffed into his jeans pockets, shoulders hiked up to his ears. He's wearing a padded vest of some kind over top of a faded black hoodie, and his everpresent baseball cap jammed onto his head.

"I'm not singing any fucking Christmas carols," he grunts as he pulls in alongside Finch, breath fogging the chill air.

Joe's not looking Christmassy in the least. The closest thing he manages to a touch of color is the white scarf wound around his throat. Monochrome in general - black watch cap, black jeans, black boots, gray bridge coat. But cheerful enough, even faintly sly, with that look in the blue eyes that means it's very likely indeed he's on something. He comes wandering up to take Javier's baseball cap right off his head. "What'd you do with the one I bought you at the Grand Canyon?" he wonders.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"
Peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled
Joyful, all ye nations, rise,
Join the triumph of the skies;
With th' angelic host proclaim,
"Christ is born in Bethlehem."
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

The singers continue even as Gail splits off at the sight of Finch and her act of mercy and love. She is BEAMING at Finch. "Bless you my dear, it has been mighty cold today and we said we'd be here for at least another hour." The beaming is then turned on both Joseph and Ruiz, "You can't know what this means for us. " Sincerity drips off of her.

It is Alexander's favorite carol. His whole face lights up, and he sings softly along with the hymn, largely unheard under the chorus.He's picked Gail out of the group, and his eyes follow her when she breaks away, picking out the three she's going to. There's a moment of brightness, which then shuts down. Alexander sidles sideways, putting the bulk of those watching between himself and the little group. But he doesn't leave. He really does love the song, and his attention returns to it.

"Neither am I," Finch retorts to Ruiz with a smirk. "That's why I deliver the cocoa, it's my contribution without having to sound like a cat in a blender. Iggy is the musical one. I am the music listener." She shoulder bumps her father. "You can pass out the cups, maybe no one will make you sing then," she suggests as they trudge through the snow to the festive folk.

Joseph's appearance has her squinting at the man. The three of them look like Goth Emo Christmas. Maybe. If there is such a thing. "Hey Joe," she greets, though she gives a squint at the look in his eye and exchanges a glance with Ruiz over it, before turning to the carolers.

"Mrs. Leigh!" she calls out to Gail with her 'best behavior' smile. "My Gran couldn't make it today, but she sent us along with some cocoa for all of you! Homemade even!" She nods to Ruiz to start passing them out, as she holds the box, to save himself.

Benedict is out for a late night run in the park, because he's the sort of person who goes running late at night. The sound of carols gets his attention, though, and he slows down. Then stops entirely. And then begins to make his way over to the group.

Javier's in the midst of digging out his pack of cloves when Joe comes sneaking up beside him, and pulls off his hat. Fortunately for the sailor, his boyfriend saw him coming, and merely grunts at the act of brazen theft. "I wear it sometimes," he protests in a mumble, and shoves the clove between his lips before lighting up. To Gail, "This is all her doing." A nod to Finch. "I only got roped into driving her over."

And then, apparently, he's passing out cups. So, sighing mightily, he accepts a stack and gets to it.

"You poor thing," Joe commiserates with Javier, though there's that distinctly mocking glitter in the blue eyes. Someone is definitely feeling like trouble. But he only perches the worn ballcap atop his own hat, and snags some of the cocoa to help handing it out. Humming to himself under his breath, between greetings for the carolers. Apparently he doesn't intend to be dragged into the actual singing, either.

The singers continue -- even as those cups begin to be offered to them -- they face forward with an extra unnatural stillness as the words continue to pour forth.

Christ, by highest heav'n adored:
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Late in time behold him come,
Offspring of the favored one.
Veil'd in flesh, the Godhead see;
Hail, th'incarnate Deity:
Pleased, as man, with men to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel!
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

It makes Alexander's movement fairly obvious - being the person scooting in that pool of musical silence. The tree behind them begins to glow as if there's a fire deep within it, a natural light that can't be explained by the electric ones hanging upon the bough.

"Bless your soul anyway." Gail declares to Ruiz, "A good deed is a good deed." She reaches out to pat his arm lovingly before turning - and frowning. That's odd. Her singers should want the coco.

Finch smiles at Gail. There's usually something...missing... from the girl's smile, like it's put on for display, but never quite reaches her eyes. Tonight it seems fairly genuine. She didn't have Ruiz in her childhood, so these sort of holiday moments mean a lot to her now. "You know my dad, right? Chief de le Vega?" she asks the older woman. This parentage thing was only recent news, two years maybe? Time has been so odd in this town. "And Joe Cavanaugh, our very own resident former astronaut?"

Alexander doesn't like standing out, and so his movements become more reluctant, even as he continues to dodge the cocoa bearers. He looks around, frowns, and then hunches his shoulders, shrinking in on himself. He's still singing. It's a good song, and he refuses to give it up. But his eyes are darting this way and that, edging closer and closer to the edge of the group while avoiding the Chief and his crew, ending up near the approaching Benedict. That brings him to a halt, and he just sort of...wavers in place, like he's about to break and run but just hasn't decided in which direction.

Should have run while you had the chance, Alexander. "Twice in one day!" Benedict greets, with that beaming smile. Embrace the awkward. Lean into it. That appears to be his motto. "This is a lovely surprise to run into. Literally. What's going on?"

Javier's doing his best to ignore the caroling, it seems, as he tries to offer styrofoam cups of hot chocolate to the stony-faced singers. To little success. "The hell you figure's up with them?" he mutters to Joe, dark eyes on Finch like he's trying to keep a bead on her.

Poor Alexander. Joe has spotted him. And he's just turning that way, like he intends to track down the investigator, before his old job title's being mentioned. For a moment, he looks genuinely startled, like he'd forgotten that's what he used to do...but luckily for Alexander, he's genuinely diverted, turning back to Gail. "We've met," he says, with that lazy smile. "Always a pleasure to see you, ma'am," Benedict, however, distracts him again. The sailor's frowning at him thoughtfully. "I don't know," he says to Javier. "Looks like she's tryin'a make nice?"

"I'm sorry," Alexander mumbles at Benedict, clearly bewildered at the beaming smile. He tries to return it, at least? Although it looks more like a smile as described to someone who'd both never seen one and was very, very drunk when he heard about what it was supposed to look like. And because Benedict asked, he says, "The carolers are singing in creepy harmony and are probably possessed by something. Or not real at all. It's okay. It happens." It's at least distracted him from trying to dodge Joseph.

Seeing the refusal to accept Granny Dove's cocoa among the carolers, that seems to tweak Finch's bad vibe senses. She steps closer to her father, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore," she murmurs to him under her breath.

"You been drinking, Alexander?" Benedict's tone is teasing, but he might be serious given the weird attempt at a smile he got in return and the conversation about the carolers. "I doubt they're possessed...probably just really practiced, to hold the harmony. They definitely look real." He continues to stubbornly resist the weird. Focusing on Alexander, however, stops him from noticing Joseph is staring at him.

Otherworldly voices rise above that of the carolers, and if they look hard enough, eventually they'll pinpoint that the voices are coming from the tree itself. The glow gathers strength until it's a beacon of light almost blindingly bright.

Hail! the heav'n born Prince of peace!
Hail! the Son of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
Risen with healing in his wings
Mild he lays his glory by,
Born that man no more may die:
Born to raise the sons of earth,
Born to give them second birth.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
"Glory to the newborn King!"

At the last word the tree promptly explodes into a fireball of branches, ornaments, tinsel, and assorted bits of holiday cheer. Merry Christmas everyone.

"I haven't been drinking," Alexander mutters, sounding a bit indignant at the accusation. He opens his mouth to argue his point, then stops, and sighs. "It's fine. You won't remember any of this how it happened. Just...stay behind me if people start trying to eat--" and then the tree explodes, and Alexander forces himself to dive at the carolers instead of away, bowling over the nearest couple and taking them to the ground.

Finch reacts instinctively when the tree explodes and the flames begin. She raises her hands and lifts them, palms up, to user her Mover art to raise a wall of snow between the carolers and the flames, in the hopes of protecting them. Snow dances upwards, over 200 pounds worth, which should cover some, but hopefully someone can cover the others. "Dad! You ok!?" she yells out.

Well, shit. Javier's about to say something else, but at that moment, the singing stops and the tree goes up in a blinding flash of light. And he's a veteran of enough combats to know that when shit looks like it's about to explode, you don't stand around waiting to see what'll happen; you get the fuck down. Joe, he trusts to take care of himself, and Finch is pretty much tougher than he is. So it's Gail he takes a quick stride toward, and attempts to bodily check out of the way, whether or not she wants to get up close and personal with him.

"My memory is pretty good, usually." Benedict cocks his head at Alexander, as the other man tells him he won't remember things correctly. And then the tree explodes, and instinct takes over. He runs toward the explosion, finding himself tackling some of the carolers to safety. He's a little less careful about staying free of the blast than the other man, however.

Joe does indeed know precisely what to do in the event of an explosion at close range. He drops prone and hugs the snowy dirt for a crucial moment....and then he's glancing up. Satisfied there won't be more, not immediately, he's scrambling up to go looking for those who might be injured. A little weak-kneed, truth be told, he shouldn't be having flashbacks to Afghanistan in a snowy town square, but....

"Oh!" is all that Gail manages to exclaim as the tree goes up in flames. She might have said more except - Ruiz is treating her like a football quarterback who just left the pocket.

She's a TOUGH old bird though - sometimes. Occasionally. Thankfully, this is one of those times. When Ruiz takes her down she doesn't suffer any broken bones as a result. She's just protected from the falling flames by his body.

Between the nice shiny people they manage to protect most of the carolers, even if the carolers don't seem to recognize that they've just been knocked to the ground. No, on cue, they open their mouths and start up a whole different song.

Feliz Navidad

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.

That last line has another set of voices joining the carolers. It's a group of little men dressed up in green suits with long white beards and bells on their toes. Welcome the elves.

Guys - you ain't seen nothing till you've seen a group of white ass Christmas carolers belting out this song amid sea of branches that are either smoking (because snow is water and WILL put them out), or happily burning flames.

Alexander rolls away from the carolers he knocked down without flailing and screaming, rolling to his feet with something like grace. He peers down at them. "...fuck. Sorry. Sorry. Don't blame the carol. It's a good carol." It's not like they hear him. He looks aside, checking on Benedict first, nodding when he sees that the man has shielded a couple of carolers, then doing a quick sweep of the others to make sure everyone's alive and relatively sane. "Don't be on fire," he tells the other investigator, just as those new voices start up.

He whirls around, sees the elves. "That's my favorite carol," he tells them, outraged. "My favorite. Go away and leave us alone! It's fucking Christmas!"

Elves! FUCK ELVES! If they are Veil elves, they aren't Santa's crew. And if they're anything like the gnomes, well, Finch has no patience for those shenanigans. She looks to her father, and motions him to stay down, before she sticks two fingers in her mouth to let out a sharp whistle.

The whistle gets a response, here in the Dreamscape, in this far corner of the Veil. Something is coming. Something whose heavy footfalls sound very familiar to anyone who is fan of the Jurassic Park/World franchise. Those movies got Velociraptors very wrong. They were way smaller. Instead, the ones they called that were really closer to the size of the Utah Raptor. And a Veil version, with mirrored feathers that help it camouflage, happens to be a very dear friend of Finch de la Vega.

"Clever Girl!" the brunette shouts to the creature stampeding towards her. "Chase those little elf fuckers out of here!" she gestures at the veil creatures with fire in her dark eyes. She is definitely her father's daughter.

SCREEEEEEEEEECH! They got the sounds right in that movie.

Somehow, Benedict manages to keep his cool even now there are singing elves. Alexander's comment gets a wry smile. "It's fine, I'm not on fire. Just a little singed. But I'm used to being hot." Did he really crack a joke, at a time like this? Of course he did. And then....the thing arrives, and Benedict is scrambling to get his feet and get his gun drawn because that's a...well, it has to be a really big dog, right? Or maybe he hit his head just now when he took those people to the ground.

"..sorry about that." And Javier does actually look apologetic for having taken down an old lady. He gives her an awkward smile, and is about to offer her a hand up.. which is about when the elves show, and Feliz Navidad starts, and he's got this look on his face like they're singing it all wrong and he should be personally insulted by this. Which, rest assured, he probably is.

"Could've fucking stayed in tonight," he grumbles when his daughter lets out that whistle. Because he knows what's coming. To Gail and Joe, "You should probably stay down."

Alexander twitches when Benedict pulls his gun. "Don't," he tells the other man. "That's...sort of a friendly." Which he's never actually seen in the...Veil-flesh, and very much does not like seeing it now. "Aim for the elves if you're gonna shoot things." He reaches under his jacket to the small of his back and pulls a big old bone handled knife which...is honestly probably not street legal. But he's mostly taking up a position near the carolers, protecting them from anything that tries to get at them.

Joe probably should stay down. But does he? No. He makes an odd pushing gesture at the nearest clump of elves...and electricity arcs from his fingertips to zap the one closest to them. He gives Javier a look over his shoulder. "Don't worry, baby. We'll go home soon." .....did he just leer at the cop?

"MERRY CHRISTMAS BITCHES!" One of the elves calls out, hefting up a nicely wrapped present in his hand. As if on cue they all charge forward, looking to lob those gifts at the gathered glimmer-y folks. Alexander and Ruiz not only dodge the gifts, they even are out of the blast radius when they go up in nice christmas themed balls of fire.

Benedit gets caught with some debris, but it's nothing major - he's not about to be lit on fire.

Finch and Joseph are less lucky. They're caught in the blast radius and get to introduce themselves to the piles of snow about.

Gail, for her part, has stayed down and is pretending to not exist. As all old woman should do.

The unexpected element here is the Clever Girl, who is way too heavy to get caught up in the blowback of the gifts that land at his feet as he runs up at the elves. They break and scatter while yelling at the creature. No sane elf is going to stand tall against ~that~ and they start running away.

SKERRRRAWWWWK! Clever Girl is more than happy to have elf tartare for dinner. The lithe otherworldly dinosaur sets off snapping at elves with sharp teeth and slashing at them with those clicky sharp razor toe talons of theirs.

Finch is thrown into a snow pile by the exploding present and lies there a long while, her ears ringing, and moves her arms and legs to make a snow angel, because she's a wee bit concussed and loopy. Whee!

"There's nothing friendly about that d...d...dog!" Benedict remonstrates with Alexander, his tounge tripping over itself as brain and eyes disagree for a moment. But then he's the target of elves throwing balls of fire, and any further argument will have to wait as he dives out of the way. Ok, at this point shooting the elves is definitely an option. But he hesitates, because what if this is all a hallucination and he goes through them and hits someone else?

Alexander uses the flat of his blade like a paddle, knocking away a few of the bombs from the entranced carolers. And himself. It's like tennis! With exploding balls. When Benedict makes that very sane observation, he throws him a quick, fierce sort of grin. "It's being unfriendly over there. Do you want it to come over here because you shot it in the ass, Addington?"

Joe's sent tumbling into a snowdrift by the blast. Poor Javier's hat is lost in it, as is his own. So he's shaking snow out of his hair when he manages to pry himself up. Definitely a little wobbly....but there's another bolt of lightning for the elves. Maybe more distraction than real damage, but far less danger in terms of hitting someone with a stray bullet. Dreams have a way of fucking over reality when they can.

Clever Girl has the elves number, and they continue to run, the creature after it. It's a Happy Christmas Game! Or something like that.

As the elves disappear from sight the carolers singing ends and they shake their heads. They're all sprawled about in the snow, blinking at the poor burning tree.

A bit of quiet before someone tsks loudly, "I told them that those lights weren't safe," people begin standing and shifting. Someone'll call 911 - unless Ruiz Police Chief's on them first, because they really should take care of that poor tree before it burns down completely.

Gail lifts herself from the snow, brushing it off her knees and shaking her head. "It's always something." SIGH.

To his credit, Javier's refrained from drawing his own gun and playing pop the head off the elf. He's also not trying to fry them with electricity; instead, he's hauled himself to his feet, and is on his phone with dispatch to get some emergency vehicles out here. Hey, sometimes it pays to be the Chief. While he waits, he mutters to Joe, "Did you seriously lose my fucking hat?"

"Thanks Clever Girl!" Finch shouts after her familiar, woozily. She gets to her feet, nose bleeding a little either from the blast or from using her non-Shaper abilities. She grunts at her father. "I'm going home. Fucking elves." She stomps away to get babied by her grandmother.

Alexander puts his knife away when the elves (and the raptor) pass out of sight and things start to feel...more normal. For Gray Harbor. He edges towards the carolers, no longer touching them or trying to, but checking for any that seem to be injured or need treatment when the ambulance gets here. The tree is eyed sadly, but the Fire Department is right across the Park, so he doesn't make it his priority. A couple of glances are thrown at Benedict, gauging his level of shook, and more towards Ruiz, and even Gail. There's even a glance over to Joseph, to see if he's still alive. His face doesn't reveal whether he's relieved or not to see the sailor still breathing.

For his part, Joe's busily digging in the snowdrift. After a moment hurling snow behind him like an overeager Labrador, he pops back up with a hat in each hand. Then he's sauntering over to Ruiz to gently deposit the hat crooked atop the dark curls.

Benedict, as far as Alexander can tell, is holding it together. His gun has been put away now things seem to have ended, and he's currently silently attempting to explain to himself, or rationalize, everything he just saw. Gray Harbor is weird, but this is weird even by the standards of what he saw growing up here.

The hat's snatched out of Joe's hand before he can smash it atop Javier's head, and the cop finishes up his call and shoves his phone away. Finch gets a nod, and a murmur of, "Te alcanzaré más tarde," to her retreating back. And then, since Alexander and Gail and the others seem to be in one piece, and the white kids are no longer butchering Mexican Christmas carols, he starts moseying back to his truck with a bump of his shoulder to Joe's.