deck the halls with oh dear god what is that thing

[nepetaleijon]

It is an ancient troll tradition -- one of the few that doesn't involve murdering each other -- to gather behemoth leavings at the turn of the sweep, to celebrate the end of an old year and the start of a new one. The Milliways trolls have divided the tasks between them; Karkat and Kanaya hunting a behemoth leaving, and Nepeta agreeing to stay behind and hunt for materials to decorate it.

Maybe Nepeta's hunt wasn't as dramatic as Karkat and Kanaya's -- and oh, is she ever going to paint that story -- but it was definitely as successful, and she's had some time in her cave to put some of her findings together into proper Twelfth Perigee's Eve decorations. Not all of them, though, which is why when she enters the bar by way of the rear door, she is carrying an enormous heap of assorted ... stuff. Strips of furry and scaly hide, feathers in bunches, things that might be claws, a few evergreen branches, and quite a lot of less identifiable things. Captchaloguing all of this might have been smart, but she's not sure she could find it all again.

Meanwhile Karkat has finished nailing the antlers they brought back to a crosspiece (accomplished while Kanaya was messaging Nepeta to come) and is now putting on the first round of decorations; he is (trying to) top each projection of the antlers with a candle. Since the antlers are twice as long as he is tall and a little higher than the top of his head, he may need the box Kanaya's holding off to one side patiently, waiting for him to give up. Periodically he equips his megaphone and invites the bar proper to an exceedingly multicultural fucking experience.

Anyone want to come have one? Drape a few chains of bird claws or demon bunny teeth over the antlers, or use the crayons and paper to make some slightly more human-friendly decorations. Or feel free to just stand there. And watch.

Comments

[crabbycustomer]

Karkat is trying, simultaneously, to light the highest prong and wave off Kanaya's help.

"STOP IT... I DON'T need... GET THAT THING... NNGGGGH!"

Yeah he can't reach.

[bloodyvirgo]

"Karkat, You Are Going To Knock It Over At The Rate You're Going At. Either Take The Stool, Or Let Me Light It."

[crabbycustomer]

"YOU SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN A SMALLER FUCKING LEAVING," he lashes out.

He is the one who picked the leaving.

[bloodyvirgo]

Kanaya deems it necessary to point this out.

"You Are The One Who Insisted We Take It. Besides, Anything Smaller Would Have Demeaned Us Both, And The Holiday."

[crabbycustomer]

"GIVE ME THE FUCKING BOX."

[basic_powers]

..okay, you know what? There's worse things to come down from your room to witness happening in the middle of the bar proper. There could be a swarm of puppets!

Okay in all seriousness, Tyler is heading straight towards this festive little event with his new jacket on over his pyjamas wearing a pair of green slippers.

"Hey guys! What's all this?"

[crabbycustomer]

"IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH YOUR SIGHT GLOBES? IT IS AN ENORMOUS SET OF ANTLERS THAT WE ARE DECORATING FOR SOME DUMB ALIEN REASON."

[basic_powers]

"And I had to ask the stupid question."

[nepetaleijon]

"Hi Tyler!"

Nepeta waves from where she's perched cross-legged on a table, surrounded by fragments of bone that she's threading onto a long string.

"We're decorating for Twelfth Purrig33's Eve! Want to help?"

[basic_powers]

"Sure, where should I start?" He's just going to hop over to her table and look at the supplies all spread out. "....er...bones and fur?"

[nepetaleijon]

"They're traditional! I got crayons and papurr too, in case anybody wanted them."

She points to a spot on the table, where there is indeed a small stack of paper and a box of crayons.

[hecu_marine]

Huh.

Now ain't that something.

Okay, so, apparently the troll idea of holiday decoration involves a hunting lodge exploding. Shephard's down with that. Especially since, well, big damn antlers are things you recognize, okay? Antlers like that get respect. Even if they're being a pain in the ass to put up.

"Any of y'all want a hand there?"

[crabbycustomer]

Karkat glances back at Shepherd, and hopes that neither of these two embarrass him. "YEAH, SURE. WE ARE DECORATING THIS SWEET BEHEMOTH LEAVING WE RETRIEVED FOR THE HOLIDAY. FEEL FREE TO DRAW SOME PICTURES OF YOUR BADASS EXPLOITS FROM THE LAST SWEEP OR JUST STRING UP SOME TEETH."

"THIS IS KANAYA AND NEPETA, MY FRIENDS WHO ARE HERE. GUYS THIS IS SHEPHERD, HE IS A GUY I KNOW. NEPETA HE WANTED TO TAKE YOU FISHING."

[nepetaleijon]

"Hi."

Nepeta regards the human with some interest. Fishing, huh?

[hecu_marine]

"Hey there," says Shephard, waving. "Gimme a couple of them teeth first, I'll git 'em up for you first'n draw shit later." He cocks an eye at the other trolls. "Might still git you out fishin' before spring if I c'n find somewheres the ice'll hold us proper. Ice fishin' ain't my big thing, but I've done it a couple of times."

[bloodyvirgo]

Kanaya offers a smile and a wave as she's introduced.

"Hello. It Is Nice To Meet You, Shepherd."

[hecu_marine]

"Same here, miss," says Shephard, waving back. "You got any preference how you want this shit set up?"

[seat_five_girl]

Oh hey, people other than Ako are regretting her present to Karkat!

Good to know.

Never mind the bluenette peering around at things as they go up.

[crabbycustomer]

Karkat clambers up on a chair to light the remaining candles, having lost today's battle with the indignities of troll puberty. He glowers at Ako from up there. "GRAB SOME CRAYONS AND HELP US DECORATE."

[seat_five_girl]

Lots of people look at Ako from above.

"Sure Karkat-san."

[dis_armed]

Standing there and watching sounds good!

In other words: there's a creepy hooded figure staring fixedly at the flurry of inexplicable activity.

(They're probably not yoma. They're definitely not human. In fact, she has no idea what they are.

Ilena's world is very small, and this is not a thing that's ever happened to her before. It's a very strange sensation. But nobody's making any statements about the relative tastiness of guts, so things probably aren't dangerous. Yet.

Still, she's keeping her one hand on the broadsword hidden away inside her cloak.)

[bloodyvirgo]

The hooded figure receives a sideways glance from Kanaya, but she waits until she's finished putting up a string of teeth before moving to greet their guest.

"Hello! Did You Wish To Help Us Decorate?"

[dis_armed]

". . . ." says the figure, eloquently.





After a moment, when nothing seems to make any more sense than it did a moment ago: "Why?"

Ilena is not really familiar with the concept of 'decorating.'

[crabbycustomer]

"WHAT AN EXCELLENT QUESTION! KANAYA, EXPLAIN TO THIS SPOOKY NOOKSNIFFER WHY IT WAS NECESSARY FOR US TO RISK OUR TRAGICALLY-SHORT LIVES TO RETRIEVE THIS THING AND COVER IT WITH TACKY CRAP LIKE THE MOST RETARDED OF DRUNK MAGPIES, IT'S A GREAT EXPLANATION."

"THIS IS COMPLETELY SINCERITY, YOUR DUMB EXPLANATION HAS SET UP CAMP IN MY SUPERSTITION GHOST AND I AM DOING ALL THIS SHIT WITH A FUCKING WILL, SO I THINK YOU ARE THE BEST ONE TO COVER IT. I AM PASSING YOU THE DOPEY HAT I WEAR AS YULE MARSHAL."

[scots_wolf]

"I might be able to reach that," Urquhart tells the trolls.

He's very tall, and feels like being helpful today.