2023-12-25: My Christmas
- Log: My Christmas
- Cast: Yuliana Kafim, Elisa Kafim, Wendy Yuan, Parminder Chaudhri
- Where: The Silent Castle, Kaffeklubben Island
- Date: 2023-12-26 (ICly 2023-12-25)
- Summary: Christmas has come to the Silent Castle, and their Court gathers to celebrate. Elisa considers finding some friends of her own. Parminder gives the lesbians a hunky fireman calendar. By the way, Sokrova's gift... is getting to maul the tree once they're done.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
OST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gu8DTD7GvQY Nobuo Uematsu - The Castle
In a grand hall of the Silent Castle, a rare treasure stands...
A Christmas tree.
(This is rare, you see, for there are no trees growing anywhere for many miles; this far north, it's all scrub-grass and lichens and Arctic flowers, and they won't be waking up for some months, yet.)
Under its shadow, the Silent Court takes session, sitting around a grand table. And of course Yuliana sits beside her wife at the head of that table, but flanking them to either side are ones Parminder Chaudhri and Wendy Yuan, their unfaithful court jester and considerably more faithful lady-in-waiting.
Dinner is a grand feast of beef, lamb, and chicken cuts, with fresh salad on the side; it's all halal, of course, and it began with an entree of dried fruits and dips. There is, of course, wine for Elisa and Wendy; Yuliana's having sparkling mineral water, and Parminder...
... look, being honest, the less questions anyone asks about what monstrosity of an energy drink is in his glass the better. He wants you to ask. Don't let him win.
Meanwhile, Sokrova has a tiger-sized dish, beside the table, where he's absolutely ravishing the forequarters of a cow. Nomph nomph nomph nomph.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
A little green is always welcome in the Silent Castle.
The grand table that sees Elisa at its head is of course a very fine table, even before what is upon it. Elisa considers, as she goes, asking after Parminder's energy drink. The war is: would it be funnier to subject everyone to the explanation, or to make him wait?
So far, the latter is winning out.
But she considers. She considers that perhaps their circle is incomplete, these days.
"How is the lamb, my darling?" Then she smiles at Wendy. She is trying to be pleasant.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
And Wendy smiles back to Elisa, of course; she's a little tense, but she always is, around the Witch of the house.
Yuliana, meanwhile, isn't tense at all. "It's marvellous!" Yuliana chirps, brightly. "The yogurt sauce was a brilliant choice -- it's really bringing some shawarma feelings to the roast!" Yuliana is positively bubbly, almost as much as Parminder's horror concoction over there. (Just ignore it, and maybe it will go aw-- nope, he just took a drink. Why would he put it in his mouth. Dear God.) "You must try some!"
And so, of course, she gathers up some lamb on a fork, "Say 'aahhh~'," and feeds it to Elisa right then and there.
No sense of shame. She's not even wearing a scarf because she's at home amongst the people who live here.
"Aww," Wendy grins, her hand lifting to cover her lips in the gesture. (It's the same kind of modesty-gesture Yuliana does, sometimes. Not so often around Elisa, but that's because Yuliana doesn't have to be modest around her wife.) "You guys are so cute..."
"Yeah okay you do not want to start a cuteness contest when the cat's right there," Parminder points out, jerking a thumb back towards Sokrova, currently gnawing on a shoulder bone. "You would not BELIEVE the amount of upvotes the big guy gets. Unfathomable amounts of karma, right there. Apex lolcat."
Sokrova growls as he gnaws on his bone, happily oblivious.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa is aware of why someone would be tense around her. She just doesn't care very much, as a rule. Even with dear Wendy!
"How wonderful," Elisa answers Yuliana. "Ah?" Beat, "Aah..." Elisa tries to the lamb!! She considers it, chewing delicately, as Wendy comments on them.
"Who speaks of contest?" Elisa says eventually. "All of this can coexist. Though I imagine how popular our Sokrova must be..."
"Except that we need not imagine, must we? I would believe it. He is the most... lol, of cats."
"It was delicious, my darling," Elisa says meanwhile.
"I have considered," she reflects, "That perhaps I should acquire some..." She looks over Parminder and Wendy, "'Friends'."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
And Yuliana all but sparkles, seeing Elisa eating the lamb she gave her. She is, herself, very cute. You wouldn't even know she's a murderer!
Then again, Sokrova is allegedly an apex predator, too. "Listen, your Witchiness, I tried putting out the new 'Coexist' stickers, but apparently they're not that popular outside of your regulars. Something about how it's 'associating with terrorism' and 'a planetary-scale death cult' and blah blah blah," Parminder helpfully even puts his fork and knife down long enough to do the bunny-ears quotes. "But I tell you what, everyone loves a tiger. He has ten thousand followers on to-witter."
"That's not that --" Wendy starts to say, before Parminder cuts in with: "Real accounts," and she finishes with "-- oh, yeah, that's a lot." And it's against that backdrop that Yuliana smiles, to her wife.
"I think that would be marvellous," Yuliana says, reaching over to rest a hand on Elisa's arm. "My friends are your friends, of course, but I would love to see yours." She does not accentuate the word 'friends'. Neither does she add bunny-ears quotes.
(Parminder does it for her, in the background. She ignores him, because she's busy gazing at her wife.)
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"I see," Elisa answers Parminder. "How unfortunate. I thought that the stickers were cleverly designed." A pause. Bunny ears quotes... But everyone does love a tiger.
"We must have stickers commissioned of Sokrova, then."
She doesn't know much about to-witter, as it happens, but if both Wendy and Parminder think of it as a lot, that's probably sufficient. But as to friends...
Parminder is Parminder, of course. "Four is a good number for our inner circle. It becomes six, the wheel within the wheel."
A pause. She reaches out to Yuliana, to take her hand. "I will remember this, darling. You will see them."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Hey, great idea!" Parminder grins. "We'll give the cult a mascot!"
(He keeps insisting on calling it a cult when they're clearly a new religious movement.)
Yuliana could of course assure Elisa that ten thousand is quite a strong following for a cute cat, particularly given how new his account is -- but she's busy. With Elisa! Her fingers twine in amongst her wife's, clasping her hand tenderly.
"Finding two people you can trust seems achievable," Yuliana agrees, smiling. "Just -- do find people who want to be here, won't you? Remember all that mess with Alma... expecting someone so controlled to act at a high level of discretion is far too fraught. And I don't like seeing them walking around," she adds, crinkling her nose.
"Chyeah," Parminder grins, "that's why her Witchiness --" oh no, he's about to bring up the thralls in the basement
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
"Yes," Elisa says distantly, looking into Yuliana's eyes. It's fine. She isn't paying that much attention to Parminder in the moment. Only a little, because she always has to keep some attention on him, for purposes that become clear in just a moment.
"Oh yes," Elisa says. "I would entrust such a level to nothing less. After all,"
Elisa steps on Parminder's foot.
"It may be time to initiate some into the deeper Mysteries," she says instead of whatever Parminder was about to say.
"So, Parminder. Tell me more of Sokrova's account."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Yipe!" Parminder yelps, because he wears sandals with socks like a monster. (In this weather. Well, only inside, at least. He's a monster, not a masochist.)
"You okay?" Wendy asks, looking over to him. Yuliana also glances over to him, which is far more heartbreaking, because she was definitely busy gazing into her wife's eyes over there.
"Yeah, yeah, just kicked one of Sokrova's bones, RIP me," Parminder waves it off with a world-class lie, and if any of the liars at the table figure it out, none of them are so impolite as to call him on it.
"Oh... but you're right, zhenushka," Yuliana turns back to her wife, smiling to her. "Many of our followers have patiently waited for such revelations... and perhaps there are others worthy, as well."
Parminder finishes a bite of beef, before he explains: "I set it up not too long ago -- like, moderate offence, but we have a HUGE image problem. And you know what people love? Cats. Cats in boxes. The internet goes wild over cats in boxes. He's a huge hit. Especially with your cronies!"
"They're not cronies," Yuliana sniffs, "they believe in our message."
"Yeah, cronies!" Parminder doubles down, with a cheerful grin.
Sokrova, on hearing of his fame, pads over to thunk his head in Elisa's lap with a cheerful little rumbling chuff. Of course, he would never beg for people food from the people table, but he has such big eyes. Look at him!
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa wears heels! Pointy heels.
Elisa certainly doesn't call Parminder on the lie. Instead, she nods to Yuliana, with a wider smile than before. "Indeed... It is time, to move beyond where we have been. To seek new horizons of faith."
Then Parminder explains, and of course, it's in his usual way. "Such small imaginations," she says of image problems, and a shake of her head. "But it is well, that they enjoy Sokrova."
Cronies! Believers! ...It's fine.
"Parminder may be rude, and irreverent, but he is right in this. Sokrova is very... adorable." She reaches down to pet Sokrova. Then, she gives him some beef. Because if the Strong Mistress can't spoil the tiger, then no one can.
"Yes... I will find those most worthy. And--"
"We shall improve this 'image problem.' It is the time of year for this, isn't it?" A beat, "What do you think, dear Wendy? Would you like more company?"
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Sokrova happily nomphs the beef cut right from Elisa's hand. He doesn't even take her hand off while doing so! That's how she knows she has a faithful familiar.
"Aww," the Gentle Mistress smiles, beside her. "He sure is! Aren't you, boy? Aren't you!" And Sokrova rumbles in agreement, padding over to Yuliana's side to get affection from her, just the same. She scratches his ears, babying him with: "And Letda's gonna get away with it because you're sooo cute, isn't he, huh? Yeah! Yeah, 'cuz you're a cutie!"
(She sneaks him a prime cut of chicken, instead -- breast meat, with no little bones to bother his throat. His high hopes... were rewarded. He also doesn't take Yuliana's hand off, because Elisa would be distraught.)
Wendy is always a little more quiet than Parminder, when they take their meals together; it's not that she's intimidated by Yuliana's wife, it's just that she's intimidated by Yuliana's wife. (She has such pointy heels. And, you know, the casual brainwashing talk at the dinner table.) "Ahaha..." She laughs, lowering her own forkful of chicken so she can talk. "We've totally got the space for it! But, uhhh -- are you sure your, uh, followers are gonna be the best pick for something like this? Seems like they'd get a liii~iiittle... " She gestures in a little circle with her fork as she puts off the point, "... y'know... disillusioned?"
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Nomph! Elisa is not afraid of tigers. Especially not cute tigers. Who know better than to bite her wife.
But Wendy is quiet, and Elisa is putting her on the spot. There is the matter of the space, but the space is not at issue. No, there is...
"Hmmm," Elisa says. "That is true. To progress in the Mysteries is one thing, but to see the casual heart of family... Familiarity can breed contempt."
She nods. "Yes, Wendy. You are correct. It is best to look elsewhere for such individuals. I can still give them reasons to serve, reasons to come to me, without the need to force the matter."
"Thank you," she says. "You are both quite helpful today."
"And it is a fine day to be helpful."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
The space is the last issue they'd have. The Silent Castle is large enough to host an entire community -- right now it's running on enough people to sustain a handful, with about thirty residential staff and servants between them, but they could easily scale up.
"It's nice how they believe in this stuff," Wendy says, gesturing. "So... good deal!" And, nomph, she finishes off her chicken.
Yuliana polishes off what she's eating, too, and places her hand on Elisa's arm again. "It is a fine day for it, isn't it, Elya? Speaking of which -- shall we open our presents?"
She waves the maid over, and has a quiet word with her, and the staff subsequently clear the scraps and plates from the table (alongside Parminder's horror drink) so that they can place gifts there instead.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
They could. ....They likely won't. But they could. A couple more, though, and the staff to attend them...
'It's nice', Wendy says, and Elisa smiles. She is encouraging her. It is very good to do. "Indeed."
But Elisa does not eat terribly much; she has enjoyed the meal, but likely taken in less food than the rest. And the presents...
"Yes," Elisa says, "Let us. Parminder, Wendy; yours will require some explanation on my part." Which she doesn't do just yet; not until they actually have the tokens that make up their presents in the first place, of course.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Go on, go on!" Yuliana enthuses, brightly, when Parminder picks up the envelope labelled with his name. He proceeds to pull out...
"Tickets to a couple's cruise?" Parminder laughs. "Ahahahaha... man, Captain, did you give me your present?!"
"Nope!" Yuliana beams. "Your job is to go on that cruise and have a bunch of fun and break up all the couples who don't wanna be there with each other! If you can bring me back twelve heads,"
"Like, literally or," Parminder interrupts her,
"Metaphorically speaking," Yuliana clarifies, without missing a beat, "then you'll get your real present!"
"Okay, but there had better be, like, four more steps of complexity before it's actually done," Parminder grins.
"There's six," Yuliana says, quite chuffed.
"Damn," he laughs, "and here I figured you'd bust out the coal!"
"In this climate?" Wendy raises a brow, with her own sly grin. "You haven't been nearly good enough for coal. Okay, let's see..." She reaches over to open her present!
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Elisa laughs, darkly, as Parminder begins to enjoy the concept of his present. It was a fun idea, she had thought. And naturally, the present comes from the both of them. It is just how it works.
"Indeed. Coal is a vital resource. All the more precious now... And speaking of a vital resource..."
Wendy's in a box in which there is laid a small card overtop some unfinished paperwork. The card indicates a date.
"I have acquired the services of a skilled cybernetic surgeon," Elisa explains. "Would that I could have arranged it before the holiday... But I think it will be good enough, as it stands."
"He has the data and expertise to make for you a tongue with taste receptors. It should improve your life, to be able to partake of such things and actually enjoy them."
"The paperwork is between you and him, of course; I could not assume all the specifications for you. But I did arrange a date and a time and his services."
"...Merry Christmas, Wendy Yuan."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
Wendy opens a box to find... A DATE. And all manner of horrors swim in her head until her eagle eyes zero in on the details of that paperwork, and Elisa clarifies just what this is all for --
"Whaaat?!" She gasps, a hand to her chest, absolutely overcome. "This -- this is amazing! The Republic said they couldn't do it, I -- oh my God!" The Republic could fix her tear ducts, apparently, because she's tearing up. "Thank you, Doctor! Oh my God! Captain, can you believe it?!"
"I was so pleased when Elya managed to find someone worthy to do such a thing," Yuliana smiles, to her wife, "but I wasn't surprised at all. Isn't she wonderful..?"
"Yes! Oh my God! This is amazing!" Wendy's just kind of repeating her lines, at this point, but she's positively shook.
"Okay," Parminder cracks his neck, "clearly I have to knock things out of the park with the best gift here."
He hands over a flat wrapped package...
... which Yuliana unwraps to unveil a sexy shirtless fireman calendar.
She looks at the hunky dude.
She looks back at Parminder.
She looks at the hunky dude.
She looks back at Parminder.
"You son of a bitch," she says, and starts cracking up laughing.
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
It could have been horrors. But it wasn't.
Elisa smiles. Is it possible that she actually enjoys some feeling for Wendy's reaction? Or is it just the satisfaction of a gift well-given? It is hard to say, in the end, for Elisa does not share.
But Yuliana can feel that she is, at least, pleased.
"Be well," she says to Wendy. "He is the most expert in his field."
And she is paying him quite a bit for the service. Of course, not only money; her neurological expertise was able to...
Well, this is not about that.
Instead, she looks to the package--
"Hmm. Mister January did not skip leg day..."
Elisa starts laughing. Truly, this is why she keeps Parminder around.
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Ahahahahaha--!!" Yuliana just starts laughing harder when Elisa points out how fit the hunky dude is. Finally, she manages to catch her breath to assure him: "We'll treasure it always. Or, like, for exactly one year. One -- one of the two."
"You better! Those dudes are major-league hotnesses!" Parminder grins.
Wendy, meanwhile, hands over a wrapped box to Elisa -- of a modest size, and very neatly wrapped. It turns out to be a fancy bubblebath set, and she explains: "I got a good source on luxury products, so I had them ship out a bunch of spa supplies for you! Stuff like that -- it's already all been put away. With all these stressful things going on, I'm sure you'll want to relax, won't you?"
(Elisa may have known something about this, given she's the final word on running the Castle, but Wendy did her best to keep it a secret.)
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
One of the two. "Yes."
But Elisa takes the box, and... She opens it! She regards it, thoughtfully--and indeed, it does add up with what she knows of the House. She presents a smile to Wendy for it, a widening thing that dawns only slowly, perhaps more sincere than some--or perhaps she just puts it on special. It's hard to say, for Elisa.
"Thank you," she says. "...To focus more on the sensations of the world around me... It is a move I have been meaning to make. These will allow me to do so with great facility."
"...Or, put another way, I am in great need of relaxation, yes. I appreciate it."
She does look pleased. "...Yours is private, my Yuliana," she says. "Or I would share it now. Please look forward to it. Perhaps sometime after I use some of these..."
<Pose Tracker> Yuliana Kafim has posed.
"Yeah," Yuliana smiles, placing a hand on Elisa's arm again, "these will be wonderful. Thanks, Wendy. You're really looking out for us, huh?"
"I try!" Wendy smiles, and it's a little less nervous, at least. "I'm so glad you like it."
But -- "Ah, Elya!" Yuliana smiles, her cheeks colouring with merry affection. "Haha... of course! Once we're done with that. But I do have something for you I can give you out here..." And she hands over a little decorative box, which contains...
... a fine vial of perfume. "You have been saying you want to get more in touch with this world," she smiles, "and a fine scent may well help ground you, don't you think? I'm sure you'll like the bouquet I chose for you..."
<Pose Tracker> Elisa Kafim has posed.
Wendy is less nervous! That is nice. Right? Of course right.
"Oh?" Elisa wonders, something for now. A little decorative box...
"Hmm..." She lifts it, and takes a sniff. "It is..." She muses on it. "Enjoyable. But what is it? Ah, yes..."
"Orchid, is it not? I think that is a wonderful idea. Thank you, my darling."
She closes her hand about the vial, and smiles.
"Yes..."
She pets Sokrova a bit more. Scratches behind his ears.
And leans back, pleased with her domain.