2025-01-10 - Closing Of The Winter Parade

Wesley is, for once, not in a parade. Nor did he make a float, but his roomies did participate in float-building and one of them will be on it, so he's here to be supportive. He does know all the best vantage points, though, and has climbed up on an inoffensive low wall in a slightly raised portion of the road that he knows is a good place - his legs dangling down (only a few feet between them and the walk beneath) and a cup and straw in hand, sipping from it as he watches the parade start through.

The Souvenir Photo taking part of her shift was over, thankfully, and Fin's next assignment is one she believes she will enjoy a whole lot more. The parade. Dressed in her black uniform with 'Spellbound' emblazoned across the back of her fleece lined pullover and her nametag that reads, 'Finola - Photography', she stands with the audience, moving often so as not to block the view of anyone for too terribly long as she snaps photos, beginning with folks in the audience themselves.

Dante is usually not in the parade... and this is no exception, actually. But his brother built one of those floats and is on it, and there's other people he likes out there, so why not enjoy the last gasp of the current parade? He's stolen a spot on the same wall as Wesley, and seems to have had the same thought about beverages, though his is some kind of coffee, probably. Looks warm, anyway. "No winter dragons this year? You could've lit all the candles," he says to Wes.

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Trace is a temporary pirate on the Gingerbread Galleon. He's not officially a part of the show but he helped build it and for that, he gets to wear the outfit and fire the cannon. He's got on full pirate's regalia with a billowy shirt and tall boots, a faux cutlass at his side and seems to be having a grand old time on the deck. He doesn't have wings, but that doesn't seem to be hindering him any.

Lala's in the audience, bundled up in layers as usual, but she's here to see the business done. Black jeans, a scoop neck shirt, black leather harness, and a knit cap are worn under a zip hoodie that isn't quite warm enough for outdoorsy things. But her favorite scarf is no longer in her possession.

She's standing near the parade route, leaned against something with her arms crossed, snuggled down as far into her hoodie as she can get. It's not far enough. The galleon going by with pirates gets a shrill whistle from the tattooed DJ, two fingers tucked into her mouth. "AVAST!" She grins at Trace and waves.

She glances over toward Dante and Wes at mention of winter dragons, gaze sweeping over Fin as she looks around.

And here comes Declan, just moseying his way through the crowd, bundled up nicely in a leather jacket and light blue jeans. And the final, delightful touch? A huge black scarf that was probably once someone's favorite is wrapped around his neck a comical number of times. Oh man, is he nice and cozy!

He eases up behind Lala without so much as announcing himself first and smiles after she calls out to trace with a swashbuckling-greeting. His voice is soft enough not to be yelled over the masses, but loud enough to not be super creepy.

"Your neck looks reeeeally cold." He edges a little closer and gives her shoulder a little nudge with his own before waving to those that are passing by on their floats.

At Cat Caught In Lights:
Esme is either Santa's little helper or some Christmas sprite dancing around a lit Christmas tree as she marvels at all of the presents found there. She's wearing a cute frilly form fitting green and red tunic with sequins everywhere practically, skin toned tights with a bit of glitter to them and a pair of green and red skates. She's actually skating upon the float which she helped construct, doing twirls and spins and even jumps every so often in that whimsical way of hers.

Beneath the Christmas tree and tangled in some of the lights is a cat named Jett.

Whatever this Cat caught in the Lights float actually looks like when everything is said and done, Esme is going to be the shining star to pull all of their hard work together, damnit! Even if the float was frozen in ice and things.

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Angelo's got all of his summer weight Cashew attire on, though probably with some thermals underneath. The leafy katydid wings flicking behind him leaving little gold sparkles hovering around for a moment Everyone loves a parade, they are exhausting to be in but the happy faces seem to keep him going. He flies up to the top of the rigging with hands in the air as the Holly Jolly Roger pulls forward.

A couple other pirates from the stunt show are also here along with Trace. He calls out to the 'crew' around him picked up on the speakers on their float, "Mateys, avast and let's make the way clear for Santa to get back for plunder next year!" Turning to the crowd they he starts a clap going. "That's right let's get some Spellbound cheer in here!"

And with that takes a jump off the top rigging in a very practiced and calculated move to flip to the trampoline installed below and come up as a couple of the other gymnasts start flipping around in the rigging. Angelo lands with his hands in the air and follows with a hearty pat to the back of Trace's shoulder with a grin. Today is what they made coffee for.

"This is Yarble's time of year," Wes observes, motioning with his cup vaguely in Dante's direction, "Besides, the last time someone got the idea of making me breathe fire they ended up having to burn that costume because they couldn't get the smell out. Turns out smelling like actual fire terrifies small children. Go figure." Jeans and a blue and black flannel shirt are all he needs against the weather, it seems, although he's added a blue loose knit scarf draped around his neck as well.

He takes a slurp through the straw. Soda? Alcohol? Anything could be in the cup!

As the 'Cat Caught in Lights' float comes into view, he lifts the cup, waggling it in the air and calling enthusiastically, "Wooo!" He leans over towards Dante, gesturing to the float, "That's Esme up there, by the way, the roomie I mentioned that might actually a cartoon that was animated by magic." The evidence is building, anyway. He's onto her!

Then there's that cat climbing the tree, and he nudges his friend, "Dude, you seeing that?"

Fin includes a pic of Dante and Wes on the wall in her sweep of the audience. Another is snapped of Declan and Lala, one looking far cozier than the other, before turning her camera's attention to the floats.

A wide smile plays upon her features when she spots her roomie on the Gingerbread Galleon. "Give me your best pirate pose Trace, or should I say, Captain BOOM?" Angelo starts calling out to the crew and her lens swings upward to capture him as well. She can't clap, so she helps the crowd with chants of "Santa! Santa! Santa!" And when Angelo starts jumping and flipping, she cheers for him. "Wooo!!"

The cat on the first float grabs her attention again and she makes an audible gasp, aiming to chase it with her lens as it climbs the tree.

"Beautiful!" she says of Esme, skating on the Cat Caught in Lights. Does she know the cat is named Jett? Nope, but she takes photos of the cat who seems to be the inspiration behind the float just the same.

At Cat Caught In Lights:
Esme is so not a cartoon character even if she's a whimsical magical sprite right at this moment!

When she spots Wesley wherever he's found a spot for himself, she waves like an Ice Princess would. All without casting any more ice spells by accident!

She does not another axel, just as the cat starts to shimmer and climb the tree like the bad cat that it is. That's when Esme circles the tree, waving a scolding finger at the bad kitty before it tumbles down to rest beneath the tree in tangles, which is when she begins her regular skate again starting with a twirl before the tree as it's lights blink in that odd way that Christmas lights sometimes do when they aren't entirely working properly.

"Oh, trading off. Very Good Share of you." Dante sips his drink. He looks comfortable enough, wearing a tangerine-coloured wool peacoat over a pure white sweater, with dark jeans and white brogued oxfords. The long orange, pink, white, and yellow patterned scarf probably helps with the warmth. "Anyway, kids need to learn." He flashes Fin a bright grin when he spots her, and lifts his cup in a light toast, then glances along for Angelo's float. Still back there a bit, seems like.

When Wes points out Esme, he tilts his head slightly, looking her over. "Strong sequins. The one who wanted your other roomie to take an axe to your door? Could be." He's not going to rule the cartoon possibility out, not when his friend's sitting next to him with a tail. As for the climbing cat, "...it doesn't look like it'd hold him, does it. Maybe the armature's steel?"

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Trace mans the candy cannon on the ship, waving to people in the crowd as they follow the cat in light s float. He isn't part of the stunt show so he mostly dances around on the deck a bit and waves to the crowd while the real performers are up in the rigging and some literally flying around, and some figuratively flying around. He seems to be having a great time. When Fin calls out, he spots her in the crowd and puts one foot up on the brace of the cannon, leaning against it Captain Morgan style.

Lala's just watching the pirate show when Declan happens along all smug about his fashions today. She doesn't glance over till he speaks, and then it's a once over with the eyes. "Good thing you spoke before you touched me, sweetheart. I haven't been arrested in a few years." She glances at the scarf, back up to the irishman's eyes. "All of me's cold, 'cause anything under 65 ain't fit for humans. That's like 18 to you lot." She nudges his shoulder back with her own.

Lala's attention shifts to Angelo on the GG float, watching him swish and flick up there on the deck with Trace. It's the flip that has her cheering! He gets a whistle too! And then there's sparkly sequined Esme. Okay, one more whistle before those around her start giving her the stink-eye for being so loud!

"Oh wow, they worked really hard on these." She watches Fin line up some shots and makes a mental note to ask for a few later for the radio station's website.

Declan hollers up at Angelo whenever he beckons the masses to clap along and so, too, does he. A holler follows in support as they spin and flip, whirl and flourish about. "Hell yeah!" Then he freezes and immediately chastises himself, looks down at a young'un not too far away. He offers an apologetic smile to the mom who glares for a moment and mouths a silent 'Sorry'.

Esme's shimmering presence catches the eye too, of course. He watches her and waves, clapping and whistling too. Just not as loud as Lala. That's a special talent that he can't hope to equal.

Trace, too, gets a shout and a laugh at his pose for the photographer. The candy cannon is, naturally, a big hit with the little ones.

He looks down at Lala, glancing for a moment before lips press together briefly. "Mm, sorry about that. I'll be more careful in the future." It's an earnest apology, whether needed or not. That's a thing to watch out for, after all. Still, his lips twist when she mentions an arrest and starts unfurling that scarf to lay it around Lala as best as he can manage in a loose drape. "Looks better on you."

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Angelo des a backflip onto the trampoline and flying up into the air with a gold shimmer trailing behind him that fades heading back up to the crow's nest and attaching what he's holding to his chest. He's hoisting the colours! It's a green flag with a skull wearing a jaunty elf cap and crossed candy canes with H.J.R. for the Holly Jolly Roger!

The music starts playing with the stunt crew starting their dance there getting the clap-along continuing as they get into a rhythm of dancing in the rigging and occasionally one flipping to the trampoline below and back up.

Fin checks her photos on the screen of the camera real quick. Wes and Dante sitting on a wall, Dante toasting to her with a smile. Esme twirling and a cat climbing a tree. Trace, aka Captain Boom or Captain Candy Boom? It's a working title. He's doing his best Captain Morgan impression. Angelo jumping and spinning and being generally amazing, even doing a backflip, which he gets a shouting cheer for from her. "Woo! Go Angelo!" Lala and Declan looking like opposites of one another - warm and cozy with a scarf, not so warm and cozy. Then another one of them as a scarf handoff is taking place. There are, of course, some general float shots and photos of the crowd. Satisfied with what has been captured so far, she continues with her work.

Until...

Pulling her camera away, she asks, astonished, "are those plushies... alive?" She casts a concerned look over the audience, then takes a slew of photos for journalistic evidence, or posterity... something.

At Cat Caught In Lights:
As she skates, despite whatever parade music is playing, Esme hums quietly to herself as she this whole routine in her head that goes along with, well, that music in her head. Another risky axel on a moving float and as she lands with great athleticism and balance and transitions into a spin, that's when a pesky cat clamors onto her as if she were the Christmas tree.

"Excuse me!" She starts to complain as she reaches up to grab the kitty from atop her head, "If you think that you're ruining our parade entry with your unbecoming antics, think again, buddy!" Because NO ONE was ruining Esme's performance. Not even their cat. Wait, wasn't their Jett?

"Don't. make me. throw you off of this float!"

There are reasons Wes is up on the wall, and part of them is that he can hide his tail in the bit of dirt and greenery behind him without causing too much of a stir. Or smacking peoples' ankles as he walks by. He's still getting the hang of this damn thing. He takes another pull on his drink, musing, "Maybe it's a projection, like with a camera or something? Or they got an illusionist over there, that'd probably be easier..."

"Oh, there's the pirates-- Angeloooo!"

A small plush gingerbread fellow lands at the foot of the wall he and Dante are on, which he doesn't notice until-- "Uh." A glance to his drink, then down, "Dante, am I drunker than planned or is the gingerbread man climbing towards us?"

"Course it does, Irish," Lala says to Declan, when he comments on her scarf and its looking better on her. She shakes her head and laughs, adjusting the drape it covers her throat and shoulders, cutting some of the chill. "It's not really your color. You need something warmer toned and cable knit, really lean into the whole vibe."

It's all fun and games till animate plushies start running around and climbing people. "What the—!" Lala bumps pretty hard into Declan but gets hold of her cool points rather quickly after an initial reaction. "Fudge." She finishes a beat later, cognizant of all the kiddos around. She backs a couple steps in Wes-Dante direction until sees the plush back there out of the corner of her eye.

Are they likely to attack? No. But one thousand percent fuck that sayeth her body language.

Ah, there's the ship indeed! Dante gives a remarkably sharp and loud approving whistle as Angelo tosses himself down and over and back up to hoist the colours. He can't clap, he has one hand full of beverage. But he can move with their music, and does.

A glance at the first float has him wincing faintly as the cat picks a new thing to climb, and the glance back at the pirates -- well, maybe living with Angelo so long's rubbed off a little, because by the time Wes is asking about the gingerbread plush, Dante's already somehow managed to bounce from seated to standing on that wall, still holding his drink. It does have a lid, but even so... "I'm unfortunately full-on sober and yeah it is definitely coming our way." He looks about, "...and there's more of them. There's like an army of plush snacks invading our direction." This is an exaggeration. They're invading many directions.

The smile with Lala is shared while she comments on the type of clothes that would really work for him. He nods slowly. "Noted, I'll see what I can find." The Rise of the Plushies is quick to distract him however. He's seen enough however movies in his day to half-expect one or two to be leaping out with a knife hidden somewhere...

But that doesn't seem to be the case. Lala nudges back into him and he extends a hand to her back to both brace and check himself as he looks around in a hurry. Eyes go wide as that initial shock fades. Thankfully, at least for the little one near them, the 'living' stuffed animals are greeted with cheers and glee. Of course, that may not be the norm for everyone.

"I swear, this f--" A piece of chocolate from the candy cannon gets redirected someone and smacks him in the cheek. "--udging place is insane." A little rainbow unicorn starts 'trotting' over to him and scales his blue jeaned leg. Summoning all of his manliness, he refrains from shaking it off as though it were a rabid raccoon.

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Trace is unaware that the small plushie candies are coming alive as he fires them in seral volleys from the candy cannon. BOOM another shower of candy and plushies. BOOM another shower, and another into the crowd. Candy and plushies, raining down everywhere as the pirates continue to put on their show overhead and all around, the gleeful music of holiday piracy following them as they continue their way through the crowd.

It's only after a few volleys that he notices that there seem to be plushies on the ground moving on their own and his eyes widen a little bit in surprise. "Uhhhh.." He glances back behind the cannon to the bag of plushies and candy that is being pulled into it and notices that it too is wiggling. "Uh oh.."

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Angelo is having a time of it up there dressed as Cap'n Cashew without a care in the world. Well he was care-free until he spots Trace and the odd grin hands in his expression following to the crowd where cotton filled candies have taken on a life of their own.

He flies down with a buzz of wings and laughs addressing, presumably the candies. "Hey, these kids small and tall are on the nice list. No biting! Cap'n's orders." Or his dear dear request that their really cool idea is not going to cause a lot of reimbursement for therapy as Toy Store: the parade edition happens in life time.

The plushies seem to be wanting to join the fray and forcibly adopt themselves to people though instead of gnaw on them and that makes him happy. He makes for grabbing a peppermint to pop up onto his shoulder. "C'mon buddy. We be lackin a proper parrot. We'll be findin ye a good spot."

At Cat Caught In Lights:
If that cat isn't Jett, then what was it doing on their float! It's not something she has time to ask now as the parade must go on!

With the cat finally gone, Esme runs a finger to push back some stray hairs that had fallen loose when she became a cat climbing post, her chin lifted. Breathe... Like that was supposed to be a part of the show.

She smiles and waves and begins her skating routine once more, even as the plushies begin to try and stowaway onto members of the audience. She sees the panic and chaos, but the show wasn't over yet! It MUST go on! She's a professional...

Santa is arriving, but Wesley? He's a bit fascinatedly focused on the little plush gingerbread man clambering up the wall. He doesn't get up like Dante, just watching as it clambers up-- and then he reaches out to pluck it up once it's struggled over the edge.

"Hey, li'l guy," he tells the little animated critter, "Aren't you friendly?"

Fortunately, it seems to be friendly, so his fingers do not get bitten off or anything.

He looks up to Dante, reporting, "He's coo'."

Lala's distracted from her own visceral reaction by Declan's battle with a unicorn. Though she does glance over her shoulder to see how Wes and Dante fare with the animate gingerbread plush. Gotta keep that head on a swivel in a situation like this! "Wow. I forgot for a second where I live," she says, huffing out a sheepish laugh at her initial reaction to animate plush.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she might think Wes is a little nuts for risking his fingers like that, but that wouldn't happen in this park, right? All the magic's been fairly benign. Of course, she hasn't had any nightmares...

If she does catch Fin aiming a lens her way again, she gives her best tongue out double peace sign like it's allll good, baybeee.

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Trace watches as Angelo grabs one of the plushes and puts it on his shoulder like a wee mascot and when he doesn't lose an ear for his trouble, there's a visible relaxing of his shoulders. Looking out into the crowd, he sees similar situations as the plushies seem to be far more concerned with trying to find a friend to go home with than to gnaw on anyone. "Alright, little buddies.. I guess you're okay to launch," he says to the rest still wiggling in the bag, and off they go.

BOOM another volley... and BOOM another, and little wiggling wobbling plushies take off into the crowd, looking for friends to adopt them. He shakes his head a bit and looks to Angelo, "This shit just keeps getting weirder and weirder," under his breath. That's not for the children in the audience.

Then it's back to full on pirate persona. "CANDY OFF THE STARBOARD BOW!" BOOM

"Okay, but is he sticky?" Dante still looks slightly wary of the plush cookie, but they do seem to just be... well, friendly. Maybe a little too friendly, as he watches a gumdrop try to drop itself inside a guy's hoodie. None are currently trying to get overly close to him, though, so he settles back down crosslegged and sips his coffee again, watching them. "That cupcake over there is cute. Pretty sure Virgil'd rip any of these apart, though..."

Cute, but still weird. He can't help keeping half an eye on them even as he watches the pirates, and Santa when the big man arrives. "Kinda half expecting all those presents to start bursting open, now. Or running around and giving themselves out."

Fin is taking photos of all the plushies now, and not really paying attention to her direct surroundings. She hears calls from the children in the crowd. "Santa! Santa!" The professional in her can't help but take photos of their precious faces and then a couple of Santa. Doing another sweep of the crowd through her viewfinder, she sees Lala seemingly just livin' and lovin' life over there with her tongue out and peace sign. She then sees a little round peppermint candy plush that seems to be trying to climb up Lala's scarf.

She doesn't even notice the sugar cookie tree climbing up her own leg.

The unicorn scurries up his shoulder and perches atop there, almost as if it were the parrot that some of the pirate characters were calling for. Declan's slow to turn and meets Lala's gaze for a moment. "...Is this really happening?" He can't help but laugh and looks over Wes and the others around too that are, in their own way 'battling' these little critters.

Trace fires off more candy and more plushies. This is either going to be the greatest day for these kids...or the stuff of living nightmares. Hopefully the former!

His attention is stolen to those at the float once more, particularly Esme that is the consumate professional and doesn't let something as simple as a feralish cat rattle her cage.

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Angelo flies out scooping a couple plushies and flying a wide loop around their float to help drop off one or two to a couple hopeful children with short arms there looking happy to be part of the show. Doing a flyby he flits over to a small tot riding on their dad's shoulders and says "Can ya Yarr?" The small child screams in his fae a 'YAAAAAAAAAR!' and while Angelo might be hard of hearing after this gives the child a high five and a small cinnamon roll to hold onto. "Aye that'll get Santa's ship a'sail! Good work lads!"

Flying back he takes a breather next to Trace with a grin and a lean on his shoulder to hide the murmur while he checks that his mic pack is off first. It is. 'Yeah that was terrifying for a hot second there." Looking down at the little pile of plushies making a stuffed pyramid trying to crawl into the launch cannon he says "Nice they be helpin ye out." Trace gets a pat on the back but he catches a few friendly faces in the audience waving to them. Locking eyes with Dante he points to his shoulder buddy with a grin. Check it!

"Naw, he's like... a bean bag." The gingerbread man squirms out of Wes's grasp and scuttles to hop into a pocket of his flannel. A shrug, and he takes another sip of his (probably alcoholic, given context now) drink before looking back to the floats since the weird little animate plush seems content to hang out there safely.

"Do you--" Then the presents are, in fact, floating in the air and he blinks, "Man, good call. What are--"

Then they burst. Glitter. Glitter everywhere. "Oh god I look like Angelo."

At Cat Caught In Lights:
Of course, Esme kept it together! She lived for the stage! And she wasn't going to let a wayward cat (She should really check up on Jett after this) or plushies come to life take away from her performance. Her heart does swell that there are those who notice though and she can't help but to touch her heart and let out an, "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww." at some point between her routines. She loves her fans and gives them a wave with both hands now, before starting over. As one does once you reach the end of the record.

Around this time, those rockets start to make quite the racket though and she has to wonder if they were about to go to war right now... or if the Santa float was going to just take off into the sky. She didn't know and, at this point, it wasn't her problem. All she needed to do was skate like the world famous figure skater that she knew she was!

A world famous figure skater who was now being showered with glitter... She knows she's not wearing any piece of clothing from today every again. Or for a long time until she can get the glitter out.

At least now she had stars in her hair.

Lala seems to have got over her trepidation regarding plush. She fixes her scarf to keep her hands busy and then reaches overrrr to pluck the unicorn off Declan's pants by the scruff. She holds it up to him. "I believe this now belongs to you." And offers it over like it's something a little noisome she really doesn't wanna take custody of.

She doesn't notice, at first, that there's a plushie climbing her clothes. That is until her scarf pulls oddly. Even so, it could be a kid, right? "Is that a kid?" Say it's a kid, Declan, not a peppermint plush trying to climb her scarf!

The rocket sleigh and pretty sparks catch her attention briefly. The presents exploding in a finale of sorts douses her in confetti that rains down to catch in her grey hair and showers all around. "That's definitely in sticking around a while," she mutters, laughing at the pretty shimmery fall of confetti. "Cookie!" She calls to Finn when she notices a plushie making the climb up Mt. Photographer! But she's still laughing.

Dante experimentally extends a finger to touch the gingerbread man as it heads up the flannel. Hm. And there's Angelo showing his own new friend off; Dante gives in and just grins, lifting his cup slightly in acknowledgement.

And then the gifts start taking off. "Called it," he mutters, right about the same time Wes is noting the same fact, and he leans back a little to watch them float. Which means he gets a face full of glitterfetti, immediately ducks his head to try to shake it off, and ends up with his hair full of it as well. And that's going to be a lot harder to shake out. Still, the complaint he was about to make gets preempted by hearing Wes's, and the need to instead reply, "You could do worse!"

He sets his drink down for the first time, to wipe confetti off his face, and then rake through his hair to attempt that too. The former's fairly successful. The latter is fairly not. "The sleigh's not going any higher, is it? 'cause unless Santa's a flyer that might be a problem." And equally important, "We're gonna sparkle for a month."

The sights are almost too much to behold and believed only slightly easier. Lala saves him from further 'harassment' by the mystical-mythical that was scaling him. "Oh..gee, thanks." He takes it, but looks down at her, grinning as the unicorn just sort of curls up in his palm for now. "It's definitely not a peppermint plush trying to climb your scarf, I can say that much..."

Now it's his turn to play 'hero'. Or, more accurate, like the other chimp that pulls ticks off a family member. That's what seems to be happening here: mutual grooming. He pulls the red and white striped stuffed toy from her and dangles it between two fingers out in front of her. "Guess this is yours too. Fair's fair."

The fall of glitter, the ruckus caused by cheers and laughter, by cannon blasts and rockets has the crowd all sorts of excited. He only glances 'up' for a moment. He'd got glitter in his eye once before and that was literal misery. He looks down a bit at more of the plushies scurrying around the feet of the crowd, shaking his head in shocked wonder. "Just..crazy, man."

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Trace fires off the last of the plushies and candy into the crowd and shouts, "Captain, the Candy Cannon is out! It's time to return to port and resupply!" This, he shouts to Captain Cashew and his candy friend as their float begins to turn toward the end of the parade route. And then? Then, there are presents overhead unleashing glitter all over them, and the crowd, and the ship, and the plushies. "Glitter Tsunami! We can't outrun it, captain! We must sail on!" He's trying not to laugh, and trying not to swallow any glitter as he shouts, either. He's having marginal success at both.

Lala cries, 'Cookie!' and Fin peeks out from behind the camera to look at her. "Is that my new nickname or something?" But with her focus now on something other than the shutter button, she feels the cookie climbing up her. It, like the others, seems friendly, and kind of cute with it's plush royal icing. "Aww. Hey there lil' guy!" Reaching down, she takes it from her leg and lifts it up in the air with her non-camera-wielding hand toward Lala. One can almost hear Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba playing as a soundtrack to the moment. Almost.

And then, glitter. Glitter everywhere! Fin lets out a little squeak of surprise and with plushie still in her hand, tries to cover her head with her arm. To no avail, of course. Glitter is gonna glitter. "Great. Now I will glow and sparkle." But saying that just makes her laugh. Until... "shit! My camera!" Quickly, she's trying to blow glitter off ther camera before she realizes it is futile. Putting it in the gear bag will only get glitter in there too. She'll just have to go over it carefully when she gets home and get it clean.

At Gingerbread Galleon:
Angelo stands on the top deck triumphant like stage performers do and calls back to Trace. "Aye we'll return to port. Let's head us back to teh cove!"

He finger goes into the air agreeing with the declaration when there's a glitter tsunami and a sputtering from the captain lambasted with tiny colourful squares. There's a buzz of wings to try to shake some loose before he calls out, "IT'S A YULE TIIIIIDE!!! Batton the hatches!" one thing to do now: that is all the pirates taking turns bouncing on teh trampoline making it look like popcorn and bouncing the confetti now on their float back to yon starboard and port crowds!