The Whitmoore Apartments - Christmas Party

Silent Sammy winced as she brushed past Halorin and Stateswoman as they talked on the balcony. They looked around, but didn't seem to pay the contact any mind. Sammy smiled, and continued into the living room. Hovering above the party, Sammy warped the light around her to make her mostly invisible. She had to strain a little to get the light around the large bag she was carrying to warp, but she was doing it. She carefully hovered past the guests, doing her best not to clock anyone in the head or run head-long into anyone.

Finally, she saw her goal; the large Christmas pine tree that mimicked the one in the mansion. She floated there, transfixed by its brilliance until a sudden bright flash from the kitchen snapped her out of it. Baron Rufus was surrounded by Malcalypse's phantoms, and Kessa was kissing him, and everyone was having a good time watching the Baron's predicament.

This was Sammy's chance.

Flying quickly to the tree, she upended her bag, letting a small pile of presents tumble out, making a loud "clacking" sound as they landed on top of each other. Each present was wrapped in shinny red paper, secured with way too much tape, and measured 12" by 6" by 1". They also had an oblong, oval-ish shape. Those closest to the tree looked back and jumped lightly at the pile of new presents under the tree. Sammy used this moment to flee back out the window, clipping Stateswoman on the way with her foot. "Sorry! Ooops! Dang!" she mentally muttered to Stateswoman as she plummeted to the street. She became visible, adjusted her oversized Santa hat, and proceeded into the Apartment complex.

It took her 10 minutes to go up the elevator and get to the door, where she knocked and was greeted by Stateswoman. She held Sammy's gift in her hand, mildly stunned, smiling and gave Sammy a hug and pulled her inside. All around the room folks were opening Sammy's presents to them. It was a simple piece of stained wood with an inscription carefully burned into it.

Stateswoman's said "My Hero"
Binah's said "Best Wizard Ever"
Silver-Streak's read "Home Sweet Home."
Baron Rufus's read "Chief Finder for lost & wayward otters"
Celt's said "Best Friend"
Halorin's said "Prelude to Friendship"
Professor McLaren's said "Champion Wrestler of the World"
Kessa's said "Best Mentor an otter could have"
Patriot One's said "Man of Iron, Heart of Gold"
Malcalypse's said "23"
Riot Force's said "More Human than Human"
Muratan's said "This Muratan Towards Enemy" and on the other side it read "Do Not Heat"
Texan Star's read "Heart bigger than Texas"
Noelle Frost's read "Keeping otters bubbled and safe since 2004"
Leander's read "My fish cannot beat your ninja"
There were even extra presents with tags written in crayon for everyone else with the inscription on the wood reading "Friend of Sammy".

Each and every piece of wood was carved into the shape of a trout.

"Sorry I am late!" Sammy thought to the room, her telepathic transmission carrying over the noise of the party. She smiled up at Stateswoman and began to waddle on all fours into the apartment, making her distinctive "Thup thup thup thup thup" sound as she walked.

Noelle peeled off the tape carefully, a remnant of a childhood spent saving every scrap of wrapping to be used and reused over and over. Once open, she cradled Silent Sammy's homemade wooden trout in gentle hands.

"Keeping otters bubbled and safe since 2004"

She looked up from the handmade fish and saw the room with tear-blurred eyes. Quietly excusing herself from Binah's side, she made her way through the crowd to Sammy, and flung her arms around her. "Thanks Sammy! I love it!"

The otter's fur was warm and luxurious under her cold fingertips. Letting go, Noelle smiled. "You let me know when you need any more trout -- we'll go fishin' and freezin' together, ok?"

Turning away to let another hero in to thank Sammy, Noelle noticed Silver-Streak touch down on the balcony outside, nod to Stateswoman and Halorin, and open the door back into the living room. She spared a moment of thought for the mistletoe, but decided to just go for it. No plants, no crutches.

Manoevering through the crowd, hugging a few more heroes hello and wishing others more restrained happy holidays, she made her way to Silver-Streak's side.

He seemed -- not dimmed, exactly -- over-exposed maybe. She placed a cool hand on his sleeve to draw his attention. "Hiya Silver."

"Noelle. Hi," he replied, still somewhat preoccupied.

Now or never, Noelle thought to herself. In her new high heels, at the perfect height, she kissed Streak gently on the lips, a trail of arctic air shimmering between them as she pulled away. "Merry Christmas."

Silver-Streak's face turned red as Noelle's lips touched his. His eyes began to glow as brightly as ever completely obscuring his actual eyes under a silver glow. With what looked like some effort on his part the glow dimmed down revealing his gray eyes once again.

"Merry Christmas Noelle..." He stammered nervously and oddly quiet. He reached out and took her hand in his. His skin warmer then she would have expected, hers colder then he would have expected. In the heat of battle most of the Knights and Phallanxers forgot that Silver-Streak was just a boy of 16, but his youth shined brighter then his own light now. As he tried to not blush in a room full of his friends and fellow hero's.

Baron Rufus looked up from the couch just in time to see Noelle plant a kiss on his 'kid sidekick'. It took all of his effort to not applaud her, she'd been after him for weeks now. It wasn't any secret in the Knights that Noelle had a thing for the team's resident "Teen Heart Throb". And he couldn't help but wonder if that was Silver-Streaks first kiss.

After the kiss, Noelle drew away from Silver-Streak. I'm not running away, she told herself, merely making a strategic retreat. Just in case.

She didn't want to think in case of what, and allowed herself to be drawn into a conversation across the room with Kinetica and Dark-Neutron. It was just a kiss, right? she thought. Doesn't need to be a big thing. No one's talking about the Baron and Kessa, right? Then again, she looked over at Stateswoman and Halorin. What was this party turning into, anyway? Some crazy love-in?

Gah. Noelle extricated herself from the conversation, and headed into the hallway, and the solitary retreat of the bathroom. The door was closed, and she knocked gently to see if someone was in there, or if someone had just pulled it shut behind them as they exited. A muffled "Be right out" sounded from within, and Noelle leaned against the wall and waited. She wanted a drink. She wanted... something. Just in case.

With a click, the bathroom door swung open. "Noelle! It's... uh... all yours."

Noelle dashed some cold water on her face and forced herself to calm down. It's just a party, she thought. So what if it's my first Christmas without Mom and Popsicle? These people -- they're my new friends.

She pulled open the door just as a louding clanging burst forth from the kitchen, and she heard Josie's Texan tones calling out dinnertime. Noelle wiggled her way back in to the big dining area, and grabbed an empty seat next to Silent Sammy, whose excitement was contagious. A short while later, she noticed Silver-Streak and Binah sit down near the Baron, a few seats away, and couldn't stop the smile that lit up her face.

She liked all these people. Liked having them around. It made everything a little more bearable.

Noelle caught Silver-Streaks eye as she sat down at the table. He stretched his leg out under the table and nudged her slender foot with his black leather combat boot.

Noelle looked over as he smiled at her.
"Merry Christmas Frosty..."

"Right back at ya, Glow Boy."