MISTLEGLOW: a kissing meme

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mistleglow: a kissing meme

Some residents may remember that back in September, a love-drunk and confusion-spell-addled newlywed mage from Gramarye Magic Research let loose some pretty little fairy lights that trapped people in the city in little invisible bubbles until they kissed (and any kind of kiss would do). Well, the same slightly-less-newlywed but no less romantically-inclined mage happens to really, really enjoy the winter season, and thinks it's totally romantic. That particular sentiment is pretty common in the Quarantine - while Hygge is the celebration of familial love, the residents of the Quarantine all agree that that family often includes partners and lovers. Besides that, the folklore of mistletoe as being representative of love and friendship is something that the Quarantine has in common with the universes many residents inhabit.

So, as the last week and a half of December rolls around, residents around the Quarantine will see the result of the resident romantic trying to share a bit of Hygge love - small, glowing sprigs of mistletoe will be floating around the Quarantine, ready to trap people up and make them share a bit of affection.

how it works

● Two or more characters walking under one of these glowing, floating sprigs will get stuck for one hour, trapped inside an invisible enclosure with an approximate three foot radius. The only options are to either wait out the hour, or to kiss! Characters will know they're meant to kiss, because part of the magic spell is the sudden and intense knowledge that they should kiss in order to break free. There is no compulsion to kiss, just the knowledge that that's how to get free. This time, instead of any kind of kiss working, there will be different types of kisses that will work to release the trapped residents depending on the color of mistleglow:

RED: MOUTH ● ORANGE: NECK ● YELLOW: CHEEK
GREEN: FOREHEAD ● BLUE: HAND ● VIOLET: BUTTERFLY

Trapped residents will not know what kind of kiss will work for each color and may have to experiment before finding the right one.

● Post up a top-level for your character with the types of kisses you're interested in threading out, and then go forth and have your character kiss (or refuse to kiss) others!
● This meme is for characters already accepted into the game to play with the mistleglow prompt from this month's test drive meme. If your character is not yet accepted into the game, please use the TDM post!
● This meme is GAME CANON, so any threads played out in this meme can be carried through into the actual canon of the game.
● Much like the TDM, threads on this meme can count for Activity Points, but not the monthly Activity Check.

header image is from santa's factory by Clement Danveau

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[jelmazmo]

( So, everyone can see them. Her violet eyes are narrow in the direction of the other couple, and she wonders if this is only happening to those involved with one-another.

—or a much worse alternative, which she'd rather not consider at all. )

I don't care if they see. But I'll want to take you home, to do more.

( It's still like this, a blaze so easy to kindle, to spark and fans the flames of. Releasing a soft sigh of resignation and acceptance both, she meets him halfway, keeping the embrace tender but as chaste as she might. Then leans back, cheeks a little pink, and kicks out her foot again. Nothing. Now, anger and something darker leaps in her eyes, and she leans forward to capture his mouth again; not so chaste at all this time. )

[franciscoramon]

Yeah. With Genji. It was a total pain, cause we had to like, figure out what was the right solution with trial and error. Talk about embarrassing!

[ Cisco doesn't know if Rey knows Genji or not, but that doesn't matter much for the story. He tells it lightly, because he thinks that the best way to ease the tension and make Rey feel a little less embarrassed by this whole scenario is to give her some perspective on how badly Cisco's been embarrassing himself lately, with these traps. ]

We can still wait it out, if you'd rather do that. I'm cool with either call. Whatever you're more comfortable with.

[ The last thing he wants is for her to think he was implying she should be okay with it. He doesn't need gold all that urgently. They'd be getting a later start, but it would be worth it, if it meant Rey didn't feel pressured into going outside her comfort zone. ]

[paged]

[ Karen blinks at that for a moment or two, wondering if this was actually happening. But then she takes a step back and bumps into the invisible wall and flenches forward from it, grabbing his forearm and whipping her head to look behind her. Her heart feels like it's gotten a jolt and then she's reaching out a hand to the side and yep. A wall there, too. ]

What the fuck.

[ This is not funny. ]

[northerndragon]

[Then take me home, he begins to say, but she kicks the invisible wall and, as if reacting to it, kisses him again, much harder and more openly.

This time he pulls her into his arms, and as her tongue finds his, makes a soft hum. Eventually, he cups the back of her head with his hand, fingers tangling in her hair. They twist like that for a while, pressed against each other, and when it breaks, he wishes they were home already.

Raising an arm from around her back, he reaches out -- and pushes against the surface of the trap again.]

We still can't go home.

[Which might be something they should have planned for before kissing so emphatically.]

[spellslots]

[Thats a little further than Taako had thought about the joke, so he laughs at Cisco's dramatic little future.]

See, you've ruined it there, you know I wanna see two people dueling to the death for me.

[He would, too.]

[volitaunt]

[ Because I am a serious roleplayer, her hair absolutely smacks Poe in the face when she whips her head around. Which means he now has hair stuck to his lips for a second before he lifts his free hand to brush the strands away.

Poe puts a hand on her shoulder, distracting himself from his own unsteady nerves by trying to help with hers. ]

Easy. It's okay. It's one kiss. I don't know what the red one means, but I've had to do green and orange, and that was just forehead and neck. We just need to figure it out and we're out of here.

[paged]

What?!

[ It comes out almost as a guffaw but there is little amusement there. ]

This... what? A spell? People are fucking trapped like this? Who would do that? Why?

[ Yeah, okay, she's kinda freaking out. All of her experiences with "magic" or mysticism has been less than positive thanks to The Hand. This is worse than being tied up by them. At least that was something she could see. This, for all she knew, could be slowly closing in on them and they wouldn't even know until it was already happening. ]

[volitaunt]

[ He catches her upper arms in both hands, meeting her eyes. ]

I know. [ There it is again, all that rests unspoken between them. ] I know.

[dothelokimotion]

How do you step up a cheek kiss?

[jelmazmo]

( Would that I could would have been her reply, were her mind actually capable of thought in this moment; it's not. Dany pushes forward, pressing, arching herself forward into him while her tongue caresses his. A soft sound of her own is lost in the kiss, directly in response to what he does with her hair. One of her hands reaches up to reciprocate, the other tight around his waist.

When they part, she's most definitely flush, pupils dilated, eyes dark; and completely breathless. Her lips are a little puffy, swollen thanks to his kisses.

She huffs, agitation of a purely physical sort adding to the list of reasons to resent this trap. )

I won't make it to the bed.

( That's the truth. And now both of them are on fire and annoyed, and she has no idea where to go (or not, apparently) from here. )

[paged]

[ It's only after he makes her still like that that she realizes how hard she's breathing. She swallows hard and forces herself to chill the fuck out. It's just a stupid mistletoe. She leans forward enough to press her forehead to his, closing her eyes and hoping to absorb some of his calm. ]

If I find out who did this, I'm going to punch them in the throat.

[volitaunt]

Apparently whoever did it this time did it before. That's what-- [ Taako. Er. ] --a friend who's been here a while said.

[ She's near enough now to feel how tense he is, too. Seeming calm is a whole lot easier than actually being calm, at least when he's trying to help someone else. He closes his eyes, relaxing into the closeness. ] We can do this.

[northerndragon]

[He's tried to wear what the men wear here, some days, so there's no cloak to wrap around them, just the black woolen coat she'd found for him not long after they arrived. That's not enough for a situation like this: they might as well be in the middle of the street. All of this is becoming doubly embarrassing.]

You don't have to make it to the bed, only out of here. It can't be that I didn't kiss you long enough the first time, and too long the second... so what is it?

[One of the distant trapped people kisses the other's hand, and then there's a change in how they stand: it's obvious even from this far away that they're free to go.]

Your hand? Could be my hand. We'll try both.

[And he's already searching for one of her hands with his.]

[paged]

[ Her hands have ended up on his chest and she can feel his heartbeat again. Focusing on that helps her try to regulate her own breathing. ]

On Earth, a kiss on the cheek or lips was all people expected.

[volitaunt]

[ Without hesitating, Poe shifts his position to press a kiss against Karen's cheekbone. It's gentle and brief, a chaste bit of contact no more intimate than the touch he greeted her with.

He looks up. Puts his hand back to find the barrier.

Still there. ]

[withstyle]

[Unfortunately knowing a little more than her current companion doesn't exactly get them away from the magical mistletoe; it doesn't take a genius, though, to figure out what probably would outside of waiting the spell out. Because every spell of this sort has some sort of time limit. She might primarily deal in magic's effect on a body, but Izzy's been around her brother-in-law and magic in general enough to know that.] Can't blame you for trying at all.

[Though, she can't help but wonder if Magnus would be able to find a workaround for a spell like this. Even the High Warlock of Brooklyn has his limits. She'll have to remember to pick his brain later.

Shaking his hand, Izzy can't quite help the sympathetic wince that pulls at her face.] Eight...or seven...wow you either have exceptionally bad luck or you're magnetic, Cisco. [The tease comes out easy and she doesn't bother to hold it back. She'd much rather put a smile on Cisco's face than a frown considering he's done this so many times already.]

Nice to meet you too, hopefully this is the last time you get trapped by magical mistletoe. [She peers up at the mistletoe again while lifting her hand up to cross her fingers.] Since you have experience...how long does it take to wait out the mad mistletoe? And is this keeping you from getting anything important done?

[jelmazmo]

( She can read his discomfort easily enough because it's a shared thing between them, and she presses her mouth into a firm line. Nevermind trapping her in this magical prison—whoever did this has inconvenienced someone she loves, and to her, that's much worse. As it is, her own coat barely hides the way in which her body has and continues to respond to what they've just done.

It's putting them on display. )

It will not be a good day for whoever thought this would be an amusing was to pass the afternoon.

( That's not ominous, is it? Of course not! Dany follows the direction he glances in and frowns. )

Both is better.

( She reaches up without hesitation to give him her hand, and grasp his other hand with hers. She feels a little like a gallant in one of the tales despite herself, she ducks her head to brush his knuckles and palm each with a soft kiss. )

[paged]

[ A small smile results from the kiss for a moment before she's looking up with him. When she sees the barrier is still there, she looks back to Poe and, with only a moments hesitation, she leans in and touches her lips to his. Gentle, almost a brush until she applies pressure to the kiss. ]

[volitaunt]

[ How long has it been since he kissed somebody?

How long has it been since he's been kissed?

Really kissed, kissed without some magical requirement or promise that it doesn't mean anything in the long run.

Poe has a hand at her waist, the other on her shoulder, close enough to her neck to just touch her bare skin there with his thumb. He leans in, telling himself this is the same thing, it's just something they have to do to get out of a magical trap. Except then his tongue is touching her lips lightly, his hand is shifting on her waist, and he's kind of forgotten about the whole mistletoe thing. ]

[northerndragon]

[It's strange to have his hand kissed by a woman outside of the bedchamber, or what's passing for one with her at a given time, but there's some delight to it that he wouldn't have expected. He doesn't kiss her hand immediately, disarmed by the little kisses she brushes against his knuckles and palms.

When she's done, and a shift of his foot proves that the barrier is still -- STILL -- there, he raises her hand and lowers his head and kisses the smooth back of it, then her knuckles, then, rather sweetly, her soft palm, filling its center.

Then, for good measure, he pulls her into his arms and kisses her again, enough that at least one person stops and stares. The air out here is crisp, even in their trap, and she's warm and has a delicious complicated scent about her, one he thinks might be a perfume.]

[paged]

[ She feels his tongue and opens her mouth to him with little prompting. If she hadn't wanted it, she would've pulled away easily enough, pushed him away with her hands for good measure. But she doesn't.

Instead, she adds pressure, encourages it deepening and a hand somehow ends up in his hair while the other is at his waist. ]

[jelmazmo]

( Neither of them have known much in the way of gentleness. At some point, her subconscious had decided to try and take a moment every day to show him a kindness, which is easy to do in the literal sense. But also in the physical, little demonstrations of affection which, admittedly, typically occur at home.

Not so now, and she finds both doing so—and his reaction to it absolutely worth it. Also, charming. Her cheeks flush, lips parted as he returns the favour. The tip of her thumb draws gently across the scars on the hand she holds, and she's keen to stand there and smile like an idiot and forget they're imprisoned by a spell for just a moment.

—and then he pulls her up, lifting her, and she leans in to return his kiss, a soft sigh leaving her now. All she wants it him, pressed up against their door. Thinking of that has her surging up in his grasp, arms wound tight around his body to brace herself. Her teeth nip at his lower lip, and she murmurs a breathless endearment in Valyrian. She's fallen, become lost in him, and she neither knows nor cares if others see. The taste of him is heavy and raw and delicious on her tongue, and she can't get enough. )

[jelmazmo]

( So, she knows two things: one, it's a nice day to run into a new friend and two, if this is magic, she may well just burn its caster when they're no longer trapped.

It's still lovely to see Thor. But being trapped by a spell sets her teeth on edge. Worse, it's rendered the stronger by the dragon curled in the crook of her arm. Her expression remains absolutely neutral, though the warmth has fled her eyes for the time being. )

Go about—what? Have you been thus imprisoned before?

[jelmazmo]

( It seems they're birds of a feather (dragons of a scale?) today: Dany has a bag slung over her left arm filled with fabric, thread and other notions. A "Yule" or "Christmas" gift for Jon. Just a gift, more like. Because she can. And whatever has impeded her progress and nearly caused her to collide with a strange just now is keeping her from getting home long enough before he will to hide it all.

She looks decidedly less than impressed, because it feels like magic. And that sort of power never has brought anything but suffering and death to others in her experience.

But then he says something that jars her enough from her thoughts to glance down at Viserion, who in sensing her agitation has tried breathing fired against the wall containing them. Nothing's changed. And thankfully, the flames veer enough away from the man to go out. Her coat catches on fire, but she seems rather unconcerned as she raises her free hand to pat it out. )

Indeed, ser. Otherwise, he makes for a very scaly unicorn, doesn't he?

( A faint smile curves her mouth and she reminds herself that she's not trapped here alone. She casts her violet eyes about, frowning. )

:>

[valr]

[A little tentatively, Kara tests her hand against the barrier, half-expecting it to do something unpleasant like shock her. But - no, it's just a solid force, barring any exit.]

I'll help if you leave some of 'em for me.

[Kara doesn't really get flustered, which is lucky, because this is absolutely the sort of situation that would fluster her]