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quaranmeme2017-12-18 09:33 pm
MISTLEGLOW: a kissing meme
mistleglow: a kissing memeSome 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:
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.
hey there bud (rng says neck)
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Almost as soon as their palms touch, they’re locked in. And another guy-shake isn’t going to get them out. This is why John doesn’t like socializing. One second you’re buying a sandwich, the next minute you’re looking at your buddy’s neck, thinking “He probably smells good.”] Wow. That just went from 0-100.
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Poe, rather than looking at John's neck, is looking up in exasperation at the mistletoe. ] This again.
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John's not close enough to anyone here to just be himself, or so his overly-critical conscience tells him. So for the most part, he just flies under the radar, keeping everything casual. Being the guy who doesn't take himself, or anyone else, too seriously. Playing it safe.
Looking up at the sprig, and back down at Poe, he feels less than safe. Not because he doesn't like Poe. Because he does like him. And has been wanting, since Poe had saved his life, to be friends. It's just that reaching out has always been something of a struggle for John. He's not entirely against being pushed out of his comfort zone, it's a work in progress, but this mistletoe business is like being pushed out of his comfort zone from a moving plane, without a parachute.] This again. Well, we could park it here for an hour. Do you have somewhere to be?
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He scratches his forehead, leaning back against the barrier. BB-8 is rolling in circles around it on the outside, used to this enough by now to be contentedly annoyed instead of actively trying to torch his way through it. ] Nah, not if you want to wait it out.
[ UP TO YOU BRAH. ]
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[But it doesn’t seem to be stopping anyone else from going about their daily lives. John’s seen people kissing left, right, and centre, and he’d even stopped noticing it after a while. He shifts his weight from foot to foot, noticing a scuff mark on the toe of his combat boots. It’s very interesting. Far more interesting than the way Poe’s hair does that little curl, or his chiseled jaw. ] Mm. Yeah. What do you think?
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[ He all but flinches from the honesty of the answer. He was fine, he was good, but now that it’s in the open all he can think about is how if the barrier was a little closer in he wouldn’t be able to move. He’d be trapped. Frozen in place. Poe swallows. Most of these little interactions have been over too quickly for him to really think about the fact that they’re surrounded by an invisible wall. That they’re being controlled by a force they can’t see. It’s benign. It’s benign. He keeps telling himself it’s benign, and it is. He hates that his heartbeat doesn’t slow with the repetition, he hates that he can only be okay these days in short bursts.
Poe breathes in, slow and steady, and makes the exhale a sigh instead of something shaky. ]
It’s up to you.
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For all that John plays the part of the emotionally blunted male, the opposite is true. He's incredibly sensitive. That's why he wears armor, and keeps a safe distance from other people. To protect himself from getting hurt. Because it's easy to hurt him. Too easy. So John stays vigilant, keeps his helmet on, and wields his smile like any weapon, locked and loaded.
If there's one thing John's good at, it's being a soldier. He knows how to secure a perimeter. He's been doing it since childhood. Drawing a line his parents, peers, and friends couldn't cross, and then fortifying it. Building it taller, wider, stronger, until it became a wall so great, and so impenetrable, not even he could knock it down.
John's been at siege for a long time. He's no stranger to invisible barriers. Maybe he can actually do something about this one. For a friend, he's willing to try.] You know what? Me either. So let's figure it out. How many pilots could it take to escape a bubble?
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He's getting used to being grateful. He's still on that hard glass edge between calm and panic, but gratitude gives him something else to focus on. ]
Green's forehead, so it's not that. Otherwise I'm clueless. [ BB-8 is doing the thing where he rolls backward and forward against the barrier like a little round battering ram, though this time the droid seems to be doing it to entertain himself rather than from any sense of urgency. It's still making a little thump thump thump noise, though. Poe gives the droid an exasperated look. ] Stop that.
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[John can multi-task. Really. He hasn’t forgotten about what he has to do. His mind is still ticking through all the options, grateful for a momentary distraction while he thinks. So he isn’t just staring at Poe’s face, and everywhere it seems most kissable.
Forehead, cheek, hand, and mouth are the obvious ones. Then there’s neck, ears, chest, and stomach. After that, hips, and… below the hip. John hasn’t seen anyone stripping down in the street so far, so real estate beneath the clothes seems out of bounds.
A deep breath, and John reaches out for Poe’s hand, lifting it to his lips, if Poe doesn’t yank it back before he can, and places a chaste kiss to the back of his knuckles. Sometimes it’s better to leap before you look. His eyes flick up to Poe’s face, waiting for feedback, positive or negative.]
That didn't work, did it?
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[ Poe just... lets John do it, remembering his own inelegant grab of Rey's hand and her reaction. This is at least not nearly so awkward as trying to figure out how to kiss someone you view as a little sister.
Before Poe has a chance to answer the question, BB-8 does, rolling into the barrier again. The pilot grins down at his droid. ] Apparently not. My turn?
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[John's too old to explain the allure of a nineties fad toy to someone who lacks the cultural context of jelly shoes, Furbys, and the Spice Girls. Maybe after a few beers, but not sober, and not while his heart is still threatening to go off like a stick of C4.
He drops Poe's hand, possibly more gently, and slowly than he should, but they're past the point of casual already, so he's not going to lose sleep over the inevitable awkwardness of two men who don't know each other very well fumbling through what's arguably more physical intimacy than John's experienced in the past six months.]
This is somewhere between spin the bottle and Russian roulette in terms of fun versus pain. I'm not sure which is worse.
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Relax. [ Advice he should take himself, really, but he feels a little better since they're actually doing something about the situation.
But hey, it's his turn. So Poe goes straight for the money shot, as it were, and kisses John full on the mouth. It's brief but warm.
When he pulls back, Poe glances up. BB-8 bounces against the barrier. ]
Well. Didn't work, but at least it can't get more awkward from here, right?
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[Then Poe is kissing him. His lips are warmer, softer, than John would have expected. He's kissed men before, but under different circumstances. Rougher, and more desperate. In the darkness of the desert, with sand on their skin and war in the air.
The kiss is quick, almost too quick. Over before it really started. John is left hanging in the air where Poe left him, lips still slightly parted until BB-8 smacks into the barrier.]
Maybe it didn't last long enough. [Or maybe he just wants another taste of peace versus war.
John pushes the thought from his mind, like he does everything else that shakes his foundations, and leans in to press a kiss to the side of Poe's neck, just below his ear. Poe's skin smells good, like sweat, and leather, and everything another pilot should smell like.
Poe's pulse throbs against his lips with the steady beat of a drum, more soothing than it has any right to be. One more kiss just an inch lower, behind Poe’s ear and closer to the soft, curling baby hairs of his hairline, and John pulls away.]
Well whaddya’ know.
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[ That's all the teasing Poe gets in before John's kissing his neck. He's surprised by how tender it is, the way John lingers. He didn't strike Poe as the type, somehow. It's hard not to relax in spite of the goosebumps. Poe lets his eyes close, the last of the tension unwinding from his gut at the undeniable reassurance that the person he's sharing this space with doesn't mean him harm.
Check off that list item he didn't know was in question. When did he start getting scared of people he knows?
Without opening his eyes: ] Thanks.
[ Then he drags in a deep breath, looks up, and hey. The mistletoe is on its way to bother someone else. ]
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It's in the nature of veterans to be both inherently reckless, yet overly cautious. There are some things a man can't undo, or unsee, that will permanently change him.
They'll probably never talk about it, their shared fear, but it's there. Hanging over them like mistletoe. Throwing a wrench in their lives and relationships when they least expect it. Except all the kissing in the world won't make it go away.
But it can numb the pain.
He lets go of Poe, arms dropping back down to his sides, but not without a smile.]
Guess we completed our mission.