Vilkas walks upstairs wrapped in a blanket with a frown on his face. His black hair tousled and his eyes tired looking. He looks at us, Farkas, Alea and I are sitting by the fire playing stratego. He slumps down onto his knees. “You don't look like you feel very well. You okay?” Alea asks with a concerned look. “Mjnhngvkgxsvfdsaa.” He mumbles and flops down leaning on a pillow. I look between him and his brother. “What are you lookin at?” I cross my arms “If you're going to be so grumpy you might as well go back to sleep.” Ria comes over and grabs his arm “Come on sick boy let's go.” Pulling him up onto his feet, he tries to get away- but Ria tightens her grip “uh uh uh, come on Vilkas you're going back to sleep and I'm making sure you sleep. Not just sit in your bed on your computer.” The two of them disappear into the stairwell. I turn to Farkas “Is he usually like that when he's sick?” He nods “Yep. And you know him well enough to know- if you leave him alone with a stack of books or a computer in the same room and tell him to go to sleep, he will most definitely not sleep.” I laugh “But then who does? It is a bit of a shame he got sick a week before Christmas though.”
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“Phillip…Phillip…Phillip wake up!!!!!!” I groan and run my eyes blinking away sleep before rolling on my side to see Ainsley standing next to my bed with a beaming smile on her face, her curly hair tousled and still in her PJs. “You didn't need to yell in my ear ya know that?” She smiles stupidly “Sorry Phil. But come on let's go downstairs!” And grabs my arm trying to drag me out of bed. I sit up and climb out of bed then pick up my sister and walk out into the hall. The other bedroom doors still closed, so that brings up a question, I turn to Ainsley “Hey Ains, you know if Mums up yet?” She shrugs. “Let's find out then.” I say under my breath and turn the doorknob opening it silently hoping it doesn't creak. I peak my head into the darkened room before closing it again and turning back down the hall “There not up yet.” Ainsley frowns “So what're we gonna do?!” I put a finger over her mouth to shush her. “Not so loud.” When we get to the bottom of the stairs I put her down and she runs into the kitchen and climbs up on a chair. I rummage through the pantry and eventually find something worth eating. Placing the bowls down I sit down and we eat breakfast quickly. “Hey look, it's snowing!” Ainsley points to the window that's next to the back door. It's snowing rather heavily, the large white flakes twirling in the air. Then there's a knock on the front door, I get up and answer it, It's Everan. He's dressed in a brown pea coat and blue scarf. He looks at me and stifles a laugh, “what?” I ask, Ev smiles “why are you still in your pajamas it's like 11 o'clock! Now can I come in or not because as you have probably noticed it's cold and snowing.” I lean against the doorway looking as if I'm thinking “well you insulted the fact I don't wanna get dressed, so no.” He drops his hands “really?” I scoff and move out of the way “Of course not get in here.” He smiles and steps inside. This is a rather nice way to spend a winter morning.
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“And what exactly are you doing this holiday season Ms Kurfeld?” Professor McNeil asks as the class turns to look at me. I try to think, what am I doing over the break? I have little to no social life except for my tiny group of friends and Xavier, and some of his friends as well. Ahhh what else? I'm celebrating with my family and seeing nana and papa as well as uncle Joseph and auntie Marie. I have to work on my part for Rice Street in chorus and I thinks that's it. Now just time to condense it and make it go as quickly as possible. The class is still staring at me awaiting an answer “I am seeing some friends, celebrating with my family, and not doing homework!” The class claps and some voice their agreement. Professor McNeil turns to Xavier “And what are you doing over winter break Mr. Stephenson?” His face goes red and he purses his lips “Uhhh, what am I doing? Well, umm I-I'm doing I dunno basically the same thing as Juliette but with different people and my dog?” The class laughs and professor McNiel moves on to the next student. This continues until the bell eventually rings and the principal comes onto the loud speaker wishing everyone a safe and happy holiday and that finals are over for the week. Finally if I may say my opinion. Time for vacation!
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Backstage is a mess, Curtain drops in ten minutes and not even all the main characters are in costume. Ughhhh this is a disaster! See, this is why I don't usually dance for the imperial city ballet company, I usually dance for the Royal Imperial Ballet company or with the Daggerfall ballet school. But when they asked me to lead in The Nutcracker, how could I say no? Exactly, I couldn't, contracts and the need for work have a way of doing that. And food money that's a thing too. Anyways there's techies setting up lights, make up artists rushing back and forth trying to find the right palette for a character, costume racks left everywhere by the hair and costume staff. And then the odd pit orchestra musician who wandered up here from their place in the pit beneath the stage. Including one particular person who I instantly recognize wandering around with his violin. If you haven't already figured out by the mention of a wandering violinist I'll give you some hints. He's a bit below average height, has grey skin, pointy ears, red hazed over eyes, oh, and crimson red hair that goes just above his shoulders. Figure it out yet? No, well here's a few more hints; he's a friend of mine, a couple of years older than me, grew up here with his mom after they left Morrowind, and his name starts with a V and his initials are VV. Get it yet? Yes? You guessed correctly it's the one and only Valan Velothi. Ahhh, that bastard still owes me twenty bucks. He looks around, before seeing me and waves, I wave back “Hi Valan!” I yell and he smiles before walking over. “You didn't have to shout I saw you.” I shrug “you deserve a little embarrassment my friend.” He looks at me “Aside from near constantly falling down stairs and walking into things?” I nod “yep. And you owe me twenty dollars from last time when I paid for the cab.” He fishes through his pockets and withdrawals a crumpled up bill, checks the amount and hands it to me “Sorry it's crumpled, probably forgot to take it out last time I had a performance.” I take the bill and put it in the bag off to the side with the rest of the things. We walk around backstage for a bit chatting “How'd you get here? Have time off from Uni or castle stuff or something? Needed something to do? Or did they contact you beforehand?” I ask as we stroll being careful not to walk into any people rushing through. “I usually come home every few months when I can, and since it's the holidays I decided to come home for a few weeks. The conductor actually contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I wanted to play, I usually do a few plays a couple of times a year aside from stuff at school so I decided to do it. And I was very impressed that you got Clara, though it makes sense you did.” I pat him on the shoulder “Thanks friend, Anyways...you should go.” I turn on a heel and point finger guns towards the pit. “Yeahhhh probably should. Well, see ya later good luck!” He gives me a high five and runs off to the orchestra. Someone yells for everyone to get to there places, curtain drops in two minutes. I rub my hands together after relacing my ballet shoe and walk out on stage to my place, marked with black tape that blends in with the dark stage, looking around at the scenery, it's amazing. “One minute people!” Someone yells out. It's show time, and the red curtain opens billowing and showing the crowds…
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What's that smell? And that sound? That crinkling sound of something frying. I bolt up in bed and throw the covers back. I'd know that smell anywhere. It's...Latkes. I scramble out of bed and throw on some cloths before running down the stairs and into the kitchen. It's my grandmother, Bubbie, we call her. “Hi bubbie how are you?!” I give her a big hug and she hugs me back “Ai Lanriael! I'm well dear how are you? I made my special latkes just for you.” I smile broadly as she hands me a plate of golden brown latkes, still sizzling. Then there's a crash and two heads poke from behind the wall separating the dining room from the main hallway. Carmen and Sarah, of course. “Hi Bubbie Cohen! We heard there was food.” They smirk stupidly at her and she laughs “Good to see you too Carmen, I was waiting for you to show up. Yes there is food, of course there is food. It's Hanukkah after all!” Bubbie goes back to the stove and flips the potato pancakes over in the pan. Sarah nudges Cam in the arm and whispers “Accurate description of Jewish holidays, They tried to kill us, we survived, now let's go eat food. I mean think of Hamantaschen, we made delicious cookies based off of the hats of our enemies.” Carmen covers her face and laughs slightly, then my bubbie starts to sing. “Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah. Come light the menorah. Let's have a party, we'll all dance the hora, Gather round the table, we'll all have a treat Sivivon to play with, and latkes, latkes, good to eat."
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Meg, Gavin, Tiggs and I walk through the busy market place, it's rather crowded which makes it a bit hard for Gavin to get around in his walker, but he's used to it. After all it's usually busy around the holidays. My mom sent us down here to get ingredients for dinner and a few other things. Tiggs walks with Gavin to make sure we don't lose him in the crowds and I follow Meg until she stops abruptly at a stall. She turns to Gavin and his eyes widen, he probably remembered something. “Hey Gavin?” Meg asks in a tone far to sweet and sing-song like for someone like her, as she's a rather severe person. “Yes?” Gav looks visibly nervous. “Did you get Beans a present yet?” He blinks and bites his lip “Shit, no I didn't.” Meg nods and gestures to the stall “So ya wanna know why we stopped? So you can get your little sister a present so you don't get hit in the head with a can of beans by an eight year old.” Tiggs moves out of the way so he can get through and they pick something out for Beans. And if you're wondering “who names their kid beans?” Her actually name is Beatrice but her nicknames Beans because her weapon of choice is to throw a can of beans and snowballs. Gavin also has an older brother named Reynold, but Gav couldn't say that so he said Rin and that's been his nickname ever since. Tiggs and I go get the ingredients while Meg and Gavin are shopping and meet them by one of the large pillars that hold up an aqueduct that runs through the city. “We got it!” Meg yells as she holds up a brown bag with a blue and silver ribbon. Tiggs gives a thumbs-up, and Gavin does back. “What did you get her?” Meg opens the bag and withdrawals a blue stuffed dinosaur. “Beans has been pining after that thing for weeks. So luckily it was still there.” Meg puts it back in the bag and hands it to Gavin who puts it in the side basket of his walker. We then split up as Meg had to go home to get ready for Christmas mass, Gavin has to get back to help Rin wrap presents for their cousins before sundown. And Tiggs and I, we walk back to our apartment building with the groceries. That's one thing I like and don't like about the holidays, everything's incredibly busy, and while that's a nice change, it's just tiring…
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Hmmmmm, how do I do this? I'm standing outside of the dark brotherhood sanctuary on the outskirts of Dawnstar currently freezing my ass off. Why'd I ever come here in the first place?! And because the DB likes to be “super high security” they have a door with an enchantment on it so this really kinda scary giant skull asks you overly philosophical questions. In my opinion the original founders just sat around a fire and thought “How can we make our already shadowy organization as edgy as possible?” And because living in sewers was already taken by the thieves guild of riften they resorted to this sketchy door. And Isabelle wouldn't give the password which makes this even worse! I knock on the door and get no answer, I knock again and again and again. “Isabelle Belet get your butt out here so I can give you your present gods damn it!” I yell at the door and sit down in the snow with a huff. Minutes later the door creaks open and a hint of black hair peaks out as Isabelle appears. “What'd ya want Liv? What were you shouting about.” I shove the bag in her hands “You really gotta give me that password friend. Like honestly that's all I want for Christmas.” She takes the bag “What?” I gesture to the door “I spent twenty minutes trying to guess that bloody password and banging on the door shouting!” Isabelle bites her lip “Thanks for the present?” She shrugs. I frown “and all I want for Christmas is that password!” I look over towards the town, people would probably think we're crazy standing in the snow on the outskirts of a town yelling at each other. But honestly all I actually want for Christmas is that gods damn pass code. Like I even know from Abbie the thieves guild safe password and how to get there with my eyes closed why can't I have the stupid answer?!
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“These lovable idiots” I think to myself as Alea and I stand watching the twins throw snowballs at each other. Vilkas hides behind a wall and pelts his brother with snowballs, and gets the same treatment in return. Alea nudges me “And this was supposed to be ‘serious mission’ I think Kodlak just wanted for us to get outside and have a bit of fun.” She smirks. I nod in agreement “Any way, it's better than sitting inside doing paperwork-” something cold and wet hits the back of my head. I slowly turn around to see Farkas smiling. Until he sees my face where his expression turns immediately to one of dispar and possibly slight fear as he drops the snowball in his hand. He swallows and gives a shrug and a smile “opps?” I pick up a chunk of snow and make it into a tightly packed ball and throw it at him as hard as I can. He moves out of the way before it hits. Until I use magic to make and control a large amount of snowballs and pelt him with them, knocking him into the snow. Vilkas comes out from his hiding place doubled over laughing after that “She got you there Farkas!” Alea then tosses a snowball at him. And by now Alea is the only one who hasn't had a snowball thrown at her. So Vilkas gets revenge and so ignites a war. Boys versus Girls, the twins use a crumbling wall as a fort while Alea and I use an old watchtower. You may think it's a bit unfair because Farkas and Vilkas are stronger, but Alea can shoot a deer in the eye from fifty feet away and I'm a Mage, so it evens out. In the end, after becoming cold, wet, and tired, we won. We report back to Kodlak, walking downstairs to the rooms at the of the hall. We're soaking wet with our hands behind our back “mission accomplished.” Alea says tiredly, and we all throw the snowballs that were behind our backs. So much for “Serious mission”
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Where's the wrapping paper? “Rune!!!” I yell and it echoes through the cistern. The brown hooded figure of Rune pokes out out of the darkness from around the corner that leads to the practice hallway, where a few archery targets and some practice chests of various difficulties are located. “Hmmm? What do you need Abigail?” I point to the desk “There used to be some wrapping paper here. It was white, silver, and dark green. Wrapped in plastic. It's a long cylinder. It used to be here, now it's not.” He crosses his arms “what makes you think I took it?” I check under the desk and around the area “I don't think you took it Rune. I simple knew where it was and then I turned around for five seconds and then when I look back it's not there and I have no idea where it went. So can you help me find it?” He leans back on his heels “what's in it for me?” I think for a moment “I'll ask Cydric to stop annoying you next time you have a job together and make sure you two don't get arrested just so that he can make a jail escape job and do it for the glory. Deal?” Rune nods “Deal. Let's go find that thing of yours. I think I might know where it went, come on I'll show you where I think it is.” I follow him as we walk down the hall to the practice room. “You think it's in here?” I ask looking around. “Saw someone put something in one of the chests, think it was the dwarven one.” He kicks the dwarven chest lightly, not that a kick would do anything the chest is made of metal, just like most other Dwemer objects. Of course it's the master locked chest. Why couldn't it be the novice one?! I crouch down and put a lock pick into the chests keyhole and begin to carefully turn it. The lockpick snaps with a harsh crack! I try another one, with little luck. After around thirty to forty lock picks I finally get the chest open. What? I'm not good at picking locks, I should really ask if I can borrow the Skeleton Key, an unbreakable lock pick. I open the chest and look inside it. Rune was right, there's the wrapping paper, now I can finish wrapping those presents, and the ones Delvin asked me to wrap. At the bottom of the chest there's a folded and crumpled piece of paper, I take it out and unravel it and smooth it out.
“Got you there Lass. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, whatever you celebrate, happy holidays Abigail.
-Brynjolf”
I crumple up the letter and throw it at the wall before taking the roll of wrapping paper and angrily walking away. “Where are you going?” Rune calls after me from where he sits on one of the chests inspecting a dagger. “Going to hit Brynjolf over the head with this and hopefully smack some sense into him, and a brain!” I yell back to him. I shove open the door to the main part of the guilds headquarters and find Brynjolf sitting at a table smugly smiling while reading the paper. I silently go up behind him and whack him over the head. Payback you bastard. Don't do that at the holidays or you'll get that.
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And some bonus dragon age ones just for fun.
“Merry Christmas!” Alistair yells as he walks into the room. I stare blankly at him, before saying “You know I'm Jewish right?” The smile on his face disappears “you are?” He whispers. I put my face in my hands “Yes, I am. I'm literally wearing a yarmulka, playing with a dreidel, was just shouting to Fenris in Hebrew, and I am sitting in a temple. I'm Jewish, Alistair. I'm very Jewish.” He purses his lips “Everything makes so much sense now.” Yeah, I thought it would…
Happy holidays!!!
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