December 8, 2022

Oleander is walking through the woods, wearing a bird skull on his head and holding his broadsword. There's a decorated Christmas tree alone in the depths of the woods.

He stares at it, "Huh. That's interesting." They sit in front of it.

A cloaked figure in the dark nearby speaks "Like it?"

Oleander jumps and stands up, turning to the figure, "Uh- yeah-"

The hood tilts to the side some, "And who might you be dear?"

"...No one important,"Oleander says, hand tightening on their sword nervously, "I'm assuming this is your tree?"

"It is! Always loved Christmas...though I maybe a bit more lonely this year"

Oleander nods. "Why so?"

"Friends come and go, this time the holidays landed on a more empty moment."

Oleander nods, "Sorry to hear that..." Oleander fiddles with his sword, "We haven't decorated for Christmas yet where I live. I was thinking about doing it later."

"Do you need help? I'm great at reaching tall places."

Oleander smiles. "Sure. Wanted to put some lights on the front of the house but I don't really know how-"

"It would be my pleasure" They nod gently "So what's your name?"

"Oleander. What's yours?"

"Sparrow" They nod politely again. Oleander can now faintly see the smile of a gray nonferal nose sticking out of the cloak.

"Thats a nice name. Sounds vaguely familiar I think."

"I've been around but like, it’s hard getting people to like you when you smell bad," Sparrow shrugs.

Oleander nods, "Fair enough- need a shower?"

"Really? You would let me?"

"Why wouldnt I?"

"I mean- I'm a stranger, I'm wearing a creepy cloak, and I smell bad," Sparrow sighs.

Oleander shrugs, "It's just a shower. Plus I can protect myself if you decide to attack."

Her smile grows "That's so kind of you!" She pulls down her hood. She's a nonferal goat. Her horns look chipped and she has long black hair.

Oleander smiles back, "Oh cool! Are you a nonferal too?"

"Yes I am! A nonferal goat to be exact. Where did you learn about nonferals?"

"My friends a nonferal red panda- oh and I also live with a non feral crocodile!”

"Oh reeeaaallllllyyyy? That's alot of nonferals," Sparrow smirks slightly.

Oleander nods. "Mhm. You're a goat, right?"

"That I am, got a hard noggin too" Sparrow knocks on her own head.

Oleander nods. "Makes sense. Just follow me!" He leads her to the house. She happily follows while daydreaming of taking a shower.

Oleander opens the door to the bathroom. Sparrow walks in and says in passing with a polite nod, "Again thank you dear, truely"

"No problem! Have fun with the shower," He sits in the hallway.

Eventually Sparrow steps out. Oleander stands up, "Feel better?"

"Very much" Sparrow smiles as she puts her hood back up.

"That's good-" Oleander looks around, "So wanna help me decorate? I'm not sure where the Christmas decorations are..."

"I have plenty" Sparrow pulls out a string of lights from her cloak and seemingly out of thin air.

"HOLY FUCK," Oleander makes surprised face.

"Call it magic but it's not as glamorous as that. So What room first?"

"Hm... Well the living room should probably be last because I think that's where everyone is... is there anything you wanna add in the hallway?"

Sparrow glances around and taps her chin in thought, "How about a snowy look for this room?"

"Okay! Sounds good," Oleander nods.

Sparrow starts setting various fake snow, icicle lights, and paper snowflakes on the ground, "We should probably work quick so we aren't too tired by the time we are done."

Oleander starts helping, "Yeah!"

By the time the hall is finished it looks like a winter wonderland.

Oleander grins, "It looks good!"

"Glad you like it!" Sparrow smiles back.

"Kitchen next?"

"Very well"

Oleander walks to the kitchen as Sparrow follows. He looks around. "What're you thinking about for in here?"

"I'm thinking more red and gold, maybe some silver dishes" Sparrow starts setting out the decorations on the ground. There's fake pine leaves, red and gold ribbons, and golden bells.

"Hell yeah"

Eventually the kitchen is decorated and resembles that of an old grandma's kitchen. It looks perfect for gingerbread anything.

Oleander grins. "Now the guest bedroom?"

"Very well dear," Sparrow nods.

They both head to the guest room. Sparrow glances around, "hmmm...what about a reindeer theme here?"

"Hell yeah! Sounds good to me"

Sparrow gets out new bedding with knitted blankets and sweater patterns along with a novelty taxidermy deer for the wall with a light up nose.

"Nice!" Oleander looks happy with the look. After most of the decorating Sparrow picks up the stuffed moose and looks it over, "Did I bring out a moose by mistake?"

Oleander shakes his head. "Ah no- thats mine-" He extends a hand for it.

She hands it to him "A keepsake?"

He nods, "Yeah."

"So what's his name?"

He looks at the moose, "Not sure yet... got any ideas?"

"What about Murphy?"

"Hm... maybe! It's a good name."

Sparrow shrugs, "Now let's get done decorating."

Oleander nods, "Want to do the living room or the outside?"

"Let's do the living room real quick."

“Okay!” Oleander smiles as they head to the living room.

Sparrow walks in and instantly gets out the basic christmas supplies. She still wears the hood over her head and starts decorating. She pays no mind to the people already in the living room as Oleander helps. Cole is sleeping while leaning on the wall. Sparrow is extra careful not to wake him up. They get it all up rather quickly and sparrow steps back as she finishes the tree. The Christmas tree sits where it did last year. Sparrow deviously smiles.

Oleander smiles too, “It looks great!l

Sparrow stays quiet and nods.

"Christmas! Just a week away!" Kade exclaims.

“Its more than a week til Christmas-“ Harmonia mumbles while laying in the floor. She doesn’t look up. Sparrow quietly sets a Christmas hat on Harmonia's head before heading to the front door with Oleander. Sparrow steps out and looks at the house while getting out lights

Luna is outside already and looks over, "uhh hello?"

"They're helping me decorate-" Oleander explains.

Luna nods. "Can I help?" Luna asks the cloaked stranger and Oleander.

Sparrow nods and starts climbing up the side of the house while holding a handful of lights. There's outdoor decorations left in a pile. Luna grabs some of the remaining decorations and places them around the front yard. Sparrow has wrapped the house in lights and is putting some final touches on the roof.

"Holy crap, it's looking amazing!" Luna looks up at the house.

"Hell yeah!!" Oleander claps, "Thanks Sparrow!"

"Wait what?" Luna looks over like she just saw a ghost, "Sparrow? I thought she hated us."

Sparrow stands up and dusts off her hands.

"Uhhh hey there, long time no see," Luna has a hint of fear.

They hear Cole yell from inside the house, "THAT WHORE IS HERE ISN'T SHE!?!"

"Well whore is a strong word," Sparrow mutters.

"Yeah. It's one for Ari honestly, not you," Luna looks nervous, "So how's life treating ya Sparrow," Luna says, trying to quickly change the subject.

Sparrow sits down with her legs hanging off the roof, "Doing wonderful."

"That's good that's good. Thank you for decorating the house. It looks great!" She shows a genuine smile.

"Of course! Oleander here asked me to help out so naturally I agreed."

Oleander stays quiet as he watches.

Luna nods, "So does this mean you're back with us Sparrow? I admit, I missed you a lot."

"Doubt the ol’ bucket of bolts would allow that."

Luna rolls her eyes, "Maybe if you apologized for almost murdering him, he may. I recognize that you don't have to, but it could help repair relations with the kiss group."

"I never wanted to repair your guys' mistakes anyway," Sparrow scoffs.

"No you're right. We need to repair our mistakes too. We just don't want to fight anymore. You're a friend, and friends shouldn't fight friends."

Sparrow yawns, "Wow that was bland."

"Maybe so, but it's true," Luna smiles.

"Yeah its true but you guys are the ones who picked fighting."

"You're right. We need to make it up to you. Not sure if revenge is the right idea, but there has to be something we can do to fix our mistakes."

"You had plenty of time to fix things before and didn't. I'm not here to talk about it!" Sparrow smiles.

Luna rolls her eyes and slowly becomes annoyed, "Right, then aside from decorating our house, what are you here for? Is there anything else you need?"

"Hanging out with Oleander! We're getting along well!"

"That's good. Well I hope you two enjoy yourselves," Luna walks back inside.

Sparrow looks down from the roof at Oleander, "So? You're friends with my old friends huh?"

Oleander shrugs. "Guess so? Are you guys enemies or just. old friends."

"They decided they had enough of me but refuse to be in the wrong. They think we're all still hunkydory friends but that's just lies," Sparrow waves her hand dismissively.

"Oh..." Oleander nods, "I see..."

Sparrow sighs, "Can't make everyone happy ya know dear?"

Oleander nods, "Yeah- makes sense. What were Luna and you talking about? I kind of zoned out through most of it."

"Just a disagreement and old drama."

"Ah, okay," Oleander yawns, "Wow, It’s cold."

"You should probably head inside"

Oleander nods, "Yeah. Was nice meeting you!"

"See you later then"

"See you!" Oleander heads inside.

Shortly after, Isaac walks outside.

"How's the purse doin?" Sparrow snidely remarks from the roof. 

Isaac turns and looks up at the roof "Yeah? And how's the scapegoat?"

"Scapegoat? You really need to learn how to hold your tongue around me" Sparrow

"Why? Ganna cry about it?" Isaac snarls.

"At least I don't do crocodile tears," Sparrow scoffs.

Isaac glares as he walks up to the side of the house and starts trying to climb up to the roof. Sparrow watches with an unamused look. Isaac can’t seem to get up.

"Daw, is the gecko not able to climb walls?" Sparrow smiles. Isaac's eyes instantly fill with rage as he uses every fiber of his being to get up the wall. Just before reaching the top, Sparrow stands up and kicks him in the face as he falls on his back.

"So much for the cool guy act huh?" Sparrow smiles. Isaac curls up on the ground with his hands on his head and growling.

The house creaks heavily, "ʀǟȶ'ֆ ǟʀɛ ֆʊքքօֆɛɖ ȶօ ֆȶǟʏ օʄʄ ȶɦɛ ʄʊʀռɨȶʊʀɛ," Cole is rage form has both of his hands on the house but takes one of them off and aims a flick at Sparrow that would send her into the front yard. Sparrow is flicked and lands in the snow. Isaac begins whining in pain.Isaac is still crying in pain. Isaac gets up and has blue eyes nowIsaac looks up at Cole "Hello there"

"քʀǟʏ ɨֆǟǟƈ, ǟ ɢօɖ ɨֆ ǟȶ ʏօʊʀ ֆɨɖɛ ǟռɖ ʀɛǟɖʏ ȶօ ǟֆֆɨֆȶ," Cole stares down into the front yard.

"Praying huh? What if I did?" Sparrow gets up and dusts off her cloak.

"ȶʀʏ," Cole glares at sparrow.

"Ok, I pray to Cole that he gets shot in the head again. Just like you did to me countless times," Sparrow snidely remarks. black smoke surrounds Sparrow as the feeling of death encompasses her. "Wow I feel at home," Sparrow mutters. The smoke starts to cool down to arctic temperatures as it swirls around her. She starts to shiver some "Great! Wonderful! Fun!" She yells out defiantly. The smoke swirls around her loudly. It forms small sharp pieces of hail that aim to pierce her skin. The cloak is torn as she puts her arms up to block her face. She bleeds a pink substance. Eventually Sparrow gets shaky and collapses from blood loss.

Sparrow finds herself tucked into a bed at Claire’s house with Claire’s girlfriend, Harmonia, by her side. Sparrow grumbles as she wakes up and goes to put a hand to her head but winces. Claire enters the room and proceeds to exit and say nothing. Harmonia is sitting by her. "Careful- I think you lost blood? I'm not super sure I didn't see what happened-"

Sparrow looks around, "Got in a fight with Cole."

Harmonia nods, “Figured that much. You're at Claire's house," She explains, "You can leave when you want I just didn't want to leave you out in the snow."

"Thanks," Sparrow sits up and winces a bit as she gets her legs off the side of the bed, "I'll get going."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Harmonia explains, "Even if you don't like me anymore I still care about you. Do you have a place to stay?" She asks in concern.

"Me not liking you? No-no the issue is you all not liking me," Sparrow grumbles as she stands up and puts a hand on the wall.

"I do like you Sparrow," Harmonia says with a sigh, "I left the kiss house because I just couldn't deal with Spider, Luna, and Cole, among other things," She explains.

"Yada yada, be friend owo heart emoji, whatever. I'm out," Sparrow walks to the door but seems insanely weak.

Harmonia sighs, taking her arm, "We don't have to be friends, just, rest a minute. You clearly aren't okay."

"So what? I freak out and you take my head off too?"

Harmonia sighs, "I'll leave the room, just please rest a bit?" She says, trying to figure out how to make Sparrow help herself.

"You realize this sparrow right? The little goat dweeb? I'm not resting," Sparrow refers to herself.

Harmonia puts her fingers to the bridge of her nose, "So where are you going? To go pass out in the woods?"

"Yes."

"Do you see how idiotic that is?" Harmonia asks, huffing in annoyance.

"I lose it in the woods and the only things I hurt are the local wildlife."

"Hurt me if you want! I've been through worse! Just stop punishing yourself," Harmonia begs.

Sparrow sighs, "You know if I stay I'm going to hurt someone at some point, they will hurt me back, and it's right back to a loop of revenge."

"Tell me the last time I hurt you, Sparrow," Harmonia says seriously.

"That one time...ya know."

Harmonia raises an eyebrow. "Yeah? What time? I'm waiting."

"..."

"That's what I thought. I'm not going to hurt you, okay?" Harmonia says, "Even if you do lose it, i won't hurt you unless its to protect myself. I have no interest in 'revenge' against you. I just want to see you happy, Sparrow," Harmonia explains, crossing her arms a bit.

"As great and lovely as your reasoning sounds, it's a bit more complicated than that."

"How so?" Harmonia tilts her head.

"It's nonferal things going on that I can't really explain. Until I can find the source, I'm keeping my distance."

Harmonia nods. "I understand. Just... Can you stay an hour or two? Just to rest- you're clearly not okay."

Sparrow scoffs, "An hour or two is an hour or two too long." 

Harmonia sighs. "Fine. Can you teleport? I think if you leave through the door it'll just take you to the path."

"I could if I had enough blood le-" A raven hits the window with a great force and falls. Sparrow jumps slightly.

"I can teleport you but it's not super pleas-" Harmonia jumps at the raven. "What the fuck."

"Like I said I can't hang around too long," Sparrow sighs.

Harmonia extends her hand. "My teleportation will flip your body temperature for a sec but it'll work."

Sparrow sighs and takes her hand. They disappear.

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