[party post] And to all a good night

[beyondriftmods]

[OOC: Annual winter post. :3 Both Decembers, the comments have been up in the thousands. The post is open all of December until January for all/any winter/holiday shenanigans. Quick reminder, you are encouraged to tag around, tag to other threads as well as making your own. Feel free to spam! :D]This December in Chicago is as filled with

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[tornadoinheels]

There is something irreversibly alluring about a city with snow. It seems to smooth over all the rough edges, and just blanket the world in clean, pure white.

Up until they plow it, people start to trample through it, and exhaust turns it that lovely shade of brown, but for the most part, it's beautiful. It's almost the great equalizer that can make anything better than it used to be. Sara Ellis has a cup of hot chocolate, a warm coat, and a new pair of boots, and until someone told her she had to be elsewhere, she is going to walk in the show.

As she's doing so, she finds some of the reindeer wandering through Grant Park. She's never seen an actual reindeer, up close and in person before, but there's something about it (or the hot chocolate) that makes her face light up in a smile, and she slowly starts to approach it, one hand coming out gently to rest against his muzzle.

"Hi there," she says softly. "Who are you?"

[smokeclears]

Noah has grown up in Chicago, but that doesn't mean that he ever really gets used to half of what goes on. He does know it's always been like this during the holiday season. The park will explode with reindeer, elves, and more. It's still amazing to see every year.

He looks over at the woman near the reindeer, and he smiles at the sight of her with one. They're really friendly this year, which is a plus in Chicago. One never can tell with anything that falls through the Rift, what it will turn out to be.

"There was one year where the reindeer in the park turned into monsters, and they'd chase everyone around. It was a zombie, mutant thing," Noah says after a moment as he reaches over to the reindeer near that one. "I'm really happy that these ones appear to be more friendly."

[tornadoinheels]

Sara's eyes widen a bit as she hears that, before her eyes narrowed a bit. "That must have left children of all ages a little scarred for life." And she means that. No one wants to see Santa's reindeer go rabid, by any means.

[smokeclears]

"...yeah, I don't think I ever see reindeer anymore without checking to be sure they're not the undead kind," Noah admits, glancing at these reindeer who look, much, much more friendly. "They had very sharp teeth and claws, and it's the stuff of nightmares."

[tornadoinheels]

"I don't blame you," she sighs. She's very tempted to take a giant step back now, but if the reindeer is evil, she doesn't want to give it the wrong idea. He seems pretty comfortable with them, though. And they didn't look too terrifying.

Yet.

[smokeclears]

"...I'm sorry if I'm now making you look at the reindeer like they might attack...." Noah says though now he's doing the very same thing.

It does seem to have very beady, dark, evil looking eyes. He looks sideways at the reindeer that lifts its nose out to sniff him, and Noah jumps back. Ahem.

[tornadoinheels]

She laughs. "No, it's okay. I need that kind of reminder every once in a while. Anything can happen here -- whether you're prepared for it or not."

[smokeclears]

Noah smiles at her, nodding in agreement. "It... can, and I know it can be easy to forget if you haven't run into anything weird in awhile," he says, and the reindeer nudges him. It's gentle though so he breathes a sigh of relief. "You don't want to spend your whole life paranoid either. That would be... weird."

[tornadoinheels]

"Sometimes a little paranoia is healthy. Go through the world thinking it's safe as houses, and you're bound to get a rude awakening every once in a while."

[smokeclears]

"I always try to think of all the possibilities that are out there, but you can't anticipate everything," Noah says with a small smile, shaking his head. "So paranoia help, and I'm more paranoid than most people my age. I don't know if it's a guardian angel thing or a... me thing."

[tornadoinheels]

"Guardian angel?" Soon Sara will collect all these angels, and won't have any more questions about what these things mean, but for now she still had all the questions. "I'm assuming that means exactly what it says?"

[smokeclears]

"Yeah, it does. Basically. There's a lot more... details, but an angel that guards is about the whole of it," Noah says with a small smile as he looks sideways at her. "We're supposed to guard one person, but it... most guardians have this instinct to be protective over everyone."

[tornadoinheels]

"So you're ... bound to one person in a way?" She's trying to absorb as much information as she can in one go, and she knows that she can't absorb it all, but it doesn't hurt to try.

[smokeclears]

"Yeah, that's the basics of it," Noah admits as he looks at her with a small smile. "It gets more complicated. You can feel what they're feeling. You can know when they're in danger and know how to find them. Plus, as angels, we're stronger and faster than average humans so we're built for protection, built to take care of other people."

Not always. It's not a perfect system, but he's been taking care of people for as long as he can remember.

[tornadoinheels]

She nods for a moment. "It seems a bit ... invasive. But the sentiment is nice, I suppose."

The idea that the universe is cosmically picking someone out to take care of you -- it's a bit too much like soul mates for Sara's taste, but at least she can verify that guardian angels are actually real.

[smokeclears]

"A lot of people really don't like it from what I hear on both sides of the coin," he says, both the angels and demons end up having a problem with it for one reason or another.

It's understandable in his eyes. "It can be really invasive."