[OPEN!] Let's go to the Christmas Market!

[merchants]

Who: EVERYONE!
What: Rose Bonbright has organized a bus and sent out invitations to all numbered that she has contact information of, asking them to inform everyone else about the trip to the Nuremberg Christmas Market that she's organizing. There was also a sign to the same end at the Hotel in Reutte where some numbered are staying. And today is the day! The bus leaves around 11am Central European Time (5am EST) and leaves Nuremberg late at night when the market closes down.
Where: Germany - on the bus and at the Christmas Market
When: 29th of November
How: Please just start your own threads and tag around, there's no top level comments this time!

And this is where we're going:

(description below is an excerpt of this.)

If you deviate an inch, you may never get out. Snowflakes lit by lasers are drifting down on the market square. Toasting sugared almonds spice the biting air. A jingling horse-drawn coach parades the Christ Child's Angel – a girl chosen to symbolise the city that styles itself "The Capital of Christmas".

Medieval Nuremberg, ringed by walls with 80 towers, sheltered by the castle of the Holy Roman Emperors, seems like something out of a fairy tale at any time of year. But in dark December it dazzles, its 400-year-old Christkindlesmarkt the prototype for Christmas markets across Europe.

Though the Nazis shamed its name and Nuremberg faces that past heads-on, the ancient capital of Franconia now bustles with the confidence it possessed in the days before they came. The fountain-dotted central square, a glorious montage of medieval buildings, is one of Europe's most captivating. At the Beautiful Fountain, a 60ft-tall golden confection, passers-by tiptoe to turn the brass ring that for 600 years has made wishes come true. Crowds gather at the Frauen Church to watch the clockwork procession of Emperor Charles the Fair's medieval knights.

Today the snowy squares beneath the castle resemble antique Christmas cards. Icicles drape fountains. There are inns with glowing stoves to thaw our freezing feet. The quaint house of Albrecht Dürer, Nuremberg's most famous son, illuminates the life of the 15th-century artist, scientist and author.

The city's 43 museums range from the vast Germanisches Museum's Bronze Age gold horns via Dutch Old Masters to Bauhaus design and the Museum of Toys. The master toy-makers of Nuremberg have apparently worked for Father Christmas since he filled his first sack. The market has toys in every colour, shape and size, sold on stalls manned by local trades-people who forsake warm shops for the convivial chill (an ancient guild of wardens prohibits piped music and cheap plastic trash). Another lovely square holds the children's Christmas market and we watch web-savvy children falling under its spell.

As the frost falls, stars appear, crowds thicken at the glühwein booths and at a stall barbecuing sausages (it's been here since 1420). Near the crib a band strikes up. Not even Scrooge could feel grumpy here. And at some point in the future when the Nuremberg's Nazis seem as implausible as the Grimm Brothers' ogres, we're sure the Christkindles-markt will still be going strong.

[Please keep in mind that Nuremberg is outside of the echo boundaries and all echoes will thus be at 10%. Memories of the network will still be present but feel a bit unreal and kind of fuzzy. The network is not accessible from outside of the echo boundaries.

People don't have to take the bus back to the Neuschwanstein Area, they can also take the train if they want to afterparty or stay a few days.]

Comments

[professorwolf]

1. [CLOSED]

The timing of this invitation couldn't be more perfect. Lyall had all but insisted Nick come with him to have an evening of actual fun, for once, instead of work or plotting suicidal missions or moping, and Nick actually hadn't protested too much. So here they are, hand in hand, walking down the snow-covered street peering in shop windows, examining merchant stall sales, and standing by the fountain looking up at the lovely buildings all around.

Even without all his memories and pulses, Lyall's still aware that things aren't all right at home-- while he doesn't recall the mafia plot, exactly, he knows Nick wants to do something dangerous to avenge a loved one, Anthony-- but he's also determined not to let it ruin the evening out. "It almost makes a grown man want to buy a toy," he comments, standing outside the famous toy shop and watching the people inside with a smile.

2. [OPEN]

Separated from Nick for a few minutes, Lyall's at one of the candy vendors. There's not a ton he remembers about being a werewolf in Locke, but he does know he can't have chocolate-- and he loves chocolate. So while he's away, he's sneaking a bit of the forbidden food: he's buying himself a small bag of mixed chocolates. He'll have to eat them all here, before crossing the line back into the echo boundary, but that's not exactly a hardship.

[detectivetroll]

Of course Nick had agreed. It feels like there's very little he's doing for Lyall these days, and even though he's trying to balance how he feels about about Anthony's death with the fact that Lyall's pretty much the only thing keeping him going, he knows he's not really doing that great of a job.

There's little he can do tonight with either work or the aforementioned suicide mission, anyway.

Being away from the pulse boundary isn't enough to make him forget Anthony, or the fact that he has something important to do back home, but it does dull it, a little. Especially with Lyall right there beside him; he hasn't forgotten the way he feels about Lyall, either.

Nick's smiling, too, but it's directed entirely at Lyall, as he watches him look in through the window. "Let's get you one. I bet there'll be something in there for you. Maybe a little stuffed sheep."

[professorwolf]

"Oh, now that's funny, to offer a stuffed sheep to a werewolf." At least he's not denying it anymore. The partial changes he suffers well outside the echo boundaries have long since been enough to convince him of that. He's still amused when he comments, "You know, it does make my college research topics a little bit ironic, I will certainly admit that."

Note that he hasn't actually turned down the suggestion, though.

[detectivetroll]

Nick’s grin widens at his response. “Glad you think so, too,” he teases. See, Nick knew it was funny. “Does it make you any less interested in them? Although I guess now you might have ulterior motives.”

Yeah, Nick’s definitely noticed that. Which is why he brings their joined hands up, pressing a kiss to the back of Lyall’s hand before he tugs on it, starting into the store. “Come on, we can at least have a look.”

[professorwolf]

"I promise, I am not the least bit interested in hunting sheep. It sounds very boring, after all, I doubt they'd put up much of a fight." He is, of course, joking, and he does let Nick lead him into the store. The geeky part of him still does like toy stores, though less for the stuffed animals and more for the models. First, though, he's just going to wander and let Nick lead the way. He'll find his way to something he might actually consider buying eventually; he's just here to relax, right now.

"So now we know what you think I should get. What would you get, if you were to pick something out?" he asks, half teasing, half actually curious.

[detectivetroll]

The joking makes Nick laugh - probably more of a genuine laugh than he’s had in a long time. He can’t quite remember why, but he can remember that, and it makes him a little bit grateful. “Hey, you never know, I hear their hooves are sharp.”

He’s watching the happiness of the kids more than the toys as they move through the store, and occasionally sneaking glances at Lyall to see what he’s looking at, but when Lyall asks that, he starts paying a little more attention to what’s in the store. “A toy car, probably. I used to collect them.”

[professorwolf]

Mostly Lyall's gaze does flit about to things like stuffed animals and models: dolls and action figures never interested him much, board games require other people to get enjoyment out of them, and there aren't any electronic games in a store like this one. That's when he's not watching the children, too. There aren't many in the age group he's used to dealing with here, but that doesn't mean he can't feel a bit of indulgent pleasure at the sight of the younger ones pointing out toys they like.

"Really?" he asks, a bit amused, himself, at the idea of a young Nick collecting cars. "Considering what you drive these days, I'd have thought you didn't care so much about cars."

[detectivetroll]

"What, unimpressed by my station wagon?" he teases with a grin. "I used to live in Oregon, Subarus are kind of a thing back there." And by 'kind of' he means 'you can't drive anywhere without seeing more of them than any other car.'

"I love cars, but it's an expensive hobby to have if you go beyond knowledge and admiration."

[professorwolf]

That, Lyall can grant. Cars would be a very expensive hobby. "Models aren't too expensive to keep up with," he offers instead. "Though with how hard you've been working lately, and all the other things happening besides, I imagine you don't have much time at the moment. Maybe once things calm down again."

[detectivetroll]

“Maybe once things calm down,” he agrees, but his smile changes a little, turns from teasing to some cross between fond and guilty.

“I’m still sorry, about this. It’s… hard to remember everything, except that I have a reason, but you deserve more.”

[professorwolf]

He gets a smile back that's equally fond, though not particularly guilty. Maybe resigned. He just knows, right now, that he's very glad they got away from "it" for a while, whatever "it" is, but he's not angry about any of it. He's sure he'd remember that much. "I'm not unhappy. Worried, but not unhappy. It helps that I can talk you into things like this."

[detectivetroll]

"I'm pretty sure you can talk me into just about anything," he replies, almost automatically flirting. It'd be almost teasing, if it weren't for the lingering feeling that it's actually true. Or at least, would be true, if he could remember everything.

"But it should be better, than not unhappy. It's going to be."

[professorwolf]

"Mmmhmm. But we're here to enjoy ourselves, not beat ourselves up. Come on, the models are this way." He flashes Nick a quick smile, pointedly moving them off anything that might be a downer for either of them, and gives his hand a tug towards the next isle over.

[espigeonage]

"Hey! Lyall!" After the distance and weariness of just a few days ago, Julien seems... like himself. Just as intended. "They have jellybeans? I promised a friend something."

[professorwolf]

The sight of him looking so happy and relaxed takes Lyall by surprise, though he can't actually recall just why. Just that he expected him to look otherwise, and not just because of the distinct lack of feathers-- though there's that, too. "They do. Just for a friend?" He grins. "Or are you getting anything for yourself?"

[espigeonage]

"Why not both?" There isn't quite a spring in his step - his feet are oversized and bound in cloths with claw tips sticking out - but he's jaunty, maneuvering around peering into the containers. "I don't think I've had jellybeans in years. These aren't as colorful as I feel like they should be, but I bet that's me. I keep feeling like colors are all wrong out here!"

[professorwolf]

"I can see how that could be a problem. Mine is with thinking everything smells off, or simply not enough," he admits with a slightly sheepish smile. The feet don't take him off-guard, at least, since he's expecting more somehow, but that much, he can handle. "If it helps, they look like normal jellybeans, to me. Maybe not the every-flavor ones that make pepper-flavored and all that, but like normal ones."

[espigeonage]

Julien laughs, seeming fleetingly surprised by the sound. "Aah. Well, no one can say our lives aren't interesting. Yeah, I'm going to have to get a sample before I can judge if it's appropriate for my friend."

So he goes up, and requests and gets a little plastic cup with a few jellybeans in it, all unsuspecting. He is mostly human out here, but still partly a bird. Methyl anthranilate - grape flavoring - is a bird repellent.

[professorwolf]

Lyall is unaware, as well, but he does chuckle. "I'm sticking with my chocolate, I think. I'm pretty sure I can't eat this, normally, so I'm going to splurge before we have to go back." He holds up the back of chocolates he'd selected, grinning.

[espigeonage]

"Oooh, yeah. It's cheat day!" Like it's a diet.

Julien shucks a mitten. He's got slender, dainty human fingers made somewhat alarming by curved white claws, which make him a bit clumsy fishing out a purple candy. Biting down on that his expression transforms instantly into wide-eyed dismay.

[professorwolf]

Lyall can't help but notice that. "What?" he asks in surprise, torn between concern and amusement. He can't imagine it's anything too bad, since it's dismay and not panic, so it's probably not something like a deathly allergy. "Got a flavor you don't care for?"

[espigeonage]

While Julien makes an effort to chew and swallow he quickly realizes he won't be able, and swipes a napkin to spit the grape jellybean out into, lips peeled back from his teeth in disgust. "Ughhhh. Oh, man. I didn't know they made these in chemical burn!"

[professorwolf]

"They shouldn't, that would be ridiculous of them. May I?" Lyall holds out a hand for the napkin, curious. If Julien hands it over, he gives it a curious sniff. Even without the use of most of his more enhanced abilities, he can still get a pretty obvious scent from the broken jellybean, and looks up at Julien with a confused expression. "Grape?"

[espigeonage]

Julien frowns but holds the napkin out, curling his fingers to keep from leaving scratches. "I thought it was."

Delicately he selects a red bean and draws that out to put into his mouth. It gives him no trouble. Now he finds one of the last two purple jellybeans in the sample cup and licks it, making a face immediately. "This doesn't make any sense."

[professorwolf]

"It must be something you got back from your other fellow," Lyall offers apologetically. Apparently some terminology sticks around, whether he remembers he uses it as "himself" as well, or not. "Like me and chocolate. Though that at least goes away out here, and I can't imagine what it would be to make 'grape' taste like chemical burn, instead of just making you sick like an allergy would."