World Tree MUSH

It was the... middle of June. Okay, not exactly the BEST time to have a Thanksgiving celebration. A few months early or a LOT of months late. But Raven was new to all of this. And she had wanted to make it PERFECT. She had spent months prepping, gathering, inviting, planning. She had even asked to borrow Ash's station, and to have him and Ordis pick everyone up who couldn't make it on their own. And so, it was finally the day of...

And it was... weird. When the station game into view. It had been decorated. OUTSIDE as well. HOW?! It looked like a giant... ginger...bread house/station thing. But okay. She'd gone all out. A bit weird. And things would only get weirder as people came in to land.

The entire place looked as if it was made of candy. Decorations everywhere, all the decorations look... foody. And Raven is there! And... no one... else. There are a few docked ships, but they seem to have been decorated as well. Raven was standing on the launch pad. Waiting for them. And... she was SMILING! And wasn't wearing dark blue. She was wearing a.... weird... yellow dress. And her hair was in double pony tails. And look, there was even 'welcome!' pies. They looked delicious.

"Ugh..." Ash woke up stil ldressed in the black jacet and leggings he had arrived in. One moment he was talking to Gius about offloading contacts they wanted him to look up after the part yended, since the station needed tennents to make money to pay for its own upkeep.

Now? He looked about, eyes unfocused, "Wha..." He looked about, trying to stand as his mind attempted to piece together what happened. Everythign felt fuzzy, foggy. He should have pannicked, called Ordis to send his weapons across, or started running for the berth his lander was parked at. "Augh, my head... What happened?"

Anna and Spiral disembark from a shuttle, looking around in confusion. "Yeah, I don't know what's going on with the decorations either," Anna is saying. She's wearing a deep blue sundress, with a ribbon tied around her waist with a pattern of skyblue-pink-white-pink-skyblue; she has a somewhat androgynous voice, for those of you who haven't met her before. "You picking up anything, Spiral?"

The golden-furred catlike and vaguely squirrel-like creature on her shoulder looks around, her eyes flickering with a pearlescent light several times. "... Yeah," she says. "Pretty much everything here is a magical effect."

Anna tenses up. "Ohhhh boy," she says quietly. "Let's hope we're not out of our death here." A pause. "I mean ... depth. I said depth."

>> SUMMARY[Anna Freeman] >> Anna says something which was originally a typo

     "SPACESHIP!" Damian screeches excitedly in Ash's face as he wakes up, then zips off to check out the place. He /probably/ came here on a ship like everyone else, but there's also the possibility he simply teleported in. Though as much as he's bouncing around (almost literally) from one bizarrely decorated thing to another, occasionally stopping at viewports to stare out into space, it doesn't seem he cares to answer the question himself. "We're in SPACE again! On a SPACESHIP! Or a station or something! I dunno! IT NEVER STOPS BEING COOL!"

This is quickly followed up with him /almost/ tackling Raven into a big hug, until he decides to instead slow himself down at the last second and just make it a regular hug, and a little cheek nuzzle. "I don't know what you did to the place either, but it looks silly and adorable and I love it! Same goes for you too~" he says, the last bit whispered into her ear as he gives her cheek a little lick, then disengages and settles down onto the floor. In a flash, his usual dress transforms into a fancy tuxedo, complete with a rose pinned to the lapel. "Okay, okay, I'm ready. Where's the party?"

     One of the uncredited contributors in helping to track down various things Raven felt were required for such a social get-together makes an appearance. It was a matter of debate for a while whether or not O'Donnell, the leader of a now inter-World mercenary company, should actually make an appearance. Wolf wasn't exactly the most social sort normally; while he has his moments, an event like this would probably be something he wouldn't be the most comfortable with. 

     In the end, Wolf decides to drop by even after saying he wouldn't. There was consideration in sending Caluroso instead, at one point, but Panther became busy in an investigation into the history of a Lylatian exoplanet. Leon spends a lot of time working with trade, as his pre-mercenary history is steeped in smuggling, and might make a good liaison to drop by...once things become operational. 

     Wolf's approach to the station seems well in order, as far as instrumental readings go, so it isn't until one gets very close to objects in space that detail becomes apparent. The state of the station in the extent of decoration, is absurd and tacky. It's anything but Wolf's style, but he finds the thought of Raven finding a way to express herself in such a means satisfactory -- and, also, amusing. 

     O'Donnell picks up on others on approach and docking in other craft and settles into a holding pattern in orbit around the station while monitoring. It's generally boring stuff. Wolf has no reason to suspect anything is wrong. He has simply spent many years being very careful and, well, if he's late to the party it's not like anybody will miss his company. 

     "Okay," he says to the comms screen on his central cockpit panel while lifting a hand to rub at his face. "I'm not planning on staying long, so keep an eye on Sherman and if he moves that cargo in the meanwhile and let me know the moment anything changes. I'm aware of the timing, but simply dropping by is kind of important. .... I don't have to explain myself. Just do as you're told and I'll head back to Lylat soon." His personal fighter craft, the Wolfen, begins docking procedures. It won't take long for him to board the station now to see the extent of the decorations within...even if any of the guests have no idea who he is.

Holly wakes up to find herself in a strange place which wasn't anything new. For once it wasn't because Servis or Lavaux possessed her, the last thing she remembered was black smoke coming out of her cauldron. Speaking of which the ghosts were missing since they didn't have physical bodies they couldn't eat anything. "Did I summon this?" She hadn't remember there being any kind of explosion but she's pretty sure that this wasn't the University.

 The witch notices Raven, Anna and some other people she didn't know.

     Miwa was already in the room Ash was resting in and was glad to see him wake up. Hearing his head hurts, she moves closer and places a flipper gently on his chest, then leans in and after a moment blows a gentle icy wind in an attempt to numb any pain. "Welcome back to the land of the living, love. That feel any better?"

Raven blinked a few times, her eyes widening at the sudden show of affection from Damian. There's this whole BSOD moment on her face, as she crashes. Then... Reboots. Quickly. Her arms wrap around him. "Oh Dammy Wammy!" she says in a way, way too chipper voice. "I am so, so thankful you're here!" she said with... a girlish... squeal of delight. "Come, come, all of you! My wonderful friends! Enjoy, please! And try the pie, they are delicious! Mother made them herself and they're fresh!" she said, before pulling away from Damian, and walking deeper into the station. "Come, come! The table is set! Mother has prepared everything!" she said happily, leading through the halls and... It was... so bright and cheerful.

Raven seemed to be at least TRYING to be bright and cheerful. And the pies... oh my gosh they smelled delicious. And the girl would lead them deeper into the facility... To a massive room. With a table, filled with a full thanksgiving meal. Turkey. Mashed potatoes. Pies, of course. Gingerbread men. Stuffing. All kinds of treats and delights to lose yourself in.

"Damian please stop bouncing on the furnisings. Mother wouldn't approve." Wait what? Ash blinked, brain trying to parce. Something didn't make sense, but the more he tried focusing the less he could. Then his head shook, unimportant detail if it didn't immediately trigger some sort of reasoning. "This's raven's party. you're being rude." His arms crossed and he tried, and failed, to look sternly at Damian. "But I do gotta say Ray," He reached out to touch one of the decorations, "I knew you magicked but this is... did you get the whoel station with this?" There was a touch of awe in his voice as he looked about. The missing chunk of time less important since nothing was IMMEDIATELY trying to eat anyone's face.

"Also," Ash did manage to latch onto that one detail, maybe this was the thing that was bugging him. "Who are you, and how do you know Raven? I mean she invited you obviously," He paced about, "It's more 'maybe I'm being a bad friend here not knowing you til now'." 

Then a look to Holly and a headtilt, "Uh..." He pointed to Raven, "Pretty sure she's responsible for the decorations." He shook his head again, everything felt weird. Also he was hungry. How long did he sleep? He walked over to Miwa and put a hand on her back, right where the shoulder blades would be for her forelimbs, "Just confused hon. Kinda freaking out that I'm not freaking out... if that makes any sense." His hand stroked Miwa's back lightly, finding comfort in her presence. He talked Raven into using this station because...

Why couldn't he think straight? 

Then his stomach growled, loudly.

     Damian blushes black as he's hugged back, scuffing his feet on the floor embarrassedly. "Aww, you don't have to go to so much trouble just for me. I know this must be like your own personal hell, no pun intended." He also gives some halfhearted waves to all the others joining the festivities, almost dismissive of their presence save for Ash. "Hello everyone, I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess you're all Raven's friends, hi there, hello. Let's all get along and eat some delicious late Thanksgiving dinner, sound good?"

In the meantime, three red furry creatures, even shorter than Damian, poke their heads around the corner as the group filters into the dining room. Upon seeing the food, their faces split into cartoonishly big, toothy grins, baring razor sharp fangs. Sneaking in and hiding under the table, they begin snatching bits of food here and there when nobody's looking.

     O'Donnell tends to dress like a biker and is rarely seen not wearing his leather pants, but today: Today, Wolf wears cloth dark gray pants, a white sleeveless muscle shirt tucked in, waist secured with a black leather belt without studs, and over his top he wears a bomber-style jacket. The fact that the embroidered name says McCloud likely means nothing to any that are present, and that's certainly for the best. The name isn't that noticeable, but it was clearly a military-worn jacket for somebody at some point. He does still wear heavy boots, though. 

     Casually trailing behind the group of arrivals with a certain level if disconnection to the festivities so prepared for -- there are similar holidays across the many planets of his home World, but none that he has ever really celebrated throughout his life -- Wolf remains silent and half in his own thoughts. The spread is immense, though; he really didn't think this level of magnitude would be reached in the menu with the supplies gathered and shipped in on his behalf. It's honestly impressive. That counts for a lot. 

     "You did good, Raven," speaks Wolf, although not in a way to overly draw attention to himself. He finds a spot to sit and picks over some of the edible things available in half-interest while feeling a bit more socially awkward than Raven sometimes might. "You should be proud of yourself."

Anna waves to Holly, and frowns, furrowing her brow at Raven's ... at Raven. "... did she just call him 'Dammy Wammy'?" she says flatly.

"Yes," says Spiral, in the same tone. "Yes, she did."

They follow the group through the hallways. "Oh, well this smells delicious!" says Anna as she sits down. She looks at Spiral, and whispers, "You sure she's not just being, like ... trying too hard to do holidays right?" She puts a plate with several things on it, pushes a plate of salad towards Spiral, and takes a bit out of a turkey leg.

Spiral sighs softly. "I dunno, I've got a bad feeling about -- Anna!"

Anna chews and swallows. "C'mon, Spiral, chill, will ya?" she says. Suddenly, she's smiling brightly, and her voice sounds just a little less androgynous. "The food's yummy!"

Spiral hesitates, peering at Anna. The food is clearly tempting ... but ...

"Wow! You really went all with the decorations here. Something seems kind of strange here though?" Holly of all people noticing something is off? It's the end of the world. "I've met Raven once, but I don't really know her that well. Thanks for inviting me to the party even though Halloween is more of my thing. I hope Servis and Lavaux are okay?" She feels kind of lonely without the ghosts. "I am hungry though." She grabs a piece of pumpkin pie, life was too short not to eat dessert first and there's no one to scold her.

     Miwa smiles and hugs Ash a bit with her flippers, leaning into him a bit as she does because of how it affects her balance. But soon she's turning back toward Raven and the other guests. She offers a wave and nods in agreement about the decorations. 

     "You really did good Raven, place looks amazing. Glad I could come, and meet all of Raven's other friends over lots of delicious food." She offers warmly as she moves toward the table, trying to decide what to go for, and how to go about eating it without making a mess of herself and the area around her.

Given Miwa's lack of hands, Ash had prepared for the occasion. As he sat by Miwa he shrugged and essentially would help feed her. "Not the most dignified approach," He admitted, "But what're friends for right?" He shrugged at the crowd, fairly confident none there would make fun of either him for feeding Miwa, or make fun of her for needing the help.

Raven nodded, a smile on her face, sitting down and motioning for Damian to sit by her. She watched them before, she too, ate some pie. And then, as the group ate... There was a light laughter.

Most of them would see Mother May-Eye. Mother had always been there. Why, from the very beginning. Raven's mother, so kind and sweet and nice and wonderful. And somehow... their mother. It wasn't really a thought they could draw any attention to. The important thing was that their kindly old mother was there. "Oh my little dearies. Eat up, eat up! Raven worked her absolute hardest to make a special, precious meal for all of you!" she said happily, giving a soft, gentle, grandmotherly laugh...

And Damian would see... something else. Something... green and... warts and... a witch? Well, RAVEN was a witch but...Of course, then she went over and gently PINCHED Damian's cheek.

"And you must be Dammy Wammy! Raven has been absolutely gushing about you! Such a strong, strapping young lad! And almost as evil as her!" Wait, WHAT?! "I'm so proud she found someone who was able to see past how terrible and horrible she is!" The weird thing? To everyone else, the strange words likely sounded... just... normal. Motherly. Kind and loving. As if there was a weird disconnect between the words and their meanings.

Raven, meanwhile, blushed and covered her face. "M-Mother! He's just my boy friend! A-and I didn't gush THAT much!" she said, squirming in her chair.

"Oh Ravey poo. You shouldn't lie. he's a fine young man. Now, you all enjoy your meal, okay? We made it very special for all of you! And once we're done, you're all going to take a nice, warm nap, okay?" Why... why did THAT sound like such a good thing?

"Okay, Mother May-eye. Thank you," she said happily, digging into her pie... Oh dear.

One would think Ash would question this omnipresent Mother. Except he didn't. This is just how things were. Hush dear one the nightmares can't hurt you. Mother is here.

"mooooom!" Ash whined, "I know you love us all but to say those thigns about Raven....?" Then again he'd always been one to bristle at the sort of 'make fun of people because you care' sort of humor.

He looked at Miwa and shrugged, taking time away from her to finish his pie. Mother's constant baby talk was her least endearing quality, but she really did mean well! "Raven really did good here." He gestured about. "I mean I didn't know you cooked Ray." He grinned, positively joyous at the occasion. 

Then he offered Miwa more pie. There were thoughts just out of reach. Questions. Dim... Something at the edge of his ind screaming.

Unimportant. He put an arm around Miwa, smiling. Here and Now was what was important.

"Mother, I'm sorry I broke the wall when I was doing alchemy, I just want to be a great witch like you!" Holly just happy to be on speaking terms with her mother again. The awkward part was that everything she just said was true, except for Mother May-Eye being her mom. She continued eating the pie wanting her approval.

"I don't think Raven is evil, she made this nice meal for us after all." She smiles in-between bites. Still there was some strange about her father not being there.

     Wolf's dangerous claws work better than any eating utensil to pluck away bits and pieces from various plates, bowls, and dishes nearby to nibble on. It was a bit less dignified than serving yourself a plate and eating with cutlery, but it is how it is. Wolf doesn't stuff his face outright. Mind, the food is good. Great, even. Impressively good considering that to begin with there was the entire question of how to even cook such things. However, O'Donnell's continued grazing goes on idly while watching Mother tease Raven and compliment Damian. 

     "Such a cute pair," he observes, although his one-eyed gaze marked by eye-patch and facial scars seems notably softer than usual. "And they wouldn't be able to fully appreciate it without your care, Mother. Thank you." To any outside observer that knows Wolf, this kind of emotional sentiment from him is exceedingly rare and would be out of place. There is an intense emotional well hidden inside O'Donnell, however. Anything that toys with tapping into it risks a dangerous explosion. 

     "I just want to add, speaking for all of us, that we love you very much. Please don't ever leave us alone."

     As everyone gets settled in, Damian gladly joins Raven's side at the table, picking out a piece of that sumptuous pie. Just as he's about to dig in though, one of the fuzzy red demon sisters reaches up from under the table and snatches it right out of his hand. "Wha- hey! Give that back, it's mine!" he growls, dipping his head under the table for a moment before that strangely motherly voice speaks up. "Huh?"

Okay, Damian didn't really know what to expect with Raven's mother, but a stereotypical witch? Green skin, warty nose, and everything? He's got a sneaking suspicion this isn't actually his girlfriend's mom. "Oh, uh, hi there, Mrs. Raven?" he awkwardly greets the witch, only to get cheek-pinched and told how evil and horrible he and Raven are.

"Okay, for one thing, I /know/ there's no way Raven would accept being called those things, and I seriously doubt her /mom/ would say them like that either." the jackal points out as he flies up above the dinner table and out of Mother May-Eye's reach. "Secondly, and most important, nobody pinches my cheeks but Tentadora."

He glares down at the witch for a moment until he hears the others speaking up, and that clinches it: This isn't right at /all/. Turning in the air to look at each of them in turn, he gesticulates wildly and calls down to them, "Guys, come on, really? This is nursery rhyme stuff! They teach this kind of trickery in Hell kindergarten! Hansel and Gretel? Ring any bells?"

This is followed by him flying back down to Raven, looking her in the eyes. "Raven, don't tell me you've actually fallen for this hag's bullshit? Come on, you're just joking around, right?"

Verin, Vetis, and Vespa, in the meanwhile, take advantage of this to start getting bolder in their thievery, actually popping up fully and grabbing whole armloads of food to drag under the table with them, giggling impishly the whole time.

Anna stops eating just long enough to beam up at Mother! She nods along enthusiastically! And at Mother's encouragement, she hurriedly resumes eating the meal before her! She doesn't want to disappoint Mother, after all! And a nap after the meal? That sounds excellent! It must be, because Mother said so!

And then she glances to her side, at the untouched salad plate. "Wait, where'd Spiral go?" she says. She looks around, trying to see where her mascot might have gone, then shrugs. Mother told them all to enjoy their meal. If Spiral wants to get in trouble for disobeying Mother, then whatever!

... Anna's job as a magical girl requires that she be good at fighting off negative emotions that come from an external source. Positive ones, not as much. Mother May-Eye's got her good.

Spiral remains hidden, clinging upside-down to the bottom of the table, well away from Verin, Vetis, and Vespa. She looks around, listening to the conversation with mounting horror, trying to hear if someone, anyone, is unaffected! Holly isn't a surprise, but Ash!? Oh, jeez, even Wolf got affected!? Uh-oh ...

... ahhh. Damian. Spiral almost wilts with relief. But she remains hidden for now, waiting for a chance to get to him, where it's presumably slightly more safe.

     Miwa happily eats the pie and several other things that Ash fed her at her request, deciding to indulge a bit tonight since it was a special occasion, and she can swim off the calories later anyway. 

     She smiles warmly at Raven's 'mom' and tries her best not to laugh at the baby talk she lavishes onto Raven, imagining how she'd feel if someone doted on her like that at her age. It was kinda sweet though in a way, though something about how she talked about nap time after dinner seemed off though she takes it in stride. 

     "I guess a little relaxing after all this food would be nice." She says as she looks back toward Ash, loosely placing one flipper around his stomach.

"Mother May-eye, but you may call me mother," the witch said to Damian with a light laugh. Of course, then she glanced to Ash. "Awww, Ashy-poo. No need to get so upset. You know you're girl friend is so adorable, too. And I know you love to gush about her. and it's wonderful, you even match. You're both dating disgusting mutts." WHAT?! WHY DIDN'T THOSE WORDS CAUSE THAT ANGER AND FURY THEY SHOULD HAVE?!!

"I didn't really do much," Raven mumbled. "Mother May-eye helped a lot."

"Oh, of course I did, deary. Children shouldn't use the stove."

Then she smiled to Wolf. "Don't worry, little one. I won't leave any of you as long as you live."

And then DAMIAN! The damian freak out makes her eyes go wide and... "You stop that misbehaving right now young man!" she snapped, crossing her arms. "You need a time out!" she reached up with her laddle... And ribbons flew out, wrapping around the demon and binding him up. He was then dragged back down, onto the ground. With a hat appearing on his head. That said 'naughty'. The ribbons covered his mouth and... he was put into the corner. On a chair. "Now. You just sit here and think about what you've done," she snapped, before hmphing. "And don't you try shifting out of things! now, I have a VERY special surprise for all of you, once you finish your din dins. So fill up! and when I get back, I hope you're better behaved, Damian," she said, walking away and leaving them...

Raven snickered. "Ohhhhh. You got in trouble, you got in trouble~" she teased her boy friend, before having another bite of pie. "You shouldn't say such mean things to mother. It's VERY rude. Hmph." Oh dear...

"Uh.... no?" Ash looked up at Damian. "Also get down. Seriously. Manners man." There was again that nagging feeling at hte back of his mind. His head shook. Everything felt Right. Every other time something's gotten in his head it was either the literal stuff of nightmare, or someone trying to hurt him. He had no refrence points to fight this. SO Ash continued both eating, and helping Miwa with her own food.

Miwa's flipper manages to make Ash giggle. Then again she had a way of making him smile. "Sounds good." He snorted, trying not to giggle in front of everyone. Being ticklish sucked.

His comm chirped, causing him to cringe. Mother didn't like these things at the table. Mother didn't like a lot of things. Then Mae commented on Ash's choice in dates, causing him to further try disappearing into his seat, quickly turning his comm off.

Ordis made a loud dissatisfied noise. Logically Ash was simply enjoying time with his friends on a space station that was completely controlled by friendly forces. Something nagged at him though, causing him to access security feeds. Cheery holiday music. Old footage of parade floats. It made another frustrated noise and tried Wolf's comm. Something was going on here.

Ash looked to Raven and then to Damian before slowly picking a dinner roll up, "You heard mom."He tossed the roll at Damian's head, "eat up pup."

"Ooh a surprise, I can hardly wait! Please come back soon soon mother!" That certainly cheered Holly up. Still, she feels kind of lonely. She didn't want May-Eye to leave. "Do you want me to gift wrap Damian while your gone? That'll add to the surprise!" She thinks it would go nicely with the ribbons.

Anna takes part in giggling at Damian's predicament! Not in a mean-spirited way, exactly, but the same sassy-child manner as everyone else. Positive emotions aren't something you question, you just go along with them. It's the negative ones you have to fight.

And then Spiral comes out from under the table and skitters towards Damian.

Anna has her mouth full at that moment. "Oh, theff you awf!" she says.

"Swallow your food before talking," Spiral says absently as she comes up behind Damian. "Let's see how sharp I can make my claws ..." With that, she begins scratching at the ribbons wrapped around him. It takes a couple of tries, but one by one she starts snipping through Damian's ribbons.

Anna's eyes go wide. "Hey!" she says. "You can't do that!"

And then she hesitates. Something's ... off about the negative emotions she's currently feeling. But, no, there can't be anything wrong with feeling like this, she just doesn't want to upset Mother is all!

     It's all in the timing. Wolf's plea for Mother to not leave them alone without her winds up with a situation in which exactly that happens. A pinched fingerful of stuffing is brought to his mouth as he turns his head to watch Mother depart. There's a brief tug on heartstrings that only briefly is reflected on O'Donnell's calm face Wordlessly, less than a thought and more a sense of feeling steeped in magically buried memory:. 

     I don't want to lose my Mother again. Come back? 

     Wolf's heart skips a beat when his personal comms beeps. A touch accepts the incoming hail, although anything heard would only be for his ear only. Sure, such toys aren't allowed at the table when it distracts you from eating, but do partial implants count? Besides... 

     "Mother?" answers O'Donnell with a soft voice colored with a touch of hope kept low amidst the other happy voices from those gathered. It might otherwise seem a silly notion to think she would contact him in this way, but, honestly, who else would it possibly be that would have any importance? "Are you coming back soon? Everyone is eating up like you told us and Raven's boyfriend is still in time ou- Hey, what's that cat doing? Somebody stop it before Mother gets really mad." 

     Wolf stands up.

     Miwa finally feels quite full and holds up a flipper at Ash. "This food is delicious, but I think if I eat another bite I'll pop." She offers with a light giggle as if it wasn't already clear she wasn't entirely serious. She does then burp, covering her mouth with said flipper as she does. 

     "Excuse me." She offers before hobbling away toward a cushion on the floor, likely set out for her by Ash earlier. She lays atop it and curls up a bit, relaxing some as she lets her stomach settle some after such a big meal. She watches as Mae Eye wraps up Damian in ribbon and puts him in time out, not looking terribly surprised as he was acting up some. 

     She didn't have to wonder long as to how Raven would take it, trying to hide a grin as she watches the girl tease her boyfriend off for getting in trouble. Next, she can't help but wonder how mother will react when Damian has been freed by Spiral. "I don't think that's a good idea. Mother will be angry that you freed him from time out."

     "Ack! Hey! Get these off of m-" Damian starts to protest as he's tied up with ribbons and tossed into a corner, his words cut off by yet more ribbons. He struggles and makes a lot of noise, trying to change shape to all manner of things to escape, from a snake to a bear to even a big, spiky urchin, but nothing he does seems able to free him. Eventually he gives up and just sits there, trying to catch his breath. Even growing an extra mouth just gets even more ribbons blocking that one off, leading to another frustrated growl.

For the next minute or so, he just gives everyone pleading looks, begging them with his eyes to snap out of whatever strange trance they're in, but the most he gets in return is chastising and a dinner roll bouncing off his head. That is, until Spiral comes over and starts cutting his bindings one by one with her claws. Once his mouth is freed, Damian takes a deep breath and then sighs in relief, rubbing at his sore limbs as he gives the cat a grateful smile. "Hey, thanks. Weren't you at that fort before? With all the ghosts? Funny we should meet up again like this, huh?"

By this point, the demon triplets have given up on hiding entirely and instead climbed up onto the table, lazily dragging themselves along it and stuffing their faces as they go. One of them, bearing a unique third eye (Vetis, not that anyone here but Damian would know), seems to have passed out right in the middle of the table, comically distended belly rhythmically rising and falling as she snores. She gets a rude awakening when the prince hops up onto the table and casually boots her onto the floor, causing her to let out a startled squeak.

"Okay, seriously, this has gone on long enough. If this is some crazy fairy tale magic, then the best cure is obviously..." he speaks up, before swooping down to wrap his arms around Raven's shoulders, pulling her in tight against him and planting his lips firmly against hers. No quick peck is this; nay, it is the manner of kiss only granted to princesses of legend, steamy and full of love, the time-tested perfect cure for all fairy tale ills.

Probably. If it doesn't work, at least he got to make out with Raven before they all die.

Raven giggled, shaking her head. "You can't be rude to Mother May-Eye, Damian. It's very rude. You love Mother... don't you? It's not right to be mean to her." And she giggled softly. Mother giggled. "Oh, Holly, you little scamp, you." Before she left.

 Of course, no sooner was she gone, that Spiral started causing grief. She frowned and got to her feet. "H-hey! You can't do that!" she objected. It seemed Wolf had the same idea, and she gave him a look. Then he was free! Her eyes widened. "D-damian! you're going to get in trouble! Do you want to be grounded? You're already in time out! You can't--"

And then he was on the table. "I-I'm going to tell on you! You can't walk on the table! you're gonna get in really, really big trouble and and--"

And then he kissed her. Her eyes widened and she stared. It takes a big hit to break this enchantment... Or at least, a big shock to the system. She stared at him and...

And then BAM! Sucker punch. "DAMIAN! What in the WORLD are you--" Pause. "What in the WORLD am I wearing? Why am I--" And then another moment. "Wait, did I call you DAMMY WAMMY?! Oh dear--" Well, it was a LOT to take in all at once. Even she was trying to process it at once! Then she looked around and... And there was no mistaking that look. That... that was full worry. "O-oh no..." she whispered. Then... "Wait, Damian? Did I break your jaw? Cause, if not, remind me to later if we get out of this," she said, coldly. And then lifted her hand and her dress was torn off!... To reveal her NORMAL robe underneath. Magic, yo. Listen. SHE COULD ONLY TAKE SO MUCH. Of coruse... that left the others.

Suddenly thigns start happening! "Damien what are you-" Ash started to get up, and then Raven tore her dress off. What why would- "Mom wouldn't-" Ash tried to protest and then the torn away garment hit him in the face causing him to flail, falling back in the process.

...Fire on the lower decks. The Bioms had been sabotaged...

He blinked. Eyes refocusing. What was going on? Why was Raven on the table?

'You're both dating disgusting mutts.'

"Miwa?" Ash was hoping whatever that 'mother' really was would see this as he kissed Miwa. The snout made it difficult, but all the same this was the woman he loved, and apparently what Damian ddi broke Raven free of this magical nonsense. So no sense in footing around with anything other than the known good fix.

Limit one per person. Ash wasn't about to start kissing anyone else in theroom.

Holly blushes a bit at May-eye's comment and begins to cast a spell to try and summon some gift wrap to cover Damien. Though she gets birthday wrap instead of Christmas wrap but that'll work as she approaches him and tries to use her strength to pin him down. It seems like someone is going to need to knock some sense into her.

     Damian breaks the kiss, grinning as he recognizes the look of someone shocked out of a spell. "Oh good, that actually work-"

*POW*

The jackal spirals in the air from the force of the punch (though probably aided by his own light weight and levitation as well), coming to a crash landing on the table in a heap. "No, Tentadora, I don't want any more cake..." he dazedly mumbles, before his senses return to him and he wobbily stands up again. His lower jaw, hanging at an awkward angle, snaps itself back into place with a loud CRACK followed by spitting out a tooth. "Oof... I think we're good on that front, thanks. Still, glad to see you're in your proper mind again. Now how are we gonna deal with-"

And he's interrupted AGAIN by Holly tries to pin him down and wrap him up again. Before he can say anything though, Vetis's head pokes up over the edge of the table again, eyes ablaze with fury. Springing up onto the table, she stomps over to her two sisters and gives each of them a rough slap across the face, followed by some chattering that doesn't sound like any language on Earth... and then all three of them leap at Holly like a pack of rabid watchdogs, biting and clawing at the poor girl to get her off of their beloved prince.

     It's quite possible that Wolf is transmitting and simply not able to get anything incoming. Standing there beside the table and watching things unfold before him, there's this almost helpless look of incredulity that washes over O'Donnell. "Wha- Why are you all making a mess of this?" he asks, but instead of a cold steely voice full of accusatory tone, Wolf's voice is tinted with passiveness and a touch of despair. 

     "Raven has been working on this for a long time and it's not fair to act like-" A beat. "-selfish ungrateful brats!" That sounded more like Wolf, but the moment seems fleeting. 

     He stands there, hands lifted as if not knowing quite what to do without Mother there to make everything better. And yet, despite this, a conflict of deep sadness wells up more and more the longer she is away and the more out of hand this Thanksgiving dinner gets. His right eye, a vibrant purple in the festive lighting, snaps from one face to another while growing steadily more reflective from building moisture.

     Miwa doesn't react violently as Ash kisses her, but she does blink a bit in surprise as it's not something he's really done before with her. Of course, she is soon more surprised that she gets a feeling like she's just awoken from a bad dream. She pulls away from the kiss and looks around. "What exactly is going on here? Were we all put under some kind of spell or something?" She asks before growing quiet as she looks around at the others, seeing who might still be under the influence.

Good thing Holly is durable and the scratching and biting does little more than break her skin, still it hurts. "Ouch!" She uses her strength to try and forces the three off her. "What just happened? It feels like I was dreaming." She yawns a bit as she looks around.

Spiral smiles up at Damian! "Yep!" she says. "There you go!"

And then she stares at the kiss. And it works. "... Well, then!"

Anna, meanwhile, is looking increasingly worried! "I'm telling, too!" she says. She looks around at the others. "We ... we all saw this, right?" She frowns. "Wait, this isn't the kind of negative emotions I should be ..." Looks like she's almost getting free! "... I mean, uh ... I'm just upset because you're gonna upset Mother ... r-right ...?" One hand goes up to her head, and she gets up from the table. "I ... I mean ... I ..."

Spiral calls out to her. "Anna! Fight it!"

"I ..." Anna winces, and tries to focus. She isn't sure what to do next, she isn't sure why she needs to do anything, due to Mother May-Eye's influence she doesn't have the slightest idea what to do. "I dunno! I dunno! I dunno!"

"These negative emotions aren't you!" says Spiral. "They're caused by an outside force!"

Anna's eyes go wide. "R-right!" she says, and she takes a deep breath, trying to steady herself. "I ... I can do this!"

She gathers her power into herself, and a blue light surrounds her. One bit at a time, her current outfit is replaced by a blue, pink, and white dress, and her hair turns pink. This is followed by the blue glow shattering.

A shaky smile forms; she's not at full power, but it seems she's mostly recovered from Mother May-Eye's mental effects! "Okay. Yeah!" She blinks a few times, and shakes her head. "Ugh, wow ..."

Raven looked around at all the chaos. All the anarchy. As there was more kissing, and fighting and... for ONCE she wasn't annoyed at the tiny little annoying pain in the butt's. granted, she was going to have a talk about them with proper respect towards a meal and... And then her eyes fell on the table. 

She closed her eyes. "I... didn't masker this..." she whispered. "I didn't make any of this..." Her fingers clenched into fists. "I'm so, so sorry. I don't... I didn't..." Her fists shook. She fdinally shook her head.

"I-I don't... know. This is all weird. It's like... it..." She looked around the room and lifted a hand. Dark magic went out, only to disappear a moment later. She finally gulped.

"We need to find... Find whatever she is using to focus her magic. That's.... that might break the-- MMMPPHHH!" And suddenly, a tablecloth had wrapped around her, yanking her back. "MPPPHHHH!"

"Now now. You're all being such naughty, naughty children," the woman said. And now they could see her for what she was. "Now about you all sit down... and have some more pie?" she asked. More pies appearing on the table. "And then have a nice, long nap? Otherwise.... Mother will have to get FIRM with you," she said, tapping her ladle against her hand. "After all, your surprise is all ready. See? Wolfie is being such a good boy and sitting at the table. Now SIT DOWN!"

"Raven." Ash's voice was level as he gently patted Miwa. "We know you didn't do this."

Then the tablecloth moved and Ash had his hand outstreached.. Then the veiled threat.

He turned to Mae Eye, "You're not my real mother." His hand was now pointed at the witch. He had a suspicion this wouldn't work. This thing was a predator that wouldn't have left anything to chance. "So you don't get to tell me what to do."

Instead both hands shoved out and t othe side, intent on using his connection to the void to 'shove' Wolf to the ground, as he was as far as Ash could tell, the only one of them still affected. Bad enough to fight a spider in it's own den. Worse if she decided to use Wolf as an enforcer of her will.

"Miwa," His voice firm, "Little help lady?"

     Miwa turns to glare at Mae Eye as the witch comes back, her true form now revealed. She glares, suspecting this is who was behind it all. She doesn't have any time to add to Ash's retort though as the tenno asks for her help against Wolf who seems to still be under the spell. 

    "Well, he has sharp teeth and claws, don't think I want to get close enough to give him a kiss, but hopefully this will work just as good." She says quickly, then uses Water Gun, firing a firm blast of water at the lupine man. Deciding not to use anything stronger as she didn't want to hurt Wolf, just snap him out of the spell.

     The three demon sisters are pretty easy to fight off, all things considered. Annoying and prickly as they may be with their claws and fangs, they're not very strong /or/ talented fighters, so Holly's able to get them off pretty quickly.

"Knock it off, idiots. You're embarrassing me." Damian snaps at them when they try to go in for a second assault, and they immediately comply, hanging their heads in shame and murmuring apologies in that same bizarre tongue of theirs. With that being taken care of, he smiles at Raven again and nods. "Yeah, but with all of us here together, I'm sure it won't be too hard..."

But then Mother returns, and Raven is wrapped up in that tablecloth, and Damian yaps in surprise. Whirling about to face the witch, his body lifted into the air by multiple black tentacles sprouting from his back, his eyes blaze with hellfire and black horns pierce through the top of his skull as he growls, "Let go of my girlfriend!"

With a hiss, the V trio leap valiantly into action again as well, teeth and claws bared to unleash their remaining ire on Mother, for what little good it will likely do.

     A single tear squeezes from Wolf's eye just as Mother makes a return to see the anarchy that has become of things. Now, Wolf was very much standing, but the mere prompt of sitting as one should brings the fellow to do just that. He clenches his teeth and leans in a bit to half-whisper as an older sibling might do to address younger brothers and sisters without 'being heard' (effectiveness varies). 

     "Oh, for Fox' sake. What are you all doing? You're going to get us all into tro--HUP!" 

     Wolf indeed has no protection or prepared defense against such a push, nor does being shoved backward place him in a position to avoid that blast of water. The middle-aged lupine doesn't just fall over backwards out of his seat because of this combination. No. Wolf actually slides wetly across the floor from the force, crashing into decorations, which causes a number of things to come crashing down atop him covering him completely. 

     Nearly completely. One boot and his tail stick free.

Anna smiles at Raven. "'s okay, Raven!" she says. "It's not your fault! It's --"

And then Mother May-Eye appears, and takes Raven out of commission, at least for the moment.

Okay, good, Ash and Miwa are handling Wolf, and it looks like those three girls she doesn't recognize are going in for the attack. Anna turns to confront Mother Mae-Eye directly. "You've kicked over the hornet's nest, woman!" she says. "Interrupting our belated celebration to force us into you stupid 'mother' RP is something I cannot forgive! In the name of the heart, we will defeat you!"

"... what was that?" says Spiral.

"A justice speech," Anna says promptly, without looking away from Mother Mae-Eye.

>> SUMMARY[Heart Mage Anna] >> A justice speech.

"You're not my mother!" Holly sounds rather upset that something that made her less than happy was brought up. She points her candy staff at May-Eye and casts another spell and a pumpkin appears above her out of seemingly nowhere. May-eye wasn't the only one who could summon the power of holidays.

Raven struggled in her bindings. Yup. She was out, for the time being. Mother glares at Ash. "Those are harsh words, young man. And you know... words can HURT!" She waved her laddle and the decorations across the room began to fly, primarily the fake fruits and vegetables, molding up into little foot soldiers that started to rush at them. "Now you're being VERY naughty and will have to be PUNISHED!" she yelled, giving a wicked, witchy chortle. "And hey! Stop bullying Wolfie!" she snaps. "You're being very RUDE!" She waved her wand at Miwa and a massive pie would form over her... coming down at her, pie first.

"Now you, little girls, are being VERY bad!" She waved her wand and... Pretty dresses would appear on the girls. The kinds of dresses that were so baggy and wobbly you more... rolled than moved.

"Now Damian. You're not going to be a good boy friend for little Raven if you keep being so bad! I do NOT approve!" Pies appeared, raining down on him. 

"Now you, little miss Sparkle, we will NOT have justice speeches in my house!" A bar of soap appeared by her and... flew... Toward's anna's mouth to try and wash it out.

And then a pumpkin lands on ehr head. She yelps, covered in pumpkiny goo. And her eyes turn to Holly. "That was VERY, VERY NAUGHTY!" She flicked her ladle, and the carpet under the girl would flip up, trying to wrap around her and bind her. "You're going to give mother a headache!"

A look from the ensuing chaos to Miwa, "We're in the middle of a web she's lain. Normally I'd say run til we get out of range but-" Headshake, "She chose her target well." Yea islands and space stations. You don't really get to run far before running into problems.

"I'll go for wolf, if you've got anything that can give me cover go for it." 

Ash grinned in spite of himself. Whatever other Voodoo wasgoing on he still could dip his metaphysical toes into the Void, allowing him to cover enough ground to get to where Wolf was and attempt to clear the debris off of him, "Sorry boss!" Ash would grumble. "Magical hoodoo thing whammied all of us. No idea how to break whatever she's got going on." Magic was well outside of Ash'swheelhouse. No dent to his pride to admit he needed help dealing with it.

Just one minor teensy barely worth mentioning problem with the 'plan' so far....

As he tried untangling Wolf fake fruit pelted him. Nothing that truely injured, but constantly getting your hands pelted while trying to move things was distracting. Casuing him to focus instead on simply void-shoving the things aside. Wait why was she waving a ladle around? "Hey Magicp eople. What the f-" Tomato hit him in the face.

"PHawh!" He wiped the gunk off of his face. "That ladel magic?!" He tried shouting. 

His response was to try shooting at it rather than 'Mother' directly. Couldn't make things worse could it?

Of course given Holly's physical strength, trying to bind her is hard than it sounds. May-eye's strategy might have just backfired as she swings the carpet around trying to keep it from wrapping it around her and back at the other witch. Trying to use physical force against her generally wasn't the best idea.

Anna's response to the attack is to swing a fist, glowing with Heart Power, and to punch the soap away! "How about no," she says, breaking into a grin. Helping people, her friends especially, is the kind of thing she lives for.

When Ash calls out, Spiral's eyes flicker twice as she looks first at Mother May-Eye, then at the ladle. "Yep! The ladle it is!"

"Gotcha!" says Anna. She starts charging up Heart Power. "Cover me!"

"ANNA DO NOT USE THAT OVERCHARGED SUPER-MOVE WE'RE IN A SPACE STATION," Spiral shouts.

Anna erks, and the power sputters and goes out. "R-right then!" she says. It takes another moment to charge up energy again. "HEART POWER SHOOT!" she yells out, firing a brilliant beam at Mother May-Eye's ladle! Or failing that, the hand holding it!

     The three demon sisters are soon rolling around in their oversized dresses, still trying ineffectually to flail their limbs about and snarling at Mother (well, one of them is actually just holding up a sign that reads "GRRRRR" but close enough). In the meantime, Damian is grabbing plates, forks, whole turkeys, anything his tentacles can wrap around, and hurling them at the witch.

"Why's that a problem? I thought you LIKED me being bad!" he growls at her, though the sudden rain of pies shifts his attention toward dodging the hypnotic food instead. Lowering himself down toward the floor, the tentacles reshape themselves into an umbrella-like shell over his back, keeping him covered as he heads toward Raven. "Hold on, I'll get you free..." he says, growing out his claws a bit and slashing at the tablecloth bindings, just as Spiral did for him earlier.

     Miwa almost laughs at the huge pie heading toward her. "Is that all? Going to take a lot more than pie to stop me!" She exclaims, keeping one eye on Ash and Wolf, and the other on Mother as she begins to sing her Sparkling Aria, several spheres of crystal clear water beginning to form at the sound of her voice. In a moment, as her little tune reaches a crescendo, a few orbs of water fly toward the pie and explode, while the rest are aimed for a similarly spicy impact with Mae Eye.

     O'Donnell under the enchantment of Mother Mae-Eye is more than just compromised. Normally very resistant to mental effects, this type of illusory control has done a number on the mercenary. He's likely never fully been affected by such in the past. Made docile, he was open to attack, even if just for the sake of helping him out. This does not, however, change the fact that it takes a LOT of effort to break through how tough Wolf is to manage such a thing. 

     As Ash works to uncover the damp lupine from the mess covering him, despite the many distractions, a hand shoots from the pile -- decorational debris scattering -- to grab his savior's throat. It's a very large hand and strong, but even if it finds its target it doesn't actually squeeze. 

     Face appearing from the crash sight as his torso rises, Ash likely gets a good look at Wolf's face...and how the eyepatch has shifted aside to reveal what is hidden underneath it. Eyes narrow. Was the trauma not enough to free O'Donnell from the spell? Could he still be a threat on Mae-Eye's behalf? 

     Wolf hisses. The plus side is that, now being damp, any trace of his tear-shedding is now masked. But what next? Next comes a very sharp-toothed grin and, if his hand found purchase on Ash's neck, he...lets go. "Oh, it's you, kiddo..." So, he's okay? There is stuff flying in the air and people talking and yelling and- With a push to his feet, Wolf O'Donnell looks around at the chaos, pushing his eyepatch back into place, before settling his gaze upon Mother Mae-Eye as she is assaulted by a pumpkin. 

     "Watch out." Wolf grunts, swats some fake fruit from the air around Ash, and then begins to make his way to Mae-Eye's side as she herself faces assault. "This is a fine mess they've made, Mother," he says. So, he's not okay? "But, if it's any consolation, I honestly admire your tactic and method." What's this? So, Wolf knows? So, he's okay after all? And he's giving Mae-Eye genuine admiration? How does that even work? "Makes this all the more sad, doesn't it?"

Mother May-Eye shrieked, falling back when the carpet hit her. "B-bad! Bad children, you're going to get--" And then, the void blast struck her ladle. She barely, just barely held onto it. "You're all going to get spankings!"

With the distraction created by everyone else, Damian managed to finally tear Raven free! She collapsed, leaning against him and... Her right hand reached out, sending a blast of her own. It caught the wand, moments after Anna's did. The wand slipped, slided and... She reached for it...

Then she got exploded by water, sent flying away from her wand, her magic dampened. "No, no, NOOOOO!" she screamed, the laddle flying down to wolf who she had ignored, since he was the good child and... being snapped.

And the world shifted. Everything shifted. All the decorations and toys and EVERYTHING disappeared around them, collapsing back into a normal, mundane station...

Wait... No. It wasn't just mundane. They could now see the efforts of Raven's work. All of it.

A table filled with pathetic food. The turkey somehow... burnt on the outside, raw on the inside. Mashed potatoes too runny to be... ew. Basically, each and every thanksgiving special item and... all of them... disgusting. Raven had many talents. Cooking wasn't one of them. And the decorations were obvious things she'd picked up at the market. Raven got to her feet and just... walked to it. She just collapsed at a chair by the table and... stares. She stared for a long, long, long time. Before reaching up her fist, coated in dark energy to shatter the table and then just... Stopped. Slowly, her hand fell by her side. She reached up, and lifted the hood over her face.

"I... I'm so... s-s..." And her voice cracked. "I-I'm... sorry... I just... wanted... I..." And she choked on the words. The trembling, the weak voice. Even hiding her face, it was obvious she was crying. "I just... wanted... t-to try and do something... s-special and... and I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry..."

They'd hear a light sniffle as she tried to hide the obvious fact she was crying. Trying so hard to keep it in, to pretend she was strong and powerful and not at all upset or heart broken by all that happened. That rather than creating something nice... she created pain.

On the ground, now, was just a single pie... Hopefully... no one would touch it.

Ash made a small URK as he's grabbed. Wolf rising up looked like a fruit covered ruin as he rose. Wet dogs were generally pethetic looking. Wolf? Was more than a bit terrifying. He made a small eep as he was let go..

He focused his attention away from 'Mother' to try shooting down or shoving aside projectiles. He wanted this woman to hurt. She played them for fools, cowed and insulted them all.

Ash walked over to the table showing Ravens' burtnt turkey, runny potatoes, and started to fix a plate for himself. Almost as if challenging the now defanged magical 'Mother.' "Frankly? I'd rather have this than your pies." He then looked to the pie and tapped his comm. "Ordis?"

"OPERATOR WHAT HAPPENED?!" Ordis practically screamed. "The last transmission I heard was incoherent babble from Wolf and-"

This caused Ash to grin, "I need you to come pick a pie up.... and throw it into the sun."

"Operator... what?" Ordis was confused. very confused.

"Mind magic, bad stuff happened. Raven's crying."

Anna's immediate impulse is to help Raven, i.e. by comforting her. Eyes wide with worry, she hurries over, one hand outstretched ... but then she lowers it. She knows better than to touch Raven.

"It's okay, Raven," she says softly. "It's not your fault. It's 'Mother's', for breaking in and taking over." She looks her over hesitantly. "You all right?" Wait, no, that's a dumb question. "I mean ... nothing hurt?"

Miwa makes her way toward Raven, and reaches out to gently pat her with a flipper, but doesn't follow through, remembering how Raven feels about being touched. Instead she just smiles softly. "It's OK Raven, it's not your fault, and we know you wanted this to be special. We still love you."

     Wobbling both halves of the ladle in his hands, O'Donnell -- the good child so masked by his understanding and admiration for what the illusory witch could do and how she did it that he couldn't be distinguished from those under her power -- sighs and wanders back over to where Ash serves himself some food. He puts the 'wand' parts on the table beside his plate before grabbing a soup bowl to spoon (and spoon and spoon) some mashed potatoes into it before adding some brown gravy to them with far too much salt in it. 

     Strangely, Wolf says nothing. This isn't a matter of being stoic. This is a matter of old memories brought to the surface that have been buried for decades. Bittersweet. An image, with motion. A blur of the suns shining overhead, the notion of the male and female wolves far taller than he talking. She smiles and looks down before touching a finger gently between his eyes. 

     And that's all there is to remember. It's not explicitly sad. Or happy. But it is something. And something is better than nothing. Wolf eats his potatoes with a spoon while staring down into them.

"Are you sure it won't give her control of the sun?" Holly's not sure if throwing the pie into it is the best idea. After all she managed to take control of the space station somehow. She tries to help salvage the party and waves her candy staff once again summoning, this time it's decorations from various different holidays, none of them which are Thanksgiving. Well, at least she tried.

     Damian's extra appendages retract as the finishing blows are dealt to Mother, and everything just... fades, and returns to normal. Raven's true efforts revealed, and her lack of talent for homemaking on full display. He follows her as she goes to take a seat, and utters her choked apologies, his smile gone now. "Raven..."

The three demon sisters, freed of their cloth traps, gather behind Damian and chatter amongst themselves, before scattering off to who-knows-where. Damian, also reluctant to touch his girlfriend lest he wound her further somehow, tries to speak up as well. "They're right, Raven. We still love you, /I/ still love you. I told you before, didn't I? You don't have to go this far just for me- for us. I mean, hell, if you need help setting things up, then we can all pitch in..."

He's once again interrupted by the sound of a fiery portal opening nearby, leading to the deep red depths of Hell itself. And through that portal steps a tall, leggy, redheaded bombshell of a woman who regards the room with kind, motherly eyes- and not a trick this time, either. "Pardon me, but Damian's little fanclub told me about what happened here. Is everyone in one piece still?"

Damian gives the woman a dumbfounded look, blinks a few times, then runs over and hugs her tight for just a brief moment before stepping back. "Uh, this is my nanny, everyone. Her name's Tentadora, and I guess Verin, Vetis, and Vespa summoned her...?" he explains, his ears drooping as he shrinks a little. "Y-you're not here to take me home, are you? I haven't even gotten to spend time with Raven or her friends yet... I mean, not in a /fun/ way at least."

Tentadora lets out a soft chuckle through her luscious red lips, too perfect to be human, and scans the room with her glowing pink eyes. "Well, it seems like you've been through a fairy tale already, but what do you say to having a 'fairy godmother' fix things up and turn this into a happy ending?" she suggests, smiling and winking at the others. "I'm literally programmed for just this sort of thing, after all~"

Ash watched the fiery portal open and let the spoon fall out of his mouth. He blinked, staring at Damien's nanny before shaking his head. OK Focus you! "Hey... uh. Hi I hate to ask for favors but... Is there like a lake of lava or a bottomless pit or somewhere that pie can get dumped? Only idea I've got is 'throw it into the sun' and knowing my luck? That'd just make her a solar powered people eater."

Anna's eyebrow twitches slightly, and she narrows her eyes. "... her name is literally fucking 'Tentadora'?" she says. "... yyyyyyyou know what, I'm just ... gonna roll with it." She focuses, and then transforms back to normal in a burst of light.

Raven stared at them. How could they even... Why would they want to.... May-eye may have been terrible. Awful. horrible. But she made a REAL meal. A real delight. A real... And yet...

And yet they were eating hers. They were ENJOYING hers. They were... Eating her food and liking it because it was hers. and then, Damian's nanny. She blinked and... Was going to object. But, well, what was the point? If she wanted to fix things, good luck...

And when things were fixed, and she was finally able to get that nice, wondeerful thanksgiving(after a LOT of clean up), she couldn't help but smile... And enjoy herself, for once. Relax. Her first holiday. With lots of scars. Of course...

There was one more, final thing. Once everyone else was gone... She took Damian aside. "Before... You go home. Before you leave..." She mumbled. And... once she was sure they were gone. Deep breath. She leaned in. And pecked him on the cheek. "For... oh, screw it," she muttered. Just this once. She leaned in, and kissed him full on the lips. She then puleld back. "Just... thank you...."

------

May Eye comes back to awakening and... What in... a kitchen? Yes! She--

"WHAT ARE YOU?!" Why was there a demon? WHY were they holding her head between two pieces of bread? Why did she suddenly have the urge to say 'an idiot sandwich'?!