ANGEL BY THE WINGS // DECORATING

[PEPPINO]

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Pip had an odd relationship with his position; traditionally, there was magic and potions and voodoo, none of which he himself practiced, and he was reminded of this every time he went into the temple. He wasn't...uncomfortable, simply aware that past soothsayers and sages must have found a sort of holiness or divinity in this place that he did not. Well, Junji hadn't seemed to either, so it couldn't be too awful that Pip didn't. With the coming of Christmas, he wanted to participate a bit, at least decorate something, but the temple didn't seem appropriate, almost. Pip wasn't religious in the slightest, but out of respect for the people before him, he didn't want to string up tinsel and bells and wreaths in a place where it would be unwelcome. So he chose to decorate the massive tree instead, which, in hindsight, might not have been the greatest idea.

Pip wasn't much of a climber, but here he was, on top of the temple with tinsel, which had taken him a while to manage. He swallowed a bit, glancing down surreptitiously while he walked around the trunk, winding silver as he went.

"Marie Curie, that's a ways down," he muttered to himself, tucking himself closer to the tree, as though that might somehow save him if this went south- both figuratively and literally.
[align=right][i]INFORMATION

[GARRETT]

[align=center][div style="max-width: 500px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 9.5pt; line-height: 1.4;letter-spacing:.1px"]It was amazing what a good healer and a few days of rest could do. His own wandering had done nothing for him, his body desperately trying to purge itself of whatever was in his blood and failing repeatedly. He kept it as clean as he could, remembering what Pip had said all those months ago about saline and plantain (not that he'd had any of those in his travels), but it wasn't enough and that failure showed. Now that more careful paws had cleaned up most of the muck, Garrett feels a little more at ease. Like he can breathe again. Some of the cuts still twinge and burn, but there's no more pulsing heat. His eyes are clear as he walks through The Typhoon's territory, reacquainting himself with everything here. Although he had never been a part of the social aspects, it was easy enough to remember where things were. Still, he doesn't realize that his paws are taking him towards the temple until he's standing here.

This place was intimidating, perhaps for the same reasons that Pip felt he didn't quite fit in. It's mystical and strange, a place that makes him question his place in the universe just by looking at it. His parents had raised him differently than this. It takes a moment for the American Alsatian to push his paws forward from where he had frozen, the final few strides just barely bringing him close enough to look up and see a rather familiar figure perched way too far up off the ground. "Pip?" he calls up hesitantly, studying the tinsel with a confused frown. "Are you okay?"

[bubblegum]