12-18-2019, 09:20 PM
i was born, on the highway, in a train wreck
with a heart, that was beating, out of my chest
The room was alight with life and talking before Aurum knew it, and he couldn't say that he was disappointed by such an occurrence. So many people had shown up, and the Captain couldn't help the small smile that lingered on his muzzle as he looked them over one by one. Feza, – no real surprise there – Piers, Abathur, Kiira, Arrow, Torren, Moth, Miller, hell, even Crow had gotten in on the action, much to the lion's surprise. Aside from all of them, of course, there was Crowley. Immediately as the snake entered, Aurum felt that odd sort of tingly feeling fill his chest, unsure if it was utter anxiety or happiness. Whatever it was, it was definitely because of seeing Crowley, and he immediately wished he could just shove it away to wherever the hell it had come from. This was supposed to be a happy social event, not some angstfest where he bemoaned about how Crowley didn't love him back – even if the other hadn't actually said as much, and had just sort of told him to wait. Either way, he ripped his one good eye away from the reptile after only one long moment, not wanting to seem as though he was staring. Eager to distract himself, he listened intently to Leroy's little speech about the event, nodding along with most of what he said. Gifts, and feast. It sounded pretty damn good to the lion, although honestly probably any distraction would've sounded good to him right now. The whole thing about the mistletoe room made Aurum raise an eyebrow, mainly because he didn't really think anybody would be doing anything as interesting as Leroy had hoped. Still, Aurum wasn't about to kill the hound's dreams, and he just smiled before chuckling and nodding. Perhaps the gifts wouldn't be that amazing – as Leroy himself had implied – and Aurum certainly wasn't looking forward to cleaning up the tavern after all of this, but he was glad to see what Leroy had put together all on his own, and how happy it seemed to be making everyone, himself included.
The Captain hung back for a moment after Leroy was finished with his explanation, not wanting to hog the spotlight by being the first to grab a present. After all, he had enough attention given to him with his various smaller events as of late, as well as the construction of the tavern itself, surely someone else could do this? However, it seemed that after a long moment of no one stepping forward, everyone was too frightened by whatever could possibly be within the gifts that Leroy had prepared for the event. Nobody was moving, and even Crow's arrival didn't spur anyone into action, so Aurum just rolled his eyes a little bit, stretching before stepping up to the tree. He picked a small yellowish box, wrapped messily – and more than likely personally by Leroy. Pulling it forward a bit, he carefully tore the wrapping paper from the box, tearing it open with his teeth very slowly as not to destroy it entirely. Once the container was open, Aurum blinked in slight surprise, tilting his head at the contents within. The first thing he could see was... a tie. A rather interesting tie, considering it had a piano key pattern on it. It was silly, and cute, and... probably wouldn't fit around Aurum's neck for shit. Still, it was much better than any awful trash that Aurum could've thought up for Leroy to stick in a box, so he found himself smiling despite it. He gently lifted the tie up with a paw... before freezing when he saw a paper slip in the box as well. Heart sinking a bit, Aurum put the tie aside before lifting up the paper as well, wincing when he saw the words "missltow room" written sloppily on the slip. He wasn't sure whether he was more horrified by the bad spelling, or the fact that he was going to have to go to the mistletoe room. He heavily considered just shoving the slip back inside the box and pretending it hadn't been there, but... everyone was watching him, and he doubted that would work very well. He sighed and tucked the tie and the slip back into the box, pulling it over to the side so that he would be out of the way. Once he had, he looked at Leroy, flicking a wing at the General as he rumbled softly, "...Thanks, Leroy. I'm not sure the tie will actually fit over my mane, but it is very nice." He didn't mention the slip of paper, mainly because he wasn't sure how to feel about it, honestly. He supposed it depended on who the hell was on the other side of the other slip of paper, but... he also couldn't imagine anyone he would be particularly pleased with. Crowley, perhaps, but... he also wasn't sure how pleased he would be to actually have to confront things face to face with the snake... suddenly he felt a bit sick.
Intent on getting rid of the nauseated feeling that had come over him, the lion turned around and headed for where the food was, tipping back yet another drink. He wasn't exactly intent on getting drunk tonight, but it did settle his nerves a bit, and he soon returned back to the group afterwards, getting comfortable. He would stay and watch a few more gifts get unwrapped before heading back to the mistletoe room, needing a chance to ready himself before going back to whatever the hell would happen in there. Hopefully whoever ended up in the room along with him was like... Moth, maybe. Then they could probably just hug or snuggle and talk, since the two of them were practically siblings.
The Captain hung back for a moment after Leroy was finished with his explanation, not wanting to hog the spotlight by being the first to grab a present. After all, he had enough attention given to him with his various smaller events as of late, as well as the construction of the tavern itself, surely someone else could do this? However, it seemed that after a long moment of no one stepping forward, everyone was too frightened by whatever could possibly be within the gifts that Leroy had prepared for the event. Nobody was moving, and even Crow's arrival didn't spur anyone into action, so Aurum just rolled his eyes a little bit, stretching before stepping up to the tree. He picked a small yellowish box, wrapped messily – and more than likely personally by Leroy. Pulling it forward a bit, he carefully tore the wrapping paper from the box, tearing it open with his teeth very slowly as not to destroy it entirely. Once the container was open, Aurum blinked in slight surprise, tilting his head at the contents within. The first thing he could see was... a tie. A rather interesting tie, considering it had a piano key pattern on it. It was silly, and cute, and... probably wouldn't fit around Aurum's neck for shit. Still, it was much better than any awful trash that Aurum could've thought up for Leroy to stick in a box, so he found himself smiling despite it. He gently lifted the tie up with a paw... before freezing when he saw a paper slip in the box as well. Heart sinking a bit, Aurum put the tie aside before lifting up the paper as well, wincing when he saw the words "missltow room" written sloppily on the slip. He wasn't sure whether he was more horrified by the bad spelling, or the fact that he was going to have to go to the mistletoe room. He heavily considered just shoving the slip back inside the box and pretending it hadn't been there, but... everyone was watching him, and he doubted that would work very well. He sighed and tucked the tie and the slip back into the box, pulling it over to the side so that he would be out of the way. Once he had, he looked at Leroy, flicking a wing at the General as he rumbled softly, "...Thanks, Leroy. I'm not sure the tie will actually fit over my mane, but it is very nice." He didn't mention the slip of paper, mainly because he wasn't sure how to feel about it, honestly. He supposed it depended on who the hell was on the other side of the other slip of paper, but... he also couldn't imagine anyone he would be particularly pleased with. Crowley, perhaps, but... he also wasn't sure how pleased he would be to actually have to confront things face to face with the snake... suddenly he felt a bit sick.
Intent on getting rid of the nauseated feeling that had come over him, the lion turned around and headed for where the food was, tipping back yet another drink. He wasn't exactly intent on getting drunk tonight, but it did settle his nerves a bit, and he soon returned back to the group afterwards, getting comfortable. He would stay and watch a few more gifts get unwrapped before heading back to the mistletoe room, needing a chance to ready himself before going back to whatever the hell would happen in there. Hopefully whoever ended up in the room along with him was like... Moth, maybe. Then they could probably just hug or snuggle and talk, since the two of them were practically siblings.
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— Reggan