[Masa]

Synopsis: Christmas for Storiesmania!

"Decorate, decorate the tree, tree, tree, tree..." the high-pitched silly song continued for a few minutes until the girl got tired of it. A slender white hand delicately placed a small green mirroring bulb on one of the lower hanging branches. The bright green eyes of hers seemed to sparkle in the same way. Licking her lips she artfully hooked and hung another bulb, this one red. Her blonde hair was mostly hidden by the festive bon-bon hat she wore, but it hung over her shoulder in two long strands, disappearing into her red and green scarf. She smiled happily as someone next to her began to hum the nonsensical song along with her.

The large tree she was helping to decorate was enormous by far. It stood towering in the middle of the high-ceiling hall. The master of the castle, Masa Ranton, happily welcomed all his friends to be in the festive spirits, and bought many of the decorations himself. The foreign boy hummed "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" while throwing some golden tinsel over a smaller tree, his darkly tanned hands moved swiftly and made the once-bare trees a sparkling delight. He was doing "walk-by tinseling" he happily declared, walking past a few smaller trees and aimlessly threw what he could. Of course, most of his things needed to be redecorated, but let the odd boy have some fun.

The blonde girl gave a happy sigh as she inspected her work, "Look, Masa. This tree is looking wonderful already!"

"What's all this? Ah! Splendid!" the odd boy clapped twice, his glasses slipping to the end of his red nose, "Great job! Truly wonderful job there... eh?" his left eye twitched under the strain of trying to remember the particular name that belonged to this particular girl in his castle. Before she opened her mouth to tell him, he simply scratched the back of his head, jostling his thick black hair, "Eh? What's that Corn!? Taste the pudding? It'll be my pleasure!" he dashed off like a schoolboy from the school in the opposite direction.

"It's…ah forget it." she waved to a few friends decorating an equally huge tree and turned back to see who in the community group was helping her. She had the master of the club himself working diligently on the upper-most branches, hanging precariously on the ladder with only his right foot and the very tips of his fingers, trying desperately to hang a lone silver orb on a bare branch. A young pretty woman held the orange ladder, barking furiously at her commander's sense of positioning and decorative skills, the two were unbelievably in a heated argument, even as the commander was inches from a rather nasty fall. A middle-aged woman expertly used a rolling ladder and one of her subordinates to wheel round-and-round around the tree, throwing a thick stream of golden super-tinsel on the tree. Jon began to sweat as they made their fourth circuit, he was complaining loudly, but it all fell on deaf ears. On one end a young man with a pair of headphones hummed a very odd-sounding song, talking loudly with his bandana-clad brother, while the two tried to untangle the Gordian Knot of all tangles.

The castle's lord was dancing an odd dance with a blonde girl who laughed cheerfully as he dragged her around the room. A pair of suspicious fellows in hoods stood huddled under a tree, stabilizing the base with large pieces of wood due to the added weight of a certain drunken Aussie who thought it very funny to wear a toga and plastic wings and sit on a lawn chair propped up atop the tree. A young brunette woman laughed madly as she poured a tall glass with eggnog and shared it with her many friends. An older man wearing a blue sweater laughed a little as he and a young lad named Sean dragged a very drunken Vixen to a plush, comfy, red leather chair; the drunken woman cheered gleefully as a rather peppy fellow started another chorus of "White Christmas". The major benefactor of the alcohol shrugged a little and laughed, a pendent of a tiki hung loosely around his throat. The two scolders, a woman with a small cat in her clutches, and the infamous Wordsmyth, shrugged at his reply and walked away with a silver can in their hands.

Two boisterous young men walked through the front doors, their arms slung over each other's shoulder, singing a mangled version of "Jingle Bells", each with a tall, cool one in hand. They, surprisingly, jumped gracefully over a muse and her friends that were trying very hard to put a puzzle together. Over by the fireplace a young British fellow began to strum his guitar tenderly as a few other able-bodied men, a very young man with skills with a drum set, a fellow with a piano, and some others, came in and they played a few rounds of random notes that had a blissful effect on the soul. In a few moments the melody of "Jingle Bell Rock" drowned out almost all other noises. In a seat beside the fireplace the good doctor read an oddly-titled book, and tapped his foot to the music. A red-haired woman sat on one end of the couch, writing some rhymes down, with a pleasant smile etched upon her lips. On the other side of the couch, a woman dressed darkly snored loudly, not really among those in the party, but her presence was known and acknowledged. Squashed in the middle, a young writer wrote eternally with a gleaming pen, eyes bright with inspiration.

As she smiled upon her surroundings, she realized that a great many people were finally beginning to settle down and sit idly, the brothers somehow managed to undo their Gordian Knot without the help of a sword, and the hallway was bright in the darkness amassed just outside, a wonderful mix of red, green, whites, each in an epic cycle. The club leader and his arguer were standing shoulder to shoulder, both pink in the face with a yellowish beverage in hand, singing carols to match the band. The middle-aged woman reprimanded the castle's master over something, as the young boy bowed his head constantly, his facial expression warped into a bit of embarrassment. His dancing partner sat next to the girl with many friends, and they laughed together with the elder of the brothers. The Aussie-angel sang out of tune in a completely different song, but it magically mixed and made everything sound better. His fellow countryman cheered loudly as a bottle of beer fell off a table and he stood victorious, a royal flush in his clenched fist, his three opponents all groaned and then laughed as it was his beer that fell.

Her green eyes followed all the activity for the rest of the night, she didn't really want to go in and embarrass herself, so she stood alone by the fireplace, just enjoying the company that did not belong to her.

"Well what do you think? Good party, no?" she had a small glass shoved gently into her hand, "Merry Christmas!"

The other person's eyes shone brightly in the sparkling decor that illuminated the entire hall, the already pleasant smile widened, "I'm glad there is always a place like this, a real fine community if you ask me. No matter who you are, there are always friends in this place."

"Yeah, I guess it is easy to be a part of the group..." she smiled tenderly, and took a sip of the sweet beverage.

With the flick of a button and with a grin that might have look manic, the young master of the mansion pressed a crimson switch and the ceiling panels swung, releasing balloons and tinsel, jettisoned from their hiding places, and many banners fell all printed in bold blue letters, "MERRY CHRISTMAS STORIESMANIA!"