[video/action] Action part comes with bonus Xion! :3

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Lea comes on the network, grinning like an idiot. He seems to be holding up a one of his own action figures.]

Guys, look at this! I'm an action figure! And I come with a monster truck! I mean seriously, how cool is that?

So basically, toy company people? Thank you for helping fulfill one of my life's goals. You're all awesome.

[Some people would demand a cut of the merchandising. Lea is just having a nerdgasm. And is planning to buy the whole set of figures the first chance he gets.]

*********************************************************************************

[Later, after calming down from said nerdgasm, Lea is taking Xion out Christmas shopping. The latest weirdness had somewhat derailed his plans to get a tree and decorations and that needed to change, stat. You might find them browsing at the Christmas tree lot, or in the decorations section of the department store, but wherever you find them Lea will be filled with Christmas cheer. And Xion probably with confusion.]

Comments

Action

[nobodys_puppet]

And speaking of confusion....


Xion was walking with him, not sure why they were heading out, but...she had decided she was going to try going out more, for his sake. So she went out with him when he asked her to, but the decorations and everything were confusing her. But the christmas tree lot would just stop her dead. Why were they looking at tree corpses?

Re: Action

[hotheadwarmheart]

[Not even Xion's usual confusion could dampen Lea's Christmas cheer.]

OK, since this is your first Christmas, you get to pick out the tree. Only stipulation is that it has to be able to stand up in our apartment without touching the ceiling.

Re: Action

[nobodys_puppet]

"Pick a tree, for... what?" she asked, looking up at him. "A target for keyblade and magic training?"

Re: Action

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea chuckled. "No, for decoration," he said. "You know all those trees with lights and decorations on them we saw on the way over? We're here to get one to put up in the apartment."

Re: Action You realize they're getting a charlie brown tree, yes?

[nobodys_puppet]

She had no idea why he wanted to do such a thing. But he did, so she wasn't going to question that, she guessed. "How do I know which one to pick? What criteria make one good?" What made one useless?

None of them are quite that flimsy, but they can make a small tree pretty too. :3

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Well," Lea said, "we need to be able to actually get it into the apartment then stand it up straight without it hitting the ceiling, but other than that it's really up to you. We could even go to a department store and get an artificial tree if you didn't want the hassle of dealing with a real one. Artificial trees can come in different colors and some of them come with the lights already on them."

I was thinking more she'd pick one she thought no one else would pick, anthropomorphising.

[nobodys_puppet]

She had no clue what she wanted, since this was all confusing. She looked around, seeing the trees weren't rooted, but were cut. Didn't trees die if they lost their roots? Did...did people die if they lost their roots? "What happens to the ones no one takes?"

They can take that one then. Lea said she could pick and he meant it.

[hotheadwarmheart]

That actually gave Lea pause. "You know, I don't know," he said. "I never really thought about it before. I guess they could be used for other things since there's a lot of stuff that's made of wood. We could ask someone though, if you're curious."

((OOC: Couldn't fit this in the title line, but I don't think there'll be any that're too terrible, since they are hoping to sell them. But if she wants the scraggliest one they can get that one. X3))

Lol. Okay. Kind of funny if they wound up with a pet the same way >.<

[nobodys_puppet]

She gave a small nod, looking around. "What... What do people look for...when they choose?"

Weirdly enough I had the same thought. A one-eyed kitty with a crooked tail or something. XD

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea shrugged slightly. "It varies," he said. "Obviously size is an issue, since you have to be able to get it into your house or apartment and set it up, like I said, plus maneuver around it; you can't really have a tree so fat it takes up your whole living room. But aside from just practical things like that, most people look for one that's nice and straight with not a lot of gaps in the branches."

Great minds, and ours as well.

[nobodys_puppet]

"Why?" she asked, looking at the trees, curiously.

Re: Great minds, and ours as well.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"It just looks nicer and is easier to hang decorations on that way," he said. "Most everybody wants their tree to look as nice as possible, so the better it looks to start with the less work it takes to make it look beautiful."

[nobodys_puppet]

"So... no one wants the ugly ones?"

[hotheadwarmheart]

"Well I wouldn't really call any of the ones here ugly," Lea said, looking around at the various trees. "They probably wouldn't bring ones out that they didn't think looked good enough to sell. But people generally don't want ones with a lot of flaws, yeah."

[nobodys_puppet]

She hesitated, then nodded. "I think we should go find out what happens to the ones no one wants..." she said, softly.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"OK sure," Lea said. "Let's see if we can find somebody who works here..." Lea looked around until he spotted someone wearing a vest with a name tag on it and headed over to them.

When the young woman spotted Lea and Xion, she smiled. "Hi," she said. "Can I help you with anything?"

"Yeah actually," Lea said. "This might seem like a bit of a weird question, but I was wondering what happens to the trees that you don't end up selling?"

"Mostly any that are left over get turned into mulch for use on next year's crop," she said. "Though I think they were talking about selling some of the balsam firs to a company that makes all natural soaps and scented candles and things at a wholesale price so we at least wouldn't lose anything on them, money wise."

He nodded. "Alright, thanks," he said.

"Is there anything else you needed help with?", the employee asked.

"Not right now, but I'll let you know," Lea said. "Thanks again."

"Alright," she said. "Have a good day."

"You too," Lea said before turning back to Xion as the employee moved off to help someone else. "Well, there's you answer. They either become mulch or get used to make fancy soap and things."

[nobodys_puppet]

"So.... they are destroyed to turn them into something valuable?" she asked, softly.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"That seems to be the case, yeah," Lea said, thinking he knew where this might be going.

[nobodys_puppet]

"Then.... Then we should get ones no one else wants, to save them, shouldn't we?" Yes, she did just use a plural there.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Yes, Lea heard that plural. "Well, we really only have space for one," he said. "But you're welcome to pick the one that you think other people are least likely to want."

[nobodys_puppet]

She nodded and started looking around in earnest, feeling badly for all of these trees, really. She didn't understand why they had to be cut in the first place.

[hotheadwarmheart]

Lea walked along with her letting her look in silence for a few moments and wondering if maybe they shouldn't have just gotten an artificial tree from the start. Eventually though, he felt the need to break the silence that had settled between them. "Hey," he said, "do you want to know how the tradition of having Christmas trees got started?"

[nobodys_puppet]

"Alright," she said, looking up to him. She didn't always believe his stories about the whys of the world, but she always loved them.

[hotheadwarmheart]

"It started a long time ago," he aid. "Way back before there were things like electricity and grocery stores. Back then, once all the crops had been harvested, that was all the food there was for the whole winter, and firelight was all you had. It was dark and cold and scary, and people wanted reminders that life could keep going and would return again in spring. So any plants they saw that were still green and living? They brought them into their houses to be reminders of that, and for good luck."

"That's why pine trees and holly are traditional Christmas decorations," he said. "They stay green all year, so they were some of the plants people brought into their houses way back then. There were other plants too, like certain kinds of ivy, I think, but most people don't know why the tradition originally started, so they just put up Christmas trees and hang up holly without really knowing why."

[nobodys_puppet]

"But... wouldn't it be better to see the trees outside? Do they stay green after they are cut? How?" Yes, she was curious. Still not sure she believed him, but curious enough to ask more, anyway.