[OPEN]

[eyesofwonder]

Who: North, children, and YOU
What: North is holding a small event for any and all children - a demonstration of his newly finished toys straight from Santa's workshop.
When: Day of 413
Where: Gefion Park
Rating: Let's say PG to be on the safe side
Note: Anyone is welcome to join in, help out, or even get accidentally dragged into all this. Feel free to threadjack and mingle as well!!

[As a person takes their first step into Gefion Park, a change in the air is almost immediately noticeable today. Though under cloudy skies, the park is bustling with life more so than usual on a day like this.

The children, whether native or traveler, are the sole reason behind this. Laughter and the chattering sounds of the kids (talking, teasing, and yelling out to each other) fill the air with their music. They race and jump through the rolling grass – tackling each other to the ground, pretending to fight one another or sitting amongst a circle trying to include some of the grey children in their games.

The reason for all this excitement? Well, it lies at the feet of the one old man standing in the center of this delightful chaos. North stood calmly, a proud smile on his face as he watches the children enjoy themselves. Between the news of Odin’s fall, Tooth’s departure, and North’s own busy schedule, this Santa Claus has been spending far too much time in his workshop. Yet, the children should always come first. North knows this, even if he needs a reminder every so often. So today North has prepared a special treat for his usual visitors at the Ice Rink. At North’s feet lies a large red sack, open just enough for its contents to be visible. Toys. Maybe not the best of North’s capabilities with his lack of resources here in Asgard but they are more than enough to thrill the children.

And indeed it does. In some of the children’s hands, toys are clutched tightly as they play to their hearts content. Frisbees are flying, dolls are tended to, wooden planes are pretending to fly through the air and, to the children’s amazement, a train pops out wings to fly for a few seconds through the sky.

North doesn’t stop anyone entering the park from joining – merely keeping an eye on the children and sometimes being dragged to take part himself as well. Of course, there is also the curious passerby who wants to see the sights or know what all the fuss is about.

And if one of the toys whizzing around should knock into an unsuspecting visitor? Oops. Sorry about that.]

Comments

[airborn]

[The train is what catches Rue's attention in the end. She watches it soar up and up, chasing it with a smile when the other children turn their attention to the other toys Santa's bag has to offer.

When it soars out of her reach, she climbs up the tree after it and snatches it out of the air.]

Gotcha!

[fire_punk]

[Kevin's just gotten to the park when Rue catches the train. He's not sure what he's seeing yet. But she's pretty high up that tree and this city boy's impressed.]

You climbed up there? [She's not one of the ones who can fly, is she?

[airborn]

[Rue takes a seat on the branch, letting her legs dangle from her perch.]

Yup. I climb up trees and buildings all the time. You're Kevin, right?

[One of the guys who'd showed up at her little picnic in the park.]

[fire_punk]

Yeah. You made the mac and cheese, right?

I didn't know if you flew.

[airborn]

Oh yeah, flying is one of the powers here. [She actually hasn't seen that many people around with it, surprisingly.]

I don't have it, though. I'm in Freyr's house.

[fire_punk]

Me, neither. But Joffrey has it. I saw him flying around when our powers were messed up. [He snickers.] It was funny!

[airborn]

Joffrey. He's that kid king or whatever. [She sticks her bottom lip out.] He's real bossy and lazy.

[Then she's holding the train out, waving it at him.] Hey, catch! [She lets go once she has his attention.]

[fire_punk]

Yeah. He's stupid, too.

[He grins and holds his hands open, ready to catch it. It comes toward him but dodges up right before he can catch it. He jumps up and just manages to catch it.]

[airborn]

Nice one!

[Rue calls out approvingly before she climbs her way back down the tree. When she's close enough, she hangs down from a branch and drops down to the ground.]

The toys are great, right? There's a whole holiday for giving presents like this.

[fire_punk]

Yeah, they're really cool. Does it fly on its own? [He looks down at the toy in his hands.]

You mean Christmas.

[airborn]

I think so. Maybe he used some kind of magic to make it fly...

Yeah, that's it. Christmas. We didn't have anything like that back in Panem.

[fire_punk]

He must've. It's cool. I never saw a flying train before.

Christmas is awesome. Presents, candy... Mom used to make ice patterns on the windows.

[airborn]

It sounds nice. [District 11 hadn't been cold enough to see snow, though she knew of it then.]

Did you used to go out and play in the snow together, too?

[fire_punk]

Yeah, at the park. And Dad usually had off from work for Christmas. Unless there was a really bad blizzard.

[airborn]

You get days off for the holidays?

[She wishes more and more that they had something similar back in Panem, but well. Not much she can do about it here.

Rue picks up one of the wooden planes from the ground and frowns at it.]

This looks like a hovercraft.

[fire_punk]

Yeah, usually.

[He looks at the toy she's holding.] That's an airplane.

[airborn]

It's probably a different version of the hovercrafts in Panem.

[It looks about the same, at least to her eyes!]

You call them airplanes in your world?

[fire_punk]

Maybe. But they don't hover. They fly.

Yeah.

[airborn]

The hovercrafts fly, too! The Capitol uses them a lot.

[fire_punk]

Then maybe they're the same thing with a different name.

[eyesofwonder]

[North's eyes had practically lit up the moment the children began playing with his flying train. After the several disastrous attempts at making it, North still felt a glow of pride at watching his finished masterpiece come to life and seeing the way the children bounced after it. A small part of him, the inventor who was still pulling apart designs in his head, was a little disappointed with how fast the train would stop but well, fiddling with engines in a place not designed for his former magic was bound to need some sacrifices. All in all, a job well done.

...Though almost losing it in a tree? That one was not according to plan. North had followed the train slowly, knowing the train would fall eventually, when the young girl climbed into the tree.]

Haha! Good catch, child!

[airborn]

Um...would you like it back?

[Rue holds the train in one hand as she maneuvers her way through the branches. While she's not shy around Jack or Bunny, Santa's pretty intimidating in his own way. She's especially in awe of the toys he's created.]

[eyesofwonder]

No, no child. Not quite yet. Toys better suited for children's hands.

[North doesn't seem to notice anything possibly intimidating. (He never does really.) He does however look up at the toy gripped in the girl's hand above him - peering up to check for scratches from the branches. Caught or not, the last thing North wanted was for the train to get damaged so early in the day. It was enough of an achievement getting it to move at all.

Once he was satisfied, North gives Rue a pleased smile and tilts his head to the side.] Would you like to try?

[airborn]

[Rue nods enthusiastically and, with the toy carefully in hand, jumps down from her perch, using her free hand to catch herself when she wobbles upon landing.

She stands and offers the train to North.]

How did you make this? Is it magic?

[eyesofwonder]

[When the child had unexpectedly jumped down, North had walked forward and reached out his arm to catch the girl if needed. A move that was highly unnecessary however since the child landed with a skilled ease. Wow. She was good at climbing trees.

He takes the train gingerly in his hands but keeps the toy insight of the girl. He laughs and waves the girl to draw closer to the train.]

Almost! Back home, I used my magic to give it extra touch to fly. Could soar through air for much, much longer. But here! Ha! Made few adjustments. Parts within train- [The engine, he would explain to someone a little older.] –were changed to fit more like other flying vehicles.