Have a Grumble Grumble Christmas

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Have a Grumble Grumble Christmas
Date of Cutscene: 25 December 2012
Location: Traverse Town
Synopsis: The TDA break out into song and explain the magic of Christmas to Cirra Constantine. Sable bails on the entire venture, but the magic of Christmas is not to be denied. Singing to Follow. Screw the rules, I'm the main character, I get a SOLO.
Thanks to: Mercade-- Because Christmas is Magic
Cast of Characters: Sable

The sickness seems to have spread ahead of Sable faster than he can get away. Down every alley he turns and corner he walks, he is assaulted with the sight of more Manhattanites celebrating their holiday. Otherworlders seemed to have picked up some of the tenets as well. Which seem to involve bits of plant matter, brightly colored decorations and.. %R%R Well. It's almost pathetically cheerful.

At least this corner of the world was much quieter than the chaos he left behind. There are no background singers or crazed choreographed scenes or sprigs of Mistletoe. Most importantly of all there was no TDA. (Not even you, Will) and no people whom he had to look in the eye and pretend to smile at. Perhaps he should be paying attention to the odd strains of background music which have dutifully followed after him but incautious to the fact that Christmas is Catching he starts to grumble to himself. He seems oblivious to the fact that he is grumbling in Song.

"And so I hear there is this thing called Christmas.
And this sickness seems to descend every year.
And this singing from the heart is something
nobody should start because Christmas is an awful piece of work.

Sable walks with his hands in his pockets down another street that has been oddly deserted, looking into the darkened windows of houses as he walks through the night air. he peers over a railing to look at a Manhattanite encampment. A sea of candles and lanterns greets him, people gathered around the light and telling stories or singing or talking in hushed voices. Fake snow drifts over the scene as he pointedly turns away from the lights to walk down another street and continue grumbling. He still hasn't noticed the background music.

"Oh, let's all cry Warmth and Love and Kindness,
As if people didn't struggle all the year
Here's a place to start, if we're singing to the heart
This fracas is a joke from end to end!"

"Let's sing and dance and all be merry,
As if any of this could keep the dark at bay
Friends and Family are no shield and no candle
And some day we'll just be wishing they'd go away

Contempt breeds familiarity they say
And I have seen enough to know it's true
Having friends can only lead to trouble
It leads to heartbreak and more turning of the screws."

Sable continues to walk along the parallel street, occasionally looking over at the Hearts Intertwined chapter and the sea of lights as he walks. His strident and purposeful march has slowed to a meandering walk and the background music changes key as he leans his arms on the stone overlook and mutters softly to himself. His singing voice is shrouded by a feeling of loneliness and a weary sense of incomprehension.

"I think for some, there is a point to Christmas
But this part at least, is sorely not for me.
Hearth and Home and Family aren't things I'm sharing.
So, Christmas? --Move along, nothing's here to see.."

The background music finally seems to get the hint because it starts to fade out before Sable realizes he's been singing his frustration the whole time. He might or might not have noticed-- but whatever momentum carried him this far starts to ebb and he just stares at the encampment for a long time. Somewhere a fake snow machine backfires and dumps a load of snow onto him, causing him to whip around and start to stomp away when he hears a crackle of paper.

Sable looks down to see a package that he picks up from the ground. He immediately whips back around, looking for somebody who ---is not here. He looks down at the package, ripping open the battered and slightly mangled packaging. He retrieves the object inside.

It's a picture of the TDA just after Thanksgiving.

And this is a picture that has him in it.

Sable looks down at the picture for a long time, eyes glazed with thought.
Slowly, he slides the picture back into it's battered casing, sliding it underneath his jacket as he moves away.