(Untitled)

[im_chuckbass]

Although Chuck was fairly certain that he wouldn't appreciate the snow half as much if it hadn't been for the week of suffocating heat that preceded it, the fact was that even just the change in scenery was refreshing. The season was well under way, and while it wouldn't be Christmas in New York, or Monaco, or anywhere that Chuck had ever spent the

Comments

[im_chuckbass]

Chuck eyed the hot tub speculatively. Not now, perhaps - the middle of the afternoon hardly seemed the time - but he'd have to take advantage of that before the island decided it was done with winter weather. He knew a gift when he saw one, and considering he was unlikely to get anything else for Christmas this year, he wasn't about to let it go unappreciated. He was so lost in thought, in fact, that he didn't notice he was being approached by someone he knew until they were close enough to startle him out of his reverie.

[filmstarbeauty]

"Thinking awfully hard aren't we?"

It's maybe not the nicest thing to start off greeting someone with, but when Blair's in the mood to talk, she'll talk how she wants to, rules of etiquette be damned. Besides it's Chuck and while she may have approached him, it doesn't mean that she has to be all flowers and sunshine about it. Pulling her wool hat down a bit, she smirked.

"Careful there or you'll start to look like Humphrey."

[im_chuckbass]

"The possibilities seem to demand it," Chuck said, turning towards her after giving the hot tub one last, longing glance. "And please, Daniel Humphrey has never considered anything so interesting in his life." Her greeting didn't bother him at all, in fact; there were some things that would never change, and those you wouldn't want to.

"So, does all this meet with your approval?" She was dressed for it, certainly. Chuck had found the opportunity to wear winter clothing more refreshing than he might have anticipated; just another thing that was keeping New York on his mind. "If not, I'm sure there's someone you can speak to, put a stop to it."

[filmstarbeauty]

"True, but I am slowly learning not to underestimate Cabbage Patch's lack of...interest." She raised her eyebrows slightly and shrugged, not really wanting to linger on the thought of what Dan Humphrey was and wasn't capable of that would socially acceptable.

"Hot tub? I should've guessed," Blair rolled her eyes, not even wanting to put up the effort to pretend to be horrified. Afterall back in New York they'd call that a Tuesday night. "I like the weather, mostly. I mean you can't have Christmas without a passing notice of snow."

[turnthebadinme]

Serena was of much the same opinion, if somewhat more optimistic about it. True, the island would never be Manhattan, but there was something refreshing about how utterly pristine the snow was here - not New York slush, but crisp and clean underfoot. Even with people criss-crossing the area surrounding the compound, the population was too small to ruin the effect in full. Besides, winter weather meant a winter wardrobe. It was amazing what tights and gloves could do for her mood, not to mention the right pair of boots.

Unable to decide quite what to do with herself, she had elected for simply heading outdoors. She could figure it out from there.

[learnwhatsreal]

Even with enough time having passed that Jenny figured she should have been used to the snow by now, it still seemed to her a novelty, one that could be gone far too soon. There was so much to do, and little time to do it in, and with winter here so much more beautiful even than it was in New York, she planned to enjoy it for as long as she could. Keeping herself busy was a good way to prevent herself from dwelling on the inevitable sadness that came with spending the holidays without her family, too. Last Christmas had been difficult; this one, by the looks of it, would be even moreso.

Just then, she was headed out of the Compound herself, a pair of ice skates from the clothes box dangling from one hand. That they were a practically neon shade of purple, one that should have been too bright to even exist, was unimportant. At least they were skates, and her size.

[l0nely_boy]

"Skating?" Dan stopped on his way up the path when he saw his sister. Things weren't good between them. Okay, they were bad. Especially since the party and his excessive drunkenness. Not that he remembered much more than Jenny and Chuck helping him into the crash room after he'd fallen off of the swing, but that was more than enough. "I didn't know that they had a rink."

[learnwhatsreal]

Jenny stiffened, just a little, at the sound of her brother's voice. She was still a little -- or, okay, a lot -- pissed about the way she'd found him at that party, just after he'd scolded her for doing less, but if he was being cordial, she wasn't going to be the one to start anything. There was no way she was about to admit it, but she was pretty sick of fighting, anyway.

"The waterfall's frozen over," she explained, one shoulder lifting in a shrug. "Apparently it makes a pretty good skating rink. I mean, it's no Rockefeller Center, but you can't really be picky around here, right?"

[l0nely_boy]

"At least you won't have to fight with the crowds," he pointed out, trying desperately for a bright side in all of this. No matter what else, it was Christmas, and she was family. The only family they had here. "If you want to wait, I can go and try to find a pair."

[up_off_thefloor]

Eric had been pleased by the snow when it first arrived, but today seemed grey and cold despite the sunshine. He hadn't seen Tobi in a few days, and so today he'd trekked out to the hut--yert, now--he and Nothing shared (after figuring out where it was) to find it empty. Cold. He'd been warned about people disappearing, but it was still a shock when it was someone you cared about.

He was walking back to the compound with his head down, watching his pants grow dark with melted snow around the cuffs and half-wishing he'd never gone to check, that he could pretend for another day or two that Tobi was still around, just busy doing other things.

[learnwhatsreal]

Jenny had been headed away from the Compound, but the sight of Eric on the path was enough to make her reconsider, stopping where she stood to grin at him until she got a glimpse of the look on his face. "Eric, hey," she said, hurrying a few steps to close the distance between them, then continuing in his direction, lifting one hand to gently rest it on his shoulder. "What's up?"

[up_off_thefloor]

Eric lifted his head, lip caught in his teeth. "Oh, nothing. Just...a friend of mine is, uh. Gone." His first friend in this place, at that.

[learnwhatsreal]

"Oh," Jenny sighed, her own head lowering a little as she frowned. "I'm sorry." It seemed like she was hearing about disappearances more and more lately. Any more, and it probably would have been enough to make her start worrying about someone she knew going, too. As it was, she could still just manage not to think about the possibility too much.