(no subject)

[tobearwitness]

Ichabod has never been particularly enamored of Christmas, which seems to be a larger-scaled affair in the hotel than he had ever experienced in his own Sleepy Hollow of two centuries prior. There were decorations aplenty, including the very German tradition of erecting a large fir tree in the midst of one's home and decorating it with little tokens and trifles. Ichabod thought this served only to get sap all over one's floors but it seems to have stuck with the people of the modern era, judging by the tree currently taking up residence in the entry hall.

A trip outside to see the gardens provides a bit of a respite from all the frippery of Christmas decorations and after a lengthy walk and a good amount of fresh air, Ichabod feels he is prepared enough to endure the onslaught once again. One of the things he recognizes upon entering is mistletoe, that bane of pretty housemaids everywhere, and he stifles a chuckle. He is not be getting caught unawares beneath it, vile weed, and pities anyone who does.

He supposes that he would be less melancholy if he had someone to indulge him in these holiday traditions, be that his beloved Katrina or even the company of Lieutenant Mills but the hotel provides no such company for him. He only knows Miss Smoak, charming girl that she is, and it is hard to feel festive and full of good cheer when he's so alone.

Still, he has enough coin to purchase a drink and he does, a thick dark ale that is the closest approximation to beer from back in his own era. It's not quite the same, but it will suffice, and hopefully it will bring warmth to his limbs and lightness to his heart.

[[Find Ichabod at the bar, being surly about Christmas.]]

Comments

[silverandcold]

The nice thing about wine, Elsa thinks, is that it's very hard to freeze it completely. She'd ordered a glass of orange-scented vin chaud, only to feel it cool almost instantly in her hands. Elsa had sighed but taken a seat at the bar, slowly drinking as she stared into her cup.

"Merry Christmas," she says automatically when the man sits.

[tobearwitness]

"Merry Christmas," Ichabod says reluctantly in exchange. While his inherent nature is such that he would never be rude to a young woman, it is difficult when his temper is short after being positively bombarded with the commercial side of a holiday that wasn't that widely celebrated in his own era.

"It's all a little...much, isn't it? All the decorations?"

[silverandcold]

"Is it?" Elsa asks, looking up at the tinsel and glittering lights. She kind of likes them, honestly. "I don't know. I haven't had a lot of Christmases to compare."

None, in fact. Not after she'd turned eight.

[tobearwitness]

"Perhaps I am being too hard on this particular holiday," Ichabod concedes, giving the girl a warmer smile than before. He dipped his head a bit in reverence, unsure of how to proceed with greeting her. While most in the modern era preferred a handshake, it wasn't how he normally proceeded with women.

"My name is Ichabod," he offers. "And it is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[silverandcold]

Elsa returns the gesture, a trained and graceful nod of the head.

"Elsa. It's nice to meet you."

[tobearwitness]

"Elsa. Does your family hail from Germany, then?" Ichabod knows a great many German immigrants whose names are remarkably similar. In his own Sleepy Hollow, it isn't terribly uncommon to see children named Elsa and Annika and Katrina.

"I know a bit of German, actually, I studied it along with several other languages before coming here."

[silverandcold]

"Arendelle," she replies, shaking her head. She doesn't think she even knows where Germany is.

"The closest kingdom is Corona, if that helps at all."

[tobearwitness]

Neither are sovereignties that Ichabod recognizes but this isn't terribly surprising of late. Many of the maps have changed since his era and while the land is older than him, the names are often new.

"No, neither are familiar to me. Describe it for me? Perhaps it goes by a different name for me."

[silverandcold]

"Well, it's surrounded by mountains on three sides, and then fjords on the other one. That's our trading port."

She sighs, watching ice form across the surface of her mulled wine. "It has beautiful summers."

[princehonorable]

Charming has been here for far too long. His family is off in Neverland with an unscrupulous pirate, an evil queen, and too many dangers surrounding them and he's here. He's been incredibly down for a good while, but he doesn't seem to be half as upset as the man at the bar. Charming can be patient, though. He spent twenty-eight years in a coma. Being stuck in this hotel is child's play.

"Is it really so bad?" Charming asks, taking the stool beside the man.

[tobearwitness]

"It is quite a bit more than I am used to," Ichabod says, trying to be more charitable about it. "In my particular era, the decorations weren't quite so prevalent."

Christmas was a day for church-going and small family gatherings, nothing like what he's seen here or in the modern Sleepy Hollow.

[princehonorable]

Charming cranes his neck around to look at the decorations adorning the hotel. "You think this is bad? You've never seen a castle during a coronation. I thought I might drown in all the decoration they insisted on having. I'm lucky I don't have allergies because the flowers alone could kill a man," he says with a warm smile. "Can I buy you a drink?" he offers. "In the Christmas spirit and all," he adds quickly, with a gesture to those prevalent decorations.

[tobearwitness]

"I suppose I could concede to one Christmas drink," Ichabod says, smirking slightly. "I am Ichabod Crane. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance," he says, trying to be a bit more welcoming than before.

The people in the hotel all seemed very nice even if they were from radically different backgrounds.

[princehonorable]

He's never sure which name to give, but he has already mentioned coronations, so maybe he should go with something that isn't the shepherd boy's identity. "I'm Prince Charming," he says. "And it's not really Christmas as far as my timeline knows, but on the other hand, time's been a bit of a sticky subject for me lately."

[tobearwitness]

"It was not quite Christmas in Sleepy Hollow either," Ichabod says, dipping his head in reverence. "Your Highness, forgive my earlier familiarity. I was unaware of your station and my manner of address was not befitting your title and style."

It has been quite a long time since Ichabod has crossed paths with anyone in the peerage and never with someone so powerful as a prince.

[princehonorable]

Charming blinks in shock, not having been addressed like that for a long time. "Trust me, you don't need to treat me like a prince, but it's easier than the complicated story of why I'm called something else. And even Prince Charming has a story attached," he admits. "I'm a shepherd who got in a tricky situation and wound up with a kingdom. Please, let me just buy you a drink," he pleads. "And no more salutations."

[tobearwitness]

"I shall respect your wishes on the matter," Ichabod assures him.

"It's much easier not to style you, anyway, so you have saved me the trouble. I cannot help but be pleased about that."

[three_two_one]

"Now why am I not surprised to see you all broody at the bar?" Felicity asked Ichabod as she approached. She smiled and took a seat beside him before half-turning to face him.

[tobearwitness]

"Miss Smoak! Finally, a familiar face." Ichabod has not been terribly social since arriving in the hotel but Miss Smoak is, of course, a face he's very glad to see. She had been very clever and resourceful when they first arrived, much more so than Ichabod himself.

"Have you settled in nicely, then?"

[three_two_one]

"Wow, okay," she smiled back. "Now that's what I call a welcome. It's good to see you, too, Ichabod." With another laugh and a shoulder shrug. "I am, yeah, as well as I can in a place almost completely void of anything with a working circuit board. How about you?"

[tobearwitness]

"Currently experiencing an onslaught of Christmas," he says, gesturing toward some of the decorations in question.

"It's something of an adjustment but luckily I had a little preparation before being flung into the future. It is not the first time I have wound up in a strange place with no knowledge of my surroundings or the people I'm surrounded by. It's becoming something of a pattern of late."

[three_two_one]

"You get used to that growing up Jewish," Felicity laughed, "but it also means there's no waiting when you go to have Chinese for dinner after the movie."

She looked from the glass to his face. "And I'm going to take a wild conjecture here that you haven't found any way back to where you came from yet?"

[tobearwitness]

"No. The door remains as stubborn as ever," Ichabod says, not bothering to mask his irritation on that particular point. There are things in Sleepy Hollow that require his attention and being trapped here impedes his and Lieutenant Mills' mission.

"Have you had better luck than I have?"

[three_two_one]

"None. I found my boss, and he says he can get back home through his closet, but through some glitch, it only works for him and not for me. Which, I don't mind saying, is really unfair. But I haven't entirely given up yet. I'm too stubborn for that." Felicity blew out a breath. "Did I mention I hate mysteries?"

[tobearwitness]

"I thought it may have come up once or twice," Ichabod says, an amused smile playing at his lips. "But at least there is a friend of yours here, someone to share in your experience. Nobody from Sleepy Hollow either past or present has arrived for me."

He cannot help but wonder how much he's been needed at home while detained here.