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Ma Jian-Shen did his best to not give Heegh the satisfaction of screams or agonized sounds, but even without these Heegh knew it hurt and the vampire still made noise and squirmed. The vampire at least got the satisfaction of not betraying Veni verbally, but still received the despair of doing it unwillingly through his memories. He knew that Rosemary's enemies could do this, but to have it actually done and feel how much it hurt made him tear up a bit.

Heegh didn't learn much about Jacob because Ma just didn't know much about him. He learned that the necromancer's physical strength had increased and that he had to replace a tea set because of it. The vampire wasn't aware of the recent revelations about Sephiroth so he didn't learn that.

He learned a few things about their line in general: pain and fear were like food to several of them and being tortured by their mistress was common. Quite common was her having Rosemary do it especially when she didn't like doing it. Rosemary and their mistress shared very similar powers. They aren't sure if their 'goddess' is alive or dead. He also learned that Rosemary's torture streak ended almost forty years ago when she got her doctor's degree to 'learn better ways to torment people' as was her excuse.

Ma Jien-shen didn't possess any of those extra hungers. He could, however, make a current existing wound hurt much more than it should or have the smallest blow, including his kiss, received from him feel or even be crippling. Torture didn't crack him easily and it may take days to get anything out of him.

He learned a few things about Veni and Rosemary: that Veni wasn't easily swayed by physical torture either having to live with it for almost his whole life. Veni and Rosemary were both afraid of Heegh to some degree, but the vampire didn't know by how much.

Veni's greatest weakness or strength was his wife which should have been obvious and pretty much vice versa. Though there was a period of time when Rosemary was reluctant to get along with Veni and seemed to not like him much, but that hadn't lasted long during Ma's lifespan. Rosemary had a soft spot for GL and Black the most amongst her friends and was afraid of hurting them (another thing he likely knew.) BlackMN was unintentionally her animal to call. (Another thing I thought was obvious.)

Jian-Shen was more likely to get Veni to explain his actions over most of the other vampires, Ma was the second or third oldest of Veni's vampires since Heegh pretty much killed them all. Rosemary at least somewhat like him over her other 'relatives,' who she never cared for much, and he was more likely to be told recent events over her other siblings. Dan and Daisy weren't created by Veni, but rather a dead 'brother' or 'uncle' which made them like a niece and nephew or cousins.

"Creative," was all the vampire managed to say as he looked back at Heegh totally limp in his restraints and not comfortable at all because back and head injuries were the worst, but they were already recovering at a speed that would take a day or so.

He looked a bit weary and afraid at the holy water because if Heegh took that bowl and threw it all at him, it would likely hurt more than what he just did and possibly scar him to boot. Instead Heegh decided to erase his short term memory before it became a longterm one.

The fallen angel applauded Heegh without making any noise with his clapping. "Quick, clean, and to the point. I have to agree with him on your creativity. His self defense classes are actually good. I have learned a couple things. It would have been a pity if you offed him. Perhaps if you attend one, it would be a good way to study your enemies' tactics, Master Heegh."

What the angel was also thinking: It might be amusing to watch Heegh try to be 'good' long enough to survive a lesson and to actually listen to someone else teach him even if it is to better himself.

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About ten after 6, when Veni was starting to wonder where Jian-shen was because he wasn't usually late without calling when he said he'd be somewhere, Veni began looking for his kid at the entrance. He found him easily enough. Ma was staring into space with a bag full of gifts in his hand for a few people he knew and cards for others. Veni called out to him. "Ma Jian-Shen, you're late!"

Ma Jian-Shen rubbed and scratched at his wrists, shook his head and cracked his neck coming out of his doze. He rubbed the back of his head because it hurt slightly for some reason and he didn't recall bumping it. "Ah! Master Veni! I think I forgot how to get to that room we had the birthday in."

Veni approached the other vampire and acted like he was about to backhand him, but tapped his cheek instead. In the past he probably had to backhand the other vampire for minor disobedience so that worse things wouldn't happen. "You feel hot."

"I do not recall the transport feeling hot."

"You didn't eat before you came did you?"

"Not enough to make me 'feel hot,' but I do feel a little heat drained. I must not have realized it got hot after having someone sit next to me with all those holy objects on him. It was distracting."

Knowing that Black missed the snowballs, snow angels, and snow peoples, Minazi brought over a special gift for her to open right away. It was a magical charm, in the shape of a blue sapphire surrounded by white pearl-like objects set in a white metal. The female reaper instructed Black to think of snow... the little kitsune must have thought too hard, because an avalanche of it appeared out of nowhere ontop of her boyfriend's head, before being followed by a gentle falling of the frozen stuff inside the Soul Fortress.

Galantros was fine, and eventually climbed his way out of the snow pile, throwing a snowball at Black that missed and ended up hitting Rosemary in the rear... seeing what had happened, GL panicked, and tried to run in the opposite direction.

Even though it had been some time, Adira held on to her wary feelings regarding Cian. She didn't know what to make of the male vampire and his companion. The other day she caught his companion, Daphne, eating cookies! A vampire...eating cookies! Unheard of! When Adira asked the other female how that could be so, Daphne explained it with a somewhat unsure air. In short, the girl confused Adira.
Adira confused Daphne as well.

"So you're a..."
"I'm half succubus, half shape shifter."
"So..you're a demon?"
"Yes...But aren't you?"
"I actually don't know...to be a demon...aren't you born into it? I was created a vampire after living a human life.."
"ah."
"And...what are they?"
"Ban and Phe? Banquo and Ophelia are Elemental Hell Hounds."
"Which means what exactly?"
"er...they're the Hell version of dogs, I guess. Ban is of ice, Phe is of fire."
"oh...so they're your pets?"
"Companions."
"Ah."
"yes."

Yes. The two weren't sure what to make of one another.

==================

During Ma Jian Shen's hand out, the St. Clair couple, and the Hell Ensemble stood some feet away, people in between them.

Cian handed the present to Daphne, as was their custom, so that the bubbley blond could rip into the wrapping paper with childish enthusiasm. When she opened the package, she immediately let out an "ooh" and an "awww". She opened the bottles to smell them and nearly let out a moan of contentment. They smelled fantastic!

Cian--who had lived in China long before (Sometime in the Ming Dynasty)--bowed shortly and said a few Chinese words in a soft thanks. Daphne was mystified. Was there a language that Cian didn't know?
"Thank you very much!" She added, unable to say it in Ma's own tongue.

Adira was standing some feet apart...She really didn't expect anything as she knew nothing of this custom nor this man. Yet...she was surprised to find that the Chinese vampire was approaching her. Adira didn't know how to respond.

Phe and Ban looked curiously at the paper frogs on the ground, Ophelia cocked her head to the side, reaching out a paw before it bounced away. Her ears raised up as she lunged after the thing. Banquo snorted a laugh and went after another frog.

As she watched them go, it gave Adira peace but also a sense of unease. There went her moral support. Adira's cheeks went pink. As she and Ma spoke, she became more comfortable, and she watched with interest as he wrote out her name in beautiful script.

"T-Thank you." She managed to get out...a short response before something icy slid down her back. She yelped. What the blast was that?!

Ma Jian Shen would have waited to open his gift when he was in a more private location, but they insisted that he opened it now. He looked at the gem and at the case it came in and then rolled the gem across the back of his hand and back into his palm. It looked pricey and the box only indicated that it was too. It looked valuable enough that he wouldn't want it on his work desk. "Thank you. It is beautiful. What type of crystal is this?"

The coin he held to his cheek for a little bit with his eyes partially closed. He liked the feeling the coin gave off and really liked the gift, so did the kids whenever they got theirs but, unlike Ma Jian Shen, they voiced their opinion that it needed a stronger Jacob feel. Jacob was the master of his vampire father, which meant that Jacob sort of had power over Veni's kids. So Jacob's energies were more comforting than the others."Thank you Master Jacob."

Rosemary had never thought to pluck her feathers before and give it to someone because they were air and usually people couldn't grab them to begin with. People's hands simply went right through her wings. She also thought that they would simply vanish being elemental instead of actual feathers like Sephiroth's. Abigail still had the gray one he gave her in her hair.

"What a grand idea Eztli," she said, "I didn't know that we could give our feathers to someone. My loose ones fade away."

She revealed her wings long enough to try to pluck a couple feathers. She handed one to Jacob and one to Veni. If they didn't vanish and they could hold them, she'd give one to Black who would usually try to grip her wings.

”It's a type of gem called Heaven's Eye. They're fairly common down in the caverns above the lava ocean, but they're still rather beautiful.”

Abigail looked on in fascination at the small piece of technology that Sephiroth had given her, feeling a little mystified by it. She never really understood much about the more advanced technologies, to be honest, Harold trying to describe a game of flipperball (pinball) bored her more than interested her. But this seemed more useful. She hugged Sephiroth and kissed him on the cheek in thanks.

Jacob closely examined the transparent, light feather he was given. It was almost ghostly, ethereal in it's quality due to it's element. Holding it near his face, he could feel a cool breeze being blown onto him from it.

Galantros had gotten Black something wonderful and handmade. Little crafted dolls, figurines of most of the people they knew, including themselves. They seemed to be made out of some sort of marble-like material, so they weren't too fragile. There was even an extremely tiny Willow figurine on top of the Malos doll's head. Obviously, Galantros had hand-made these himself.

Eztli blinked at the sudden burst of questions.

“Well, uh.... I CAN make my own wings solid, if I focus enough on them... takes practice. I don't think elemental wings can break, since they're comprised of the element they're associated with, so, no, never had a wing break. They're not like regular angel wings. Uhm... any other questions?

((Sorry sorry...I had trouble coming up with good xmas gifts! D: ))

Adira touched her gift from Eztli hesitantly. The feather was so bright so beautiful. She curiously felt it. Warmth radiated off it. So interesting.

"Thank you very much. This gift is very...kind." Adira bowed slightly, blushing. She hadn't realized these people cared enough to present her with a gift. Kind to clothe her...but to spend even more? It was thoughtful.

-------------
It was Cian and Daphne's turn next for presents. Cian handed out the gifts with a small smile. They were unmarked. Daphne looked nervous. The gifts were handed out to everyone but Rosemary.

As the others opened their gifts, the couple tried not to look directly at Rosemary.

There were unmarked boxes underneath the wrapping. Two seconds later there was a pop sound. Out of all the boxes came the individual fears the owners' possessed. Thus feeding Rosemary's fear aura.

"Merry Christmas, Rosemary." Daphne said, eyes shimmering in good spirit as she pulled out a carrier basket. She took the gifts out and one by one she gave each of them out.

A South-American decorative sword for Sephiroth--the tip poisoned, as was the culture. "You don't want to touch the tip." Cian warned, "The natives have the habit of poisoning the tips."

a mysterious exotic flowering plant was given to Abigail. With a bit of a blush. The couple hadn't been sure what to get the nymph.

A hand-painted Russian tea set came next for Black. The design was floral.

Galantros...received a Rubik Cube. Daphne was grinning wickedly. "Let's see if you can solve that."

Jacob got a box full of a mixture of different charms bringing all sorts of things from different parts of the world. Little note cards were set next to each specific charm.

The vampire kids, the hosts, Eztli, Ma Jian, and everyone else got a present that was from around the world somewhere. Veni was the only present they didn't have to buy. Veni received a Classic Vino from Cian's old-as-dirt cellar. It aged well.


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As for the dinner, the hell ensemble had a very nice meal, as did the St. Clair Couple.


((Seriously. The Hell Ensemble. Sounds like a musical group. xD ))