#earthrunes

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Sockmukkah has come!

Little gift bags and boxes are tucked all around the hold, trimmed in silver and blue. The names if the recipients are penned in delicate cursive and purple ink.

Not every pair is handmade - Emma's blue and black TNG socks are purchased, others that feature pop culture characters and the like. But about half of them are obviously knitted - they feature bright colors, stripes, cables, contrasting heels and toes, lacey designs, fancy ribbing... it goes on. It had to have taken months to make so many.

None of the gifts name the sender.

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Vince notices the gift bag with Shalimar's name... he cannot help but peek within.

He smiles, and carefully draws a line through the name on those, so that the label reads,
Shalimar Beetlejuice

And, he seeks to see if there is a :lion_face: package about!

Yes! There is!

Moustache cat, very dapper!

Velvet finds hers, and gives a whispered squeal of delight, blushes, and vanishes into the shadows with her new socks

Oswald looks down "Socks?

Vince has... pinned his to his chest and is strutting around with them like medals of honor. If asked... "On my FEET?" Aghast! "They would either be obscured by shoes, or dirtied upon the floor! Nay, these are cherished."

"Ooo" He says opening it.

Delores eyes hers "Oh I knew who sent this"

Sock Fairy!

The ladies are scattered about, many eyes to catch reactions.

Delores actually looks at a shadow and mouths something ('Thankyou, zara')

In the Library, the Sock Fairy smiles.

"Charity, OH Charity? Let me see thy delicate feet!" Vince makes a point to admire everyone's socks!

Charity blushes "Oh.. I.. who made these?" She does put them on for him

Oh no no no. He sets her upon a chair and rolls them on over her delicate toes and up her ankles himself!

Charity's blush is aglow

"These stockings, lovely as they are, are but makeup on features already aglow."

"Oh Vince, you're going to give me a swelled head" Charity blushes, then whispers in his ear "Remind me to return the favor"

He beams at her. "Always, my dear." A pat on the knee. "I must away, I see that Yule gifts have started and I... most certainly am completely finishd with all of my shopping."

"I know, have fun!"

Leonora comes out wearing a sexy santa outfit, and , of course, her new socks

"They say that Christmas comes but once a year, but for you, I might make an exception." He purrs in Leonora's ear!

"thanks, Vince. I don't know who got me these but I love em"

Somewhere, a normally nervous little poodle pooka boy has his new socks...and puts little eyeballs on them and holds his own puppet show

His hands where his feet should be

Isis skates along the floors in hers... "i'm an ice princess!"

And something.. moves in the shadows...greedy hands, well fed, reach for unclaimed gifts, and take them. The SPiders grow alarmed, as there is a sock snatcher!

Enri gasps as his puppet show is cut short, he rises "Catir.. Cater...she'l lsave the..." And he stops and swallows . Their Gwydion is gone! "Who will save the day?" He asks and turns and sees, no one ... no one but the remaining sock, the unstolen one, looks at him with googly eyes

The snatcher must be stopped! The ladies are permitted to BITE!

"But.. Catir was the wardog, not me I.." A breath "I need help. I need...a better nose to find the sockmonster and get them back. I need another better me..." A thought "I nose what I have to do"

The spiders will bite, but the sockstealer seems immune to their poison, they swear it will go down.

And yet, the sock monster's magic seems to have adults.. ignoring it.

Vince whirls past, a pat on the head for Enri, and doesn't seem to even NOTICE the beast!

And Enri is gone.. to find.. a hero!

............

Enri leads him to the garden, "We must move quickly, other kiddos used to live here, now it is a sad chidlling less land filled with only sisters.. and like, four others... but there SO many more, like FIVE... so you see why I needed you?"

A solemn nod. "My Gerd used to be a good childling friend, then dread Togail took her away and left a sister in her place."

He shudders "I have a sister who IS a childling still so I can't out cute her in battle" A gulp "She's got claws AND Dimples"

As they move through the area, Connor can see it.. people acting like they have forgotten socks they JUST got! or rationalizing the loss of them. Grumps seem to fall for it first... that's the nature of sock monsters, the older you are, the more likely you are to blame the washing machine when there are so many more magical explainations...

Even the wilders aren't immune. Though they search a bit more. Velvet gets kind of hissy about hers missing, but doesn't come to the right conclusion.

Enri points to some "See, the socks brought joy and happiness the land, but as the socks are forgotten, or taken for granted, the inner grinchiness of grumps and wilders grows. " Worry