Holly's Donation Drive and Self-Improvement Bonanza

The camera fades in on a cozy room, eschewing the luxurious party spreads for a simple set of four armchairs, arranged in a cross shape around a circular table. The chairs are comfy, red velvet, large enough for most occupants to sink into, with white pillows on either side of the seats. The table is glass, with a simple white snowflake print across its surface and gold legs. The visible wall is pastel green with a darker green pattern like strung lights, whereas lights actually are strung higher up. A lit fireplace rests against the back wall with a large, electronic signboard mounted above. The signboard, framed with a white and red metallic border, displays only "0" for now. One might hope that changes later into the night. Another prop sits in the back: a cardboard cutout of a woman dressed as a nutcracker, with a stern frown, a white eye-mask, and with a moveable arm, currently pointing towards the bottom of a large, empty thermometer. Another signboard stood to the right, which was covered in a red, velvet curtain.

Two of the chairs were occupied, two weren't. The first occupant, at the back left, was a lady of about 5'9 or 5'10, with chocolate brown hair, rosy pink skin, and pretty blue eyes. Her outfit, which she filled rather well, consisted of a red and white, velvet Santa suit, although her suit included a crop-top and short skirt, along with matching boots, gloves, and ball-tipped hat. A black belt circled her waist, fastened by a gold buckle at the belly. It was altogether a classic ensemble and one familiar to anyone who watched a lot of donation drives. Currently, she was sitting just out of her seat, arranging a cookie platter atop the table's glass. "Not as many cookies as last year, but let's try to do more with less!" she insisted to her companion. "After all- this year's theme is all about self-improvement!"

"Yes, well, just keep in mind that some people have more room to improve than others! Ho ho ho..." the other lady responded. She'd be less familiar to donation drive fans, but more familiar to anyone keeping up with recent events. Her hair stood out first off, white on top but fading to black as it extended down to the small of her back and past her breasts. Her eyes were also blue, a misty color with less shine than her partner's, and her skin made her look as though she was from eastern Electopia. In keeping with festivities, she'd chosen a different outfit, consisting of a white, frilled blouse, sleeveless, with a light blue skirt, decorated with a white snowflake pattern. The skirt was suspended by shoulder straps across the blouse, rather taut given the swell of her chest.Her legs showed a generous amount of thigh before going into white stockings, drawn high from short, blue boots. She wore white cuffs on her arms, but no sleeves. Her lips were painted red, along with a bit of eye-shadow. "I'm just glad nobody got dumped outside this time. I didn't dress for the cold. People think I must love the cold just because I wear blue and use ice magic..."

"Ha ha ha! I love the cold myself," Holly chuckled. "Though last time was a bit much. Anyway, let's get things rolling... our last two guests will be here in no time at all! Hello everyone!" she waved, exuding warmth and go-get-em. "It's me, Holly! There's never a bad time to take donations for underprivileged navis, those abandoned or without operators. Today, we'll be holding... think of it as a telethon, or you can call it a BBS-a-thon! We want to give donations, but we also want to help all of you out there on a journey of self-improvement. My friend here is Dee, from the Neo-Shogun Empire... Dee, have you ever made a resolution and found you couldn't keep it?"

"Why yes, yes I have. Hard as it may be to believe, I'm not quite perfect," she joked, bringing out a blue fan with an icicle print along its surface. She fanned herself quickly, which seemed funny, given the supposed cold temperature outside their set.

"I'll bet it was a secret resolution, wasn't it? I guess what I'm saying is, it might be easier to keep your resolution if you share it with someone! That's why we're pulling a one-two punch of helping out this year. We're hosting a special BBS board where you can share your resolution with a new friend! It's a great way to help you keep your resolution, but it's also a fun way to meet new people! For every resolution we get, we'll be making a chip donation to an underprivileged navi, too. We'll even be throwing in something a little extra... if you make enough donations, we hosts will give you something else fun to remember. We're all going to be sharing secrets about ourselves... Some of them are funny and some of them are a little embarrassing! But whether you'll get to learn them or not depends on how many resolutions you folks put in! We improve ourselves, we increase donations, and we all have a few good chuckles!"

"Hm hm hm! You sure are optimistic, Miss Holly. I love donations as much as the next person, but do you think people will really be motivated enough to learn all of my secrets?" Dee questioned, flittering her fan in front of her coquettish smile. Though, when the next person was Holly, it was hard to compete in terms of enthusiasm for gift-giving. "After all... I'm a girl with a lot of secrets."

"We'll just have to see how motivated people are! But with three great motivations, I expect the donations to pour in! Now, let's get comfy and situated, and the rest of our friends should be here in just a little bit..." Holly sighed contentedly, sinking into the chair with a big smile and inspecting one of the cookies from the tray. Dee flipped her hair, recrossed her legs and smiled mode-like into the camera, as if trying to get her best angle, a little silly given the purpose of the event.

((BBS and rules to come))
After Holly and Dee had introduced themselves, another Navi arrived on set. The white substance suddenly falling from the new shadow on the ceiling wasn't any kind of powder, like snow: rather, it hit the floor of the room in irregularly sized clumps. Luckily, they were off the furniture, cookies, and guests, falling between the two unoccupied chairs. The final clump was quite large, and upon further inspection, was the Navi himself.

The Navi had lowered himself from the ceiling on a strip of yellow tape that extended from a launcher on his wrist armor. Upon touching down, he withdrew it in a zip, a flash of yellow gone in a second. Now that he had landed and stood up straight, he was revealed to be a tall male Navi with a fit physique, but not necessarily buff. His helmet had the appearance of a large orange glue cap with an eyeslit on the front. No eyes were visible inside the darkness. Over his chest, the Navi wore a festive sweater vest of red yarn with simple stitched white snowmen across it. Beneath this, he wore a Navi suit with a large zipper down the front, the zipper visible at the neck. Separated by the zipper line, the right half of his suit was white and the left half black. At about the knees, his legs faded into continuously running glue, which pooled together in a pile. The glue appeared to harden as he stood still. His right shoulder was covered in armor designed to look like an oversized glue stick with a blue strip bearing a yellow "POLICE" logo. His arm ran from beneath the armor into a large white gauntlet with a similar blue strip. His unarmored hand hung at the end, the tape-dispensing slit just above. His left arm had the appearance of a huge black glue gun, missing the handle and trigger. A solid stick of glue stuck from the back, and a large grey brace was attached just before the end; the gun terminated in a short black nozzle. His Navi symbol was black with a white shape of a tape dispenser, located at the base of the glue cap.

While those gathered were likely wrapping their heads around what they were seeing, the Navi himself took stock of his situation, quickly turning to face the others gathered, then glance around his feet. Seeming to accept whatever he'd been checking, he rotated to face Holly. "I'm AdhesiveMan, with NetPolice Public Safety. You're Holly, with the NetMafia... and you're Dee, with the NeoShogunate. Both of you have had the pleasure of never meeting me. That said, for tonight, you're well met." The Navi didn't offer a handshake, which, given his design, would have been a difficult maneuver to begin with.

The Navi carefully maneuvered his large frame into a seat next to Holly, such that he was facing Dee. "To be clear, my presence here is certainly no endorsement of NetMafia activities. This charity drive is well known to annually produce real results in giving the citizens of the Net the ability to defend themselves, and that's a cause I support. In spite of our best efforts, the NetPolice can't always be there when the more dangerous elements of the Net appear. Self-protection is key, and an operator's circumstances shouldn't get in the way of that."

The Navi raised his one fist and coughed into it, then raised one finger. "Ah...! I've been long-winded, but one final thing, and I'll shut up. I would like to remind all gathered and all watching that this is a live broadcast. Ultimately, the responsibility of controlling what your children or Navis of young model age are watching falls on you, guardians and supervisors! I'll leave it at that."

"Yes, and the responsibility for controlling content falls on the event organizer, I'd say," a husky female voice added. A floating green-dyed leather executioner's hood, not exactly festive, had appeared floating at head level in the chair across from Holly. The rest of the Navi filled in shortly after, beginning with two yellow eyes glowing ominously from the hood. The hood was open at the bridge of the nose and revealed the mouth and chin below. The Navi had pale white skin with black-painted lips in a thin smile. The remainder of the form was disparate and far less ominous, dressed in a green, sleeveless blouse and skirt with red trim at the neck and frills, with a red sash around the middle. Black slacks were also visible beneath the dress, running to green heeled boots with red lips. Her bare arms were crossed, each covered by a thin green-gloved hand. The Navi had a build slightly more muscular and slightly less stacked than either Dee or Holly, but matched Holly in height.

"Holly... how charming that I can join you in your annual event," she continued, crossing one leg over the other and smirking. "I'm always impressed how you always find some time in your busy schedule to organize these, and how you always manage to include such entertaining elements! That surely explains your meteoric rise through your family, since you're doing so very much to further the cause of-"

"You're Cowl, right?" AdhesiveMan spoke up, turning his head to her. "You should at least introduce yourself."

"Yes, of course," the Navi, apparently named Cowl, retorted. "I didn't think I needed to introduce myself seeing as I'm a high-ranking member of not just any family of the NetMafia, but-"

"The Head family. You're ranked number 39, right?"

"For- Er- Yes! That's right," the Navi replied, holding a hand to her chest and smiling a cocky grin, showing fanged teeth. "I wasn't going to toot my own horn to such an extent, but I did recently earn a promotion."

"I'm aware." AdhesiveMan rapped his fingers on the arm of the chair. "Heh. Holly, what do you think about that?" His voice had a rare tilt of humor in it as he waited for her response.

"Anyway, enough about me. This is Holly's special time of year! Have you already explained the rules? Are there any special conditions the three of us are going to have to fulfill that you might have let yourself be strongarmed into agreeing to?"

"...Didn't you read the brief?" AdhesiveMan asked her, impatiently. "We're sharing secrets for the donation count."

"Yes, I read it, I just assumed maybe Holly had something of a more... hmm.... Hmmmmm.... embarrassing nature planned? As is her usual planning? Because, if so, I wanted to stress that you pay attention to the prestigious nature of the guests you've gathered! You have me, rank 40 in the Head family of the NetMafia. Then there are the volatile elements, such as AdhesiveMan and... er... who are you, again?" the Navi spoke to Dee, finally acknowledging her.

"Look, feel a little holiday spirit, all right? Let's grease the gears a little and move this along," AdhesiveMan told her. "How about a cookie? You Navis with mouths always love cookies."

"... W-well... if there is one thing you're well known for, it's your cookies, Holly. You simply have to try her cookies!" she exclaimed at Dee beside her. "Maybe if she bakes enough for the whole Mafia, she'll move up a couple of ranks? In... whatever Family she's in." The Navi grabbed a cookie from the table and held it in front of her mouth... hesitating, waiting to see if anyone else would eat one first.

"Cookies," AdhesiveMan said with some dry amusement, putting his hand on his knees and turning to Holly with a pause. "Well. Why don't you get us started, Holly? Lead the way."
Holly watched the pile of glue forming on the floor with a polite smile, her face remarkably inexpressive. The sorceress in blue, confused, watched Holly's face for a moment, before following her eyes and spotting the pile of goo accumulating on the floor. "Oh ho! This is one of those types of events, is it, Holly? You sure you want to do that on TV?" Dee jested, leaning over the table and grinning at her co-host. Holly chuckled nervously at that, but not too much, making it clear she didn't really want this to be one of those types of programs. Soon enough, a navi introduced himself, reintroducing himself and also re-introducing the others. Dee smirked, hiding the smirk from a certain angle using her fan, offered a quiet aside. "Let's not go labeling things 'pleasure' so easily. I have high standards..."

"I suppose this is the first time we've met in person! Threatening public safety isn't really my thing, of course," Holly laughed merrily, reaching for a handshake before realizing, as AdhesiveMan probably did, that a handshake wasn't going to happen.

"But you're not ruling out a Neo-Shogun endorsement, are you? I have a way of winning people over. Ho ho ho," Dee added, fanning herself with slow, aloof flutters of one hand as AdhesiveMan took the spot across from her.

Holly started to protest the warning, ensuring AdhesiveMan that all of the many, many cases of inappropriate content in past donation drives were merely coincidence, before she was interrupted by another new arrival. "Ah, you must be Cabal of the Netpolice's-" she started, trying to get a word in over the emphasis-happy navi, before realizing her mistake and covering her mouth with both hands. She let Cowl keep going for a while, hoping to cover her mistake. AdhesiveMan drew the attention back to her soon enough, however, and she started, but then composed herself for an answer. "Well, I think that's just super, Cowl. It's not easy to climb in the Head family, I bet... Different worlds, Head and Creel," she offered pleasantly, before grabbing a cookie and nibbling it nervously.

She wasn't off the hook yet, and seemed to momentarily choked on her confectionery, once Cowl implied the secret-sharing might just be a cover for something more risque. Dee picked it up, however, taking offense at Cowl's remark, visibly scoffing. "Oh ho! Listen to the little tart. Sister, the Neo-Shogun Empire is a house-hold commodity and yours truly is a big part of that! I bring the overt sexuality that half of the fellas crave and the other half secretly do... some of the ladies, too," she chuckled, giving a wink to her new caped companion. "Still... aren't you a little late for the Halloween celebration?"

Holly gestured with one hand, bringing her down-turned palm from high to low, indicating they ought to reign in the pestering a bit. "I'm sure my baking skills have at least a little to do with my position in the Creel family, he he," she giggled, respectfully not tacking on just how high up in that particular family she was ranked. "I've already started nibbling on mine, go right ahead."

Dee flipped her hair, waited for Cowl to put the cookie in her mouth, then chuckled. "I think I'll pass on another... After all, some of us are watching our girlish physiques," she suggested. "But you mostly do administrative work, don't you? I suppose it doesn't matter for you to put on 5 or 20 pounds..."

Smiling slightly, Holly watched AdhesiveMan, curiosity clear in her eyes. They darted down for a moment to look at the cookie in his hand, then back to the eye-like slit in his helmet. She'd heard the mouth comment, obviously, but the fact that he'd picked one up made her think she was still going to humor her somehow. Perhaps she thought it would melt some of his crusty, glue-flaked heart to try one of them. "Oh! Look at me, being forgetful. I should explain a bit more about our secrets board. Our good friend Waltz, who couldn't be here for the event, is going to help us out with this part," she continued, gesturing towards the cardboard stand-up. Each time we get to a certain number of write-ins, I'm going to turn this little crank on the back. It will reveal a new type of secret we have to share! These are all provided to me by my dear friends, who regularly perform with me for underprivileged navis... JankenMan and Zazz, to be specific... so we know they're going to be a real treat for the viewers. Those guys are big-time pranksters, all year 'round!"

"Hm... So? Are we going to turn the crank now and reveal our first secret?" Dee asked.

"Well, we're going to tease the audience with the first exciting secret, of course! But the only way they get to hear it is if they all agree to join us for resolutions. Now, let's see what the first one is," Holly began enthusiastically, leaning in a bit to turn the crank. a pleasant jingling song came out as the curtain raised up; she swished her skirt back and forth cutely with the music. "It says... Who in your faction do you consider your best friend, or better, your lover," she announced, stepping aside. "That's a little silly... I like everyone I work with, but I don't have time for romance," she giggled, covering her mouth with one glove.

Dee hid the lower half of her face with her fan, but her face seemed uncharacteristically red. "I have a lot of friends and many interested in love as well. It would be hard to pick... just one person I like in particular," she murmured, beginning to fan herself quickly. "How about you two? Do you two have some friends?" she asked in a diminutive tone, regaining her cocky smirk as she looked between the two of them. Forgetting her earlier resolution (perhaps not a good sign for this event), Dee grabbed a cookie and began to nibble again.
"How dare you!" Cowl bristled predictably at Dee's taunts. "A cowl is an outfit for all seasons and occasions! Besides, it's just what I was modeled with! Do you always judge other Navis based on their outward appearance? Jumping to conclusions? Feel like a scary looking Navi shouldn't be in an administrative position, is that it?!" The Navi stuffed a cookie into her mouth moodily and chewed noisily, crossing her arms. "Looksh've gah nuffin ta do wiff — gulp — administrative ability." As she heard part two of Dee's assault, she grit her teeth, hastily dropping another cookie she'd picked up. "But that said, few in the Head family look as distinct and alluring as me, I'd wager to say. I do a lot to maintain this figure, and I hope you aren't underestimating that effort!"

AdhesiveMan seemed like he'd done all the peacekeeping of tensions he could between the girls, and sat stone still as he waited for his co-guest to simmer down. Upsettingly, although he'd grabbed a cookie, he simply held it idly, almost as though he'd forgotten about it. Every now and then he'd raise his arm off the chair, begin to move it up... then reveal he was only stretching.

When Holly moved to the Waltz board, AdhesiveMan raised his cookie and swiftly inserted it into what was presumably his eye slot, assuming everyone to be distracted. A concealed chewing sound emanated from within the helmet, too quiet to be heard even by someone sitting next to him. He quietly gulped, then placed his hand on his knee. "Well, I'm not normally one to play games with the Mafia or walk into their traps. But, if it's for a good cause..."

"Ah, Zazz and JankenMan!" Cowl chimed in, smiling sweetly. "A pair of Holly's quaint friends, I'm sure." She watched the crank turn with curiosity, her smile falling to a frown when she saw the topic and Holly elaborated. She cracked a smile as she heard the answers of Holly and Dee, showing her fanged teeth. "Holly's answer is mine, exactly! I don't know what Holly does to keep herself busy, but in the Head family, I both enjoy and deliver equal respect to my equals and my subordinates. I don't find office romances to be terribly appropriate, either way. As for friends... I'm, um, pretty sure everyone in the Head family considers me their closest confidant. Why, just the other day, I told a funny joke to Kismet in the hallway! I couldn't hear her clearly, or, um, see her face... but I'm positive she laughed."

AdhesiveMan remained silent, sitting still. "Hm... romance, friends. I don't have much to say. My work keeps me busy." From anyone else, it would probably sound like a dodge, but coming from the still, emotionless helmet of AdhesiveMan, it sounded air-tight.

Cowl frowned at that, but ultimately grinned and turned back to Dee. "Hey, back up a sec. Oh? I think someone's not telling us the whole truth. You've got the face of someone with a story they aren't telling, even if you try to hide it with that silly thing." She leaned across the arm of her chair, baring her fangs in a grin. "Won't be much point to the night if you don't give us the whole truth! That's the rule, isn't it, Holly?"

"Not sure how anyone would enforce such a rule," AdhesiveMan interjected, sighing. "But, yes, not that I have any personal interest in who you're hooked up with, but your temperature and temperament definitely changed. If you aren't actually giving your secrets, the audience won't have much motivation." For a guy with no personal interest, the guy seemed suddenly invested, even leaning a bit towards the table.
"Now who's jumping to conclusions? But that said... it wouldn't hurt you to try to be a little more on the fashionable side. I'm just saying, some accessories don't go with everything, or every situation, anyway," she sighed, rolling her eyes and flapping her ornate, blue hand-fan, which one might say was not particularly appropriate for the current environment. "Sorry, dear... Some people like the wiry look, I guess. We've got a couple of those in the NS."

The counter behind them began going up, ticking up steadily with such a rapid influx of donations that it was a bit hard to tell the actual number at any given time. "Hm. Like that enthusiasm!" Holly chuckled pleasantly.

Dee looked both ways, beginning to reposition the fan to hide her lower face again. "Well, I think we all basically covered our thoughts on friends and lovers. Cowl's was particularly embarrassing! A little appetizer for the viewers to chew on..." she murmured, attempting to fade into the rest of the conversation.

"Now, now! I think you've got more to share," Holly heckled her, placing one hand upon Dee's as the sorceress reached for another cookie. "We've got to give the people their resolution's worth!"

"Alright, fine... so... well, I'm a free lover, I don't believe in monogamy or anything like that... let's set the record straight on that point..." she murmured, looking both ways and feeding in a cookie behind her fan. "Don't you have anything to drink?!" At Dee's request, Holly produced a cup of hot chocolate. "... Water would probably be better, but that will do. At any rate. Yes, I've got a little thing if you want to call it that going on with DragonierMan, one of the subordinates. The two of us feed off each other, you know? The whole organization gets pretty rigid and stuffy some times. I just like to hang out with someone who gets me for a change."

"Wow! And he's okay with you also looking at other guys?" Holly asked, taking up a spot by the Waltz standup as she did.

"I sure hope so, considering he's looking at the other generals all the time, and even my friends. But that's fine! I do encourage him, hm hm," she giggled. "How is that for faction advertisement? Ho ho ho. At any rate, I believe it's about time we moved onto another secret, unless you'd like me to start getting into specifics? Or is that further up the line?"

"Ha ha ha, don't worry too much about that. I don't think JankenMan and Zazz are too interested in that sort of thing, though they are pretty gossipy," Holly responded. "It ought to be interesting seeing what the next one will be! Let's see what it says..." The hostess began turning the crank again, bringing with the new secret another spiel of cheery bell music. "This next one says... 'What's... your... fetish.' Hm. Maybe they do like that sort of thing...?"

Oddly, Dee didn't seem as upset about this one. She took a deep breath, stared at the ceiling for a moment, then smirked. "Well, I alluded to it earlier, but I always wanted to try 'feeding the need' with my friends in on the action. It's just a question now of who will be the one to join me. Sake's half asleep most of the time, so she's out. Arch and Escort are both difficult to get in on it, but for different reasons. In the end, I bet it'll be Escort... if only because she also probably has the hots for me a bit," she chuckled. "Ooo la la! There's a nice mental image for you naughty boys out there. Maybe a strong mental image to associate your resolution with? Hm hm."

"Wow, um... hm. H-How about you two?" Holly asked, summoning a few more hot chocolates, as if anticipating they'd be needed. "How abooout... I'll go last... after you two go?" she smiled, pushing the drinks across the table and taking her seat slowly. It was hard to imagine what the donation drive's sweetheart would possibly answer for such a question, but it was equally hard to imagine her betraying her own rules... even if she was sort of hiding behind her cohosts for the moment.
"Hmph!" Cowl grunted, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. "Forgive me if I don't look too surprised that you Neo-Shogunate ladies are involved in some type of sexual deviancy. I wouldn't be surprised if your whole camp was secretly some big orgy..."

"Eh, it's not as strange as all that," AdhesiveMan commented idly. "From my standpoint, I don't really understand why a Net Navigators need to be concerned with the rules of human matrimony, either..."

"Rules create a logical order," Cowl responded impatiently. "Why am I, a Mafioso, having to explain this to a NetPolice officer?"

"Not one of the things I'm in charge of policing."

Leaving their banter at that, the two dropped off and relaxed. Cowl went to her hot chocolate readily, giving it a couple of hasty blows before testing it. AdhesiveMan didn't give anyone the satisfaction of seeing him touch his own. As could be expected, AdhesiveMan remained still when the next secret was revealed. Cowl, on the other hand, nearly choked one her hot chocolate, clanging her mug on the table and giving herself some thumps to the chest. "Y-your friends have bad taste in jokes, Holly!" she complained, gritting her teeth. "But very well. You go first, sorceress."

The two listened attentively. Once again, AdhesiveMan appeared more interested than one might figure, leaning forward in his seat. "Really? Interesting... I don't know that I'd go about projecting interest on your friends like that, though..."

"Hoho! That's nasty, sorceress, but not unexpected. And, as for Holly, I can only assume that telling the truth for a fetish as perverse as hers takes some warming up. So, I'll go next! That should be a tantalizing and special treat for our viewers." The Mafia member rose to her feet, carefully backing away from the table so as to avoid knocking anything over. "Very well. It's that certain type of... Ahem. Spontaneous..." The Navi raised a hand to her cheek, getting a bit flushed, a color that was very apparent on her pale skin. "Well, it's not the spontaneity or the surprise, necessarily, but... clothing. There! You boys at home are imagining it now, aren't you? Some Navis haven't tasted this type of pleasure, but with a few tactical cuts... in a few places... an ordinary situation can suddenly become-"

"The cowl," AdhesiveMan interrupted, crossing his legs and shaking his foot.

"Yes?" Cowl responded, turning to him and frowning.

"No, I mean the cowl!" AdhesiveMan corrected her, now sounding amused. "You mean you want to have sex with your cowl on, right? You want to have sex without taking it off."

"It's not just the cowl, idiot!" Cowl grew more red now, stamping her foot and clenching her sharp teeth. "I mean, of course, the cowl is part of it! An important part. But you could even do it... you know... with slacks still on, tearing them..."

"I'm sure the audience appreciates the image."

"But not you? Hm? Tell us all what you're into, Mr. Police Man."

AdhesiveMan shifted his legs, frowning and looking down. "Well, I mentioned I really haven't thought about this sort of thing in a long time."

"Yeah, maybe not romance, but you have to at least... like... you've got a thing down there, at least, right?"

"Divulging any of that isn't a requirement of this round. We'll leave that to everyone's imagination," AdhesiveMan commented, not seeming affected. "Let's just say that when I used to think about this sort of thing more often, it used to be... hmm... breasts. I was a boob guy."

Cowl looked hard at him, trying to decide if she was satisfied with that answer. "...Seriously? Sounds like you're just messing with us. I mean, most of us have boobs, and you haven't been checking us out... have you?! I can't tell with that dumb headgear! Well, whatever. I'll be content thinking of all the people who are gonna be calling you 'boob guy' while you're arresting them now." The Navi grinned and knocked her fist against the strange orange helmet of the police officer.

"Most people know better than to mouth off to me. Most people. Now," AdhesiveMan continued, turning his headpiece to Holly, "You're up. I'm curious to learn about this one."

"I bet you're curious about her boobs, huh, Boob Man?" Cowl swiped her mug from the table and took another swig, wincing and sticking out her tongue. "Your dumb cocoa's too hot, Holly! How dare you burn the mouth of a Head family member?"

The officer didn't respond, seeming focused on Holly's answer.
"Now, now, Cowl. Don't project my fun-loving nature on all of my comrades. If everyone was willing to go along with that sort of thing, it would certainly be a lot of fun, but usually it's not quite so easy to inspire 'free love,'" Dee responded, fanning herself and staring away with an aloof smile as she shattered the mental image that Cowl had set up of what the camp must be like. "AdhesiveMan has the right idea! I guess you're not such a stick in the mud after all," she chuckled.

Dee had little more than a shrug to give at the light criticism she received for her stated preferences, but returned laughter in kind when Cowl's turn came. "Bahaha! So not only do you dress like a Halloween costume character 24/7, but even if a nice boy decides he can look past that, he's still going to have to deal with your goofy outfit?! That's so silly!" she guffawed gracelessly, genuinely amused by the prospect. "Oh, gracious! Although, I appreciate a good costume too... A good one, mind you. Snrk!"

"It's not so strange!" Holly pitched in, placing a hand on Cowl's for encouragement. "There are a lot of people in the Mafia who like shadowy types of characters or... or pants on women," she encouraged her fellow mafioso with a polite smile. "I'm sure there are a lot of guys who'd like to tear the pants off of her."

"... Pffft! And that just makes it funnier," Dee giggled, clutching a hand over her mouth and also hiding it with the fan. "It's too rich... Oh dear! Forgive me my suspicion, dear Holly, but might you be trying to win over another friend to help you get a pass on this next secret? We're not letting it go."

"Of course not!" Holly smiled, keeping her hand over Cowl's hand, but now beginning to clutch onto it a bit too hard. "But let's hear what AdhesiveMan has to say first." She released it slowly, as the answer was given; she ended up holding the hand to her chest unconsciously. "I see," she murmured, though it didn't sound like she was very surprised.

"That's a bit droll! Here you are, with a big zipper up your suit, dripping glue everywhere, and the big surprise is that you like boobs? Who doesn't like boobs? Even I like boobs," Dee scoffed, fanning herself slightly. Her reaction didn't seem self-aware in the same way Holly's did. "Well, Holly, I hope you weren't counting on us getting distracted from that little detour. It's up to you to pull something really special out of your bag, for this one..."

Although she was still smiling, Holly couldn't hide the color coming into her face now, as she'd run out of time to figure out the best answer she could give. "U-Um... I mean, I hope you're not expecting too much. I can't give a really ridiculous answer or else I could turn a lot of people off of these events... I'm sort of a staple in them," she murmured quietly, rubbing her fingers nervously across the side of her mug. She didn't seem to mind the warmth that Cowl had complained about.

"Oh, boo hoo! They'll be more unhappy if you lie. We can all tell a lie, Holly!" Dee chuckled, now getting more excited. "What is it? I'll bet it's something really amusing! Like... you're hoping some NetPolice member will catch you in the act some day! You keep evading them and you hope one day one grabs you and ties you up!"

"No, nothing like that-"

"Oh, you're always doing all of these shows! It's got to be exhibitionism, right? You want an audience to show off that bangin' body to, I bet! I'm sort of the same way! Though even I'm shy sometimes... A girl's got to be."

"Not quite, I just want to-"

"Is it costumes? Oooh, so that's why you're always in costume! You're like a cosplay fetishist... You probably want to 'ride Santa's sleigh,' am I right? Or find a nice gentleman to 'stuff your stocking' or 'go down your chimney'-"

"Please stop ruining Christmas with dirty jokes!" Holly complained, growing a bit agitated. "I'll say it, okay... Um... I don't really have a fetish, because I mean... it's really more about the other person, you know? I'm all about giving... So I really mostly want the other person to be happy. So I wouldn't really have... anything I wanted for myself, exactly."

"Giving, hm? So you're saying you basically want to use your mouth or your hand to-"

The hostess squirmed in her seat, beginning to grow as red as her costume. She clutched the cup harder and rose suddenly, as if she was going to try to run off. "No, it doesn't have to be like that!"

"Oh, but it could be? Now there's an image! How about using your butt... or your boobs?" Dee teased, leaning over towards AdhesiveMan. That carried the double impact of reminding him that he had confessed to liking breasts and also that hers were rather substantial, as evidenced by the pose.

"I-I mean, I wouldn't! Or I haven't. Or... I guess it depends on the person... but I guess yes, I'd rather help somebody else... get there... then really do it myself," Holly mumbled, now crouched and peeking at the others over the top of the back of her chair. "Th-This secret's a little embarrassing! I think we should definitely go ahead on to the next secret!" So saying, she scampered over to the crank and began turning, faster than usual. The bell-ringing song ended up a bit faster paced than it ought to be. "Alright, it says... 'What type of panties are you wearing?'"

Dee smirked, watching wordlessly for a moment. "Dear... There's a bit more on that sign, isn't there?"

"Oh... Yes. I had my thumb covering the rest. It's written in small text and says... 'Take them off and show them,' in parentheses," Holly finished. It'd be too quiet to hear, if her voice wasn't naturally amplified, as though by a microphone.

"Ho ho ho! Splendid. Bring them out, ladies," Dee laughed again. "Well, I must say! I'm especially looking forward to what GlueBoy here has to offer us. Oh, and it will also be exciting to see if Cape Fear over here can tear hers off without removing the pants! That is her fetish, after all! Ahem... I'll get this started, but I hope you won't mind if I stand for it-"

"Done," Holly interrupted, holding her hands behind her back. She'd done it so quickly that almost anyone watching would have missed it... though, if they hadn't, they'd notice that she, surprisingly, didn't hide as she did it, any further than holding down the front of the skirt. "These are mine..." She slowly produced a pair of bikini-style underwear, red and white striped but otherwise plain cotton. A small, red bow adorned one of the white stripes. Her face matched the color. "I'm going to have to give my friends a piece of my mind after this... I don't think showing off our underwear really counts as showing secrets!"

"As for me... Ta-da! That's magic, sweeties," Dee giggled, twirling her own around one finger with such skill that one might wonder if she'd done it before. For all appearances, they seemed to just poof onto her finger out of nowhere. The snow-colored underwear was so dainty and small that it might well appear to be a silk kerchief, if one wasn't aware of what they were looking for. Perhaps sensing their curiosity, she unfolded them in her fingers, revealing that the pair was shear, largely see-through, with a fancy, snow-flake pattern. "Why don't we all hold ours up so the audience can see them clearly?" she taunted the others. She didn't seriously expect to see AdhesiveMan's, so she watched Cowl instead. She recrossed her legs again, as she did habitually; at the same time, she held down the lap of the skirt with one hand, barely avoiding flashing the audience.
Still standing, Cowl had been giving her chocolate an umpteenth round of ginger puffs. The temperature of her beverage became a distant second concern, however, as her fashion sense came under fire. "Look, normally my outfit's far better than this. In the interest of the holiday spirit, I'm using a more festive variation!" When she got a chance, she shook her hand free from Holly, nearly spilling the chocolate she was still gripping in the other. "They stay on, remember? That's the whole point!"

AdhesiveMan, on the other hand, didn't rise to the ribs, continuing to sit with his attention focused on Holly. He did, however, turn his head to Dee briefly as she suggested Holly might have a "bad cop" fetish. He remained silent, though, and didn't give any reaction when Holly ruled that out.

Cowl had shifted back to a tight, testy smile again and retaken her seat, looking less than relaxed despite getting a brief lull in the teasing. She would keep briefly flashing a crooked smile, looking to offer herself as an ally of convenience in teasing Holly on (what seemed to her) very likely fetishes the festive gangster might hold. She frowned when Holly answered, not picking up on what was entertaining about it. "Come now, I'm giving up my dignity here! The least you can do is sacrifice some of your 'good girl' image."

The police officer coughed. He at least gave Dee the benefit of turning his head to her while she made herself attention-grabbing, but it was anyone's guess where his eyes were in his slit, if eyes there were. "Yes, Holly, let's move along to the next one."

"Hopefully, you can give the audience a reason to care after that back-handed compliment with your last secret." Cowl finally took another sip of her hot chocolate, having seemingly blown it to room temperature. With her mouth occupied, her eyebrows took on the work of expressing her opinions, falling in annoyance as she saw the next secret, then rising in horror as she saw the secret bonus secret. "Holly, that's a step too far! Y-y-your friends need to know their place! A-and you, Sorceress, you people are doing a very determined job of twisting my words. In any case, this is where we need to draw- Gah!"

The Head family member let out a cry of surprise when Holly announced she'd already moved along. She drew her lip tight, her head seeming to be steaming as she came to terms with the fact that she was the only one protesting. She turned her furious gaze on Dee, baring her teeth. "You shameless creatures would drop your pants for even less, I assume! But, is this secret even valid?! Besides its immediate questionability... the Glue Man doesn't even have panties!"

AdhesiveMan shrugged, turning his head away, finally starting to look a bit embarrassed by what he was part of. "That's very true. Don't let me stop you, though..."

"Some officer of the law you are!" Cowl growled, her fingertips digging into her armrests. "No help at all... Rrr, fine!" she barked. "But I'm not going to tear up a perfectly good pair pants doing it. You people don't seem to realize there's a difference between having them torn off you and simply having them torn..." Cowl's namesake garment hid her eyes and muffled her growls as she set her lukewarm drink on the table before her, rising to her feet. She remained flushed as placed her hands in the sides of her slacks, lifting her skirt a bit with her wrists to do so. Grumbling, the Navi yanked down to begin pulling them off her hips. They didn't come far, but she didn't intend to get them all the way off with that movement. Cowl skulked back over to her chair and sat, the pants resting at her groin. Gritting her teeth again, the Navi leaned forward to finish undoing and pulling the item further off with one hand, using the other to hold her skirt tight down against her crotch. Doing so preserved her modesty, mostly, but did allow the sides of the skirt to hitch up a bit, showing the bareness of her hips.

Sighing, the Navi rose to her feet to let the garment fall to the floor, letting gravity do what would be awkward for her to do herself. "Well, you can see them!" she yelped, stepping out of the slacks and indicating the panties that had come with it, a pair that might appear to the plain and functional black with good coverage. Anyone interested in a closer look would be able to see a leopard pattern adorning it, although the design was black-on-night-black and not plain to see. "They're right in there. That's all the 'showing' I intend to do."

Cowl took a seat again, moodily and hastily, carefully managing her skirt with her hands as she did so and keeping both in her lap with her legs together as she sat. "Hey, now that I think about it, why was I the only one who had to make a show of it? You two just snapped your fingers and produced your pairs without having to do it in front of everyone! That's right! How do we know those are even the panties you were wearing? That tiny piece of fabric the Sorceress is holding doesn't even look like it'd fit her bulbous behind. Do you have any proof?!"

AdhesiveMan continued looking away from all three the women, looking like he wished he could distract himself with a cookie or cocoa. "I love investigations as much as anybody, but maybe we can move onto the last part of this? Although... I'm not holding out hope that Holly's friends got any less randy in the home stretch."
"I'm sorry. I know it'd be funnier if I was into some of that stuff Dee said, but the truth is, I've never really thought about it too much. I mean, even helping others would be more about making them happy then... er... making me happy," Holly blushed, hurrying to apologize for having boring preferences. The rest proceeded on, with Cowl complaining all the way. "Yes, I probably should have screened all of these but... I wanted to preserve the secret! You know... I wanted to experience them fresh, so I wouldn't have a leg up on any of the rest of you. Besides, that's sort of the charm of it, isn't it? People will want to make their resolutions and contribute to our donation drive because they know anything could happen!"

"Is that a challenge, dear Cowl? Are you asking me to rip your pants open at the seat and get the panties off? I'm quite a hand at magic, you know!" Dee chortled, watching in fascination as the protesting mafioso none-the-less did what she was asked. "Fair is fair! You're a good girl~" the sorceress cooed, but Cowl wasn't satisfied having just completed that act. Rather, she raised some rather fine points. "Ha! You're right. I'll admit it: these are Glue-my Gus's frilly unmentionables. I just yanked them off with my magic!"

"W-Well, I did take mine off on camera, just... nobody was watching when I did it. But I guess you're right, that's not particularly fair. I don't think anyone was watching me at the time. I guess I could-" Holly began, tugging on the front of her skirt.

"I'm not quite sure what you're suggesting there, friend, but there's only so much that we can put on this program," Dee interrupted, wagging a finger.

"I think it's fine if I erm..." Holly murmured, setting her folded panties down on the arm of her chair and turning around slowly. "I mean... it's only fair," she added, before hiking the skirt up slightly, covering the area between her legs with one gloved hand. she pulled the skirt up enough to completely clear her bottom, revealing there was almost nowhere left that fabric could be hiding. "That's how you know they're mine..."

"Oh dear! I wasn't planning to show that much. Ahem... Well, just a peek," the sorceress responded, hiking up her skirt high enough on one side to show her plump, bare hip. "Oh ho ho... There's my tease! That was quite a trick you pulled off, Cowl, making us bare ourselves that way. You sure know how to get your revenge! I guess that's why you're part of the Head family."

"R-Right! That was very clever!" Holly agreed, eager to endear herself to the irascible Head Family member.

Dee grinned, the light of some mischief showing in her eyes. "Well, Holly? Aren't you going on to the next secret? We've received quite a few donations! I think it's only fair to reward them."

Having restored her skirt back down, Holly wrung her hands together nervously. "W-Well... I'm just a little nervous about what else... Hm..." she murmured self-consciously, while looking around the room nervously. "That's strange. I could have sworn I set those down on the arm of my chair just now. Did you see where they went?"

The other lady raised her eyebrows in a comical expression of surprise. "Where did what go?"

"My p-panties..." Holly responded, fidgeting with her skirt again.

"I think Super Glue over there swiped them. Maybe they'll have big glue stains on them when we get them back?" she joked, gesturing towards AdhesiveMan with her fan. "Just kidding! It's another magic trick. I thought that secret might lack a little impact if we just slipped them right back on. As such, I've taken the liberty of invis-ifying our garments so that they won't go back on. Always happy to help the ratings!" She winked to the camera, then gave another cheeky laugh. Cowl would likely notice the slacks had disappeared along with the underwear.

"That's-!" Holly protested, pressing her hands together with an alarmed expression.

"-Good for donations," Dee finished, reaching out to cover Holly's lips with her finger. "Now please. Open up the final secret! Or turn the temperature up, as I'm sure we'll all agree it's getting a little breezy in here."

"Okay... come on, Zazz, JankenMan! I believe in you!" Holly hoped against all Hope, cranking the curtain up slowly with an ominous, slow-toned bell music accompanying. "Let's see... it says... 'what would you do to get your partner turned on'... a-and it says to demonstrate again..." she murmured, covering her mouth with one hand as she got to near the end of the revelation.

"Saucy! But okay, this is the last secret, so we really ought to go all out!" Dee remarked, pressing her hands to her reddened cheeks. "We ought to form pairs!"

"W-Wait, hold on! Something's strange here... I just realized this doesn't really look like either of their handwriting-"

Dee waved one hand dismissively, then gestured over to Cowl. "How about this: I'll take little miss glamor-slacks over there, and since you already said it's not your fetish, Holly, then you shouldn't get too hot and bothered letting our cap-headed friend get cozy? But anyway, getting away from Cap-Head and over to Cape-Head, you are, after all, a high ranking member of the Head Family! So it only stands to figure that you ought to give me..." she teased, trailing off and covering the lower half of her face, while spreading her legs a bit, keeping the skirt pressed down as much as she could. "... A sample of the kind of gung-ho, alpha-dog behavior that makes you right for the Head Family!"

"I guess it's fair, for the event," Holly agreed, moving to AdhesiveMan regardless of what protests he might be making. With her rosy complexion getting rosier, she eased down her crop top a bit, revealed a strapless bra with color matching the other element of her lingerie, also with a miniature bow on the front. It was well secured, but there was still a fair bit of cleavage revealed. She sat down on the edge of his chair, squirming slightly as she presumably remembered that the position of her skirt was important. "I-I guess I'd let you... touch them, since I know that you like... um... you prefer-" she stammered, insufferably cute.

"I did say we all love boobs, Holly. Come on, Pasty Face... You've probably been wanting to catch Holly for a long time! This is your chance!" Dee laughed. It seemed like she was suddenly treating Cowl as an after-thought.
Neither Cowl nor AdhesiveMan seemed to find Dee's joke about his supposed undergarments terribly funny, but both had plenty of reaction to Holly's demonstration. AdhesiveMan coughed and looked away before the whole business got bared. Cowl, on the other hand, let out a yelp, running over to try and get Holly down and decent. Of course, Holly wasn't in any hurry to stay as she'd been, so she had already righted herself before Cowl could round the table. "Holly!" the irritable Navi shouted indignantly. "When you appear on this show, especially when you appear with me, you represent the NetMafia! Do you really want everyone- I mean, does the audience watching really want to see you waving your *ss about?!" Thankfully, before Holly would be forced to answer that, Dee caught Cowl's ire again. "Feh! I guess I can't underestimate you and her in your willingness to bare yourselves on the slightest provocation. That wasn't my intention, though. Move along, please, Holly!"

There was another matter to address before the next secret, however. Cowl reeled in shock as Dee revealed her dirty trick; AdhesiveMan simply sat antsily tapping his fingers on his legs, avoiding tilting his head in a way that suggested looking at one person in particular. "What are you thinking, you NeoShogun harpy?! Those pants are the property of me, and, by extension, of the NetMafia! If you don't return them this instant... Rrr! Stop ignoring me!" Cowl looked like she wanted to stamp on the floor, but her leg movement was restricted by her circumstances. "Surely we're not going onto the next competition without-"

Understandably, Holly was already hurrying along to reach the end as quickly as possible. AdhesiveMan remained characteristically silent upon seeing the next secret. Cowl was quiet as well, but in her case, it seemed more likely she was looking for words. Surprisingly, even after a while, she didn't protest Dee's instructions, glaring silent daggers at the sorceress even as she was coerced. "A cowl is not a cape, she finally responded, frowning bitterly. "All right, very well. We're nearing the end, so let's finish..."

Still frowning, Cowl moved onto Dee's lap, placing a leg on either side of Dee's own and mounting the chair on her knees. The skirt would keep her decent from behind, but she was, factually, bare on the front. The audience wouldn't be able to see unless they were given a camera view directly from the ceiling: anyone with that vantage point (Dee included) would be able to get a peek at Cowl's good grooming habits. She crossed her arms behind Dee's neck. The Head family member was quietly clenching her teeth, heavily flushed. It'd be safe to guess she'd caught onto the fact that letting herself get riled up was giving Dee what she wanted, so she was trying to suppress an outburst. "Very well. When my hypothetical partner, whom, I shall inform you, should be a man felt me mount him with myself so exposed, I suppose he would be driven mad with lust then and there and we'd both be very much in the mood. Is that what you had in mind when you wrote that card, hm? You aren't fooling me, and you aren't making me dance to a tune, Sorceress," Cowl hissed, leaning in closer. "Now, how would you 'turn on' your partner? Get on with it!"

AdhesiveMan, meanwhile, backed away into what little extra space he had as Holly took a seat, tilting his head up a bit as if to cut off any creative interpretation of where his eyes might be. "Really, Holly, that isn't necessary... I'm sure whatever nice young man you spend your holidays with would be 'turned on' by your natural charms and generous personality alone.

"Nope!" Cowl shouted from her seat. "If I must debase myself for this filthy woman, you're going to at least have to make a token effort. Besides, Holly said she was happy 'giving' earlier, right?"

AdhesiveMan sighed, tilting his head down. A generous person would say he was now making respectful eye contact; a less generous sort would probably assume he was helping himself to a peek further south. "Look, Holly. No offense, but I can't make any sexual advance on you unless I have your consent. That isn't going to happen. Right now, it feels way too much like you're being coerced-"

"Your partner doesn't sound very turned on, Holly!" Cowl hollered from Dee's seat. "And Glue Man! Is that how you'd turn on your partner? Spurning her advances, such as they are?"

"It's not happening," AdhesiveMan repeated.
"I see what you're saying, but failing to follow through on our promises reflects even worse on the Mafia then... er... this sort of thing. Which, if we're being honest, is sort of par for the course by now," Holly responded to Cowl in a hushed voice, as she righted her skirt. "Also, you're the one who asked me to show it..."

Dee let Cowl climb upon her lap with a big smile, seeming thoroughly amused despite the mafioso's attempts to hide any outbursts of embarrassment. "I suppose there is a certain appeal to this kind of position," Dee admitted, giving a look down, then back to Cowl, narrowing her eyes and smiling meaningfully. "Oh dear... If the whatever-ranked-you-are does something like this, I wonder what the number three or four had to do to get their positions in the Head Family?" she teased. She raised her eyebrows as Cowl revealed she'd seen through her sabotage of the event. "Ah... Well, to arouse them, I think I would manipulate some flashcards to say sexy things and then make sure we do them..." she muttered, running her fingers up the other lady's namesake garment until her hand reached under, trying to feel for whatever hair she might have around the side and brush it. "Trust me, it was better this way... unless you'd rather our questions be things like 'Who's your best friend between JankenMan and Zazz' and 'When you kissed someone during one of your plays recently was there any feeling of attraction?' would be fun secrets for our audience..."

Having said that, she leaned in to kiss the side of the other girls neck, gently, while still stroking her hair (or cheek, if there was no hair there). "I'd do... a little of this..." she whispered. "Also with a guy but... it could be fun with someone like you too... how would you know if you never tried?" Her voice came in quiet breaths as she brought her lips up and down against Cowl's flesh. "There's still fun that you can have, even without a boy..." While still cradling Cowl's cheek with one hand, she moved the other down to her bare thigh, dangerously high up the leg. She rubbed her fingers against the inside of the thigh, drawing back her head for a moment with a devilish smile. "How about it? No one would really see from this angle... maybe just a little, to see how you like it?"

While that was going on, Holly gave AdhesiveMan a small, bashful smile, to show that she appreciated all the compliments. Or perhaps to correct her face, which he correctly pointed out was showing her hesitance a little too clearly. "I'm not being coerced, it's my donation drive after all... but maybe you'll feel better if you read from this..." she murmured, unrolling a scroll of parchment and placing it down upon his lap, with tender carefulness. She looked down to it again, then back into his eye slot, to indicate he ought to take a look too. Unseen from the audience, her message would convey a different tone from the rest of what she'd been doing:

Quote ()

It's embarrassing, but it's best for the donation drive if we don't end this off without delivering, since people would boo at their screens and wouldn't tune in for the next one. So please give the crowd something pleasant to leave off on. I don't mind at all, you're a nice person and I'd be happy to do whatever you think the audience would like. Within reason of course. Well, outside reason, situation being as it is, but I mean something that won't have lasting physical consequences at least. When you're done, roll this parchment up and that'll be the indicator to fade to black.


She waited a minute to let him read, then gave him another encouraging smile. "I consent," she spoke simply, then placed one hand on top of his hand. "You're an officer of the law, after all... so I feel safe." With a smile and body heat both warm enough to melt butter, figuratively, she tried again, this time cupping her hands beneath her bosom a bit to push it up while shifting so that she now sitting in a space occupying the limited side he'd left of his chair and also his left leg, still with her skirt neatly covering the lower part. From his angle, he'd be given a top view of her impressive chest, as well as her sidelong glance.
Cowl grimaced with even greater distaste as Dee continued her teasing and casually confessed to her part in the show's events. "Thirty-ninth, recall. And please don't be crass and foolish: this position and that position have nothing to do with each other..." Cowl's lit eyes narrowed as Dee's exploration led to her getting a feel about the side of her head. The playful NeoShogun sorceress would feel a downy bit of seemingly close cut hair if she ventured higher, but otherwise, the cheek was clear.

The pale woman clenched her jaw tighter, her fanged teeth bared as she clearly struggled to avoid a more embarrassing response to Dee's advances. "Your devious nature and perverted interests are... well established," she hissed, keeping one arm behind Dee's head as she moved the other to brace against the back of the chair. "Demonstrate as you will for the purposes of this event, but don't... expect that I'll... ngh!" she gasped, her lip moving into her upper row of teeth as the sorceress showed her what she'd been talking about down below. "How... preposterous!" she complained. As she said so, though, she pulled Dee's head back to her again. It'd be surprising if she really wanted Dee to keep up the work on her neck: more likely, she merely wanted to stop looking at Dee's face. Either way, she wasn't pushing her to disengage.

AdhesiveMan, in the meantime, grabbed the parchment he had been given as discretely as he could. It was that or tilt his head down enough to see it, which would likely stand out even more. Having read it, he turned his head to meet Holly's eyes again as she made herself more enticing (and, more importantly, more apparently willing). The police Navi held his gaze for a while. "Ahem... Very well." Finally, he turned towards her more, setting his gun arm against the back of the chair and beginning to lean in... placing his right hand upon her shoulder, then beginning to slide it down the shoulderblade and into the crook of the arm, then further forward until he would finally begin taking Holly up on her offer...

Suddenly, the Navi twisted his torso forward again, flinging his arm in that direction and extending his tape to where Dee and Cowl sat. The tape wrapped around a hand axe Cowl was raising with her hand behind Dee's head. With his hold locked, Adhesiveman yanked the arm towards him again to try and pull the weapon from Cowl's hand. "Let's keep this friendly, all right?!" he shouted with the exertion.

Unfortunately for her, Cowl didn't let go of the weapon, and she didn't let go of Dee, either. The Mafia Navi was flung backwards from the chair, taking the sorceress with her, and sliding onto the table, crushing a remaining pile of cookies and sending mugs clattering around them. The Mafia navi had been launched further with the momentum than Dee, ending up with her head near the edge. The sorceress, on the other hand, had only been propelled forward onto the floor...

Cowl's skirt had flipped in the process, but despite her splayed legs, her modesty was preserved (in a sense) by the fact that Dee's head and the voluminous curtain of her hair had ended up spread across it. After the toss, Dee had been left on her knees on the floor, her knees between Cowl's legs where she lay on the table. The Mafia Navi let out various unintelligible curses, probably stunned from the sudden impact.

AdhesiveMan stared at the two for a moment, before turning back to Holly. "Well, that's the kind of note these things usually end on, right? And with the cookies crumbled, the main attraction's out of commission. Good night, Net, happy holidays, and stay safe!" the Navi said with a surprisingly even voice and good humor, scooping up the paper in his now free hand.