Deilig er Jorden

[ginger_firebird]

Who: Mantis and All

Broadcast: Yes

Action: Planetside (Magic Tree)

When: Today

 

With all the childhood smoke inhalation, Mantis was not left with a particularly impressive voice. It had scratches and bruises in it and rasped when he laughed. All this did not deter him from singing. No aria or power ballad, but a subtle hum that kept him going as he approached the tree. The feed came on as he hefted the bag from his shoulders. Oh, what a long walk, but this presence! He could drown in this peace and joy that the tree gave off.
 

“Na he ja he ja na ha nu ja…” He pulls his mask away from his mouth and takes a deep breath in. A massive cloud pours out from between his lips and he fiddles around in his jacket pocket for something.  He pulls out a necklace with a wooden charm and holds it up in the light coming from the tree.
 

He walks forward, but his feet fail to remain in contact with the ground in the short distance between him and the bright tree. He floats easily and bobs slightly as if being pulled by the slightest breeze coming by. The feed catches him floating around the tree and pausing above the branches. He reaches out and brushes his fingertips against the nearest branch and hangs the necklace upon it.
 

“I admitted to being emotionally vulnerable when I hate admitting I feel anything.” He comes down lower around the branches, almost lost in the light. “I shared my hot chocolate and I give up this necklace from my past. Whatever you might give back, I accept.”
 

At first there’s nothing that could be called a response. Mantis circles around the tree several times, the communicator going with him as he goes back to humming his song. Then… Then he looks over his shoulder in the feed and gasps quietly. Gone is the necklace, but draped across another branch is a brown jacket. It has a sharp design going around the shoulders and several belts going around waist, chest, and arms. He picks it up with care usually saved for things like fine china.
 

Mantis clutches the jacket tight to his chest and bows his head before darting quickly from the tree. The new jacket floats around him as he sheds the one currently protecting his form from the weather. Buckles come undone with a wave of his hand. He’s laughing a little under his breath that switches in and out of the song that he had come in singing and soon the brown jacket is wrapped around his form, belts and all. He tugs the cuffs into place and does a quick spin in the air.
 

“I haven’t seen this jacket in over a year. This is the full image of who I used to be.” He holds his arms out and laughs low in his throat. “Psycho Mantis, psychological warfare specialist of Foxhound.”
 

He takes the communicator in his hands and brings it close to the point where it’s mostly his mask in the feed. “What I wouldn’t give to have any of the other five here. I can only imagine what things they would get from this tree.”