*𝑩𝑨𝑹𝑩𝑰𝑬 𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳.

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𝐈𝐅 𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 exactly like the type he’d pick pocket from. but part of him was saying not to.. she seemed nice enough and he was in quiet the holiday spirit today. ❛ sorry again, miss. ❜ he apologized, ❛ looks like you’ve had a busy day. ❜ robin stated looking at her bags and chuckled, ❛ shopping for presents? ❜ he questioned, always the nosy type. at least she agreed with him that the lights were distraction enough.. instead of him having to admit he was just carelessly walking about. he eyed the blonde as she looked at the tree. something about her just rang innocence. maybe it was the way she reacted to him cursing.. or the way she curiously looked at the tree. but, he knew that he wouldn’t be stealing from her. ❛ someone sure put a lot of work into it. ❜

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“This?” Barbara asked, raising her bag a little, and laughing. “This is nothing!” He asked if she was shopping for presents, and she smiled at him, and nodded. “Oh, yes. I’m all set for the holidays now! It’s still possible to buy all your presents in person, not online, no matter what Amazon tries to convince us!” She gave a tinkling laugh, and looked up at the lights.

Every year Alice had to make at least one snowman, putting her own personal twist on them. It was a tradition that began when she was younger and one she continued still. Alice took a step back observing her handiwork, tilting her head slightly as she thought. Taking off her bright red scarf, she tied it as a sash around the snowmen. “It’s almost there, it’s still just missing something. I don’t know what though." 

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Barbara was window shopping, peering into the beautifully decorated storefronts and sighing, her breath fogging up the glass. They looked so lovely. This was her first Christmas here, and it was so nice to see that they made everything look so festive. Christmases back home had always been exciting. It really was her favourite time of the year. She pulled her cream fur-lined coat a little tighter around herself, and carried on walking, but then she saw a small snowman on the side of the road, and a young woman studying it.

—  ❛❛  𝖔𝖕𝖊𝖓 𝖘𝖙𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖗 // @ch33starters​

𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐓𝐔𝐂𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐓𝐀𝐁𝐋𝐘 𝐈𝐍 𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐓 as he walked down the busy town street. well, busy as it could be for a small town. the festival was always a fun time. the streets lined with lights, businesses decorated to the nines, and the joyful sounds of a simpler time. it was nice for him to be around such joy. though he couldn’t think of how now would be a perfect time for a job. everyone out the house busy enjoying the festivities. robin sucked his teeth at the thought. he made his way to the town square and stood there looking at the tree for a moment. before going to back away turning carelessly and walking right into a stranger, ❛ ah, shit. ‘m sorry. ❜ robin apologized,  ❛ if i blame it on being distracted by the light would you believe me? ❜ 

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Barbara couldn’t help but open her bag again, to look down at her Christmas purchases. She’d bought new decorations for her apartment, a winter coat and matching boots, and a tree ornament for her dad back in Willow. In her other hand, she was carrying a caramel hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles, and she was barely looking where she was going as she tottered down the street in her fur ankle heels. So, when she bumped into the stranger, it was hard to tell if it was her fault, or his. She staggered back a few steps, cried woah!, and just managed not to spill her drink or drop her bag.

It was freezing out and try as he might to ignore the severe drop in temperature, he was starting to get so cold that it was becoming painful. The cup of coffee he’d ordered earlier, extra hot, hadn’t helped nearly as much as he’d hoped it would and whenever he tried to do anything else he couldn’t concentrate. He shivered violently when he tried to aim a snowball and his teeth wouldn’t stop chattering long enough for him to properly eat or drink anything. It seemed like the only logical thing to do was to escape from the cold for a few blissful minutes. He entered the first door he came across without bothering to check the sign. It didn’t matter, he was looking for a central heating system not a Christmas gift. 

The shop he’d entered was filled with racks and racks of women’s clothing and he stood stuck out from the regular cliental like a sore thumb. He ignored the strange looks he got from the employees and aimlessly wandered the store. He’d get warm and then he’d leave, no harm done. He noticed Barbara, of course he noticed Barbara, donning the biggest, fluffiest, whitest, winter coat he’d ever laid eyes on. When she stopped him to ask his opinion, he walked up behind her and met eyes with her in the mirror. “It’s ─ indescribable.” He couldn’t help himself, he had to touch it. He innocently brushed his hand over the space between her shoulder blades and yes, it was as unbelievably soft as it looked. He took a quick look at the tag hanging off the sleeve and let out a low whistle. “That’s a whole lot of zeros. What line of work are you in? Because I think I might need to consider a career change.” 

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There was something strange about the man -- the way he met her gaze in the mirror, the way he walked in an almost reptilian way. Barbara pulled her fluffy coat around herself a little tighter and, for a moment, her hundred watt smile flickered. He reached out and brushed the back of the coat. It was too thick for her to feel it, but she stepped away anyway, and her ever-present smile returned. He hadn’t meant any harm, had he? So what if he was a little unusual? She shouldn’t judge. He was helping her, after all. She looked down at the price tag, and sighed loudly.

~

Petey laughed gleefully as Barbara pelted him with snow. “Your new coat will be fine!” But in an effort to appease her and keep the game going, he aimed his next snowball at her legs. “Tell you what,” Petey said quickly before she could retaliate. “We’ll aim at…” he glanced around the Main Street square before landing on a target. “The clock tower. Closest one to the center of the clock wins, and loser buys the hot chocolate.” He leaned towards her with a glimmer of mischief in his eyes. “And if you hit James Hook over there, I’ll buy you matching gloves for your coat.” He winked and picked up a snowball. “Game on?”

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Barbara was too busy studying her coat to prepare for the next snowball, which hit her legs. She gasped and giggled, but before she could throw more snow, he suggested a new target. She turned to where he was looking, and smiled excitedly. She’d always been a sporty, competitive child, and that hadn’t changed now she’d grown up. “Deal,” she said firmly. He suggested hitting James Hook, and she looked over to where the stranger was standing. “Mmm... I don’t know,” she said, doubtfully. “That doesn’t seem very nice...” But he dangled the offer of matching gloves for her coat, and she couldn’t resist. “But then again, he won’t know it was us!” Her worried forgotten, she scooped up a handful of snow, and turned to face the boy. “Game on!” she agreed.

A shop like this wasn’t unfamiliar to Erik. With his family’s background, he was a usual customer. Well not him particular, mostly his mother who liked the finer things in life. She was the reason he was in this shop. He wanted to do a little shopping before going out to enjoy the festival. He turned to hear a voice next to him. He had no idea what ‘White Witch chic’ was, but agreed it was a very nice coat. “Uh, yes. It is very nice. It’s perfect for this time of year.” He jumped a bit to hear her exclaim about the pockets. But he still kept his sweet smile for her. “That is always a plus.” Money has never been an issue for Erik. Nothing was entirely out of reach for him. It took him a moment to realise why she was so shocked at the price. “It is the holidays. Unless this coat is going to make you go into debt. Then you might have to right think this decision. May I ask how much over budget is it for you?”

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The stranger agreed it was nice, and Barbara smiled her most dazzling smile. “Isn’t it?” she said, excitedly. And he reminded her that it was the holidays, and she was about to agree, and go ahead and buy it, when he asked how much over budget for her was. Thoughtlessly, she started replying at breakneck speed. “Well, it won’t make me go into debt -- I wouldn’t even be considering it if it did -- and it’s not over budget for this month, since I’ve been really good and not spent as much --” Suddenly, she realised how personal this was, and stopped wittering. She raised an eyebrow at the stranger.

No, Adam didn’t enjoy going into clothing stores but he didn’t enjoy attending the winter festival even more. He walked from one rack to another, moving hangers from left to right without really looking at anything, he had more than enough sweaters and coats at home. In fact, his advisor had been pestering for weeks to donate some of his winter clothing to the “less fortunate” or at least write a check for a sizable donation, it was the holiday season after all. Glancing up from a folded stack of t-shirts, his eyes couldn’t help but be drawn to the liveliness happening just outside the store’s big front window. The townsfolk always spent a ridiculous amount of time and effort putting on these festivals and he’d yet to see an actual purpose to them. 

There weren’t very many patrons walking around the shop, but there was at least one who stood out from the rest. She hadn’t stopped making noise since she’d walked in the door, twirling around in a white fur monstrosity and yapping at her reflection in the mirror. Being in the same vicinity as her was probably enough to give anyone a serious migraine. He cursed under his breath when he accidently met eyes with her in the mirror. She was speaking so quickly, saying so many words without really saying anything, that it was difficult for him to understand that she was asking for his opinion on the jacket. “I don’t really know much about fashion,” he replied. It was clear that all she wanted was for him to tell her to buy it. “But who can say no to pockets? What is there, two of them? Well, I might just have to get one for myself.” 

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The man said he didn’t know much about fashion, but Barbara smiled patiently anyway, waiting for his response. But her smile became more doubtful as he continued. “Are you laughing at me?” she asked, squinting at him. “You obviously don’t know much about fashion if you don’t know that pockets on a women’s garment are very rare!” She turned back to her reflection and raised her shoulders a little, making the fur on the coat puff up. She had a lot of savings, and it was Christmas...

@ch33starters​ - open starter

The fresh, untouched snow was proving far too great a temptation for Petey, and he grinned as he pressed his fingers into the cold ice, bringing up a fistful and letting it sprinkle back to the ground. “Come on,” he begged the person next to him, throwing them an excited grin. “This is the perfect snow for a snowball fight! Think if we start one, the whole town will join in?”

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Barbara looked at herself in the full-length mirror, smiling, and spun around. The white fur coat she was wearing rustled like autumn leaves as she turned, and she hugged her arms close to herself and came to a giddy, breathless stop. It was thick and warm, and she had an almost identical one at home, in dark brown, but it was calling to her. She met her own bright-eyed gaze in the mirror, and dithered. It was a lot of money...

location: the winter festival / sleigh rides

time: evening

@ch33starters​

Phillip had spent the majority of the festival caring for the horses and working the sleigh ride. He’d volunteered every year since he could remember and despite being quite the people-person, he was always grateful for the opportunity to be invisible for a few hours. Throughout the day he’d given rides to families, groups of friends, and couples but the person who entered the sleigh just then was alone. He glanced over his shoulder and inclined his head to one side. “Are we waiting on anyone?” He asked, trying not to sound judgmental or stressed. He never knew what to do when he had a single-rider. Did he stay quiet and listen to the sounds of the festival or did he try to make small talk? He decided to try the latter option. “How are you enjoying the festival?” 

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Since arriving in town just over six months ago, Barbara had learned the golden rule to single life: treat yourself. So, she’d done just that. She had taken herself shopping, taken herself to dinner alone, gone to the movies alone, and treated herself like her own date. She was used to getting strange looks from passers-by, but she just smiled at them warmly, and kept right on going with what she’d been doing by herself.

{ amanda seyfried, cis female, she/her } from bounds bay, channel 33 presents … BARBIE from TOY STORY as BARBARA ROBERTS. in tonight’s episode of disneyvision we follow the THIRTY ONE in their day to day life as A FASHION CONSULTANT. talk around town, recently that they are FRIENDLY, yet can still be DITZY. let’s see what will happen in today’s episode … ✧