You are met in Oslo by Rebekah, partially angry, mostly relieved you are alive and back.  She arranges for the two of you to have showers, and kosher food if you like, then escorts you to the jet and back to base.

Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be to get that..._{can't believe I'm saying this}...wolf through customs?! No, I don't think they'll be impressed or let it go because he's a descendant of an ancient Norse mythological figure. Alright, alright, time to practice veils on a semi-mythic non housebroken wolf.  _{I'm going back to Ghana, worst they have are corrupt politicians and genocidal renegades.  No one giving pets at people.  Especially giving out pets related to them.  How weird is that?}

The holidays come and go.  You are given vacation time this year, for the week of Christmas, or Hanukkah, whichever you wish to celebrate.  You are welcome to travel, stay indoors, or whatever you wish. A mission is scheduled for New Year's, so you'll have to be back by then.

(This thread is for anything business related to take care of before leaving for holiday. Or if you want to do something together.)

(we are not having a Christmas special this year due to insufficient funds in the budget, lack of sponsorship, and not quite high enough ratings to justify it.  Fear not, I intend to start taking my shirt off in future episodes, which should rectify the situation.  Either that or start typing these in the nude. Nah, only appropriate for episodes in Paris.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:13, Wed 05 Sept 2012.

Israel goes back to Tel Aviv for Hanukkah (which was Friday, November 29 to Saturday, December 7 in 2002.) Christmas is...I expect rather awkward for him, as this is the first time he has ever lived in a country where Christianity is a "majority" religion.  Also, the hyper-commercialization of Christmas is something he has never experienced - except through television.  He then discovers from Ben that Santa Claus is a fae and spends at least one night slightly worried that a crazy faery with an army of Elves and Reindeer Calvary is watching the world from a mountain fortress - probably in the hellish (i.e. snow covered) landscape of Norway.

He does his best to stay indoors as the average December temperature is Glasgow is close to twenty degrees colder than Tel Aviv.  Due to the cooler weather, and because he is beginning to consider himself more detective than spy, he purchases a long brown trench coat with matching Fedora, trying to copy his mental image of the classic street detective.  The coat also allows him to better conceal his blasting rod.

He finishes with reregistration data for the University of Glasgow, though only taking a single class on Tuesday/Thursday evenings - meaning his "One year left" will likely expand to two or three.  Classes start the second week in January.

He continues a cursory apartment search, but is in no real hurry, as moving in the cold - or worse, snow - is something he'd rather avoid.

Jacob arranges to fly on a C-130 flight back to the States for Christmas, somehow managing to bring Duke along with him (he figures that his biological son and his "adopted" son should meet each other, though he doesn't mention anything relating to the supernatural.  He claims that Duke was going to be put down after he was found while raiding an international gang's hideout (technically true) and couldn't be released into the wild because he hadn't been raised like a normal wolf pup (also technically true)).

Before heading Stateside, Jacob has a long talk with Duke:

Alright, here's the deal:  We're goin' to my parents' and my ex-wife and son will be there too.  My sisters will be there and Elizabeth (the older one) has a Chihuahua.  I don't care how much he annoys you, you CAN NOT eat him.  From what I've seen in the case files about normal animals interactin' with supernatural animals like you, maybe he'll know to keep his idiotic li'l yap shut.  Of course, I'm probably givin' him more credit than he deserves.  Please just don't eat him, smack him around a li'l bit if you have to, but don't hurt him.  I don't wanna have to deal with it.  Oh, and the cat's technically off limits too, but if I don't know about it, I had nothin' to do with it, right?

In reply to Jacob Williams (msg # 3):

Christmas passes uneventfully, at least as far as you know.  No one is eaten by a jolly fat man in red, or one of his representatives. The kick-me dog is not harmed, though, after incessant yipping the first couple of hours, it is found in a corner, trembling, in a pool of its own urine.  Jacob does not recall hearing it "bark" the remainder of the time.

While Duke is still a puppy, he's a wolf, which means a manly puppy. The two young boys take to one another like a house on fire.  Krystal is slightly apprehensive, but warms up to Duke in due time.

Israel is faced with a torrent of questions about Europe, and Interpol, and women, and Rebekah, and Jacob, and Sergei, and his living conditions, weather conditions, eating habits, difficulty of finding kosher food, temple, the rabbi, how often he's been going to temple, women, Rebekah, his friends, what he can tell about some of his cases, just how cold was Norway, women, Rebekah, getting plenty to eat, like his job, sure he doesn't want to come back, staying warm, college, women, Rebekah.

Interrogators include parents, sister, friends, etc.  By the time it is over, Israel is convinced at least some of them work for Mossad, or perhaps contract out as interrogators.

Over the course of six months, Israel's quarters have adapted as he has.  The desk now has several pictures - one of Rebekah, and several that have both Israel and Rebekah, as well as a family portrait from Hanukah.  The stack of hardrives is smaller, and they have been shifted to the side to allow more room for the "second laptop" that contains Ben.

A new mini-freezer (yes, freezer, not refrigerator) sits beside in the corner of the room - hopefully far enough away that Israel doesn't fry it.  It is packed to the brim with containers filled with food from home.  An old microwave from the early eighties sits on top of the freezer.

On the wall the three posters from before still hang (a Star Wars poster in Hebrew, an American Indiana Jones poster, and a Tel Aviv Basketball poster).  They have been joined by a Farscape poster (which Israel fears may be canceled soon) and a Firefly poster (a new show that Israel is convinced will be the sleeper hit of the season).

 The bookshelf has been expanded (by adding a few cinder blocks and boards) to include several new books - including Ebenezer McCoy's Elementary Magic, additional books on magical theory, and several books on mythology (especially British and European myths and legends).

The beanbag is now well worn from Israel's studies - both for work and school.  articles of clothing are piled in a corner - giving the room a look halfway in between "a mess" and "moderately clean."

Though I feel like I'm just mimicking Josh here, I suppose I should probably describe Jacob's home as well.

Jacob's had several months to work on the house, getting things fixed up, repairing sticky doors, leaky pipes, rebuilding the stone fence around the front yard, and replacing counter tops.  He still hasn't redone the flooring yet as he's still on the fence between replacing the slate tiles or adding carpet, particularly in the bedrooms and living room.


<OOC>Adding more in later.</OOC>