EVENT 019

[sticksandbonesmods]

A COOL WINTER'S GLOW

AS FROST'S BITE WORSENS

Winter in the Grove is always harsh. In the early days it seemed tolerable though- sure, Heimr was insistent on proper gear, but he always is. But there’s a sudden shift, a drop in the temperatures and heavier frost on the windows that last longer than the morning. Birdsong no longer echoes through the woods- maybe a few sad coos from the church, but little else. To see the plant infused animal spirits is suddenly much rarer, as is any sign of critters is scarce if at all present.

The lake is a bitter cold that’s sharp as knives, with only the faint glow from Terho’s windows showing any signs of warmth around the lake and cabin- even it’s Guardian finds it to be too much, preferring the tank prepared for him to sleep in as the chill sets in on his mind. The river is only barely better- though the edges are starting to freeze over, there’s still a bit of life left and Sinann’s presence is still felt. The divine fruits and berries, at least, are still untouched by frost… Though, it’s plain to see there’s not nearly as many fish as there are in warmer months. Even the Seaborn population seems to have taken a hit…

Winter is setting its claws into the forest painfully. Even as the fog pulls back so severely, something watches unseen from the trees. And every day the frost and snow worsen until everything is frozen over.

AS THE ICE CLAIMS WARMTH

The hope of the flowing water in the river doesn’t last long. Soon it’s all frozen over, and even Aurora is nowhere to be seen, which is impressive given her size. Moder takes the time for one last task before hunkering somewhere warm with her wolf, resting from the cold. Even Zahliya seems less active, staying in the church rather than atop that between his patrols, and sometimes the cold is so strong one may want to join them in napping somewhere safe. Zonari herself is not unaffected either, resting in the barn and not coming out.

The only sound of the Grove is yourself- your breaths, the crunch of your steps in the snow, the ruffle and shifting of your coat and clothes. It would be peaceful if not for how lonely it is, even with company.

Someone will have to fix that.

WE STILL HAVE EACH OTHER

At some point, every door gets a rapt knocking with Ydalir or Heimr waiting with warm eyes and a gentle smile.

“We figured it’s no good sittin’ alone in all this-”

“So we are holding a feast like no other! I will bring you all your favorites from home, in exchange for fruit from the trees and shells from the shore!”

And so they lead each resident room by room and household by household to the inn’s dining hall. The wood walls are wreathed in ribbons and warm lights, bows of holly and ribbons hanging from rafters and above windows while snowdrops are painted all along everything they could reach.

Ydalir’s mirror hangs over the fireplace, and as you bring the requested items, she pulls dishes from your home, comforting favorites that perhaps you haven’t seen in some time. She encourages everyone to share, to lay each piece out on the longest table and sit together. Enchantments mean everyone gets a taste, even those who logically shouldn’t, and as the wind and snow howls outside, music plays from a painted phonograph.

Staying isn’t necessary, but for now? Sit and be with the others. Share in your home comforts. The chill will be there tomorrow. We’re here today.

SPARK NOTES

CLICK TO EXPAND!

AS FROST'S BITE WORSENS

Winter is still hear and it's taking a much harsher turn now as the fog rolls back- animals are beginning to withdraw. The guardians are also being affected by the cold, starting to recede themselves... but something is watching.

AS THE ICE CLAIMS WARMTH

More guardians retreat inside to rest, and even the river is frozen over. The world is quiet. Too quiet.

WE STILL HAVE EACH OTHER

Before the cold can get any worse, the merchant siblings have invited everyone to a grand feast in the inn's dining hall, decorated appropriately. If you trade Ydalir shells and ingredients, she can retrieve a favorite dish of yours from home, and everyone is encouraged to share and spend the evening in good company and better food.

OOC

Merry Christmas! This is a check-in month, and also a lighter month for everyone's sake. Worry not, the horrors will resume soon.

UPDATES

❖ None yet!

SUBMISSIONS

QUESTIONS
INVESTIGATIONS
PAST-LIFE PLOTTING

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Comments

QUESTIONS

[sticksandbonesmods]

INVESTIGATIONS

[sticksandbonesmods]

Please use the following form for investigations:

Character(s):
Location:
Action: What are they looking for? What are they doing?

<b>Character(s):</b> <b>Location:</b> <b>Action:</b> What are they looking for? What are they doing?

[ghostharasser]

Character(s): Dipper Pines
Location: Between the Pines house (Treeline of North Grove) and the Inn
Action: On the night everyone got hideous nightmare visits from a certain shitty sun, Dipper got into it with his uncle and fled the house to try and clear his mind. He's heading to the Inn but he's on edge and looking for anything that might be strange out in the night.

He is also nnnot dressed for the cold since he ran straight out in his PJs. It's okay, Sleepers can't catch colds-

(I am prepared for him to find nothing!! It just struck me as an opportune time to see if something was about.)

[winterfrosting]

As Frost's Bite Worsens

[Cacao can feel the weather starting to turn from what those in the Ridge would consider still Fall and into a real Winter. He's still on the beach when the turn starts, and his mane is a blessing for extra warmth. The dragonlings are growing faster every day, and he needs more and more milk to feed them. He hopes the will be ready to move before the first deep freeze, but he will stay regardless. He spends his days tending their shelter and the fire and feedings. Singing the Dragon Songs to them, his voice managing it better with his new form.

And the entire time he maintains the journal for Lily.]

As the Ice Claims Warmth

[Thankfully they are able to go home before it gets too dangerous to stay. Cacao makes sure each dragon has a home to stay with, though he suspects there will be much moving around as each baby wants to see each 'baba'. That's good, he thinks- a child is best raised by a village. It was how he was handled, and in hindsight how he should have done with Dark Choco. Either way he fusses quite a bit over his fellow Blessed and those assisting them- this is the first time the entire nest won't be under his eye, and he can't help but worry.

Regardless, eventually he must come home. Some of the house has likely seen his (and Clotted Cream's) new forms, but maybe not all. But not long after he's settled in he makes sure to find Pure Vanilla alone.]

Beloved, may I have some of your time...?

We Still have Each Other

[He's pleasantly surprised by the invitation- it's not too different from traditions on the Ridge. One he has not partaken in too long. So he goes with the household.

While the food Cacao eats is usually quite bland and filling over enjoyable, even he has things he wishes to share. the Ridge after all, does have it's treats. Dark chocolate buns fills with fudge shaped into native creatures, hot chocolate, creamy jellies sourced from the Milk Village wells, choco ball fruits swimming in coffee reductions. And Cacao's own favorite licorice calamari with cacao nibs. Much of it is bitter or at most mildly sweet. But for those with a similar palette it is outright indulgent.]

It IS a holiday, is it not? Best to thicken up for the winter.

[He mostly eats his own food, but can be found grazing on the foreign delights as well.]

As the Ice Claims

[purevanillacookie]

[ It's not hard to find him alone at some point, aggressively crocheting little dolls like his life depends on it, his horns wrapped in festive garlands and little decorations stuck to his clothes and wool. His ears flip upwards the moment he hears Cacao's footsteps, before words leave his mouth, and his look of concentrate melts away into a smile. ]

Of course, my heart.

[ Give him a second to shed himself of his yarn, brushing colorful bits from him as he sets his stuff aside and pats the spot beside him for Cacao to settle. He's picking something up as he does too and when Cacao gets down with him - he will find little colorful wreathes for his own horns settled on them, matching Vanillas. ]

we still have each other

[lilyberation]

It is, yes. Apparently gift giving is involved as well...? I do wish someone had said something sooner.

( she's got an assortment of floral and tea jellies and sweets herself, though she's just as curious about the otherworldly dishes as well. )

You seem to be enjoying yourself.

[quirkynote]

We Still have Each Other

[A.B.A isn't about to deny an invitation to eat food, it's the same reason why she likes Passenger and his café so much. Like a stray animal, she will always be drawn to an easy meal.

Of course, it's when she realizes what this feast's gimmick is, that suddenly being a stray animal is not beneficial. A.B.A doesn't eat a lot back home, she doesn't technically have to. As long as she can get her needed intake of blood, food is optional. It made her travels easier, she didn't have to worry about money as much. When she did come across money, it made getting food a fun little treat for her and her beloved husband. Fast food was cheap, and even cheaper when people tossed leftovers. But...she's not about to ask for a discarded bag of burgers.

Can't ask for blood, either. Sparkling already made it apparent that other people simply don't care for that...

A.B.A would love to disappear right about now and tries to make herself look smaller, before she comes up with a GENIUS idea. Trading her fruits and shells, only to sit down with babka, the very thing she will usually ask for at the café. There. That is her favorite.

If you decide to come near her, she may try to shield it from you.]

[purevanillacookie]

[ Baby girl, sweetie, do you know how difficult it is tracking your Tiger Lily ass down?! He ignores her attempt to shield her food and instead Beams at her with the force of Christmas Cheer, sets a crocheted pair of Keys In The Shape of Reindeer Horns on her head, and wraps her up into a hug.

He's extra warm due to his new winter outfit and the thick wool overgrowing on him like a walking cloud. ]

[sesa]

[A feast...not often does Sesa see spreads of this magnitude, especially when he's used to food being relatively scarce on the sands. Granted, he's spoiled these days thanks to the food he eats regularly at the Cafe, but this is far different. The food is different. So, when he sees A.B.A trying to hide with her babka?

He chuckles, having a seat nearby, drinking the concoction that Elliot added to his menu lovingly known as "Dragon Drank".]

It's good, isn't it? Babka is one of my favorites as well.

[ephemeralflow]

I. I see our time has gotten stale (Month Beginning)

[One moment, as November is ending, Croissant Cookie is up late still worrying herself over the apparent cross-timeline swap that's happened. She's scrutinizing the blueprints she's been drawing out of the clock tower's mechanisms, trying to trace how the massive clock and its bell is tied to the Grove's erratic temporal flow and not quite getting there yet.

The next, she feels it happen.

It's like something in her chest comes loose, like something's reached into the clockwork of her past, pulled a lever she didn't know existed, and now all the gears are shifting. Jumping out of place, abandoning the lattice that makes up her, leaving it behind as they turn and reconnect to a timeline that, suddenly, is a lot more familiar.

And she hates it. She doesn't want it. She gasps as she feels the reality slip from what she thought were her memories just a second ago, as she realizes she never had this, but she could've. She never needed the power, she never had to lose them, she never had to change so much. She reaches for it, even knowing it was false all along, with every fiber of her being, even as she feels something cold and dark and eternal slip down her left cheek.

The chronokinesis reaches, too. It cannot grasp what never happened, either. For a second, Timekeeper loses her grip on it, in turn.

The stutter in time that ripples out from the clock tower is brief, but powerful. Anyone still awake that night might suddenly feel as if they've missed a second or two, backwards or forwards, might see the world around them freeze, rewind, unfreeze for just a moment. Anyone not awake might be woken by the loud, stuttering toll the tower's bell abruptly blares out, the sound broken up like a glitched recording.

Timekeeper barely hears it. She's still trying to reach with everything she has, to whatever she can grasp, and in the process...

...Loop gets a call. If they pick up, they'll only hear a loud haze of panicky mental static, over a backdrop of frantically ticking clocks, before the call drops.

For everyone else, the temporal ripple and the sound of the bell are the only tip offs that the local time cryptid is back in full, and perhaps not doing so well. Timekeeper locks her door shortly afterward - and she won't be seen around for at least the next several days.]

II. The tick tock of the clock is painful (General interaction + gifts for dragons)

[Timekeeper won't be around very much at all for most of the month, in fact. There's a very small chance you might catch her getting food or other supplies, but she's not even going to the cafe hardly at all. On the other hand, for once she's easy to actively find - it's not like the clock tower is easy to miss. And, to be fair, it's not just that she's been shaken up. She's actually quite busy in her workshop.

No, she hasn't ever made toys or trinkets before, not really. Why did she make a ridiculous promise like that, anyway?

She goes with trinkets, in the end. Late in the month, after it's been deemed safe for the little baby dragons to come live in the town proper, anyone who is caring for one will find a small basket left outside their door, or perhaps hanging from the handle or on a windowsill. Inside, wrapped in a soft cloth, is a small bronze, brass, or copper wearable - a ring or cuff that could fit a leg, a tail, a horn, a fin. There's a piece of paper with a small drawing of the dragon it's intended for with each gift, to eliminate any ambiguity, and the pieces are all polished to gleaming.

One of them has a stone set in it. Timekeeper has repurposed one of the now normal emotion stones from several months ago, and it goes to the deep blue dragon that Croissant had interacted with at the beach. This accessory is the largest piece of them all, a circlet meant to clip around the neck, and set with the apatite - a bright blue stone with faint gold striations.

Timekeeper will do her damndest to avoid being caught delivering these... but why would luck be on her side now? It's certainly possible to catch her in the act - or to figure out who left the gifts and corner her with a thank you.]

III. I want to tear it off the wall (Feast)

[Okay, fine, if she's going to be all but dragged out of her tower to go attend a feast, she'll show up. Thanks, Heimr, it's not like she wanted to sulk all month or anything.

But, well, she's not been doing so great keeping herself fed all month up to this point, so food - and familiar food at that - sounds very, very good. Once Timekeeper gets there, she's not wallflowering, exactly... though she is keeping most people at arm's length. Mostly by floating above most of the crowd on one of her scissor halves.

When it comes time for her to get food from home, however... what Ydalir pulls from the mirror for her is a large tray of a variety of sandwiches.

Sandwiches that Timekeeper recognizes. No other cookie can make them quite the same, after all. Oh.

She smiles the same smile she always has, sets the tray on the table, and pointedly refuses to look at it, choosing to collect other foods to try instead. After last month, after coming back, it's... she can't think about this, right now. Not even with how much she really does want to taste one of those sandwiches again.

Anyone who tries a sandwich might find them surprisingly palatable for an Earthbread food. The bread is normal, and high quality, though some of the vegetables and all of the meats are gummy candy. Regardless, the flavors all complement each other wonderfully, in spite of the bursts of sweetness. Whoever made these sure knew what they were doing.]

I

[theuniverseleads]

[It's a sickeningly familiar feeling, the hitch of time as it stutters and stalls. And if it weren't for that call, they'd be quick to check on stardust first—but they know, they know exactly who it is, even without a voice to match on the other end. They just know.

That alone should be a relief, but they've long passed the point of denying their attachments. Timekeeper isn't the same as stardust, but she's still important to them, and she is very clearly in some sort of distress. She's been gone all month, and then this happens! Because of course it does! Can't have her pop back in in a normal way, that's just not how the Forest operates!!

Loop is there in record time, slamming open the clock tower doors and flooding the space with light. They're flaring, alert, poised to fight. Don't tell anyone they bolted through the winter cold buck-ass naked again, this is an emergency.

They linger in the doorway for a few seconds, failing to spot anything that stands out as a threat... then, they step in to allow the doors to close behind them, calling out.]

Timekeeper? Croissant?

1 ....but....later

[ghostharasser]

[Well.]

[He certainly felt that disturbance and he knows exactly who it was from. Good thing he's a natural insomniac anyway and the bell didn't wake him up. It did startle the hell out of him and made him drop some of his bloodstone tools, but that's fine. That's nothing big. He wasn't working on anything important, just trying to figure out where all his stuff was after getting back.]

[Other him went through a lot of his things and while he didn't lose anything, he could tell they organize just slightly different.]

[Anyway, he considers going straight to the clocktower but ...his own memories are jumbled as heck and he suspects TK may want a little space right off the bat so he waits a few hours before heading over.]

[As he walks up to the door, he knocks using the same cadence TK usually does. Something timed very closely to a ticking clock. That should at least tell her who he is before answering.]

[poaceae]

Early December
On the outskirts of town is a little clearing. It used to be much smaller, but somebody seems to have cut down a few trees to widen the space. The wood is going to good use, though, as the trunks have been set up as practice dummies! They're in vaguely humanoid shapes, but Fern is definitely not an artist. Weirdly, one of them looks an awful lot like him. It seems to be the most used, to. It won't last very long.

Now, though, he's dragging huge boulders from around the Grove into the area to add to the collection. The one he's pushing now is at least a foot taller than he is. There are some gouges in it from testing the material, and while it's disappointing that he can no longer cut clean through the thing, it's nice to have something he can actually let loose on without turning it to dust.

It's a long way to the clearing, though, and it sure does look like a giant rock is casually making its own way through town.

Mid December
Fern can be seen wandering in and out of the forest even as the weather gets colder. Some days he returns perfectly normal, but some days are clearly a bit more difficult. Some days he crosses town covered in fur and blood and huge scratches, his skin and clothes like ruffled feathers, sometimes with little mushrooms growing from his head and shoulders. He always seems happy, sort of. Manic, really. On the worst day he comes back missing half of his right arm, and his eyes are wide enough that even passersby can see that his pupils are slitted.

Not to worry, though. The next day there's a sprout growing from the end of his arm. It does look a bit wilted, though.

Late December (Feast)
Those in the Grove who have been paying close enough attention might have noticed Fern turning a bit brown this last couple of weeks. He's still the color of a living plant, but the shade is lighter, and if you look closely he almost looks spotted. The tips of the grass blades that make him up are starting to die.

There are several empty plates in front of him right now, most of which used to contain meat loaf that has since been... cleared away. It just sort of vanished in his mouth, which might actually be weirder than it falling back out onto the plate. A lot managed to spill out onto the table regardless, since he's eating with his left hand. His right arm now has some kind of vine growing from it, the proper length for a forearm but not quite firm yet. It still looks pretty wilted.

Also in front of him is a steaming cup of coffee. He's been staring at it for a minute or two, thinking hard.

Suddenly, he picks up the cup and sticks the entire vine in it, spilling more than half of the liquid.

This will make it grow faster, right?

[lupusxylem]

[It's earlier in the month, meaning Wolfwood hasn't fully become aware of the fact he's hella corrupted. He's still human shaped, just a bit hairier than he's used to. It's fine, he's just going to have to shave more often. Something something testosterone.

He's not doing much this month, admittedly, other than trying to take a damn break. It's cold, he doesn't particularly want to be outside, but he feels obligated to do some sort of regular patrol regardless...because you never know, really.

So when he sees a boulder just casually making it's way out of the Grove...well. He has reason to be a little concerned, wouldn't you think?]

Uhhh.

[It doesn't take him long to realize it's being moved by someone, and not on it's own, but still.]

...whatcha got there?

Late-december

[purevanillacookie]

[ Sorry, Fern, it's like Vanilla simply materializes by his side. Transporter beams in. One minute he's not there and the next he is, tutting hard and taking the coffee away. ]

No!

[ Yes, coffee grounds can be used as an additive but not after they've already been used as coffee!! Thankfully Vanilla has been watching Fern for a while and the only reason he approached now - other than to free Fern from the Coffee - was so he can plunk a pot of dark rich soil down. From the Greenhouse. He'd rather Fern be IN the Greenhouse but if the boy won't come to him, the Healer will go to him. ]

That! Not the coffee!

Late December, some time at the feast!

[charlastan]

[Stan's had a hell of a month, so he hasn't exactly been out and about much, and when he has it's been more business than social calls. And then the last month, he quite literally wasn't himself. And then the month before that he was running around dealing with Dipper's death and the aftermath of that.

In other words, this Feast is the most he's hung out with others in the Grove since the end of September, and there hasn't been a chance to see who all the new arrivals are around here.

Stan does a Pitt Cola spit-take when he spots Fern out of the corner of his eye. There's no mistaking him, not even when he's wilting brown. Hopefully whoever was in the line of fire got out of the way fast enough.]

Fern?!?! When'd you get here?

[He's so shocked he makes the rookie multiverse mistake - assuming that Fern will know him too.]

[eidxiety]

i. food crimes (positive?)

[Ain looks quite different by the time Ydalir pulls everyone in for a feast. The fun thing about having a prehensile tail, though, is the amount of snacks he can hold as he walks around to see what other people have. What are your cultural foods? Are they good? Are they kind of ugly-looking? He does not care, he's sweeping whatever it is up into his hands and/or tail and then into his mouth immediately.

Alternatively, you might find Ain requesting tons of Elrian food from Ydalir, and Elrian food is... weird. There's some pretty standard stuff for the region that's less weird — tteokbokki, bibimbap, gamjatang, an entire bowl of kimchi... — but then there are the distinctly, discernably Elrian dishes. The starfruit tarts, in which the starfruits are blue. Pink water. A whole-ass lizard on a skewer. A ridiculously spicy salad made of red leaves. He will offer this and even more slightly-cursed food to you if you walk by, insisting loudly that it's pretty good... and whether he's kidding or not is difficult to tell.

Trust him, he's definitely serious about the steamed spider legs being good. He'd never lie to you... probably.]

ii. food crimes (negative)
a) netbook

Hiiii it's Ain :O

What should I add to the cookies I'm making? My ingredients so far are:
- sugar
- eggs
- milk
- flower

Do I need anything else :O

b) inn kitchen

[Unfortunately, Ain is in the kitchen. Someone please fucking stop him.

He has since figured out that 1) "flower" is "flour" and English is a bad language and 2) recipe books exist, and he should listen to those instead of improvising, even though everything he's ever seen anyone else do seems extremely improvised. The thing with making your own dough, though, is that it's not exactly easy for a beginner to do, so Ain gets to the "close enough" point and throws them into the oven, thinking they'll turn out fine.

A n y w a y... they don't turn out fine. Surprise! They're lumpy, and cooked unevenly — raw in some places and flour-y in others — and even the ones that turn out okay are pretty mid. To top it all off, as he's pulling the tray out of the oven, he burns his hand — dropping the tray right onto the counter with a loud hiss and an audible:]

Owwww owowowow—!

[So yeah, it's going great.

Please help him. Please don't let him eat these.]

ii.a

[livlaughlove]

Those better be real flowers!

[he isn't making fun he's just being silly i prommy--]

[thebladebringstheflame]

i. fucking idiot crashes into a wall, more at 10

[Flamebringer has had this dragon blessing for all of two hours, and has successfully done the following:

a. wandered off into the woods for a bit thinking "hell yeah i can kill some shit". came back with the membranes in his new wings tattered. very cool.
b. picked up a glass in the kitchen with the intention of getting a drink. turns out he's not used to his new grip strength, so the glass shatters when he squeezes it, spewing shards everywhere and leaving him extremely baffled. and also left to pull glass bits out of his palm. neat.
c. "i'm going to try flying", he thinks, and then jumps off the roof of the barn and flaps uselessly for a bit, gets airborne, thinks "hell yeah" and then immediately loses balance and careens into the inn wall facefirst. fantastic.

Pick your poison, because whatever you witnessed, you cannot let him live this down.]

ii. food time

[When he isn't sampling random dishes from other people's worlds, he's very much eating entire meals from his own — specifically from Kazdel, not Terra as a whole. Things he doesn't eat much anymore. Things that evoke a sense of nostalgia, despite his constant claims that Kazdel is a shithole no one should live in. Things that he's especially willing to share, flagging you over to see if you'd like some matzoh ball soup, or borekas, or shakshuka or latkes or hamantaschen... many things. So many things.

Seems like the food-sharing put him in a good mood. The flowers on his horns are in full bloom despite the cold — why not sit down and swap traditions?]

1C

[ezellotry]

[ Boyfriend is diving off the roof. Somehow this is unsurprising enough that Ezell doesn't really register it immediately. There's a soft sigh in his head where he goes "Yeah, he would do that" and then...

Oh my god boyfriend is falling off the roof---

Ezell is instantly running to Flamebringer's side in a panic. He's immediately checking for injuries or broken bones or- ]

The hell were you thinking?!

[succiduous]

i. mariah carey defrosted for this

[Usually when it snows, Gnosis goes outside and lays in it. This is, generally, because he's so used to Kjerag's frigid temperatures on top of the fact that his ice Arts make him all the colder, that general weather anywhere else can be rather hot for him. 70F is hot for him. 60F is not light jacket weather, that's short-sleeved shirt weather. Et cetera.

Today, he goes outside to do just that, cool off and enjoy the winter and just take a break for once in his life, and after thirty minutes... it's so cold that he's forced to go inside and put on a thicker sweater and coat. What the fuck.

This time, Gnosis heads back outside with some basic equipment. Real basic: A thermometer and a notebook. Really busting out the high tech for this.

Anyway, if you pass by the lab at any point, this man — now with semi-feathered wings and a tail, thanks dragons he accidentally made a pact with when he didn't mean to — is just out there squinting at a thermometer and scrawling notes, like something isn't exactly clicking in his brain.

Hmmm.]

ii. dec 11th

It's my birthday today. I'm 37. Make your "old man" jokes while I still let you.

Last year, I spent it drunk. I'm pleased to say I won't be doing that — but I was wondering what others do for their birthdays, or did before they got here. I'm far too old for a birthday party, and I also don't particularly care to have one.

Any traditions anyone wants to share?

[Sent from the lab, because of course he's in the lab, why would he leave the lab.]

ii

[quirkynote]

I don't have a birthday, so I have no traditions to share. However, I can reassure you that 37 years is hardly what I would consider an "old man."

Anyone who jokes about that is not very funny. You should be nice to old people.

[Unless they make fun of your name, of course.]

[charlastan]

A. AS FROST'S BITE WORSENS, AS THE ICE CLAIMS WARMTH (Early/Mid-December - Pines house and outside)

[The Pines house has seen more cold winters than they can remember anymore. It came equipped with several fireplaces and woodstoves throughout the house that carry warmth up and out the chimneys in inviting wafts of smoke. October is long gone and the windows aren't boarded up anymore, so they'll gladly take any visitors looking to get out of the cold for a moment, if they've wandered out too far from their own homes. They have plenty of food food and they have plenty of room, though Stan might tease about charging for it.

Occasionally they'll get low on firewood and Stan will be the one to head out in the cold for it, since cold and warm are nothing to him anymore. He has enough sense to wear a good coat so he isn't yelled at, and obvious context clues like the snow and the frost and the amount of ice in the water tell him how cold he should be, but...for some reason it feels weirder here than it did in Trench. Maybe it's because he's one of the only ones who can't actually feel it. It stirs a weird feeling in him, one that he ignores by focusing on the task at hand, and maybe getting some more food while he's at it.

If you're wandering in the cold, you might hear Stan's voice cut through the silence
- not to call out to anyone in particular, but singing a little song to himself as he runs errands.]

Da da dada~ Gathering firewood~! Duh duh duhduh~ So nobody freezes~! Da da dada~ Gonna burn it up real good~! Duh duh duhduh~ So no one gets diseases~!

[It's not great. It's pretty bad actually, on an old tone-death smoker's voice. But at least it's something other than the silence of the snow.]

B. WE STILL HAVE EACH OTHER (Late December - The Feast!)

[Party?! Of course the Pines are going to the party!

Stan has plenty of shells to trade for food from home, and he's more than happy to request a bunch of things he hasn't had in ages - like several cases of Pitt Cola, for example, which he promises is delicious (it's peach flavored! Just don't swallow the pitt!). He also asks for some Hannukah classics to add to what's already there - Flamebringer covered a lot of it already, but Stan adds Kugel and cheese blintzes to the mix, and of course gelt for the kids. "Kids" being anyone under thirty to Stan, or anyone who just wants chocolate coins. He hasn't kept kosher in decades, but he still makes sure to ask for sweet kosher wine. This is in addition to a large popcorn bowl full of marshmallows (not kosher), which he fills at least half of his own plate with. Everything Stan takes is sweet unless it happens to be made of bacon (also famously not kosher) and he deserves to be judged for it.

He loves a good party though, especially when it's got good food and good company. He's not a wallflower at all and he has stories for days for anyone who will listen, each one wilder than the next - things like teaching bears to drive and marrying goldminer statues and punching a kraken in the face with his bare hands.

Come chat him up! Shove food at him! Steal his marshmallows! He's having a great time, honestly.]

B

[purevanillacookie]

[ Pitt Cola is delicious??? Stan will find Vanilla absolutely enjoying the fizzy drink, nibbling on chocolate coins with a look of amusement, avoiding the wine at first but eventually he'll take a small glass-

- but in turn Stan is getting plied with sweets as well. A pizza slice made of sweet cream cheese, a soft buttery bread, and various jelly beans in various flavors. A weird mixture of sweet and savory somehow. Candy pasta which is a creamy pink pasta dish with red jelly beans and candy canes garnished on the side, very sweet. A creamy root beer drink that has enough of a bite to it to suggest it's not entirely unalcoholic. And of course, slices of cake with strawberries on top.

Though a lot look like they were picked off meticulously by someone else. Thanks, Beat. ]

With your bare hands?

[ He does not sound disbelieving. ]

[forwander]

i. baby it's cold outside (and i lived in the desert for 30 years and can't handle this)

[Passenger and the cold are not friends. If and when he goes outside when it's cold, which is usually daily at 6am so he can open the cafe for the day, he's wearing three jackets and heavy gloves and a tightly-wound headscarf and boots. These days the extra horns he got from the baby dragons protrude from the headscarf — he can't simply flatten them for a fifteen-minute walk like he can with his headwings — but he's figured out how to make due.

The good news about cafes, though, is that they usually serve warm food, and what's cold isn't fucking frigid like outside is. The better news is that indoors is warm and safe, and Passenger is fastidious about sweeping up snow that gets tracked inside before it melts all over the floors.

The... bad? news about the Magic Lamp is that Passenger, who's used to regular desert temperatures during the daytime — y'know, very hot — clearly does not know what to set the heater on to make himself feel better. When you walk into the cafe it's fucking sweltering, the sort of hot that's only broken up by the door opening and letting in a blast of cold before it dies down.]

Good morning. Can I get you anything?

[Yeah babe maybe like... less strain on the heater, that would be pretty neat—]

ii. the Tea Creature™

[Next time you come into the cafe when it's hopefully less sweltering in there, there is... a critter. A friendly critter, full of cinnamon sticks and chai tea and star anise, stomping around on its little feet. It's about the size of a small dog, but surprisingly agile as magical creatures are wont to be. It seems that Passenger has taken to it, whatever it is, because he gives it all the tea he brews and has it take said tea to your table, pouring your cup then and there. It hops on the counters and table to do this, looking almost like it's floating (it probably is) due to those stubby little legs.

If you were to touch the tea creature, it's warm to the touch, and seems to enjoy your affection. And, if it isn't working, it has a pet bed on top of the dessert display that it curls up and sleeps in.

If asked about it at all, Passenger simply answers:]

I don't know what it is. I came in one morning to find it in the kitchen brewing tea. Do you think I should name it?

ii

[sesa]

...Dear.

[Sesa is here, of course. He is Always Here, though he's currently seated up at the counter after spending some time sweeping some snow out of the Cafe for Elliot's sake. He's only just now had the time to sit and look at what's been serving people for the better part of the morning...]

Is that a teapot? With legs?

[bugbrained]

i. ho-ho-holy shit it's cold?!

[ The Grove is suddenly full of bugs. Green glowing bugs. That move sluggishly through the bitter cold, mostly crawling over whatever they can.

And if they find you? A sole beacon of warmth in this bitter clime they find themselves?

Well, sorry to say, you're being swarmed by Concerningly Large Green Glowing Bugs The Size Of Your Fist. Thankfully they don't seem keen on attacking or anything, they just settle and soak in the warmth.

You may hear a buzzing voice in your ear as they do, however. ]

What is this?

ii. did you want your food with a side of bug feet?

[ Have you ever seen bugs bundled up against the cold? It's actually very ridiculous because it's just stolen bits of fur, wool, or hair they've managed to cocoon around themselves. They now look like flying fuzzy glowing bits of dust bunnies.

Which is particularly disgusting when the feast comes around and they proceed to start landing on food. You can shoo them off and they will go, but they will clack their pincers menacingly as they do. All bark and no bite, however, as it's too cold to be terrifying.

Eventually they will coalesce into Zazie who will at least look like they're eating food regularly, picking here or there over things. No, you don't want anything from their world. It all seems to be ... some sort of meat. How did they even manage to convince the two to bring things in? Goodness know. Probably decline even when they offer a steaming meat slice up in return for whatever they just stole from you. ]

Wam?

i

[theuniverseleads]

[Moths to a flame, like bugs to a star, or something. Loop just kind of lets this happen, giving up on dislodging the critters after only a couple half-hearted attempts at brushing the things off. Sure, why not! Just pile into their scarf and around their weird star face! Not like they ever have a choice in these things!

And now they're hearing voices. Sure, cool, that might as well be happening too! They laugh, raising a hand to gently lift a bug off their working eye.]

Who, me? A terribly ineffective bug-zapper, I suppose.

[theuniverseleads]

[A - snacks time]

[Eating isn't a privilege they're often graced with, so of course Loop is there for the feast. Part of them still can't help but feel guilty, knowing how inconvenient it must be to put up all these enchantments... but it would be worse if they skipped it, wasting all this effort already put in to include them. If they're going to feel like a burden either way they might as well act grateful. Reap some of those benefits for once.

There are dishes on the table they recognize, but they go out of their way to avoid them. "I'd rather try something new!" is an easy excuse to fall back on, and it's true! They'll try almost anything offered without batting an eye, so pass them your weirdest delicacies (yes, that includes whatever weird meats Zazie put in there, they're not a coward)(unless there's pineapple in it)(if you try to slip them pineapple anyway they're going to get Dramatic). If asked for a recommendation in turn, they're as likely to pick something at random as they are to pick something they do know.

... but they're not nearly as good an actor as they think, gaze lingering whenever someone else reaches for a certain spread of dishes: malanga fritters, grilled fish heads, or palmiers. Yeah.

If you diss any of their favourites, you're in for a heckling.]

[B - drinking time]
(cw: alcoholism/heavy drinking)

[Once all the taste-testing starts to get overwhelming, they have a critical realization—this feast has wine.

They are now on a mission. Step one: can they get drunk? Step two: how quickly? They can't remember how high their tolerance was, but it probably doesn't matter. Different body! Can the Universe at least let them have this?? If they can't even get drunk properly they're really gonna lose it this time.

But it's fine, since they do start to feel a vague buzz after a few rounds of whispering desperately into their wine glass. Loop visibly relaxes for the first time all night, finally letting some of the mask down... ah, but they're still doing science here. They give their wine bottle of choice a little shake.

...

It's just a barely past halfway empty.

Stars, that's hilarious. The Universe is blinding hilarious. They're not even that drunk yet and they're already giggling uncontrollably for seemingly no reason, off to a fantastic start tonight.]

B!

[alphacraft]

[ It's actually a treat to see Loop looking so cheery, whether it's the alcohol or not. She hopes that's not depressed giggling. ]

You look like you're having fun. Make sure you drink plenty of water with that.

[beathollow]

❄️ literally i'm just here for the food

( mafuyu is escorted down the stairs to the dining room, and left to her own devices. she's careful to not get in anyone's way (not that... she's in anyone's way) and eventually she trades a few fruit from the river trees for oden at first. she figures something warm at the very least would be good to start with, even if she can't taste things.

...except it tastes.

she tears up a little, turning away to hide her reaction, and only then does she even consider trying anything from anyone else's offerings... or bringing more from her own home. )

Ahh... I feel a little indecisive, now...

❄️ wildcard

( come at me bro )

food

[timidheart]

[Do you know who was probably sitting beside her? Mayoi was. And he saw her reaction to the food. Her tearing up is really alarming actually? Mafuyu is very subtle about her expressions and reactions, so to see such a sudden show of emotion.]

[He does not want to call attention to it, but he does want to ask. After a moment when it seems she's recovered a little, his hand brushes hers and he looks at her with concerned eyes.]

Mafuyu-san...?

[timidheart]

[WE STILL HAVE EACH OTHER]

[Mayoi came, even though the idea of going to a big party made him dizzy. He was interested in the food, and he was feeling the effects of winter baring down on him. Even a shut-in like himself couldn't stay cooped up forever. He decided he would come for a bit and maybe find a nice place to retreat to later, away from the crowd, to watch.]

[He realized, too, that maybe it would be smart to make an appearance as a priest, and so he stared at the robes Ain had prepared for him for a very long time before he decided to don them. it took even longer to convince himself to leave, but with Mafuyu likely gently urging him forward, he does finally appear, dressed in public for the first time as his new role. Stressful...]

[It doesn't take long for him to relax though. The food is nice, the people are nice, the warmth is appreciated and...]

[And there is alcohol.]

[The thing is, the last time Mayoi had been allowed to drink, he ended the night dancing on a table singing sea shanties. While Mayoi hasn't climbed onto a table yet, he is singing.]

Fufufu, do not be shyyyy, I will take requests...! What would you like to hear?

[Yes, it seems when he drinks a lot of his anxiety melts and he is just in full weirdo-mode. This is your moon priest.]

you know why i'm here-

[thebladebringstheflame]

[How the fuck do you say "Hey I heard you singing in a dream once" and have it not come across as wildly fucking unhinged? Or, worse yet: "I think you were my child in a past life," and also not have to bring up that you were using your real-ass name* in so doing. Because, to him, Mayoi is very much Higashinese and Flamebringer is very much the polar opposite of this.

*(Real-ass name as far as I am concerned because Hypergryph refuses to give this man new lore and the more I say this the more likely they are to make me have to rewrite a lot of headcanons.)

He listens to the singing for as long as Mayoi will sing, as long as people will request, while he's eating his food and eventually doodling some tattoo designs in his notebook. Unfocused, bothered, a bit inspired... but he will, eventually, get up when Mayoi is finished for the night to talk to him.]

Hey. Don't take this the wrong way, but... I don't think I've heard you sing here before, right? This is your first performance here, or whatever.