New Year, New Cookies

[winterfrosting]

Who: Dark Cacao, Affogato and anyone else in Cookie House willing to brave the blizzard
What: The Sunrise Holiday is here, and already signs aren't good
When: New Years Eve/Day
Where: The Grove
Warnings: Drama, mostly

[Cacao, earlier in the winter, had planned to invite the entire Grove to celebrate his region's most important holiday. But as the cold keeps getting deeper and sharper... no, it was not safe. The household knows his plans to see the new year come in. But he doesn't expect any of them to come out. And if they do not for long.

He's in his full winter gear as he tends a small campfire to hold back the worst of the chill. It's strange, even with it blazing away it barely cuts into the cold at all. And he finds he has to keep feeding it constantly.

It's a bad sign. He doesn't need to be a shaman to know that. He has a notebook out to take note of any signs in the weather or the sun when it arrives. Any strange animals or guests to analyze later. But he knows that will be more Affogato's task then his own. He is here as the King. The Winter Lord. As a sign all on his own.]

I suspect we may not see the sun at all if this snow continues.

Comments

[submittome]

[ As promised, Affogato braved the biting bitter cold to stand by his friends side to observe this Ceremony, his eyes alternating between the dark sky above and the fragile flickering flame below. He stops himself from licking his lips in a rare show of nerves, mostly due to trying to keep the thick grease on them from coming off. Chapped lips hurts. He hates it here. ]

Do not say such inauspicious things. To not see the sun on the New Years is ill-tiding, and I will not have it.

[ As if the Witch can force the weather to do his bidding. He frowns and finishes setting a variety of fortune telling things up, careful not to wiggle Pearl around on his back too much. It's so cold though, the bite penetrates deep through his clothing and sinks into his bones. His feet are growing numb, despite the care he's taken, and his hands ache through his mittens. ]

[winterfrosting]

[It's hard to see with how many furs he's wearing, but there's a glint of amusement in Cacao's eyes, even as Affogato chastises him for baiting Fortuna]

Don't speak into the wind what you don't want to hear back, hm?

[submittome]

[ That gets a faint smile in return, as he rubs his hands together to warm them, before reaching out to gather some notched bones. Each bone carries a fortune on it. ]

I am glad you understand~ Speak only the good.

[ He rolls the bones together, before crouching and tossing them gently into the fire and he peers at them to see which one cracks first. ]

[winterfrosting]

[He crouches as well to watch, the fire reflecting in his eyes and making them molten magenta]

We could use some good fortune. But regardless we shall endure, as always.

[submittome]

We are nothing if not resilient.

[ As it will take some time for a bone to heat up enough to snap, especially in this weather, he also holds his hands out to the fire to warm them.

And if his tail curls in closer towards Cacao's, it's merely seeking warmth in the heavy snow around it. ]

[winterfrosting]

[And Cacao's slightly fur tipped tail is content to curl up as well. Warm.]

Indeed. I have to wonder if our previous selves had similar traditions as this.

[submittome]

I would not doubt it, considering what I know of my previous life. It would seem even then I was very... ritualistic.

[ There's some distaste in his voice to that, however, and his eyes narrow at the fire and the bones heating away in it. ]

[winterfrosting]

[ he notices the tone shift with slight concern]

I am surprised that fact seems to bother you.

[submittome]

While I am not one to bemoan getting my hands dirty for my Gods and the Power they offer [ see the animal he has ready to dissect for entrails readings nearby ] there are things my predecessor was willing to do that... I am not.

[ There are rituals even he won't touch, that it seems Alexi was not afraid of. ]

[winterfrosting]

Ah.

[ makes sense. They each have their lines]

I have... not attempted to learn more about my own, outside what Heimr has told me. They were... close, it seems.

Perhaps for the best. I see him more as an ancestor than another part of myself. Same jam. Same flavor. But they are they and we are we.

[submittome]

Hm, we have certainly gone through unique circumstances to make us our own people.

[ The words mollify him. He is not Alexi. They share similar things, like their rituals, but he is not him. Tension flows out of him and his tail flicks, whacking Cacao's. Then the serpentine thing curls around the heat there, greedily trying to warm up. ]

I daresay Alexi would eat me alive, and I like to pretend I have far more elegance than that~ I would at least give him a swift death before I devoured him.

[ A joke. Maybe. He fed his Doppleganger to Mizuki to see what he tasted like after all. ]

[winterfrosting]

I can not make any claims for Alexi, but I should hope you are not eating anyone- deserved or not.

[ and as usual it's hard to tell if Cacao missed the exaggeration or was playing along. Though his tail flicks against Affogato's like an amused cat's, so that gives away the game a little]

[submittome]

Oh, darling, I assure you. If I'm eating anyone, they are enjoying it.

[ The look he casts Cacao is dark and hot - for a brief moment - before he turns it back to the fire and huffs a laugh, ruining it. ]

[winterfrosting]

[His back straightens at that, and his lazily coiled tail tightens slightly]

Tch, this is a serious ritual, Affogato.

[Impossible to see his blush, but Affogato knows him well enough to hear it]

[submittome]

[ He can hear it, and the tail tightening under his tells him. It makes him laugh again, a soft chuffing pleased noise. ]

Speak into the wind that which you wish to hear back, yes~? Speak joy and it will return. Laugh the morning in, and your New Year will be filled with levity.

[winterfrosting]

Laughing has never been my strong point.

[HUFF]

[sticksandbonesmods]

What a wonderful sentiment!

Shame the bones start to crack. A pitch black smoke seems to seep through. Death. Illness. Loss. Sacrifice. Misfortune. More and more, ill tidings burst.

Pearl and Dasik both hiss in their bundles.

[submittome]

[ Before he can tease Cacao about laughing - he has heard him after all - the first crack of a bone draws his attention.

His expression instantly falls from amusement and curiosity to pinched and pensive. Freeing his hand from a mitten, he picks up a stick to quickly begin moving the broken bones gently, reading them.

No, no no. None of the good fortune ones have snapped, charred and blackened by ash instead, as if a malevolent hand had smeared the fortunes out. He hisses through his teeth as he darts a hand out quickly to snag a bone fragment, holding it in his palm as he peers at it.

No mistaking the readings there. He holds a portion of sacrifice. ]

... Hm...

[winterfrosting]

I take it the reading is not promising.

[submittome]

Do not be hasty, there are other methods yet. It may simply be the lack of heat from the fire, due to the weather.

[ He drops sacrifice back into the fire, reaching out to draw a small pack of cards from his pocket. This will be difficult with the wind, as he quickly shuffles, while staring up at the sky. ]

Damned be this weather, if I could see the sky clearly...

[sticksandbonesmods]

Well, if that's what he wants, he may have to ask nicely.

... The flames flicker gold, briefly. But it may be hard to notice if they're focused on something else.

[winterfrosting]

[Affogato has his cards to focus on, but Cacao does not. So he perks at the flicker, staring down at the flames]

[sticksandbonesmods]

Gold, silver, and black. It's like something is fighting to sway the tides of fate. Or... several someones.

Silver flares, and a new bone cracks, loudly.


HOPE.

Was that there before?

[submittome]

[ The snap catches his attention and his eyes jerk back down to the fire. The newly broken bone has yet to blacken, and stands out amongst the others.

Hope. He doesn't recall etching that on a bone. ]

Mm... it would seem not all is lost.

[ He holds the deck out to Cacao, eyes moving to him. ]

Choose, Winter's King.

[winterfrosting]

Gold, silver, black. Seems our gods are being more active here then they are back home in these regards.

[He whispers a thanks to the the Moon before he looks to the cards. He closes his eyes before dancing his fingers over the deck, letting impulse and instinct guide his choice before pulling]