#Got a bit of a different format writing thing for you fam tomorrow

[acaplaya-musings]

12 Days of Christmas - Day 4

Title: Finding Warmth In Wintertime Day 4 – Mulled wine Fandom: VoicePlay (part of my Fantasy AU, and a direct continuation on from Snow In Voludera) Warnings: N/A Word Count: 1,440 (definitely the shortest in this "series")

(Story below the Keep Reading cut!)

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Once back inside the doors of Sunlight Castle, servants came and removed the wet outer-most clothing from Geoff, Layne, Eli, and Cesar, all to be dried by the laundress. Then the group headed to the dining room, where Kathy was waiting for them.

“You’re looking quite rosy-cheeked!” said Kathy as Geoff came to give her a kiss. “Did you have a good time outside?”

“I did, in fact!” Geoff replied. “I even helped make a snowman, you know!” He looked up and sniffed the air. “Mmm, something smells really good.”

“I smell it too!” said Cesar. “And I hope it’s what I think it is!”

“Well come sit down, all of you, and you’ll find out!” said Kathy. Then, once the guys had all taken their seats, she disappeared through a door to the kitchen, and then quickly returned holding a serving tray with five glass mugs on it, which she set down on the table. The drinks were of a dark red colour, and each mug had a slice of orange, a stick of cinnamon, and a couple of star anise inside. “Careful, they’re still fairly hot!”

“Mulled wine, I presume?” said Eli, eagerly taking a glass.

“It sure is!” said Kathy as the rest of the glasses were distributed across the table.

“Nice!” said Geoff. “I’ve always wanted to try some, but I never really had the resources to make any.” He took a large sip of the wine. It was warm, and rich with spices, and had just the right amount of sweetness from the fruit and sugar mixed in. “Wow, this is fantastic!"

“Yeah, I’m feeling warmer already!” added Layne.

“Thank you!” said Kathy, smiling. “It’s a family recipe.”

The group sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying their wine, before Cesar spoke up.

“Hey Geoff,” he began, “so like obviously you were never much a fan of the cold and all that, and I guess you probably didn’t go outside much when you were a lot bigger, but what about when you were younger and smaller? Didn’t you ever go outside in the snow, even out of curiosity?”

Geoff inclined his head in thought. “Well, yeah, there was definitely this one time…. This might sound like a random question, but have any of you ever eaten snow before?”

“Maybe once or twice when I was younger,” said Kathy.

“A few times as a kid,” agreed Cesar, nodding.

“Oh yeah for sure, many times!” said Layne. Then he coughed. “Not recently, though, of course. Just as a kid, totally.”

“Well, I was curious as a young dragon,” said Geoff. “And back when I didn't fully understand what snow was, I decided to try to eat some of it. Turns out that it was a bit too freezing-cold for my small dragon body; I had to go back inside and lie in front of one of the fireplaces – already lit, thankfully – and it must have been hours before I was able to make even the smallest bit of flame again!” Geoff chuckled, seeing the others trying and failing to hide their amused expressions. “Yeah I suppose I can laugh about it now, but it really wasn't a fun time for me! Put me off snow for a long, long time!”

Then Geoff's expression became sombre, and he fixed his gaze downwards towards his mug. “But… there were other reasons why I wasn't a fan of winter. Besides the cold, I mean,” he said, his voice a little quieter now. “I usually had fewer unwelcome visitors in the wintertime, but that was about the only silver lining I had. There was also less activity in the forest, so not as many things for me to scavenge or gather, although I did learn to stock up beforehand in preparation. But the days were – are – shorter as well, meaning less warm sunlight and more cold darkness. And then there were at least a couple of times in winter where I’d look out one of the windows at night, and catch a glimpse of the town in the distance, and it would have all these lights, and it looked so warm and inviting…” He inhaled a shaky breath. “…And it just reminded me of how alone I was.”

Kathy had placed a hand on Geoff's arm in a comforting manner, and when Geoff looked back up, his friends were all looking at him with deeply sympathetic expressions. Cesar even appeared a little misty-eyed.

Geoff managed a weak smile. “Sorry, didn't mean to bring the mood down,” he said.

Eli shook his head. “No need to apologise,” he said. “It can be hard to share things like that, but important nonetheless.”

Cesar got up from his chair and came around to give Geoff a side-hug. “If I could travel back in time, I would give dragon-you so many presents, and I would keep you company, and I would tell you that it was all gonna be okay!” said Cesar, sounding on the verge of tears himself.

Geoff patted Cesar’s arm appreciatively. “Hey, it’s alright,” he said. “I have a chance now to catch up on everything I’ve been missing out on, right? Like didn’t you mention something about a Winter Festival?”

Cesar brightened. “Oh yeah! The Winter Festival!” He hurried back around to his seat and sat down again, leaning forward over the table in eagerness. “So, multiple kingdoms have some sort of event or celebration thing during winter, usually close to the end of the year, and for Voludera, we have the Winter Festival! People decorate their houses, and the town as well, and there are special markets, and it all culminates with the day of Yuletide! People give gifts to each other, and at night there’s a big party in the village with lots of dancing and performances and-” Cesar cut himself off as his eyes widened, and he drummed on the table in excitement. “Guys! I have an idea! We should totally do a performance or two at the Yuletide party!”

“Well I can’t say it’s not definitely tempting,” said Layne, “but would we even be granted the opportunity? The performance lineup has been the same for years now, and don’t get me wrong, I think it’d be great to have something new added in, but would other people be fine with it?”

Cesar waved a hand, unbothered. “That part won’t be an issue,” he replied. “I’ll go find Omar tomorrow and have a talk with him; who’s gonna say no to having even more music and singing at a party?” Cesar looked over at Geoff. “Omar’s the one who usually organises music acts for any events in the village, and sometimes acts as the host for them as well,” he explained. “He also helps out when travelling performers and minstrels come to The Palace, and I often chat to him whenever he’s around!”

“What would we even sing, though?” Geoff asked, having another drink of his wine as he mentally shuffled through all the songs he currently knew of.

“I’m guessing you haven’t come across any Yuletide music, then?” asked Eli. Geoff shrugged. “There might be one or two relevant sheet music booklets up in the Music Room, if not a Cheat Sheet or two as well, but you might also find some songbooks in the village bookstore, and I can go see tomorrow if I can grab any song track duplicates for you to listen to.”

“So does that mean you’re in as well, Eli?” Cesar asked, grinning. Eli sighed and rolled his eyes, but didn’t try to hide his smile. “Yeah, why not. If the rest of you are keen for it, then so am I,” he replied.

“But aren’t you getting ahead of yourself, Cesar? Forgetting something, perhaps?” He raised an eyebrow, his smile becoming a playful smirk. “It’s the first snow of the season today, which also means…”

Cesar smacked his forehead in realization. “Oh of course! Decorations!” he cried. He looked at Geoff as he explained. “Some people choose a specific day when they start decorating for the Winter Festival, but other people, including us, usually choose the first snow day to do it. It’s just traditional, y’know?”

“What kind of things do you decorate with?” Geoff asked.

Cesar’s grin somehow grew even larger. “I can show you!” he replied. “There should be a box or two of some of our decorations upstairs. Come on!” And with that, Cesar got up from his chair and bounced out of the dining room.

Geoff shared a glance with Kathy and smiled. This was shaping up to be his most enjoyable winter period by far.