#storymodechristmas

[kaerepi]

Day 1: Ugly Sweaters Jesse and Lukas are good kids! Petra and Aiden… not so much

[peri-the-writer]

Day 2: The Admin(s)

Xara dealt with a lot of crazy things since she and her friends had left their little cabin, and many of those crazy things were the direct result of those friends, sow hen Xara woke up with her entire city surrounded by snow golems, she really shouldn’t have been surprised. 

The culprit had clearly been very dedicated in their work, with the city walls being completely encircled by hundreds of the living snowmen, and Xara didn’t really have to think very hard to know who the overzealous prankster was. “Romeo.” She groused. It was far too early to deal with this.

It was moments like these that Xara was glad for things like her ability to teleport because the last thing she wanted to do was wade through a hoard of snowmen who’s sole purpose seemed to be the bumble around and throw the odd snowball at things when the situation called for it. No, it was much easier to go straight to Romeoburg lest she get even more frustrated. 

And with one last annoyed look thrown at the golems she did just that, traveling in an instant to the outskirts of her friend’s self-named city. But there was apparently no escape from the snowmen for no sooner than she appeared did was she surrounded by what she’d been trying to avoid in the first place.

She was surprised that it only took her a few seconds to spot Romeo on top of the wall, especially being bumped into by a thousand golems, but judging by the way he was leaning on the blocks grinning at her, he’d probably been waiting for this exact moment.

“Would you care to explain the excessive number of mobs surrounding my city, Romeo? Or are you going to pretend you don’t know anything about it?” She crossed her arms, glaring up at him in annoyance, though her glare was quickly diverted to some snowmen who were getting a bit too close for Xara’s liking.

“What, you mean you don’t like my present, Xara? And after I put so much effort into it! I’m hurt.” He replied, clasping at his chest in mock offense. Xara rolled her eyes. Romeo was always one for unnecessary dramatics, and now was no exception.

She was just about to make a retort when something-a snowball, she realized-hit her square on the side of the head. Whirling in the direction it came from only to find Fred, who she’d wrongly assumed to be innocent in the whole situation whistling innocently. When he spotted her gaze he simply pointed in an accusatory fashion to a stray snow golem that was much too far away to have hit her.

“So that’s how it’s going to be, huh?” She said scooping up a handful of snow, slowly rolling it together into a ball. Xara looked at for a moment as if contemplating what to do with it. “Is that how we’re doing it now, Fred? Fine, but remember that you asked for this!” And before she had even finished speaking she lobbed the snowball in Fred’s direction.

“Ooh, don’t think you can leave me out of this! What do you think I built all the snow golems for?” And all at once with a cry from Romeo the snowmen started lobbing snowballs of their own; at Xara, at Fred, at Romeo, even at themselves.

In the end it was hard to say who really won at the end, if anyone at all. For the moment all that mattered was that they were together and they were happy.

The memory was one of many that left Xara with bittersweet feelings, sadness and anger most of all. It was moments like those that drove her, that kept her going despite her imprisonment. Someday, somehow, Romeo would pay for he’d done to her, to Fred. She’d find a way to make sure he paid for destroying any happiness they could’ve had, for tainting the memories that had once been so good.

Someday.

[lunaraen]

Pets

There's absolutely no reason for Lukas to care at all about power. He doesn't; maybe he has a history of being a leader, but being a follower works for him too, maybe better, and, more related to the issue at hand, he's also not the kind of person to try and find comfort in whatever power he does have over others, like his pet.

But he's pretty sure he's supposed to have more of an equal give and take relationship with Dewey than he does, the paws that gingerly start walking on his chest stopping on his middle as Dewey curls up without any hesitation.

Is it supposed to be a good thing that he's so easy to walk all over?

Dewey's already purring before Lukas starts rubbing behind his ears, one of Lukas's fingers trailing under his soft chin as his throat quietly rumbles. There's the chance this is a thank you of some sort for the special fish Jesse and Lukas got him for a holiday gift, but he might just be cold and recognize a good heater when he sees and steps on one.

"You are the most spoiled cat in existence." Lukas sighs as he smiles, feeling utterly defeated by the furry lump on his stomach. "You know that, right?"

And Dewey, looking up at him with a slightly tilted head and wide eyes, may very well know, but there's not so much as an ear twitch as the steady purr goes on interrupted to suggest he has any sort of problem with that. But that's fair.

It's not exactly a bad thing, to be spoiled, and it helps that Dewey's likely never had a bad day in his life.

Lukas supposes he probably wouldn't have much of an issue with that either, and he's lucky and spoiled enough that he's not one to really point any fingers.

Even if he is the one who makes sure Dewey always has plenty of his favorite fish and ends up serving as his pillow most of the time. Not everyone's lucky to have a cat, never mind a cat that's willing to cuddle with him like this when Dewey's not being overtly aloof.

Despite said cat keeping him from really being able to sit up when Jesse pokes her head through the doorway, fingers wrapped around what seems to be an empty but likely still warm mug as she smiles at him.

It's hard not to smile back, so he doesn't bother fighting it.

"What's up?"

Jesse, clad in nothing more than what he knows are her favorite pajama pants and one of his more worn shirts, closes the door behind her before she slowly makes her way over to the bed. She smiles as she sets the mug down beside the dream journal on the small bedside table, shrugging as she sits down on the side of the bed, right by his legs.

"Just checking in on you. How about you?"

Lukas returns the shrug, not pausing in petting Dewey even as Lukas gestures to him with his other hand.

"Not much. Just dealing with the world's most spoiled fluff ball."

Jesse grins, a small sliver of teeth showing as she shifts, wriggling her way under the covers while somehow not disturbing Dewey as she lies down and shifts closer to Lukas, propped up only by an elbow. Her voice is soft and warm and, evidently tired or not from the slump of her shoulders to her half-lidded eyes, she seems happy and it's such a relief.

"Does that make me the most spoiled person?"

It's the sort of question that could be asked a lot of ways, more loaded maybe than an average one, but it's practically hummed as Jesse stays settled in bed, grin melting into a wider, more relaxed smile.

So much for just checking up on him.

Lukas, unsurprisingly, doesn't find himself all that disappointed by the apparent change in plans.

"Maybe." Lukas shifts, kissing Jesse's hair and trying to ignoring the indignant meow and nudge from Dewey as he pauses in his petting for a moment. "You both deserve it. And if he gets to be this spoiled, you definitely do."

After all, a cabin in the woods is an awesome place to live.

Especially when he built it nice and warm, and doesn't have to worry about shoddy building or poorly managed repairs letting in the nippy cold or howling winds.

Besides, it's one of the first nights in a long while that Lukas and Jesse have just been able to sit and talk the way they have, about whatever they want and everything mundane instead of battle plans or city plans, never mind share cookies and hot chocolate in a way they really should do more often but don't ever seem to enough.

If Lukas gets this? Jesse absolutely deserves it, after everything she's stopped and saved and helped.

"Guess I oughta be really grateful for Dewey, then."

Jesse's giggle is small but unrestrained, gentle as she rests her head on his shoulder.

"Careful, or it'll all go to his head."

Like one compliment could really change that much for a pampered pet.

Jesse giggles again, but doesn't answer directly, just smiling up at him as she wraps an arm around his chest, kissing his cheek and then kissing him several times more, her lips tracing his freckles. He's pretty sure his face is burning in the best way as he grins at her while she closes her eyes and lays her head back down.

"Goodnight, Lukas."

It's nice. Yeah, maybe he's spoiled, but he definitely does the same for Dewey, and he'll always do his best to try and return to favor for Jesse.

Lukas presses a kiss to the top of Jesse's head, letting his eyes fall shut as she douses the light and Lukas continues to pet Dewey, even as said smug feline lowers his head to rest it against the covers and, by extension, Lukas.

"Goodnight, Jesse."

He can't think of any other way he'd rather have it.

[new-king-of-boomtown]

Someone made the mistake of letting Axel decorate a room one year, caught him setting up this gem, and stopped him before the madness could actually get any further than the tree area. 

He now makes it his mission every year to make the Order Hall a mistletoe landmine for everyone. 

[nurm-the-villager]

/ Am I doing this right? / 

[love-n-snow]

Day 4: Christmas Cookies Radar is a professional cookie taste tester. Lukas kinda freaked out when he started crying though. (Ehh lazy 4 this one, school started again and now im kinda bummed, sorry)

[mcsmrandomness]

Christmas Lights (Lukas POV)

Thanks and a shoutout go to @dmarcher12 for requesting.  This was pretty fun to write the other way around.

The café.  It actually looked quite cozy and welcoming when it was lit up amongst the darkening sky and the falling snow.  The lights glowed from inside the shop, and the smell of hot chocolate and coffee was pleasant and warm.  The city streets were crowded, sure, but that’s pretty much what you get when it’s Christmas time, and shoppers are scrambling for gifts.  The air was crisp and cold, but Lukas was fairly warm, having bundled in warm winter jacket.  The snowflakes alighted all around him as he stood outside, waiting for Jesse.  Yes, she was late again, but he really didn’t mind.  He was sure she’d come.

They’d made plans a couple days previous to meet here and go on a little excursion.  He didn’t tell her where, however, even though she tried to pry it out of him when he first brought it up.  That was going to be a surprise.  Truth was, he’d found something amazing.  Well, somewhere amazing.  He figured it’d be nice to show someone else the view he found, and the first person that came to mind was Jesse.  

Speaking of…he noticed her approach the café with her back turned to him.  She was beautiful as always.  He found it difficult not to notice as her brown hair caught the surrounding, warm, glimmering light and waved in the chilly breeze, giving it slight golden glow, and…he really had to stop noticing these things.  He wouldn’t deny that he liked her, he had for about a year now, but lately the feeling had been getting stronger.  Maybe that’s why he asked to spend time with her tonight. Well whatever the reason, first things first.

Deciding to be mischievous, he snuck up behind her and gave her a playful poke to her side.  She let out an impossibly cute yelp and turned around with her arms over her stomach.  How the world’s greatest hero could she be this impossibly cute and utterly hilarious at the same time was beyond him.

He felt himself smile and attempted not to laugh as he spoke.  “Hey, Jesse.”  He failed miserably.

Returning her arms to normal, she tilted her head slightly to the side and whined.  “Lukas, why?”

He couldn’t get rid of his smile.  If anything, it became even brighter.   She really had no idea how cute she was when she did that. “Because you’re late.  We were supposed to meet here a half an hour ago.  Not that I’m mad, but you really need to learn to be on time for things.”

She visibly became worried and apologetic, giving a quick, “I’m sorry!” before launching into a string of defensive rambling.  “I swear I just got caught up in the paperwork and Christmas preparations that I lost track of time and-”

“Hey, whoa!”  He cut her off and touched her arm reassuringly. At least, that’s what he thought. His heart involuntarily did an elated dance routine, and a part of him wondered if she was feeling the same.  Still, he completely understood her situation and couldn’t blame her for it.  “I said I’m not mad, okay?  No harm done. The sun hasn’t set yet, and we still have time.”

He felt her relax a bit, but not entirely.  “Yeah, I know.  But I shouldn’t have left you hanging out in the cold.”

“It’s fine, Jesse. Really.”  Deciding he’d been touching her long enough, he regrettably removed his hand.  Gesturing to the café, he added, “Besides, it’s nothing a bit of hot chocolate won’t fix.”

She appeared to think for a moment.  About what he had no idea, but he could see the gears turning in her head.  He found himself noticing how sweet she looked when she did that.  Whether it was battle strategy or even just what to have for dinner, she tended to go off into her own little world for a second as she thought.

After another few seconds, she spoke again.  “Yeah, you’re right.  I’m sorry, let’s just get hot chocolate then.”  She led the way to the counter of the café to order the mugs of hot cocoa.  

“You apologize for everything.  You know that right?”  He didn’t know why he said it, but it was true.  Jesse tended to apologize a lot, even if the thing she was apologizing for wasn’t her fault.  There was something selfless about it, but at the same time she would take unnecessary blame onto herself, and sometimes it would weigh her down.

Her answer was immediate and enthusiastic.  “No I don’t.” Oh, she was guilty as charged.  

“You do, and you know it.” He couldn’t hold back the smirk that made its way to his face as he looked at her.

“You’ll never make me admit it.”  It seemed a bit of an offhanded comment, but he didn’t really care.  If she wanted to play it that way, he was happy to oblige. When he gave a poke to her shoulder blade, she let out a high-pitched squeak. “Hey!”  He just chuckled and did it again.  This time, however, she smiled at him, and butterflies soared in his stomach. Funny how the Wither-Slayer and the mayor of Beacontown could be a normal, dorky, lovable person when there are no crises to worry about.  He loved it when she was like this.  “Hot chocolate?” she questioned.

“Hot chocolate,” he agreed wholeheartedly.

By the time they began walking away from the café toward their destination, the sun had sunk below the horizon, leaving the sky almost black.  The mugs of hot chocolate were firmly secured in their hands, keeping them warm despite the winter air.

Jesse broke the silence. “So where are we going?”

“You’ll see.”  It was casual.  It was also the only answer she was going to get out of him.  He wasn’t about to ruin the surprise no matter how much he wanted to succumb to her questioning.

“Why so secretive?” she continued to push.  He smiled internally.  Of course she did.  It’s not like she would just let this go or anything.  “Come on!  I freakin’ run this town, and I think I have a right to know where we’re going.”

“Because,” he dragged out the word for effect, “you think you know everything about this place already, but you don’t.  Besides, isn’t it nice to be surprised once in a while?”  He knew the statement was smug, but he didn’t really care.  Instead, he just peered at her while he sipped from the mug in his hands.  He felt a piece of hair fall al land above his eye, but he was too busy with the hot chocolate to care.  He’d fix it in a minute, but that was some good hot chocolate.

She pouted.  “Give me a hint?”

He shook his head and dropped the mug again before fixing the piece of hair.  “No way.”

“Please?”

“The puppy eyes aren’t working, but by all means keep trying.”  That was a lie.  The puppy eyes were absolutely working, but he couldn’t let her know that.  He wasn’t even sure if she knew she was doing them right now.

Gratefully, she relented with a huff, and focused on her mug instead.  As she took a swig of cocoa, a whipped cream mustache formed above her lip. She quickly licked it up.  Why did little things like this even captivate him? He was hopeless.  Then again, why did he always stop himself?  It’s not like he wanted to stop liking her, he just... He was pulled from his thoughts when she glanced at him.  Instinctively, he turned away as fast as he could.  She saw that, didn’t she?  He was doomed.  The butterflies broke free again.

After that, he wasn’t really sure what to say.  He was utterly gone at this point.  He liked her way too much, and every time he was around her, he felt impossibly happy and relaxed.  Question was: did she feel the same?  They’d been friends for a good amount of time, even become best friends, but did she see him as more than that?  He’d always prided himself on his ability to read people, and if his senses were correct, she did, even if it wasn’t quite to the extent he did.  

It was just the little things she did or said sometimes.  She always made an effort to drop by his cabin every week, and stay for longer than she should although she never said anything about it.  Sometimes she’d give him a compliment, and her cheeks would turn pink when he complimented her back.  Funny how they used to be complete enemies and now he had hopelessly fallen for her.

In almost no time, they reached the ladder, and he stopped abruptly.  “Ok, here.”  Jesse studied the ladder and peered…

“Up?”  She squinted curiously.

“Yep.  After you.”  He motioned to the ladder and offered to take her mug.  Handing it to him, she started climbing.  He struggled to ignore her as she made her way up.

Once he saw her reach the top, he put the mugs in his inventory and started up after her.  When he reached the top, he noticed her staring outside the city.  The stars poked through the snow clouds, and they, along with the moon, illuminated the dark landscape outside the city.  Approaching her fro behind, he presented her mug in front of her, which she gently took and drank from.

“It’s nice up here,” she stated.

“It is, isn’t it?”  It was true.  The landscape outside was very nice, but that wasn’t quite what he was talking about.  He couldn’t pull his eyes away from Jesse, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to this time.  Her frame was backlit by the city lights, giving her a sort of gold aura.  Her emerald eyes gleamed in the torch light as she studied the scenery before her.

When she looked directly back at him, he somehow found the courage not to turn away, and instead held her gaze.  He didn’t regret it in the slightest.  Her eyebrows scrunched as she asked, “What?”

“Nothing.”  He said it more calmly than he felt.  His heart was racing.  To disguise that fact, he sipped from his mug again.  “It’s just, it’s not this view I wanted to show you, exactly. I mean, it’s nice, but it’s not quite what I was going for.”

“Then what were you…” He grabbed her arms lightly and turned her around.  She went immediately still and her mouth opened in awe.  He understood.  No matter how many times he saw this, it never ceased to amaze him.  The Christmas lights illuminated the entire city in a sheet of light.  Thousands of different colors, shapes, and sizes of lights shone radiantly, irradiating the snow for miles around.

Jesse’s reaction was exactly what he was going for.  He was right. She obviously had no idea this spot existed.  Her eyes were wide in amazement, her lips parted in an inaudible gasp.  It might be arrogant, but he smiled victoriously.  “Pretty cool, huh?”

All he got in response was a squeak, and he chuckled.  Speechless. Jesse was never speechless. Finding her words, she gasped “It’s gorgeous!”

“Now are you glad I didn’t tell you?”  She just nodded silently, her mouth still open.  He found himself wondering what it would be like to kiss her but quickly suppressed the urge, wiping the thought from his mind.  “Here.”  Grabbing her hand, he led her to his favorite spot on the wall.  He climbed the railing and sat with his feet dangling over the side. While he wasn’t a huge fan of heights himself, there was something comforting about this spot.  Jesse, he knew, loved heights and would often retreat to trees or somewhere else high up just to get away.  It’s probably why she lived in a treehouse.  Jesse followed without hesitation and seated herself next to him.  Meanwhile, he was glad he got to share this with her.  It was so much better when he wasn’t alone.

“I…this is beyond incredible,” she said breathily.

Gulping his hot cocoa, he grinned smugly.  “Told you you’d like it.”

Entirely focused on the scene in front of them, she spoke again.  “This is…indescribable.  I never knew about the view from up here.  How long have you known about this?”  For the first time since laying eyes on the lights, she turned to focus on him solely.

“Not long.  I wandered up here one day when I was out to clear my head a couple weeks ago.  The lights weren’t up yet, but I couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like when they were.  I came back a couple days ago and wrote some good stuff while watching the lights. After that, I thought I should share it. With you.”  That last part was involuntary.  He wasn’t sure why he said it out loud at all, but it was completely true.  He also didn’t plan to lock eyes with her, but once he did, he couldn’t stop.  He immediately lost himself in them and had to remind himself to focus.

“Thanks you for showing me. It’s nice to not worry about work for once, and I haven’t seen anything this breathtaking since watching the lit-up town from the treehouse.  I’m really glad we did this.”  There it was. We.  When she said little things like that, he was almost sure she liked him back.  His heart started racing again.

Although she was smiling, he noticed her shivering.  He didn’t even think that it would get so icy up here.  “Are you cold?   Here.” Without a second thought, he opened his arms to her.  If there was one thing he knew for sure about Jesse, it was that she loved to cuddle, and whenever she needed it, he was happy to oblige.  As he suspected, she immediately inched closer to him and buried herself in his chest as he wrapped his arms around her.  Somehow, he became slightly warmer, but he wasn’t sure if that was because of her or not.  He didn’t even care.

They stayed up there talking for hours.  They talked about everything: their lives, their friends, their struggles and worries, everything.  Near midnight, he noticed her start to drift off, and he suggested they go to his cabin since it was closer than the treehouse, and he didn’t want her to climb a ladder when she was this sleepy.  Laughing, she agreed.  They had long since finished the hot chocolate as they made their way outside of town.

When they reached the cabin, Jesse immediately crashed on his bed, and he lied next to her.  As she drifted off, he held her hand in his as he closed his eyes.  Yup.  This was definitely worth it.  He fell asleep smiling.

[mari-the-dreamer]

R: “Let’s see; Decorations: Done. Food: Being made. Gifts: All wrapped and in my inventory.”

Careful guys. Dude’s on a perfectionist rampage.

[shadowrosely]

Day 1: Ugly Sweater

[grovyrosegirl]

MCSM Christmas Countdown Day 2: The Admin(s)

“Are your eyes still closed?”

Binta smiled, feeling his large, warm hand wrapped around hers as he guided her along. The world was dark with her eyes shut, but for some reason, she could picture the nervous look on his face.

“Fred, for the last time, yes,” she laughed, “don’t you trust me?”

She heard him chuckle softly, “Of course I do, sorry. I just don’t want the surprise to be spoiled.”

“Your surprises are the best kind, I wouldn’t dare,” Binta assured him.

“That’s good. Oh! We’re here,” Fred’s voice rose in excitement. “Alright, keep your eyes closed, I just need one second.”

She paused in her walking when she heard his footsteps come to a halt. She felt his hand release hers. Suddenly, the air surrounding them became colder, Binta couldn’t help but shiver slightly as she hugged herself in an attempt to warm up.

“Okay, you can look now,” He whispered to her.

Binta opened her eyes, slowly as to let them get adjusted to the light, but to her surprise, the sun didn’t seem as bright as normal. In fact, she couldn’t even find it in the sky. Instead, the sky was covered by grey clouds, looking ready to release raindrops. However, it wasn’t raindrops that fell from the sky. Pieces of what looked somewhat like white wool were drifting downwards, some of them almost looked like they were twirling in the air. She held out her hand, letting one of the pieces fall into her open palm. She only had seconds to stare at it before it melted into a tiny drop of water. 

Binta looked back up at the sky, watching more and more of the stuff come down, “Woah. What is it?”

“Do you like it? The others and I made it the other day,” Fred explained as he walked over so that he stood next to her. “It’s called snow.”

He pointed to the strange falling pieces of white, “And these? They’re called snowflakes. Each one is different, no two alike.”

Binta smiled, “Beautiful.”

She glanced down, noticing that the grass beneath her feet had been replaced with a white surface. She moved her foot slightly, hearing this “snow” thing crunch beneath her boots. 

“Romeo came up with some fun stuff to do with it,” Fred continued. He moved a few inches ahead of her, before randomly falling backwards, flat on his back. Before Binta could even ask what was happening, Fred began moving his arms up and down, while his legs moved from side to side. 

“What are you doing?” Binta asked with a snicker. 

He looked up at her with a big grin, “I’m making a snow angel. Come on, try it!”

Binta rolled her eyes, but turned around and fell backwards next to him. The snow was much more cold and wet on her back than she expected. Nonetheless, she began moving her arms and legs in the same fashion as he did. It felt absolutely ridiculous, and Binta made sure to give Fred more than a few silly looks in his direction. He could only smile back at her, his blue cheeks gaining a small shade of pink. Whether it was from the cold or the pure joy, Binta didn’t know, though she felt her own cheeks warm up as she let out a bout of giggles. 

After a few minutes, the two stood back up. Binta looked over her shoulder at the two shapes they’d left on the snow, returning another grin to Fred. 

“What do you think?” Fred asked, brushing off chunks of snow caught in his hair. “Waffles wasn’t too fond of it, poor little guy flew off the moment his feet touched the stuff.”

Binta placed her hands at her hips, taking another look around at the snow-covered area, “I like it. Although, it might mess up some of the crops.”

Fred nodded, “I agree. I figured we should save it for special occasions.”

“Still,” Binta sighed, watching her breath turn into a cloud, “it’s gorgeous.”

He beamed at the view in front of them, before letting out another small chuckle, “Romeo made up another game for this snow. He scooped it into little spheres and started throwing them at Xara and me. I...wasn’t too fond of that one.”

“Is that so?” Binta said, a mischievous smirk curving her lips. She carefully bent down, scooping a pile of the snow into a ball, and rose it up. By the time Fred realized his mistake, it was too late. She had already reeled back her hand and tossed the snowball right at him, “Heads up!”

His eyes went wide, “Binta no- Oof!”

The snowball shattered upon impact to his shoulder, making him stumble back slightly. Binta laughed, watching as his face went from flustered to a competitive smile of his own. 

“Oh, you’re gonna get it now,” Fred taunted. “C’mere you!”

She released a squeal of joy as she turned and took off running, Fred keeping up behind. Their laughter filled the cold air, despite the snow making them both slower. Binta took one more look over her shoulder, her pupils shrinking when she saw he had vanished behind her. When she turned her head forward again, there he was, his arms wide open. 

“Oh no-!” She squealed as Fred trapped her with a hug and lifted her up. 

He giggled, “Gotcha.” 

“No fair,” Binta rested her arms on his shoulders, “you teleported. That’s definitely cheating.”

“All’s fair in love and war,” He playfully declared. 

His eyes then went soft, as did her own. Fred pulled her slightly closer, the two pressing their lips together. He pulled away, placing Binta back on the snowy ground. 

“I love you,” He whispered, bowing his head downwards so that their foreheads were touching.

Binta closed her eyes, smiling.

“I love you too.”

Binta hugged herself, her body shivering. There was no wind down here anymore, but the cold was still there. Binta looked up, the miles of bedrock above keeping the eternal darkness in place. 

She missed the sky.

She missed him. 

So much.

It was so cold. 

[hero-in-residence]

Day Two: Admin

Even lonely admin overlords want to celebrate the holidays sometimes

[kaerepi]

Day #1 ugly sweaters You bet your ass Jesse is ready for Christmas

[peri-the-writer]

Day 1: Ugly Sweaters

So @new-king-of-boomtown and I have a headcanon that frequently gets revisited of Axel teaching Jesse to knit and well she’s...not the greatest at it. 

“I think this brings a whole new meaning to the term ‘Ugly holiday sweaters’.” Olivia deadpanned as she held up the ‘ugly sweater’ in question. A hand-made gift from Jesse, the sweater was very clearly made by someone with less than perfect knitting skills, sporting sleeves of different lengths, a hole for her head that was twice as big as necessary, and an imagine on the front that Olivia was sure was meant to be something, not that she could remotely tell what. “I love Jesse but couldn’t you have helped her at least a little bit, Axel?”

Axel, whose Jesse-sweater was probably the most well put together (if not somewhat lopsided in nature) simply shrugged. “She said she wanted to do it by herself this time and I wasn’t gonna argue that with her. She’s gotten waaaaay better than she used to be.”

“I think I’m with Olivia on this one. This thing is way too big for me. Should I be offended?” Petra chimed in, glaring down at the over-sized sweater that went nearly down to her knees and sleeves nearly as long. “Is this her way of telling me I’m getting fat?”

“It’s better too big than too small, Petra.” Ivor countered. He too was wearing his hand-knit gift from Jesse which looked like an unfortunate new style of sweater that was somewhere in-between a crop top and a normal sweater.

“Come on guys, clearly Jesse worked really hard on all these sweaters so we should try to be nice and wear them, even if they...you know...” Lukas trailed off, trying to find the most polite way of referring to the sweaters.

“Even if they suck?” Petra offered, choosing to be blunt in her opinion rather than dancing around it. It wasn’t like Jesse was in the room to hear it, and in the off chance she’d been close by the room, she’d been hard of hearing since the formidi-bomb explosion so she wasn’t likely to hear it even then. “Yeah yeah, I’ll play nice. I guess it’s not so bad. At least my sweater doesn’t look like it was meant for a child.” Petra said, grinning wolfishly in Ivor’s direction.

“How rude, Petra! I happen to appreciate this sweater and all the work that went into it! I do wish it were a tad larger though, I must admit.” He relented, tugging slightly on the sleeves in a vain attempt to stretch them out.

“What the heck did I just walk in on?” The group turned to see not Jesse in the doorway, but Harper looking both perplexed and highly amused. “Is this another one of your world’s odd traditions?”

“Well, in a sense I suppose. They’re gifts from Jesse. She made them herself, hence the...odd proportions.” Ivor informed her with a sweeping gesture to the rest of the New Order.

“She’s been doing this the past couple years, though this is the first time she’s doing it without Axel’s help.” Olivia also offered in explanation. “But I guess you could kind of call it a tradition at this point.”

“Ooo you all look hilarious, I love it.” Harper said laughing as she looked around at them, taking in Jesse’s various creations.

Before anyone could reply, Jesse poked her head into the room. “Are you guys sure you don’t know where-” She stopped short when her eyes landed on the person she’d been off searching for in the first place. “Harper, there you are! I was looking all over for you, I made you a sweater, too.” She beamed, holding 

Harper was quiet for a moment, turning to look at Ivor with her eyebrow quirked in askance before finally shrugging, a slight smile working it’s way onto her face. “Well, who am I to argue with tradition?”

[lunaraen]

Candy Cane

There's a reason Lukas's house isn't by the outskirts of town.

Actually, it's right by Aiden's in a nice area that's not too crowded but not too wild, in the thick of the town in maybe the best way. The thing is, while Gill's is right between their places and Maya's, Maya's does happen to be much closer to the outskirts, with a good view of the least official path into town and the woods that it leads to.

It's a good view, and Maya's house is nice enough. It's a good place for them to hang out, at least, warm and happy in here and with more than enough stuff to talk and joke about.

It just looks cold, out there, in the wilderness, the road devolving into a more and more scattered gravel path that disappears eventually into the endless stretch of forest. It may be more sheltered, below ground, but it's impossible for Lukas to think of the caves and winding caverns as anything other than freezing, especially with weather like this.

How do people do it?

Even a number of the people who come into town, who well know that the town exists and is stocked and that they could live here, choose not to and it doesn't make any sense. It barely makes sense for an adventurer/mercenary/merchant/whatever-the-hell-she's-getting-paid-for-now like Petra.

Lukas lifts his head, suppressing a shudder as he turns to look at Maya, who happens to be frowning at all of them from her position on the couch.

"How come I'm the only one who knows how to eat a candy cane?" She lifts hers almost lazily and Lukas has to keep from grinning because 'oh' as he makes a point of taking another large bite out of the candy cane in his hand. He feels safe in doing so only because he's all the way over here by the window, with Gill and Aiden sitting between him and Maya.

Candy canes are tasty, but they can be unfortunately dangerous in the way some things only ever are between best friends.

Particularly Maya. Mostly Maya, if he's being honest and really thinking about it at all. Maya's always been very good at sharpening candy canes, and she's good at using them the way she wields all other pointy things.

Like she needs any more weapons.

Lukas is good at choosing placement though, and of more things than just his house. Again, there's a reason they're on two opposite ends of what's a really nice couch made even nicer by how long it is with two good friends between them. Lukas would maybe feel a bit bad about using them as meat shields if they hadn't done the same to him before and wouldn't do the same in a heartbeat, but he knows them and yes they have and yes they would.

"That's because you're evil." Gill's alternating between biting and sucking on his, but because Gill isn't as evil as Maya tends to be, and he's right because as much as they all love Maya she can and will be downright evil, he almost looks like he's trying to hollow his out instead of sharpen it.

"Coward."

Lukas chuckles, enjoying another bite of his candy cane as Maya jabs at Gill with her candy cane, stopping short anyway but getting him to shift away. It doesn't seem to matter to her that Gill sticks his tongue out, Maya herself too busy snickering as she goes back to sucking on her weaponized peppermint stick.

It's with his final bite that he looks over his shoulder, past the fog and frost creeping up the edges of the window and out at the sea of green painted white and grey.

He can't imagine living out there, especially not alone.

He doesn't want to, really, so he doesn't try, turning his back on the icy window and windy world as he turns back towards the others.

Lukas only just dodges a pillow in doing so, already picking it up and chucking it back at a snickering Aiden. It doesn't keep him from being hit by the next pillow, thrown nearly at the same time by Maya and the following one as brutal but tossed by Gill.

There's a minute of pure laughter and pure pillow tossing before they seem to calm down and go back to eating their candy, Lukas panting as he tries to stop laughing long enough to catch his breath.

Maybe he can get it, though. Being in the middle of nowhere wouldn't be so bad if he had them.

It's important to know where home is, for him, but he doubts it's at any place, anywhere physical, even if he prefers the warm and cozy to the cold and uncomfortable.

It seems to have just a bit more to do with the people, preferences be hanged.

He's here with them and it's home, and he thinks that would be the case no matter where they went.

Even if it was out in the freezing, frosty forest.

He's also grateful they're not there, but that's not the point.

Lukas cuts himself off halfway through trying to figure out exactly what his point even is when Aiden's taps him on the shoulder, having shifted closer than Lukas realized.

"You want another one?" He probably looks at least a little lost, because that's exactly how he feels, because Aiden sighs before smiling, nudging Lukas's hand with the handle of the candy cane anyway. "You're acting kind of off."

"Sure." Lukas picks it up, takes another bite of pure sugar and peppermint that he probably shouldn't be eating but enjoys anyway, and smiles up at Aiden as he settles his back against the couch cushion, his arm resting along the back. "Thanks."

"No problem." And after a few moments, Aiden takes a bite out of his own, which is good because it's tasty and Lukas is glad Aiden's enjoying his, and also maybe bad because it makes another pillow fight look like Aiden's most likely way of fighting back and, with how close he is to Lukas, that puts them both at risk.

Oh well.

There's no place like home.

And for all of Lukas's rambling, all his too flowery and too muddled thoughts, this is home. They're home, all four of them.

And that's what matters.

[new-king-of-boomtown]

I’m very classy when it comes to Notchmas. 

[love-n-snow]

Day 11: Snowman "I wonder if he had a heart at all... Or he was just a monster pretending to play along." (Admin angst? Kinda? The quote is from Xara and I was just thinking about it while drawing this).