voidtreckerexpress | Winter Wonderland [Event]

Winter Wonderland [Event]

”Good Morning passengers. Today is day Twenty Four of the month of Catfish. You may wish to look out of the window.”

As passengers wake in their beds they will indeed notice something different about the light. If they look out of the window, instead of the ever changing void they will see white slopes of mountains, flakes of snow alling down around them and frost covered trees zipping past the windows. If they glance at the ICP on the table they will see a message.

Investigating the dressing cart they will find the drawers and cupboards unlocked once again. However, instead of the fantasy-esque clothing of world #25768 they will find thick winter coats, hats, gloves and scarves. There are heavy fur lined boots and even some ice skates.

Entering the garden carriage they will see that the glass dome of the roof has opened, leaving the carriage exposed to a bright blue sky. Any nonsense of the past few weeks has vanished, leaving the carriage pristine. Not that that is easy to notice as it is covered in a thick layer of snow. The paths are clearer, a light dusting of snow but easy to talk through. Around the paths the drifts are high, perfect for snowman building or a snowball fight.

The streams and the pond in the centre are solid ice. Anyone brave enough to try to find the ice holds their weight for ice skating.

And the ICP message was correct. There is hot chocolate in the stores.

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It’s certainly a pretty sight, that Fingon has to acknowledge. The untouched snow glistens like diamond under sunlight, and if he doesn’t think too hard maybe he can enjoy the glitter and sparkle of it without seeing ghosts beneath.

Possibly, that is. Whatever the opinions of some childhood tutors (or Uncle- ugg, not going there, it’s the only subject that’s worse) not thinking too hard isn’t something Fingon finds easy. You wouldn’t either, if your strongest memories of snow weren’t of terror and starvation, of ice crackling beneath your feet and stealing those you love away.

He’ll stay long enough- to watch, because he doesn’t think this train would kill its passengers on a whim, but it’s best to be sure. But for all the song he absently hums brings warmth to any listening ears, his eyes are cold and wary as he looks out on those at play.

"Fingon-san! Come and play!" Poof! A snowball.

It's probably a testament to just how out of touch with the spirit of the moment he is that it's nearly the last second before Fingon notices and steps back.

"Kaito!"

Sorry, Kaito. Fixating elf is fixating and also a bit stressed.

Edited 2019-12-21 22:36 (UTC)

"You're looking pretty stressed Fingon-san."

He tips his head. "Wanna play? Might cheer you up a bit!"

"I don't particularly like snow, Kaito."

He straightens, forces the same kind of smile on his face that he gave his niece on the worst days of the Ice.

"Perhaps you'd prefer someone else? I am not sure I'm be the best company at the moment."

"Fair." He shrugs easily, and tosses his ammo behind him.

"And I could, but like. It seems a bit mean to just leave you brooding? I am a magician! Cheering people up is like. My Thing."

Despite himself, Fingon's mouth twitches into a small smile at Kaito's confidence.

"Is it, now?" he can't help but ask. "And how would you go about doing so?"

A grin and a pack of cards appears in his hands, Kaito starting one of his playful, elaborate, physically improbable shuffles.

"Well. Wanna see a card trick? And then you can try and work out how I did it~!"

One eyebrow rises at the question.

"Very well," he nods. "Go ahead."

"An easy one to start, and we can rack up the difficulty, if its too obvious."

He grins, fanning the deck out to show Fingon that it's a normal set of cards.

"Okay, here we go." He shuffles into a neat pile, and the pulls out the top three cardss in a fan, without looking.

"Pick a card - one", he points to the one on the right, "two" the middle "or three" the last one.

Fingon's eyes flicker between the backs of the cards and Kaito's averted face.

"Alright," he agrees, then takes the third card. He turns it over, only to find the card has a design he doesn't recognize.

Not so much of a surprise, now that he thinks of it. Different worlds must have different games.

"Ok, memorise it, and then put it back."

He instructs, and once Fingon does, he shuffles and then flips the top card over.

"Is this your card?" It is, of course.

That it is, and Fingon nods in confirmation. Now to figure out how it was done....

"Card counting?" he asks. "Or did you remove the card from the pile?"

"Closer with the first guess than the second!" He grins. "It does involve counting, but it's not QUITE that simple."

With how many people are out enjoying the snow, it ends up being easier to spot the ones that linger off to the side and aren't joining in with the rest. Maybe it's even easier for Inigo, considering that for half his life he's practically made it his mission to make things enjoyable for people who clearly look like they're not enjoying themselves.

Like this guy over here. After watching him for a moment and realising Fingon truly is just standing there and not doing anything else, Inigo makes his way through the snow towards the other.

"Not a big fan of snow, I assume?"

"No,"

Fingon responds, in a tone so clipped it's shortly followed by a wince of embarrassment. He should know better at his age, to snap at someone just for asking a question. (That someone figured out enough to ask in the first place, well, that's not terribly reassuring either- but one problem at a time.)

He shakes his head.

"Forgive me, that was unkindly put. You weren't wrong to assume as much."

If it helps, at the very least Inigo doesn't seem put off at all by the initial reaction. He's so used to dealing with people who are likely to react that way that it doesn't even make him flinch anymore - and by the time Fingon adds the latter part, Inigo is downright smiling, entirely unbothered.

"No, no, it's quite alright! We all know some circumstances can make people more agitated than the usual." Not that he knows what Fingon's 'usual' is, but he's here to assume the best out of everyone. "I just wanted to make sure you weren't being miserable all by yourself here, sir. I'm sure the snow will go away soon enough."

"It always does, I suppose. The seasons' dance is reliable in that way."

Not a hard thing to remember, normally- it's been five hundred years since his people crossed the Grinding Ice, and they have seen enough cold winters since. But at home, there was always some work to distract one from the horrors of memory, a project or a design to concentrate on.

Maybe if he'd been here sooner, he'd have found his feet before now and this wouldn't affect him so much. Or maybe sharing a small space with the uncle who had left all his kin to die in cold and terror would have already made him do something stupid- who knew?

After a moment, he nods. "You have my thanks for the consideration, but I'll manage. Once I've reassured myself no one here is in danger, I'll find something else to do."

"I assume you mean you have to find that assurance for yourself, but if it helps, then I'll gladly reassure you that there seems to be no danger whatsoever here."

From what he has seen before, everything the train throws at them is usually pretty straightforward. If there's any danger, it's easy to spot it - so it isn't very likely that something will suddenly jump out of the snow to hurt them.

.. that, and maybe Inigo wants to believe in the good of every situation a little too much. But still.

"In fact, it just seems as if everyone is really enjoying themselves."

"What the eyes see and what the heart knows can be two different things," he shrugs, and Inigo should probably take that as further confirmation of his assumptions. His eyes linger on a few people out on the snow in particular, and the look he gives them is both sad and sour. "And there are people here-"

He shakes his head. "Ai, listen to me! Paranoia and bitterness, what a pair of poisons I've poured for myself. Drink too much of them and who knows what I'll be?"

Actually, probably something like dear Uncle Feanor. Or Curufin on his worse days. What a joy to contemplate.

"Then I wish them joy, but I don't think I can share in it." Perhaps he should just leave now, find something else to do. After a moment's thought, he turns to look at Inigo.

"Surely you have better things to do than keep the sourest person here company, young one? I appreciate the sentiment, but if you enjoy such things you ought to take your fill now."

He lets out a slight breath - it almost sounds like a laugh.

"Trust me, you're not that bad." It's easy to take it as empty flattery, especially with the kind of smile on Inigo's face, but he does genuinely mean it. Especially since.. "I've dealt with much worse."

This guy is nothing compared to Gerome. If it was that guy, he'd already have been trying to walk away from Inigo at least three times by now, he's pretty sure.

"It's just.. We have a train full of people here. It seems unfair to me that anyone should be left alone at any given time when there's that many people. So believe me, I'm not truly sacrificing anything by standing here and talking with you for a while. If anything, I like meeting new people." Even if he has to occassionally use dramatics to cover up his shyness to do so, but hey, that's not too bad to him.

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Winter Wonderland [Event]

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