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 so easy to read Madoka's emotions. When he speaks up, the smile changes into instant surprise - her eyes widening without her having even the slightest chance of hiding it. And then right after it seems to turn into something almost frantic, although not necessarily in a negative way. She more just seems like she's figured she has to do something really quick here.

"Ah..! But if you've never seen snow before, then you must never have played in it before either..!" Not that Ignis necessarily seems a person for play, considering he's usually so serious, but Madoka figures everyone can use a bit of snow fun. Even him. So clearly now it's her job to correct this huge oversight. "Do you maybe want to build a snowman with me then..?"

Play? This has Ignis adjust his glasses to try and give him a moment to think of something to say in response but nothing was coming right off. "I....well no actually." This was hard. Why was this so hard? He didn't play, his job was to be the king's advisor and his whole stock and trade was in being serious. No one asked such a serious person to play, especially if their fate was to be an advisor to the king. Praised for being good, kind, serious and devoted to their duty yes, but play?

Giving Madoka a quizzical look as to why she would want to play in the snow with him, his head cocked to the side, very confused. All he could do was make an attempt but he tried to maintain his usual dignity. "It wouldn't hurt to try."

Ignis was going to play it safe and let her tell him what they needed to do. That should help her build some confidence, right?

The slow response is a little weird. Maybe he has to decide for a while since he has no idea what it's like? Or - the worst option - maybe he's insulted by her suggesting it since he thinks it's too childish? Of course the latter option immediately lands in Madoka's prone-to-fretting brain.

It makes her all jittery, but thankfully the determination to let Ignis have some fun manages to win out over Madoka's own insecurities. And she knows she can't get over that worry unless they move from this spot out into the snow, so when he doesn't seem like he's about to move, Madoka - with her face growing red with nervousness and shyness, although it's easy to just blame it on the cold - grabs onto Ignis' hand and starts gently pulling him along out into the snow.

"U- Um..! I think it'd be best to make one here, out of the way of the snowball fights.."

Because Madoka might cry if someone accidentally knocks over Ignis' first snowman, okay. It's important!

"We first have to roll up snow into a really big ball."

Feeling the tiny hand in his is almost frightening. It was just so odd to Ignis as to why this just seemed so very important to her. Did his presence in this endeavour of fun mean that much in her eyes?

He barely noticed the snow crunching beneath his boots as Madoka determinedly brought them out into the snow field, away from the warring snowballs being thrown about.

Green eyes looked wonderingly at all of the snow that she wanted to sculpt into a snowman. He wasn't sure where to start but Ignis was grateful to Madoka for this experience. So he was determined in turn to make this snowman a fun and great time for her. It was the least he could do to repay her for her kindness.

As he began to compile some snow at her instruction, he figured after they were through here, Ignis would get her a huge hot chocolate and take a few pictures of their handiwork.

When he starts packing the snow together, Madoka quickly moves to help out. They're making it together, after all - that's half the fun of it in her opinion. These things are always more fun together, although Ignis still mostly looks confused.

Which makes her brain in turn try to quickly come up with a way to make this more fun for him. Or more obviously fun, anyway. Her movements slow down a little as she's thinking, but she's still helping him form the biggest lower snowball.

It's then that an idea comes to her.

"When we have three of these balls stacked on top of each other, we can decorate the snowman.. that's the most fun part!" But more importantly-- "You know, mister Ignis, the other day mister Stark said you're the most handsome man on the train..! .. um, after him, I think he said."

Now that makes Madoka look a little confused. Where would anyone find the confidence to put themselves at the top like that! There's no way an eternally insecure girl like her could understand.

"But maybe in exchange for that we can decorate the snowman to look like mister Stark! Then we'll say you made it as a surprise for him!"

Ignis for his part is trying to make this perfect. This is his very first snowman and he especially wants to do a great job because Madoka invited him to partake in this endeavour. So he's quite busy packing the snow down with the first layer when she pipes up at him.

"We're decorating it as well?" Green eyes then looked over at a few of the other ones out here that didn't look decorated. But the advisor immediately decided that it was a good idea. Theirs would simply have to be the best of all of them, so he worked more determinedly to accomplish this.

As he stood for a moment and stretched, the snow he had intended to pack in more firmly fell from his grasp at Madok's next words. Wait, Tony had told this innocent girl what? The ego part didn't even bother him, knowing the older man was simply being himself and of course he would say something like that. The dirty blonde head shook in some confusion and he pushed his glasses up again to give him a moment for thought.

Any thought he had though went right out the window at her next words. His head cocked to the side as he wondered. There was no way the he could replicate the crimson armour that Tony wore with this project, but inwardly Ignis was highly amused. "That is an excellent idea to honour him for his words." he concurred with a smile and set about packing in more snow. But again, he wanted Madoka to be the leader here. "So what do you propose for decorations?"

Although Ignis definitely seems a little surprised at what she's saying, he does go along with it in the end and seems more amused as he does so, so Madoka ends up smiling. Apparently her plan really was a good idea! Good job, Madoka!

"Hmm.. That's a good question.." She stares at the snowman they're slowly starting to form as she says so, like she's already trying to imagine how it could end up looking more like Tony. She's never really tried to make snowmen look like specific people before, so it's a new challenge.

".. What's the first thing you think of when you think of mister Stark?" Maybe they can use that to start with.

Patience was one of Ignis' strong points so he absolutely didn't mind waiting to see what Madoka would come up with regarding Tony. Had he known building a Stark snowman was in his future, he could've been better prepared. But since he wasn't, he'd make do.

Her question brought him out of his own thoughts as the ball was now in his court so to speak. So with a nod he had an idea. "It would have to be how big a heart he has, always trying to look out for others."

That might not translate well on a snowman but. "When we do the second layer, I have an idea what we could do for that." The inspiration for it came from the seeing the suit itself.

It's a good thing that he seems to have an idea as to how to show that on a snowman, since Madoka's first instinct is to look completely puzzled at the statement. Not since the statement itself is surprising, but mostly since she thought about stuff like his face or hair which you could show on a snowman..

But the surprise fades into relief when he mentions having an idea, and so she instead nods with a smile. "Okay!"

She pats the ball of snow they're working on. "I think this first one is almost done.. So we can start with that second layer soon." Otherwise the snowman would definitely get way too high for poor tiny Madoka to be working on it. "But.. that's such a sweet answer though, mister Ignis. Of course a kind person like you would first think of that of all things though."

The advisor got back down to pack more snow in and thought of how to emphasize such a feature as a heart. But a few ideas hit him and so he nodded with a smile at Madoka's okay.

He was so happy that she invited him out here to do this project. This had to be one of the best things that happened to him on the train and he wished he could repay her somehow. And it was she who gently shook him out of his thoughts talking about the second layer.

"Of course. I'll finish up here, so you can start on the second layer if you like." Again, here Ignis was trying to give her the confidence to lead even with something as simple and small as this.

Looking up at Madoka in surprise that she liked his answer and thought the advisor kind due to it made him smile and his head shook at her praise. "Thank you. But indeed, I daresay his heaet is his best and most hidden feature."

Edited 2019-12-31 17:44 (UTC)

Madoka nods at him as he suggests that she can start on the second layer. She's a big girl, she can handle it! .. Or, well, at least she can handle rolling a ball of snow, especially since it's not the biggest one anymore now. That's still something she can do, so she doesn't seem worried at all by Ignis giving her that responsibility. (Although she definitely doesn't realise he's letting her take the lead on purpose, otherwise she would've thanked him already for thinking of her so much.)

Instead she just focuses on starting to form a new ball big enough so she can roll it, looking at the snow she's packing together as she replies.

"It really is great! Um.. Is it really that hidden though? I think it's pretty obvious that mister Stark is nice.." Apparently she doesn't realise that's just since she assumes the best out of anyone. And may get nicer treatment since she's adorable.

Ignis just smiled at her and thought of how much fun this was. There was nowhere else he had to be, so this precious project didn't have a time frame which was refreshing.
this allowed him time to relax and see this project through to completion. No one else was around so he got to enjoy listening to the sound of his boots crunching in the snow as they worked diligently on this project.

With Madoka's question though, he smiled warmly. "Not to those he chooses to show it to. To others he can appear quite formidable and ready to take on the world by himself." He smiled a little more thoughtfully and nodded. "One day he'll learn he doesn't have to do so alone."

Edited 2020-01-02 03:24 (UTC)

The ball for the second layer that she's forming is finally getting enough of a decent size that she can start carefully rolling it around so it grows bigger as it makes more of the snow stick to itself.

But even though she seems pretty concentrated on making sure this second layer ends up just as good as the base they made, something about what Ignis is saying makes her look up from her little project here and over at him. For a second her facial expression is a little surprised, but it quickly melts into a small smile instead.

"Of course! There's so many of us here, no one has to do anything alone." They even have the whole team structure, after all. Even though it's not something thought up by them, it still helps people to know there are people to rely on in a pinch. "Just like you have the whole blue team to rely on, mister Ignis!"

Madoka laughs, with a hint of something awkward in it.

"I know I'm not really the strongest or most reliable member of the team, but I always want to help out with whatever I can do too."

Between Madoka and Romeo, Ignis wasn't sure which team member was sweeter. They both grew on him pretty fast and he wasn't one for children. He recalled feeling pretty awkward around them as if he wasn't sure if he should even be around them or not. However, they were members of his team (which was tinier at the time) and he would look after them.

The advisor hadn't asked to be on the council he hadn't even voted for anyone or filled out Tony's nefarious survey. But he found himself the Blue Team leader and he accepted it gracefully. And now Madoka was reminding him that no one was alone here. All Ignis could do was smile at her and his heart melted at her laugh.

"You help more than you know, whether we're in battle or not." He tried to appear dignified, but he was pretty sure that was collapsing a bit here so he stared hard at the snow structure. "After all, I've never made a snowman before and you changed that."

She almost says that she's not quite sure how making a snowman is some sort of big help, but on the other hand.. it clearly does seem important to Ignis, so it's probably better to not question it. Maybe Madoka ought to just accept for once that she did do a good thing here instead of putting herself down like usually.

"Well.. If you like this, then we can of course do more fun things together." If he's never gotten to play in the snow, then maybe there are other kinds of playing that Ignis never got to do before? Although she's not too sure what he would or would not enjoy, with as serious as he seems. "We could play Hungry Hungry Hippos in the game room. Have you ever played that before, mister Ignis? I taught Ple Two how to play that too, maybe all of us could play together. She's real good at it."

"Things such as?" There's a curiousity to his question. But then Madoka starts listing things and he had to admit that he'd never heard of this hippos game. "No..but I would most certainly be interested in learning." There's a surprise in his eyes as he hears how she's played with Ple Two, and Ignis nodded. "That sounds rather lovely, team game night."

Maybe they could come up with prizes or something too. He could see it, his team laughing and playing games together and he'd be leaning against a wall having coffee. Tony would come up and hold his hand and Madoka would come up to smile at them.

But for now, cold reality and this serious business of building this snowman.

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Winter Wonderland [Event]

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