[Dictated]

[lightbranded]

It is hard to believe that it is December already.  Soon it will be Christmas.  My birthday, too.  [And it would be two years since he had woken up on a snowy winter morning to discover that he was not nearly as human as he had always thought.  Two years since he had first come into his heritage as an Old One.  Will wasn't sure what he thought about that.]

I wonder... Does anyone else here like to go caroling?  It wouldn't seem quite like December without it.

[He pauses thoughtfully.]

I wonder if there will be snow this year?

Comments

[Dictated]

[righttrack]

Oh? When's your birthday, exactly?

Anyway, caroling sounds wonderful.

[Dictated]

[lightbranded]

The 21. [Mid-Winter's Day, he doesn't say.]

I always went caroling with my brothers at home. It would be marvelous to be able to do it here.

[Dictated]

[righttrack]

Noted.

Ah, good, you've had practice, then!

[Dictated]

[lightbranded]

I'm rather fond of singing. [His tone is cheerful. Back home I sang in the choirs at church and school. Even a few festivals in London, though those weren't nearly as fun.

[Dictated]

[righttrack]

I love it, myself. Why weren't the festivals fun?

[Dictated]

[lightbranded]

Too much excitement, really. I'm afraid I made some of the mothers of the other children rather angry. It was very upsetting.

[He pauses thoughtfully.]

I don't think I like competitions very much.

[Dictated]

[righttrack]

You don't like competitions? Really?

And how on Earth did you make the mothers angry?

Re: [Dictated]

[lightbranded]

I won. [His response is simple, and slightly sheepish.] Think I would have preferred to avoid the whole thing, really.

[atadiscoverer]

Well, you know I'll be interested

[inafadingcrown]

Caroling? [Yet another unfamiliar tradition.]

[lightbranded]

It is something we did at home every December. My siblings and I would go out and sing for our neighbors and friends.

[lightbranded]

How marvelous.

[holycraponacracker]

Oh! Well happy early birthday!

And I love caroling! That's a great idea!

[lightbranded]

Thank you.

I think I would miss it a great deal if it didn't happen.

[holycraponacracker]

December just crept up on me. But I love Christmas! We should carol and have hot chocolate and give out presents... all that good stuff!

[lightbranded]

It does that, doesn't it? Time passes so quickly here.

[Will laughs.]

That all sounds marvelous.

[huffythedragon]

There's snow every year. It comes all by itself, which is just weird.


But carolling is fun! We don't have Christmas where I come from, we have Hearths Warming, but we still sing songs!

[It's his birthday soon, too, but he sure isn't mentioning that, NOPE]

[inafadingcrown]

It sounds a charming tradition.

[Dictated]

[righttrack]

Just another way everyone is different, I guess.

[lightbranded]

What sort of snow was it? [Will loved snow. He loved the feel of it and the way it made the whole world look strange and new. But he could never forget that there had been one time when the snow had been brought by the Dark. When it had been dreadful and menacing.]

Really? What kinds of songs do you sing for that?

[lightbranded]

It was always great fun. My brother Paul plays the flute, so he would come along to accompany us. And a lot of the people we sang for would invite us in for hot cider and give us pennies for the poor.

[Dictated]

[lightbranded]

It would be a boring old world if everyone was the same, wouldn't it?

[inafadingcrown]

I would be well pleased to join you, but I fear you must teach me whatever songs you wish to sing. [Christmas Carols. How do they work?]

[Dictated]

[righttrack]

Oh, definitely. I'm a fan of variety.

[huffythedragon]

Regular snow, nothing special about it. Other than the fact it's not controlled by the Pegasi. But that's normal in most other worlds.

[Give him a moment, he's got to get to his piano. And now, along with the tinkling of the keys, he sings this little number]