Fifty Ninth Sip

[mal_addict]

[Maladict is frustrated. It's bad enough the castle favours Earth holidays above all others, but now this...idiocy has occurred. She doesn't mind the drinks turning into alcohol, as was the case in other years, because after all, people being drunk at this time of the year on the Disc was fairly regular.

...But this was something else entirely]

Another well spent Hogswatch in this ridiculous place, then. When you people stop being idiots, you'll get your gifts from me.

Comments

[mal_addict]

[Good boy, you will be spared]

It has, thank you kindly. Least SOME of you remembered.

[hard_talker]

I would've done more for it, but. Well. Castle fucking with everything kinda got in the way. Again.

Tell you what, next year we do something. You and me and Tesla and Nora, no matter WHAT the fuck is going on.

[mal_addict]

Isn't that just typical? This place is rude.

[Awww, Mark, that gets a smile] I'll look forward to that. [And she really will]

[hard_talker]

It totally is. ... What're you up to right now? [he feels like he hasn't seen you in forever. Mark, actually wanting to hang out? what is the world coming to. no, really, WHAT]

[mal_addict]

Right now? Attempting not to murder James, to which I mean I'm absolutely free.

[hard_talker]

Sounds like the perfect opportunity for a caffeine and nicotine break, if you ask me.

[mal_addict]

Those words were complete music to my ears. Tis the season, and all that.

[hard_talker]

Sweet. Roof or front door, then?

[mal_addict]

Let's go for the roof. We can mock the brooders.

[hard_talker]

Always a good plan. Meetcha there!

[and he'll bring the souped up boombox Eleven gave him, pop in a Cranberries tape, and lean against the wall to wait, bundled up in a leather jacket and scarf. for a shy guy, he sure knows how to look like a professional slacker. must be the age bracket]

[mal_addict]

[He's so good at that, and in her own good time, Maladict makes her way over, giving him a lazy wave as she approaches ]

'Lo Mark.

[hard_talker]

Hey, Sarge! [he pulls a pack of cigarettes out of his shirt pocket and offers it up]

Happy late Hogswatch.

[mal_addict]

[She'll grin, taking the proffered cigarette, and popping it into her mouth]

Thanks, Mark. Likewise.

[hard_talker]

Anything you would've done that we could do now? [hang on, fishing for his lighter]

[mal_addict]

Vampires don't do as much as the humans for it. Most of it is just this. Being with people you actually give a damn about. Being thankful another year has gone and the turtles still moving.

[hard_talker]

.... Sounds like a pretty good thing to do at least once a year, if you ask me. Maybe you could make it a bi-annual thing. Two Hogswatches. That way if you have one in the middle of the year, the castle's less likely to fuck with it?

[aha, there's his lighter. he offers it up to her, first]

[mal_addict]

[She'll light her cigarette, taking a deep drag before shaking her head]

See, that'd defeat the point. It's about the new year coming in you, see. Even if the Hogfather isn't here he's still bringing the sunrise every new year back home. That only really happens once a year...the beginning of a new one.

[hard_talker]

Ohhhhh. Okay, I get it. Kind of like this weird little thing we have back home about the New Year's Baby. Only it's not even really a complete story, it's more of a symbolism thing.

[mal_addict]

[She cocks her head to one side, confused]

A New Yera's....Baby? I thought Christmas was about a baby?

[hard_talker]

There are a lot of baby things, America is big on babies. [he takes a drag off his cigarette]. Have you heard about the one with the groundhog yet?

[mal_addict]

...Sounds a bit weird, if you ask me.

[She frowns, confused] There's something to do with a giant rodent?

[hard_talker]

He's not giant, he's ... I dunno. [he gestures about the rough size of an Earth groundhog] Yea big?

There's this urban legend that he comes up out of hibernation on a certain day every year, and if he sees his shadow, it means winter's gonna be longer. Which, honestly, it's kinda bull, because depending on where the sun is ...

[S H R U G.]

[mal_addict]

[What is wrong with Earth, seriously. She wants to know how your planet hasn't exploded from stupid yet]

But don't the seasons just...happen anyway. I know you only have four of them in one year, but they run fairly clockwork, don't they?

[hard_talker]

[he wonders that himself, sometimes. it is a m y s t e r y]

They do, yeah. People just kind of... make random shit up to explain them, instead of stuff that makes sense. I don't get half of it, either. A lot of it is stuff that used to be really old traditions from other cultures, but they've been twisted around and fucked up by people who thought they could make 'em better. ... That must not happen a lot on the Disc, yeah? I mean.... belief counts a lot more for you. And I'm starting to think that's a really good thing, the longer I'm here.

[mal_addict]

Not really, no. Different Gods have their own rules and whatever, but they all share the universe and so none can claim such and such a thing as theirs and theirs alone, unless of course they are actually directly involved in it. Like the Hogfather.

[She smiles a little wanly] I don't understand world that seem to treat belief as an option. Like it doesn't matter. It's so strange to me, that in some worlds it's just not that powerful.