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LOVE AT FROST BITE

I. COLD HANDS, WARM HEART

From December through January, high winds gradually rise all across the Netherworld, large flakes of snow causing white-out condition. The wind howls and whistles, blades of icy gusts cutting through your clothes as frost clings to your hair and lashes. No matter where you are, you feel its glacial, bone-chilling force, and no matter what you do, you quickly find that nothing keeps you warm. You're freezing, shivering, teeth chattering. Fire and the proximity of others may offer brief reprieves, so bundle up and find a cuddling partner before you crystalize. If you don't have a Soulmate, now might be the time to search for one.

Unfortunately, when it rains, it pours. Some of you may experience sudden, intense headaches, followed by a sense of panic. Your chest tightens. Your head swims. Your lungs ice over, and you know then: someone's messing with your home in the Shadowlands.

► If you're already in your home, stay alert as light goes out: squint through the dark, and you'll soon be able to distinguish an enormous figure. Krampus.
► If you're anywhere in Stygia and are unable to teleport, crossing the Tempest is particularly perilous on your own, though if you explain what's going on to a Ferryman, they'll oblige.
► Luckily, Krampus doesn't seem extremely interested in your Tethers, but it's entirely possible that he damages a few while being in your home. He's mostly interested in you, and whether you've been a good Restless.

If you feel like your character's done a decent job at silencing their Shadow, Krampus will curse them; every full moons through December and January, they'll be compelled to tell a significant lie. A single lie can be told multiple times to different and/or the same people, and multiple lies can also be told multiple times to different and/or the same people. If, on the other hand, you feel as though they've been struggling -- or worse, enjoying its presence -- Krampus will give them a unique coin: everywhere you go, it'll loudly comment on anyone within 10 feet, giving a brief but accurate description of what your character truly thinks of them. You can't get rid of it, but after its first use, it'll disintegrate within a couple of weeks.

II. DON'T LEAF ME HANGIN'

Kiss kiss fall in love, it's mistletoe time! And its provenance is a little gruesome: some Restless have been coughing them up due to the floral disease affecting Stygia's citizens, and for reasons unknown, the plant's made itself a home in tree branches, bushes, and ceilings. Having the time of its life, probably! Some sprites have taken a liking to them, and started worshipping them as flowery entities. It's believed among them that kissing underneath the mistletoe is the greatest way to honor said entities, while refusing to is a terrible affront; the sprites will start following you and pranking you in retaliation.

► If you walk under mistletoe along with someone else and refuse to/do not kiss, you'll be followed by a sprite for 24 hours, during which they'll prank (see list below*) and just generally annoy you. Only one sprite at a time will follow you, even if you walk again under mistletoe within the 24 hours time frame.
► If you walk alone under mistletoe, this unnamed creature will stalk you from the shadows, whispering and trying to coax you closer, promising delightful kisses you'll never forget. In truth, it just wants to devour your tongue, a delicacy. It'll give up after 12 hours, and will never follow you inside your home.
► An old woman sells mistletoe berry tarts in the Marketplace, and claims it'll help anyone who suffers from insomnia. She's not wrong! One bite and you'll fall dead asleep within the hour, and only a kiss will be able to awaken you. Sweet dreams, sleeping beauty!
► If you do wind up kissing anyone under the mistletoe, you'll find it easier to deal with your Shadow through the month, a blessing from the sprites! If, on the other hand, you don't partake in kissing endeavors, your Shadow will seem louder than usual.

Additionally, many patrons in Mirth host festive and/or cozy soirées throughout December. If you feel like dancing, singing, drinking eggnog in good company and eating delicious hors d'oeuvres, wear your ugliest festive sweater and have some fun! Just be careful, as mistletoe will 100% find its way inside these venues!

PRANK LIST

*you can either RNG or choose! all effects disappear within 24 hours. can be pranked multiple times within 24 hours.

► the sprite enchants your clothing to make them colder and colder.
► the sprite swaps your character's voice with someone else's.
► the sprite steals an object that belongs to you and puts it in another character's pocket/room.
► your breathing becomes loud and obnoxious.
► when it snows, you perceive every flake as a human face.
► everything you eat tastes like ashes.
► you feel compelled to scream everything you say.
► you think you are the world's greatest bard, so sing your heart out!
► you gain a forked tongue.
► when breathing out in cold weather, you exhale black smoke instead of white breath.
► anomalous orifices begin appearing on your body, such as mouths, eye sockets, etc.
► you can now hear all heartbeats within 10 feet of you.
► you hallucinate a worm in your chest trying to eat its way out. you can’t feel it, but the skin on your torso ripples as it burrows beneath.
► you feel like your body is slowly melting, like a candle with a too hot flame. it's not.
► your ears constantly hear a repeating brief tune.

ooc note

► As always, check out the Notice Board if you'd like additional prompts! Older quests from previous months are always available as well. You'll also find the Calendar right here.
► If you have questions, check out the plotting post's thread here, or ask new ones here!
► Cozy ambience for your cozy nights in Mirth!
► HAPPY HOLIDAYS ✨

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[Both Sooyoung and her copy watch Claude, but while her copy is enraged and tense, Sooyoung struggles with finding a feeling that isn't the loss still echoing in her. She grits her teeth, tries to focus, and finally ekes out the words.]

-- Tell me what happened.

['Isn't it obvious?' the voice sneers. 'it's a con, and he's a better player than you.'

...is she right? the way he's stumbling, looking at her like he's not entirely sure what happened -- is it deception? ...she'd been the one who asked him to take her here. and yet. it's hard to reach for reason with her shadow so loud in her ear,]

[ Is she going to strike back? Another battle? So like your brothers: ready to prove your worth in blood.

Claude almost wishes that she would. He knows that Sooyoung is more softhearted than she seems, but he could've very well left her a spectre. She didn't want him here, but allowed him in and he'd betrayed her.

How rare is it for someone to trust him? At least now he can see the reason why. ]

... I don't know. I felt- as if I wasn't myself. I was convinced that this was all a trap, and that I had to stop you.

[ It's hard to explain. It was a combination of panic and instinct, barely hinging on logic.

Jaw tight, he pulls the dagger from his back and tosses it to the ground, ignoring how unwise it is to leave the wound open and bleeding freely. ]

Are you— your tether...?

[It would feel like a thin excuse, if she wasn't hearing a voice right now telling her to finish the job, urging her onwards. The Shadows are beyond their control. She's lost count of how many times she's run into that piece of information. Why wouldn't it happen to Claude? It's happened to others. It's happened to her. She'd been afraid of a situation like this -- though she'd never thought of herself the victim, only the perpetrator.

She moves to stand up, gaze flicking to the scattered pieces on the desk, while her copy opens the door to the closet]

-- It's gone.

[she's loathe to admit more, but finally, grudgingly, she continues]

...They were right after all -- about the tethers being a connection. It's like I lost a door that was blocking an entire life's worth of trauma.

[it doesn't sound as bad when she puts it that way? if she grumbles about it, then she can cope. then she can ignore that sensation of loss still buried beneath her skin. Speaking of buried, she snaps the shaft of the arrow still protruding from her,]

[ Claude has done plenty of terrible things in his life. He has more blood on his hands than he'll ever truly know; he's manipulated and deceived others, even his own allies; he's ruined lives and destroyed homes over the course of the war. And while he holds a certain amount of guilty for each of these, he's never once regretted his decisions. He did what he thought was right within a terrible narrative.

This, he regrets. It's a new feeling for him, one that he's still grappling with on how to process, mind chasing futile thoughts on how to reverse the damage that he's done.

He'd destroyed a tether. A connection of herself to her life—and doesn't he know how precious that is? Doesn't he miss the anchors of his own life like an open wound every day?

What can he do? ]

... Destroy one of mine then. [ He looks down at the broken arrow briefly before glancing back at her with the determination of a man who's decided on the best path forward. ] As reparation.

[. . . .

She knows what she should say. She knows what Dokja and Joonghyuk would say -- that they'd refuse and take it as a favor owed. Heewon would cuff Claude on the back and tell him he's being stupid. Uriel would have chosen violence -- more keen to destroy an opponent, rather than an object.

But she sees that look in his eyes, and maybe -- amidst all her anger -- she is a tiny bit impressed that he offered at all.

'It's a trap, moron. Are you really willing to listen to someone who just destroyed your Tether?'

...Trap or not, breaking one of Claude's tethers means being in his room, away from hers. Sure, he could try and kill her there, but why go through all of this to do that? Sooyoung stays silent and scoops up her dagger, opening her hand to accept the bundle of clothing her copy fished out of the closet in the meantime.]

Here, use this. [she throws a shirt at Claude's face] I can't break anything if you pass out before then.

[ Her expression is colder than he's used to seeing, but it's deserved and he doesn't expect any different. For all his bitterness over being called a coward by his brothers, he doesn't think he's ever wanted to run from a foe as badly as he does now.

He lets the shirt hit his face, grabbing it and jamming it against the still bleeding wound in his shoulder. It's an awkward position to hold it at, and he knows that he'll need to patch it up properly to stop the bleeding. He probably won't bleed out though, so he's not too worried. ]

You'll have to try much harder than that to knock me out.

[ Actually, not really. It does hurt, and he's sure the pain will only increase once the adrenaline wears off.

Which it is already, which is why Claude takes advantage for the clearing of his head to step out of her room, waiting for her on the other side. He doesn't trust himself in that space any longer. ]

[Sooyoung hesitates for only a fraction of a second after Claude leaves, but whatever pulled her here in the first place... She can't handle it now, not in this state. Even if a part of her wants to run to her remaining tethers and hold them in her hands.

She steps out instead, shivering. The cold slices into her worse than before, with every step as she follows behind Claude. Where's his door again? She should have asked earlier. She should ask now.

Sooyoung quickens her step to catch up with him, and -- with less hesitance than someone else in her situation would display -- sticks right to his uninjured side. the warmth that blossoms is a godsend, enough to temporarily distract her from her own injury.]

-- It's freezing.

[it's not an excuse if it's the truth. and anyway, she's not feeling generous enough to save Claude from the awkwardness of cuddling with someone he's feeling guilty towards, continues to stick to him like glue]

[ Claude would very much like to jerk away from Sooyoung when she draws in closer to him. He's more sensitive than most to having his shortcomings on display, and he doesn't want her so close to him right so close after witnessing him fail to keep his Shadow in check.

But she's warm, and he doesn't really feel like he's in a position to deny her anything. He's still grappling with the fact that he'd destroyed something so precious to her and how he's going to live with that going forward. Returning the favour isn't going to return what was lost after all—but maybe there's a way to create a new one.

He's mulling over it when she speaks, answering with a distracted, ] Another curse, probably.

[ It's only when they reach his door that he snaps out of his thoughts, glancing over at her before he reaches for the door handle. He wonders if she's nervous, and if she thinks this is a trick.

He also wonders if she's looking forward to breaking something of his.

Stepping through the doorway, he walks straight through the courtyard and down the hall leading to the study. ]

There are two that are easier to get to further in.

[ Whether or not she's comfortable going that far into his space, he's not sure, but he plans to retrieve the notebook containing his notes on poisons and hand it over to her if she isn't. ]

[She's not sure what she expected from Claude's room in the Shadowlands. Something... kingly? What kind of place can encapsulate the part-mischief, part-too smart for his own good, part-reserved vibe? Maybe a maze, long and spiraling, or that library from that Beauty and the Beast movie that lives rent-free in her head.

She's interested despite herself, nosy. Which is why she follows Claude into the study, brazen in her attempts to look around a place she's sure she wouldn't have been allowed in if this was any other situation. She flops into one of the chairs, uncaring if her blood stains the nice upholstery.

Maybe if Claude was a little less private, then she wouldn't derive so much satisfaction at intruding into his space. ...Maybe he'd feel less obviously guilty about what happened if he knew that about her. If she'd been a proper villain from the start, then he could have written her off as someone to be avoided.

'You didn't mesh well from the beginning. Friends? Are you capable of understanding someone who's lived such a different life from yours?'

She grits her teeth,]

Pick something small.

[she almost said 'something you won't miss', except missing them is the whole point of a tether.]

I can barely lift my arm.

[ It seems like Sooyoung's bravado is back, which is better than the harrowed look she'd worn back in her room. The moments after he'd fired that first arrow are a bit of a blur, and he doesn't remember much clearly outside of the pounding in both his head and his heart, but he's lucky enough to have seen the expression of loss and fear on her face.

Or maybe he was imagining it. It's hard to tell.

He doesn't mind when she waltzes into the study with him, a small part of him glad to have someone to share this space with. He's coveted his secrets for so long, hidden his identity for most of his life, that for someone to see it all and feel nothing of consequence is almost a relief.

Though he doubts she's feeling anything amicable at the moment. ]

You should head straight back to Stygia after this.

[ To get herself patched up. Before that however, he picks the notebook off the desk, holding it up for her. He imagines that'll be easier for her to stab with her dagger than the small whistle. ]

This one.

[She's just about to snap back a 'and where are YOU gonna go HUH' and then Claude holds up what must be his tether, glowing that familiar blue glow. Her expression turns tense. her attitude from just seconds before fading away.

A book. Of course. How is it that out of everything Claude could choose... And it looks like a notebook too. The irony of it doesn't escape her -- that Claude destroyed her laptop, a symbol of all that she's written, and is now offering something that could be the same thing.]

-- Put it back on the desk, unless you want to get a fragment in your eye.

[She can't be sure that her aim won't be the slightest bit off if she breaks his tether while it's in his hands. Stabbing him once was payback, stabbing him again would be excessive. Wouldn't it?]

And sit down. Whatever you think you're gonna feel... I promise you that it's gonna be worse.

[She can imagine it so clearly. The impact, the destruction, and then everything that came after, that empty space inside her -- engulfed by the shadow. Her arm should hurt right now, it should ache. But she can't feel anything, not even the weight of the dagger in her hand -- is that because of the cold? or because of someone else?]

Why did you sit down then? [ He can't restrain the remark, even while trying to on his best behaviour, the instinct of bickering with Sooyoung is too deeply ingrained in him.

He goes tense at the warning however, setting the book back on the desk and stepping away to give Sooyoung the space she needs, and the assurance that he won't try to stop her. He doesn't sit, but he does lean against the wall on the opposite end of the wound, crossing his arms and fighting back a grimace when the action aggravates the wound on his shoulder.

It's strange that he should be tense about this. That he already feels a loss building in his chest at the thought of that notebook disappearing, when he's someone who moved through life as a traveller, resisting the urge to anchor anywhere.

It's not just that the notebook is a testament to his survival; all the blood, sweat and tears he'd poured into fighting back against the fate his brothers had tried to write down for him, but it's a memory that despite everything they said and everything that made Claude wretched, he'd managed to trust someone with everything that he was. And they'd trusted him in return.

He looks down, struck with a sudden longing to see his friend again, and glad that at least he'll still have the whistle she gave him. ]

I'll brace myself, so don't worry too much.

[That's good, Sooyoung thinks, but it's a distant thought. She stands up -- why did she sit down -- and stands over the desk, dagger in her hand. She can see Claude in the corner of her eye -- why is that guy so far away? Shouldn't he be trying to stop her? He's injured, but so is she. He could take her. Did he really mean what he said? Reparations?

'It's not about the Tethers. It's about hurting someone the same way they hurt you.' Stupid. If she really wanted to hurt him, then shouldn't she kill him? This isn't the same kind of 'hurt' that comes with losing a precious object. This is destroying a part of him. It's the kind of hurt that will only fester, like it's doing to her now. It'll only give his Shadow a stronger foothold, another opportunity for him to hurt someone else -- someone closer to him, precious. So why? Is it penance? A flash of heat runs through her -- is it sacrifice? Is it Claude weighing the pros and cons, making a rational decision? She knows someone just like that, and the resemblance spikes fury,]

...You're shit at making bargains.

[she raises her arm,]

Next time, don't just say whatever the hell you want -- [and stabs downwards] -- and fucking ask me first!

[the point plunges down, down, down -- and she slams her other hand against Claude's tether, catching the dagger in her fist before it can shatter the book, even as the blade cuts flesh, trapping her hand between steel and stone.

and for the second time today, sooyoung feels a part of herself open up, fuzzy and grasping, instinctively reaching out to take back what she's lost -- and at the same time giving away her despair, guilt, and fury -- a torrent of it through the dam that's just lifted, strengthening the sudden connection she can feel --]

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