stateofdecay | 🧟 Prescott's Winter Holiday Party

🎄 Prescott is all dressed up for the holidays, with fairy lights and garlands up around the fire station and the field hospital. In the parking lot in the northwest corner, the Christmas tree has been set up for anyone to decorate however they see fit. In the center of the main intersection, they’ve built a bonfire which burns all night.

🎄 Mulled wine, hot cocoa, spiced cider, and various small hors d'oeuvres are being served out of the fire station kitchen.

🎄 The fire trucks have been moved out of the apparatus bay and replaced with spare chairs and sofas which usually live in storage. They’re arranged into a handful of small circles, creating a space for conversation. 

🎄 Secret Santa gift exchange happens in the apparatus bay at about 6pm. 

🎄 On the outside wall of the radio station, adjacent to the community garden, there’s a new mural of Celia Wallace painted by Whitney Resident Amy McBride (who attended high school with her). The corresponding inside wall has been covered in cork board. There are index cards in various colors and pens available for anyone to write out a note in remembrance of someone they’ve lost, and there are pushpins available to put up these notes or photographs of loved ones. 

🎄 It’ll be a pretty early evening, with festivities ending around 10pm.

♡

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

At first, Niko appears to panic a little bit—he had not, in fact, done this right! He should have picked a more special place, or wore a suit, or or or...

But then Blythe is happy, and they're kissing, and all is well! Niko breathes a sigh of relief, but his eager-to-please impulses aren't satiated just yet.

"Do you like it? Is it too much? Not enough? I just want you to be happy! And of course, we can take as long as we need to give you the wedding of your dreams. No pressure or anything!" he says, while mentally already booking the U-Haul rental.

"It's perfect," Blythe says like it's obvious, because to him it is obvious. "You're perfect. And anything we do will be perfect because of you."

The ring slides onto his finger, a little loose—just loose enough to need a paperclip ring to keep it in place. "Told ya you ain't gettin' this one off me."

Niko smiles brightly, basking in the glow of an apparent job well-done. "You deserve nothing less than perfection, because you're perfect in every way. I didn't think such a thing was even humanly possible, but then I met you, just casually being the epitome of flawlessness every dang day."

He looks more than a little touched when Blythe keeps the first ring anyway, humble as it is. "I wouldn't dream of it! Maybe I oughta get into metalworking, so that my next attempt at bedazzling you with arts and crafts is a little snazzier."

"You sound like someone who's never seen me try to balance a checkbook." Blythe boops the end of Niko's nose, then pulls him in closer to rest his chin on his shoulder.

"I'd wear whatever you forged for me, though. Whether it's a suit of armor or just a chainmail shirt."

"I'll never let a checkbook bother you again," Niko promises. He wraps his arms around Blythe to hold him close. For the first time in a very long time, he feels... hopeful? Like there's a future he's actually excited to see? It's an unfamiliar feeling, and maybe just a little bit terrifying (perhaps he'll have to start taking better care of himself now that there's something to look forward to other than dying on the job)—but in a good way!

"You know what? Armor and chainmail isn't a bad idea. Gotta protect you from... you know, everything out there. I'll add it to the To Do list."

🧟 Prescott's Winter Holiday Party

INDOORS: Niko and Blythe

INDOORS: Niko and Blythe

INDOORS: Niko and Blythe

INDOORS: Niko and Blythe

INDOORS: Niko and Blythe