🧟 Prescott's Winter Holiday Party

[decaymod]

🎄 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.

♡

Comments

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[toughleaf]

"Obviously." She tries to laugh but it comes out sounding more like a tense hiccup. "I mean, I didn't give him permission to do that, and now I have to listen to Pearl Jam without bitching." Reggie swallows and there's that tingly feeling she gets in her throat when she feels like she's about to throw up or cry and—fuck.

"I hate him for leaving us. And not even leaving any room for denial."

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[smokeeater]

Actually, there'd been a lot of room for denial in Ares' world around Dylan. He'd just now diverted it all into the idea that he didn't have anything left to feel around this loss. If he just pressed the button to play a Pearl Jam song, he was doing the honoring part, without any of the messy feelings around it. But tears have a contagion about them, and hearing the catch in Reggie's voice brings down all that wall. It feels like there's something stuck in his throat, too. He stares at his hands.

"Yeah. I just hate that I still can't hate him."

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[toughleaf]

"You have any idea how many memories he ruined pulling this bullshit? Fire academy, high school, fucking kindergarten?" Her voice is sharp and insistent, like she's trying to convince herself and Ares that she really is angry at him, that they both should be angry at him. Anger is an easier emotion for her to handle; you punch something, you yell at someone, you clean up the mess, and you either move on or carry a grudge. It's a well-worn path for Reggie. Especially when work fails to distract her.

"It all just... hurts now." She puts one hand on Ares', but her eyes stay on her own knees.

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[smokeeater]

"Yeah, it does." He takes her hand in his and squeezes it maybe a little more tightly than he would've normally. This is why he tried not to remember more than he had to. "But. You know. Just because something hurts doesn't mean it's bad."

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[toughleaf]

"That sounds patently unmedical." The laugh comes out a little easier now, but it feels wildly uncontrolled and dangerously close to a sob. She grips Ares' hand hard enough to break it just to get her words out. "And like Dylan getting me ready for the academy."

Reggie squeezes her eyes shut and presses her face to Ares' shoulder. If there's any tears, they're safely lost in his coat.

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[smokeeater]

"I was always a little sad I missed that." Because that's a much easier thing to be sad about right now. Ares holds her around her shoulders, close, and leans his head on hers. "I bet you looked really stupid." Is choked with something between a chuckle and a sob of his very own.

END OF THE NIGHT: Reggie & Ares

[toughleaf]

"Put my ass through football drills." Reggie grabs onto the back of Ares' coat and holds on like she's afraid of being torn away. But not even a feral cougar could do that, not as long as she's ready for it. Dylan made sure she was strong as fuck. "He was so fucking good at this stupid job. It's bullshit that—"

The end of her sentence comes out in a wordless grunt, muffled by Ares' shoulder.