Winter's Crest Snow Day [GP]

[st_ockandbarrel]

The Inn was decorated in, if possible, an even more outlandish style than usual. Garlands of evergreens and bright berries competed with gold angels and cheerful small grinning creatures with pointed ears and shoes. A large fir tree had appeared seemingly from nowhere and was now draped with lights and hung with colored glass balls. At the top perched a figure in white robes with wings.

It was, Percy mused, probably for whatever the local holiday was, but it was also close enough to Winter's Crest decorations for him to feel a bit homesick for Whitestone. After all, it was only a year ago that he'd been able to celebrate Winter's Crest in his home city for the first time in years.

Something was still missing - or rather, many things were missing but one thing that he could solve for. Winter's Crest called for snow, and better snow in abundance. To solve for that last problem, he turned to a gnome of exceptional talent. While he didn't know how Sarenrae's power worked, he did have complete faith in her cleric. And thus, together, they concocted a plan: to turn the weather to a more appropriate clime.

The morning of December 20th dawned as it often did in this place - heavy with clouds that would burn off before noon. The clouds were important. They would make the spell casting easier, and Pike knew that she needed all the help she could get. Weather magic was not her forte. Like all clerics with powers as advanced as hers, she knew the right spell but when you had a druid around, there hadn't been much need for her to use it.

Dressed in a warm coat and a big floppy, knit cap, she sat on the ground with her legs crossed. Holding her holy symbol in both hands, she concentrated on the sky. As the Celestial incantation took root, golden rays of light encircled her and rose into the air. With each heartbeat, she could feel Sarenrae's power drawing warmth from the clouds above and into her body.

It took ten minutes to cast the spell and another twenty minutes for it to take effect. The spell would fade if she didn't maintain concentration all day, but it was a small price to pay.

And that's how, before the sun had completely finished rising, it was snowing on the Madonna Inn.

Comments

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

The snow was deep enough to provide a cushion, the weight of both of them on the wings not immediately uncomfortable, and the feathers provided some insulation from the cold, but it probably wouldn't last. "This fucking goof loves you too," Coby added. "How does the mountain girl feel about snow?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

Curnen smiled. "I think it's kind of adorable y'all are makin' such a big deal out of it. We bake in the summer, snow dumps on us in the winter. It's all there."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

"Yeah, but you expect it to dump on you in the winter. In a California desert, not so much." Coby'd never had a white Christmas (or almost Christmas) growing up. "Besides, it's something different. Enjoy it while it lasts, right?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

"Oh, I'mma enjoy it. It's still cute," she said stubbornly.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

Grinning wickedly, Coby got rid of his wings – shivering for the new layers of cold, snowy ground underneath him no longer insulated by the wings, and snowy wings merging with his back – and rolled them over in the snow, bracing his weight on his forearms so he could look down at her and steal a kiss. "Says the Appalachian cutie."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

Curnen squeaked and burst into a fit of giggles, even as some flash thought in her mind said that black as her hair was, it was nothing compared to seeing his wings spread in the snow. She wrapped her arms around his neck so she could draw him down into a longer kiss.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

Cherishing the giggles, Coby kissed her back, breaking up the slow deep heat with playful nips and sips of her soft lips. Now he wasn't going to roll over one of them, Coby manifested the wings again, because he could and they made a sort of blanket against the snow.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

"People're gonna wonder what we're doing under here," Curnen teased between kisses, even as she didn't try to make him stop or even reconsider. It was just kisses, and nothing anybody here wouldn't have seen before.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

"Is that your way of saying we should 'get a room'?" Coby wasn't in any hurry, as long as she was kissing him like that. They were just kissing. It wasn't like they were going to fuck in the snow. That'd be stupid. And fucking cold.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

"In a bit," Curnen chuckled. "If we feel like it." Though for the time being, she kept her hands off his wings no matter how much she wanted to touch them--the power in them, the promise of flight that she could not reach. She didn't want to rush anything just now.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

No rush. Just enjoying the snow and each other while it lasts. "In a bit." A kiss. "If we feel like it." Another. "The best thing about snow is getting to warm up after."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

Curnen tucked a lock of his hair behind his ear as she kissed him again. "Oh, is that why you rolled me into it? So you can warm me up later?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

"You're the one who's used to snow," he reminded her, teasing. "Besides, the wings make a better blanket than bed.

"But I'm not going to say no to warming each other up later. That sounds like a great idea to me."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

Used to snow she was, he didn't know the half of it. But Curnen smiled at that and shook her head. "Your devious plan's working."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

"Muahahaha. Your fate was sealed the moment you fell into my clutches." Coby winked, and kissed her again with a taste of the heat they'd use to warm up soon.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

Curnen moaned softly into the kiss, her hand slipping up his chest, his neck, and up into his hair. "See if I ever try to help you up again."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

Coby laughed, a rumble in his chest, and a murmured, "You will," against her lips, before trailing kisses along her jaw. Then he sang softly, just for her and right by her ear, because music was at the heart of things for both of them:

I'll tell you a tale
About a boy in old blue jeans
And a girl in all grey
Shearin' away her dreams
With a blanket of wisdom
And an inebriated mind
He kept her warm in the middle of wintertime

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

"Ohhhh..." she couldn't have resisted that even if she'd had a mind to, and though she was lying in the cold Curnen could feel her blood run very hot indeed. How could she not stroke his wing now, knowing exactly the effect that had on him?

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

Oh, they knew what they were doing to each other, the soft rumble in Coby's chest not exactly a groan, but a very happy sound. "See? Helping me up already," he teased.

"You ready to get out the snow and heat things up, butterfly?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

Curnen laughed, because that had to be the stupidest joke she'd ever heard, then grinned up at him wolfishly. "Fuck me, you goof."

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

Coby willed his wings away to stand up – it was just easier, and why hadn't he thought of that before, except then he wouldn't have ended up with an eager Curnen in his arms – and pulled her up after him.

"How can I refuse a lady when she asks so nicely? And do you want pink or blue?"

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_oneswidow]

"Mm... I think blue this time," Curnen decided. Much less likely to have someone awkwardly knocking. Not that she had anything against Coby's heartbroken friend.

Re: Coby - OTA

[st_rummer]

Probably best, with Jag still crashing with Coby, but he'd wanted to offer. "Your place it is," he said, putting an arm around her shoulders, touch and sharing warmth as they headed toward their building.