escordvi | closed 🪶⚡ all i really, really ever want is under the mistletoe

[A laugh as he playfully tries to nip her fingers, even if it's with gloves.]

To think you used to be so adverse to them.

Well, yes. Because you were relentless, even before we had become... this.

[She does pull back her finger, clicking her tongue playfully at him, and instead motions for a handshake.]

So, what do you think?

Sounds like a fine deal. It will go well with my own demands.

[He now starts "walking" to the next hill.]

[An arch of her brow as she reaches out to take his hand before he can get far, and she follows after him to their next challenge.]

You may tell me what they are regardless... once we reach the bottom.

[Waddle together, hand in hand.]

Oh I will, and I'll have enough time waiting for you to add to it.

[Just a pair of penguins.

She stops once they reach the edge and she feels her skis teeter over the crest of the hill, looking down.]

How very thoughtful of you. That is assuming you win this time.

I'm not assuming.

[A grin as he gets in position, letting go of her hand so they can properly hold their poles.]

I will!

[And he's going to be a big fat cheater and have a strong push off to start going down that hill.]

Cidolfus!

[She calls after him, and then grumbles, though it's probably loud enough for him to still hear her.]

At least I counted!

[Kicking herself off over the edge, she plunges down the hill after him, using her winds to carefully propel and steer her forward. She gains on him quickly, and if she keeps up her momentum, she might actually pass him. Unless he uses his powers like her—the cheaters that they are.

But there's a sudden pull of magic that is not her own, and one second she is soaring down the hill on her skis, and the next, she is being met with a face full of snow, tumbling through it as if it were a hundred times taller than she was now—

And when Cid looks back behind him to find her, he will not. The only things that will make it down to the bottom are her skis sliding, crooked, and the poles not far behind.]

[He will indeed try using his lightning for this, though might be a bit dangerous. After one push off, he uses his aether to dash forward with a crackle of lightning, covering several feet in one leap. It was almost as if he jumped forward, and it increases the distance between them considerably before he has to swerve to a stop at the bottom.

With a raised fist he yells out in triumph.]

Hah! See if your wind can keep up with...

[But when he looks back and doesn't see her—]

...Benna?

[—he turns his head around and around, wondering if she somehow passed him instead. But still nothing, and it won't be until he sees her skis and poles sliding down does some panic arise.]

Benedikta!?

[Two thoughts immediately come to mind: she fell somewhere into the snow or...

She disappeared.

Doing his best to push back that worst thought, he hastily climbs up the slope, calling her name once more as he searches.]

Benedikta, can you hear me!

[She can hear him somewhere in all the snow, or she thinks she can. Everything is so muffled when she is surrounded by it, but there is a sense of panic that rises in her when she cannot figure out which way is up through the snow.

When she does catch him calling out her name, he might spot a little wiggle from somewhere beneath a small mound.]

Cidolfus?

[Another wiggle, and a tiny feather pops up out of the surface.]

Cidolfus, I am here! I cannot—

[Her tiny voice is muffled again when more snow caves in on her.]

[Where could she...

....????

When he hears the voice, or a squeak, he freezes and looks around in consternation. And then he hears the voice again and finally spots the mound.]

...Benedikta?

[Uncertainty clear in his voice, he slowly climbs up towards the little mounds and stares at the feather that seems familiar before carefully trying to wipe off some of the snow.]

Cidolfus!

[As he brushes away that snow, it will reveal another feather that unfurls and sticks right up, and then a pair of big green eyes attached to a very large feathery head, and she is lying flat on her back, arms spread out on either side of her like she's making a snow angel.

Benedikta, of course, is none the wiser, though her eyes do narrow significantly when she sees him, and after she tries to spit the snow out of her mouth—]

Why are you so big?

[He just stares at her wide-eyed before there's a snort.

And then a very, very loud laugh.]

[...

...?

The laugh startles her, and she gives a wriggle in the snow. It must be really packed in there, and she gives a little growl at him.]

Are you going to free me from this snow or not!? Why are you laughing?

Sorry, sorry— Just a moment.

[He says through that fit of laughter as he carefully reaches down...

...

To first pull out his shellphone and snap a picture, bursting into another round of laughter as he picks her up. Of course, that's by digging his hand under the snow to scoop her up.]

Cidolfus!

[When he pulls out his phone instead, she attempts to throw a burst of wind and snow at him, hoping to knock it out of his hand or, better yet, him over. All that comes out is a tiny spurt, however, that barely shifts the snow around her.

Only when he finally does manage to—wait, what is he doing? Is he scooping her out of the snow? In his hands? As if she were...

...

....

Benedikta kicks her feet to try and shake him off of her, and she sees them then. The tiny claws, the tiny feet, and the wings folded around her protectively.]

What the fuck happened—?

[He still can't stop chuckling and giggling at her cute little form, and it only took him a moment to recall the last time this happened.]

I am not sure, but it seems you've once more turned into a toy.

[While he won't stop her from trying to escape, he will move his hands around to keep her stable.]

[She stops kicking and stares up at him, trying to look as outraged as possible, which is impossible with those huge, shining eyes of hers.]

What do you mean—like what had happened last year? But how?

Now that I am not sure.

[And with her settled in one hand, he'll hold up his phone and turns on the camera into selfie mode so she can see herself.]

But this is how you look. Quite adorable, really.

[She stiffens when she sees that phone again, afraid that he's going to snap another picture, and she is at the ready with her magic this time!!! But when he turns it so she can see...

Those feathers on her head and wings puff out in her ire and she tries to swat the phone away instead.]

Do not—I am not adorable! How do I change back?

[She may have taken a picture with that smack—

But he just puts it away as he looks at her, her puffiness very cute.]

Last time it was on the island, but to have it happen here... Do you remember anything?

[As cute as she is, it is a bit concerning it happened at all, so after tucking her a little closer to him he looks around to see if he can find any clue.]

[She's going to delete it later—

And she will not admit that she quite prefers it closer to him, as she has started to shiver in the cold, unknowingly pressing up against his fingers. Her jacket and her clothes have gone into that same strange pocket space just like it had the first time that she transformed, and she would like them back.]

Not really. [She frowns, her tiny nose pinching.] I thought I had felt a magic that was not my own, but it was too brief. Next thing I knew, I was falling through the snow ten feet taller than me.

Magic, eh?

[He frowns at that, once more looking around before noting her shivering. Oh she really is too cute—

He pulls her in closer, and he'll start gently brushing and rubbing a finger over her little feathers around her large head.]

Let's go back down for now, perhaps someone else might know.

[Her short arms try to shove his finger away from her but not even they can reach, and... is her head growing a little bigger as her cheeks become redder? ... It had better not.]

I would rather you did not parade me around.

[...It does feel that way—]

Now I would never do that.

[He brings her up to his face and grins.]

I'll just ask around and you can stay hidden in my coat like you did before.

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