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[demonicbeauty]

[She's not Padmé Amidala. Nor is she Jane Foster. It's just Ariadne, sitting on the wooden floor of her home, in front of an enormous, four-poster bed with a canopy of sheer, white fabric. Splashes of color occasionally hit her face and the background, as her homemade mobiles, flitting with broken pieces of colorful glass, catch whatever sunlight there is. Her long, long, long brown hair is hanging loose over her left shoulder, crinkled to show that it's just come undone from its braid.]

I...I've noticed that a lot of important holidays seem to be in the middle of the winter. And I guess it makes sense. The days are short, the nights are long, and everyone is cold and missing fresh fruits and vegetables. It raises the spirit to have something to celebrate and people to celebrate it with.

[There's a small smile. A memory or two from her days in Valeria.]

Back home, the New Year was the most important holiday. There would be parties and feasts and masked balls. Presents. Lots of music...

[And she misses that music. But Ariadne won't let herself stay sentimental for long.]

Last year, I learned about an Earth holiday. The one where the fat man breaks into people homes and leaves them gifts, instead of stealing stuff. Christmas!

[Makes no sense, but it's a lovely sentiment.]

I was hoping to maybe learn about some other holidays from this time of year. What do your cultures celebrate? Maybe we can find a way to all celebrate together. I'm still convinced that togetherness is the only way we're going to survive this place. And I...I know I'm not alone, feeling that way.

[A small shrug.]

So let's talk to each other more. When there isn't an emergency. Talk about some of the happy things, maybe. Tell me about the good stuff.

[Ariadne doesn't really know where to go from here, so she shrugs again.]

Anyway, that's all. Sorry to interrupt anything.

Comments

[droptheious]

Oh yeah, I know it's become more like that in the future. Like people make resolutions on things they want to change?

[That pulls a smile to his lips.]

Well, that's good. It's...it's always important to be able to be thankful for your family. Blood or otherwise.

[demonicbeauty]

Resolutions...

[She tilts her head, just like a little sparrow.]

What a good idea!

[droptheious]

[Bless her, she's adorable!]

I guess? I don't know how well people keep to them. But the idea is they give themselves a new start.

[demonicbeauty]

Exactly! It's all about a positive mindset. Believing that we can do anything we want!

[droptheious]

Or at least believe we can change a part of ourselves in a very short space of time.

[demonicbeauty]

Is it about changing ourselves? Or just our ways of doing things?

[droptheious]

It's usually stuff like "I'll jog every morning" or "I'll stop smoking cigarettes" - like changing your habits more than yourself.

[demonicbeauty]

Somewhere in between, then.

[A pause.]

Although why anyone would ever smoke cigarettes, I'll never understand.

[droptheious]

That's it, pretty much.

I don't either, honestly. They're horrifically bad for you. Like nicotine destroys your lungs.

[demonicbeauty]

...what's nicotine?

[droptheious]

It's a chemical that goes in the cigarettes. It's what makes them so addictive.

[demonicbeauty]

Oooooh.

[She nods, as if she understands the first thing about chemicals.

Spoiler alert: She does.]

I see.

[droptheious]

[He ahs every faith that she knows what he's talking about.]

Yup! People keep wanting more of it, even if it actively and slowly messes up their lungs. It's wild.

[demonicbeauty]

Too bad doing nice things isn't as addictive.

[She laughs.]

At least, for a lot of people.

[droptheious]

Hah, yeah. I'm sure some people find it addictive. I mean, if it releases enough oxytocin, just about anything can be addicting if you think about it.

[demonicbeauty]

Well. I like the idea of being nice as addicting.

Let’s go with that!

[droptheious]

There you go! I think we can make that work.

[demonicbeauty]

Agreed!