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002 [Network: Audio]

I know there are serious things happening but focusing on that has never been something I'm good at. That said, Thanksgiving just passed by. [Not that Jacob has a good track record for celebrating or understanding most holidays but it got him thinking.] Not sure who has thanksgiving or who celebrates it.

It's a pretty strange holiday.

[Jacob remembers it as a holiday dedicated to overeating.]

But it also reminds me that Christmas is coming up too. I don't remember doing much the last time I was here. [He thinks he gave away wooden carvings but then that might have had no relation to Christmas, Jacob's memories were still a bit fuzzy.]

Anyway, I wanted to know what sort of traditions people had.

My traditions changed a lot after my parents passed but when I was very young I remember a lot of cookies and a lot of pie. Along with a great deal of decorations that I had to help with or, I wouldn't get the aforementioned cookies and pie.

What about you guys?

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[Mono doesn't like using the network, because anything that broadcasts experiences a lot of static interference when he uses it. His phone is fine. It's a byproduct of his abilities...

It's also kind of spooky. Sorry, Jacob. The child is curious.]

I don't know what either of those things are, are they like parties?

[The static is creepy but it's not so unsettling that Jacob is going to let it bother him.]

Sort of, yeah.

Thanksgiving involves telling people what you're thankful of while sitting around a large table with a lot of food. Usually a turkey.

Christmas is a bit harder to explain without sounding weird. Um... there are Christmas parties but everything accumulates into one night where good children get presents.

[Jacob is definitely going to be getting something for the Lil Shade.]

[So it was kind of like parties... but also not? Still, parties were interesting. He had a lot of fun at the one Mr. Ignis and Nida had for their wedding, even if socializing with lots of people tired him out pretty fast.]

So it is parties with food and stuff, but for reasons...? That sounds kinda fun.

[He paused, clearly going over another detail quietly. This really was a weird sounding thing...]

Children get presents for Christmas? Why? Where do they come from, and what about adults?

[He didn't know what Thanksgiving was, so that was moot, but the other thing, he'd definitely heard of that.]

Ignis and I researched the holiday, last year. It's sort of strange. We've tried to see if there are parts of the celebration that can work for us, that I can mix with things back home. We have a winter festival on Hyne, though. Most of my celebration experience back home was actually for that. Places, especially in Trabia, would decorate in beautiful variations of snowflakes, everywhere. Places would sparkle.

I mostly don't celebrate. Never really have. But since I started staying with my twin's folks, I got pulled into celebrating Hanukkah and all that.

You don't..remember the Winter Ball they had?

[Which would be perfect in his mind because it had gone badly.]

[It is like a party but, like a wedding, the practice stemmed from religious and political histories that were altered and changed with time. In the end, Jacob doesn't think that sad history around these events mattered. What matters most is what each event or holiday means to those experiencing it.]

Yeah. [He smiles.] There are a lot of reasons to have parties. My sister likes to make up reasons to have parties sometimes. It's cute but she's a little odd.

Christmas is a time of year when people think about those they love. It's a time for warmth, which is why it's set in the middle of the winter. That's when it's easiest to forget that warmth.

As for presents... well, it's a bit silly but there is a sort of a man named Nikolas. Later named Saint Nikolas or Santa Claws.

Would you like to hear about him?

Sounds awesome.

[A beat.]

What about a Christmas tree? You can make that sparkle and I'm sure Ignis would be interested in making Christmas dinner. Which is a tradition my mom used to make us do.

It's nice that you got to celebrate with some family, even if it took awhile.

What did you and your twin do for Hanukkah? I don't know much about it.

I do.

[He pauses a little awkwardly.]

But that felt like a winter party. Christmas is- [Jacob pauses before trying to articulate his thoughts.] It's different. It's just a small family thing. I wasn't really in a good place the last time I was here so I wasn't really into celebrating.

Unless I was made too but I thought it'd be nice to celebrate this time. With family.

[A beat.]

If you're interested.

Yes, we acquired on of those 'Christmas' trees last year, to pass the season. And cut snowflakes out of paper to hang. The day served more to celebrate our time together than anything else. I understand it is a religious thing for Earth people, but we only know about it from books. I actually know more of Jewish traditions because of my last boyfriend.

Oh he definitely has plans about the lodge offering a dinner of sorts. But I'm not letting him do something for New Year's Eve.

I mean I ate tons of latkes and gambled with them and watched people light the candles.

But damn, I don't understand even a quarter of it. My birth-mom wasn't practicing. I didn't learn that stuff.

So Latkes, gambling and candles?

I do remember that Hanukkah has 9 days and 9 candles for the days that the oil burned but that's about the extent of what I know.

I don't know what a Latke is or how gambling worked its way in but that sounds like fun. [He hasn't really thought about it but is gambling prevalent in the city?]

It is but isn't. Depends on who you talk too.

It was religious for me when I was a kid but now it's just a time where my family is happy that we're all together and alive. [At least for those who are still alive.]

Do you have plans for New Year's Eve?

Eight days. There are nine candles but there are eight days. So I guess you're part right there.

Latke are potato pancakes. The gambling is with a dreidel and felt, which is chocolate coins. At least with Kaplans it is. Oh, and jelly donuts too. A lot of the food is fried in oil, supposed to show how the oil lasted. There's lots of customs to it.

[He may have picked up more than he admits.]

Given the nature of my world, I don't really understand religions. Very little of it exists where I am from.

[Plans? He smiles to himself. Of course he does.]

I'm enjoying another birthday without an obligation to work. They have been rare.

A lot of cookies and pie sounds pretty great. What were your favorites that were made?

[ There's a weird pause before she says anything. ]

When I was small we celebrated at the mansion. Before my parents died we always celebrated. Piotr was often in charge with bringing the food in from the farm with our father. Mother and I cooked.

[!!!!!

Santa Claws.

That name again!! Harry had seemed a little sad when he didn’t know who that was, and had told him not to worry about it… So the child kind of zeroed in there. That was a name that seemed very significant and like something he ought to know about and be ready for. Because… Well. Free stuff wasn’t always a good thing. Or as ‘free’ as one would expect. Sometimes it was a trap.]

Someone said that name before a little while back, Santa Claws. The man said he was some kinda fairy. So he’s the one who brings kids presents…?

Well, there are a lot of different legends about him. I haven't personally met the man but the stories could be different from real life and they could be different between the worlds where everyone come from.

I'm happy to tell you the story but I want you to keep that in mind.

Yeah?

I celebrated differently before my parents died too. It's really only recently I started to get back into the holiday spirits. [And his parents died over a decade ago.]

My sister and mom used to cook too. What was your favorite thing to make? [He chuckles awkwardly.] I'm a really horrible cook. So it's nice to hear cooking stories that don't end in fires.

It was pretty great.

[His mom's baked goods have always been a comfort to him.]

Apple pie and oddly shaped sugar cookies.

[Jacob smiles to himself at the memory.] Growing up, my mom always made an apple pie and my sister would be in charge of the sugar cookies but they never turned out to be the right shape. I'm not sure how since she had cookie cutters but each snowman usually had interesting deformations and candy canes were never straight. Sometimes there were thumb prints left in the batter before baking. [He's sad that his sister got better at baking.]

If you think about it too much it doesn't make a lot of sense but I think the point of religion is that it offers hope.

[His cross is his most valued possession.]

I believe in a power greater than myself, greater than my sister. [Who is a literal god.] Because it's a comfort to me. If one power exists, why not another?

See, you know more than I do.

[It's nice to hear about these sorts of memories.]

I do know what a dreidel is but how do you bet with it?

I guess I do, but I got brought around for it a lot. It was a thing with his family, inviting me for stuff.

Each of the sides of a dreidel, they have a letter on them. Everyone antes in, then on their turn each player spins the dreidel. Depending on the side that comes up, you either get or give to the pot.

You play until someone's won it all.

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