Yuletide Glow
A/N: My very *very* late gift exchange fic for @muppenthings is finally here! I really hope it was worth the wait. Her half of the trade is here; my little Floof AU OC playing with the other Floofs. I treasure it.
For my part, I wrote a little blurb about two of her beloved OC’s, Snuffy the Dragon and his old lady friend Hilda, celebrating Yule. (And I added in a handful of surprises for my fellow long-time Muppen fans.) I did a moderate amount of research, but I’m sure there’s still stuff I got wrong so feel free to leave comments and tell me more about your traditions! Also as always, please shoot me a message/comment if I missed any tags! Anyway, on with the fic!
Alternatively read this on Ao3
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Snuffy felt a firm pat on his nose as he was sniffing at the wooden bowl Hilda had set out. It was a funny shape; oblong, slightly pointed on one end and curved up on the other. It looked like a weird shoe. His ears twitched down slightly at being caught mid-investigation, but Hilda was smiling at him anyway.
"Don't move that. That's your shoe for the Yule Lads." She said gently as she carefully hung a long branch of pine across the top of the window. Snuffy moved and carefully grabbed the branch with his claws, lifting it the extra few centimeters to the hook.
"My what for who?" He rumbled, picking up another branch to hang over the farther window.
"It's an old tradition. You set out a shoe for thirteen nights and if you've been good, the Yule Lads will leave you gifts. And if not, they'll leave something else…" Hilda replied simply. It only left Snuffy more confused.
"Why a shoe? And who're the 'Yule Lads' "
The old woman's smile turned from fond to a touch mischievous, and Snuffy quirked his head.
"They're kind of like elves that like to cause trouble. They're watching to see if children are behaving and doing things like cleaning up after themselves."
"Why do they care, though?" Snuffy's ears perked up, watching as Hilda disappeared back inside the house with a little pine tree in a pot, and reappeared with a very thick oak log, which the dragon carefully took from her as well.
"Well, their mother eats the naughty children." Hilda motioned for Snuffy to put the log down in the little fire pit structure near the cabin, and when he did, she spread some black ashes over the top.
Her explanations weren't making anything clearer for him.
"But why do I have a shoe? I don't wear shoes. And I'm not a hatchling anymore."
Hilda huffed, but her fond smile didn't waver, and she gestured for Snuffy to set his head back down and settle; which he obliged, if for nothing else than to receive a scratching on his nose.
"I thought it would be fun to include you in my Yule celebrations this year, but if you're not interested I can put everything away. The shoe is an old decoration I found in the attic, and it's big enough to plausibly belong to you." She pondered for a bit, and Snuffy rumbled happily at the feeling of her little nails on the soft scales of his snout.
"I didn't say it didn't sound like fun." He replied, after a few minutes of scratching. Hilda perked up and gave him another pat, before going back into the house for another box. "So what do I have to do to be 'good' ?" He asked when she returned.
She chuckled, and began hanging funny looking ornaments on some of the lower trees and bushes. "Oh, you're already good. You'll just have to wait and see if you get any presents."
Looking closer, the ornaments were all simple and covered in seeds and dried berries. Snacks for the other, much smaller wildlife in the area. There were four that were hung very low on the bushes closest to the front door, along with dishes of water that looked to be mixed with honey.
A bundle of fresh daisies from the store in town, catnip, sweet berries, and small strips of dried meat: gifts for the funny spirits that had been wandering around the cabin lately. And sure enough, each ornament had a little scroll with their (assumed) names: Bee, Cat, Raccoon, and Fox.
Snuffy hadn't seen them much this winter. He hoped they were doing well.
They spent most of the afternoon like that; decorating the cabin with the rich greens of pine and holly, placing bundles of mistletoe and colorful candles on a little altar. Hilda finally declared the decorations complete by clipping bells to each of the four corners of the altar cloth.
"There," she said, brushing her hands clean on her skirt.
Watching her, Snuffy rumbled again, "Are you sure the other villagers won't mind me coming tonight?" His ears lowered a touch, betraying his nerves.
Hilda simply flashed her mischievous grin again, "Well, they don't really have a choice. You're my family now, so you're coming. I'm the crazy old lady who lives in the woods. It's not like they can stop me. Unless, of course, you don't want to come?"
He offered her a hesitant smile in response; he couldn't say he wasn't nervous about it. He liked the other people he had met so far, and of course, Hilda would be there the whole time. He'd even been getting more practice at shape-shifting and changing his size.
But all of the times Snuffy had met new people had been only one or two at a time; this would be the whole town. And there was going to be an even bigger Yule log burning in the town square, lots of tables and decorations.
Lots of things to trip over.
Snuffy shook his head, and perked his ears as Hilda finally returned with the last of the evening's necessities: a big pot.
Everyone in town was bringing food tonight; the main event was a big feast in celebration of the gods. Hilda had spent almost all of yesterday cooking something incredibly savory-smelling, and hadn't even let the dragon lick the spoon! 'A surprise,' was all she had said, as she set the kettle aside for the night; the pot stayed warm by the fire and never ceased its temptation of Snuffy's tongue.
Snuffy concentrated hard, closing his eyes. Slowly, he felt magic from the world around him wrap along his body, and he could feel the rushing sensation that came with changing from the size of a house to (roughly) the size of a human.
Even like this, he was well over a foot taller than Hilda, and most of the rest of the town...
He bent just slightly and carefully took the handle from the old woman's grasp, carrying the hefty metal and hearty stew with little effort. Hilda gave him a look, which he knew meant 'I was carrying that just fine'; he responded by raising his eyebrow and one ear, matching her gaze to convey 'I know, but you don't have to carry it when I'm here'.
One of Snuffy's favorite things about living with Hilda was how easily they could communicate without words. So much of dragon language was in face and gesture. It had been an exciting surprise to learn that humans could talk with just their eyes or postures too!
He swished his tail and rolled his shoulders, enjoying the quiet of the forest and the crunch of iced over snow under his feet. Hilda was covered head-to-foot in warm furs and knitted scarves, and her boots made much lighter prints behind them. The silence of their walk was comfortable; friends simply sharing space.
And if the dragon kept his tail loosely circled behind his old friend to catch her if she tripped, that was simply his own secret.
Several minutes of walking finally bled the dark, quiet forest into a warm, glowing town; the edge of the trees gave way to soft flickering torches and candles, and there were ribbons and wreaths and ornaments everywhere.
Snuffy stopped at the tree line, in awe of the sights around him. The center street had been cleared, and the town square held a massive bonfire surrounded by tables and cauldrons. There was more food than Snuffy thought he could eat, even in his massive true dragon form. The whole town had come out to celebrate, people dressed in warm reds and off white, carefully embroidered coats and long twirling cloaks. Several people were wearing wreaths on their heads, decorated with ruby red and sparkling gold flowers.
Hilda must have noticed his pause, and he felt her hand on his back.
"What do you think?" She asked softly.
"It's really beautiful." He replied earnestly.
With a gentle nudge, they began walking again, down into the center of town. The dragon couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious with all the staring, and he felt his ears tilt down slightly without meaning to.
Oh well.
A few townsfolk came to meet the pair, and carefully showed Snuffy where a much smaller fire had been started, to keep the stew warm. As he passed, his nose twitched at the familiar smell of apples and cinnamon, strangely coming from the cauldron next to their own. The girl stirring this cauldron barely looked up as he came over to investigate, and he took a deep breath of the sweet steam coming from the liquid.
"Would you like some?" The girl asked; her voice was unwavering, and she looked back up at him with a cheery smile.
He hesitantly smiled back, moving a little closer. "What is it?" He asked softly in response.
"This is Wassail," the girl replied, giving the pot another stir, "this one is for the kids, but on the other side of the table there's one made with alcohol."
Snuffy tilted his head in question, prompting her to continue, "it's apple cider with honey and a bunch of spices. It's really good for warming up, and it's really sweet."
Well, the dragon didn't have to be asked twice when it came to sweet things made with apples, and his tail swished in excitement as the girl handed him a wooden mug filled with the drink, offering him another smile as she did so.
Snuffy spent a good amount of time just enjoying the smell, remembering Hilda's baking sitting out on the window sill in summer. He turned to comment on the memory, but found the woman no longer at his side. He startled, more than he cared to admit, looking for her, until the girl simply pointed in the direction over his shoulder.
Turning, he saw Hilda standing next to the stew pot they had brought, stirring and adding last-minute spices.
Right. All of the food for the feast was being blessed for the gods, and everyone was putting their best cooking forward to bring a bountiful new year. There had been a ceremony earlier in the day for a sacrifice, a goat being ritually dressed and led through town before being killed in the name of the gods. Part of that offering too was now roasting, being readied for the feast they were about to have.
Not to mention, Hilda had lots of other people she wanted to see tonight, too. Holding the mug protectively, (perhaps tighter than normal,) he wandered back over to her slowly, watching her chat with other older townsfolk. But the second she looked up to see the dragon, her face lit up and she waved him over.
"I see you found the sweets right away," Hilda teased. Snuffy offered a mildly embarrassed smile, and his ears bent down, but he knew she was happy to see him trying something new.
"Did you want one?" He asked, watching the other townsfolk wander away again, over to the tables.
Hilda merely waved him off, "No, no, I'll get something to drink a little later. It's just good to see you enjoying yourself. I really do want you to have fun tonight." She spoke with a warm smile, and he settled himself next to her in the snow, sitting and lightly waving his tail, watching the town.
It was a peaceful night; the sky almost on fire with glowing stars. The dancing bonfire lights reflected against the snow and ornaments, bouncing around the town merrily. There were some more children a little ways off, having a snowball fight.
Someone dropped something itchy over his ears.
His head darted around, moving much faster than he would have intended, to see the girl from the Wassail cauldron standing next to him with her hands out but empty.
Her face was red with embarrassment, but thankfully, she didn't look scared.
"Sorry," she stammered, "I thought you might want something festive to wear too…"
Snuffy's face tilted again, and he reached up to lift the thing from his head - it was a wreath, like he had seen some of the others wearing. Carefully braided branches of holly and pine, tied with the same red and gold flowers, which turned out to be made of fabric.
He smiled back at the girl again, carefully placing the wreath back on and balancing it between his ears.
It fit perfectly.
"You just surprised me a little," he admitted with a shrug. "I'm not usually so easy to sneak up on."
The girl beamed, swinging her arms slightly, which waved the bottom hem of her long red dress. "Good then. I hope you have fun tonight! I'm really excited for fruitcake!"
His ears twitched up again in excitement, and Hilda gave him a light clap on the back, "cake is for after dinner."
Snuffy responded to her quip by sticking out his tongue playfully.
He trailed along behind Hilda for the most part; there were, of course, lots of wintery things to taste and smell, and a handful of people exchanging gifts and other displays of affection. At one point, Snuffy shyly asked Hilda if they could get one of the little knitted bears on display, so he could give it to the Wassail girl as a thank-you.
The dragon spent a long time just staring up into the night, marveling at the dancing colors that the town was dressed in. There were little lights of every color spilling over windows and along houses, twinkling and chasing each other like snow-pixies in the night.
As he wandered behind Hilda, the warm smells of roasted meat and hearty spices filled the air. All around, offerings were left on little altars or hung on evergreen trees. Candles flickered as some humans knelt to pray.
At one point, they came up to a small group of people before the fire, singing merrily. Though he didn't know the words, Snuffy's tail began to sway lightly to the melody. He closed his eyes and let everything wash over him, then.
The night was crisp and cold, but the glow of the little town felt warm against Snuffy’s soul. This would be nice, after all.
The little town had welcomed the dragon with open arms.
With Hilda’s hand on his back, Snuffy took a seat at the long table, and took a deep sip of his Wassail, smiling.
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