Baby it's cold outside [mingle]

[ourearth]

Date: 23.12.2018-30.12.2018
Characters: Open!
Note: Timeline behind cut at the bottom of the post!

---

23-24th December
With the schools out for Christmas, and the last few days of Christmas shopping closing in, there really is no escaping it now. Everyone but the best prepared is rushing to finalise the last little bits. Excitement is gathering as the shortest day of the year comes and goes.

The weather reports for Christmas are standard: grey, with light showers and patches of sun. As usual, a high chance of snow was predicted at the beginning of the month, but as the day approaches it has changed back to the more seasonal and typical (if less picturesque) weather: rain. But, with days to go, that suddenly changes again, as the weather reporters talk about the sudden turning of an artic wind, bringing with it sub zero temperatures, and maybe, just maybe, a white Christmas.  Temperatures drop to -5c during the day and -10c overnight, particularly cold for this part of the world.  On the morning of Christmas Eve, with less than 24 hours notice, the snow begins, falling lightly at first, and then heavily. By lunch time, the south east, including Mossgate, is a foot deep in snow and chaos has spread. Just a covering of snow is enough to cause panic, with infrastructure and transport unequipped to deal with it, and this is unexpected and heavy, and there has been no time to prepare. The trains have given up, promised refunds, and stopped. The busses have also all but stopped, and in Mossgate town centre just one or two an hour are running to the villages to ferry home those still stuck in town. Gatwick airport, which is having it's worst year since the ash clouds in 2010, has also officially given up and closed, redirecting flights to Stansted or Birmingham. Just after midnight, even the motorways close, and the smaller roads are unpassable much earlier. Panicked shoppers, trying to grab supplies for the unexpected weather, are being shooed out of stores early so that coworkers have a chance of getting home before the last transports stop. And it's still snowing. By nightfall there's almost two feet of snow, an almost unprecedented amount, and the news is talking about the possibility of powercuts and disruptions to water supplies. Sure enough, around 8PM, a powercut hits Mossgate and the surrounding area, wiping out the last of the Christmas cheer in the town centre as the festive lights go black – along with everyone's houses.

Christmas Day
Christmas morning opens to fresh, white snow all around, picture post card beautiful, and small showers keep it fresh looking for most of the day no matter how many snow angels, snowmen and igloos are built. That's probably little compensation for those stuck: the news is full of heartfelt stories of the struggle to get home for Christmas, and of locals in towns and cities along the southeast welcoming people stuck into their homes for Christmas. While the power is back on in Mossgate town centre by about midnight, the surrounding areas, including Moss Manor village, are still without power, with the word from the electricity board that it's unlikely to be fixed anytime soon. Neighbours with gas cookers and stove tops suddenly become the most popular people around (but at least with the temperatures outside dealing with food from the fridge and freezer is relatively easy).

In Moss Manor, the church hall, which has both a gas cooker and gas heating, is opened up for those who are unable to stay in their own homes. People are invited to bring along what food they have to share and join in with a community Christmas. The community feeling is only shattered when the power comes back on at 5:20PM, just before the repeat of the Queen's Speech on BBC2 and Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1 start. A short but fierce battle ensues over which to show on the big screen. With moments to go, Pat Marsh puts her foot down and casts the deciding vote for Strictly, promising that she'll show the Queen's Speech from iPlayer directly afterwards.

As if that isn't enough, Mossgate and it's surroundings have one other surprise waiting for them on Christmas morning. Father Christmas has been through the entire council area, and apparently not one single person has been good. Every fire place has been decorated with traditional stockings full of neatly wrapped coal, one stocking for each member of the family. For those who don't have a fireplace, the oven has been selected as a replacement, and the stockings hang merrily from the oven door instead. If it's a prank, it's seen as bad taste, especially in homes with small children, but it's also generally agreed that given the weather it's rather backfired (not that anyone still has a coal fire but still).

25th-30th December
The snow finally stops overnight on Christmas evening/Boxing Day morning, but it remains cold, the temperatures only picking up at the weekend. Between the remaining snow and the ice formed where it melts, transport remains awful, with the connections to the villages particularly bad. Due to the Highspeed line, the trains from Mossgate to London are back up and running by the 27th, but other routes take days to be cleared. Likewise, the motorways are at least traversable by the 26th, but some smaller roads are still unaccessible until the weekend. Food supplies are slow to come through, and when the stores reopen on Boxing Day after Christmas closures, the shelves are immediately stripped bare again, especially of essentials such as bread and milk (although anything and everything is subject to panic buying, up to and including shampoo).

All of this chaos doesn't stop some people going out to the Boxing Day sales, with queues forming outside Next, which has advertised it's traditional early opening times of 6AM, despite the cold and the snow (and the fact that they don't actually manage to open until almost 7 due to lack of staff).

But as the temperatures rise back to a seasonal temperature in the single figures, things start to return to normal in time for the count down to New Years.

Timeline:

• 24th: Heavy snow starts unexpectedly in the morning
• Transport is badly affected
• A powercut hits the Mossgate area at around 8PM
• Power is returned to Mossgate town by midnight, the villages including Moss Manor won't have power until well into the 25th

• 25th: Stockings appear overnight for each member of the family in every home containing coal
• Moss Manor church hall is opened to the community
• Moss Manor and the other villages have no power until 5PM

• 26th-29th: Panic buying and lack of supplies affects food availability
• The snow continues to affect transport

• 30th: Temperatures return to normal for the time of year (0-10c)

Comments

[vernal_miss]

23rd and 24th
Barely clear of her Numbered slumber by a day, the deepening chill in the air outside the home creeps inwards and forces Nel away from the outer walls of the home to keep sufficiently warm to ward off another bout of induced sleep. Still suffering from a lingering drowsiness so close to the solstice, she contents herself with small activities using crafts to keep her hands moving and keep her attention focused. A ball of yarn and a plastic loom keep her occupied for several hours in fact. Generally she stays curled up on the couch bundled in a blanket with a cat sharing, out where she can stay with family and amongst activity. She does nod off now and again, but she's easily roused.

At least, until the power goes out in the evening. As the warmth slips away from the home, so too goes her consciousness despite bundling up like her siblings and keeping close to someone. Trapped under sleep, she does respond the way someone in a natural deep sleep does, but there's no reaching her while the cold surrounds them.

25th
The Tilly family has their traditions, so when she awakens in the morning at the church hall, Nel is quite confused by the change in locale. Grateful for the warmth, she'll stay clinging to her family for the most part, but in the early afternoon she makes her way to a window to sit and look out at the snow with her head resting against the glass. She can see where other children are at play. Nel has never seen so much snow in her life, and to not be able to enjoy the deep white covering the ground even for a few minutes is disheartening.

Once power is restored and she returns home with her family, her spirits improve with the chance to give her gifts to them.

26th to 30th
While the cold holds on, Nel remains indoors. Thankfully she has many ways to amuse herself, including keeping the household fresh catnip supply stocked, her lovely gifts from the holiday, and a demanding sewing project of piecing together scraps of material to make a new blanket for covering her bed. A new layer certainly would add to the warmth.

27th

[fairfeste]

Like the rest of the family, Feste is damn well making sure that Nel stays warm, since that seems to be the cure to... whatever was going on with her. Numbered stuff, they figured. They hoped that they didn't wind up melting in the rain or something like that. It seems really inconvenient.

Nel may or may not be fine at the moment, but Feste comes over to wrap a blanket around here anyway while she plays with one of the cats. "You doing ok?" they ask, sitting next to her, wherever that may be.

[vernal_miss]

Draped over the arm of the couch as she guides a laser light in teasing patterns of movement on the floor and against lower vertical surfaces for one of the younger felines, Nel flinches in her shoulders when she feels the blanket come over her back and lifts her head from resting on her other forearm. She looks a little drowsy as she twists to peer over her shoulder, and smiles briefly to her eldest sibling. Reaching down to pet the cat for a few seconds in apology for the disruption of the game, she slides herself back to sit up with Feste beside her now. Nel nods her head as she slouches against the back of the couch and obediently moves to bring the blanket with herself if not neatly around all the way, "Mmhmm. A little bored is all."

Every day away from the solstice seems to help bolster the effectiveness of keeping her warm.

[fairfeste]

As soon as Feste sits, Bells the cat springs out of essentially nowhere and curls up in their lap- she's been more attached to them recently, but Feste is just chalking that up to cats being cats. "Want me to grab your sketchbook or something? Or just a book?" They could probably turn on a movie or something too.

[vernal_miss]

Surprised by the sudden arrival of Bells, Nel doesn’t think much of it as she had barely noticed Feste coming over seconds before. That Bells settles so quickly is a bit of a hamper to the offer, but it does make Nel smile in amusement, “I would, but it looks like you have a handicat.” Handicap due to the presence of a cat that limits movement specifically to avoid disturbing said cat. A movie could work for a short time, but Nel would slip off asleep once she relaxed enough.

“I don’t mind going to get something. Once I know what to get...” Drawing takes more effort than she may have to offer unless she contents herself with simplistic doodles. Something with interaction would be far more effective. “Maybe we could play a game?”

[fairfeste]

Feste grins, ruffling her hair a little at the joke. Bells purrs loudly in their lap, rubbing her face up against their side and hands. "Sure," they say, trying to give Bells all the pets she wants, "What kind of game do you want to play?" With their siblings, that could mean a whole bunch of things, but Feste at least guesses Nel won't want to run around right now.

[vernal_miss]

Ducking her head at the hair ruffling, she smiles further with a snicker. She notices how affectionate Bells is being towards Feste, and extends a hand to lend to the effort with gentle petting if Bells isn't fixated on only Feste giving the attention.

Regarding the game, she hums softly in thought, "Maybe cards. Or a board game... Or a puzzle would be fun." Nel definitely has no intention of trying to engage in a more physical game, especially while they are still stuck indoors. "Which one sounds better?"

[fairfeste]

Bells accepts Nel's pets, at least, but she'll stay put in Feste's lap for the moment. "How about a puzzle?" they suggest, looking over towards the bookcase where they're kept, "I know we've got a bunch- you got a few for Christmas too, didn't you?" It might be good to work through some of them.

[vernal_miss]

With no obvious signs of rejection towards her contribution to petting, Nel continues a little longer before she has to stop to look over at the bookcase as well to pick out details on the sides for identification. The newest ones are easy enough to spot, and she nods, “Yep. We should put a new jigsaw together. Maybe the one of the stars over the sea?”

Choice essentially made, now the hurdle of moving from the couch must be overcome. One foot drags out from the blanket over the front edge of the couch, followed by the other. A pause to consider, then she lets go of the blanket and pushes back with her shoulders to slide her hips forward while her legs hang down. Oozing her way forward, she pauses again with her feet on the floor and her body still reclined half in the blanket. Allowing herself a couple cycles of breathing first, Nel then manages to sit up and push through up to stand to shuffle over to the bookcase and slide the box free to carry back to the couch.

[fairfeste]

"Nel, I can get it--" Even with a cat on their lap, their little sister's condition is worrying enough that Feste wasn't really going to make her move. But... if she's got it, then they're just going to make sure she's wrapped securely in the blankets once she gets back.

Bells, sensing Feste's motives, will even move to sit on Nel to make sure she doesn't do that again. And so that the warmth of the cat might seep into her.

[vernal_miss]

“I know, but I shouldn’t sit for too long either. That’s as bad as doing too much,” she assures them, knowing she needs to be active to a degree to ward off the worst of the fatigue. Bringing the sealed box over, she sets it on the couch, and heads for the kitchen to get a knife for opening it. By the time she walks back, her stride has improved in both cadence and length. The knife of course is immediately offered to Feste so they can open the box.

Rather than climbing back up on the couch next to Feste, Nel sits down on the floor so they have a place to work together. Accepting the blanketing without fuss, she is surprised when Bells abandons a perfectly good lap to pin her angled legs down instead. Tilting her head, she reaches to scritch behind the cat’s ear, “Huh... You were fixated on Feste a second ago.”

[fairfeste]

Bells just looks up at her, eyes perhaps a little too understanding of the situation as she purrs, nuzzling into Nel and kneeding the blanket on her lap as she settles there. "Yeah, she's been following me around a lot lately," Feste says, taking the knife to the wrapping and pealing the plastic off the box and sitting next to Nel, "And I swear she's gotten better and sneaking up on me. But, you know, cat. Maybe that's a skill they get better at when they get older."

Bells's purrs rumble, almost like laughter in Nel's lap. Feste doesn't dump out the pieces, instead grabbing a handful for them to start with and dropping those on the floor.

[vernal_miss]

Working on the puzzle with a cat in her lap will make this far more difficult than if she could crawl around, but it is rather hard to deny Bells the space when she is acting so affectionate. Hand brushing lightly over the cat’s back as she pushes the folds of the blanket into an acceptable arrangement, Nel watches as Feste opens the box before lowering to the floor with her. “Maybe. I suppose you could put a bell on Bells, but that’d take away all her fun, wouldn’t it?” The last said to the cat with humor and a good scratch at the base of her tail.

“Thanks for opening it,” Nel says as she looks at the first scoop of pieces. Step one is to find edge and corner pieces, so she gingerly pushes the pieces around to separate them and pinch out those key ones. As she does this, she idly pets Bells with her other hand to oblige what she thinks the cat wants.

[fairfeste]

Feste laughs. "Yeah, it would, and I get the feeling she wouldn't like it very much," they say, and Bells purrs her agreement, tucking her head down and curling in, showing her intent to not move for a while.

"No problem." Feste starts looking for edge pieces, not trying to push them together right now and just finding them, so Nel can start figuring out where they go if she wants.

25th

[catted]

Mary Ann rolls her eyes when people argue that they should watch the Queen instead of Strictly Come Dancing and leans back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "Seriously?

Nel, Feste," and then follow the names of her other children, "if there's a vote, you will vote for Strictly, all right?" Not that she thinks that she has to ask. But better to be safe than sorry.

[fairfeste]

"Uh... ok, mum." Feste hadn't really been paying attention, in all honesty, because-- "Did we mean to bring cats with us?"

Because Bells is somehow there, trotting over with a purr and curling up in their lap. And they don't remember trying to bring her, because she's been very cranky about carriers recently.

[catted]

Mary Ann, who can see at least two cats hanging out in their vicinity, just shrugs. "It's not like you can stop cats, can you?

They'll go where they want." And since she can never tell if anyone else can see a given cat that she can see these days, she's just. Not going to comment on numbers at all.

[fairfeste]

"I guess that's true." And Bells seems happy to be here, curled up and warm in Feste's lap. Though she doesn't seem to have any snow on her paws...

They shrug, petting her and looking around at the rest of the people in the church. "Is power out for everyone?"

[vernal_miss]

Having been half dozing yet again when her name is spoken, Nel startles out of it with her head lifting off the back of the chair she had occupied by her family. Automatically, she answered in a drowsy voice, “’kay, Mum,” in company with the others as she tries to piece together the instruction. Something about Strictly? Luckily, she can watch her siblings for cues.

Hands rubbing at her face, she turns herself off slanted knees to plop back in the seat facing forward rather than sideways to remove the support that had been allowing her to watch other people in the hall without holding herself upright and thus falling asleep. Nel manages to catch up with the conversation as she spots Bells. Even she had managed to get herself here through the snow.

Unable to answer regarding the power, Nel continues to listen rather than interrupt.

[catted]

The cat currently hanging out on the table next to Mary (which is the one that's invisible to everyone else, not that she can tell), doesn't have snow on their paws either, so Mary isn't even surprised by that.

Maybe her father is right and everything is magic, she's at that level of exasperation when it comes to weird things right now.

"They seem to have had power back for a while over in Mossgate. With it being back here I wonder if our house has power again, too..." And now she wonders if they've really turned everything off before leaving... they really should head back soon and check. Soonish. It's not like they could have left any fires on or the gas open, so there's no actual rush. They can stay and watch Strictly in company, and then leave and check. Or rather, some of the family will stay here with Nel while someone checks.

And if it's the Queen's speech that wins the vote? Well, someone will go to check sooner.

[fairfeste]

Feste nods, absently petting Bells, who meows at Mary like she has something to say. But she is a cat, so they might never know. "I can go check?" they offer, even though with the cat where she is it's a little hard for them to do much of anything at the moment.

[catted]

"If you could go check, that'd be great.

Not that I'll stop you from being a cat chair," she adds with a smile and leans back to lean over and have a closer look at Nel. "How are you feeling, Nel?" She's been a bit more awake since they got here, but the sleepiness persists, and so does Mary's worry.

[vernal_miss]

The possibility of power available at home gives Nel a glimmer of hope that their family could leave soon from the hall. If they get home before dinner then perhaps the holiday won’t be wholly spoiled on her account. That, however, seems to depend on the whim of a cat who is occupying the lap of her eldest sibling and has been rather clingy as of late. Antsy or not, she may as well settle back down.

Drifting gradually back in her seat as she starts to slouch, the girl perks as soon as attention turns to her with Mum leaning over, and she puts up a smile as she nods, “Fine. A little bored is all.” Only a few full days out from her coma, she has improved from falling asleep at regular intervals to falling asleep every so often.

[catted]

"Well, there's stuff on the telly now," she points out one source of possible entertainment, "and we've got books and a few games of cards in the backpack." She's been a mother for too long to leave the house without at least an attempt to take along things that will entertain the children.

Sadly finding a way to let Nel play outside with some of the other children is not a thing that she can offer. As amazing as the snow is, there's no doubt that Nel would immediately fall asleep if she steps out into it.

[vernal_miss]

Three choices for a distraction put forward, Nel nods and readily makes a selection, “I can listen to the telly. Thanks, Mum.” Given her dozing tendency, she would rather not join those immediately around the television, but listening from a distance would suffice if she tried to imagine her own picture to match what she hears. A book might normally be more tempting, but Nel had trouble at school before slipping into a coma of reading the same line over and over, and expects the same now. As for cards, she doesn’t want to bother anyone to play.

Rather than sink back in her seat, Nel leans forward to prop on her elbows. Honestly, she will keep her attention mostly on her family and half listen to the telly. It will keep her mind off the snow she is missing outside. Watching the other kids playing earlier in the day had been better than nothing at all.