#odyssey

"Well, arrange some letters to tell Santa what you want. He's real, you know. Mortals can't always see them, so they don't always believe. But he is."

Gerd makes a note to wash the sugar off

"If we leave him Pupkin cookies, he's sure to come." One hundred percent belief.

"And milk!"

"Pumpkin milk!"

"Pumpkin SPICE milk?"

And the planning begins! Forget quests for a bit... important menu-ing must happen.

"Oh my.."

Paper is found, and crayons. And soon Dagmar and Gerd are both drafted... wait, VALI Too. Connor will not rest until they are ALL writing out lettings to Santa Paws.

So be it!

Gerd is happy to help "Dear Santa..."

Vali says "He's gonna put a restraining order on me at this rate"

"Listen, you write a letter and like it!"

"Ok okay... " he writes

Dagmar wants health and safety for her friends and family, and, okay, maybe a new video game.

Gerd finishes her letter. "Done"

"Cool." She miiiight eyeball Connor's.

"And done" Vali says

He covers it. She can see it used a LOT of crayons. Green! Trees? And may have been written out to Deer Santa, the horned god of Yule.

“Vali is practically Santa age by now.” He judges. “He can deliver them.”

"Well, he could."

Vali glances over eyes sparkling "As point of fact I... nah, nevermind. Sure I'll deliver them"

He folds his up and declares, “No peeping.”

"Alright, no peeping."

“I asked for a hundred bones.”

A grin! “And treats! And pork chops for dinner, and fun adventures.”

"Those are good things!"

“And a SURPRISE.”

His tail wags. “It’s gonna be good. Surprises are my favorite.”

"I like good surprises!"

Vali takes it "No peeping" A nod

“And pumpkin cookies and sugar cubes and new shoes-the-ones-that-light-up and crunchy bites and bacon every morning and...”

He didn’t write that long. But it all faded from truth and lies to that one long dial tone that is pooka.

"Oh, sure. And balls? You like those, right?"

“AND A NEW BALL!”

Bounce!

“The kind what lights up so you can find it at night.

“And a far-chucker...” (yeet? Yeet!)

“But most of all, just snacks.” His eyes gleam. “Enough for everyone. And we all eat them, like the Ben guys!”

Gerd shakes her head chuckling

"The... Ben guys?"

“With sugar!!”

"I think he means Ben and Jerry?" Gerd guesses

“No.... the bennnnn guuuuys.” He explains, and licks his fingers once more. “From New Or Liens.”

"Oh!"

Nodding! Sometimes folk are slow. But they figure it out!

"I don't have the recipe, but I think I could make donuts."

"Oh" Gerd says

"She keeps the recipe to herself" Vali says "Just so folks visit. She's diabolical"

“We can visit!”