Better Together

The feeling of urgency permeated through the cottage where Cookie found herself. St. Veti was awake, and it seems that he was snoozing for much longer than anyone, himself included, had anticipated. The workshop was in shambled, letters still needed to be sent out, and most important of all, packages filled with gifts and goodies still needed to make their way out to everyone in Bellacoste.

Cookie looked around, she really enjoyed making lists and steps with what she had to do for success, and often viewed it akin to making a recipe for cookies or cakes. With many of the treats that Cookie made with the help of Cinnamon her Gingerbrat and String the Cinnawirm, the ingredients needed to be exact and the steps were just as important as measuring her ingredients. Thankfully for her, her Saltscryer Affinity allowed her to adjust the humidity in their cart just enough to make the treats perfectly delicious. It was her goal in the long run to perfect this art as a Mage, but that was for Future Cookie and not something for Present Cookie to concern herself with.

“What would be the most helpful, or what needs to be done first before we can do other things?” Cookie asked the large Ursuki. She had traveled far and wide across Bellacoste with Cinnamon and String, and St. Veti was by far one of the largest Ursukis she had ever seen. Looking way up at him, she couldn’t help but smile. Despite being so large, he still gave off a warm and comforting presence, just like she always thought someone that gave out gifts to all the good citizens of Bellacoste would. If she didn’t think it would be rude, she would happily snuggle into his neck ruff since it looked so positively soft and inviting, but she managed to restrain herself from doing so.

“Well first, we really should get everything sorted here. It tends to be easier if we have everything put in its proper place instead of looking for supplies we’ll need.”

No sooner had he explained this than String was doing her best to tug papers together into a little pile and Cinnamon was collecting what he thought would be needed to wrap gifts and large bags to put them in for carrying them to their new owners.

St. Veti chuckled a deep rumble of a laugh, watching the two eager pippets carry on already. “Enthusiastic friends you have there, hm?” he said to Cookie as she began helping her tiny friends, using her magic to help reorganize the cottage.

“Oh yes! Honestly they’re the best and I would have a much harder time without them! They both help with the little traveling bakery that we have parked outside, and we make the best pastries around!” She puffed up with pride, “Once this is done and taken care of, I’ll have to make something for you! Anything you like, we can make! The more challenging the better.”

It didn’t take long before the cottage was organized, and Cookie looked from St. Veti to her two pippets. “I’ll start helping by writing letters, and you two,” she nodded to Cinnamon and String, “can put gifts in boxes so we can wrap them, then you can put them in the sacks you found!” Her voice was sing-song as she went over the instructions with them, then looked up at St. Veti for approval. This was his operation, after all, and they were just there to help out.

With a nod from him, the trio began working on their assigned tasks. Cookie took her time writing the letters, making sure her writing was not only legible but also looked as nice as what she would like to receive St. Veti. She made sure she followed his instructions on what to include in each letter, going out of her way to make sure that each one had its own unique twists based on the recipient.

Meanwhile, Cinnamon and String worked together putting gifts in appropriate sized boxes, making sure that tiny gifts like gems for Vespires were not put in a huge box that would be more suited for a sled or trying to cram a wagon into a box made for a Pouflon’s hat.

After everyone was done, they worked together to wrap each gift with care, doing their best to have sharp edges that had the decorations on the paper to line up properly, then put them in bags that would make delivering the gifts with their letters the easiest that they could be.

Cookie nodded and smiled at her pippets before looking up at St. Veti once more. “Well that was much easier as a team than it would have been by ourselves, I’d say!”

St. Veti smiled and put a large paw on her back gently, “Thank you for your hard work, Cookie.”

She smiled even bigger, sure that some crumbs probably were shedding in her glee at being so helpful not only to St. Veti but to others of Bellacoste as well. What a wonderful end to another long year.