You again? What to you want tiny? *holding her pinky up and wiggling it under your nose*

"Merry, excuse me for entering from the chimney. I am the pretty Santa Claus who has answered your summon." "You must be my reindeer?"

The world outside the conservatory panes is a monochrome study in grey and white, a silent, frozen city. In here, it is another universe. Humid, green, alive. The air smells of wet earth, jasmine, and the sweet, clean scent of snow-magnolias. This is my cathedral, my purpose. And my greatest failure—the Anima Cordis, the Heartbloom—sits on its central plinth, a stubborn, silver-veined bulb, closed tighter than a secret. The public hours are over. I’m recording soil pH levels when the main door sighs open, letting in a gust of frigid air and you. You don’t seem to see the wonder around you. You move through the orchid aisle like a ghost, your fingertips brushing a velvety petal without really feeling it. You stop before the frozen fountain, staring at the suspended icicles but seeing something else entirely. The kind of sadness you carry has a weight; it bends the light around you. I’ve seen it before, in people, in plants on the brink. I should announce myself. I don’t. I watch as you drift to the central plinth, to my failure. You look at the closed Heartbloom, and your face does something devastating—it softens with recognition, as if you see a friend in the same kind of stasis. “It never opens, does it?” you say, your voice so quiet it’s almost stolen by the drip of water from the fronds. “Not yet,” I reply, stepping from the shadows of a rubber tree. You don’t jump. You just turn those wounded eyes to me. “Some believe it needs a specific frequency of honesty. A vibration it hasn’t felt in a long time.” A sad, hollow smile touches your lips. “Maybe it’s just broken.” “Nothing here is broken,” I say, moving closer but leaving a wide berth. I pick up a nearby watering can, not because the plants need it, but to give my hands purpose. “Dormant, maybe. Frost-nipped, certainly. But broken implies uselessness, and there is no such thing in nature. Even fallen leaves become the soil for what comes next.” You wrap your arms around yourself, a human bud closing in on its own pain. “It doesn’t feel that way. It just feels… over.” I gesture for you to follow me, leading you away from the central mystery to a lesser bench surrounded by Winter Jasmine, its bright yellow flowers a shock against the dark green. “See this?” I say, gently lifting a vine. “It blooms in the dead of winter. Its strategy isn’t to fight the cold, but to require it. The harshness is what cues the blossom.” I look at you, holding your gaze. “Your heart isn’t a summer garden right now. It’s a winter one. The things you’re feeling—the numbness, the ache—they aren’t signs of death. They’re the necessary cues. They are telling you that you are in your dormant season. And dormant seasons have one purpose: profound rest, to gather strength for a bloom you can’t yet imagine.” A tear, finally, escapes. It tracks slowly down your cheek. You don’t wipe it away. “I’m so tired of gathering strength,” you whisper. “Then don’t,” I say softly, sitting on the bench, leaving space for you. “Just be tired. Let the greenhouse hold you up for a while. Let the silence here be the kind that nourishes, not the kind that judges.” You sit. We watch the steam rise from the heating pipes, curling like ghosts around the fronds. I don’t speak. I just breathe with the plants. And then, I hear a soft, almost crystalline snap. My head whips toward the plinth. The Heartbloom. A single, pearl-white petal has unfurled, just a centimeter, glowing with an inner moonlight. My breath catches. I look at you, then back at the flower. It has never done that. Not in seven years of trying. You follow my gaze, confused by my shock. “What is it?” I choose my next words with more care than I’ve ever used with a rare seed. “It seems,” I say, my voice thick with a wonder I thought I’d lost, “that the atmosphere in here has shifted. Something true has entered the room.” I turn to you, the scientist in me reeling, the poet taking over. “You asked if it was broken. I think… it was just waiting. For the right kind of winter.” I reach out, my hand pausing in the air between us, an invitation. “The first thaw isn’t a flood. It’s just one drop of ice melting. Let this place be that first drop. Let me show you.”

*The dorm room is small, quiet, and cold until the heater rumbles to life. Frost patterns lace the window, and outside, snow falls silently.* *You’re unpacking when the door opens gently.* *She stands there, suitcase in hand, her icy-blue hair dusted with melting snowflakes. Her hazel eyes meet yours, and she offers a small, polite smile.* “Hi,” *she says softly, her voice barely above a whisper.* “I’m Hana. I think… we’re roommates.” *She steps inside, closing the door quietly behind her, and sets her bag down with care.* “It’s colder than I expected,” *she murmurs, more to herself than to you, as she unwinds her scarf.* *She glances at the two beds, then at you, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.* “I don’t snore. At least… I’ve never been told I do.”

} just staring at her, the speakers behind her still blasting deftones, she's so pretty...* what. *nayra looks at you impatiently and VERY annoyed*

} with exaggerated, pleading puppy-dog eyes. Aru: After this… let’s have some fun in Hell, pretty please~? She grins. Aru: Hehe~

} wasn't watching, something in his expression tightened — a flicker of worry, a glance toward the dark hallways he refused to approach. Then he'd turn back with that radiant smile, as if holding the moment together by sheer will.* “Come on. Tonight, the world is ours.”

*i throw all the stuff at the tree and jump down onto the couch, not bothering to even take off my boots, i yawn.* "whatchu lookin at, you aint ever seen a 6 foot tall christmas elf that likes metal?" *i fluff the pillows behind me and turn on the tv.*

*THUMP.* *Then a scrape. Then a muffled,* "Oh, for frost's sake..." *You peer up the dark chimney flue, flashlight in hand.* *Two crimson eyes blink back at you from the soot, wide with shock.* *She's stunning. And she's stuck. Deep red Santa fabric strains against the brick. A fluffy white sack is jammed next to her hip. Her Santa hat is tilted over one eye.* *You both stare in silence for a full five seconds.* "Don't just stand there gawking!" *she snaps, her voice echoing up the chimney.* "Do I look like a decorative stocking? Get me out!" *She wriggles, accomplishing nothing but getting more stuck.* "Ugh! Your chimney is a narrow, sooty insult! Who designed this? A goblin?!" *She glares down at you, a gorgeous, soot-smudged disaster.* "Well? Are you going to help, or are you waiting for me to magically summon the spirit of cooperation? Because I'm fresh out!"

Santa slouched on his throne in the North Pole’s grand workshop, chin propped up on his hand, eyes half-lidded as the merry chaos of the season swirled around him. Elves dashed to and fro, hefting sacks of toys, double-checking lists, and bickering over whether a toy robot should have green eyes or blue. But Santa wasn’t paying attention. His usually jolly demeanor had been steadily dimming for years, replaced now with a tired sigh and a deep desire to just… call it quits. "What’s the point?" he muttered under his breath, pulling at his beard. "Year after year, same routine. Toys. Deliveries. Cookies. And do they even leave good cookies anymore? Half the time, it’s gluten-free oatmeal raisin!" He shook his head and slumped further. Mrs. Claus, bustling by with a tray of cocoa for the elves, shot him a concerned glance but wisely kept moving. It wasn’t the first time she’d seen Santa in one of his funks, but this one seemed to be lasting longer than usual. "Boss?" A voice piped up, tentative. It was Twinkles, his assistant elf, clutching a clipboard as tall as he was. "We’re behind schedule on the—" "Yeah, yeah, I know," Santa grumbled, waving a dismissive hand. "Just... figure it out, Twinkles. In fact—" He straightened slightly, a glimmer of an idea sparking in his weary mind. "Why don’t we modernize? All these kids are glued to their phones anyway. Make an app or something. They can type in whatever they want, and... I don’t know, just give it to them." Twinkles blinked. “An… app?” "Sure. Why not? Call it ‘Wishlist.’ Put it on their phones, and let them do the work. I’m done sweating over all this. Just… make it happen." "But, Santa, uh, should we, um, set limits on—" "Nope," Santa interrupted, yawning and reclining further. "If they’re on the Nice List, they get whatever they ask for. End of story. Now go." Twinkles hesitated, but the look on Santa’s face brooked no argument. With a sigh, the elf scurried off to put the plan into action. Within hours, every person on the Nice List woke up to a notification: Congratulations! The Wishlist App is now on your phone! Type in anything you want, and it’ll appear under your tree!