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Who: Julien, Gabriel, and Liam
Where: Germany, some woodsy mountainous campsite
When: Dec 15
What: Julien's preincarnation led a bonfire cult once. How better to poke at that echo than by hanging out roasting marshmallows?

At this altitude things were colder and traces of snow showed in places where they could escape the sun, but it was still warm enough that the surroundings tended towards damp. Picnic benches and a locked-up bathroom attested to people camping here sometimes. They weren't here now.

The time difference was noticeable here - it was two hours behind the time in Vegas, six hours behind the time in Locke, so it seemed to anyone not used to this time zone that the sun set late. The trees blocked the view of it for some time before the sky went dark.

Julien stepped back from the flame as it caught on the carefully stacked wood, sighing with relief. "I'm not on fire. Go me." He looked back over his shoulder at the two friends he'd asked to come. His hooded cloak contrasted with the paleness of his feathers. "Seriously, thanks for meeting me out here, guys."

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"Congratulations. I won't need the fire extinguisher yet, then." Gabriel draws his gaze away from the stars for long enough to check that the fire seems to be set properly, before he returns it skywards. He can't help it; it seems like ages since he had the time to relax outside and star gaze properly, at least where the sky is this clear. He's spent much more time on his patio at home trying to star gaze than he normally would at this time of year lately, but the city skies can never compare.

Forcing his attention back to the younger two men, he pushes the bag at his feet closer towards them. "Food first or your ritual thing?"

If only there was more snow. Julien's feathers itched to take some kind of advantage of distracted Gabriel. Snowballs would be perfect, even if that was a fight he'd lose in the end.

"We can go with food. It's been a while since dinner - you found those vegan sausages? Good." A dinner with meat dishes was one thing, but bringing real meat and Liam to something like this would just feel wrong.

Being out in the woods has Liam more relaxed and quiet than you usually see him. He's also stargazing, so he's not really paying attention to the other two for a while. Of course, you say one of his favorite keywords and he's back at attention.

"...Vegan what now?"

"Vegan sausages. And, let's see now." There's a crinkling of foil as he rummages in his bag, pulling out items and passing them towards his friends. "There's buns too, and chocolate and marshmallows and those biscuit cracker things, and some potatoes as well."

Straightening up with the potatoes, already foil wrapped, he smiles. "We should put these in first, they'll take a while."

They're both so spacy. It's probably a good thing he's the only one who can see stars in the day or they'd both have to stay indoors.

"Oooh. You've gotta do that, I'm trying not to get my feathers burned." Hungry again - since ending up with more stomachs he's been wanting to fill them more often - he uses those feathers to handle the s'mores ingredients and start pulling them open. "Graham crackers! They were invented by this guy who thought eating the blandest stuff possible stopped people from wanting to have sex. Then he died and the company added flavors." He gets the box open and holds a cracker in his mouth.

Liam gets up to get closer to the bonfire for warmth and inspect the food.´"Are they organic potatoes?"

When Julien mentions the story behind graham crackers, he gives him a look. "...you know some weird stuff, man," he pauses. "So what is this about again?"

Gabriel hums, looking at the crackers again. "You say that, but I've heard the same said about cornflakes. Or is it that they were made for a mental hospital?" He pauses, chewing on his lip as he tries to recall. "Something like that, anyway.

And yes, the potatoes are organic. Don't worry, we thought of you before I went shopping." Although Gabriel's going to have to be more careful about this sort of thing once his last paycheck comes in at the end of the month. He should still be all right to get by, and he's never been one to over spend, it'll just mean paying a bit more attention. "You said there was some sort of a ritual?" He asks Julien as he leans forward, poking the fire with a stick to see if there's enough heat to place the potatoes yet.

"Right, they were invented at the same time! Lots of people thought tasteless wholesome food would soak up the sin-juices. And then sugar and all that unwholesome flavory stuff had to be added so it'd sell better," he says fondly, finishing the cracker.

"I put this cloak on and I got a pulse, so now I know the rites for like... using a fire like this to commune with the moon and stars." He shakes his head. It still sounds ridiculous, not at all what he would have expected from the Apostle. "I was hoping if I came out here and had a fire maybe I could get another one and some context, but I really don't want to actually end up believing some of that stuff. Oh, and I wanted to hang out with you guys."

"I'm not entirely sure they managed the wholesome food, even before we count in the sugar added later. But yes, boring food, boring people. How did no one see it before?" He snorts, poking the fire more and leaning in closer. He's probably a little too close, but the heat isn't bothering him. Pushing the embers aside, he puts the potatoes in and covers them back up, before setting an alarm on his phone so he doesn't forget them.

Sitting back, he smiles at Liam. "So we get to be the acolytes. Possibly wave some incense. And make sure that Julien doesn't set fire to himself."

"'Sin-juices?'" Liam gives a Julien some serious side-eye, then turns to Gabriel... who also gets some of that side-eye action. "'Acolytes?' We're not like... summoning anything, are we?"

The last thing he wanted was one of those fire demons.

Julien reluctantly fights off the urge to pat Liam on the head.

"No, no! There's rites for summoning something but I have no plans to set a thousand fires for this and find someone unblemished and white to sacrifice." He rolls his eyes and flicks a wing. "White-feathered, I think. I don't really think that'd even work, the Apostle didn't really think so. He put that stuff in to make his followers happy."

Just as well it seemed that difficult. The Apostle might not have believed he could actually do it but Julien really didn't want to risk actually summoning the god of the fire. "No, this is just... I can say some things and burn some old feathers, and supposedly that lets the stars know we're thinking of them. I guess."

One of Gabriel's eyebrows rises at the mention of summoning something - but that does sound a lot more complicated than what we're doing. "We'll be fine. I trust him." He reassures Liam, sitting back. "If he starts lighting more fires then we'll hit him. There's nothing wrong with a bit of star gazing."

And as he says it, his eyes drift back upwards, back to the stars. He watches them for a moment, then shakes his head and turns his attention back to Julien. "So what do we do?"

Liam relaxes a touch at Gabriel's words - not that he didn't trust Julien either, but you never know when you were dealing with this sort of thing. Still, the idea of communing with the stars was appealing.

"Do you think the stars will say anything back?"

Then, hearing Gabriel's question, he turns to Julien to listen.

With a snort Julien raises a wing and folds most of the mobile feathers on it, trying to flip Gabriel off. "If they start talking I can't say I wouldn't be scared. Look for like meteors, they're supposed to mean... something, I don't know."

"Well, uh... I guess you watch me." Julien struts a step or two closer to the fire, stands taller, and opens and stretches his wings out and up dramatically. His feathers are orange in the firelight. He's self-conscious at first, taking on a hoarser and more fervent version of his voice. "We are the flock of the campfire! We are those who flicker in the jet-black darkness, love the pale moon and stars, and treasure together the light of the watch fire! Hear me! This is that priceless time!" By then he's shouting.

Caught off guard by his own performance, Julien's wings sag and, more normally, he says "Now I ramble on about how all fires are one fire so the stars are with us, our souls make the stars burn, I ask for guidance and give thanks for food."

The idea of the stars speaking back to them makes Gabriel think of those Gods that he regained the memory of, of Varda. But he keeps his thoughts to himself for now, aside from a soft smile, as he gathers his attention to Julien and his performance.

Well, at least it's fun to watch, though Gabriel can't help but watch closely as he flares his wings, a touch worried that he'll catch them in the fire. "Sounds fairly elvish to me." Gabriel chuckles. "Perhaps pigeons and elves walked together after all." And speaking of food, he leans forward to nudge the potatoes further in.

Liam thinks the thing is all rather ridiculous, so he covers his mouth to block his amused smile from showing before he can get it under control. After all, pointed ears were kind of silly too.

When Gabriel mentions the connection with the Elvish version of stars, Liam looks thoughtful, then nods. "Yeah, kind of similar, I guess. I don't think we do like... bonfires about it though." He turns to Gaberiel. "Do we?"

"Is there something I can throw at Gabe?" Julien wonders aloud. There are, but he continues. "No... I'll just have to surprise him later."

He looks up at sparks flying up towards the night sky, feels the heat press on his face and feathers while his friends talk.

More quietly he says, "In every time, in every age, you pour yourself out for us. We are but common pigeons drowning in a maelstrom, significant as gnats to your eyes, yet you bless us with light uncounted. Oh god of the fire, illuminate for your faithful the path to follow."

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Yeah guess what loser managed to delete both alerts

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