Winning a gold on a day so close to Glassmas had side effects: the fanfare of the podium celebration was quickly overshadowed by a mad dash to decorate the entire athlete’s village in time for the holidays.
“Alright, this is the last one,” called Stinger, dragging an enormous box behind them. They peered up. “Shouldn’t you move away from the edge?”
Foggy looked down from their position on the roof. “I’m not scared of heights,” they said passively, paying no heed to their precarious position. Stinger snorted, then tossed up a Gordian Knot of string lights to them.
“Untangle those, then,” they drawled, diving back into the box. Foggy frowned at the cluster of wires they’d been saddled with, but got to work anyway.
Glidavik’s limited daylight had run out by the time all the decorations were put up, but it was just as well. As Bumble rounded the corner, Foggy connected the plugs, causing all the lights to turn on at once and a gasp of delight from the captain.
“Thank you so much for your help,” smiled Bumble as Foggy descended. “Any way I can return the favor? Buzznya goes all in for Glassmas, but I don’t know what Mt. Huaze does…”
“It’s probably classified,” snarked Stinger, closing up the ladder. Bumble shot them a disapproving look.
“It’s an outsider holiday,” Foggy evaded, prompting an eye roll from Stinger.
“Can’t give a straight answer, can you –”
“I’m so sorry about them,” Bumble said quickly. They withdrew a box of cookies. “Take these, I insist. Congratulations on your gold, Foggy, and Merry Glassmas.”
Foggy nodded in thanks. The decorations that the Hazers had applied to their little spot in the athletes’ village were more for the sake of blending in than anything else, especially with the winter solstice having already passed them, but a holiday was a holiday, and no one would refuse a reprieve from the chain of nonstop tournament events. The cookies they had just acquired would at least be a welcome addition to the dinner they were attending tonight with the Raspberry Racers and the Green Ducks.
On the way back, Foggy stopped at a doorstep, placed down a box tied with silver ribbon, then moved on to disappear into the snow flurries and rejoin their team.
The tag attached to the ribbon fluttered in the wind. Thank you for the advice, Mocha. – F.
The flat Snowfall and Snowdrift shared was rather nice. Two bedrooms, a modern building, an open-plan kitchen-dining area from which one could observe Osnow city center. But Osnow wasn’t much to look at on a midsummer day like this, the humidity of early August bringing with it only dreary clouds.
Snowfall passed a hot coffee over the dining counter through to a lounging Snowdrift.
“Aw, thank you,” they replied.
As Snowfall sat down themself, the window’s view made them grimace. “This weather’s terrible, isn’t it?” they mumbled, counting back mentally to the city’s last sunny day. Five days, at least. “We really should move.”
“You always say that,” Snowdrift replied, muffled by their being pressed up to the sofa’s armrest. “I’m bored. Show me more of those baby photos of you with reindeer.”
Snowfall rolled their eyes, but obliged anyway. “You always ask for that.” Phone, apps, gallery – ugh, so many notifications. I shouldn’t have slept in.
Out of some sense of anxiety, Snowfall detoured to their emails anyway, scrolling past a package delay notification and chainmail from their grandmarble to [URGENT] Marble Athletes Needed For Tryouts.
It sounded too good to be true, but it wouldn’t hurt to give it a scan.
Across the room, Snowdrift was growing impatient. Snowfall had promised them adorable photos of giant gangly-legged herbivores snuffling at a swaddled tiny them, and so far they were failing to deliver. “What’s the hold-up?” they grumbled.
“Snowdrift. Are we free Tuesday next week?”
Snowdrift’s entire demeanor sharpened. “Sure. What’s up?”
Snowfall almost couldn’t say it. It really was good. “Duos tryouts for a ‘major league team’, held in Osnow.”
“No way.”
Snowfall beamed. “Yes way.”
Neither said anything, but they knew it all the same – if not now, when?
(Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)
Rezzy and Jump strolled slowly across the central brick-paved path of the athletes’ village snow-dusted courtyard. Dark clouds broke in patches to reveal stray stars, and wind whipped against their woolen scarves and cloaks.
“…you know, because I always have Sand Rally, my team gave me Snow Rally ahead of time, and that’s how I ended up skiing… well, it worked out.”
Caught in the middle of a sip of coffee, Rezzy shrugged before speaking. “Two words: Fearo incident two-point-oh. Or the track melts, and boom, water race.”
“It’s so cold out here,” Jump grumbled. “Nothing’s going to melt.”
“Missing home?” Rezzy asked. They’d gone in circles two, maybe three times. Heading indoors was an option, but the air was clean and crisp out here, and it was easier to think.
“Home, Kinikolu, anywhere where the temperature’s above the negatives every day. Jokes on you, though, because you’ve got to stay here for All-Stars, and I get to go home.”
“Will you come back to watch the Showdown?” Rezzy asked. “I will.”
“If I’m not busy. But you’ve gotta support Diego, right?”
Rezzy beamed through the darkness. So predictable. “Yeah! You know, they’re flying in with their team to watch the finale on Sunday.”
“You two get along so well. Heck, I remember when you cried after me and Diego left!”
Rezzy stopped dead in their tracks. “Wait, what? I didn’t – I didn’t do that.”
Crap! Thought Jump. They had seen Rezzy crying – but Rezzy didn’t know that. They’d been spying on them, after all. “Uh, well. The thing about that is that, um… I sort of –”
“Ahem.” Somewhere in the middle of their conversation, Snowy had snuck up behind them and began to observe. “Since when were you two so buddy-buddy?”
Rezzy grinned smugly and nudged Jump in the side. “We’ve been pals since back in Kinikolu, haven’t we?”
Phew, Jump thought. Snowy came right on time. “Yeah! Plus, we’re the two winners of the Glassmas races, so it makes total sense that we hang out.”
Jump grinned and leaned against Rezzy’s side, creating a casual half-hug. “Yeah! Actually, we were just hanging out on Glassmas. We thought we’d give back to everyone, so we spent the whole day delivering gifts to the rest of the athletes.”
Snowy’s eyes went dark and their bottom lip curled, startling Jump. Somehow, the air around them had gotten even colder. What? What’s Snowy’s problem with us giving out gifts?
“Snowy, I –” Jump began.
“So, it’s one of you who put a copy of ‘The Guide to Workplace Conflict Resolution’ through my mailbox in the dead of night?”
Jump grimaced. Ugh, Rezzy…!
(Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)
Celeste: I didn’t even know they had Rosakan food in Glidavik.
Celeste: Did your flight land safely?
Black Hole: Yes, thank you. We touched down about half an hour ago.
Black Hole: Apologies for not being able to meet you when you flew in.
Celeste: Don’t worry about it. Take care.
“Coach, is everything alright?”
It was still so strange to hear Cosmo call them coach. Until now it had always been Celeste, or Celestina, or occasionally their actual title, Assistant Coach Celestina.
They placed their phone down next to the half-empty bowl of noodles. “Apologies. Just a few important messages.”
“Well, feel free to go outside if you need to.” Cosmo’s own hot, brothy soup, mostly untouched, hid their face through a curtain of steam.
“It’s fine. Let’s not interrupt a team dinner.”
“Cheers!”
All six members of the Raspberry Racers clinked glasses of champagne to the tune of festive music from back home in Rubow, stickying each other with tiny drops of foam. The centerpiece of their common room table was a short-notice red velvet party cake, now mostly cut apart.
With the schedule passing at such a fast clip, there was barely any time for post-event celebrations. Rizzy needed to be in good condition to face the final event, after which there would be much grander and more formal celebrations. That wasn’t even considering the fatigue they’d put on after having their joint Glassmas dinner with the Green Ducks and Hazers and Rezzy’s Ski Rally celebration in such quick succession. Still, to avoid the backlog of festivities growing even more unmanageable, it was best to have some small party now.
Things were going entirely to plan until there was a knock at the door, unusual for the time of night.
“We’re probably being too loud,” Berry suggested.
“I’ll go and see who it is,” Rozzy offered, being the one closest to the door. They vanished briefly, before returning with a message – “Razz, it’s for you.”
“Oooh, I bet it’s Snowy out for revenge,” Rezzy suggested. “I didn’t even beat them the other day, and they were still fuming mad at me!”
Razzy left to meet their unexpected visitor as the conversation continued.
“And you didn’t do anything else to make them mad at you?” Rizzy asked, skeptical.
“I only gave them some friendly advice – it’s not my fault they didn’t want to hear it.”
Shutting the door behind them drowned out the conversation. Their mysterious guest was not Snowy but Heart, lurking silent and concealed in the dark corridor.
“Do you need me? We’re busy,” asked Razzy, blunt.
“It’s not urgent,” Heart replied, cool as usual, “but if you’ve got the time for me, I’d like to have a brief word.”
Heart led Razzy to the elevator and up to the rooftop of the athletes’ village. Here the cold bit and the winds were high, but they were both nonchalant, used to the extreme conditions. Near the railings was a vent that spewed hot air where the two eventually settled.
“Why did you bring me here?” Razzy asked.
“You agreed,” said Heart. “Can I call you Dory?”
The mention of that name briefly startled Razzy, but they quickly composed themself. “It’s outdated. But if you like.”
“Well, it’s up to you. We’ve both changed a lot.”
Razzy found themself nodding on instinct.
Heart continued. “You remember competing against me, right? We didn’t use personal names then, but…”
“I remember,” confirmed Razzy. “You were the best of the best, winning two years in a row. I was….” Fifth place, ugh. “Not impressive,” they said with a shrug.
“Well, I wanted to say that I noticed you back then, and I’m impressed by your progress. The League is tough – not that you don’t know that. It takes even more to win here than it ever would in Hubelino. ”
“Right.”
“My team went from strong there to DNQing against you in the ML and disbanding. We got our redemption in 2022, and here… Well, I won’t say anything before it happens. But I do want to ask you – when you were at the cusp of winning everything, how did you find the confidence?”
Razzy blinked. “I never lost it.”
Heart could only smile. Well, they’d asked. “Of course. I suppose that’s what it takes to win the League, isn’t it?”
Lost for a response, Razzy remained silent.
“Ignore me. Go and enjoy your night.”
Just as suddenly as they’d appeared, Heart was gone.
(Credit: Jelle’s Marble Runs)
Credits
- Writers: Toffeeshop, Millim
- Copyeditors/Editors: Evolution
- Reference: ❄️ MARBLE LEAGUE 2024 ❄️ E13 Snow Snake ❄️ | ❄️ MARBLE LEAGUE 2024 ❄️ E15 Funnel Obstacle Endurance 🥏 | ❄️ MARBLE LEAGUE 2024 ❄️ FINAL EVENT – Elimination Race 🏆
- Release: 05/03/2024
Project Marblearth 