Welcome to Gaia! ::

Toby broke away from the counter to test the cookie dough. He simply held it in one hand and pressed down with a finger. It was firm, but not totally stiff and fragile.

"Yeah, it looks like it is." He peered around the room, looking for the broadest part of the counter, and took the dough with him. "If everyone wants to pick some shapes, they can. Michael and I'll roll it out."

"Get a tree, for me," Michael said. He sat back and shared Toby's limbs while the man floured the surface, retrieved the rolling pin, unwrapped the portion of dough and began to roll. It was a sensation he had never felt before, to roll dough, and their face was stuck in a lopsided smile. Toby barely noticed.

Dari meanwhile started going through the cookie cutter shapes with the others.

"No, not usually," Dari said, "Although it can depend on the type."

"That one guy in Abram's clan has yellow," Toby said.

"Julian. More... honey-gold," Dari replied. "I didn't think you'd have noticed."

"Well they're weird."

Dari selected a cat cookie cutter as well. Toby glanced over and... his eyes were red! Clearly the werewolf had no idea, because when Dari narrowed his eyes and laughed, Toby asked: "What?"

"What?" Toby asked, "What are you laughing at?" He turned toward the hood over the stove just to get a glimpse of himself. Hah! "Michael's that's creepy as hell!" He grinned then, but it wasn't his own volition. It was Michael.

"Very accurate," Dari said, smiling and hip-checking Cody.

"Alright, guys!" Toby said suddenly. His eyes had gone back to blue. "When you cut it out, make sure you're using up as much dough as you can so we don't have too much left over. The more we roll it the softer it gets. Then right onto the pan!" He stepped over and started preparing it with parchment paper.

Kevin was throughly enjoying this activity. He hadn't really expected to--but this was fun! He'd carefully detailed the first wolf, the one with green eyes, and was hard at work on the second.

"Can you pass me the blue, please?" He asked. He looked around for it. Aha! ...no, that was purple.

Cody piped along his gingerbread men. One had white eyes, the other, green. They both wore smiley faces, had frosted jeans and different color t-shirts . "Here, love," he set the green eyed one closer to Dari. "It's me."

Once Kevin had finished with his cookie, he inched closer to Toby. "Look Dad, I made you." The kelpie looked a bit awkward, but his words were soft.

Cody smiled. "Of course," he said. "And no hair." He returned the cheek kiss. "I'll eat you, you eat me," he said, and grinned. "I never thought I'd say that," he said.

Maia was frosting her star, and didn't seem to have heard Kevin.

Toby hadn't reacted negatively! Kevin smiled. "It's for you," he said. "For when we eat them."

Cody grinned and kissed Dari's cheek. "Not in front of the kid," he said, softly.

Maia offered the red to Michael with a smile. She finished her star and set it aside, leaning to see how Toby was doing on his cookie.

"But then it'd be a girl deer," Kevin said, and shook his head. He paused, then, in realization. "Hey! I don't look like a reindeer! I made a Cody one too, but I'm going to eat it. Look, it's got blood. Your's doesn't, because you're stronger."

"We'll put one up," Maia promised, and smiled at Michael. "We did two, last year. One outside. We stayed out and watched the animals come eat off it. I'll show you how to string popcorn."

Kevin grinned and took a bite of his Cody-cookie. "It's good," he said. "Try yours!"

"What kind of animals come?" Cody asked, curiously. He'd never done an outdoor tree before, and the one he had at his apartment was small.

"Deer, skunks, squirrels," Maia smiled. "We went inside after a while, we froze." She paused at the question. "In the morning?" She suggested. She offered Toby a star cookie and started frosting another.

"These are the best," Kevin said, happily. He bit the head off his cookie.