A Celebration of a Different Sphere

The little scene that played out in the palms of his hands had an indescribable air to it.

A city-centric winter scene was always an odd pick for a scene like this, but if it is done right… then it can be just as—if not more—engaging than a similarly staged cottage-in-the-woods styled one. This particular scene was styled rather warmly; the streets of Burrowgatory were endearingly lit with lantern light, and any-bun with any common sense could see that this scene was one depicted around the time of Mochi Moon. The New Year’s festivity was held in the winter, after all — why wouldn’t it get a snowglobe or two? And of course, who wouldn’t want a snow globe that depicted such an exciting scene!

With mallet in hand and a prideful smirk carefully detailed across his sculpted, miniature face, Dan’s form was posed mid-swing; the gooey stretch of a mochi well crafted was frozen in the moment, being pulled up as it stuck ever so delicately to the tip of his “weapon”. The smirk of this well-trained expert was aimed across the cobbled, snowy square at his metaphorical “rival” Dagasho… because of course, this was a battle to see who had the most festive cheer around this time of year! Sho wielded two sparklers crafted so delicately with the finest of fiber threads — they bounced around wildly with every shake of the globe yet did not break or bend, giving the illusion of a wintery-white crackle of light at his fingertips. One was jabbed in Dan’s direction—a haughty proclamation of festive war—and the other pointed upward into the “sky”, at the “fireworks” that lined the building tops. But this is a snowglobe… how could a snowy little scene depict its polar opposing element? Well… with the power of four double-B batteries, a switch on the bottom of the little assembly powered all the globe’s twinkling little lights — the Mochi Moon lanterns flickered, the street lamps buzzed (if you had enough imagination to hear them in your mind as you looked at the light, of course), and the semi-rigid strands of fiberglass positioned around the scene pulsed with colors of red, white, green, blue, gold… all dutifully festive colors, each timed to “shoot up” and “explode” in a similar fashion to real fireworks. There was even a rainbow lighting setting… How quaint!

The icing on top of the cake was the full moon that sat daintily at the top of the scene, casting its soft radiating light down onto the others and shining through the blizzards created by shaking the globe as intended. Indeed this scene was full of small little details like that — intricate details on Dan’s Dango and Sparkling Skies Inc. and other popular establishments… passers-by doing their best not to get caught in the crossfire… Oh, and even Shibani was here! Tucked away near the middle-back of the scene was this sleepy bun… and yes, even here he’s asleep. Funnily enough though, this depiction of Shibani held a burnt-out sparkler in one hand and a half-eaten mochi in the other… almost as if he were trying to root for both sides at the same time before turning in the metaphorical towel and simply falling into his usual bout of slumber next to a slightly melted snowman.

The hands that held the globe gave it a little shake, and the scene was dusted in a snow globe’s traditional flurry of white flakes. Normally one would consider the scene of a snow globe to be cozy, slightly lonely, and wholly comforting… but this unique spin brought excitement, action, and a hearty glow to this unique holiday trinket.

…

“And you got this… where?”
“There Dan, there! I went shopping for snacks, and this person was selling handmade snowglobes outside in a little booth! They made one of you guys… so I had to buy it to show you!”

In the lobby of Dan’s Dango, the two pride buns that dominated the scene of this globe stared down the “gift” that Shibani had set in front of them. Dagasho looked at least somewhat flattered… Dan just looked plain o’le confused. Shibani’s eyes sparkled as he gave it another shake and set it down on the counter, watching the faux snow swirl.

“They said it was supposed to be an ‘epic recreation of the most famous annual holiday rivalry’ or something like that! I… I just think it’s funny how well they detailed you guys’ abs. Heheh. And it was only seventy-five carats!” Shibani pressed his cheek against the counter as he talked, and the two pride buns gave each other a look… and a shrug.
“Honestly it’s a pretty good globe. For seventy-five carats? This craftsmanship? That’s highway robbery if I’ve ever seen’t it.” Sho said, tapping the glass… and Dan nodded in response.
“As much as I hate to agree with you on anything, old man… yeah. It’ll look nice in the shop when it gets closer to Mochi Moon.” With an oddly warm look in his eye, Dan scooped up the gift… was that a smile?

“Heeeeh… oh I see, I see… Can’t deny a present from this one, aye? This ol’e man can read between the lines. Heheheheheh…”
“Oh shut the fuck up, old man.” Dan blushed, and Shibani tilted his head in confusion… but smiled nonetheless, knowing Dan did appreciate the gesture as intended.

Just as the little scene inside the globe had its indescribable air, the scene outside had its own feeling to it as well.