Meduzia's Literatures
The snowy cover was thick on this part of Neo-Maera, but it didn’t present a problem for the two of them. After all, they hovered about, although Hotaru snuck paranoid glances around, just in case. They weren’t welcome there, that much was clear, and even though the local populace was filling her with child-like annoyance in their attempts to remain sovereign, she could at least respect their tenacity. And she didn’t want to come into contact with them. She wasn’t afraid of being hurt or something ridiculous like that. She was worried about hurting them, and what consequences it could have.
“Oh, no, no, no, we’re not doing that,” Riel said. “You ruined your own ice, now watch me make a masterpiece.”
“What, with one eye?” Therasia shot back. For a second, she was afraid of going too far, but a second was all Riel needed to scoff at her well-placed jab.
“You have two and you still managed to half your chances of making anything,” he said.
This was just about the only thing he liked about the winter — how he could fluff up, board himself inside, get a hot beverage and enjoy not being outside. After their recent escapade with camping, Mercury never wanted to be outdoors again.
“Oh come now,” she called out into the brush, with far more bravado than she felt. “I have nothing worth stealing if that’s what you want to do.”
Just in case, her hand went to the pocket of her jacket. Her fingers closed around the handle of the knife. Just in case.
“Huh?!” Someone scoffed from the bush. “You think I want to rob you? You’re the one who stole my good spot.”
“No, backtrack,” Saim’el said. “We’re not here to discuss whether little Cass is being a hardass about something—”
“Don’t call me—”
“—because she always is. I want to know more about collecting these.”
“—Cass.”
“Your name is too complicated for my alien tongue. Cass it is,” Saim’el finished with an easy lie. Like a liar.
“Want it?” Lycoris had screeched then. “I don’t want that shabby thing!” She outright screeched. “Maybe I’d take it a trophy?”
Therasia wasn’t a human climbing down a Redwood tree! Who did that?! She was taking a relaxing stroll.
She was.
Well, she was going to.
Mercury couldn’t even appreciate how they both looked a little bit like boy scouts — perfectly dressed for adventures, hair tied up, ready for anything. Except, right, Mercury wasn’t ready for anything. He did not, in fact, want to be there at all.
Fire in the hearth burning non-stop wasn’t the first sign something was off. Still, it was the first moment that made Tovi think – Huh, I’m really doing this, then?
When the sky started darkening, Mercury was so deep into his paper that he hadn’t noticed it all. It was only when the letters started blurring that he noticed how unusually dark it was. First he noted the clock, and then he clocked the sky.
"Oh," he thought first. And then– "Ah, shit."