Lost and Found

"Latte!"

It's getting dark, and Molly has been looking for her pumpkin golem all day. Courvek must be getting worried, getting ready to go out to look for her, but that's not her priority right now. Besides, she's already asked him and Ezra both to watch over Kringle while she's out looking, so he already has an obligation to fulfill. She knows how much he worries, though, and doesn't want to scare him too much.

The sun is almost fully down, the sky mostly dark with dim colors left from the sunset, and she's beginning to lose hope, but in front of her, albeit distantly, is a bit of light—a spot of purple, and two speckles of white, both seemingly being carried by someone. When the light is within a closer distance, she's easily able to pick up that the white speckles of light could only come from a pumpkin golem.

"Latte?" she calls again, squinting her eyes to try to get a better look.

Suddenly, the little speckles of light are set down on the ground, and quickly approaching her. Hope swells in her chest, and she doesn't think she can be any more relieved when she can finally see the little creature's face as it goes to hug one of her legs.

"Latte!" she exclaims excitedly, nuzzling him with her nose. While she's absorbed in the moment, Molly doesn't notice the purple light get closer, causing a shadow to loom over her.

"Excuse me," a voice says quietly above her, causing the sugarnix to jump and gasp in surprise.

"Oh!" the voice exclaims, and now Molly sees it's a trabble with a purple ghoworm in her arms. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you!"

"It's alright," Molly responds, perhaps a little too quickly. She clears her throat, trying to cover the fact that she's a little embarrassed from being so startled. "So, uh, who are you?"

The trabble gives her maybe the sweetest smile she's ever seen.

"I'm Mallow," and even her voice, Molly notices now, is as sweet as her name. "I found your little guy—Latte, if I heard you correctly—and I'd been out looking for his owner. I'm so glad we heard you, I wasn't sure what to do when it would get too late."

"I wasn't sure either," Molly laughs slightly, trying to add a bit of a lighter tone to the topic. "My brother is already probably worried sick. I would've had to debate whether to scare my brother further or go home empty handed."

Mallow chuckles a little time, a bit awkwardly, but picking up on the other's attempt to add a lighthearted tone.

"I'm glad you don't have to choose. It's really nice meeting you, too, uh—"

The trabble trails off, and it takes Molly a minute to realize she never gave the other her name.

"Oh!" it's her turn to exclaim, feeling her face heat up a little. "I—I'm so sorry, I thought I'd introduced myself already. My name is Molly."

A genuine laugh escapes from Mallow's mouth this time, and the sugarnix feels something swell in her chest.

"It's alright, really. Everybody forgets something sometimes."

Molly gives a sheepish smile in return, then looking down shyly and shuffling her front feet. At the same time, Mallow is looking up at the sky, realizing now that it's very dark, the moonlight covered by the treetops of the forest beside the meadow they're standing in.

"Um," Mallow begins, catching the other's attention, then clears her throat to try to seem less awkward. "Could, uh - could I offer to walk you home? It's just that it's pretty dark now, and...."

Looking around, Molly then realizes that it is, in fact, dark, and getting home would be rather difficult without a better source of light, not to mention scarier without company. She looks back to the trabble in front of her, giving a soft smile and a curt nod.

"That would be wonderful," and she wants to sound as gentle and genuine as the other does, but she doesn't know if anyone could ever compare. "Thank you."

It must have been good enough, she settles, since she receives another one of those stunning smiles from the trabble and she doesn't think she can ever get enough. She bends down to let Latte climb onto her back to get ready for the walk home.

"That sounds great." She shifts the ghoworm in her arms, lowering it a little to shine more light on the ground so Molly can see. "Lead the way."

---

"I'm sorry for that," Mallow says suddenly, only a few minutes into the walk. "I'm really awkward around new people. I was hoping to come off a little better than that."

"Don't even worry about it," Molly laughs a little, shaking her head dismissively. "I am too—so I guess that was on us both. When my brother and I met—we're both adopted, I arrived after him—we hardly spoke to each other for the first month or so, just because neither of us really knew how to talk to each other. Our parent, Ezra, had to practically walk us through how to have a conversation until we got used to it."

The trabble laughs, long and hard, causing Molly to laugh with her. It is a funny memory she and Courvek recall from time to time, but he loves sharing this with who she hopes is a new friend, especially when she has such a wonderful, contagious laugh. Conversation carries rather easy after that point, and they don't realize how much they're talking to one another until they're almost to the den. When Molly realizes where they are, there's a slight lull in conversation, and she feels herself getting a little flustered when she starts speaking again.

"So, uh, Mallow," and she feels that fluttering in her chest and the heat in her face again, "I know we only just met today, but is there a chance I can see you again? Like, intentionally, in the daylight?"

Without a second of hesitation, the trabble giggles softly, and Molly feels herself getting more attached to the girl beside her.

"I'd love to," she responds, voice still sweet as honey and somehow continuing to catch Molly off guard. She looks ahead, pausing in her tracks, then gestures to what's in front of them with her head. "Is this it?"

It's only then does Molly tear her attention away from the other's face, only to see that it is, in fact, her den.

"Yeah," comes the awkward reply, wholeheartedly expecting another uncomfortable pause. Instead, her new acquaintance follows through with what she agreed to earlier:

"I'm thinking I meet you here tomorrow afternoon, then we can figure something out to do then. Does that work for you? Is that alright?"

Molly finds herself at a loss for words, so she smiles wider and nods eagerly in response.

"Perfect," says the other, turning the other direction. "It was great meeting you, Molly!" she continues, giving a quick wave.

"You too, Mallow!" she returns, only putting her hand down when the other turns her full attention on the walk ahead of her. Still, she watches after her until she's out of view shot, grinning all the while. With a dreamy sigh and a new-found excitement for the next day, she enters the den.