The Magic of Frostfall

So tired…

     Clover was never really big on festivities, partially because they were never exposed to any big, extravagant events as a browlet. Not with Red or their own parents; but now that they were here, away from both of those groups, and with effectively a whole nother family, things were different. They had often times partaken as a vendor in these events, but never really thought of participating in one themself. They were intending to do the same this year, but were encouraged by their friends to go with them, instead. They had reluctantly agreed.

    It was the first week of frostfall, and the festivities were still being set up amongst the others that were already present. Anywhere you looked you could see a browbird or a satyr or even a kitbull hustling and bustling about, bringing supplies back and forth from one destination to the next. Clover and their friends (Camellia and Connie, who would often refer to the group as the “Capricious Crew”) decided to start off mellow, after Clover had expressed not having as much energy and not being as used to travelling as the other two had grown so accustomed to. Their first destination was the Castella Cafe.

    “So many C names…” Clover thought to themself as the slight jingle of the bell caused by the cafe door opening welcomed them inside. Clover adjusted the scarf around their neck and brought it down from the nose-hiding position it was in previously. Clover and Connie enjoyed bonding over how much of a hassle the cold was. The pair of seasuns (Coleslaw and Mango Comet) followed not far behind them. Coleslaw had originally belonged to Connie, but was graciously gifted to Clover as a “welcome to the family” gift when they got to this planet. Coleslaw had been much better behaved, though still flaunted a mischievous and knowing smile at almost all times.

    “Hello!” One of the baristas behind the counter called out to them. “Welcome to the Castella Cafe, feel free to take a seat anywhere. If you’d like to order something, just let me know!” They finished with a toothy grin before getting back to cleaning the dirty glass they had been working on prior.

    “Thank you, we’ll be sure to,” Connie replied. She looked down at the two much smaller, greener browbirds she was accompanied by. From a bystander’s point, it almost looked like she was baby sittiting, but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

    “Oh! I’m gonna go order a tea. Connie, Clover, do you want anything?” Cam asked, starting over towards the counter and barista.

    “Ah… Yeah, sure, I’ll take uhh… chamomile with honey,” Clover said directly to the barista, since they were in relative earshot.
“No, I’m okay for now,” Connie replied. “I’m just gonna go find a place to sit down.”

    Clover thought that was a wonderful idea. They looked around the cafe to examine their options. Tables, chairs, booths… oh, perfect. They began walking over to the lit fireplace with a pile of big pillows and two blankets next to it. Looking around to make sure nobody else was intending on using any of these pillows for a while, they eagerly began working with the pile to rearrange it into a small pillow nest of sorts, nestled at a comfortable distance from the fireplace where they wouldn’t overheat but also wouldn’t get cold. An old jukebox was playing faint classical music, and they swore they could drift off right then and there…

    Alas, they were woken by a gentle hand caressing their back. With a sudden jolt from being woken up right as you’re falling asleep, they frantically looked around only to see it was Camellia, holding her own drink in her hands.

    “I set yours on the table over here. It’s already steeped, so it should be good to drink whenever you want it,” Cam said with a smile.

    Clover rubbed their eyes.

    “Oh, thank you, Camellia,” they said, stretching their back before leaning over in their pillow nest to grab the mug. Camellia had sat down on a cushion seat next to them. “What’d you get?”

    “Oh, I got some Carmelized pear tea. It’s one of my favorite teas, but it’s so sparse, I can’t get it in many places. Every time I see it, I order it. Would you like to try some?” She said, gently extending the mug over to Clover. With sparkly eyes, Clover carefully set down their own mug and reaching out to take Camellia’s. They took a sip, and then understood. If they had any less self control, they might have downed the whole thing right then and there, but that wasn’t their drink. After one last long inhale, they handed the drink back over to Camellia.

    “Good, huh?” She asked. Clover closed their eyes and nodded. They leaned forward to adjust the position of their legs so they could more easily grab their own mug once again. Over the course of a few more minutes, the two brows sat in front of the fireplace, sipping their teas in relative silence, listening to the crackling of the fireplace, the indistinct chatter of the few other patrons here, and the white noise of the classical music playing from the old jukebox. Maybe Clover shouldn’t have ordered chamomile, they were starting to get… so sleepy….

    “Hey, Cam, how much…. Uh…. how much longer are we gonna be here for?” Clover asked.

    “As long as you want, honestly. Connie booked us a hotel super close, and the cafe is open really late, so it doesn’t matter as long as it isn’t ridiculous. Speaking of which… Oh, there she is,” Cam said at first to Clover, but then to herself, looking around the rest of the cafe to see where Connie was. She was sat at one of the wooden chairs facing the window, with her Aprico fast asleep on a soft rag on top of the flat tabletop. That reminded Clover to look around for Coleslaw, who was also fast asleep, but this time, in a bucket near the cafe entrance, squished up against Mango Comet. Clover was only barely able to see this by craning their neck to see across the rest of the cafe.

    “They’re so cute… does Mango Comet always act like this? I’ve heard some questionable stories from Connie,” Clover asked. Cam turned around to look at where the two Seasuns were resting, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth.

    “Yeah, he loves buckets. I don’t think he’d do anything that Connie claims though, he’s way too cute. Same for Coleslaw. Seasuns in general, honestly. I’m glad you have one of your own, that was super nice of Connie,” Camellia continued on, leaning forward with her arms under her head as she rested on the side of the pillow nest Clover sat in the center of. They extended an arm and gently scratched the top of Camellia’s head, softly ruffling her hair in the process. She closed her eyes and let out a long sigh. This was something Clover’s parents used to do to them when they were a browlet to help put them to sleep; there were other things too, but Clover didn’t know if they were close enough to Camellia to do some of those things yet. This would suffice for now.

    “I wish you’d talk more about your home planet, Clover. I’m so curious,” Camellia said through closed eyes.

    “If I knew what you wanted to hear, trust me, I’d tell you. In some regards, I’m just as--” they were cut off by a hearty yawn. “...sorry. I’m just as clueless as you in a lot of regards,” Clover replied, taking their hand back to rub their tired eyes with. “I’m just gonna… rest my eyes for a while…” 

    “Mmm… okay…” 

    Clover laid down, curled up in the center of the pillow nest, using one of the cafe blankets to cover their legs. They held one of the longer pillows between their arms and legs, squeezing it tight to their body as they breathed the scents of the many people who had slept with this pillow before them. It was almost comforting, in a way. 

    …

    …

    …

    “Hey.”

    “...”

    “...Hey.”

    Clover opened their eyes, only to see a very familiar face staring down at them. It was a satyr, with bright glowing eyes, tight curly hair and gems growing out of their mask.

    “Oh, did I fall asleep?” Clover asked, sitting up from where they sat in their dream. The satyr resisted a smile and put their hands on their hips.

    “I don’t know, you tell me,” they said sarcastically. Clover snickered, standing up to give them a dream hug.

    “Hey, Red.”

    “Hey, Clover. How have you been?” She asked, a chair materializing beneath her as she sat down.

    “Not bad… Really tired recently. I’m not used to travelling as much as these other two. I don’t know how they have the energy for it,” Clover explained, looking down at their hands. Their fingers were long and spindly, moving as if they were looking at them underwater. Yep, they were dreaming alright.

    “I’m very much with you on that note. Not like I have the choice to explore, anyway, heh…” Red lamented, the sadness in her dream voice quite prominent. 

    “I told you, I’m gonna come back for you, you know this. As soon as I can get someone who knows their planetary geography well and is willing to work with me, you’re coming over here,” Clover frowned. Red smiled.

    “I eagerly await the day you arrive, dear. Albeit, I’m a little concerned of what your friends will think of me,” Red said, sprouting a pair of magnificent butterfly wings from her back, and then dissipating them back into nothingness after a few moments.

    “If anyone says anything bad about you, I’ll kill em,” Joked Clover. Red didn’t smile. Clover noticed this, and stopped smiling too.
“...anyway. I don’t know how long I’ve been asleep for, and I don’t want to stay too long. I’m sure I’ll see you in a few hours when I fall asleep again at the hotel, okay?” Clover asked, taking a step towards Red.

    “I’ll be here when you fall asleep again, my darling,” Red said gently, using a patched hand to trail softly beneath Clover’s chin to make them look up at her. She towered over them like nobody’s business, but this wasn’t intimidating to Clover. Clover nodded, and she snapped, causing Clover’s actual eyes to blink open a few times. They looked around, and instead of the pinkish clouds making up everything from the ground to the distant mountains in the dreamscape, they were back at the cafe, just like they were seemingly a few minutes ago. Camellia was asleep in the same position she was in when Clover had drifted off too. Connie was nowhere to be seen. Perking up very slowly as to not disturb Camellia, they stayed looking around for a few moments before Connie exited the bathroom in the back of the cafe. Upon noticing Clover was awake, she smiled, walking over to them.

    “How long was I out?” Clover asked.

    “Oh, no longer than an hour and a half,” Connie replied, sitting down cross legged next to Camellia. She placed a hand on her back, gently caressing it like Camellia had done to Clover. Guess that’s where she got it from.

    “What time is it?” Clover followed up with.

    “Mmm…” Connie pulled out her phone to check. “...Oh, actually, much later than I thought. We should get going,” She said, standing up and walking over to where her aprico slept so that she could safely put them in her bag for easy transport. Clover, albeit not happy about having to abandon their terribly comfortable pillow nest, stood up and stretched, their back and arms letting out several satisfying pops as they did so. They looked outside and saw that it was snowing.

    “...Hey, Connie? You wouldn’t happen to have an extra jacket, would you?” Clover asked after having walked over to Connie, as to not disturb Camellia.
“I do, actually. It’s not perfect, but it should be enough to get you to the hotel. We can get you a better one tomorrow,” Connie replied, rummaging through her backpack and pulling out her butterfly cloak of wings. She handed it to Clover, who took it gratefully, and fastened it around their body. It looked gorgeous against their shade of green, mimicking a monarch butterfly’s wings. It was much heavier than they anticipated too, which would be good for keeping them warm. Clover wanted to wake up Camellia last, so they went over to the bucket Coleslaw and Mango Comet slept in, where unsurprisingly, they were still squished up together in the singular bucket. Clover walked up to the barista behind the counter.

    “Hey, my seasun and my friend’s Seasuns are in that bucket, but we really don’t want to disturb them right now. Would you mind if we took it for the night? We’d bring it back tomorrow,” Clover asked.

    “Not an issue at all, sweetie. Go right ahead,” the barista responded with a smile. Clover nodded in thanks, gently picking up the seasun bucket after making sure their cloak and scarf were all secure. Connie had taken up the task of trying to wake up Camellia, but she was out, so she begrudgingly picked Cam up like a potato sack over her shoulder so she could carry her back to the hotel. They thanked the barista as they left, and both Clover and Connie were shocked to find that only Coleslaw had woken up by the time they got back to the hotel, out of all of their sleeping friends. Connie had tucked Camellia into one of the two beds in the hotel room, and changed into more comfortable sleeping clothes as she sat down on her own bed, mindlessly scrolling through one of her social media pages before sleep. Clover drew a shallow bath that they placed both of the Seasuns in for the night, and when Ierie, Connie’s Aprico, had heard the water being run, they flopped their way into the hotel bathroom, where Clover picked them up and put them into the tub too. This would be enough for the night, Clover thought, finally following suit for Connie’s nightly routine. They changed, brushed their teeth, hit the lights, and crawled into bed next to Camellia. She was snoring ever so faintly, but it wasn’t loud or distracting enough to keep anyone awake. With the hotel air system going on and off in the dark mixed with Camellia’s heartbeat and her steady breathing, the white noise put Clover to sleep in no time once more.

    …

    …

    …

    “...”

    “......”

    “.......Hey.”