Valentine's Flash Prompt 2021

Past

The very first Valentine’s day Seer can remember clearly was celebrating with his mom. 

It was a wet, sunny day, on the brink of winter and spring. The snow outside had started to melt, creating little runoffs of water off of the roof and into the soggy grass below, and what was left of the soft snow was turned into slush, a mixture of water and ice.

His mom had taken a day off of work specifically for Valentine’s day, to spend time with him. The dream guard could function a day without her, and just the day before she had stopped by the grocery store and bought some food and other decorations, all loaded to the brink in her cart and had been eagerly sitting in the fridge, just waiting to be used.

“Momma what’s so special about Valentine’s day?” Seer had asked, sitting on the kitchen counter. His mom turned around as she started piling items out onto the counter.

“Well my dear, Valentine’s day is a day to celebrate love and friendship, and there’s nothing more important in the world than that!” she said with a smile, and brought out a bowl, cracking and mixing together eggs and flour.

“I dunno, love sounds yucky,” said Seer, as he helped her grab some of the sugar. She simply smiled at him.

“Hmmm, maybe you’re the yucky one!” she said, poking him on the nose with a batter-covered hoof. He sneezed, and wiped at his nose, licking at the sweet tasting batter,

“I’m not yucky!! You know who’s yucky?? Alataus!! He’s scary and mean!!” he pouted. Seer’s mom looked at him as she loaded some of the batter into a piping bag.

“Hmmm? Is he now?” she said, Seer clamored after her and made grabby-hands for the piping bag. His mom handed the bag to him as he started to squeeze out round little circles onto the tray. “Why is Alatus so yucky?” 

“Because- because he’s scary. And he has hair. And he has a pointy bauble and I feel like it’s always going to poke me in the eye,” said Seer, focusing on piping out the macaroon tops. His mom stood behind him and helped guide his arms, making sure they all stayed in the circle.

“Hmmm… well have you tried talking to him? Mr. Inda has long hair and you like him,” she pointed out, now loading the macaroons into the oven. She turned the oven off with a click and went to work on the filling.

Seer was silent for a while as he focused on licking the macaron batter from the bowl while his mom’s back was turned. She turned around and tugged it away from him.

“Seer!! I need this bowl,” she said, with no real anger in her voice. Seer let out a small burp as he started to help his mom mix together the filling. The two worked into a comfortable rhythm as they prepared together macaroons and other baked goods for Valentine’s day. While everything baked, his mom brought out some scrap paper and other shiny decorations.

Seer grabbed for the scissors as he cut out heart-shaped cards and colored and drew on them with markers and crayons. His mom walked over and peered over his shoulder,

“What’s this for honey?” she asked, curious. Seer shrugged as he taped some ribbon’s to the edges of the card.

“This one’s for Mr. En-dare-as!!” he said, mouth stumbling over the long word.

“Indarias,” she corrected, “are you going to make one for all of us?” she asked teasingly. Seer nodded.

“Mmhmm. This one’s for Aunt Hikari, see?” he said, showing her a card with vaguely-butterfly resembling wings. 

Beeeeeeeeeep.

“Oh! That must be the cupcakes. Bring me the baskets Seer!! We’re going to deliver these to mommy’s friends ok?” 

Seer’s mom loaded the treats into individual little baskets and tied them all off with a large bow while Seer chewed his way through three macaroons, a cookie, and half of a cupcake before they were ready.

“Alright Seer!! I’m ready, let’s head out! You take this basket, okay?” Seer snatched one of the baskets into his mouth, the sweet smell of baked goods making his mouth water.

“Wubout my Valentine’s mom?” he asked, voice muffled by the basket handle.

“Oh!! I almost forgot. Here, I’ll take care of those for you.” she said, loading them into a small pouch before looping it over Seer. She loaded the rest of the baskets onto her back, and pushed the door open for Seer.

“After you, my liege,” she said, and Seer giggled as he pranced out the door and down the path.

Seer stayed close to his mom, eyes blinking at all of the colorful pinks and reds that dotted the landscape. 

The pair arrived at the dream guard headquarters, a place that Seer was heavily familiar with. He darted inside, in front of his mom, and saw Mr. Indarias sitting at the front with a few other of the dream guard members.

“HI!! MISTER MORAX!! AND MISTER INDARIAS!!” shouted Seer as he barreled inside.

“OH! What’s this? Some special treats for me?” asked Morax. Seer gently placed down the basket as he started proudly distributing his valentine’s. Indarias turned to his mom.

“Baked goods? For all of us? You didn’t have to do this |̢̯̱̽̀͂|̜̹͊̓|͕̙͓͉̏̔̈́͋|̤͎̔̒|̼̬͗̽̅͟|͖̣̓́͘͢|̹͊|̡̘̮͊͝͠͝ͅ|͕̻̻͔̂͛̓͛|͂͜|̗̰̖̩͋̈́̎̐|̦̩̩͗̎̕|̞͆|̢̩̺̒̈̀|̛͍͚̼͒͛|̝͖̈́̽|̖̰͔͛͊̐|̛͚͔̦̳̈́̏͠. today was supposed to be a day off for you and Seer.” he said to her, staring at the young Orin chattering to his teammates. She shrugged.

“You know he adores you all, I wouldn’t want him to spend his Valentine’s day any other way. Besides, I wouldn’t be able to eat these all by myself,” she said, offering him a basket. Indarias peered inside, as Seer walked over.

“Do you like it?? I also made you a card!! Look!!” he said, clamoring for his bag as a slew of other papers fell out while Seer dug around. Finally, he produced a very interesting looking valentine, with bursts of color and glue. Indarias gingerly took it from Seer.

“This is a very…” Seer’s mom looked at him. “Nice valentine. Thank you very much Seer.” he finished. Seer beamed and smiled at him, before spinning around when another Orin entered the building.

“MISS HIKARI!!” he shouted, running toward her, valentine in hand.

“Oh Seer! Is this all for me?? Oh look at this valentine, it looks just like me!! Wow did you make these tasty treats too?”

Seer’s mom and Indarias looked on at them, and she turned towards the taller Orin.

“Look at him. Practically a bundle of energy, I don’t know how you do it,” said Indarias, shaking his head. Seer’s mom made an amused noise.

“A lot of work, and negotiation. You know… if something was ever to happen to me…” she began.

“Don’t. Nothing is going to happen to you, not with our team by your side,” they said fiercely. Seer’s mom made a hmm noise but didn’t say anything.

“Wow |̢̯̱̽̀͂|̜̹͊̓|͕̙͓͉̏̔̈́͋|̤͎̔̒|̼̬͗̽̅͟|͖̣̓́͘͢|̹͊|̡̘̮͊͝͠͝ͅ|͕̻̻͔̂͛̓͛|͂͜|̗̰̖̩͋̈́̎̐|̦̩̩͗̎̕|̞͆|̢̩̺̒̈̀|̛͍͚̼͒͛|̝͖̈́̽|̖̰͔͛͊̐|̛͚͔̦̳̈́̏͠, thanks for all the treats!!” said Hikari as she headed over, Seer in tow. Seer’s mom simply smiled at them.

--

Past

And then time passed, and one day Seer’s mom didn’t come home, and the next thing he knew he was staying at Mr. Indarias’s house, and everyone looked at him with pity in their faces.

February had come again, like it will come every year, but this time Inda couldn’t seem to find the quiet young orin.

“Seer? Seeer!” called Indarias as she paced around, looking for the child. Finally, Indarias found Seer curled up in his room, under the bed. “What are you doing under there?” he asked, but no reply. Seer simply stared at him with all his eyes, then shuffled around to face the wall.

Indarias stood up and sighed, he had to get to work soon, and didn’t have time to deal with a petulant child. “Seer, I have to go to work now,” she said as gentle as he could, “I’ll be back later today,” standing up and getting ready to head out of Seer’s room, Indarias paused at the doorway. Oh today was Valentine’s day wasn’t it? “Happy Valentine’s day Seer.” he said softly, before leaving.

The day had gotten dark as the sun started to set, and Indarias packed up his stuff from the headquarters and prepared to head home, when he suddenly stumbled upon Hikari standing in the middle of the front lobby.

“Hikari. Didn’t think I’d see you here,” he said with surprise lacing his voice. She looked up.

“Oh hmmm? I was just… thinking,” she said quietly, and Indarias tracked her gaze to the portrait of Seer’s mom on the wall, alongside the other fallen Orins. Indarias sighed.

“I see. I miss her to you know,” he said. Hikari shook her head.

“It’s not that… well… it kinda is but, how’s Seer been doing? I know it can’t be easy on him,” she said. Indarias thought back to the Orin hiding under his bed, and turned to her.

“I think he’s… he could be doing better,” he confessed, then looked at the clock on the wall, “oh, well I can’t stay and chat. I better get back and make some dinner,” she said, getting ready to leave.

“Wait!! Here, take this. For Seer.” said Hikari, and pulled out a pretty purple box. Indarias took it and lifted up the lid, and the sweet scent of chocolates wafted out to meet him. Indarias tucked them away into their bag and thanked her, and went along their way.

As Indarias headed home he paused when he arrived at a crossroads. This one… this path leads to the square doesn’t it? With those two… Ingo and Yinka? Glancing up at the sky Indarias sighed. Why not, it’s not like I don’t have the dream shards to spare.

By the time he had gotten home night had fallen, as his little trip had taken her longer than expected. Indarias surveyed the house. Seer was nowhere to be seen. “Seer!! I’m home!” he called, but no response. 

Flicking the lights on Indarias pulled the bottles of dream energy out of his bag as she got ready to prepare some dinner for the two of them, deciding on a nice human dish called “noodles” with a “tofu” thing that Seer seemed to be fond of.

Heating up the pan and bringing the water to a boil, Indarias poured in the dream energy and mixed it around. When it was ready she set out two dishes onto the table. “Seer!! Dinner’s ready!!” he called, but when there was no response again Indarias stood up from her seat, and tucked Hikari’s gift under his arm as he made his way to Seer’s room.

Peering under the bed, there he was, curled up just like in the morning. “I know you’re awake,” said Indarias, and after a moment Seer shifted around to stare at him. Indarias pulled out the box of chocolates and nudged it under the bed. “Here. Hikari sent these for you,” she said, and Seer blinked at him and slowly took the chocolates. Indarias then pulled out a large, bee shaped pillow. “I got this for you from the Cat’s-Eye,” he confessed, “I thought you might like it.” Seer clutched the yellow and brown pillow close to his body as he looked at the stitched 'Bee Mine' that was neatly placed in the center of the pillow.

Pushing the pillow under the bed next to the chocolates Indarias awkwardly stood up. “Yeah… and there’s that. I made some noodles with tofu if you want some, I don’t think you’ve eaten all day, alright kid?” he said, before turning and leaving the room.

While Indarias casually dug into his dinner, he heard the pitter-patter of Seer’s hooves leave his room and come down the hallway. Seer gave her a drowsy blink, and had one of his arms wrapped around the pillow.

“I want noodles,” said Seer with a yawn, as they clamored into his respective chair. Indarias pushed a bowl towards him.

They ate in silence, with the only noises disturbing them the occasional clack of utensils and chewing noises. When they were finished, Indarias watched as Seer loaded his dish into the sink.

“Happy Valentine’s day Mr. Indarias,” he said, before bounding off to bed. 

--

Present

Seer lounged around his living room, laying on the floor as he popped another chocolate into his mouth.

“Nobody loves me and I’m going to be a single Orin for the rest of my poor little life and I’m going to spend the rest of my days eating moldy tofu and hiding in my house,” he whined to himself, and felt a pinch on his tail.

“Oww!! Ok, nobody loves me except for you but that doesn’t count because you’re a spider,” he said, staring at the fuzzy purple being who clamored up to the top of his bauble.

pinch

“Ok fine and Aquila. And Loopsie. And- I see where you’re going. But not like friend-love, like romantic love. Like kissy-kissy love,” he explained, staring into the eyes of the spider. “Don’t you ever want to get a little spider girlfriend? Make spider babies to terrorize the Realm with?” he asked. The spider simply blinked at him. He sighed and slumped back down, and started unwrapping another chocolate.

“Whatever… tomorrow's Valentine’s day. Guess I’m going to go Valentine-less another year, what fun,” he grumbled. “Besides, it’s not like I have anything to do tomorrow besides eat chocolate-”

Knock knock knock

Seer bolted up, and his spider fell to the floor with an undignified squeak, and quickly scuttled away. Seer sighed and walked to the door, and cracked it open.

“Who’s there to interrupt my misery party?” He said, then blinked when he saw Primi and Aquila. “Oh? What are you doing here?” he asked. Aquila bounced inside, and Primi followed, fluttering their wings.

“Seer!! I sent you a letter about Valentine’s day but I never got a reply, so we decided to come visit you!!!” said Aquila. Seer gave a small hesitant chuckle.

“Yea-h… guess I didn’t get it ha ha… this mailing system you know…” he actually did get it and was absolutely planning on sending a reply, it had just… slipped his mind.

“Hmmm. Anyhoo- we know how you slip into a slum and go all “ooh I’m so sad blah blah” so tomorrow you’re going to the lantern festival with us,” declared Primi. Seer turned to look at her.

“I do not go all sad and- wait what?” he asked. “The lantern festival? You two are going??” he asked. They both nodded.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. And you don’t get to say no this time, not since you slipped your way out of my new years party,” said Aquila. Seer sighed and laid back on his pillows

“Guys… I don’t really know… besides, I have a lot of busy things to do tomorrow,” he said, picking at a loose thread. Primi rolled his eyes.

“Right, I’m sure you do. There’s nothing going on tomorrow except for the festival, and you should come out and go with us. It only happens once a year,” they said, picking up one of Seer’s hourglasses.

“Yeah sure, but I can just visit next year,” Seer said, but Aquila shook his head.

“Nope!! You are coming with us, get some fresh air, spend time with friends!!” he said. Seer rolled back up.

“Mmmhmm. I don’t even have someone to take with me though,” he moaned, but Aquila was resilient.

“We can go together, as friends!!” Seer perked up. Going together did sound better than being alone… and a lot of his friends would probably be there…

“You know what? Fine! I haven’t seen the lanterns in a while anyway. Who are you going with Primi?” he asked.

“I’m going with Lulu of course,” he said, “and Alatus!”

“Wait, what?? Alatus is going to be there?? With us?” he asked. Primi gave him a look.

“Oh please, I don’t get why you’re so… weird around him. All you did was call him “scary” once, I’m sure he’s forgotten about it by now,” they reassured. Seer groaned.

“Yes but it’s embarrassing.” he said, but Primi just shrugged.

“Well, if it bothers you so much you can make it up to him tomorrow. And you’re already in, no backing out, meet me at my house tomorrow afternoon, if you aren’t there then I’m going to send Loopsie to get you!! Goodbye!!” and just like that the two other Orins were gone.

“What just happened?” asked Seer, looking at his spider.

Later that day

“Artemis!! So glad you could make it,” said Seer, as he welcomed the green and brown Orin into his house. On her back she carried a large brown basket filled with dried soybeans. 

“Don’t worry about it Seer. Where should I put these beans?” she asked, and Seer motioned to the kitchen.

With a huff she dropped the basket to the ground, and Seer peered at the dried beans. “Thanks for taking the time to dry these out for me…” he said, as he began to pour them out into a large bowl and filling it with water. Artemis waved a hoof.

“No worries, no worries. What do you need all these beans for? I thought you made enough tofu last time to last you a while…” she said, trailing off as she helped Seer begin the process. Seer sighed.

“It’s actually uhh… not for me,” he said, as he set aside the bowl to hydrate overnight. Artemis cocked her head.

“Oooooh I see,” she said with a wink. Seer flushed.

“NO!! It’s not like that… it’s more of an… apology tofu,” he explained, realizing how lame that sounded when he said it out loud. Artemis patted him on the back.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Who’s it for?” she asked.

“It’s for Alatus… I’m pretty sure someone said that he liked tofu…” said Seer. Artemis blinked.

“Tofu… are you sure he likes tofu?” she asked. Seer nodded.

“Yeah, I’m positive that Primi told me he liked tofu. I like tofu. Things are going to go great,” he said, more to convince himself than Artemis. Artemis smiled at him as she got ready to leave, and took her basket along on her back.

“Alright then!! See you tomorrow at the lantern festival Seer,” she said, then the door closed behind her. With a sigh, Seer turned around. Things are going to be just fine. It’s going to be fine. 

The next afternoon, Seer was all ready to go as he packed up the tofu which he had cut out with a heart shaped mold, and carefully slipped it into his bag. Heading out, he grabbed his spider along the way, slipping him into the bag.

“Well, happy Valentine’s Day spider,” he said, as he set out to Primi’s house.

When he arrived, he saw Alatus and Primi already waiting outside. Seer sped up a bit, and he waved to them

“Hi Primi!!” he called, and Primi perked up when he heard Seer’s voice.

“Seer!!” they said excitedly, flapping their wings around. “You’re here!! I had my doubts… now all we’re waiting for is Aquila and Lulu,” and pulled their arms around Seer into a hug. “I have to go inside and get something real quick!! You two wait outside, ok?” they said, and before Seer could protest, he slipped inside.

Alatus stood by the door, and shot Seer a glance. Seer nervously looked around, and opened his bag.

“Uhhh… hey Alatus,” he said, and extended out a box. Alatus looked at the box, and then back at Seer. “S-sorry for calling you scary? I heard you liked tofu so I uh- made some… tofu…” trailed off Seer weakly before Alatus took the box.

Alatus cracked the box open and gave it a glance as Seer nervously watched on, before he closed it. “Thanks, I guess. But I don’t like tofu, it’s supposed to be almond tofu,” said Alatus. 

Oh my gosh let Crea swallow me into the dirt now. Seer felt his fur heat up in embarrassment and he swallowed. “OH- I uh- I just thought it was- uh- I’m sorry for giving you tofu- ummm-” he stammered, before Alatus rolled his eyes and waved a hoof.

“Don’t worry about it, and apology accepted. Tofu’s fine as well I suppose…” he said, and the two sat in a moderately awkward silence before Seer saw Aquila flying down. Taking any chance he could, he ran to greet his friend.

“Aquila!! There you are. You decided to fly??” he asked, as he dusted Aquila off. Aquila gave a shake as some dirt and grass tumbled off of their body.

“Yep!! I have wings for a reason. And besides, what’s the worst that can happen? Just because I can’t see doesn’t mean I shouldn’t fly,” he said, as they walked back over to Primi’s house. Seer rolled (all) of his eyes.

“Well maybe not being able to see and trying to fly is a bad combination. What if you crash into a tree?” Aquila dismissed him with a flick of his ears.

“Don’t worry, I can sense the wind and uh- stuff. It’s hard to explain. I’ll be fine. Oh! Hi Primi!!” said Aquilla, piping up when he heard Primi’s footsteps.

“Hey you two!! Oh!! And I think I see Lulu over there… let’s get moving!! There’s still a bunch of fun stuff to do at the festival before they actually set out the lanterns...”

The trio went on their way, and met up with Lulu as they made their way to the festival. Along the way Aquila and Seer chattered amongst themselves and then finally arrived.

“Wow this is… a lot of Orins,” said Seer in amazement as he looked around. Primi rolled his eyes.

“Yes, it’s a pre-tty big deal Seer. Aren’t you glad we finally pulled you along?” they teased, and Seer blushed.

“Yeah I guess so… oh hey are those lantern shaped candies over there?” he asked, looking over at a familiar looking stall.

He made his way over, with Aquila close behind and knocked his two front legs up on the front of the stall.

“Is this the Cats-Eye?” asked Aquila, as Seer picked them up and put him on a stool.

“Yes, how’d you know?” inquired Seer as he waved for Yinka to come over. 

“Mmm… it has a, how should I say… peculiar smell,” says Aquila.

“We do not smell,” suddenly interrupted the familiar voice of Yinka, “what can I help you gentlemen with today?” they asked. Seer pointed at one of the lantern candies set up on the back wall.

“Can we get two of those?” he asked. Yinka nodded. 

“Sure thing, these have dream energy mixed into them and it’ll cost you twenty dream shards,” they said, and Seer pulled a few out from his pouch. “Oh! You brought that… spider along. How wonderful,” and Seer just smiled and handed them the shards. 

Yinka handed the pair two candies, and Seer gave one to Aquila. Putting it in his mouth he melted a little bit inside at the sweet-yet not to overwhelming flavor. “These are so good,” he said, voice muffled by the candy. Aquila nodded in agreement.

The afternoon quickly flowed past, and it was a mixture of talking to other Orins and admiring all the setups and stalls, caught up in all the excitement and action, Seer hadn't noticed that night had fallen.

Very quickly after that, oo’s and aa’s filled the air as the lanterns were released into the sky, filling the air with the warm yellow glowing orbs of light.

“Wow.” said Seer, sitting back with Aquila. “It really is something.” Aquila just smiled and leaned on his shoulder. 

“Happy Valentine’s day Seer.”