“Going for a pomegranate? Excellent choice, Lynn,” Zephyr’s lyrical voice filled the Temple of Growth as the Spring Mystic handed over the red fruit. “It’s a delicious and loving food—good for the heart!” “Eh,” blinking up at the notion, Lynn had to ask, “ ‘Loving’ food? Not, like, lovely?” Had he heard that right? “Yes, loving~”, Zephyr was sure to articulate. “It’s given as a gift, between friends. Sometime more than friends.” They conspiratorially winked. “That’s what I need,” a faun, and only other shopper in the temple, spoke up. “I remember reading somewhere that eating a pomegranate ends in being married.” Making direct eye contact with the mystic, they cheerfully insisted, “I’ll take ten.” Lynn’s jaw dropped. Pomegranates as a marriage gift? Immediately the shapeshifter’s thoughts were flooded by not one, but two men near and dear to the werepyre’s cursed heart. Heat colored his face. Maybe, he could bring a little bit of the Coliseum to The Stage—in a safe, controlled way, that also, happened to subtly express his deeper feelings for both men without calling too much attention to said feelings... “Um, hey Zeph?” He waited for Zephyr to look his way again, before flashing her a fanged smile, “How many more of those pomegranates can I grab?” ~ Of course he couldn’t just leave it at the fruit, goodness no! If Lynn was going to give a gift, he had to put some real effort into it. The Golden Coliseum was more than just food. It was battle and books and toys and lore. A little research was needed, to make sure there weren’t any secret rules to follow. What he found was that because of its seasonal association, the red delight was seen as a food of the dead. Perfect! Maybe Hero would finally feel full. The seeds were mostly liquid, and while potentially sweet, they had a slight tartness. Oh good, Doll shouldn’t have objections to any of that. As with most fruit, it was versatile. It could be eaten by itself, used as a garnish, made into drinks, served as a side—it was pretty astounding how many dishes utilized a fruit mostly associated with the least favored season of the year. (Maybe a holdover from before the fall? Or some last piece of good reaching out form the depths of madness?) Even still, Lynn was determined to learn every-which-way to cook a pomegranate. Last Palentines he’d hosted a picnic. This year it would be a private meal… or two. Two private meals at most. That was about when he noticed the raw wild squab. Oh… well… squab was basically chicken. If he was going to cook for them, Lynn should probably cook something for Kyprian too… ~ Halloweave rolled into town—a truly collaborative effort of Scribe’s theatrical knowledge of dramatic execution, Piper’s indomitable passion, and Doll’s lack of shirt. (Clearly the most important part of the holiday, bar nothing, not even Hero hosting two costume contests. Honest.) But either by coincidence, or because of Piper’s involvement, there was a distinctly ‘Mad Scientist’ theme thrown into the delightful mix. In all the celebrating, Lynn’s kith managed to find a spare pair of Lime colored Scientific Goggles. But what was he going to do with them? Sure he could sell them on the marketplace to someone who missed the festivities… Like Lycus. Piper’s brother, holed up in his laboratory—had he gotten out at all to see what his sister had accomplished? It was a shame that he hadn’t had a real chance, even with a kith of his own, to come down and see her performance on The Stage… And the Lime lenses did match Hypothesis’ coloring… Lynn swung by the market after the holiday, to scoop up a Spirit colored pair, so the little nibblug could match back. ~ For months, Lynn had been working up to the day in question. Gathering, cooking, buying odds and ends. And all of it had come crashing down with one announcement: Six letters. Six. Letters. That’s how many he was allowed to send out in a year. He wasn’t the only student to have mixed feelings about that decision. He might have been the only one who still didn’t know what his feelings were. Thankfully, he wasn’t alone with his thoughts, but able to talk it out with others. Most of him was devastated—he had put in so much work already! And he wasn’t the only one—not that the knowledge made anything better. (He wouldn’t wish this misery on anyone.) He had to really organize his thoughts, his plans. There was only so much time in the day, and only so much of him to go around. Doing things by halves meant that someone was going to be let down. Which… was also why he, like many (wiser people) around him, could understand where the change was coming from. The shopkeepers were only mortal, they only had so much time and energy too. And how much worse was it for them, to be flooded by hundreds and hundreds of care packages of all shapes and sizes? All on the one day of the year—no less—that they opened up their trades to the public, rather than leaving it up to specific requests made in person? So, pick and choose, who to share time with this year? Hero and Doll were a given. Forever. And he wanted to check in with Kyp, and Elliot—Elliot would appreciate food samples of things Kyp was eating and maybe he could just happen to recommend things that Lynn should be feeding him to help balance and regulate his diet (not that Elliot monitored those kinds of things, no, not at all!). But, the number of items in a trade had also been reduced. Granted, people could now write longer messages! Which, Lynn could see value in that… for people who did better with writing out their feelings instead of speaking. (Lynn might have also been the only student who had a near emotional meltdown from all the changes. The only good thing he could say was that he hadn’t lashed out defensively, but it had taken three staples of the community to talk him through his thoughts.) ~ Even days after the reality check, Lynn was still feeling emotionally drained. He still didn’t know what his plans for the 14th itself were. Everything in his heart was a jumble. It didn’t help that he felt so physically drained from the current state of the remnants. Every day brought with it the threat of Snarls—those with kith were safer, but some essential people still had to go running around and they didn’t have kith to protect them. Lynn worried for his friends and for any un-allied person. Brushing the thought away, he looked over at the pomegranate sitting on his table. (In his head, the strains of a cosmic song wondered how he’d be an optimist about this.) “You know, self-love is every bit as essential as romantic love.” Blinking tiredly up at the calm voice of Nikko, Lynn looked over to the gentle Delphydra. The serpentine kith came over, wrapping his form around his ally, one each of his three heads resting on Lynn’s shoulders and top of head. “You’ve been spending over half a year preparing for one day. Yes, it’s important to you, but are you having fun?” “I—“ Was he? He hadn’t stopped to consider. The day was supposed to be a joyous occasion, not a mad dash to get everything done at once. “No.” Lynn finally admitted to himself. “I’ve been stressing myself out with all of this prep work to make sure everything is perfect. For almost a year I’ve only gone outside for errands and when I’ve absolutely needed to. I’ve minimized the number of shopping runs I do, limit how much time I spend with others—I feel so,” not alone, he had kith and friends, but, “out of touch.” Because Lynn hardly saw anyone anymore with all of the work he had been pouring into his own personal projects. “Than, let’s change something.” Lynn shivered in the kith’s warm coils, causing the two side heads to chuckle softly while Nikko’s main head spoke. “Think of it as another step of preparation: instead of trying to do everything by the fourteenth, what if you planed for a week later? Or even a month?” Lynn blinked. Later. A week or so, after the height of the festivities, when everything was quieter? A month from now and everything would be completely silent—he wouldn’t be in danger of overwhelming anyone! And, maybe, if he could purchase a few extra letters—he had some gems saved up, as long as they were reasonably priced… “Thinking like that—I feel, lighter.” He looked over to the head on his left with a small smile. “It’s like a big pressure is off of my heart.” “So then,” Nikko’s left head spoke softly into Lynn’s ear, “wait. Make your own schedule with these letters.” “You can still have fun,” Nikko’s right head added positively. “But isn’t it nicer to focus on being with your friends than fretting over the small details of ‘the perfect gift’?” “The right time for you may not be the same time as everyone else,” Nikko’s main head rumbled sagely. “So don’t punish yourself for that.” That… honestly… felt like everything everyone had been trying to tell him for the last few weeks. And, if he critically thought about it—it was good advice. Sighing easily, Lynn looked around at his caring kith. “How did you get to be so wise, eating all that salad and drinking tea?” “Because,” all three heads spoke and nuzzled him at once, “I’m a good listener, and had a wise ally to guide me.” “Okay than,” Lynn exhaled a freeing breath. “Okay. This year, I’ll take it easy. I’ll help Berry with the dance, I’ll go out and actually hang out with my friends, and in a month,” his smile quirked up devilishly, “I’ll introduce Doll and Hero to some fine cooking, and too much attention.” He’d figure the rest out with time. ~ [spoiler] Excerpt: It all started with a rather innocent conversation. “I remember reading somewhere that eating a pomegranate ends in being married… I’ll take ten.” Tatter World has my full permission to share this on social media.[/spoiler]