Work Text:
You're sitting and drawing when Solstice comes up to you with malanga fritters and sets them down on the table. "Good afternoon, Comet! What are you drawing today?"
Oh! Uh! You jump a little, not having expected being interacted with, and, wait, is fae giving you these??? That-- Huh? Why??? No, wait, don't assume that. Maybe they just made it and put them down when they stopped by to talk to you. Ah, but why else would fae've-- Okay no you should say something first.
"Oh, uh, hi," you say, and pause for a moment. Are you okay showing this? They're just sketches, there's nothing you'd want to keep private, and you don't absolutely hate it. Yeah, who cares, there's nothing important here. "Just some sketches of myself. I'm, uh, I'm practicing how to get proportions right and stuff."
"Do you mind if I see?," Solstice asks, smiling at you. Oh stars, you're getting interacted with, this is so strange???
You nod and move your sketchbook so fae can see it better. After a second of leaning over awkwardly, fae asks if fae can sit, and you nod and scooch over a bit.
You wait anxiously as they observe what you've drawn, fidgeting with your hands in your lap, but it's really only a few seconds until they say something. "I like these a lot! You're a really good artist! Ooh, I like this one in particular, the face is really good."
Oh??? "Really? I'm not really happy with how I do faces, that's one of the things I'm trying to figure out." You slowly kick your legs back and forth happily.
"Yeah! Now that you mention it, I can see where you've been experimenting there too, I think," fae smiles, and you have to look away and bury your face in your cloak a bit. Aaaah, you forgot how good this feels?? As much as you disagree sometimes (quite often, actually), it's really nice, even the times you can't help but think they're lying.
Solstice giggles a little at your reaction. "Aw, no need to be shy, your work is lovely!"
That has the opposite effect they were going for! You get more shy instead, and shrink into yourself further. You're smiling too hard under your collar for words, so you nod your appreciation instead. If you still had your hat on, your face would no longer be visible.
Fae seems to take pity on you and stops trying to make you explode, which you're glad for, because you think you might've, at that rate. Ahah, oh stars, that's embarrassing, actually, let's not think about that. Solstice seems to be breathing while they give you time, and you let yourself fall in sync.
After a moment, you're back to normal. "Thank you," you say quietly, still shy. You look at the plate fae set on the table earlier. "You made some fritters?"
"Oh, yeah!," Solstice confirms. "You can eat them if you want, I made them for you, after all. Unless you've already eaten...?"
Oh, they did make them for you?!? Huh??? You've not really interacted with faer before, and now fae's suddenly come up to you with your favorite food???
"Or did you not like malanga fritters?," fae asks, getting nervous. "I... probably should've asked what you like first, but I hope this is okay? I can make something else if you want--"
Oops, you forgot to say something!! "No, no, this is good, I like fritters!!! Thank you! I'm just... confused. Why...?"
"Hmm," they hum. "Well, I hadn't really had the chance to talk to you much yet, and I wanted to meet you! I hope you don't mind me joining you out of nowhere like this, but I noticed you were looking a little down today and wanted to make you something nice to make you happy." Fae gives you a soft smile, a little bashful. "I also wanted to check up on you? How have you been holding up?"
Oh. That's... really nice, huh. It's feels weird to know that they think of you when you're not around, but you like it. You suppose you do the same with them, but it's... strange, to know they reciprocate it. You're suprised fae paid enough attention to you to notice you were feeling down today. You honestly hadn't really noticed it yourself, but fae's right. You had been trying to distract yourself.
...You find your silver coin in your pocket, rubbing your thumb across its surface. You're glad it came here with you. You breathe in and out, trying to ignore the way you can feel the absence of what you've lost.
"I, um... Thank you," you say, remembering you should do that. "I've been... pretty lonely, since I got here." You take your coin out of your pocket and look at it so you don't have to look at Solstice while you speak. "...I miss my friends. But I'm a ghost, and they're different now, anyway. ...And I kind of did this to myself, by giving up, didn't I?" You laugh sadly at that. "I guess it was inevitable, but... I don't know, I miss them, and I haven't really made any friends here, either." You continue to not look at faer, fidgeting with your coin in your hands. It's easier to say these things if you aren't making yourself hyperaware that you're talking to another living being.
You can see Solstice nodding out of the corner of your eye, and you hear faer hum sadly. They mumble something you can't quite catch, and you glance over at them to see them lightly nibbling at their glove. You hum questioningly and tilt your head.
"...I understand how bad it feels to be separated from them," fae starts slowly, "and it's been hard to find connections here as a ghost, but... I would like to be friends with you-- I mean, if you'd like?" They bury their face in their cloak collar, embarrassed. "You just-- seem nice to be around, and I haven't really made any friends here yet either."
"Really?," you say, perking up. "I'd-- yeah, I'd like that!" You put your coin back in your pocket and lightly drum your fingers on your legs while kicking them back and forth.
Solstice taps their feet on the floor happily and smiles brightly. "Lovely! I'm glad!!! Now then, we should probably eat before the fritters get cold." Faer smile turns sheepish. "I may have kept speaking too much, I didn't mean to make you wait, whoops." They chuckle, grabbing a fritter from the shared plate between you.
"Oh, oops, I forgot about those," you laugh, closing your sketchbook and setting it aside before grabbing a fritter of your own.
"I'm still trying to figure out how to cook these without a recipe, so apologies in advance if they're not as good as they could be. I've been adjusting how I make them each time, so hopefuly they're alright!"
You take a bite and hum happily at the taste. They're pretty good! About the same as Bonnie used to make, you think? You don't exactly remember, it's been a while. ...Anyway.
"I'm surprised you can cook," you tell faer. "Or would it be bake? There's a difference, right?" You've never been able to remember. "Either way, this is something I'm terrible at. You're really good at it." The food you used to make was only really ever good enough to be edible. Usually, you'd just catch fish and give them to Bonnie. Without them, you'd've been eating plain cooked fish every night.
Fae perks up. "Oh! Why thank you! I'm definitely not an expert or anything, but, well... I had a good teacher." They look out the window with a nostalgic expression. "I didn't know how to cook or bake at all when I first joined the party, but I would help Bonnie prepare meals and they ended up teaching me a lot. Now it's something familiar to do, and I get to share what I make with others. It's a way that I can keep the memory of those times close to me," they smile sadly.
Ah... You never really helped Bonnie with making food. You did sometimes, but always with instruction, and it was always simple things, like cutting things up. You didn't have the confidence to try anything further, always too scared you'd mess something up.
They pop another fritter in their mouth and squint in thought, mumbling something about... less spice and more something else, something like that—before turning back to you.
"Admittedly I still have a lot more to learn. That kid had an amazing sense for what works well together. Or at least most of the time," fae laughs. "What about you? Did you always draw or did you pick it up from somewhere? You have quite the talent for it!" Fae tilts faer head curiously.
You startle a bit, having almost forgotten conversations were a two-way thing, oops. You hum, thinking. "I don't know how I started drawing. I couldn't tell you when I started, either," you say. "Odile gave me my sketchbook and Isa gave me my pencils. I don't remember what I did before then. It's just been something to do, I guess. A lot of the time I'll either draw myself or characters from plays I like. I'd make my own characters, but... I've never really been good at it," you say, smiling sheepishly.
"Nonsense, I'm sure any character you made would be lovely!," they tell you. "Even if it's not up to your standards at first, the more you practice creating, the better it'll be. It's all for fun, no need to stress on if it's good or bad!"
Solstice nods towards your sketchbook. "And you've got quite the eye for detail, I imagine anything you make would be wonderful!" They lightly clap their hands together, looking rather joyous. It's pretty cute.
Aaugh... You hide your face in your collar again. You really disagree with that, but you don't feel like arguing it. You've tried making your own characters and stories before, but it feels like everything you make is only ever derivative or shallow. Still, you nod. "...Thank you."
It doesn't take long for both of you to finish eating the malanga fritters. As you're eating your last one, Solstice looks at the clock. "Ah, I should head back to the flower shop before Lav gets worried... I promised her I'd help move the heavy plants out of the way." They stand up and stretch for a moment, then turn back to you. "Thank you for letting me hang out with you today! It was nice. I'll see you again later?" Fae tilts faer head at you hopefully.
You nod, smiling. "I liked this too. Thanks for saying hi. I'll see you later, yeah." You wave at them, lightly kicking your feet under the table.
Fae picks up the now empty plate and waves back. "Take care! If you ever need anything, feel free to call!"
You keep smiling as they walk away. Once they're out of sight, you look towards your sketchbook.
...You have a friend now. Huh. You can't stop smiling about it. You're excited to see Solstice again. ...Maybe you could try drawing them, and show them it next time you see each other.
You open up your sketchbook and start drawing.
