Of Love and Death.

The Past Chapter 14: Party Time! Pt. 1

Toxic relationships are mentioned, as well as their consequences. But other than that, nothing to warn you all about! I don't think at least. 

Fire studied himself in the mirror Fashion had provided him. Normally, he would have simply changed in his own room. But that would have been highly awkward considering the fact that Mind was staying over. For the foreseeable future as well. So, chances were, he was going to be spending some amount of time in the isolated stall in his fellow sun's shop.

Speaking of Fashion, there was a timely knock on the door that Fire guessed was from them. Quickly spinning in a circle, the fiery sun made sure that he wasn't forgetting something. Satisfied that he wasn't missing anything important, he grabbed his normal white trench coat and black pants. They had been unceremoniously draped on the one stool in the cramped room. Now with everything, he swung open the door and was greeted with the stylish sun themselves.

There were certainly a few suns who had been in their element with this ball Light had set up. And Fashion was certainly one of them. Basically every breathing moment someone had been coming to them for advice. What to wear, what looked better on them, dress or pants, ect. Eventually, they'd just given up and basically created some form of formal wear for every single sun. And Mind, because Fashion had quickly gotten adjusted to having a shadow around.

As Fashion spoke, they were also expertly tying their hair up. "I'm so sorry to kick you out," they admonished in their slightly accented voice, "but the ball's almost here and more people need to change. And I need to see if everything looks good with them."

Smiling what he hoped was a reassuring smile, Fire didn't waste a moment with his response, "It's no big deal, I get it." The two had become surprisingly close over the past chunk of time. They'd both been working on this gala, and didn't really hate each other immediately. Which was certainly reassuring to Fire. He'd been worried that both he and Mind would become outcasts in the Sun's Orb. And while some of Fire's people certainly weren't taking too well to his friend, many more were welcoming. At the very least, they had questions for the shadow about what the other Orb was like.

Stepping out into the main area of Fashion's store, Fire was struck by the hustle and bustle. It was like the entire chaos of the market had been put in one tiny area. Perhaps it had been. Although the suns were working on rebuilding the central part of their home, it was slow going. Only a few of the stalls had survived. Which left mainly the shops that were built into rooms in the Orb functioning. Making them all the more busy, especially as most suns had more time on their hands.

But, Fashion's little boutique was filled to the brim for a different reason. After what had felt like eons of planning, Light's dance party was commencing imminently. Fire could taste everyone's anticipation of the event. At some point, the festivity had stopped becoming a way to deal with the Snakes. It had then started becoming about having fun. And the shadows. Because, for the first time since the beginning of the universe, all of the forces would be in one place.

Which was a little bit nerve racking. But Dark had promised all of his shadows would be on their best behavior. And Light had said the same. So while the party might not go off without a hitch, Fire was hopeful it wouldn't be a disaster. 

Mind studied the two blocks that were resting on Fire's desk. When he'd gotten back from a last second run to check with Water about his plan, they'd been sitting there. The cubes were about half the size of his face, and made out of the same stuff as Earth's trees. Wood, he was pretty sure it was called. The main question in his thoughts was why they were here. They'd just shown up with no note. Maybe someone had left the cubes as a gift?

A sudden noise from just outside Fire's room took Mind's attention. For a moment, a jolt of fear ran through him. Had the Snakes come back? Frozen, he seized up and listened. But, almost immediately, Mind's fears were quelled. It was just a group of loud suns racing through the hallways, rounding up all of their friends for the event. Taking a deep breath, and slowly breathing out, the shadow calmed himself down. He was far too jumpy as well.