Limitations ~ Scaraether

19

This chapter was supposed to get published in September, lol.

Aether spent the time making flower crowns, creating potions, gadgets — whatever with the leftover (or just because) flowers he gathered during his commission. Once he got bored of doing those things, though, he decided to decorate random items in his house with Cecilias, Windwheel Aster, and Calla Lilys, mixing in Dendrobiums, Qingxin, Sumeru Rose, and Romaritime flowers whenever and wherever he saw fit.

Kuni and Paimon would bug him at times whenever they didn't like the placement of a flower, requiring him to stand back to see whatever error he could've possibly made, only to fix it upon realization of the offputting arrangement; apart from that, they would leave him be, knowing this was almost therapeutic to him and was better than him fighting random enemies for the sake of someone's kite stuck on a Statue of the Seven.

By the time he ran out of flowers, Aether had filled a few vases, decorated a mirror around the frame, and added some to random portraits in his house. Aether huffed sadly, upset that he didn't gather any more flowers to continue the pattern he had made. Gazing upset at the half-finished bookshelf, a sense of dread hit him hard.

"Are you finally done?" Kuni scoffed, walking inside the room with bitter tea, "So much ruckus..."

"Yeah, I ran out. But don't worry, I'll finish tomorrow once I collect enough flowers." Aether beamed, walking away from the bookshelf. Sure, Aether could be impulsive about certain decisions, but he wasn't dumb— the majority of the time. There were two small trash bags in the room (purely because he refused to use the bigger ones), filled to the brim with any pieces of flower he had to take off. Whether it be the stim, a dead petal, etc., Aether placed them in the bag.

"You do know they won't last a month, right?" Kuni asked, pointing at the decorative mess. Aether was about to retort before stopping, realizing it was pointless since Kuni was right.

"Yeah, I know." Aether sulked, lowering his head a bit, "can you help me hang the portraits on the wall, please?"

"What? Can't do it yourself?" Aether looked at Kuni, his eyes wide and pleading. The indigo rolled his eyes, reluctantly agreeing and helping him hand them back into the wall.

"Thank you, Kuni! I knew you were a big softy!"

"Shut it." Kuni's face flared as he stuck his tongue out.

"Nope,"

__

Once they finished putting everything back in their designated places, Kuni walked out of the room with a scrunched-up face.

"Thank whoever... the smells were too much."

"Hm, better get used to it since you sleep in my room." Aether smiled cockily.

"I'll just stay in a guest room until they wither and die."

"Such a bummer, truly." Aether laughed, hugging the indigo from behind. Kuni complained but did nothing to leave his grasp — instead leaning into it more as a half-contented sigh escaped his mouth.

"Aether, Paimon made some wolfhook juice from your cookbook! Can you try?" Paimon came floating up the stairs excitedly.

"Oh? Are you going to be cooking for yourself now?"

"What? No, Paimon was just bored." The fairy shrugged her shoulders, "also, we got a letter from Lyney and Lynette."

"Can you hand it to me?"

"Mhm!" Paimon floated downstairs, grabbed the letter from the counter, and returned to her blond companion, handing him the envelope.

"Thank you." Aether ripped it open, unfolding it to read its contents.

'Dear Traveler, it is I, your favorite magician and his assistant, reaching out to you via letter to tell you that on the 24th of September, Freminet will be aging by one year.
Now, from the bottom of our hearts, is it alright if we use your teapot to host the party? We want him to be more social and confident in himself, yes, so you can invite a few selected friends of your own who you feel will get along great with him.
Whatever your answer is, thank you for hearing us out. See you at our next show — maybe.
— Lyney & Lynette'

Aether sighed softly at the letter. He had nearly forgotten that the third sibling of the magic siblings' birthday was in a few days. Walking back inside his room and grabbing paper and something to write with, he began to write down his response.