Darling Snowflake

A sister that didn’t know that their sister existed. What a novel idea. Even though Adella adored her sisters some days, there were times when she’d rather them forget that she existed (except for Arista, ‘course. Ris was her best friend since pre-birth, her partner in crime. Couldn’t have her forgetting Adella). Maybe she’d get some privacy that way for once in her life. Maybe then Attina would stop trying to protect her, and she wouldn’t have to listen to Ris and Aquata bicker about which top was whose day in and day out.

What was it like to grow up alone? Well, not really alone, right? Just without siblings. An only child. Adella remembered as a kid she marveled at Belle, who had no one but her mum and her dad and their little cottage. It was so quiet there. Tranquil. The way Adella so wished her home someday would be, quiet and still and cozy. Of course filled with love and laughter and life, but at the end of the day just… still.

Adella saw how Peri’s hands were twisting together nervously, and she put her own out to hold them softly. “It’s alright, that’s fine! Don’t fret over it. Do you… plan on telling her? Is that why you came back?”

Periwinkle didn’t know how she managed to get lucky to land with such a good friend as she did with Adella. What she had done was mean and she knew it had worried her friend dearly, and yet here the brunette was trying to reassure her by gently placing a hand over her nervous wringing fingers. The action felt warm and made Peri smile just as warmly in return, squeezing her friend’s hand a little before letting out a sigh the flickered random strand of her bangs in the air.

“I—I..... it’s sort of complicated.... I mean I do, I want to tell her because it was the reason I came back.... I just I don’t even know if I should anymore, and I well I think I dug myself in a hole with all of this....” 

A big one in where the frost fairy had lived in Swynlake for almost what.... two years now? And still hadn’t told Tink a thing. Her eyes darted back to the table, her teeth gnawing at the inside of her cheek as she tried to think of the best way to explain everything to Adella. It was a bit of a tricky story, if you asked Peri.

“I have been here for about... two years? Or a little over that and I-I haven’t told her anything, but have become a very close friend to her.... How is that... how is that even going to look?! I’m a liar! I have been holding out this secret for forever, but I haven’t.... I don’t know how to tell her, Adella. I just...” She sighed again, the weight of the guilt because of this secret sitting heavily on her chest.

“I’m a product of an affair, that’s what I am a dirty affair that should’ve never happened. My sister’s dad cheated on his wife with my mother and here I am, so how do you tell your sister that the man you admire and love, mind you, cheated on your mom with another woman and had a kid with her? Oh, with a cherry topper too because he left the woman as soon as he find out she was pregnant.” Periwinkle could feel tears stinging behind her pupils as the threatened to fill the rim of her eyes although the blonde held them back. 

Babette liked to pride herself on being quite well pulled together. She dealt with screaming children and huffy parents for a living. It took a lot to get her wound up to a point that other people would notice it.

A lot had happened recently. She’d lost her job and then her girlfriend and then been cursed and then moved her whole life to another country to break that curse. So Babette thought she could be forgiven for being a bit stroppy and ill tempered- she hadn’t meant to yell at the barista, but how difficult was it to make a decent espresso? Clearly she’d been spoiled in France and the English were as stupid as she’d been warned. And really, who cried just because a woman snapped at them in French? Babette had yelled at babies in French and they hadn’t cried. Well. Some had. But not all of them.

So now she was walking down the street with an espresso that was only slightly better than the first one had been, talking on the phone to her mother- in French, because the woman had never found it necessary to learn English- explaining why she hadn’t sent money for a couple of months and promising that she would again as soon as she got her first paycheck from Adam. Honestly it was all just making Babette feel worse, her selfishness had put them in a bad situation and that was all on her shoulders- luckily Adam would be paying well, and so Babette could send them more than before. Just as she was sharing this bit of news with her mother there was an audible crack and Babette swore, stumbled, nearly spilling her espresso as the heel on her shoe snapped in half. After a quick goodbye to her mother she leaned up against a wall and slid the shoe off, mumbling her outrage at it. A traitor tear slid down her cheek and Babette wiped at it with the back of her hand, looking up to see someone staring at her.

“What?!” She huffed, levelling them with the darkest glare she could muster while holding a broken shoe and kind of crying “you never seen a girl insult a shoe in French before? Watch an art film!”

Periwinkle had absolutely nothing in mind today but to simply enjoy some crisp, cold fresh air. Winter was her favorite season after all, the one time in Swynlake, except for some days in Fall, where she can walk about and her skin wouldn’t be itching over into a rash, or her wings wouldn’t wilt. The heat only did bad things for the frost fairy, and when the temperature would rise very high, she often found herself hurled over a toilet puking. 

Thankfully, that wouldn’t be the case at the moment! The cold was her friend, a close companion that livened her veins and flowed with vigor through her blood stream. It was a part of her as much as she was part of the cold. Of course, that would sound weird to anyone, but then again, Peri was a frost fairy. She was made to live under colder weather, definitely not the other way around, which accounted for quite a shock when she told people what she actually was. 

In any case, she was walking in nothing but a thin long sleeve shirt and some jeans, no sweater or coat in sight, not that she needed either of those garments anyways. It was her day off and she had been wondering what she was going to do when she stopped on her tracks. 

In all honesty, the blonde hadn’t noticed that she had been staring until the woman she was looking at had all but snapped at her, which was warranted from the stranger’s point of view.  Periwinkle hadn’t meant anything bad by it she had been intrigued by the language she was speaking and then was trying to think of way she could help the woman with her current predicament. The blonde blinked a couple of times a very sheepish smile lining her lips. 

“I- no, no, I didn’t mean to stare. I’m so sorry! I was just I got sidetracked by the French. I don’t-I don’t hear much of French and then I-I was trying to see how I could help...maybe? I saw what happened to your shoe and I was trying to think if there was a shoe store or something near by. I’m really sorry!” 

Tink listened intently to Peri talk about home. Her home. It sounded so beautiful, cold but beautiful. Tink would love to visit one day. Would actually love to visit all the Hallows around the world if she could. Being able to experience that…. It as all that Tink wanted in her life. To be able to travel freely. To see and experience everything and anything. She didn’t want to be stuck in her small Hallow or in Swynlake.

“You’ll have to take me one day, then. Because that place sounds bloody amazing, Peri. Really. Why in the world would you come all the way out here to this hell hole when you had something amazing there?” She asked curiously, a bit ludicrously too. It didn’t make any sense to her though it should have. It could have easily been for the same reasons Tink wanted out of Swynlake. Though that didn’t seem much like Peri’s deal. Not that it was any of Tink’s business.

Her friend’s sheepish but cute laugh made Tink scowl and shake her head. She was hopeless. All that adorable energy gone to waste. Tink would turn it around though. It was her job as friend to do that. And she’d already become a mentor of sorts. Didn’t matter that they always had a laugh when they were supposed to be “training”. “Oi, you’re not hopeless. Just don’t have me there to kick your arse into gear. Don’t worry. We’ll get you in tip top shape when I’m out. Boy’s’ll be droolin’ all over you. And who knows, maybe I can show ya how’s it done so you can get a look at the proper way to pick up blokes and get ‘em to do what you want.”

Periwinkle could see the interest that glittered behind Tink’s pupil when the frost fairy had described her home, and when she mentioned wanting to visit one day Peri couldn’t help but to wonder how that would be. Of course, no one in her Hallow was very aware that she had a sister. Yes, they knew Peri had been born out of an affair, but the details of her father’s life wasn’t known to anyone save her mother the willing participate of the afore mentioned affair. 

Her friends would love her, of that much Peri knew. Tink would even get splendidly along with Spike since they both seem to have very similar personalities. At the same time, they would all be so curious and excited to meet a warm fairy. Those weren’t exactly seen back home. 

“I guess I’m going to have to then. My friends would love to meet you. No one back home has ever seen a warm fairy, sorry... that’s what we call you guys since you know we thrive in the freezing weather.” The next question left Peri with a bit of a pause because well.... she couldn’t exactly go saying to find Tink now could she? That would prove disastrous. She’d have to provide a different answer. 

“Well, I grew up there all my life... I wanted to go somewhere different, somewhere a little warmer. Not too warm because you already know how badly I react to the heat, and Swynlake just seemed like a great fit. Home is beautiful, it is, but there is also a lot I never truly got to see, like butterflies.” 

Tink was one of those people finally. One of those people in rehab that had someone there that cared for them, that would sit so very close and hug them and tell them how much they missed her. Of course Copper had been by but that had been so different. Tink still felt his visit sitting heavy on her heart because he was neither friend nor family. He was Copper Russell. Sheriff of her home and maybe that was why he had come to visit. Because he felt he had some sort of duty to her. Either way, it didn’t matter and she pushed the thought aside and focused on Peri.

She had missed her friend dearly. Just about as much as she had missed Berlioz and Simba. The short time they’d known each other, the frost fairy had become another staple in Tink’s life. She was there, hidden in the fine print. There were countless nights that Tink could remember working and Peri being there at the bar. They’d laugh in the slower moments and have quick conversations in between drink orders when it got a bit busier. There were days where they would hang out at Tink’s apartment, laughing and joking about whatever came to their minds. She was as much a part of her life than anyone else.

“Home? Tell me all about it? I’m stuck in here, love. I need all the stories I can get about the outside world.” She couldn’t help but laugh then. It was true though. Even if she was fascinated by Peri’s home. She’d never been somewhere so cold before. Sure, Swynlake got cold and Tink really hated it. But wherever Peri was from was so far from Swynlake. Maybe she’d like the cold a bit better in a different location because she wouldn’t be focused on the cold, she’d be focused on the place itself. 

Another laugh rang like a bell from her lips as Peri finished speaking. She definitely needed to liven this one up just a bit when she was finally free of her self imposed prison. “You mean you haven’t been hitting up Pixie and bringing home random guys? I thought I taught you better, Per.”

Periwinkle truly was beyond happy to be able to spend some time with her sister, to see those swirls of pink in the fairy’s hair she had grown to be so familiar with and to see the excited glint in her eyes every time someone she was close to came around. It wall all little things the frost fairy had found she had missed terribly throughout the time Tink had to be away from everyone during her treatment.

This was her sister (even if the other wasn’t aware of that small tidbit as of yet) there was a bond there that, at least on Peri’s end, that had grown stronger over the time the blonde had lived in Swynlake and spent time with the tinker fairy. Yes, although Tink didn’t know of this Peri was still thankful to have gotten to know her and grow closer to her. It was small steps to the ultimate one that she was going to have to steel herself for... but slow and steady was better than nothing. 

At the question, the frost fairy had to pause a moment to think about what to even say of her home. Where could she even start?! To her, her home was the most beautiful place out there and to place that into words was a little difficult, but she could tell that it would make Tink happy if she at least tried. “Where do I even start? Okay, so you know I live, or well lived, in Norway right? In the Scandinavian regions. I didn’t grow up in the main villages, or city areas of the country but in my hallow. Oh, it beautiful! Like a Winter Wonderland! The forest my hallow is in is called Winter Woods. All the tree branches are decorated with soft snow flurries and have glittery icicles hanging from them. The woods is surrounded by glaciers at the end of it and a majestic fjord! I’m pretty sure my Hallow is like yours in what we all do, except it’s with Winter fairies who all love to sled, build snowmen and have a good snowball fight in the morning!”

Periwinkle found herself beaming as she spoke of her home, her voice peaking in fond burst of excitement as a laugh bubbled from her lips. She missed her home a little more each day, all of her friends and ever her mother, but she knew that with each day that passed she was were she needed to be. Laughing once more, Peri shook her head that bubbly smile shifting into a more cute sheepish one.

“I’m really happy you liked it!” Arista was practically bouncing with excitment. The girl seemed really nice, not that Arista didn’t have an outlook that told her that almost everyone was really super nice, but Peri was definitely like surest of sure super nice. “I love turning people onto new music! It like makes me a little proud inside that I did my part in helping someone else find some enjoyment, ya know?”

“Lots of hard work.” Arista nodded with her most serious look on her face before she burst into giggles. “No, really, I picked it up when I was little and I thought it was like a super cool sounding instrument so I stuck with it. I have a mentor that helps teach me new techniques and stuff.” Arista gasped with a grin and wide eyes at Periwinkle’s apparent ability to endure the cold. “Wow, that’s so awesome! Are you from like Antarctica or something? Oh, I’m Arista by the way. Really great to meet you.”

“Oh, I did! I liked it a lot!” Mundus music had easily become a sort of fascination to Periwinkle. Having lived in a fairy hollow all of her life, well up until now, a lot of Mundus things excited Peri! She had never been privy to such things before. Magick had been all she known, pixie magick with fairies that took care of bringing forth the Winter season. She nodded her head excitedly before speaking once more. “I can understand that for sure. It gives you a sort of happy and fuzzy feeling inside.” Well, at least for Peri it did.

“Wow, that’s so awesome! The only thing I picked up since I was little was ice-skating. I still skate all the time and I absolutely love it, but I never had the chance to learn an instrument.” Maybe one day she’d get that chance, but right now she was perfectly happy with getting to hear them all, especially when they sounded as pretty as the piece this girl, or rather Arista, had just finished playing. Laughing a little at the bright excitement lighting up the blonde’s features, which the frost fairy loved, Peri shook her head. “Thanks! It makes me love the cold ten times more! No, not Antartica, but Norway, up in the Scandinavian regions.”

Tink didn’t want to let go of Peri. Not really. She wanted to stay wrapped up in the other faery’s arms until it was time for Peri to leave. For whatever reason, Tink had always been a fan of touch. Often the tinker fairy ignored all pretense of personal space. Especially if she truly liked you. And she adored Peri. The other blonde had secured herself a spot in her heart right alongside Berlioz and Simba and Timon and Terence. And so she’d wiggle her way into Peri’s personal space just like she’d do with the others.

“I’m okay,” she laughed as Peri pulled away from her. It wasn’t a lie persay. She was okay today. Felt like she was at home in her skin, didn’t feel itchy and in need of something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Group had gone good. She’d listened to a few newer members tell their story, hadn’t shared her own simply because there had been enough people to do that. It had been nice, not having to talk. Not having to say the same things over and over. It got tiresome telling her story over and over again. It was like reliving it every time and God she never wanted to do that again.

Her thoughts were derailed at the mention of a gift and Tink pulled away more to be able to take the bag from her friend. “You didn’t have to get me anything. I couldn’t even.. Thanks, Peri,” she said quietly, a small smile appearing on her lips. Pulling the tissue paper from the top, her grin grew even wider as she pulled out the shirt that had been gifted to her. “Oh this is brill! I love it,” she moved back to hug Peri again, even giving her a tight squeeze before pulling away and grabbing her by the hand to lead her to one of the couches. “So how’ve you been, huh? Any juicy details to give me?”

Periwinkle was more than glad and relieved to hear that Tink was doing okay. Not that she hadn’t known she had been texting and keeping contact with her sister since the moment she found out about her rehab. Even though she looked thinner than before, she could tell that there was something positively different about her sister. It was a difference that sort of warmed Peri’s heart and she knew then and there that Tink had taken the right step in entering rehab for herself. 

“I’m glad! Even though I really, really really miss you! It isn’t the same without having you around. It’s like a big huge missing chunk and I’m not so sure I like it too much.”

The frost fairy was truly hoping that her sister would like the gift she had brought her. Peri had taken lots of time shopping hoping she’d pick out just the right choice and when she saw the excitement that lit up the tinker fairy’s features she was practically thrilled! She popped a bubbly smile on her lips happily hugging the other fairy just as tightly not wanting to let go if she was given the choice. She had left her home for this, to get to know the side of her family she never thought she had and right now, Peri simply wanted to soak in that even if at the moment Tink wasn’t aware of who she truly was. “Oh thank goodness! I was really hoping that you would and I know I didn’t have too, but I really wanted too.” 

Periwinkle Rose had to be just about the cutest name Lucky had ever heard in her life. In fact, everything about Peri was cute. It made it difficult for Lucky to hold on any little pang of jealousy she might have briefly felt. Thank goodness for that. Her smile genuinely widened as she said, “That’s so cute! I mean, not you being in trouble, but your name. My name means cricket. Not really sure why my parents decided on that but…” When Peri complimented her on her name, Lucky nodded with a bit of a laugh. “That’s okay, I like Lucky better anyways. It’s just–well, cute.”

Lucky listened to Peri’s description of Norway. She tried to imagine it as they went along, but it probably became more fantastical in her own mind than in reality. A winter wonderland sounded amazing. “Wow, that sounds beautiful. I can just imagine you must have had so much fun building snowmen, drinking hot cocoa.” At least that’s what she assumed life must be like in a place like that. “A fairy hollow?” Lucky queried, cocking her head to the side. She had never heard of one before. In her mind, the image she got was a hole inside of a tree, though that probably wasn’t right.

The anticipation building in Lucky was almost too great. It bubbled over into her hands that refused to stay still, clasping together and then coming apart to clutch her cheeks. She was going to witness magic! Real live magic! Which, yes, she had seen (sort of) at the hot cocoa event but this was different. Peri was going to actually perform some right in front of her very eyes. Lucky could hardly believe her–well, her luck. “My favorite animal?” That was a tough question. Anything small and adorable was probably her favorite at one time or another. But to pick only one? “Hm, I like bunnies. No, wait, kitties. No, no, puppies? Ahh, maybe you should do a cricket. Because of my name and apparently they’re good luck.”

Once Periwinkle had finished showing her co-worker all the flavors this store had to offer and where to find them. She quickly wrapped up her tour of the freezer and proceeded in leaving the place. She knew that for herself, remaining in the freezer truly wouldn’t have had any affect on her, but for the brunette it could possibly well make her sick, something Peri wouldn’t wish on her. Making her way back to the register she smiled back at Lucky nodded her head enthusiastically. Speaking about her home was always such a fond thing for the frost fairy and it never ceased in bringing her joy.

“Oh, my friends and I were constantly making tons of snowmen, although I can’t say I was ever a fan of hot cocoa. See, hot things has a bad affect on me. You should see me in the Summer here, my skin breaks out into rashes and hives. It’s pretty bad.” Before the blonde went ahead and answered the question asked of her, she quickly showed Lucky where the find the necessary items needed to for the shift such as: ice cream cones, scooper, dish bowls etc. 

“And a fairy hollow is basically a place where all fairies live. It’s pretty much a community of only fairies. You’d also probably never find us in the current size that I’m in now. All faeries have a pixie form, where we are a lot tinier with our wings and all. I can show you my form one day, if you’d like! It just has to be cold, because if not the warmth makes my wings wilt.”

Fairy lesson 101 for you, which Peri had hoped didn’t make things more confusing in the end. It was after Lucky had given her animal of choice that the blonde placed an overly excited smile on her lips and began to set to work. She could feel her magic tingling in her veins, bursting into icy life. It traveled cooly into her nerves synapsing together until swirls of small ice deposits began to slide out of the fairy’s finger-tips. She concentrated into wielding the tiny deposits together creating iced crystals and molding them into the shape she desired: a cricket. In mere minutes a mini-iced sculpture of a cricket was sitting comfortably in the palm of Peri’s hand.

“Ta-da! One mini iced cricket just for you!”

Tink had settled into a routine now. She’d been in rehab for what felt like years but was really a little over a month. And she still had a month to go. It was ridiculous really. She hated it more than anything even though she knew she needed the help. Didn’t make the whole process any less shitty. It was an entire month away from home, not being able to see her dearest friends. Sure, Copper had come for a visit and that had been surprising really, surprising but still nice. And yeah, she was allowed phone calls but it wasn’t the same. She couldn’t curl up in Ber’s lap or hug Simba over the phone. 

But today her routine was being messed up just a bit.  All for a good cause though.

After group, Tink had rushed to her room and attempted to get ready. She was still pissed that her roots were showing, the pink she’d kept up so well now fading away like her spirit had been in those first few weeks. There were bags under her eyes from lack of sleep and her detox. Her skin was a bit paler and her clothes hung off her loosely because of the weight she’d lost but it would have to do for the time being. 

Making her way towards the visiting room, she grinned wide as she caught a glimpse of blonde hair and heard an all too familiar voice float through the air. “Perri!” She couldn’t help but shout as she waved exuberantly at the other fairy. Oh how she had missed that bubbly girl. Couldn’t even stop herself as she took off towards her and all but catapulted herself into the other girl’s arms. “Oh my God, hi! I miss you.”

Periwinkle had been given directions to the visiting rooms only after having her gift checked out thoroughly. Luckily, she had made it to where she needed to go without getting lost and before she could even have a chance to scan the room, she was excitingly jumped on by a petite frame she knew all too well. Peri didn’t take a second to happily wrap her arms around her sister hugging her super tight in an embrace, almost whacking someone near by with her gift bag.

God how she has missed her!

“Tink! I’ve missed you too! So much!!” And she really had even when she knew the fairy was where she needed to be, she still missed her tremendously. She pulled her head back only slightly to look at her sister, still keeping her arms wrapped around her simply because she wasn’t ready to let her go just yet. “How are you?!” There was a smile that spread genuinely wide on the blonde’s lips as she looked at Tink.

It wasn’t without her noticing how thin she appeared now, her clothes fitting lose and for all intensive purposes, Peri had been sorta prepared for this since she had asked Tink what size she was in shirts. Seeing it, however, was something completely different and the bags that decorated the rim of her sister’s eye only made the frost fairy surmise that she was having difficulty sleeping. Everything brought a great ache to the pit of the blonde’s stomach, an ache though that she didn’t dare show an inch of.

In complete honesty, Periwinkle had scared Adella.

For once in the mermaid’s life, she’d thought that a friend wouldn’t leave her. And, when she did, Adella thought that something horrible might’ve happened. Because, if anyone would have told her that they were leaving, it would have been Peri.

But it was fine, really! She was back now and she was put together, which was all Adella really could have asked for. She was just indescribably happy that Peri was okay.

As the frost fairy spoke Adella shook her head and patted the other girl’s hand (because, when they had settled into the seats at the table, Adella had kept her hand latched around Peri’s. She hadn’t noticed until this moment, but she didn’t let go simply because being able to feel her hand meant that Peri was here again). “No, Peri, I promise it’s fine! I’m just so glad that you’re okay.”

Adella wondered what it was like to live somewhere that wasn’t home. That was one thing that she was always very thankful for, Swynlake. As much as some people hated it, Adella had always been so in love with the little magic town. It had always been home. But what did it mean to be away from that place intentionally?

Why had Peri even come here, from her home that she loved so much?

Peri had been struggling here? Adella thought about all the times they had skated since their first trip into the forest (Adella had really become a natural, contrary to her expectations), all the coffee dates and detours to the Ice Queen to visit her friend. Not once had she ever thought that things were going poorly for Peri. Maybe she wasn’t as great of a friend as she prided herself on being. Maybe she deserved to not have Peri come back.

“I feel like an awful friend,” she blurted, moving her hand back to her side of the table. “I didn’t even know that you were having a hard time or anything. I don’t even know why you came to Swynlake.”

Periwinkle began to feel the familiar sensation of guilt twisting in the pit of her stomach. It was a feeling she came to realize was becoming a routine for her gut mostly because she was still lying every time she came in contact with Tink, or when people would ask her why she chose Sywnlake of all places to move away from home. 

The blonde had truly never meant to hurt Adella and in hind sight she realized that it was thoughtless for her to have never left at least a message of sorts, especially to Adella. The Triton girl was the only close friend Peri really had here in town. 

And now hearing the brunette speak out loud about being an awful friend made the fairy’s guilt writhe even more. 

She immediately shook her head the motion done pretty quickly that almost even made Peri feel slightly dizzy afterwards. “No, no! Adella, you aren’t an awful friend at all! You’re nowhere near that. Please, don’t think that you are. If anything between the two of us I’m probably the one who should win that trophy, and keep it incased somewhere in my place.” 

There came the question that began to make the guilt in her gut leap and twist. It only increased ten-fold when Peri felt Della’s hand quickly leave hers to hide into her pockets. Goodness, should she tell Adella the real reason for why she was here? A reason she was miserably failing at mind you. The fairy pondered the question a moment unknowingly biting at the gum of her cheeks as she did though. She had been so lost in thought she hardly realized when the waiter came around.

“Oh-oh! I’m sorry... umm can I just have... what she has? Just iced, please?” She placed her normal bubbly smile back onto her lips as the waiter left leaving the fairy to place all her attention to her friend. 

Lucky smiled at the charming snippet about Peri’s home life. She wished that she had more things like that to say about her own family. But, even before they decided to practically disown their daughter, there wasn’t much warmth in that household. A pang of jealousy shot through Lucky. Which was rude of her, why was she feeling so–so negative? That wasn’t like her at all. With a smaller smile than she liked to share, Lucky replied to Peri’s story, “That’s…funny. Does she use your middle name too when she’s mad?” Being asked about her own name gave Lucky something else to latch on to besides that unfortunate spout of bad. “It’s Xīshuài. You’re sweet to even ask.”

When Peri had mentioned a trip, Lucky had expected that it would be somewhere nearby. Norway certainly wasn’t what she had thought. She couldn’t exactly hide her surprise though she supposed that was still closer than Hangzhou. “Norway? I don’t believe I’ve ever met somebody from Norway before. You’ve gotta tell me what that’s like. Cold, I’m guessing?” Lucky knew little about the country but it was just to easy talking to Peri. Like they were already close friends in the span of minutes. It was easy to ask her questions and come up with things to say. Lucky liked her co-worker a lot. That made the process of learning all the flavors feel a lot quicker than it actually was. They managed to discuss while still talking about which flavors were their favorites. (Lucky’s was vanilla. Plain, maybe, but it was a classic for a reason.)

And when Lucky asked about magic, Peri seemed so enthusiastic about answering. That was still new for her. Back home, it was sort of a don’t ask don’t tell policy regarding Magicks. They, of course, knew of their existence. To have the people here in Swynlake so readily talking about and even showing off their powers was strange to Lucky. Exciting though. Lucky leaned in as if they were sharing some deep dark secret or were getting away with doing something naughty. Her eyes were all lit up, her hands clasped together. “Really? A fairy? Can you–I mean, you can just frost things whenever you want to?” Wow!

Thinking about her mom yelling her middle name in the small cabin of her home brought a fond smile to the frost fairy’s lips. In all honestly, Peri never understood why she was given a middle name. Her name alone was very heavy to begin with, but that didn’t seem to change matters for her mother. “She does. That’s when I always knew I was completely in for it. My whole first name with the middle name slabbed into it. It’s Rose.” At least her mother had been kind enough to give her a small middle name. “It’s my mom’s absolute favorite flower.”

Upon hearing Lucky’s actual name, Peri couldn’t help but to admit that she liked the way it seemed to flow out of her co-workers lips. It was so natural and exotic, but the fairy was also well aware that if she were to try... it wouldn’t be sounding quite as pretty as it just had. “Oh, your name sounds so pretty! You make it seem so easy, but I think I’ll stick to Lucky because I can’t make it sound as pretty as you just did.” She laughed a little smiling over at her new found friend, especially after having caught the shock that glimmered in her eyes. “Super cold.” The blonde spoke excitedly. “I love it! It’s like... a beautiful Winter Wonderland. I grew up away from the main village and city part of the country more so deep in the woods with a my fairy Hallow: Winter Woods. Oh, but it’s so majestic. I always have a hard time placing it into words.” Every time Peri would speak about her home there was a joyous love laced in her words.

Luckily enough, she hadn’t gotten too lost so she was able to share that her favorite ice-cream flavor was mint chocolate chop, which was then only side-tracked by the excitement that practically oozed right out of Lucky when Peri admitted to her magic. The blonde had practically leaned in right with Lucky the balls of her feet threatening to jump up and down right in place. “Really, really, and yes I can! I’ll show you! Hmm..” She paused a moment thinking before speaking again. “What’s your favorite animal?”

“Aw, you’re too sweet.” Arista waved her off with a grin, though she did like compliments. Who didn’t like compliments? Strange, strange people that’s who. “It’s kind of a fan favorite. It’s from this song from 1984 by George Michaels, may he rest in glorious music peace.” She nodded at the end solemnly. She was truly saddened by the news. He was a wonderful, influential musician after all. And just like that the light switch turned on and she was back to her bubbly self. “Anyways, everyone knows the sax part who has heard the song.” 

She beamed at the girl who was definitely not shivering. She should be shivering. Arista was still cold in this weather and she had about five layers on. “Wow, how are you not like freezing! Does your sweater have like heaters on the inside of it or are you wearing hidden layers or something?” She looked the girl over not in a flirty sort of way just in a wow, what is your secret sort of way.

It seems that Periwinkle was able to strike some luck in finding someone with a similar personality. One never knew what they could bump into in Swynlake. It was one of the very first lessons she learned in the time she has been living here. It practically felt like a century for the frost fairy even though she has been here about two years... tops? In any case, the fact that was born and raised in a fairy Hallow deep within the cold woods of Norway, that sort of made Peri slightly lost when music was involved. “I don’t think I have ever heard that song before... but I really liked hearing the part you were playing. I’m guessing I’m going to have to look it up, now.”

Needless to say because she wasn’t use to many mundus things, the blonde was intrigued by this. “How did you learn to play the saxophone?” Hey, she picked up instrument names when moving here she could at least give the names to those. When the girl mentioned her lack of layers in the Winter Peri couldn’t help but laugh a little. She kept forgetting that walking around the cold without being bundled up wasn’t exactly a norm. “Oh, I’m umm sorta immune to the cold. It doesn’t affect me at all so that’s why I forget that I guess I’m suppose to where a coat.” She shrugged with a smile on her lips. “I’m Periwinkle by the way.”

Arista Triton wasn’t hard up for cash. Not in the least. She was a Triton after all. However, there were these really cute shoes the other day that totally went over her spending limit with Daddy and she just barely managed to convince him to buy them for her. So she was in need of some spending money just in case she decided to go shopping today (which was almost a 100% possibility).

She played her sax in the park, and had gotten a pretty decent pool of cash, playing anything from jazz to jive to some sax covers of modern hits. Most people around town knew her so she didn’t know if it was the fact that she was Jeff’s daughter or that she was actually talented. But whatever, she needed to practice in front of an audience anyways. It was good exposure whether she got money for it or not. 

Right now, she was performing a fan favorite: the sax part of George Michael’s Careless Whispers, may he rest in beautiful musician peace. Someone came up to her just then as she was finishing the last song. She let her arms relax, her saxophone hanging by her side now as she beamed at them, “Well, hi there, thanks for being my audience!”

Periwinkle had agreed to pick up an extra shift today something she truly didn’t mind seeing as she actually enjoyed her job. Plus, the extra money wouldn’t hurt either. In fact, she could probably use a new pair of ice-skates. The blonde skated so much that her newest pair looked like a raggedy mess someone probably fished out of trash chute. 

Anyways, the fairy was still early for her shift so she decided on taking a bit of a stroll. Her hair was up in some make-shift ponytail with no coat in sight. She was probably one of the only people who was walking around with an extremely light sweater in the middle of Winter, but the cold was so refreshing. It made her skin feel alive and didn’t blister it up into rashes. This was the type of weather Peri thrived in.

It was in the midst of her aimless strolling that she caught wind of someone playing a saxophone, and quite beautifully if she may add. The fairy decided to approach where the music was coming from, a smile falling over her features was the song had sadly ended. “Wow, you play beautifully! I’m not exactly sure what the song was, but it was still so pretty! You have some great talent.”