#sun arrow

Resting in the fields

He takes off his hat and from within it a small gift box falls neatly into the palm of his hand. The wrapping is that of the deep royal purple and red of Pomefiore, but in the middle of the perfectly shaped bow gleams a golden sun. Beau offers it to Emil with a flourish. “And to many more— Oh-ho~! Is that the babka I’ve heard so much about?”

Beau plops his floppy hat back onto his feathered head and starts to step away, before turning back with a thoughtful look on his face, as if on the verge of remembering something. He taps a finger to his beak and looks up at the ceiling as though he’d find the answers written up there. “Oh, erm…Goodness me. I came across a friend of yours on my way here— didn’t catch a name— but a rather strapping, dashing, ruggedly handsome, exceedingly humble fellow who asked me to tell you he’s truly sorry he couldn’t make it to your party, but he’ll make it up to you. He has a gift, he said. I told him I’d be more than happy to hand it to you for him, but he insisted to see that radiant smile of yours for himself.”

Beau’s eyes twinkle down on Emil with a smile oddly fox-like for a stork, “Hope you wouldn’t mind making a little time for him afterwards, yeah?”

As the "stork" looked down on Emil, his eyes glittering in the light, the shorter student's cheeks grew hot, burning worse than a sun burn. The color of his face flushed, resembling a lobster or a tomato. His eyes widened innocently, like a subtle nervous panic had set in. His stomach tied itself into knors, as his chest tightened like a crank.

The "thank you" practically spilled out of his mouth, like a pitiful demonstration of his uncontrolled feelings. Nevertheless, he cleared his throat and pulled himself together. As he took the tiny box from the stork, he stole another glance at Beau. His eyes lingered with a subtle sense of pining, tattling on him in the open. But he didn't miss a beat as he began to open up the box. A velvet bag sat in the bottom. Across the front, a small label identified the contents as a sample of flower seeds. A specific species of flower that Emil knew resided deep into the oasis of the Sunset Savannah. He'd never gotten to see those blooms in person. But now? He could.

His eyes widened and began to sparkle like firecrackers. Delight spread across his face like a whipped cream. Easy and obvious.

He realized then and there though that Beau had been waiting for his response. Emil cleared his throat and offered "Beau" a genuine smile.

"I'd be happy to catch him later," he stated, "and I hope he knows he's invited to stop by the after party if he so chooses."