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Raven waits patiently, rocking back on her heels. Of course, the presence watching from the shadows is already present, being the reason she called the meeting in the first place.
“They’re taking too long.”
“Who’s taking too long?” The top hat appears first, precariously balanced on the rising figure. “What’s the fuss, Writing Desk?”
“Yes, what’s wrong, Raven? I thought today was going well!” A crown gets adjusted on golden curls with perfect precision.
“Well-”
“She asked Cupid out.” Cerise emerges from the shadows, glaring at Raven out from under their hood.
“That’s hat-tastic!!” Maddie pulls a glass out of her hat, and raises it. Earl Grey, who is always on her shoulder, mimics the gesture with a squeak.
“Did you not want to?” Apple turns to Raven with a concerned frown. Raven opens her mouth again.
“I just-”
“We can’t just go out with her without a plan !! We’re not ready!” Cerise huffs.
“ OH ! We can watch romantic movies to help prepare! We need a break, anyways, this will be the perfect opportunity!” Apple claps her hands with a smile.
“ Guys .” Raven waves a hand in front of all of them. “The date is today . We don’t have that much time.” Cerise glares at Raven harder, their eyes flashing yellow for a moment.
“Is that why all of us were called?” Apple turns over towards the bookshelves, where their final companion stands, thumbing through the photography books that Raven picked up from some thrift store years ago.
“Afternoon, Cedar.”
“Nice to see you, Apple.” Cedar allows herself to smile for a moment, before turning towards the rest of the room. “How are all of you?”
“Hexcellent!!”
“Fine.”
“That’s good. What’s the story about this date?”
“I didn’t mean to ask her out.” Raven rolls her eyes. “I panicked-”
“Because we weren’t prepared!”
“-And asked her on a date instead of asking for a pen.”
Apple softens her smile, and pats Raven on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine. We’ll get you all prepared, and then you’ll go on the date and live happily ever after.”
“It’ll be hat-tastic!” Maddie comes up to Raven’s other side and beams. “We’ll get you dressed all fancy like a cool goth princess, and-”
“We don’t even know what they’re doing for the date. ” Cerise rolls their eyes. “Cupid said she would ‘Let Raven pick, since she asked.’”
Cedar nods. “Let’s figure that out first, then. What does Cupid like?”
“You don’t know ? I thought you cataloged stuff like this.” Maddie gasps.
“I catalog information , yes, but I don’t sort it by person, or sentimentality. Apple probably does, though.”
“Indeed I do!” Apple sinks away for a moment before popping back up. “Cedar, can we cross reference some of this, quickly?”
“Of course.”
–
Are you okay?
Of course. We’ll just shuffle around the things we were thinking about doing tonight.
You looked uncomfortable.
You noticed that?
You’re my friend, of course I did. What’s wrong?
I just…this isn’t something I specialize in. Why am I expected to help?
She wants our help. All of our help.
Not all of our help, thankfully.
Thankfully.
–
“Let’s hope they find something.” Cerise stares at where their companions disappeared, curling further into their hood.
“They will! The Orchard always finds something that fits the bill!” Maddie winks at something Cerise and Raven don’t see, and Raven sighs through her nose.
“The Orchard is a new one.” She mumbles before smiling at Cerise. “It’ll be fine, you know. I know I messed up earlier, but it seems to be working out for the best, right now.”
Maddie bounces up as Cerise nods. “Oh! We can start picking clothes! For all the hypotheti cals , that we are undoubtedly going to come up with! They won’t be swift , so we have time.”
Raven and Cerise blink. “Did you just rhyme - Oh now I’m doing it.” Cerise barks out a laugh, and shakes their head.
“Alright, let’s go ransack your closet while we wait.” Cerise pushes between Raven’s shoulder blades, and sends her stumbling towards her room, with the two of them in tow.
Maddie rifles through Raven’s clothes with glee, extracting clothes Raven didn’t know she had. Where had she even gotten that blue shirt, and what was with all the belts?
“We can set up some options…” Cerise catches a jacket that Maddie slings at them, and lays it down alongside some of the other clothes. Raven stares incredulously at the combination of colors.
“I didn’t- since when was there so much blue in my closet?” Raven holds up one of the belts. “When did I buy this?”
“Last month, when you went shopping with Lizzie! Isn’t it pretty? I thought you could pair it with that jacket, and those pants!” Maddie adjusts her hat, and starts digging through the closet again. “With your boots, of course.”
“You panicked and bought it when you realized you hadn’t grabbed anything.” Cerise pats Raven’s shoulder, before turning back to the growing pile of clothes. “Maddie, I think we can start now.”
“Wonderlandiful!”
—
I never understood how you can find anything here.
I could say the same for you. Filing based on mention is far more difficult than based on emotional importance.
If you insist.
Alright, I think that’s all of them.
Let’s hope they haven’t burned the apartment down. Again.
I don’t think Duchess could get us out of that a second time.
I just wouldn’t want to owe her again. Last time almost revealed them. I think these are the most relevant to our current problem.
Good. Let’s go.
—
Apple blinks, cradling the box in her hands gently. Cedar is leaning against the doorway, staring at their companions. It was a mess, seemingly every article of clothing in Raven’s closet folded on top of one another, with shoes stacked underneath.
“What-”
“Oh you’re back! Great, what are we doing?” Raven waves at them from where she is surrounded by jackets.
Apple shakes off her shock, and pulls a sheet of paper from her box. “It’s going to be too late for a picnic in the park-“
“Cupid’s first date of choice.”
“-but maybe you guys will be able to take a stroll. There’s an ice cream shop that’s too far away-“
“Favorite date option number two.”
“-that you two should be able to go to. Cedar and I checked, it is warm enough for ice cream. Of course, the two of you should probably eat first, so we have planned the ideal route.”
Cedar pulls some papers out of her own box, and scans them quickly. “Sandwich shop, ice cream parlor, and then through the park. If you two stay out late enough, you can go stargazing, and maybe even hit the midnight show at the observatory.” She does not wriggle with the excitement and satisfaction of creating a good plan. Cedar does not get excited, no matter what Apple says.
“Do we have backup plans?” Cerise looks up from where they are crammed on the windowsill.
“Do we have-” Cedar scoffs, rolling up her sleeves. “Of course we have backup plans, who do you think I am? Planning for inconvenience is only logical.”
“We won’t need them.” Apple rolls her eyes. “Maddie? Does that work for you?”
“Yep!” Maddie scoops an armful of clothes back into the closet, making everyone wince. “That means we dress comfy, not colorful!” Most of the color vanishes back into the closet.
“You’ll get me in color eventually.” Raven laughs, picking at the hem of one of her jackets.
“I’d argue purple is a color, but you wear it so much it probably doesn’t count as making your attire ‘colorful’.”
“Thanks Cede.” Cerise tosses a shirt at Raven’s head. “Hey!”
“Since everything else has been done… and the outfit is being planned…should we get flowers?” Apple sits elegantly on the mess that is Raven’s desk chair, and twirls a strand of hair around her finger.
“That is traditional.” Cedar sits on the floor under the doorway, rummaging through her box again. “It would be a nice gesture, but a bit much to carry through the park.”
“Maybe just one flower? To put in her hair!” Earl Grey produces a paper flower from under his hat, and hands it to Maddie. “Thank you. Or, we could make her a flower!”
“Do we have time? You still have to get ready, and then you have to meet her…” Cerise gets up and plucks the flower from Maddie’s hand.
“What time did you plan to meet?” Apple asks.
“Seven.” Raven checks her watch, and Cedar hums.
“So we have two hours.”
“We used to be able to do these in about four minutes, so you have plenty of time!!”
“And it won’t take you long to get dressed up, especially since you already set your clothes out.”
Cedar dips her head, and gives a tiny encouraging smile. “I planned out a thirty minute grace period, so you should be alright. Breathe .” Cerise and Raven take a deep breath.
“Now. Let’s get ready.” Apple hops to her feet, and claps. Raven nods.
–
Watch your step, you don’t want to fall here.
“Hey Cupid! Hope I didn’t keep you waiting long.” Raven side steps the bump in the sidewalk, and takes a quick glance at her watch, wincing at the time.
You aren’t even late. Breathe.
“Not at all! I just got here.” Cupid tucks some hair behind her ear. “I thought I would look around for a bit.”
Give her the flower! You worked really hard on it!
“Hey, that’s cool. I was planning on doing the same thing, actually.” Raven twirls the flower in her hands. “I, uh. I made this for you.”
“Oh! Thank you!” She takes it with a smile, and Raven feels her heart squeeze.
She’s so sweet! You’ll be fine, Raven.
Right. She’ll be fine. “I’m happy you like it. Do you want to get going?”
“Let’s!” Cupid flourishes, and tucks the flower behind her ear. “Lead the way, Raven.”
Maybe you should hold her hand.
That might be too much right now. There’s a plan-
Let’s hold her hand before the night ends!
Raven, lead the way. That means walk .
Raven blinks, and smiles at Cupid, gesturing towards where they’re going. “I hope you like sandwiches.”
She does!
