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Richeh was cold when she woke up. Her light quilt, perfect for the weeks leading up to Silver Eve, felt thin now against the encroaching chill of winter. Feeling irritable, she burrowed deeper into it, breathing in the familiar scent of the atelier. Familiar was good. It was safe. The catastrophe at the festival had thrown everything and everyone into disarray. The one good thing to come of it - seeing Rili again - had been over in a blink. Now they were back to the Atelier, back to normal again, but everything still felt faintly wrong. And cold.
Richeh gave up on falling back asleep and reluctantly rolled herself out of bed, taking the thin quilt with her. She stopped to carefully straighten her fuzzy sleeping socks before padding out of her room, taking the winding staircase up to her and Tetia’s shared study space. Her roommate’s faint snores echoed from her half-open door. Once, Richeh had found sharing a study with the energetic girl irritating, but now it was… nice. Another thing that felt comfortingly familiar about the atelier.
Richeh padded downstairs to the large central hearth, which still gave off a latent warmth from the banked coals. Coco could often be found there in the evenings, curled up with brushbuddy, and today Richeh decided to try that too. She dragged out a few extra blankets from the linen closet and arranged them on the warm flagstones. Usually, her own bed was best, but this was… nice. She drifted off to sleep again, warm and toasty.
Clang! “-haven’t even started thinking about preparations, Olly we'll need to-” A loud noise and the murmur of voices woke Richeh with a start.
“Oh no, did that wake you, Richeh? Sorry, I dropped a pot.” Master Qifrey peered over the couch to survey her nest.
“‘s okay.” Richeh sat up, pulling her quilt around her tighter.
“Were you cold last night? I was just saying to Qifrey that winter sure crept up on us this year. I'll redo the heating spells around the doors in your rooms today.” Master Olruggio came around the side of the couch to begin poking the fire. “I know the hearth is nice this time of year, but try not to sleep so close. Blankets and fire don't really mix well.”
Richeh gave him a small glare from her nest. If a spark landed on her, she would definitely wake up! But Master Olruggio worried about things like that, so Richeh knew not to say anything.
Noise increased as the atelier gradually woke up for the day. First down was Agott, uniform dress spotless and wrinkle-free. Richeh always wondered if the girl applied a spell every morning so she looked just so. Or maybe Agott was so Agott that her clothes didn't dare to wrinkle. It was a mystery.
Tetia came down next, still yawning. “Richeh! You're already up! Ooh, you made a blanket nest!” Tetia skipped over to crouch by the fire with her, tiredness banished in an instant. “Mmm, that's nice. Here, want a brushbuddy?”
Richeh eyed the newest addition to their Atelier, the grumpy brushbuddy. So far, Tetia had been remarkably vague about how she had wound up with the prince’s brushbuddy - and why a certain prince would have such a creature in the first place. He had apparently accompanied them back from Silver Eve, and only rarely deigned to be held by anyone other than Tetia.
Richeh scowled at the interloper. Brushbully glared back at her. “No thank you. He pushed over my inkwell yesterday.”
Tetia faltered. “Well, I'm sure he just-”
Another set of footsteps on the stairs made her break off. Coco made an appearance, rubbing at the shiny patch of skin that stretched across her cheek. Like Tetia with the brushbuddy, no one had bothered to explain to Richeh how Coco had ended up so injured by the events of Silver Eve. Coco said very little, especially after her unexpected trip out of the atelier a few days ago, and Master Qifrey had a pinched look around him now whenever he looked at her. True to form, he abandoned the cooking pot to Master Olruggio and hurried over to Coco, bending down to murmur something to her. Coco touched her cheek and quickly shook her head, looking away.
Richeh looked down, realizing her hands were wrapped tight around the edge of her quilt. When will everything go back to normal? She wanted the gentle comforts of their routines back, not this stilted, pointed silence.
Master Olruggio cleared his throat in the quiet. “Girls, I'm thinking of doing a few chores around the atelier today, get us ready for the winter. If it's not too chilly, maybe a trip to Kalhn-”
A firm knock on the door jolted them all fully awake. As Master Qifrey went to open it, Richeh dragged herself over to the breakfast table, still ensconced in her quilt. Whoever it was, hopefully Master would take care of it soon and everything could-
“Alaira! And Euini! Gracious, I thought you were going further south for the winter.”
Richeh dropped the spoon she had been holding and whirled around to stare. Memories of the second test overwhelmed her for a moment- anger at Master Qifrey for forcing her into it, relief at finding herself in her spells, worry for a friend she had barely met until-
“Come in, come in, brrr the mornings are cold this time of year! We were just sitting down to breakfast…”
Behind Alaira, a familiar yet not-so-familiar figure stepped hesitantly into the atelier. His hair was longer in some places and shorter in others, but a familiar scale-wolf cloak was clasped about his shoulders and a familiar hesitant smile peaked through his expression.
Richeh darted forward, quilt forgotten, and came up short in front of him. “You're… taller.” The Euini of her memories had been a scant few inches taller, but now he towered over her by nearly a head. It was odd.
“R-Richeh! Ahh, um, well yes, I suppose so…” He rubbed his neck, staring hard over at the breakfast table off to the right.
“Hmm… are you hungry? Master Olruggio always makes more than enough.” Richeh stepped forward, curious. The last time she had seen Euini, his bangs had been long enough to fully cover his eyes. They seemed shorter this time, in a vaguely intriguing way.
“Erm, I suppose, yes. Ah!” Euini met her eyes and jumped for some reason, backpedaling. His hand, still clutching his neck, tugged the cord of the seal suppressing his other form. With a whisper of shadows, the boy was gone, a large scale-wolf taking his place. The transformation knocked a vase from the nearby windowsill, and it smashed against the floor with an abrupt crash!
“Eep! Oh no, I'm so sorry, my hand slipped-” Euini the scale-wolf flattened his ears and stumbled out an apology.
“No, no, not to worry Euini! That vase has been an eyesore since a certain person gifted it to me a few years ago. I've been wanting to change things up here for ages.” Master Qifrey rushed over, quire already out to gather up the shards and spilled water. Richeh glanced at the spell he used and recognized the time-reversal spell with a shiver. It was one she had seen far, far too often recently.
“Don't worry. If you like that form better, you can stay like that.” Richeh surveyed the cowed looking wolf and was pleased to see that he came somewhat closer to her eye level in this form. “Are you fluffier? You don't have as many scales, too.”
She reached out to pat his fur without thinking, marveling at the soft texture. If she had fur like that, she might never get cold! It was like carrying around your own personal blanket, all the time.
“Ah, erm, Master Alaira said it's my winter coat coming in…” He cast an anxious look at the woman chatting up Olruggio by the stove. “We picked up a book on scale-wolf biology in the last town we passed through. Umm… that feels nice, but-”
“Sorry.” Richeh quickly pulled her hand back. For some reason, Agott was giving her a look over the table. It was supposed to mean something, Richeh was sure, but…
‘Go. Change!’ Agott mouthed, jerking her head towards the staircase.
Richeh looked down. She was wearing her thin summer nightgown, which was actually quite cold, come to think of it. Richeh nodded solemnly at the girl in thanks and quickly tiptoed off towards the stairs to change. For some reason, Agott had stopped glaring and was now rubbing her forehead. Probably a headache from studying too much. Richeh thought Agott practiced way too much. She wanted to say ‘Why try so hard all the time?’ but… She paused on the staircase, turning to watch the other members of the atelier settle down to breakfast with Alaira and Euini. Alaira threatened to put a bowl of porridge on the floor for Euini if he didn't change back. Euini protested that he could absolutely sit at the table as a wolf, tried, and promptly tumbled off the chair. Everyone laughed.
Richeh felt the first few flickers of normal-ness return to the atelier like the seeping warmth of the hearth. But then Coco winced and rubbed her cheek again and Master Qifrey’s smile slid away like oil on water. Richeh turned away to climb back up the stairs, feeling the ache of the cold flagstones through her socks.
Agott drew until her calluses swelled and her fingertips grew stained with ink. Richeh had never understood that urge, had never wanted to understand that urge, but now… When she lay awake, trying to fall asleep at night, the cracks in the stone walls of her room grew deeper and darker, spreading like an ooze to consume everything warm and wonderful in her life. Perhaps some day, trying to understand that urge that seemed to consume Agott, that crept over Coco's expression when she focused, that came to Tetia in flashes of inspiration… perhaps that wouldn't be a terrible thing after all.