Work Text:
The fall season was a busy time of year for anyone— let alone for fairies. Leaves slowly changed and fell from their branches, animals began preparations for their hibernation, and the days grew shorter and shorter.
Speaking of leaves, as beautiful as they were, they could be quite an inconvenience for such small creatures.
"Goodness, the town is nearly covered." Qifrey sighed and shook his head as he looked out the window, wings fluttering absentmindedly behind him as he cleaned up after lunch.
Olruggio grunted quietly from his spot on the couch, barely lifting his head enough to see what Qifrey was referring to. "Y'd think they'd have gotten a head start on moving the lot of it…" he stretched and let his arm fall over his eyes. "Where've the girls gotten off to?"
"Well, you heard about what happened by the creek. Seems that matters with that family of squirrels took priority over the usual fall busywork." Qifrey shrugged as he dried off an acorn-cap bowl. "Ah— Tetia wanted to take the others shopping. They should be back soon."
"Well, maybe when they're back they can help me clear some of it off. Won't do us any good to wait until it's unmanageable." Olruggio yawned and dozed back off.
About an hour later, Qifrey was curled up in an armchair reading when they heard the four girls in question land just outside. The sounds of their excited chatter were clear even as they pushed the door open. "We're ho-me!" Tetia half-sang as she folded her wings and hurried towards her room, arms full of the spoils of their excursion. Agott and Coco lingered by the door as they took off their shoes, and Richeh beelined for the kitchen, opting to fly rather than walk.
"Welcome home," Qifrey greeted warmly.
"No flying in the house," Olruggio called over his shoulder to Richeh.
As the girls busied themselves with their own tasks, Olruggio finally managed to drag himself up off the couch. He rubbed his face as he peered out the window at the steadily growing number of fallen leaves down below. Qifrey took notice of his expression and chimed in softly. "Why don't you take one of the girls down to see if any of the shopkeepers need help clearing the paths? I can see it's bothering you."
"Mm," Olruggio grunted and nodded before turning his attention towards Agott and Coco, who had gathered together on the couch. "Agott, are you busy?"
Agott, having just gotten comfortable on the couch, paused for a moment before sighing and shaking her head. "No, I'm not."
Coco watched as agott stood hesitantly to join Olruggio by the door. After a few moments of contemplation, she sprang up, unfolded her wings, and hurried after them. "Wait—I'll come to!"
"No flying in the house," Olruggio stressed again as she hurriedly pulled her shoes back on.
𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔٠ ࣪⭑𓂃
Agott landed gracefully on the forest floor and folded her wings neatly behind her back, walking alongside Olruggio as they made their way to the common area of the little town. Coco fluttered along a few paces behind, having always preferred to fly when given the opportunity. The green-haired girl flitted from corner to corner as she took in her surroundings.
Olruggio rubbed his neck as he noticed a few fairies gathering to help clear the main path, a small pile building around the base of a nearby tree. "Looks like they've already gotten started. Agott, Coco, start making a second pile. With this many fairies helping out, we should have things cleared up by evening."
The girls got to work clearing leaves one by one, stacking them up at the base of the tree a few feet from the original pile. Olruggio had long since gone off to check further down the path, and Agott had busied herself too much with the task at hand; she failed to notice that Coco was no longer helping her until she caught sight of the girl fluttering around inspecting the pile. "Looking at it won't clean it up any faster. Why did you stop?"
Coco touched down for the first time since they'd arrived and touched the side of the pile they had made. "Agott, you don't leave the forest much, right?"
"Considering no one is supposed to leave the forest, I can't say I have recently." Agott crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes. It was no secret that the other girl had a tendency to sneak off beyond the border to watch the humans at the local village (much to Qifrey's ever-growing distress). "What brought this up?"
"It's just…" Coco trailed off and took a seat on the forest floor, dragging her finger along the dirt. "I saw a group of humans raking leaves recently, and just when they'd gotten it into a big pile—poof!" She clapped her hands together. "One of the humans jumped right into the pile! Leaves went all over the place, but they were laughing the whole time. It just looked so fun, you know?"
"I fail to see how undoing all that hard work would constitute fun." Agott leaned against the tree trunk. 'And, for that matter, your story suggests you made an impromptu visit to town again. If I recall correctly, master Qifrey expressly forbade you from doing so."
"Shh shh!" Coco shook her head and held a finger to her lips, pointing towards where Olruggio was flying past with a few other fairies as he continued to clean. "That's not the point!" She clasped her hands together and made her eyes as wide and innocent as she possibly could. "You won't tell, right?"
Agott's cheeks flushed pink as she sputtered and groaned. Finally, she relented. "No, I won't tell. But if someone mistakes you for a bug and scoops you up in a jar, I'm not coming to save you." A complete lie, and not even a particularly convincing one.
Coco beamed and stood, brushing herself off. "I knew I could count on you. But anyway…as I was saying, I really want to try jumping into a big pile of leaves! Even just once would do."
"Well, jumping into either of these piles just means more work for everyone else. If you want to try it so badly, there's plenty of leaf litter around the hollow to play in. What exactly is stopping you?" Agott put one hand on her hip and nodded towards the seemingly endless amount of fallen leaves scattered all around them.
Silence fell between them as Coco made her eyes big again and clasped her hands back together. Agott tried to ignore it for as logn as she could, but finally caved. "Don't tell me—"
"It's no fun to do it all alone…"
"Oh, for goodness…fine!"
𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔٠ ࣪⭑𓂃
"Olly, you're home." Qifrey smiled as he finished setting dinner on the table. He peeked around to the doorway in search of the other two girls, but found the man was alone. "It seems we're short two members. Is everything alright?"
"All's well. The main path is clear for the time being—at least until the next round falls." Olruggio slumped down in one of the chairs at the dining table and drummed his fingers against the armrest. "Girls are off doing…who knows what. Said they'd be back before nightfall, and since Agott's there I doubt the two of them will get into more trouble than they can handle."
Qifrey hummed and slid a plate in his general direction. "It's been getting colder as of late, and I should like them to be home sooner rather than later. Perhaps I ought to go seek them out myself."
The evening was crisp and dim, and Qifrey wasted no time flying across town in search of the two fairies. He was passing by the creek when he heard the sound of laughter in the distance.
Just across from him near a path of mushrooms, he watched as Coco zipped across and flew directly into a pile of leaves, scattering debris into the air as she giggled. Agott hovered nearby, steadily adding to the pile. Suddenly, Coco burst back out and grabbed Agott by the arm
"Coco!"
"Come on, It's fun!"
Despite her reluctance, he could hear both girls begin to laugh as Coco dragged them both into the pile with a soft poof!
Qifrey shook his head and sighed, settling onto a toadstool to keep an eye on them as the sun began to set. Perhaps a few more minutes wouldn't hurt.