[Gift] 🎃🎃🎃

Mei couldn’t say that she often celebrated Halloween. Well, she didn’t often celebrate anything, really, but especially the occasions that required a great deal of planning or festivities – even just thinking about it all grew a great migraine in her tiny head. No thanks! All of the hustle and bustle and busybodying sounded like far too much effort, and she for one had very much earned the right to relax after what was already, she considered, too much work. Which is why, on the day of the main festivities, she had planned to simply hole up in her cozy home, in her feather-soft bed, taking a great long nap. She started to dream of things that little cat-critters often dreamt of: chasing mice and climbing trees and begging for the last treat in the cupboard. Her prize had only just touched her tongue before she was pulled unwillingly from the short-lived reverie by the banging of paws upon the window. 

“Mei! Heeey Mei! Are you going to just stay inside all day instead of being out here with us? If you’re not going to have any candy, well, I guess that means it’s more for me…”

“Do you suppose she’s actually in there?” Another pondered out loud, a tilt of the head perceptible in their honeyed voice.

A light snort from yet another visitor. “Most definitely! I know she would never willingly be out there. I bet she’s hiding away inside, taking a nap and dodging her responsibilities. The only way we could drag her out now is by breaking down this door oursel–”

Mei shot up straight with a yell. “Wait!!” She bolted out from under the covers and sprang to the entrance, nearly tripping over her own paws. “Don’t you dare touch that door, it’s only just been replaced!” Flinging it open, she threw a glare at the three behind it (though her fatigue lessened its intensity, and her expression was more injured than angry), flailing her arms at the lot of them. “For God’s sake, the sun has only begun to cross the sky. What do you all want?”

“We want you, silly, to come out of your little hidey-hole and enjoy some good fall fun.” Uxie rolled her eyes, partly incredulous at how Mei even needed to ask such a pointless question. Why else would they have been there? It certainly wasn’t to suffer this chillingly cold wind that was blowing through the porch, ruffling everyone’s fur into matted clumps. “Everyone else in town has already started preparations for the events today! Don’t tell me you weren’t even going to join the evening Halloween party?”

Mei blinked blearily, more disinterested than she was before. “Party?”

Nena piped up. “Oh, yes yes. Everyone in town has been baking and making. It’s supposed to be a great feast! Pies and cookies and sweetbreads, ohhh, probably more! I can’t even imagine how stocked the tables will be…” He trailed off, lost in a sudden, more important thought, a spot of drool appearing at the corner of his mouth.

The blue stelciar started rubbing her face in consternation. “B-but I can’t go to any party. That’s! That’s far too many people… and I couldn’t bring anything, I wouldn’t even know what to make.”

“Hmm, well there’s lots of stuff!” Avery chirped, bringing up a few toes to count the options down. “You’re pretty good at baking biscuits, right? And also, uh… also…” Mei waited for him to finish, quizzically raising a brow, but Avery instead closed his mouth and looked back at her with a pleasant neutral smile, as if he had forgotten how to finish his thought halfway through.

“Also, there are other things you could take care of,” Uxie continued without a beat. “We’re short on refreshments and a good portion of the sweets, for example. And the hall is short on a few decorations. We could use some extra paws on the stove, or at the store for some stocking.”

Mei continued massaging her temples with her paws. There was no getting out of this, was there…? Whenever these three were around, ‘no’ was never accepted as an answer. She may as well just submit to her fate, here and now.

And so, she was dragged on yet another escapade. Having experience herself, Mei decided to assist the others in the kitchen. Uxie and Nena were given different matters, the former deemed too airheaded to follow the baking instructions, and the latter too interested in eating the ingredients before they could be mixed into batter. They skipped out of the house, having been tasked instead with acquiring missing ingredients and tending to the other minutiae of affairs. 

For Mei, it would be quite an eventful afternoon. She spun and mixed and stirred, unearthing dusty recipes from the corner of her mind in an effort to match Uxie’s ambitious designs. First it was the small things – cupcakes and finger foods and candied treats. Then they moved on to the larger items on the menu – glazed loaves, plates of tarts and pies, and a tall chocolate layered cake.  Time slipped from the kitchen as cakes were piled upon cakes, each gradually and more meticulously framed in delicate dresses of icing and sugar. Mei repeated the motions over and over: this and that goes here, and here, and there… The tempting veil of sleep began to droop over her eyes, and at some point in her exhaustion, the other two stelciar had (much to Mei’s surprise) successfully returned. Depositing the remainder of the necessary foodstuffs upon the table, they were unceremoniously shooed out back towards the street by Uxie. As the evening outside grew dark, Mei slowly finished the details on a few last cakes alone by lamp light. The over-worked stelciar could not hold back a wide yawn. Oh, ooh… what time was it? Had that been the six o’clock bell she had heard just now? 

Uxie abruptly burst back into the kitchen, grabbing her sleepy friend’s paw. “Come on, slowpoke! What are you still doing here?” And before the reluctant stelciar could protest, she was dragged from the kitchen and out into the softly lit hallways towards the main entrance. 

Mei stumbled out into the foyer with a precariously balanced bowl of punch in paw, coming to an abrupt stop at the sudden sight before her. “O-oh-oh?! When did everyone gather up…?” She had been so absorbed in her duties that the hubbub had escaped her notice, and she observed stelciar flitting about to and fro to put finishing touches on the lively festivities that had already begun. In the adjacent dining room table, someone had spread and stacked Mei’s assortment of dishes in a beautiful flourish of autumn decor. Small hordes of partygoers were meandering into the house, mingling and chatting amongst themselves while indulging in small plates of appetizers and sweet treats. Many of the stelciar were done up in costumes in a wide variety, from the creepy to the cute. By the entrance, a duo of violinists were adding a melody of warmth to the scene. Mei stood there for a while, taking in the happy scene. 

Uxie grinned at her, leading her by the paw into the crowd. “See? What’d I tell you? Now let’s hop on in and have some fun!”