Winter Festival Pt. 1

The biting winter wind nipped at Cress's cheeks, forcing her to pull her grey wool scarf over her face. Illia did the same beside her, burrowing her face into the cotton fabric as deeply as she could. After weeks of insisting the weather didn't bother her, she'd broken, admitting that even the cold desert nights didn't compare to the brutal winters of the city. Being close to two large lakes, Mediocity was known for its frigid winters and heavy snowfall.

"I can't wait to see what Illia thinks of snow. She said she rarely left the desert in her world so she's probably never seen it before! She'll be so cute…"

Cress' red face flushed deeper at the thought of Illia tilting her head on a dark snowy night. Just thinking about looking up at Illia under a lone streetlight while snow fell around them made Cress's heart flutter and she giggled to herself. They'd gotten closer since searching for the Heart of the City, visiting random locations like the historical district and city hall. Each trip had been a bust and though Illia got frustrated, she didn't seem to mind when Cress suggested taking a touristy approach to their failed searches. It was like going on dates with no expectations and with every subsequent place they visited, Cress's heart fluttered more until she sometimes found herself squealing into her pillow at night.

"It's dumb. She's going to leave as soon as she can. But it's okay for me to enjoy this, right? I've barely had any panic attacks lately and don't even flinch when I see her teeth! Even her extra eyes twitching don't bother me anymore."

"What are you scheming," Illia asked, tucking her balled fists into the armpits of her black down coat. It barely reached past her hips because of her height but it was the only option they'd had due to her body proportions. Her hair was wrapped in a tight bun tucked away under her brimmed grey winter hat and Cress had even managed to get Illia into a pair of knee high leather snow boots.

"I'm not scheming anything," she replied, doing her best to talk over the screeching children and chattering people bustling around them. Cress had decided to bring Illia to the Mediocity Tree Lighting Festival to help take her mind off of their recent failures; even though she didn't seem to mind, Cress could tell walking away empty handed every search was weighing on Illia. "I was just thinking about a funny video I watched last night."

"And you neglected to share it with me. I'm wounded."

"Sorry…" Cress said avoiding the truth. "Next time I'll save it and show you in the morning."

Illia laughed, her green eyes smiling in the winter sun. "I jest. It is likely I would fail to understand the humor anyways. I do enjoy the ones of human pets behaving foolishly, though."

"Only after I explained we don't eat them. I still can't believe her people consider their pets livestock. I guess that's why she said they don't name them."

"Did you want to check out some tent shops while we wait for the Vi and Kirian? They said they were running late because they're bringing dates."

"Dates?" Illia tilted her head. "Would that not be awkward given your lack of a romantic partner?"

"Well I have you."

"Hmm. I suppose I can temporarily fill the role of your mate if you desire."

"D-Don't say it like that! No one said anything about being 'mates'."

"Another jest," Illia said. "I understood your meaning."

"Then why are you making fun of me," Cress huffed, pulling off her glasses to wipe off the fog. When she put them back on, Illia was looking down at her with an amused smile.

"Perhaps if your expressions were not so entertaining I—"

A puffy ball of yellow and blue bounced off of Illia's tall legs and a moment later the sound of a child screaming grated Cress's ears.

"Are you okay," Cress asked, hurrying to the child's side and kneeling down to help them up. Their eyes were already red and puffy, lined with fat tears waiting to freeze to the child's cheeks. Cress could empathize. Running into Illia was like running into a concrete pillar and no child would expect that.

"Mommy!" he screamed, tears dripping down his rosy cheeks.

"Stop crying!" a little girl in a pink jacket and hat said walking up behind him. "It's your fault for running around when Mommy said to stay put!"

"You're the one who said we should play tag!"

Cress watched the children helplessly as they bickered with one another about who's fault it was that they lost their mother. Being an only child with no younger relatives, she didn't have much experience around young children. She'd sequestered herself at a young age due to her phobia, unable to go to school and too afraid to go to playgrounds or other places she might meet kids.

"Enough." Illia's voice was harsh and grainy. Her extra eyelids wiggled and her green eyes sharpened at the children. "Your bickering grates my ears. Describe your matriarch to me so I might be rid of you."

As expected, the boy started crying louder, grabbing onto the little girl with snot hanging from his nose. Cress was glad he hadn't reached for her.

"Why do you talk so funny lady," the girl asked, staring up at Illia in wide-eyed awe. "Are you from somewhere far away? Mommy says that people from faraway sound funny when they talk."

"People from faraway sound funny? I get what she's trying to say but I'm starting to get an idea of what their mother might be like."

"Yes, I am. Now answer my question."

The little girl frowned at Illia's terse response and crossed her arms. Her little eyes glared at Illia but quickly became more submissive after losing their short staring contest. "Mommy is short. She has blonde hair and wears a brown coat."

Cress looked around at the crowd and sighed. There were at least a dozen people that fit their mother's description.

"It'll be easier to take them to the lost and found tent," Cress said to Illia. "They'll be able to handle this better than we can."

"Can your city guard be trusted? You have expressed negative opinions about their incompetency before."

"They can handle this… probably. Hey kid, can you walk?"

The little boy shook his head, clutching his knee. It didn't look like there was anything wrong but it was possible there was a scrape hidden underneath his pants. How many scrapes had she gotten when she'd run like a wild animal from Illia a little over a month ago? She wanted to laugh at herself for getting so worked up. Then again, that was before she'd gotten to know Illia… and Illia had been threatening to kill her after just murdering three other people.

"I will take responsibility." Illia's long arm scooped up the boy and held him sitting on her forearm. The boy squirmed at first but settled after seeing the taller view.

"This is so cool! It's like I'm a giant!"

"I wanna try!" the girl said, jealousy. "That's not fair."

Illia's eyes twitched and her teeth clicked behind her closed lips.

"Stupid kid! She's already being nicer than I thought she'd be. She might eat you if you annoy her more!"

"Very well."

Cress stared in awe as Illia scooped the girl up with her other arm. She giggled next to the boy. Illia looked forward, dead faced.

"Right… Let's go find the tent," Cress said. She was torn on whether it was cute that Illia was being so compassionate or if she wanted to throw the kids into the nearest trash can for interrupting their time together. "I can text the others to meet us there."

Thankfully, the safety tent was nearby and after some noisy complaints by the children, they managed to shake them loose and escape.

"I didn't expect you to be so good with kids."

"Did it appear that way?" Illia tilted her head. "I merely mimicked what the other humans around us were doing. Your kind seems to cater to the whims of its offspring."

"That's right… your people leave you to fend for yourselves when you're young."

"Indeed. Though your way is more…" The woman struggled for a moment to find the right word. "Compassionate.."

"Well we don't have broods of hundreds of children either. I'm just glad you didn't kill them for being annoying."

"Were it not for your presence that would have been a possibility. Human younglings are quite…"

She didn't finish her sentence, but Cress could guess what she'd almost let slip and her stomach sank. She did her best to ignore when Illia made mistakes. She knew it was because she had asked Illia to share more about herself and she told herself it wasn't fair for her to get upset.

"Croissant! Illia!"

An energetic and eager voice yelled their names just before a thin arm in a black coat wrapped around Cress's shoulders and squeezed her. Straight black locks tickled the bits of Cress's ears that weren't tucked underneath her hat and she squirmed in the woman's grasp.