Welcome to Gaia! ::

Melody had been in the middle of meal prepping for the week when her phone buzzed on the counter beside her. With hands covered in raw chicken, all she could catch was the name of the sender before the screen turned to black.

It had been about a month since they spoke but that didn’t mean that Mel wanted her friend to think that she was mad at her. So, with some haste, she tossed the chicken breasts in the crock pot and maneuvered over to the sink where she washed her hands then shook the water off them before drying them off on her pajama pant legs.

An invitation to a cafe. Interesting. She hadn’t heard of the one listed in the message and had to look it up on Google before responding that she'd be delighted to meet her there. It was close enough and had glowing reviews, the perfect place to spend some time catching up before the end of the year.

Getting there, however, was an adventure in and of itself.

Her driveway way had to first be shoveled since the snowplow had kind of boxed her in. All that slush had turned to a sheet of ice nearly causing her to slip and fall on her a** when she tried to open the driver's seat door.

Once she had finally backed out onto the road, Mel cranked the heater on high and oh boy was her car just not having it. It roared an angry sound at her that demanded she turn it off until the vehicle itself had time to heat up. Begrudgingly she obliged and for several blocks drove in the cold a** snow.

Naturally the car didn’t heat up until she had arrived at her destination, teeth chattering uncontrollably to the point Mel would have sworn she had chipped a tooth. She hadn’t but still, good lord it was cold outside.

She pulled into one of the many vacant spots after spotting Mellie standing out front of the cafe waiting and hurried over to her friend so they could both get warm.

“Hi!” Mel, with her pink tipped nose and frostbitten fingers, scurried across the street, sliding across a small patch of ice but finding her footing once again once she stepped up onto the sidewalk. “Sorry to make you wait. There was a fender bender and two stalled vehicles on the way here.”

This kind of weather wasn’t new to Destiny City. Around this time every year there were piles of snow and unexplained mishaps like the snow bunnies running amok. Why anyone acted surprised by it was beyond her, but could they at least recognize the fact that if they can’t drive in this weather, they should probably just stay home?

Some people… so inconsiderate…

“You must be freezing,” lord knew she was that was for damn sure since the heater in her car took its sweet time turning on. “Come, let's go inside.”

The bell above the door rang merrily, announcing to all that a new customer had arrived. At the front, one of the baristas looked up from her current order, smiled, and offered a friendly greeting.

Melody took a moment to glance around at all the holiday decor, listening to idle chit-chat of nearby patrons. Such a quaint little cafe, had an incredibly warm cozy feel, and the smells of freshly baked goods and ground coffee just further enhanced that sense of holiday cheer.

“Um,” Mel hesitated.

She didn’t want to be rude and reject the suggestion entirely since it was obvious that there was something important that Mellie wanted to talk about. But the thought of standing outside with little more than a venti-sized drink to keep her warm was less than appealing.

“We’re pretty headlong into our next production at the theater, I can’t really afford to get sick right now. Why don’t we instead get the drinks and go to one of our wonders for a while?” At least it would be a relatively warm place even if it ran the risk of sending their bodies through whiplash going from below freezing to something more summer-like back to freezing within only a few hours. “It’ll give us more privacy that way.”

It was impossible to miss how quickly the wall went up between them. Never before had Sava, or Cavansite as she was called when they first met, turned down the opportunity to visit Einhornhohle. Usually, the offer was met with a measure of excitement but this time it had been softly rejected.

Strange, but not entirely unexpected after recent happenings. Still… growing up with three older brothers had taught Melz that poking someone for more information or forcing them to speak about something they weren’t ready to was a good way to make things worse

A quiet hum and a smile that hid behind it a level of disappointment that she didn’t want Mellie to see if only so she wouldn’t feel guilted or pressured into opening up. Melody stepped forward and opened the door; greeted by a sharp ping from the bell above she held it for her friend to go inside first. “Don Quixote, It’s one of my favorite productions.”

Melody smiled and nodded to Mellie’s offer to visit Einhornhohle sometime the following week. Only being able to visit once a month was frustrating, but she had tried to make the most of her time, even staying multiple days if she properly planned for it with work and allowed vacation.

“There’s a motor at the base that gets turned on during set change.” She replied. “If you’re interested in seeing the play I can get you a ticket. It’s the cheap seats since it’s the tickets offered to employees. But if you don’t mind waiting until one of the last shows then I might be able to get one with a better view.” Something at least mid-audience maybe instead of up in the nosebleed section in the far back.

Thankfully the line wasn’t too long and the baristas worked incredibly efficiently. When it was her turn, Melody ordered a peppermint mocha because ‘tis the season’, then moved over to the order pick-up area to wait for her name to be called.

“It was… good to see you too...” Melody forced a smile as she waved goodbye.

It didn’t take a genius to know something was off between them. The proverbial elephant was large enough that even standing outside the air felt thin if not suffocating. This evening made no sense. To be invited to a public place but a need to have a private conversation. However, before anything meaningful could be mentioned Mellie was already leaving.

Only when Mellie was far enough away did she let the facade fall and the disappointment show. A hot cup of coffee held between cold hands “Didn’t even get to enjoy our drinks together.” Finally, she took a sip and sighed for how heavenly it tasted.

No doubt the tension stemmed from the night of the ambush since neither of them had really reached out to talk about it since being whisked away to the moon. No surprise that their princess, Cosmos, didn’t show but that was neither here nor there. “Definitely made a fool out of myself, didn’t I?” Melody asked nobody in particular, her reflection in the storefront glass maybe but only her own thoughts could answer the rhetorical question.

Not wanting to just wait around outside, Melody turned and went back into the cafe where it was warm until she had time enough to finish her drink before hustling back out to her car where she fussed with the keys to turn the damned thing on so she could try, once more, to get the heater working again.

The engine revved and as it did she felt a pinprick of an itch in her nose and not even two breaths later did she turn her head to sneeze into her elbow. When she pulled her head back she saw the strangest of things; not snot, thank god, but- snowflakes? “What the ********?” Here she didn’t want to get sick and now she was sneezing snow.

“Great… Hopefully this clears up by tomorrow...” Again she sneezed another flurry which elicited a groan from her. “F my life.” If aliens showing up wasn’t bad enough let's add conjuring storm anomalies with a cold to the list “I don’t have time for this…”

Melody shifted the car into reverse and pulled out of the parking lot to head home and try to sleep it off.