Submission (#558) Approved

Added a couple more paragraphs of set up! This was meant to be a companion piece to the previous one I sent. I planned on following this thread down. Let me know if it needs more.

630 words

+4 shards for entry
+6 shards (600 words)
: 10 shards total

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The solstice was fast approaching. Meiling could not believe how fast time flew when she wasn't looking. Around her, woolyne ambled from here to there, some in search of gifts, getting their ducks all in a row before the gift giving exchange happened, while others did more solstice like activities. She had to dodge a random snowball from a smaller child, who apologized as he ran past her, chasing his friend down the street. Off in the near distance, she could make out others cutting wood or making sure that their storage was full; the winter months could be rough and a lot of the time... it was easier to make sure one was stoked up ahead of time.

It got her to thinking how she wanted to spend the day; she could easily go spend time skating in one of the nearby frozen water sources, or maybe join the kids from earlier in snowball fighting, but... no, that wasn't what she really wanted to do. The first thing that came to mind was she really wanted to cheer up her friends. She wanted to find a way to share in the holiday cheer with them.

Meeting Weisheng and Xiaovi hadn't really gone the way Meiling hadn't expected it to go. When she'd stumbled across both of them back a year or so ago, she hadn't thought of a long term; they'd caught her attention, like many things caught her attention in the world, and she figured she'd fleet to the next interesting thing, like a butterfly, from flower to flower, never quite bored.

Something about the two males had kept her going back. Perhaps the dichotomy of them, in a way, had been interesting to her. The fact Xiao definitely looked like he'd be perfectly at home in a fight and yet... wasn't. Much more prone to mother hen someone and further more interested in Lyss than he was in any physical brute strength. The large wool was very considerate, and though he didn't look it, very sensitive and passionate about his likes and dislikes.

Weisheng was on the other end of the spectrum; he looked off-putting, and though that hadn't kept her away upon first meeting him, he'd seen some people pull away from him, from time to time. The fact she'd realized he seemed to suffer from what she could only explain as 'Resting Bitch Face' probably did not help his case in the slightest, nor did his Lyss drip make him look approachable.

His near brutal honesty rounded up the packet, and though he was far from mean, his lack of social grace did not quite aid him. If there was someone that deserved a bit of seasonal cheer, it was the dark hued wool.

When Meiling had gone out of her way to track him down, she'd ultimately found him at the house he shared with Xiao. She'd been about ready to knock and let herself in, having an outstanding invitation, when she'd caught him looking out into the distance from a window, his eyes narrowed and frown firmly in place. In fact, less of a frown, more of a deep seated scowl.

Before she could knock, he'd gotten up and rather than let herself into the house, she'd walked into a nearby alley, obscuring herself to watch him leave the house in what she could only describe as a major huff. For once, he looked actually annoyed, though at what was anyone's guess, really.

Tilting her head, she'd watched him walk away in such a tizzy of a fit, that many wool got straight out his way. Frowning, she decided that maybe he needed that seasonal cheer sooner rather than later, and thus, turned around and decided to walk away to get to work.