I wanted to write this short thing 'cause I've been dead for like, over a week (wow, what a long time! lmao im joking) and I'm going as my boy Wirt for Halloween! It's gonna be fun. I hope you enjoy this!

Wirt kicked the mud. He was beginning to think she wasn't coming. It was an uncharacteristically sunny December day - not necessarily warm, but bright and dry. He sat, and contemplated his invitation. Did she think it was a joke? Or was he boring? Did she hate him? Did she want to break up with-

Oh. There she was. His set frown immediately rose into a grin. She grinned back.

"Hey, Wirt!" She kissed him, and although they'd been dating for nearly a month, he still melted into nothingness, until the thump of her backpack hitting the hard plank of the patio pulled him back into reality. "Hi, Sara."
"You ready?"
"For, um, what?"
"Whatever we've got planned! I kinda forgot, but my homework's in my bag!" Sara flashed her smile again. Wirt resisted melting like an ice-cream cone. Again.

"Oh, yeah, so, homework? And slushies?" He reached up onto the doorstep where two slushies - one blue raspberry, the other a red strawberry and yellow lemon and lime mix - and handed her the mixed one.
She slurped hers loudly, unzipping her backpack and throwing her chemistry homework loudly onto the steps. Wirt flinched, ever so slightly, but immediately chuckled after seeing how dramatically she'd thrown it.

They worked for a bit, the slushies slowly emptying, quietly, talking about things they didn't care to remember. Until-

"Hey, Wirt, we should talk." Wirt tensed, his grip on the pen in his hand tightening.
"A-a-about what?"
"Halloween."
Mentally screaming, Wirt forced out, "What about Halloween?"

Sara looked at him, putting down her pencil for a moment. Wirt sipped his slushie awkwardly. The silence seemed suffocating.

"I'm worried about you. Seriously, Wirt. I get that you'd be afraid of water from now on, but, trees? And you keep mumbling about people called Beatrice and the Woodsman. What happened?"

"You wouldn't understand."
"Then tell me anyway! Dumb it down like you're talking to a preschooler."

"Well, when I fell in the lake, I- uh, had this weird fever dream. About forests and creatures and stuff. It was probably nothing, but it just, messed me up." He hated lying to her, but this was the best he had.

"I know you're lying, Wirt." Shit.

Panicking, he raised his voice. He knew he shouldn't've, but- "I THINK I WENT TO PURGATORY, OR LIMBO, OR THE VOID, OR SOMETHING! Okay?"
"Oh, um, well. That wasn't so hard, right?" Sara looked more confused than worried, now. "Can you explain?"

That he did. He talked about the Woodsman and Pottsfield and Miss Langtree and Greg and their Frog and the Tavern, and Endicott, and Adelaide, and Lorna, and the Edelwood Trees, and the Beast. And, of course, Beatrice. Somewhere around Adelaide, he started crying into his slushie, the ice melting.

"I probably sound crazy, right?"
"Well, yeah. But that isn't a bad thing, is it?"

Sara was skeptical, but listened. And comforted him the best she could.

"I believe you, okay? It's fine. I'm sorry, Wirt."
"Don't-" he choked on his tears for a second, "apologise. You didn't do anything bad."

She cheered him up, wiping his tears, and telling as many terrible dad jokes and she could. He smiled at her, kind of sad, but kind of hopeful at the same time, and she leaned over to kiss his forehead. Filled with a sudden confidence, he sat up a little and kissed her.
"I- Wirt!" They laughed, both of them smiling brightly. "You taste like blue raspberry."
"What even are blue raspberries?"

They went inside and watched a movie, after the once mild weather turned colder and more crisp, their breath rising in puffs. Neither of them paid much attention to the movie, and just sunk into the warmth of each other. It was calm. It was quiet. They were happy.

The silence wasn't suffocating, just warm and close. It was okay.

Okay, but really, what are blue raspberries?

Like most of my work, when I first started writing I had no idea where I was going with this. It kind of fizzled out, I guess. I'm just bad at writing for Sara.

Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed! Carpe Noctem!

- Olly