[Cards] Foxfire Charm (Patreon)

With Holly out on a personal request, Oscar was alone in his study, quill swirling. Well, not quite alone; when he'd admitted to her that he'd begun to feel her absence more keenly, Holly'd given him a companion: a fiery elemental in the form of a fox. As she said, "If I'm your light"—admittedly his own words—"you just need something brighter!"

Ever since, the space was truly comfortable, each warm nudge against his hand and bark of gratitude for gifts of scrap paper or wood were enough to make the room less cavernous while Holly was away.

Though today, he hadn't been so attentive, leaving Vulpes to her own devices to focus on his assignment. Despite her calls for attention, he continued to shift papers from his desk onto a stack to the side, uninterrupted until—

Holly's entrance was abrupt and enthusiastic; Oscar'd have it no other way. Bursting into the room, she reached across the desk to pat Vulpes's flaring fur before maneuvering pointedly between Oscar and the page, speaking quickly as she said, "I promised you I'd take you somewhere nice for dinner tonight, since we're… anyway, I promised, and you're not getting out of it!"

"I'm sorry, but I have just a few pages left on this report before I send it through the tube to Orostead."

Holly looked concernedly to the desk as Vulpes jumped down to tread towards the fireplace.

"Oscar… what report?"

He reached absentmindedly to pick up the pages he knew were there, saying "This, An Analysis of the Material Unconscious's Effect on Manifestations of the Outer Planes. It's a bit short, but—"

His hand met bare wood. He knew that instant he should be shocked, even frustrated. But, seeing Holly in the familiar moment before she burst into laughter, he felt a smile of relief steal over his face.

"That's… shorter than I thought, but it does mean I don't have much to work on."

The two locked arms, grinning like the children they were when they met as they left the study. And from the depths of the fire came a quiet, satisfied bark from the embers.