Seekers of the Stone Maker
Frigid Temperament

Mr. Muffins had traveled North before, moving past Ingfast to Saxondale once or twice for Westford Academy, and Berkton was one of the many places that the Arcana Emporium traveled to each year, but this was a new type of cold that he wasn’t used to. He expected to still feel the chill gust inside buildings through the various cracks and openings of The Scattered Crow, but it never came. He assumed the beds would be hard and cold, but they were surprisingly warm and inviting. It was remarkably warm while watching the snowfall from the window in front of the desk beside his bed.

He had already left the room once to ask for coffee and had now been sitting there under the various lighting apparati, blueprints in front of him, as he worked on a recent idea that came to mind. It would almost be the perfect morning, which could preclude an afternoon nap and then a nice dinner to top it off, but the sound of boots on the wooden floor at the other side of the room was annoyingly consistent, making it difficult for him to keep focus over the past half an hour that Leaf had been awake.

“Do you have to move around so much?”

“Oh… Sorry.”

Leaf sat at the edge of his bed and stared at the ground. Mr. Muffins turned back around, but before he could dive back into his work, the sound of Leaf’s heel hitting the floor broke his concentration, as his leg bounced up and down in a similar quickness to a rabbit thumping the ground. Mr. Muffins sighed heavily, then took another sip of his coffee. Setting it down, he turned back to his roommate.

“Are you going to tap dance all day or say what’s on your mind?” He asked Leaf, the annoyed emotion coming through his voice.

“I’m just a little unsure what we should be doing here. I need to figure out how to disguise myself better, but that wasn’t my area of study.”

“Maybe something nonmagical would be a better choice here?”

“What, like this?”

Leaf held his cloak up and wrapped the front around him to where the collar came up above his nose.

“Yeah, something like that.”

Leaf rummaged through his bag and, after a few minutes, pulled out a series of tools.

“That’s it. I’ll wrap it around my face when we’re outside. I doubt I’ll need to take it off in front of anyone, right?”

“If you stay in here and keep quiet, no one would know you’re here but us. If you keep making all this damn noise, though, I’ll be the one killin’ ya,” Muffins stated while holding his hands out before him to make a strangling motion.

He stared out the window again, watching people move to and from their homes and businesses. It seemed much slower than Moonbright, which made sense considering how little the population was here. Instead of getting more agitated, he stood up and put on his coat.

“I think I’ll take a walk around here for a bit. We know so little about the village that it might do us some good.”

Adding to the list of frustrations, he was stopped by a knock at the door.

“What?”

“Hey, kitty. Can I come in?” Lyla’s voice answered through the door.

He walked over and opened the door slightly, keeping Leaf out of view of the open doorway. On the other side, Lyla carried three trays carefully, with two breakfast plates on each. She smiled wide, her hair still a mess, then yawned loudly before talking.

“I wanted to grab breakfast. Here ya go.”

He picked up the middle tray and placed it on the table by the door.

“Any plans for today?” She asked.

“Nothing yet. Gonna go for a walk, then we can figure things out.”

“Okay. Make sure the other one eats, too.”

He looked to Leaf, who had already jumped into the new project. Whether good or bad, he would stay there for hours if they let him. He picked up one of the plates and set it on the pillow of Leaf’s bed, then walked out of the room and closed it behind him. By then, Lyla had already made it to Ana and Myla’s room with food, and was about to open her door with Rhokhishi. Lyla gave a slight nod and smile, then disappeared inside.

Mr. Muffins fastened his coat and walked to the front door. The tavern area was quiet, with only the cook in the back from what he could see. He opened the door and heard the crunch of unpacked snow below his feet. Pulling his hood over his ears, he turned left and started walking.