[preppy] Prep Time

It was a rainy Monday morning when Lucius woke up slowly, drowsily rubbing his eyes and covering the yawn that escaped him almost involuntarily. He lifted the covers of his bed and carefully placed his hooves on the ground, wincing at the sting of the cold wooden floors. Lucius rubbed his arms with his hand before he grabbed his favorite hoodie and slipped it on over his head, his ruffled hair taking a messier appearance almost immediately. Sighing in relief at the warmth, he finally walked out of his room and towards the kitchen, passing by the front door and doing a double take at the flier face down on the ground. He leaned down to grab it and a smile slipped out without his consent as soon as he saw what it was, the bright colored background with the contrasting ‘Brew Bash’ spelled out making it very clear if he didn’t have a clue already.  

Lucius clearly remembered his first time attending a brew bash as if it was yesterday, the loud music and high energy dancing of both symprites and aramelles, combined with the surprisingly strong brews created by the local jousei aramelles resulted in a very painful headache for him, lasting for the whole day following the festivity. He had never before tasted something as deliciously strong as the alcoholic drinks from the aramelles, and so, he had been unable to stop until it was already too late, Pearl having to drag him out before he passed out somewhere on the grass like several others around. He remembered babbling and trying to pierce together several strings of words at Pearl, ultimately resulting in Lucius blurting out about his crush on the soft colored symprite. It didn’t lead to anything in the end, but he was finally able to work past it and they had a stronger friendship after that drunken confession.

After that disaster of an experience, Lucius decided he wanted to be on the other side of the bar, working on producing his own brews and creating new drinks. His first attempts were horrible, spilling everything everywhere and either very heavy on the alcohol, making it undrinkable, or nonexistent, barely tasting anything other than syrup or the base used for the drink. The dark colored symprite slowly started working in his skills and coordination until he could pour drinks smoothly, rarely letting a drop spill from the crystal clear glass. In the end, his first time at a brew bash kind of defined him, setting him on his path towards working in the wine industry until it eventually turned into him owning his current winery. 

The winery started as a small thing, a local produce for the people around the town to taste and enjoy, with various flavors being developed for the differing tastes of everyone. Slowly though it started growing, with symprites and aramelles on trips or passing through visiting just to buy crates to bring back to their homes or as gifts for loved ones, and eventually it turned into getting actual orders from businesses in towns afar. The building, once a two story wooden thing, kept getting expanded until he finally decided to buy a bigger piece of land and build anew in it. The moment it was finished, he knew he would rather do nothing but this for the rest of his life, the peace he got from the whole process and the satisfaction of getting the finished product unlike anything he had ever felt before. 

A knock on the door startles Lucius out of his reminiscing, the symprite turning and walking the few steps forward to peek out, only managing to notice the characteristic parasol that Pearl brings everywhere before he was already unlocking the door and turning the knob to let the other inside, wincing when the water on the pastel colored symprite dripped down into the wooden floors, already lamenting the fact that he would have to clean it all up as he walked through the hallway and towards his room to grab a towel and hair dryer for Pearl. Soon enough getting back and handing off the towel, connecting the dryer and gesturing for the other to sit down on the couch nearby to start helping him with his hair. 

As Lucius stood behind Pearl, passing a brush through his hair while blowing hot air from the dryer, he listened to the younger symprite humming as he swung his feet from side to side while leaning on his soft colored palms. As soon as Lucius was done, Pearl got up without a word and walked back towards the entrance, grabbing a previously unnoticed satchel next to his parasol and rifling through it before letting out a satisfied noise when he grabbed onto something. Pearl walked back towards Lucius with his hands hidden behind his back and, with a growing grin, asked the dark colored symprite to close his eyes and hold his palms out. Lucius did so and as soon as he held out his palms, he felt a cold hard thing on his hands. He opened his eyes once again and looked at it for a second, confusion hitting once he noticed that he held an old rusty key in his hands.

Lucius lifted his gaze back up to look at Pearl with a questioning look in his eyes, opening his mouth to ask what it was for before the question died in his lips. He saw the answer in Pearl's eyes, his actions making much more sense now. He had given this very same key to Pearl years ago when they had been younger, having found it while exploring on the beach when he was still a bappy and curious about every single thing that came across his path. He kept the key as his treasure for years until he was around 15, when he remembered lifting the leather cord with the key on it over his head and handing it off to Pearl, telling the other to give it back to him when the soft colored symprite thought Lucius was well and truly content with how his life was turning out to be. 

With a trembling smile, Lucius managed to choke out a strangled thanks while gripping the key tightly on his hand. He excused himself and took a couple steps towards the kitchen. With a deep breath, he grabbed a couple of cups before placing them on the counter next to the stove as he turned it on and grabbed a pot, emptying a carton of milk into it and some tablets of chocolate, waiting for it to melt after he dunked it in and it sunk into the bottom of the simmering pot of milk. He stirred a couple times and once the hot chocolate was finally done, he filled the cups, emptied a bag full of mini marshmallows in a little plate, and carried everything back to the sitting room. Once there, he handed Pearl’s cup to him, after giving him a warning to be careful handling it since it was hot, and sat beside the ocean symprite with a tired sigh escaping him.

The two spent a couple hours reminiscing about the past, talking and laughing as they waited for the storm to pass and the rain to finally cease into the occasional pitter patter of the water droplets sliding down from the roof or tree leaves and into the ground. When the sun slowly started setting, Pearl got up from the couch to help Lucius clean up a bit and then bring his cup into the kitchen before he started getting ready to leave. Pearl grabbed his trusty parasol with a spring in his step and, once outside the house, made a show out of it as he gave a twirl while he opened it with a flourish. He gave a final bow in farewell and set in his path back home, whistling a happy tune as he went. 

The following week went by in a flash of organizing and preparing for the brew bash, taking the tables and chairs out of storage and transporting them towards the area set aside for the brew bas, buying decorations for this year along with calculating what bottles he should bring and how many of each would be enough to make sure everyone got to try at least a glass of them. Lucius wanted the symps and aras that attended to enjoy the festivities and hoped that even if it was not a life changing experience like it was for him, that they would all look back in time with fond memories and smiles on their faces once they remembered the good times, and the bad ones too.

It was five days later, a saturday evening, when Lucius grabbed the towel hanging on his shoulder to get rid of the dust coating his hands, cleaning them carefully as he observed the wooden crates full of wine he managed to unearth from the basement beneath his bar lounge, checking the labels on each of the boxes to make sure he got them all. With a grunt he heaved the heavy boxes out of the house and into a cart, carrying them one by one until he got them all outside and petting Nisa, his personal houndle, on the snout as she would be the one helping him transport the cart full of alcohol bottles to the agreed upon location where the brew bash party would take place on the next day. It was just a clearing near the center of the community, full of colorful flower beds and bright green blades of grass all around, the wide area being surrounded by trees and the occasional singing and chirping of birds giving it a more natural vibe as it was almost impossible to distinguish the sound of the town nearby.

Once they got there, Lucius carefully helped Nisa maneuver around so she wouldn’t bump into anyone or anything, knowing how some symps and aras got about their drinks. He got to the area where he would set up and unclipped the ropes from his houndles harness, letting her take a break as he unloaded all of the boxes from the cart and started organizing everything, pulling the tables where he wanted them and putting the chairs upside down on top of them from where they were once stacked against the walls. He took out the glasses he would be using, mainly some fancy looking plastic ones as he didn’t even know where they would end up once everyone started drinking, and arranged them around the place where he would be setting up the bar, already picturing how it would look like once it was full and bustling with activity. 

The symp then started decorating. He placed some low lights around to make sure there was some visibility while still keeping the relaxed atmosphere he was known for creating in his bar and took a moment to admire how it was all coming together nicely for his first time participating on the other side of the brew bash as he grabbed some more stuff to put around. Once that was done, Lucius then closed up and secured the drinks before he set off to help others where he could, having noticed some of his casual friendships struggling with the amount of work still left to do. At the end of the day, Lucius finally left the area with Nisa, returning home with a smile on his face and a slight hum under his breath as he wondered what shenanigans the younger members of the community would get up to not even 24 hours from then. His last thought as he laid in bed was that he really couldn’t wait for tomorrow to finally arrive.

Lucius got up early the next day feeling refreshed, the slight hum of excitement in the air giving him all the energy he could ever need as he prepared himself for the busy hours ahead of him. He took a long shower and styled his light colored hair as always, leaving its natural waves and spikes to do their work as he fluffed up the top and weaved the thorny vines back around his horns from where they had moved while he slept. He took care while putting on his harness and then grabbed a light blue leather crossbody bag from the top of the drawer where it usually laid until he had use for it. Finally ready for the day, Lucius took one final look at himself in the mirror on the wall and left his room.

The symp grabbed a couple of apples as he passed the kitchen on his way towards the door, placing one on the bag he carried while he gave the other one a bite, holding it in his hand as he let out a familiar whistled tune to call Nisa towards him from wherever she was now, knowing her though, it was probably the clearing with a yellow flowerbed and the crystal clear lake nearby. He finished his apple and threw the heart on the trash as he watched his trusty houndle get closer, nuzzling into him as a greeting when she arrived before Nisa found her attention focused on his bag, managing to get it opened before Lucius pushed her away with a loud laugh, sticking his hand into it and rustling through it for a bit before grabbing the other apple and holding it out towards her. The houndle bit into it with a happy look in her eyes and a flick of her ears and soon enough finished it all. 

Once Nisa was finished with her treat, Lucius guided her towards the edge of the property, taking time to admire the fields full of crops that all went towards his wines. From the gorgeous coloring of the prismroot that faded from a light pink on the top towards a deep purple on the bottom, to the fickle capri lemon with its variety of orange and yellow colored skin along with the ever present blue leaves. Once on a safe area, Lucius mounted his houndle and they set off towards the dirt road that would lead to the center of the town they lived close to, spending almost an hour on the way, admiring the nature all around them and watching as it all slowly transformed into a more lived-in area. Observing as the mountains slowly got farther and farther away and how the trees slowly turned into buildings before they finally arrived at their destination. 

With only a couple hours left before the brew bash started, Lucius started setting up to open, the chairs being pulled down from on top of the tables and mixing up a couple of his most famous drinks in advance, arranging them in order so that his prismroot wine bottles were on the left area of the bar, the deep purple color of the alcohol contrasting with the bright yellow color of the sweet capri lemon drinks and fresh cosmo berries on the bottom of them placed on the other side. He also had some plates with some nuts and berries, in case anyone felt hungry enough to eat. Finally ready to open, Lucius checked the time and startled at noticing it was only fifteen minutes away from the start of the festival. With a deep breath to settle his nerves, the symp let it out slowly and opened the blinders so that his stall was visible to anyone and everyone who wished to visit.

It was a tough couple of hours. The huge amount of symprites and aramelles that arrived for the festival was a surprise to him, being his first year setting up, and he was almost unable to keep up with the busy rush. He probably would have gotten overwhelmed if it wasn’t for Pearl arriving halfway through and lending him a hand with taking orders and conversing with everyone, the ocean symprites more social and outgoing nature making him better equipped to dealing with others than Lucius’ more quiet and reserved  personality. Especially while he was mixing up drinks and pouring others, not wanting to get distracted and mess up at any point while he was still getting used to rushing orders.

At the end of the day, once most of the event goers left and there were just a couple of stragglers left in the laying around on the grassy floor of the clearing, Lucius closed up tight and grabbed his blue crossbody bag, slinging it over his head and calling out towards Nisa, who was already taking a nap near the stall, so that they could finally head home for the day. They spent the way back in a quiet silence, Lucius occasionally humming a tune or snippets of a song as they traveled beneath the quiet of the starry sky. Once they got closer to the property, the symp dismounted and quietly thanked Nisa for her help, giving her another stroke over her head and  telling her to get some rest before watching her head back towards her stall, which was located nearby, with a tired gait.

Finally home, Lucius absently remembered to close and lock the front door before heading towards his bedroom at a sluggish pace, the busy day leaving him tired enough without taking into account the early start he would be getting the next day to clean up his stall, gather up all of the empty wine bottles along with any extra capri lemons and cosmo berries he used for toppings, and bring all of the furniture he used to place it back into storage. He took a quick shower to refresh himself and then towel dried himself, not really caring that his still wet hair would be a mess the next day since that would be a future him problem, before settling into his bed, the quiet chirping of the crickets and the hotting of the owl slowly pulling him to sleep.