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September 1st, Dormont.
The Favor Tree looms above you, a breeze gently blowing through its leaves. You’ve walked this path hundreds of times by now, but this time is by far the hardest. You know they’re gone, and yet part of you is holding onto some thread of hope that you’ll see them sitting there. Smiling. Waving. Asking how they can help.
You take a deep breath and walk forward.
…
It’s empty. Of course it is, but something inside you still aches terribly. Hesitantly, right hand on their silver coin, present in the other, you take your seat.
“Hey Loop.” Silence.
“‘How can I help you on this wonderful new loop?’ Hah… You forgot your line. I thought you were better than me at this!” You wait for an answer that won’t come.
You want to cry.
“I um...” You choke back tears. “I wanted to bring you something. It didn’t feel right, celebrating without you today.” You open the box. Inside is one of your cloak’s pins carefully placed atop neatly folded wrapping paper. You place the box where Loop usually sits.
“I don’t know if you would accept this. If I was in your position I’d probably miss it a lot, even if it hurt a lot to see. I mean, look at me! I’m back in Dormont of all places, all because I… Um…” You fidget nervously with the silver coin.
Stars, you didn’t realize how much harder this would be without them. They were the whole reason you kept going in a way, so not having them by your side while you’re in quite possibly the worst place you could go if you’re trying to prevent a breakdown feels like you’ve been stranded in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.
You feel your hands start to shake. Probably not the best analogy you could’ve come up with in hindsight. Distraction distraction distr-
“Bonnie made malanga fritters again. It’s the only food from the loops I can still stand, even if only barely. They were so distraught when I told them that one of my favorite foods became hard for me to eat,” You laugh weakly. “So they’re trying to help me like them again. They put hot peppers in this time which helped my brain distinguish between now and when they made them before. It was pretty funny to watch Isa try and eat them though. He wanted so badly to be supportive but you could just tell he wanted to complain about how low his spice tolerance is the whole time.”
Ah, that’s right. Everyone is waiting for you by the library still. You stand up and dust off your cloak, staring at the opened box where it lies untouched.
“I’m gonna go now. It was nice to talk for a bit.” You start to walk away, before pausing and turning back one last time.
“Happy birthday, Loop. See you next year.”
With a smile and a wave, you walk back.