Style Quest: Harvest Moon Midnight Formal

As the leaves on the trees changed from green to red and orange, it signaled the start of the festival season in Drakethorpe. Varick received more orders for ball gowns and suits this season than he could handle. Any order that didn’t need magic to complete got redirected to his parent’s shop. In turn, they shifted any commissions that did need enchantments to their son. While they were technically competitors, neither would try to hurt the other’s business because they were family.

 

    “Varick! Varick, you got mail at the house,” a twelve-year-old fennec eagerly shouted as she pushed her way into the mahogany Clydesdale’s guild room. Looking up from the mess of fabrics, the equine tailor saw his sister Kaytlyn holding a fancy black envelope with gold lettering.

 

    “Not now, I’m four dresses behind schedule,” Varick waved to a pile of papers for the fox to put the envelope. “I’ll get to it when I have a chance.”

 

    “I’ll take it,” Raine, a snow leopard with blue and green spots, declared as they popped out of a pile of fabric scraps holding a candy bar. “As his fiancee, I can open his mail.” The feline shifted into an androgynous form as they used their claws to open the letter. “Oh! We got an invite to the Harvest Moon Midnight Formal! Drop everything and start making our clothes, and we’re taking Kaytlyn!”

 

    “I don’t have ti-” a glare from Raine cut Varick off. “Once I get caught up, I’ll throw something together.” Raine and Kaytlyn cheered and started dancing in the mess of a guild room.

 

    All the sewing had destroyed Varick’s fingers by the time the night for the formal came, but the payout from all the jobs was worth it. The blonde horse walked into the Grove of the Harvest Druids wearing a red, gold, and orange tuxedo that looked assembled from fallen leaves. On his arm was Raine, wearing a matching outfit. Closely behind them followed Kaytlyn, wearing a modified version of her red and orange druid robes that copied the fallen leaf motif. Traditional music played as Varick and Raine danced and laughed. Kaytlyn decided it was a cheat day and started raiding the snack table until she met a black-furred skunk boy with a rainbow-striped tail named Vondell. The two danced, talked, and enjoyed the snack table for the rest of the night.

 

    “So who is your new friend,” Varick asked his sister during a break in the dancing. He had spotted the fennec and skunk dancing together but let them have their fun.

 

    “That’s Von,” Kaytlyn answered, turning a bit red. “He’s a druid in training like me and wants to hang out more after this. Please don’t tell mom and dad for now. I don’t want them to be weird about it.”

 

    “Okay, I won’t tell them, but that means I get to be weird about it,” the horse smirked. “Now, who is this boy, and what are his intentions?”

 

    “Oh! Young love is so cute,” Raine excitedly giggled. Kaytlyn tried to slink away as she turned more and more red, but there was no escaping her brother’s teasing.