Authors note: took the prompt in a little different direction but wanted to write this scene between my characters <3

The colorful flames overtook me immediately. It was warm, comforting almost, despite the searing pain behind my eyes as I took in its beauty. Everything around me slowed, Mctwist was throwing himself at me, trying to stop me or push me out of the way I assume. Victor’s family was a mix of people mid dance and mid panic. And then there was Victor, resplendent in the center of it all, a swirling chaos of reds and oranges and yellows surrounding him like the sun.

He’d always been surrounded by those colors. The eternal autumn of Forgnox framing his visage as he tended to his town, now everyone could see it, bright and powerful and warm.

I closed my eyes, focusing on that image, on the man who practically raised me. When I opened my eyes again I was in an entirely new place. Off in the distance I heard hooves on asphalt, sharp whistles and indistinct chattering of passerby’s. My eyes adjusted to the blinding sunlight and the unfamiliar town it illuminated. Most likely Victor’s home town, before Hiraeth, if I had to guess.

Tentatively I stepped onto the busy streets, I could sense that I was not welcome, memories tend not to like when someone who doesn’t belong goes trudging through them unexpectedly. But something was wrong here well before my intrudence. I looked into the picture windows of the shops lining the streets, oddly reminiscent of Forgnox. Each had its own little theme and charm, rustic and creative with just enough sophistication to be considered classy if one was so bold. One shop stood out in particular though, “Costard Family Hat Shop.”

The picture window was filled with all sorts, one in particular was a deep velvet red, with large orange and yellow plumage sticking out of the base, and some delicate golden embroidery lining the trim. I could see his very soul in that hat. I stepped inside cautiously, looking around to see if my suspicions were correct. The second I laid eyes on him I knew. Although he was younger, and to put it delicately, alive, I recognized him in an instant. It was as if those flames still danced around him, radiating out from his heart to mine. He tilted his head at me, “Good morning Miss! Can I help you find anything?”

He was oddly handsome, I had never seen him like this, he was so composed. Like a kid dressed up for church against their will. I smiled, “Can you tell me about this hat in the window? The red one.”

His eyes lit up with that starry eyed spark, “I’m glad you asked!”

I was used to his monologues, and I had to admit he always made a good negotiator. The hat sitting atop my head felt weirdly right. But I knew this hat would be his, after all it’s the one he always wears. It matches him perfectly.

I smiled and gently removed it, “You know it is a lovely hat,” I placed it firmly onto his head, adjusting it a tad before combing out the feathers, “But it looks quite dashing on you as well, Victor.”

He smiled, giving the brim a tip down part ways before giving me a quizzical look, “Wait, how did you-?”

The fire receeded, and I collapsed to my knees with a ringing in my ears. I could hear someone calling for me, I saw Victors face come into focus again, back to how I knew him. He pulled me up staring me dead in the face until I could make out the noises around us again.

“Writer? Are you alright?”

I nodded, eyes staring down at my hands. I swore I could still see the flames, reds and oranges and yellows, all circling around Victor like fireflies.

“What did you see…?”