10. Quilt

"Vervain?"

Distantly, the celestial kitsu's voice called back, "Upstairs, Jaden!"

Jaden climbed the stairs, two at a time, poked their head into the bedroom, and looked around.

They tried again. "Vervain?"

"Ah, I should have said, /up/ upstairs!" Vervain poked their head down from a hatch in the bedroom ceiling, one that Jaden hadn't known existed.

"We have an attic!" They declared with a smile, cobwebs stuck in their hair.

"Oh, an attic, huh?" Jaden padded over, neck craned upwards, as they attempted to see what was up there, besides Vervain.

"Here," the celestial leaned even further down from the ceiling hatch, holding a hand out to Jaden, "Just jump, catch my hand, I'll haul you up."

Jaden only thought about it for a second, before doing as they were told, leaping to catch Vervain's extended hand and in the same motion, was hauled up onto the third floor, Vervain's wings fluttering for balance.

"Heh, watch your head. The ceiling's low."

So it was, Jaden looked around at the dusty rafters above their heads, and dropped their ears to half mast. It was warmer up here than it was in the rest of the house, and there was a musty scent that tickled the terrestrial's nose.

Scattered around the small area were crates, some were covered in cloth, some had been uncovered and recently rifled through, judging by the dust in the air. After a quick look around, Jaden carefully moved to Vervain's side.

The celestial was on their knees, in front of an open chest. It looked really old but had a strong scent, cedar, that was it. Vervain had pulled piles of cloth, what looked like clothes, but in half finished states, and other items out already, but was currently fishing out a large patchwork looking piece.

"Look at this!" Vervain exclaimed. "I've been up here before, ah, before you came, Jaden. I already looked through the other things, lots of just really old stuff, some of it was useful, but this chest here was locked. I found an old key today. You know the drawer beside the bed? The one that was always stuck halfway? Well, I finally finagled it loose, and the key was what was keeping it closed, it was beneath the drawer. One look at that old key and I just knew I had to try it up here. It's a treasure trove of old cloth and stuff, but this. This!"

Jaden had sat on their heels, nodding along to Vervain's rambling story, they were used to how Vervain would get excited about something, and seemingly didn't need to breathe anymore to talk. All the while Vervain was speaking, they were unfolding and spreading out what was revealed to be a huge patchwork quilt. It was dense, a little heavy and smelled strongly of cedar wood, but it was lovely. Jaden noticed that some of the patches matched with what they had first taken as unfinished sewing projects. Now they understood. Things had been cut up to make the quilt. Jaden ran a fingertip along swirling sewn lines. "It's really beautiful, Vervain."

"Isn't it!?" Vervain was already moving to fold the quilt back up, standing in the same motion, but rather than packing the blanket back into the chest, they carried it down through the floor hatch with a hop and a leap.

Jaden blinked. They supposed Vervain was already planning to use it. Before following the celestial back down into the bedroom, Jaden took a moment to pack the discarded things back into the cedar chest. They took care with the old cloth items, finding a sewing kit closed in a tin, they set that aside, then closed the chest's lid. 

Carrying the sewing kit and the key, Jaden moved, and hopped down through the hatch. Vervain had spread the quilt out over the blanket that was already on the bed, it seemed it was a perfect fit.

"I thought it would be, it's perfect!" Vervain didn't hesitate, but began to gather the quilt up into their arms once more, moving to exit the bedroom. "I'm going to go and hang it outside on the porch railing. It needs to air out!" They called behind themself, already thumping down the stairs.

Jaden soon followed, setting the big old key on the side table, they took their new-old prize downstairs and into their workroom, setting it there for later inspection. For now, they had to go and find Vervain again, there was still something that Jaden had wanted to ask them.

(WC: 757)