The Quiet Ones

Cucurbita had dragged his little sister and their cousin out today for this event. Lumi was smiling up at him sleepily from his arms; Carrying her around had been a habit from when they were younger that they kept whenever they went out together. Behind them, Ciri causally followed while looking at his small baophone. Ciri’s small squirrel friend peeping out from within his scarf.

“So what’s the occasion, Bibs?” Ciri asked, holding up his phone to the other two. 

Bibi gently let Lumi down before hovering himself over to the small sign. They had arrived at the Grizzly Glades, and there were already numerous baobears roaming the area and enjoying several festivities. He turned around, “It’s blooming season!” He gestured to the fields dyed in vibrant violet hues. “I need your help finding the elusive cloud clover frogbert variant!” 

Ciri chuckled, “Ah, your quest for all the frogberts.”

“Yes!!” Bibi pointed to the fields, then turned. “Let’s g–!”

“Hold that pose!” Ciri called out.

Bibi froze, but his center of balance was already off. His body started leaning forward. “Ciri Ciri Ciri Ciri Ciri!”

“Got it! Okay, you’re good.” Ciri announced. Bibi immediately started flapping his wings, face a foot of the way from hitting the path into the fields. Ciri walked up to the floating baobear and leaned down to show Cucurbita his screen. On it was a lovely picture of determined Bibi walking excitedly into the fields. 

Lumi looked over their shoulders, “That’s picturesque, Ciri. It’s ciri-ously amazing.” 

“It is!” Bibi noted at the same time as Ciri let out a huff. Bibi looked at him questioningly. “What’s wrong?” 

Ciri shook his head with a gentle smirk. “Oh Lumlums, you and your puns.” He walked into the fields first as Bibi exclaimed his shock over his little sister’s puns. Ciri had a secret bet going on with Polaris that Bibi would take years before catching onto Lumi’s puns faster, and so far Ciri was winning. Bibi caught up to him as Lumi lazily trailed behind. “So, a cloud clover frogbert?” 

“Yeah! I saw a pamphlet where they said you can get one during this time of year.” Bibi explained, already scanning around to look for their potentially new pet. “And they only appear during the blooming season! I don’t want to miss out.” 

“You know they have them at the shop, right?” Ciri pointed out. 

“What?!” Bibi yelled. “Where?!” Before Ciri could reply, Cucurbita was off towards Fabian Flutterbao’s stall. 

“I was going to say you need to have cloud clovers first, but oh well.” Lumi had finally caught up to Ciri’s position. Ciri softly grabbed ahold of her paw. ”Bibs was always energetic. He’ll probably figure out what he needs and join us in the glades. Let’s go take some pictures of you while we’re here. I’ll baodrop them later to you two.” 

“But what about you, Ciri?” Lumi asked, bringing up a paw to her chin. 

Ciri pulled out a staff with a contraption attached at the end of it, smirking back at his cousin. One could almost see the smug sparkle manifest behind Ciri’s expression. “Selfie stick.” 

“Ah… how selfie-aware.” Lumi commented. 

“Never change, Lumlums.” Ciri sighed with amusement. 

It was not long before Cucurbita joined them again, apologizing for not being more prepared for the blooming season. Ciri waved him off while muttering that he did not mind and Lumi simply liked being out on an adventure with her family. They mostly milled around, looking at the various flowers in the fields while Ciri took pictures of everyone, both for the memories and to post onto his baostagram later. 

“Alright, we can always come back later for the festivities. Let’s get this last photo in.”Ciri directed, “Stand by those deep violet flowers over there. No… not over there Bibs. Grab Lumlums, she’s over by those sunflowers. That’ll give me some time to set up for a better shot.” None of the three baobears noticed the slight rustling behind them. 

“We’re ready!” Bibi declared, posed next to his sister who wore a sleepy but content expression.

“Alright.” Ciri approved as he positioned himself next to the siblings. “1… 2… 3… Dumpling.” Something behind them chose that moment to peek its head out. Ciri brought down the selfie stick to examine the photo, grinning at the delightful photo. He showed his screen to the two curious siblings. 

“Looks like we’re done for the day!” Bibi remarked while giving his wings a few stretches. “You ready, Lumi?” His sister did not reply, prompting him to turn towards his family members. Lumi had a thoughtful expression while still looking at their most recent picture. Lumi waved him over, then pointed to something in the corner of their photo. Ciri readjusted so all three of them could see what she was pointing at.

“What’s that?” She inquired. 

In the background, there was a small pink object amidst the deep purple hues. It… looked like a small bunny with a pink flower hat. It had small pink flowers on its cheeks and looked quite shy in the photo. Squinting at the image, Cucurbita inquired, “Wait… Is that the elusive flutterbun?!”

A rustle alerted them and they turned back to the patch of purple flowers. “And… you might have just spooked it, Bibs.” Ciri drawled back. 

“Noooo!” Bibi lamented, falling to the soft grass below. “I want to see one so bad…”

Ciri squatted down with a small laugh, “And what about your quest for all the frogberts?”

“That too…” Bibi wailed. 

“Hey guys,” Lumi broke in, grabbing their attention. They turned their heads and gaped at her. In her paws, a little flutterbun sat munching on a fresh flower that Lumi must have plucked from the nearby patch. It seemed quite content as Lumi softly pet its head. They approached the small pet with caution, careful not to spook it away again. After it had finished the flower, Lumi positioned it where it was cupped in between her paws. She looked up at the two other boabears, “Do you think we can take it home?”