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A while later, once your tea has been drunk and Arctus has come to nestle by your side, you decide to surrender yourself to gravity and lie back in the grass. With the light overhead slowly fading and the sound of crickets beginning to softly swell, the world just feels so peaceful. All you want to do is close your eyes and sink into it…

You can feel Arctus licking your face—only her tongue doesn't feel like it normally does. Somehow it's licking you all over, covering your whole body at once as if she's suddenly become a giant—

When you open your eyes, however, you realize that Arctus isn't covering you with saliva—but instead a downpour of torrential rain has already managed to soak your clothes to your skin.

Sitting up and looking blearily about, you see that Arctus has already found her way back inside and is watching you bemusedly through the back door. Feeling yourself get ever more drenched by the second, you have to laugh; at least she's got her priorities right.

You're about to stand up and head inside as well when you remember why you were sitting out here in the first place. You can still feel the tingle of magic in the air—but the rain in the air is just a little heavier, not to mention freezing. Covering your head with your arms, you pick up your pillow and your teacup and sprint for the back door, eliciting a surprised chirp from Arctus as you race right past her.

You don't waste any time locking the door behind you, as if wanting to make sure none of the rain can somehow creep through. Once that's done, you spend a few minutes with Arctus just watching the rain coming down and flattening the grass, tall flower stalks waving frantically in the downpour. In a way, it's quite a hypnotic scene—but as soon as you start to shiver, you head back into the house to find the warmest sweater you own.

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