A/n: really short, semi filler but not really at the same time. Couldn't even think of a mediocre chapter title. Hoping to finish the next two (short) chapters soon to get past this plot point. Just wanted to post something to let you guys know I'm not dead...
 

It was unsurprising that she was the first to wake from the festivities that had only ended a few hours prior.  ‘When did I fall asleep?’ Her blurry eyes blinked up at the cloudy sky, and if it wasn’t for the warmth of the kotatsu, she would have  thought she had fallen asleep in the garden. She pushed herself up and ran one hand through her hair and the other rubbed her eyes. “Ugh.” The groan turned into a yawn.

As she started to withdraw her legs from under the table, the cold air chased her back. ‘How can Taemin stand this cold?’ Despite the young male’s protists of the cold last night, he looked not uncomfortable clad only in a sweater and boxer shorts while lying under the Christmas tree beside Kibum. Minho and Jinki were sleeping propped against each other with a pile of orange peels in front of them. Jonghyun, faithful to his duties, slept comfortably with most of his body under the table and mouth agape with light snores blowing occasional small flames.

She flipped onto her stomach and opened the book that she had been using as pillow. The flipping of pages summoned dust. A lot of the diagrams weren’t plants she was familiar with, and some of them didn’t even look like plants. She sighed, some of her curiosity and excitement leaving her.

“Oomph!” A dreaming wolf kicked her in the side. She sat up and massaged her body. As she stretched her neck and shoulders, she wondered why she hadn’t used the furry mass as a pillow instead of the old book.

Much more awake now, she observed the slumbering boys. You would think that being demons meant their livers could handle all that alcohol. Then again, evidenced by the empty cooler and dry bottles strewn everywhere, they did put down A LOT of alcohol between the five of them.

After her hair was patted down and clothes fixed, she padded her way to the garden. Even while indoors, there was a fine frost on the grass that wet through her socks. She shook her foot as if that would help dry it before taking another step, only to pause and bend down instead.

“Hmm…” Her eyes squinted at a the groundcover before she flipped open her new book. What she would have classified as a nondescript weed turned out to be something.

Underneath the diagram of the plant was one sentence:  ‘In the midst of nature, alongside an offering of spirits and sparkling treasures, burn until smoke surrounds you.’

Underneath the print was a small handwritten note: ‘To entertain the kids.’ In different handwriting, another note was added: ‘Otherwise useless.’

The directions weren’t clear to her, but she knew exactly where to find all the things she needed for the mysterious recipe. She didn’t know what it did, but something for ‘the kids’ couldn’t possibly be dangerous right?

‘Hopefully, curiosity doesn’t get me killed,’ she thought as she walked back the way she came.

Posted: 11 April 2014 (ugh. I at updating...next one coming soon. Like in a few minutes or hours...hopefully)