The Magical Raincoat

Frank

Eddie's hair fell into his face as he dragged a box from the back storage of the mail office. Sweat lingered on his hairline but never dropped, and it was days like these that he wished repairs didn't take so long in the neighbourhood.

The freak rain had felt nice earlier, but it hadn't lasted long, and then the weather went from humid to muggy, especially in the office where the air conditioning was broken. He didn't know what to do, but he had to move these boxes sometime, and it was always better to do it while he had the motivation.

Say, he hadn't looked through these boxes in some time. Maybe there was a fan or something he could use in one of them?

He ripped past the old tape cleanly and pulled the flaps open to reveal a layer of bubble wrap, taking that out to save for later and hoping and praying that what was underneath was worthwhile...

A raincoat? Clear and plastic and pretty small, if he was honest. But there was something under that, too!

His hand gripped the plastic and pulled it away, seeing the miraculous blades of a fan peering up at him. He pumped his fist and went to toss the raincoat when he noticed that it had changed without his knowing.

Now in his hand was a dark blue jacket just his size, with a cowl neck and rainbow pockets. It had a slit at the bottom that made it flare out slightly and probably made it easier to pull over.

He was excited but just put it over the back of the chair at the front desk so that he could take out the fan pieces and put them together to rid himself of this heat.

,

Frank's tan butterfly-catching coat was warm, too warm on a day like this, but that didn't stop them from the routine of it. Sure, the heat was slightly overwhelming, but nothing they couldn't handle.

He pulled at the collar to let in a bit of fresh air, but all it did was stretch the material.

He started to give up on even looking for any more butterflies, walking past Eddie's to see what his spouse was up to, but when he spotted the fan pointed directly at the red-haired mailman as he leaned over the front desk in nothing but the plain muscle shirt he wore under his uniform (and his pants), Frank couldn't resist.

Eddie looked up as the door opened with a pop sound, the heat suctioning it closed. Frank stumbled a little as they entered the office, looking at the doorway with their normal grump.

"Hey, Frank." Eddie grinned lopsidedly. "Hope you're not here for the fan because I'm not sharin'!" he joked, watching Frank pout but scoot closer as he pulled off his butterfly-catching garb.

"Well, if that's how you want to be, I'll just steal it," Frank responded with playful indignation. Their hand reached for the plastic base to turn the cool air to them, but Eddie slapped their hand away. "Wh- hey!"

"Finder's keepers! We have a fan at home!"

"But home is so far..." Frank whined, cradling their hand. "'Sides, don't you want to spend time with me?"

The tone felt suspiciously like a trick, and Eddie knew Frank could be sneaky when he wanted to be.

"Course I want to spend time with ya!" he started fondly, rounding the desk to get closer to Frank and turning the fan to hit them both at once. "Is that better?"

Frank's frown slowly rounded up, mischief in his eyes. "Better." He nodded. Their eyes shifted to the chair behind the desk, brow furrowing as they caught sight of the blue jacket sitting on the back. "What's that?"

"Hm?" Eddie turned, and Frank took the opportunity to move the fan to the other side of him so he was blocking it from view, and hopefully Eddie, being the oblivious oaf he was, affectionately, of course, wouldn't notice. "Oh, I found it while looking for the fan."

"I've never seen it before."

"Neither have I, hun. Looks like everybody is getting them, though, or at least Julie did. Wonder who's gifting out raincoats to the neighbourhood?" Eddie turned back around, scratching his chin. A bead of sweat raced down his face. "Oh, man, it's hot."

Frank grinned in victory. "Really? I'm not so sure anymore. What did you say about Julie getting a raincoat, too?"

"Oh, yeah! Her, Sally and Wally stopped by and showed me this wonderful coat they found in Wally's attic. All pretty and stuff. Showed me how it can change colours. Mine does the same, but I haven't played around with it enough yet." Eddie scowled as he looked behind Frank. "Hey. Now, that's unfair."

"So, this jacket..." Frank said, mischief in their voice. They reached behind them and returned the fan, then leaned over the desk for the dark jacket, which then turned light blue under their touch. "Oh--"

"Wow, it knows you like butterflies?" Eddie gasped as colourful butterflies appeared across the material.

The coat became long and thin, probably reaching well below Frank's knees when adorned. "It's magic," he stated, tossing the coat back at Eddie. "I don't much like that." Though, he couldn't forget the butterflies, even as they disappeared back into that dark blue of Eddie's coat. "It's all too strange. And you said Julie has one, too?"

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. Seemed to enjoy showing it off a lot."

The idea of one of his best friends playing with this magic put him on edge. "I've got to go."

"Frank?"

Frank was out the door before Eddie even spoke.