Ribbons of light dance across the painted sky, streaked with soft blues, greens, and oranges. Chartreuse hues flit open, just for the kittom to glare a scorching hot hole through the wooden roof. The many blankets piled on his comforter had made it extremely difficult to get out of bed, unlike a certain golden-horned somebody who was busying herself by the shoreline of Islasera. Knowing full well that he was unable to drift back into a well-deserved slumber with rich dreams and comfortable silence, Citron rips the blanket from his body, mussed hair sticking straight upwards with a sort of volume that makes you question if he places anything to achieve it. His body sways with sleep weighing heavily on his body’s joints, but still manages to push the door to his hut open and sneer at the now-crying girl with sand all over her petite hands.
“Oi, what’s your problem Eos? Don’t you know that other people, namely me, are still trying to sleep?”
His body leans against the doorframe, quirking a brow when she doesn’t bother responding, but further tucks her body into itself. Rolling his eyes at her depressive antics, Citron treks over towards her and turns his nose upwards at the sound of her sniffling. Disgust paints itself across his usually soft features, white eyebrows pulling downwards against pastel orange fur, but still he decides to seat himself next to the white kit with golden dots and swirls across her body.
She can’t help herself, the body beside her providing an aura of comforting warmth despite his snarky attitude. Eos knows deep down he doesn’t mean it, yet she can’t explain why. Instinctively leaning into his body, her tears are subdued if only for a moment. He pulls himself away from her, as if Citron had been burned by her touch, and hisses lowly.
“Gh - keep your hands to yourself... Didn’t anyone teach you that? I swear Eos, you are so thick-headed when it comes to this stuff, you can’t just touch people for no reason!”
His scolding reignites the flow of tears cascading down her cheeks, and she bites the bottom of her lip to withhold the hiccups and snuffles threatening to leave her mouth.
“I- I’m so sorry Citron, I- I- ... I lost my mom’s locket and I... Can’t find it... A-Anywhere!”
His face deadpans, completely unaffected with her incessant blubbering. Gosh, kittoms were so emotional...
“Is that seriously why you’re crying? We can just get you a new one, who cares.”
His attention turns to the ebb and flow of the ocean, the gentle call of the seagulls and drift of the clouds across the now brightening sky relaxes him. Before the conversation could continue, another peach and rouge kittom by the name of Haruhi dashes towards the two, her head lowered akin to a bull charging at a red cloth... Except this cloth was the back of her cousin’s head, and she was teeming with rage on how he spoke to the other girl.
“Hey! What the hell’s the matter with you?! Citron, you jerk-“
Both are at each other’s throats, biting ears and pawing backs to settle this dispute once and for all. It’s all too much for the kindhearted girl, though, and she dashes off the soft sandy shores of Palu'au Island's well-reviered Islasera and weaves through the palm trees scattered about. Haru winces at the fleeting form of her dear friend, shooting one last glare at Citron before running off to catch Eos.
“Hey, Eos! Wait up!”
Now with the two gone, the sunset kit flops onto his back to go back to bird-watching. His eyebrows knit together harder, clearly conveying his disdain at the events that had played out... Especially since it kept replaying in his head. Doesn’t Eos know any better? He’s tried telling her, over and over, that leaving her feelings exposed like that only results in more heartache that one can handle. This dull ache in his heart bothers him, and it can’t even let him soak in the warm rays of sunshine that tourists would kill to have.
He grumbles to himself before placing a paw on his cheek, pulling down on the fluff in exasperation at the turn of events. Why the hell did this even bother him so much anyways? It’s probably because of dumb Eos’ nonstop crying that halted his oh-so wonderful relaxation in the first place. Well, whatever. He internally decides, before shaking his body left and right to displace of any sand that was lodged in thick mounds of fur, especially his welkin tail. Up the steps of his humble abode, Citron admires the entrance with a small smile. It wasn’t perfect, but it did have anything he could ask for. Circling the base a few times until his paws grew tired of the hard wood beneath them, the orange kit spots a couple in the distance, and before he could process exactly what was happening, his body was already moving towards the tourists at an alarming rate... Luckily his easy-going smile and bounce in his step masked any feelings of anxiety.
“Hey, welcome to Islasera! I hope you’re having a wonderful time here. I have a question to ask, though. Have either of you spotted a gold heart locket around these shores?”
His anxiety-ridden mind was starting to eat up at him, the corners of his mouth twitching downwards into a sneer at the sheer amount of time it took for this couple to answer, but it left as soon as it came... Lucky for him, they didn’t seem to notice.
“Ah, I’m so sorry, we haven’t noticed anything yet, we just got here actually, and were looking for a nice place to set up our blanket for a picnic by the sea-“
“See those tiny palm trees over there next to those fallen coconuts? Go there, it has the most wonderful breeze... Thank you for the information-!”
Just like that his body began to pull in every sort of direction in search of tourists who could have possibly seen the exact thing he was looking for, a small gold colored locket in the shape of a heart. Ugh, such a stupid heirloom.
He passes through a handful of elnins, each unable to help him locate what it was he was seeking. Leave it to tourists to disappoint you... Oh wait, they always do that! Dawn had seemingly turned to dusk in the blink of an eye, and he was just about to give up until a glint in the corner of his eye caught his attention. Unable to withhold the excitement that bubbled forth when he approached the shine near the sea, the male chirps with absolute laughter that he finally found what he was looking for, just right when he was about to call it quits, too! The locket lay there, each chain link wrapped around the neck of this glass bottle that was half-buried in the powdery sand. It had to belong to her, no one else would dare carry around such an ugly accessory as this. Careful to pry the golden charm from its sanctuary and not pop off any chain links, Citron fashions it around his ankle and makes a mad dash back to his island shack. This painstakingly annoying day is finally coming to a close, and when he spots Eos sitting on the wooden steps to the entrance does his expression shift once more, just to keep that air of vexation living and well within him. Lifting his paw to detangle the heart locket from around his wrist, he tosses it directly onto her lap and spits with such venom it could rival a snake’s bite.
“There, now don’t be so stupid and irresponsible with this if it means so much to me. You’re lucky a tourist found it and asked me for help.”
Just as he was turning to head inside with his cousin whose company he doesn't find that much more appealing, he’s halted in his tracks when she approaches him with a soft smile and flush. Both her arms reach forward to hook around his body and pull him close, thanking him for saving her world and locating this lost treasure dear to her heart.
Before anything could get more mushy, he shoves her lightly from his person and send a heated glare directed at any location other than the place she was standing, a furious flush threatening to rise on white cheeks.
“Ugh, what did I tell you about personal space and boundaries, Eos? You got me all covered in sand-!”
“Aha... Sorry about that, Citron. I just really wanted to thank you for helping me today. It might not mean much to you, but it means a lot to me.”
And with that, the golden patterned kit heads inside and disappears from his sight. Citron couldn’t help the small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, or that warm stirring in his chest when he replays what she said to him.
It might not mean much to you, but it means a lot to me.
