Submission (#3651) Approved

As the miasma season passes and the world starts to awaken again, Silveil finds itself with many messes to clean up. Between the sudden boon in glowing mushrooms and the litter lining the dark forests from panicked travellers, the dark groves of Silveil's forests are in the worst shape. Biolumiescent, foot long slugs and furred rodents with glowing whiskers just aren't able to cut down on these issues; and many of them are being caught in the trash. Intervention is required before the situation gets out of hand, but many a resident are too busy close to the bright bulbs of their cities to wander too far out.

In short: there's money to be made in helping with the clean-up efforts.

Now, Cang Qingmin is not usually the kind to jump at such efforts, especially when working for free would be the kinder method, but times are hard. His family is running out of coins and there's just not enough job opportunities closer to home. He's making do with what he has, packing up and leaving for the night-bound island of Silveil the moment he finds someone willing to hire him. The plan is to stay there for a few weeks, plucking out troublesome glowing shrooms and cleaning trash out of the way of bioluminescent wildlife. It pays decently and Cang Qingmin doesn't mind camping out for the duration, especially since he's planned to be on his own.

... Well, planned is the key word here.

He isn't able to wander far from the house before Huo Xiujie is hot on his trail, calling out to him and slugging a pack onto his own back.

"Stay home, Xiujie; I told you I was headed out on my own."

Huo Xiujie scowls and takes a few leaps to catch up, his long tails flowing behind him.

"My darling needs help; how could I not come along?"

This again! Cang Qingmin can't understand why he's constantly teased like this, but it makes his face heat up all the same.

"Stop that, Xiujie. You know we won't get paid more if you come along."

A frown crosses the red elnin's face.

"I'm doing this for your sake, not for the coin."

Which is part of the problem! It'd be much easier to only send one of us!

Still, he can't argue with Huo Xiujie's eyes are so soft and utterly sincere. It makes Cang Qingmin's heart flutter and his mouth go dry--something that persists even days later, when they reach the shore of the island and Huo Xiujie offers a paw to help Cang Qingmin get out of the boat. The contact is lost all too soon when he starts padding upshore, under the glow of swirling purple galaxies and shining stars.

Cang Qingmin takes the lead a few yards later, going off the map sent by the employer to the area of interest. Apparently, mushrooms have particularly consumed this area, even overtaking some trees in their quest to spread glittering spores across the forest. Needless to say, some MAJOR pruning is required before the area is healthy again. This is immediately evident before they even reach the actual area of interest.

Blue and green mushrooms make for glowing signals of where to go, growing out from fallen trees and living trees and spreading even as far up to shine under the galaxy sky above. It's honestly kind of ridiculous how bad the spread is, with local, bioluminescent fauna avoiding the area like the plague because of how obnoxiously bright it is. Even after they start plucking out the shrooms, the blue glow persists, like an overlit nightclub. Cang Qingmin can understand why none of the locals wanted to deal with this nonsense.

But, work is work.

In the first day, the two of them manage to clean out the path leading up and start working on the most problematic area, though the mushrooms seem neverending and weigh everything down like glowing dumbbells. If nothing else, at least some of the mushrooms are edible, though Cang Qingmin knows from the moment they have fried mushrooms that he's going to get sick of this meal. They tie up the rest of the food in a tree and head to bed after--which is more of just a half-built tent and blankets to curl into rather than anything else. But... it's fine, Cang Qingmin thinks.

It's a beautiful, perpetual night after all. The galaxies swirl above their heads and the much fainter glow of the wildlife and plants is soothing more than obnoxious, now. With Huo Xiujie pressued into his fur and their tails intertwined, it feels almost romantic.

... He really needs to get his head out of the gutter.

Cang Qingmin turns his face and buries it into Huo Xiujie's chest fluff, their bodies pressed together in a firm line. It's warm, and calm, with only the hum of fireflies and the occasional glow-frog filling the atmosphere around them. It's easy to fall asleep, in the arms of the elnin he loves and with the atmosphere of Silveil lulling him into a deep rest. He can almost forget about the innumerable mushrooms there is to pick tomorrow, along with the innumerable glowing-mushroom meals to be had. For now, things are okay. And it's nice that things are okay, and that he's not alone.

When he wakes up, the galaxies and stars ever-persistent, his attitude changes immediately, knowing there's only more mushrooms to pick.