Rocky Road ~ House of Dill, Saltriv, Shiron, and Vix

[Navar]

"Oh, so you want me to call you cute? Says the cute candle~" Shiron stuck out his tongue and smiled. "As for that pun, don't worry. I see you got the hots for it, eh? This is the worst pun I thought of... Fuck me."

 

[Fusion]

Vix snorted, a failed attempt to stifle her laughter. Laughter which was used to hide the rosiness that rose on her face. "I-I didn't actually expect you to go through with it!"

"And, yeah, that pun was absolutely terrible, I swear to god," Vix snorted again. "How about we never let anyone else know we made those puns and go about our lives like it never happened?"

 

[Navar]

"Hah! I never lie, my friend! And your idea's great, let's forget about the damn puns and move on with our lives."

 

[Fusion]

Vix huffed, turning to Shiron and crossing her arms. Her face, as purple as it was, and a deep, rosy shade of purple on her cheeks. "Flattery doesn't make up for you not bringing me back any drinks, fish boy. I'm not gonna let you forget it either!"

"Besides, takes a cute person to know a cute person," she puffed, holding a semi-serious face for only a few seconds before letting it fall to laughter. "What are we doing? At this point I'm starting to wonder if I somehow got drunk and you're still drunk!"

 

[Navar]

Shiron snorted, laughing loudly. "I told ya, next time I'm bringing you booze!"

"What are we doing? At this point I'm starting to wonder if I somehow got drunk and you're still drunk!"

"Beats me. I'm just tired..." Shiron yawned. "I think I'mma call it a night. That okay with you?"

 

[Fusion]

Vix nodded, patting Shiron on the head. "Yeah, I'll leave you to it. It's also, like, the middle of the day still. I think. I honestly can't tell."

She hopped off the bed, rolling her neck. She wasn't as tired, but a nap might do her some good. If she could nap. Vix never really tried before, she's only ever been knocked unconscious, dead, or pretending to be asleep.

"Take it easy big guy."

<><><><><><>

 

[IFBench]

Outside their house, next to the garden they were taking care of with Vix, Saltriv stood, writing in their journal. There were only a couple dozen blank pages left.

So much had happened since they got it, soon after they had first joined Team Spectrum. Meeting Shiron, Bahamut, Vix, Brisa, Starr, Icetales, Koa, Dave, Dill, and so many others, meeting their Void Eterna, meeting and rescuing Sword, fighting inside Maple's Voidlands, rescuing Diyem, Eien, and Soda...

And it was almost all over.

 

[Namohysip]

Owen was on one of his morning strolls, wings flared to enjoy the rising sun. So early in the morning, he could afford to take up that kind of space while walking down the wide roads. Spotting Saltriv doing some writing in the garden, Owen decided to take a small detour.

"Saltriv," Owen greeted. The titanic Charizard took care not to trample any of the plants.

 

[IFBench]

Hearing Owen's voice, Saltriv smiled, looked up at the Charizard, and waved their leaf. "Hi, Owen! How are you?"

 

[Namohysip]

"I've been doing fine," Owen replied, inspecting nearby plants before looking back at Saltriv. "Chronicling everything that happened? Never really thought about that; figured the news like with Puff and the others would've done that for us..." Then again, primary sources like journals could be valuable...

 

[IFBench]

"Yep! Been doing it almost ever since I joined the team," Saltriv said, writing another sentence. "I kept a journal back home, too. Writing's nice. It helps you get your thoughts out. I'm hoping to become an author one day."

 

[Namohysip]

"An author," Owen repeated, grinning. "Well, that would be something. I know about someone back home who's kind of the same way. Smeargle, actually. He's apparently a talented fighter, but his true passion is in storytelling. Illustrations. I'm a pretty big fan." He chuckled, sighing. "...Yeah. I guess that's something for me to look forward to when I get back home."

 

[IFBench]

"That's cool!" Saltriv replied, their tail wagging slightly. "Maybe if we meet again after all this, I can meet him! It'd be nice to meet another writer!"

 

[Namohysip]

"Maybe!" Owen said. "Though, I don't know if he'd want to get involved in something like this to begin with... He's not a fighter. He's technically just a civilian..." He sighed, looking skyward. "Still, crazy to think that it's almost over... that it already is for Cibus..."

 

[IFBench]

"Yep...it'll be nice to go home again, though. I miss my family and teammates, and the Thunder Continent," they said, laying their pen on the ground. "Still, though, it was really nice meeting almost everyone here, and most of the rest of Team Spectrum, too!"

Their leaf began to droop, and they added, "I'll miss everyone here."

 

[Namohysip]

Most, Owen repeated mentally, hiding a chuckle. "I don't think I will," he admitted. "I'm forgetting this. One day, I'll remember... but I think it'll be so distant that it won't have much of an impact. That's... too bad. But I'll treasure it when I can, like now."

 

[IFBench]

"I hope I'll remember it sooner rather than later," Saltriv said, laying a vine on Owen. "I can't imagine what it was like for you and some of the humans, to forget everything you knew."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen sighed, nodding. "I guess that's why I can take it so well. You get used to it, er... retroactively." Owen hadn't summoned Wishkeeper in a while. As time passed, they became more and more alike, blended, faded into one another. "But, that's why I treasure how things are now, y'know? Even if it's finite. That's how mortals should live anyway."

 

[IFBench]

Saltriv gave a sad smile. "Whatever happens after this...I call hope we can all meet again someday. But even if we don't...the times we did all spend together were amazing."

 

[Namohysip]

Owen nodded, folding his wings back. "That's a good way to look at it," he said, inspecting the plants one last time. Satisfied, Owen slowly got to his feet. "Seems like you know what you want to do. I hope you can help people back home the same way you grew here, Saltriv."