The Sky's Eternal Sunset

Ya Gotta Dive In

Everybody they have a little secret something
That they don't wanna tell anybody
Because it's shakin'
Yeah, yeah

Like when your hearts racing
From having stage-fright
Listen up
Say okay I-I understand you but
You don't ever have to hide
No no
Just look it in the eye

Dive In - monster High the Great Scarrier Reef

(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)(⁠ㆁ⁠ω⁠ㆁ⁠)

Hunting with the Marakihaus took longer than he thought it would, so Roxas doesn't quite catch the humans when they leave the books for him in his Tupperware in the morning. All he knows is where there were only ten or so books before, now there are easily twenty. It's more than enough to keep him occupied during the day while the humans spend all day in their lab on land. He dives headfirst in the pile of tomes, cracking them open and laying them out on the warm dry sand.

Reading used to be so hard. So frustrating. There were times he was so annoyed with it, that he wanted to chuck the book he was reading right at Sora's head. But Sora told him to be patient, that he's not going to get it all right away and that it would get easier with time. Roxas thought him a bit of a know-it-all but turned out he was right. Books that used to be so difficult he can now read with ease.

The most interesting part of these new books isn't even the content. On the inside of some of the books, there are inscriptions. A note to the person receiving the book. It's interesting to know that several years ago, Kairi, Riku, and Sora were all children reading these same books, most of them gifts from family. Roxas mouths the words that he can read trying to decipher some of the notes.

There's one from Riku's parents. And another written by Remus for his little sister. But the ones Roxas likes most are the ones from Sora's mom, wishing him a life full of adventure and sweet dreams. It reminds him of his own mother and brings a smile to his face.

As much as he wants to read all day, he knows he shouldn't. He's supposed to be writing too during this time, but without Sora and the others, he has to take it upon himself to practice. With a sigh, he plucks a stick from the sand and begins writing his warm up words.

Dolphin. Ocean. Starfish. Koi. All of them written several times in a row so his penmanship won't suffer.

Beach. Docks. Boats. Humans. Sora.

Roxas stares at the name for a second and nibbles his bottom lip as he makes an addition.

Sora and Roxas.

He writes it three times in a row before he smiles and writes something else.

My Sora.

Just writing it once has him rolling over in the sand with a beaming grin and a fit of happy noises. He looks up through the palm fronds at the sky and tugs on his fingers. Just imagine, to be able to say something like that. To be able to proudly proclaim that he has someone who makes him feel complete. He'd be able to embrace Sora, touch his face and hair, kiss him and...

Roxas nibbles his lip again as his cheeks flush with a different more amorous hue.

He's young, but he's not naive. He knows what other mer get up to when they're bonded. Sound travels through water after all, even if pairbonds try to be away from pods when they join. But that's about the extent of what he knows about Koi mating habits since he's not a voyeur.

Marakihaus are far more willing to talk about their exploits if his own pod is any indication.

Skuld is less than subtle as to what she and Vali get up to despite the fact that he hasn't finished her bonding gift yet. Don't have to be bonded to have fun, she says. He can only imagine they'll be even less discreet once they are official. And Hermod makes it no secret that he takes matters into his own hands since he's unbonded. Seems to be fairly common amongst Marakihaus that don't have mates to relieve a lot of their... frustration, and it's not frowned on in the least. In fact, it's encouraged to keep stress in the pods low.