Ocean Kisses

Preening

Zedaph pov

After breakfast, we all ended up settling down on the couch. The atmosphere was cozy, with a faint hum of warmth filling the air. Tango had brought over a pile of blankets—far more than necessary, in my opinion—and somehow, we all ended up tangled beneath them. Skizz and Impulse were on either side of Tango, their arms casually draped over him like it was second nature.

I couldn't help but notice just how intimate they were with him. Skizz’s wing was stretched out, covering part of Tango like a makeshift blanket, while Impulse leaned into his shoulder, his hand resting lazily on Tango’s leg. Tango didn’t seem fazed by it; in fact, he leaned right back into their touches like it was the most normal thing in the world.

Meanwhile, I sat awkwardly on the other end of the couch, wrapped in one of the smaller blankets, trying not to look like the odd one out. Which, of course, I was.

Surface-dweller relationships were confusing. They said they were friends, but friends didn’t cuddle under blankets like this, right? Back home, displays like this would’ve been considered romantic, or at the very least, something reserved for significant others. And yet, they kept insisting that they were just friends.

It didn’t make any sense to me.

Impulse shifted slightly, resting his head against Tango’s, and Skizz chuckled softly at something Tango had said. Their laughter was easy, warm, and filled with a level of closeness I couldn’t quite comprehend.

I furrowed my brow, watching them interact. “I don’t get it,” I mumbled, more to myself than anyone else.

Tango’s ear twitched, and he turned to look at me. “Don’t get what, Zed?”

I hesitated for a moment, unsure if I should even ask, but the curiosity was eating away at me. “How is this... just friendship?” I gestured vaguely at the three of them. “You’re all so close, so comfortable with each other. Back home, this would mean you were, I don’t know, together or something.”

Impulse snorted softly, clearly amused, while Skizz raised an eyebrow, a playful grin spreading across his face.

“Well,” Tango started, rubbing the back of his neck, “it’s a little different here. Friends can be close, Zed. Really close, sometimes. It doesn’t always mean something romantic.”

“Yeah!” Skizz chimed in, leaning forward slightly. “You don’t need to be dating someone to show affection. We just care about each other, that’s all.”

Impulse nodded in agreement. “It’s called platonic affection. It’s like... loving someone without all the romantic or, you know, physical stuff attached.”

I blinked, trying to wrap my head around the concept. “So... you’re not in a relationship, but you still act like this? Like cuddling and... whatever else?”

“Exactly,” Tango said with a nod, his voice warm and patient.

“It’s... weird,” I admitted, frowning slightly. “Not in a bad way, just... different.”

Skizz chuckled, giving me a light nudge with his foot. “You’ll get used to it, Zed. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even start joining in.”

I raised an eyebrow, my face heating slightly at the thought. “I doubt that.”

Impulse laughed, reaching over to ruffle my hair. “Don’t knock it till you try it, buddy.”

Despite my confusion, I couldn’t help but smile. Their dynamic was strange, sure, but there was a warmth to it—a sense of safety and belonging that I found oddly comforting. Maybe, with time, I’d understand it better. For now, though, I was content to just watch and learn.