Ocean Kisses

Worried

Tango pov

The days of seeing Zedaph tired and lethargic had been weighing on all of us. It wasn’t just the physical toll; it was the quiet, lingering fear that we weren’t doing enough to help him. He seemed to come alive in the water, but once back on land, he’d revert to his near-constant state of exhaustion. That’s when we decided to take him to the beach. Maybe the ocean air, the sand, and the waves could give him some of the energy he seemed to be missing.

The car ride was mostly quiet, save for the occasional conversation between Skizz, Impulse, and me, but Zedaph was sound asleep in the backseat. His head rested against the window, his ears faintly twitching in his dreams. We tried not to disturb him, letting the sound of the tires on the road fill the silence.

It was on the third day of the trip when things took an unexpected turn. As we drove past a quaint little seaside city, something shifted in Zedaph. His goat-like ears flicked, catching a sound we couldn’t hear, and his eyes fluttered open. For the first time in days, he seemed... alert.

“Hey, is he awake?” Impulse asked from the passenger seat, glancing back at him.

“Yeah, but...” I trailed off as I noticed the change in Zedaph’s expression. His eyes, usually that soft, otherworldly purple, were now a hazy shade of blue, focused intently on something outside the car. He was leaning toward the window, his hand pressed against the glass.

“What’s he looking at?” Skizz asked from the driver’s seat, following Zedaph’s gaze.

“The bookstore,” I murmured, realizing what had caught his attention. The small shop nestled between other seaside buildings had an old-world charm, with its wooden sign swinging gently in the breeze.

Before any of us could react, Zedaph’s hand was on the door handle.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Skizz exclaimed, quickly pulling over to the side of the road. “Zed, you can’t open the door while the car’s moving!”

By the time we came to a stop, Zedaph was already halfway out of the car. His movements were quicker and more determined than they’d been in days, and he didn’t even wait for us as he started walking toward the bookstore.

“Guess we’re making a pit stop,” I said, exchanging a bewildered look with Impulse.

Impulse shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “Well, whatever’s in there has his attention. Let’s see what it is.”

We hurried after him, catching up just as he reached the door. There was something almost magnetic about the way he moved, as if he were being pulled by an invisible thread. He hesitated for a moment, his hand hovering over the door handle, before pushing it open and stepping inside.

“Anyone else feel like we just entered the beginning of a mystery novel?” Skizz muttered, and we couldn’t help but chuckle nervously as we followed Zedaph into the shop.

We barely managed to follow Zedaph into the bookstore before the door swung shut behind us. The smell of old paper and wood filled the air, and the dim lighting cast a warm, inviting glow over the shelves stacked high with books. Zed was already scanning the room, his sharp gaze flickering over every detail until it landed on the clerk.

The man, startled at first by our abrupt entrance, adjusted quickly, his wide smile putting us somewhat at ease. He was fiddling with a thin, delicate chain around his neck, which seemed to hold Zedaph’s unwavering attention.

“Uh, sorry about that,” I said quickly, feeling a bit embarrassed by our dramatic entrance. “We didn’t mean to barge in like that.”

The clerk waved off the apology with an elegant flourish of his hand. “Oh, no worries, my friends. These things happen, yes? I am Keralis,” he said warmly, his voice smooth and melodic.