The moon had finally taken the place of the sun over the village of Cafu as there was a celebration taking place. Only a few days had gone by since the defeat of General Baal and Gaia, and where ruin and despair had once rained over the continent, happiness and relief soon washed over everyone.

The murmurs of people, both human and humanoid kind alike, were heard as everyone was chattering amongst themselves, either sitting down and enjoying some of the delicious food or snacks the village had to offer or standing up and sipping at refreshing water to get their dry throats re hydrated or juice just to get a delicious taste in their mouths.

"Feena, have you seen Rapp? I can't seem to find him anywhere."

Amongst the crowd was a long haired blue-clad red head, gripping two glasses of mango juice in his hand. The green haired know, known as Feena glanced up at him from the table she was sitting at, before continuing to let the honey from the bottle she was gripping fall slowly into the tea she was planning to drink.

"I'm not really sure, Justin. Who knows, maybe he went off to be a alone with Liete to confess his feelings for her."
Justin could only make a face at that answer, "First of all, Feena, Rapp and Liete have only known each other for a couple of weeks, so I highly doubt they seriously fallen in love with each other, and second of all..." He pointed across the room where Liete was seeming to talking amongst the group of Gadwin and Milda, "She's over there, talking up a storm about Angelou and stuff to those two."

"Mmm... it seems she is. I don't know where he is, to be honest." Feena replied, taking a sip of her honey flavored milk tea.

Justin twitched a little, "You could have just said that in the first place..."
The big emerald eyes seemed to give a puppy stare, "Aww, come on, Justin, I'm sure he's fine... why don't you sit down with me?"

The blue eyes of the red head simply stared at her... did she even care about their friend's safety enough? He had half expected when he asked where Rapp was that she would volunteer to go with him to find him. He sighed softly and set the cups he was carrying down, and headed to the door.

"Justin, where are you going?" Feena asked, immediately standing up.

He picked up his sword that he left by the door and strapped it around himself, "What does it look like? I'm going to find where Rapp is."

The green haired girl was about to say something to stop him, but he had already slammed the door shut after him. Sometimes that girl was so weird... if he knew that traveling with Feena would change her from the know-it-all expert adventurer girl of New Parm to the dependent clingy girl she is now, then he would have thought of sending her back to New Parm with the Orb of Teleportation and brought Sue along with him... sure she was young, and got sick from pushing herself at first, but at least she knew how to look after herself. She did used to keep his ass in line, yes?

"Ah, you must be Justin, the boy my son has told me so much about."

The blue eyes blinked as he turned around, seeing a fair tan skinned Cafunian who looked like he was in his mid thirties. Oh, he remembered him now! He was Rumein, the father of Rapp and Nicky, one of the Cafunians who had gotten petrified when the Old village was attacked 7 years ago.

Justin scratched his head, "You're Rapp's father, right? Do you know where he is?"
"Yes I do." He leaned against the building, seeming to have a little playful smile on his face.
"Um..." Justin seemed a little confused at that response, "Are you going to tell me where he went...?"
Rumein seemed to grin at him, "I will if you answer me one thing."
"What is it?"
"What do you think of my son?"

That seemed to catch the red head off guard... what did he think of Rapp? Why was Rumein asking this of him? And what did it have to do with finding the missing Cafunian anyway? He sighed, and rubbed his head... he sure was sighing a lot tonight, wasn't he?

"Well... I'm not really sure... he reminds me of myself sometimes, the way he grew up, being the troublemaker of the village like I was back home... not afraid to jump into a fight if he thinks it will help people he cares about... the way he gets fired up when he's angry is kinda amusing... and he's so straight forward, if he likes you or hates you, he has no problem showing how he feels... it's kind of admirable in a few ways... he doesn't change for anyone... and I kinda like that about him." The blue eyes seemed to gleam as a smile crossed his lips.

Rumein had his eyes on the boy, seeming to have a smile cross his features as well... this short ear was too honest for his own good... now he could see what Rapp liked so much about him.

"Alright, I appreciate you answering my question. If you want to find my son, he ventured into Virgin Forest in order to find the ship where you and the green haired girl docked on the day he met you two. Be careful, the forest can be rather spooky at night~"
"Hey, wait a---"

Justin was left standing there, almost baffled as with a quick fog of mist, the older humanoid was gone... that was one turn off he didn't like about Rapp though... his Mist Hide made it really hard to come up with a good strategy with team attacks cause he would disappear and reappear in the most inconvienant spots. He groaned before pushing the gate of the village aside and headed into the forest in order to make it to the beach where the Sea Dragon had been docked.

Justin flipped his sword in his hand, and put it back into the sheath that was resting horizontally on his back... it had taken him months to get that sheathing trick right... back when he first tried doing that he sliced his finger open and Sue had to help him bandage it, and said her usual phrase, "Really, Justin, you're so hopeless without me~"
"I think that's what she said... been a while since she was around to say it, might have messed up some words..."

He stepped onto the dock of the Sea Dragon where you could sit and simply watch the water's horizon when you were out at sea... he didn't find Rapp in the forest or on the beach... did he actually go inside the ship? If he told Feena about this, she would throw a fit. He snickered to himself, before he opened the door to the inside of the ship, as he grinned gently at what he saw. Sleeping on the lifeboat shaped bed was the humanoid he had been looking for all night. He found it kinda cute that Rapp would pick the bed he slept in while sailing the ocean to come to New Elencia.

"You really are strange, Rapp..." He murmured softly, and sat at the head of the lifeboat bed, and gently laid his hand on the other's shoulder, which didn't stir to show he was actually sleeping... as if you couldn't tell, the boy was snoring.

It kind of made him curious on why Rapp had run off from the village only to come to the Sea Dragon and play camp out here. Change that train of thought... it made him more worried than curious. He gently shook the humanoid's shoulder, trying to wake him, as the pointy tatooed ears flicked softly.

"Muh..." The amber eyes opened slowly, his fingers gripping tiredly at the odd smelling pillow under his head... in one opinion, it probably smelled like Grinwhale blood since it's hard to bathe out in the middle of the ocean and Justin had slept there after killing the creature that tried to eat him during the Mermaid adventure.

"Hey, Rapp..." Justin managed to breathe out... he had never seen Rapp just waking up from a nap, the Cafu boy was usually awake before him... and now that he had seen it, he looked really adorable... wait... adorable?

The older boy got up some, his ears lowering out of sleepiness, "Oh, hey there, Juss... what are you doing here?" He mumbled, rubbing one of his eyes.

The red head seemed to huff at that question, "What am I doing here? I should be asking you that...! This is Feena's and my ship, you know."
Rapp woke up a little more before picking up the blanket he had covered himself up with it, "I am aware... your scent is everywhere in this place..."
"My... scent?" Justin found himself blushing... he knew some humanoid's have higher senses and even animal like abilities, but that he wasn't expecting.

Rapp looked at him from the corner of his eye, and seemed to wink, giving his usual grin, "I probably didn't even get lost coming here, this entire forest still has the lingering smell of you and Feena even after a whole month."

"...Are you implying I stink?" Justin seemed to stare at him... okay, maybe he didn't use mint berry perfume like Feena did when freshening herself up during the mornings, but that was uncalled for.

Rapp stretched a little, "Not really, what stinks is that foul odor coming off of Feena's bed... I much rather perfer yours... it's a natural and comforting scent."

Justin watched the male as he stretched and gave a little yawn to wake himself up out of his comatose like state before... his eyes seemed to drift a little bit as he did... with his cloak pushed back a little bit and his belt tossed across the boat's floor, it was easier to see the other male's body structure... and more of his skin... he was a lot darker than most of the villagers in Cafu... and he seemed quite proud of it... not that he could blame him... it just seemed to make him look mo--- no Justin, stop thinking like that!

"Okay, I didn't come looking for you to talk about you stalking my ship by following my odor... I just wanna know why you came out here and fell asleep here."

Rapp sighed softly, as his ears lowered, "I came out here cause I want to come with you guys tomorrow."
"Wait... what?"
The usual narrowed and mischievous amber eyes were staring at him with what looked like sadness, "You guys are leaving tomorrow to continue finding adventures, aren't you... just you and Feena...?"
Justin glanced down, feeling like his answer was going to hurt the only other boy he could relate to, "I... um..."

"It's true, isn't it? You two were just going to get off your high horse and just sail away, and I will probably never see you guys again cause you're just gonna get yourselves killed with your knack of falling to near death everywhere you go..." Rapp ran his fingers through his short brown hair.

Justin touched his shoulder, "Don't talk like that... of course we're going to see you again... maybe the next time we see you, you'll be the next Elder of Cafu."

As soon as he said that, he almost wished he didn't cause the amber eyes turned fast and returned to their normal narrowed state, and before he could say more, he almost like he was back living with his mother cause he was suddenly hit in the head with the others fist, which sent pain through his skull.
"OW! What the hell was that for!"
"How many times do I gotta say that I have no intention of ever becoming the Elder of Cafu!? Huh!" Rapp hissed out, seeming almost angry at the red head.

Justin whimpered, and tapped his fingers together, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make you angry..."

Rapp rested his chin into the palm of his hand, his other hand resting in between his legs, "Would it kill ya to think that I might want to come with you guys...?"
Justin lifted his head, surprise seeming to be visible on his features, "You... you wanna come with us?"
"Of course I do... in fact, if you were finally sick of having that green broad with us, we could run away together now and have adventures, just the of us~"
Justin sweatdropped at the fanged grin he was getting, "I could never tell when you are being serious or not..."

The grin soon faded, as he backed up a bit, "I guess adventuring with another guy wouldn't be as appealing to you as it is to travel with a indecently dressed girl, is it?"
"Rapp, don't talk like that! I think it would be great to travel with you... I just never thought about it before..."

The amber eyes seemed to watch the red carefully... he was being defensive after his question and he was blushing as well... that only caused the smirk only he could wear so well to return as he gently held the other's shoulder. The red head felt a little squeak as he felt the other male grip his hand.

"So... if I wanted you to...you'd leave Feena and sail away on this boat with me...?"
Justin's cheeks went red, "R-Rapp... why are you asking me these things...?"

"Never really fast on the obvious, were you, Juss..." He leaned closer, his breathing felt against the other boy's ear, "I ask you this... because I love you..."

The blue eyes stared deeply into the Cafunian's amber eyes, seeming almost hypnotized by the boy's cat like gaze... he couldn't believe he just heard him say that he had feelings for him... then again, at least he was straight forward about these kind of things... he swore Feena was trying to say she loved him that full mooned night, but she was dancing around it for so long, his attention span couldn't take it. He lifted his head to say something, but Rapp leaned close too quickly and pressed his lips over his, causing his blue eyes to widen. This was his first time kissing anyone other than his mother... and it was with a man, would you look at that. He couldn't say he hated it... it... it felt so nice and warm... and it seemed rather relaxing in the other male's warmth... no! He couldn't do this now... it was too soon!
"Rapp, wait..." He pushed out of the kiss, but it seems the humanoid's arms were around his waist.

Rapp had his head tilted as he watched him carefully, "Yes...?"
"I... I don't think I would have it in me to leave Feena behind just like that..." He looked up, seeing the pout on the others face, "But... I do want you to come..."
"Why...? You do have a reason to want me along, right...?" Rapp smiled, pressing his forehead against the others.

Justin blushed, quietly letting himself swallow the lump in his throat, "B-Because... I... I love you too..."

The Cafunian seemed pleased to hear that, as he gave a little yawn, seeming more tired than before as he laid back down on Justin's lifeboat bed, as he glanced up and lightly patted the bed, seeming to want his newly proclaimed love to sleep beside him for the night. Despite his obvious shy blush plastered on his face, he gave up and laid down next to Rapp who cuddled close to him, and laid his arms as well as the blanket around him, letting his head rest on the crook of his neck, as if that was his new pillow.

"This is the first time I get to sleep next to you without a woman or a Mogay in between us..." Justin attempted to joke with him, as he felt a nuzzle at his neck.

"Mmm hmm... now your scent can help me fall asleep up close..."

Justin thought he was going to say more, but the soft snoring reminded him once more that Rapp was asleep, as a tiny smile appeared, as he gently gripped one of the hands that was trapping him in the bed, as the feel of the others soft breathing and the scent of sweet mangos the humanoid loved slowly lulled him to sleep, as the clouds moved away from the moon that was revealed to be full and milky white as it's pale rays shined down to offer sweet dreams to them... Good night, our odd little couple.