Simon Seville was feeling rather depressed, despite being on a cruise through the Caribbean with his family. Everyone else was in a couple: Alvin and Charlene, Theo and Eleanor, even Noah and Jeanette. This left him alone most of the time, unless he opted to hang around Dave. His adopted father was rather boring, however, so this was rarely the case.
After finishing his meal one evening, Simon headed to the ship's stern on the lowest of the open decks. Lonely and depressed, he leaned over the railing and stared out at the sea below him. He felt a bit cold as the wind blew past him, shivering despite it being no less than seventy degrees. This was due to his rather unusual attire, consisting of only the large t-shirt that covered him from head to toe. He was naked underneath, save for his sneakers.
The decision to wear the outfit was the result of daytime heat, Dave's requirement that he be reasonably covered, and some convincing from Alvin. Now, Simon was regretting not wearing a little more, as the wind pierced the large garment easily and left him less than comfortable. As if that wasn't bad enough, the ship hit turbulent waters.
Simon was unable to retreat from the railing before a sizeable wave sent him a foot or two into the air. Several more with little time to recover left him clinging to the railing for dear life, only now on the wrong side of it. Desperately, he tried to climb the elaborate, curved metal to the top, but only managed to snag his shirt. Another wave struck, the final nail in the coffin. The eight year-old lost his grip, the snagged shirt slipping off as he plummeted to the sea below.
"Ugh…" Simon forced his eyes open, all energy sapped from his body. He lacked the strength to sit up. His head was propped against some sort of thin cushion, and leaves were strewn- no, stitched into a blanket that covered his body. If his sense of touch was still accurate, the object below his head was leather, likely a makeshift pillow. Also of note, Simon could no longer feel his sneakers, which must have come off in the water. Lastly, he seemed to be lying on a large pelt of some kind, potentially ocelot if the region was any indication.
Judging by the fact that he was alive, the ship must have been moving fast enough for him to miss the propellers. Still, without some kind of aid he would have drowned when the impact with the surface knocked him out. This and one other uncertainty troubled him: his glasses were gone from his face. Without them, he could not see far before things got blurry.
"Oh, you're awake!" Simon turned to see a thin, lanky chipmunk about Theodore's height standing in the entrance to the hut. His voice was a tad lower than that of his genius acquaintance, not that that counted for much as a chipmunk. He wore only a leather satchel and a coat made from another pelt. Simon attributed the latter to the nighttime cold. "I did what I could when Flipper showed up with you on his back, though you still look pretty sore..."
"Who… who are you?" Simon could barely find his voice. The boy set down his satchel and knelt beside the new arrival.
"My name is Austin. I've been on this island for a little over a year now," he answered, "I don't remember how I arrived, since you'll probably ask." That answered Simon's first question.
"My name is Simon," the genius replied, "I fell overboard when the cruise ship I was on hit rough waters. That's as far as I can remember." Austin felt the taller chipmunk's forehead with the back of his hand as he spoke.
"My dolphin friend saved you and brought you here," he observed, "You feel warm now, which is more than I could've said when I found you." Simon's eyes widened.
"I must have had hypothermia," he deduced. Austin raised an eyebrow.
"Hypo-what?" he questioned, "Look, I'm only 8; I don't know words that big." Simon sighed.
"Never mind," he responded, "Have you seen my glasses?" Austin shook his head.
"Probably at the bottom of the ocean," he apologized, "You have vision problems?" Simon nodded.
"I'm very nearsighted," he explained, "The walls are the furthest thing I can see clearly." The far wall of Austin's small hut was only six feet away.
"That's terrible," Austin replied, shocked. He let out a dejected sigh. "Anyway, it's still dark out, so you ought to try and get some more sleep. I'll start teaching you survival skills in the morning."
"Sounds like a plan," Simon agreed. Putting a makeshift door in place over the entrance, Austin set aside his coat before joining his new roommate under the leaf blanket. While he was not excited about sharing a bed with someone, let alone in the nude, Simon felt strangely giddy as his new friend slid next to him. He had neither the will nor the energy to question this emotion, however, so instead he closed his eyes and drifted slowly off to sleep.
As the cruise ship sailed further from the island, the discovery of Simon's shirt dampened the moods of those on board. Naturally, he was presumed dead; his body lost to the sea. Noah's sorcery told him otherwise, but few believed him. Dave was not among the believers, so the kids were left to mourn their sibling's death as they returned home.
In the years that followed, as hope lingered within only his brothers, Simon adjusted to life in the wild. His new friend taught him many survival techniques, and he improved upon all of them. Soon, they moved from the tiny hut into a tree house, which Austin could never have constructed alone. On top of all this, the two grew close as they matured into teenagers, and it became apparent to Simon that he was in love.
One day, as the two 13 year-olds finished gathering fruit from the jungle, an ocelot jumped the taller of the two in hopes of acquiring dinner. Still somewhat blind, Simon could not foresee the attack and was shocked to see the big cat leap out of the grass. It had him pinned instantly, its claws threatening to dig into his thin, furry flesh. Never before had he felt such fear, save for when he'd fallen overboard of course. That would top the list for a while.
"Nuts!" Austin cried, shocked, "I gotcha, Si!" He used the spear they had crafted to scare the large cat off of his friend, warding it off into the brush. The cat retreated, Simon left with only a few scratches to show for its efforts. However, both chipmunks knew that the incident could have been much worse. Austin pulled his friend up and immediately into a hug.
"Thank you…" Simon murmured, hugging back tightly. Austin smiled and nuzzled into the crook of his friend's neck.
"No problem," he promised, "I don't know what I'd do without you…." Simon blushed lightly.
"I don't know what I'd do without you, either," he admitted. Austin pressed a kiss gently into his friend's neck. After a moment, he pulled away only to lean his head against the tall teen's warm, toned chest.
"Simon… will you... be my boyfriend?" he asked. The tall genius planted a kiss on the short, childish teen he so loved.
"Gladly," he answered. Now a couple, the two finally separated from their embrace. Smiling, they held hands on the way back to their treehouse.
It had been nearly a decade since Simon's life had changed in the middle of a cruise. Austin was now the center of his world, and he wished they could be married. Of course, they had no way of tying the proverbial knot. Perhaps it wasn't necessary, he considered; they weren't even human, anyway. Then again, they couldn't exactly be mates...
This aside, by the age of 18 the two chipmunks were finally confident enough to let each other go off alone. They both had a fair grasp of the island's layout, even with Simon's troublesome eyesight. During one such case, the aforementioned chipmunk ventured near the mountain at the island's center. He wondered what could be found on its rocky slopes, and much to his surprise, he located a narrow cave on the mountainside facing home.
Simon dared not venture too far into the opening, as it became quite dark. Moving forward only a few yards, the young adult stumbled and grasped the cave wall, its black surface crumbling away. Simon managed to catch himself and prevent injury, but stopped short as his gaze fell on newly revealed rock near the cave floor. There were two, colorful gemstones mere centimeters from each other; one orange and one blue.
Though not a geologist, Simon had a reasonable idea of what the stones were. The blue one had the appearance of a sapphire, and the orange was a similar gemstone whose name he was unsure of. Both were derived from corundum, a mineral common in igneous rocks. Using a sharp stone in his satchel, Simon painstakingly worked the gems free and stowed them for the trip back home. He hoped to turn them into something beautiful.
Months later, Austin returned from a fruit-gathering trip with his satchel practically bursting at the seams. Climbing up to the treehouse, he poured out the precious cargo before resting his legs. It was then, as he leaned against a makeshift, leather cushion, that Simon entered with his hands behind his back. Immediately, he called for his love's attention.
"So, I've been thinking about how we can't marry…" he remarked, "I found two gemstones, not an inch from each other if you can believe it." He held up two necklaces fashioned from the stones. Both gems had been worked down into slim shapes, and almost all of the black material had been removed from their surfaces. Still, without proper cutting and polishing, they made for somewhat crude jewelry.
"Did you… make those?" Austin questioned. Simon nodded.
"They signify the bond between us; sort of an improvised marriage," he explained, "I made them so we'll always have something to remind us of each other." Austin's breath caught in his throat as he accepted the blue necklace. Putting it around his neck, he held the smooth stone and inspected it.
"It's beautiful…" he spoke, awestruck. Simon smiled, proud of his handiwork, and put on his own necklace.
"I'm glad you like it, love," he replied. Austin smiled as the tall, lanky adult took a seat beside him; the couple eating a few fruits to satisfy their hunger. Soon, they were lying on the latest ocelot pelt they'd acquired; a recently sewn leaf-blanket spread over them. Simon pressed a kiss to his love's forehead as they snuggled together; their arms wrapped gently around each other. Finally, as darkness fell on the island, they drifted to sleep together.
"So, let me get this straight: it's barely a day after your graduation, and already you've taken out over $50,000 of your childhood savings?" Dave questioned, shocked. Alvin turned as he completed a rugged, explorer-like outfit.
"To start a search for my little brother, yes," he confirmed. His gaze met his adopted father's eye-to-eye, and yet it did not waver.
"He's dead, Al," Dave insisted, "There's no way he could have survived this long." A loud harumph announced Noah's entrance.
"For the last time, Mr. Seville, you're wrong," he growled, "My sorcerer's senses say he's alive." The 38 year-old man rolled his eyes and was promptly hit in the face with a pillow.
"We're eighteen and out of high school, Dave," Alvin stated, "You can't hold us back any longer." It was then that the man's gaze faltered, his shoulders drooping in defeat. He let out a dejected sigh before his eyes met Alvin's once more. Now, however, a decade of pain was revealed, and it nearly broke his son's heart.
"Fine, but…" His words fell to almost a whisper. "If you find him… tell him I'm sorry…"
It was about a month after their 'wedding' when Austin and Simon awoke on a day that would change their lives forever. Breakfast exhausted their supply of fruit, so one of them needed to gather more after the meal. The other would catch some fish, which they could cook on a fire for lunch and/or dinner. It was decided, due in part to Simon's bad eyesight, that he would gather fruit while his mate took care of the other task.
Much to Austin's irritance, fishing was not easy if you had nothing but primitive tools. Despite years of practice, he still had great difficulty catching the slippery prey. On days like this, the first fish was always the hardest because he was still a little drowsy. That, and in general it was just easier once you got back in the groove. It took a considerable amount of time for Austin to snag his first catch, which he hauled towards a shoreline of large rocks.
Atop the rocks lay a putrid satchel; an older one designated for meat of any kind. This way their main satchels wouldn't get contaminated. As he carried the slimy, writhing creature towards the satchel, Austin failed to notice that one rock had a sizeable layer of moss atop it. Slipping on the plant, he lost his grip on the fish and practically threw it as he fell. Landing hard on a rock that found its way between his legs, he felt a pain the likes of which he'd never imagined. Unable to stand, let alone walk, Austin called for his mate as he bled out.
"He's on this island, I'm sure of it," Noah remarked, using his sorcery to find Simon. The three remaining brothers rode in their private helicopter; Alvin in the pilot's seat. He had acquired a recreational license so he could own a helicopter and fly it too.
"I'll set her down on the beach; too much foliage otherwise," the red-clad teen replied. The chopper landed on the island over 100 miles offshore from Florida, not charted on any known maps. Alvin, Theodore and Noah then headed off into the jungle, going no more than thirty yards before the latter suddenly stopped.
"He moved," Noah remarked, "Probably heard the helicopter. This way!" Changing course, he led his brothers to a large tree, stopping in front of it. "Strange, he should be right here…" Alvin looked upward, noticing that he could not see the sky.
"Maybe he's literally on top of us," he suggested. However, it seemed Simon had already heard them and realized who they were. Naked as the day he was born, the 18 year-old dropped down from a hidden treehouse above.
"Well, well, well," he remarked, "Rescue finally arrives." For a moment, the three brothers were too shocked to move. Somehow, they had not realized he would likely be naked. In hindsight, though, it should have been obvious.
"Dave refused to believe that you were alive," Noah explained, "We couldn't come looking until we were old enough to make our own decisions." Simon gave a nod.
"Figures," he admitted. Alvin, not eager to stay long on an uncharted island, spoke up.
"Alright, let's get back to the beach and head outta here," he remarked. Simon shook his head.
"We can't leave yet," he countered, "There's someone else on this island: my… partner…" This caught the attention of all three brothers.
"Y'know, it's probably b'cause they couldn't get married," Noah observed, "Anyway, where is the lucky lady?" Simon turned crimson, staring at his feet.
"He is fishing at the moment..." A few seconds of stunned silence.
"Uhm… okay," Alvin replied, aghast, "Lead the way." Simon did as instructed, taking point on the way to the island's inland river. As the brothers neared the banks, a voice could be heard crying out in agony, and immediately Simon broke into a sprint. Within seconds he was at the side of his mate, who apparently had just injured himself. Noah crouched at the pair's side, knowing he could use his sorcery to heal wounds of any severity.
"Austin, what happened?" SImon asked worriedly. The 18 year-old winced as he spoke.
"Slipped on something… rock got me… between the legs…" he managed, his voice a bit higher than normal. Noah quickly examined the wound, much to Austin's embarrassment. "Who are they?"
"My brothers," Simon explained, "Noah here is a sorcerer; he can heal you." Austin gave a meek nod as an incantation was prepared.
"Looks like a small laceration; I'll just cast a simple healing spell," Noah remarked. It took mere seconds for the wound to seal up, leaving no traces behind.
"Can you walk?" Simon asked his love. Austin attempted to stand, stumbling before his mate caught him. Not taking any chances, Simon hoisted the teen up bridal style. Austin wasted no time grabbing onto his love's neck for support and security.
"Alright, we good now?" Alvin asked. Simon nodded. "Okay, as Arnold would say, get to the choppa!" A few laughs were had as the group headed back to the beach. Soon, they were in the helicopter and well on their way to the mainland.
Nearly two hours later, the Seville brothers landed on tarmac in Miami. Parked nearby was their private jet, along with a rented car. Austin and Simon were rushed into the back seat of the car, sitting on towels so as not to deface the seats. The vehicle had already been loaded with belongings, so no time was wasted in heading to a nearby Hyatt Place hotel. Seeing as they were naked, Austin and Simon would have to be snuck in through a side door.
Once inside the room, Austin and Simon were given spare clothing from Noah and Alvin and told to shower. However, they only managed a few steps towards the room before a yell from Noah stopped them.
"You can't just go in there together!" he protested, "You're not married!" Simon shot the teen, a devout Catholic, a look of annoyance.
"We've been living on an uncharted island for ten years, of course we're not!" he replied, "I made these necklaces instead, to symbolize the bond between us." Noah sighed, relenting.
"Fine, just… keep it quick, okay?" he begged. Simon gave a nod before leading his love into the bathroom. It was only moments after turning on the water, however, that Austin suddenly urinated in the tub. Strangely, his eyes had widened and it seemed aiming downward had been a last second reaction.
"Dude, what the heck?" Simon questioned. Austin ran a hand over his face as the yellow stream ebbed.
"Sorry, it just came on so suddenly! I couldn't stop!" he apologized. Simon raised an eyebrow.
"You couldn't hold it?" he questioned. Austin shook his head. "Strange… possibly from your injury earlier; bruising Noah didn't heal." His mate's head remained lowered.
"Regardless, it's embarrassing…" he spoke quietly. Simon pulled his love into a hug.
"It'll be okay; Noah can fix it," he promised. Austin squeezed back, the embrace broken a few seconds later. The couple finished their shower without any further ado, and were amazed at just how clean they felt. Donning the clothes they had been given, they exited the bathroom to find Noah missing in action.
"Where's Noah?" Austin asked almost immediately. Alvin raised an eyebrow.
"Teleported back to California to handle some Green Lantern business," he answered, "Why do you ask?" Austin shrugged, playing it off as nothing.
"Just curious," he replied. The four remaining chipmunks then headed off to the nearest Walmart with the intention of buying some clothes for Austin and Simon. The two were fairly unknown to fans of the band, so they went inside on their own to avoid attention. With the use of fitting rooms, the two once-stranded chipmunks picked out a pair of outfits each. Quite fittingly, the four selections were all rather bare bones, covering the minimum amount of fur.
After changing into his own clothes, Simon wore a navy tank top and dark khaki, cargo shorts over white briefs and brown flip-flops. A pair of prescription contacts now aided his vision. Austin, on the other hand, had chosen roughly the same outfit, but with an orange tank top instead. Paying for the clothing. the two then took a detour instead of leaving the store. Quietly, they made their way to the area where diapers were stocked.
"Okay, let's see…" Simon remarked. He searched the shelves for a temporary solution to his mate's wetting problem. Austin, being a mere 3'4" tall and all of 65 lbs, was small enough for most of the largest products, meant for bedwetters. "Which one of these do you like?" his mate asked, pointing them out. Austin studied the various designs.
"I like these, I guess…" he admitted, pointing at one of the plastic packages. Indicated was a new product, designed for a niche market. The size range was standard, though broken up into twice as many increments: four as opposed to two. Also, instead of the usual design, they were made to resemble traditional diapers. Specifically, they were white with blue tapes and sides. A classic Batman design was printed on the front.
"Okay, if that's what you want," Simon replied, grabbing a pack and a some baby powder. Austin blushed lightly as he followed his love to self-check. Admittedly, he had chosen them purely because they were different, and was curious what they'd be like. Being as discreet as possible, Simon paid for the package before leading his partner to the nearby men's bathroom. It took only a couple minutes to get Austin sufficiently padded.
The two lovers finally reunited with Alvin and Theodore, and the group quickly decided it was time for dinner. Driving across the parking lot, they pulled into the drive-thru of a Hardee's. All four chipmunks ordered burgers, opting to eat in the parking lot so Alvin wouldn't multitask behind the wheel. After a decade on an island, Austin and Simon considered even the simple, fast food meal heavenly.
Returning to the hotel, the four teens watched an hour of television- Austin and Simon awestruck at the huge HDTV- before finally heading off to bed. Austin slipped off his shorts as he climbed under the covers with Simon, who did much the same. As they snuggled close together, Simon hugged his love and whispered into his ear.
"You holding up alright?" he asked, "We'll see Noah tomorrow." Austin nodded, nuzzling into the teen's warm chest.
"I'm fine, Si," he promised, blushing, "The diapers are really comfy." Simon moved one of his arms down around his mate's padded rump.
"I'm glad you're enjoying them," he replied, smiling. Austin turned a shade brighter as his mate pressed a kiss to his forehead. The two then drifted off to sleep.
The following afternoon, Simon finally returned to the Seville home after a ten year absence. Ms. Miller and the girls came over, and his return was celebrated with a lavish feast. Austin was warmly received, and his relationship with Simon accepted. Best of all, a wedding was planned for the following month. When all was said and done, only one problem remained.
"So, you're sure you don't want Noah to heal you?" Simon looked questioningly at his mate, who had opted against having Noah cure his incontinence.
"Yeah," Austin confirmed, "I like being this way." Nuzzling into the crook of his love's neck, he closed his eyes to rest.
"Well, I'm not going to stop you," Simon promised, "I love you." Austin smiled.
"I love you too, Si…" he murmured. The two then drifted happily off to sleep.