Dino: so anyways I'm just gonna casually slide on in here

Droplet: -You're not very good at being casual-

Dino: That's cuz I'm faaantastic at making myself known! HwAH!

Raptin: you also are not very skilled in the act of silence

Dino: LOUD IS GOOD

Jkonna: BUT MY LOUDER IS -deep breath- gOODER THAN YOUR LOUD

Dino: SH-SHUT UP JKKIE STOP MAKING ME LOOK BAD

Jkonna: ARE YOU TELLING ME NOT TO DIGA-DO WHAT I'M BEST AT?

Dino: ;;w;; why did this happen

Droplet: -Yeah I'm with Din-Din here what the heck guys-

Jkonna: -pouts- It's fun messing with him!

Dino: TTwTT

Raptin: heh...

The Aloft Champion

Chapter 9: Sensational

Dino

So anyways after our little meet with Bea and Nick Nack we're off again into the water. Only this time, Droplet's not our transportation—she was very clear about this—so it's Foster instead. Honestly the guy has such little showing of his emotions or whatever that we could probably ride him the rest of the way to these Cali-whatsit islands and he'd hardly break a sweat, if even. Of course, being the sappy sass she is, Droplet's gonna wanna take turns anyways. Weirdo. Dino, you know I can hear you, right? Lovable freaking weirdo. Yeah, good times.

Raptin's next to me, knees up to his chest, arms around them. He's slumped his face into them like he's shy, and he probably is, poor Rapty, and Jkonna's sleeping toward the back again because she's done dealing with seasickness. I mean, I don't blame her: I was the same back when... actually, it's gonna get depressing if I keep going down that line of thought so I think I'll stop now. Ahh, what am I.

We're just chilling. Droplet's in my lap, and I'm sitting crisscrossed, and I can't tell if she's awake or not except for that one interjection of hers. So why aren't you sleeping if you're so tired? I thought for sure that one battle with a random dude and his vivosaurs and then all that swimming before would've tired the yap right out of you, but I guess I stand corrected.

Mmf. She raises one chilly eye and snorts. My definition of tired and yours aren't one and same. You, my friend, are a human, while I'm a vivosaur. Yeah, of course she's going to that explanation.

Sooo? That's not thaaat different! I know. I'm asking for it.

Scoff. Dino, we've been over this. Have we? Probably, but nothing I can remember. I mean, first off, I'm a... you know: a gigantic 'water monster' as you used to call me, heh. Why'd you stop? I guess you got used to me. Psh. Yeah, she's messing with me too. Anyways, Dino, I must say that outside of physical properties, we really aren't all that similar.

Droplet, no! You don't know that! I go out of my way to lift my hands and put them over my heart. Droplet, don't hurt me with such vile words! I have no idea what makes "we really aren't that similar" vile in any sense of it but I'm doing all this off the top of my head, give me a break. I'm sure it'll work out! You see... we... we both... Oh, no, give me a moment. This is harder than I thought it was gonna be. We... both... have eyes! To see each other with!

And what do you know, hers close. Mmmh, really? I suppose you have a point there, Dino. We share more in common than I ever predicted us sharing. I love how she'll delve right into something as stupid as that and all I have to tell her is... well, you know. She'd respond similarly even if I got nothing, I bet. But I'm afraid... it's not you, but it's me, that will never make this work out.

Dropet, no! So I gasp. Raptin shoots up beside me and judging by the fake pain I've plastered all over my face he must be so done with me. Nooooo! Droplet, don't say that! We... We have so much potential! I-I know it! That voice crack hurt to fake. How about I don't try it again. Just give me a chance, would you? Oh, please, Droplet, please!

She rolls her eyes. Y'know, if Pippy heard any of this, he'd lose it. Catching my giggle, she goes on flaunting her eyelids.

He would totally lose it. Poor thing, hah... I lose track of Droplet's face and favor the sky. I wonder... what he's up to, yeah? Do you think... Do you have a clue where he ended up? It... makes me worried. I wonder how far a storm can take him... Well, he probably turned into his medal, he got so scared or something, so then he just... got swept away...

It hurts less to make fun of it, so I go on, quickly: Man, what if Cooper found him? And, like... I don't even know what Cooper would do with him! Maybe... Maybe... ah, I got nothing. Nosh? She'd certainly be happy to have another vivosaur around, but after hearing my name... would Pippy follow? Like... oh, gosh, does he even know how to swim?

Dino. He knows how to swim! Of course he knows how to swim! He's toted you around to a few of the dig sites, you dummy! Don't tell me you forgot about that one time at Rivet Ravine! Droplet, you know how terrifying that dig site is: of course I burned everything about it from my memory. Why? Oh, geez: alright, we got the mine carts, which Jkonna can't drive but tried to, not once but I think twice; then there's McJunker who made me dig up his freaking tools when he lost them or whatever; not to mention when I fell down that ditch and Rosie went after me and... ahh, yeah, let's not.

Also, wasn't there a gondola... was that what it's called? Like I just get dropped off at the bottom of Rivet Ravine, and let me say that cliff is pretty freaking high up, and they tell me I have to ride that gondola thingy all the way up to get to the freaking start of the dig site. Not that I hate heights: I think it was made of wood and... I just... didn't wanna deal with it, ulh. So, yeah. That's why we pretend it never happened. Or at least, I do: Jkonna likes making fun of me about it; and then Droplet's all for bringing it up out of nowhere, as seen.

And then I realize someone is calling for me. My head whips aside and I look at Raptin, who sputters something and has to try again, poor guy. "Dino... I hear you and your, ah, krona speak"—Droplet mutters about idiot dinorans who don't say her name like a normal person—"I-I mean... you mentioned the names... um... Cooper, and Nosh, was it? Who are these people? Are they... foes? Are you worried... Pippy has been found by them?"

Somehow the thought of them as lethal monsters—even worse than the water monster kind—chokes a laugh out of me. The look I give Raptin after that has him turning because I think I'm too weird to look at now. "Naah... Wait, I never told you about them? Are you sure? Dang, I thought everyone knew." Well I guess I was wrong. But... wait. "Not even Dad told you? I thought Dad told you everything." Oop, now he's blushing. It's gonna take him a moment before he says much.

"Y-You are such a child," he mutters, still not looking. Oh, Raptin. "Dino, your father, who may I add is the dinaurian king, has much more imposing propositions to attend and attune than such frivolities as discussing the social life his son concurred while still thinking himself an orphaned boy with someone as low as me."

Well. Wow. That was almost painful to hear, the amount of freaking formalities he shoved in there. "So you're saying my dad has other junk to do than talk to you about me?" The way his face tightens suggests I've wasted a sentence that must've taken him, like, forever to make up. "Aww, come on, we all know you're basically his nephew!" The way his face heats after that suggests I've said the right thing. Aw, you softy. "Are you sure?"

"Dino, would you just tell me who they are?" He grimaces, head back to the front. "Unless you tease me and seek more joy in my petty feelings than in those two names themselves."

"Raptin, ow," I mumble, "that was... that was kinda harsh." He stiffens but doesn't say anything else. Oh help me, he's right, he's a little too fun to torment. "I was just makin' sure you didn't know anything about themmmm... cuz that is a little weird. I swear I told everyone. Heck, even Jkonna knew, and she's Jkonna." Or maybe that wasn't the right thing to say. Now he's all, like, super stiff.

With a blasted glare in my direction, he turns back to the ocean. What he finds so revealing in those waves instead of my face, I have no idea. "Jkonna is also your... closest comrade, Dino. So it is only to be expected she was graced with the knowledge of this 'Cooper' and this 'Nosh'."

Oh, geez. Now he's just getting pathetic. "They aren't even that important! Baah, you wanna know? Okay, so Cooper was my childhood more or less friend—it depended on his mood, not mine—and Nosh, or Morn Nosh, or Ms. Nosh, or whatever strikes your fancy, was—I mean, is—the orphanage's... owner lady." Okay, why are you flinching now? I told you, dang it. Raptin, what are you?

What a weirdo, mumbles Lone from her medal.

You're right, I assure her, and that makes her get all warm and jumpy and dang it Lone—stop—jumping—Relax, would you?

Oh my gosh. Get Lone riled and all of your chances at peace are ruined. Bless her, she lowers herself in her little blue medal and doesn't go bouncing off the futabi, just sleeps. Foster snorts at this, imagining himself as some blow-up balloon or something.

He's quiet, as if paying respects for the dead. I give Raptin a weird look but he's so busy being quiet he doesn't even make note of my presence. Finally he raises his head and smiles a little sadly. "My apologies. I am sure your Cooper friend lived a wonderful life, if he was able to live it with you an—"

"Dude, Cooper's not dead."

Raptin raises his head a little more and returns to his grimace. His cheeks are all reddish again—nearing purple at this point. "I-It would be preferable if you specified this as you did with the Nosh lady." Grunts. "Now tell me, if your dear Cooper is not dead, then where is he?" Oh, Raptin. This guy.

"At the orphanage still. I think. Oh—right, he was—er, is—an orphan too. Hahhh, like his parents could just... come back to life or something." Raptin is so done with me, oh my gosh. I think he's waiting for me to stop talking again. "But after I got that letter Duna sent to Vivosaur Island—y'know, the one she used to try and pick me out... figure out if I was who she thought I was—Cooper kinda shoved me off. I mean, I guess it was a big deal or whatever, but still. Dummy Cooper."

"Does it... hurt, feeling forgotten?" he whispers.

Then I realize why Raptin was so done with me. He... didn't ask for another conversation with me pestering him, did he? If he did, there are so many other things he could've said. But he asked, politely, quietly, for a definition of two names I'd happened to forget about giving him. He wants... to know about me, now doesn't he? Gosh, then what kinda person does that make me if I'm over here being the turd I am?

Let's... try again.

"It... did." I smile softly. "A little bit. Not really. I was still real childish back then. You know." So it didn't... hurt as much as... maybe it should've. Growing up at the orphanage left me a lot of time to actually mature... heh, and I didn't do all that much of it back there. It's funny... what big of a difference it can make. So then... here I am, the weight of a dead mom and a missing and possibly also dead and was and maybe still is possessed sister... there it is. Maybe for some people that weight means severity, or age, or something, but it leveled me out more, got my head out of the clouds...

So now it's my turn to ask him what I think he's been waiting for me to ask. "Hey Raptin... did it hurt when Dina and I went missing on you?" Heh. I catch him a little off-guard, knock that righteous grimace right off his face.

Turning, the dinaurian faces me head-on. His head's completely out of his knees, his dark golden eyes gleaming. Careful with his words, he whispers, "It felt wrong. It... I was so... confused. Duna... as well. As our people awoke from the stone sleep only to find the heirs to the throne both... gone... well. You recall the state your father was in when you saw him for the first time in... how many years was it? Fifteen... sixteen... seventeen..? You were both so young. So... small." Thinking about it, his hand raises level to around his chest. I guess that's how small. With a flourish, his hand wraps back around his leg. "It was... a tragedy. First the near entirety of our kingdom, not without our queen. Next... you. It did not sit well with... king Dynal."

"Heh." I turn to the waters. Pull a hand out, stroke the waves. It's a suitable warm. Not too hot... but not cold, either. "No, it didn't, did it? Dad looked so... scary, when I saw him. And it wasn't until my second time seeing him had we found out that I was... his son. Man... all that ferocity on him... it like... blam." I gently clap my hands together. "Melted right off. He's... a lot kinder than he looks. But I think that's a good quality for a king to have, yeah..? A good quality." I cut off and hope Raptin doesn't bring it up.

"And perhaps one day"—ahhhh dang it—"you as well will"—we get it Raptin—"show that same kindness, no?" I feel like whenever I end up being king—some super long ways in the future—Raptin'll like stroll in every few hours and remind me just how similar I am to king Dynal, no? My gosh.

I let him take what he does out of my intense stare at the ocean. I guess that's his way of showing he cares, but dang if it doesn't embarrass me, like, a whole lot. "Yeah um... uhh..." Raptin. "Thanks. We'll, uh, we'll see." Stop smiling. "Maybe. Uh, or something." I said stop smiling.

Wait a second.

"Raptin, what the heck!" He flinches as I turn to him. "Dude! I asked you how you felt, not the entire freaking kingdom! Don't do this to meeee!"

This of course is when Droplet stirs. Mmmmnngh... Dino, you know yelling at him won't get you any answers...

Sh-Shut up, Droplet. You don't know that! If I keep trying maybe it'll work.

She snorts. Isn't that the definition of insanity? Like... the actual meaning? Dino, you dummy. And now she won't respond to my whining. Ugh. What a... Droplet move.

Raptin probably took some offense to the conversation, but he has yet to shut me out. Well, then again... does he ever do that? He's pretty good at living with my rambles. That's... that's nice of him I guess. Also kinda weird. "So um. Rapty—I mean, Raptin. Seriously. How did... you feel... when we disappeared like that? Errr... feel free to crash harsh realities down on me. I uh... I probably deserve it anyways." Awkward laughter. Ouch.

He's not looking at me anymore. For a second I worry that Droplet—or maybe I—insulted him or something, but there's a hint of... oh, is that... oh my gosh. Raptin. Do not feel guilty. I don't know what it is but if it has anything to do with Dina's possession or our running away, I swear. "Well... yes, I did miss you. And... what is with that stare?" His cheeks flame. Oh, he knows it's coming now. "Y-Yes, I-I did wrestle with feelings of anxiety and regret when you we-went missing, s-stop with that." So I drop it... for now. "I... I missed you, both of you. Of course... You and Dina were the only other children upon the starship, other than Duna and myself... and we already had begun to know each other... so I... I began... to blame... others. Namely... humanity."

Oh. Oh... "The tacky ido—sub-idolcomps. Erasing humans, nomadistinians, everything... starting from scratch." The grief... so shiny and sad in his eyes... tugs at me.

"Yes, Dino." Gently. "Y-Yes. You were gone... and I was so young... it was the only conclusion I could readily accept. It... tore with the already-weak dinaurian connections between one another. The fault of... humanity? Could it truly be? Man and their... their..." He snatches a glimpse of Droplet. "Vi...vosaurs? Are they... the problem? Did they... take you? Hurt you? Did they come into space themselves with their strange... oh, what did you call it? Those... transportation... boxes. Vivosaur... management... vee-em-em? VMM? Those. They could transport. Did they... steal you? I... I admit, I was among the first to believe humankind... evil."

We take a glance near in unison at my sleeping best friend on the back of our Foster. Her head tucked into her folded arms, her legs bunched up by her torso, her hair in little spirals—dry now—fluttering around her face, her body.

"Well," I whisper, just as gently, "I'm happy you learned the error in that kinda thinking," because there's no other way to say it, not really.

Raptin scoots closer to me. I casually lean against him and he almost collapses, and it's funny, but it's almost endearing, the way he does it. But he eventually gets over his shock and lets me stay like that. He asks me, softly, "Dino... How in this rather large world did you meet her?"

My lips pull into a little smile. "Mmm? How'd we meet... heh. It's kinda funny, actually." Though I guess a lot of our moments together are kinda funny, actually. But it's not a bad funny, or a mean or a painful funny... It's endearing too. "Well, I was in one of the dig sites—Knotwood Forest, it's called—and... ah, what was I doing? Oh yeah. The digadigs. You know who those are, right? They're, uh... they're like... Jkonna's people. Like... they all say the funny 'digadig' thingy." He's staring at me with such wide eyes oh my gosh. "Anyways. The chieftain dude—man, he's weird—more on him later—he wanted me to like go into their funny little digadig pyramid, where they stored their treasure or whatever, because the BB Bandits popped in to go steal something, so I get in and one of them beats up Droplet and the other steals her and I fall into a funny trap thing.

Those eyes. He is eating this story right up before my eyes. "So I'm stuck. No Droplet. No anything. Not too long later... I'm chilling—and I hear... this girl! She's yelling up a storm and the BBs are sorta cowering, but they eventually beat up her vivosaurs too and she ends up falling almost right on top of me! It... It wasn't very nice of her!" I pout at the sleeping Jkkie. "She kept stepping on me, meanie. So anyways once she got up and I stopped tripping over her hair, we more or less introduced ourselves." Lots of yelling. Oh yeah. "And then we found a BB bag—dummy—and inside of it were... a few fossils. And they had a portable revival machine, so I guess they were looking for some tough vivosaurs. Anyways we revived us a Pippy and stormed the guys good and it was...

I look back at her.

"It was kinda funny. I more or less ran into her the next few times, and then she went missing for awhile—actually re-became a digadig, if that even makes sense. Her... people were kinda biased, and Jkkie's had it hard... So uh. I guess she's met Dina at some point there? Anyways. Unimportant. Jkonna came back and... well, I realized I'd missed being around her. So now we're more or less always around each other." She's my best friend for a reason.

Raptin looks away shyly. His fingers are fidgeting. I can tell he's going for a real formal monster of a question. "So if she has had to reapply to affiliate herself with her own people... why are they a 'people' at all? It does seem... rather biased." Oh that wasn't too bad.

"Mm? Yeah, they are pretty biased. But I mean... the ancients were really starting to wake up around then or... I dunno. Jkonna's parents... died when she was... kinda young. Not as young as me when... y'know. But it, um... it was a thing. And it happened. And it... hurt her. A lot. She never got along with them—I mean, lookit that rebel—but... that doesn't mean she wanted it to happen... right? H-Heh. She's been through... a whole bunch of nonsense." I take in a breath. "She... got hurt a lot. And it hurt so much she ended up hurting other people. But also the chieftain was biased. So... Oh well. She's... I think she's happier with where she is now, and she's not in that mess anymore. So.. it's better."

Raptin's giving me a weird look again. I try to ignore it but it's really really weird. Finally he asks, "Dino..? But if she means so much to you... then would you not mean so much to her?"

I think my ears are red. I-I think they are. It feels like it. Ahh, this is so freaking weird. "I-I don't know. M-Maybe." S-Stop looking at me like that. D-Dang it, Raptin.

"Hmmhmm..." A soft little laugh. "Dino. You do not even have to say it. By the way you speak of her alone... and the way you look at her... it is obvious that you care. And... Dino, how far has she followed you to? Your... if I may... you, ah, know." Yeah. Depression. "She followed you then. Or perhaps she took lead... I cannot tell. The two of you... are quite the pair, no?

He pauses, eyes tilting toward mine. I think about leaving my spot by his shoulder but that'd probably insult him and I'm just getting kind of uncomfortable, honestly, it's not that I want him to get all upset or anything. "If I did not know any better... I would guess that..." Oh.

Before he can finish I try to start talking, to drown it out, and my cracking mess of a voice gets him to halt. That concern ices my blood. "I um... I-I know. I know sometimes it might look like that. Be-Between the two of us. I... get it." I swallow. "But it's not that. It... can't be."

His confusion... Blushing harder, I keep trying not to look at him and he probably thinks I'm just in denial but I swear, oh I swear, I'm not.

"Dino... why? Why can it not be... 'that'?"

Still not looking. It's a little hard to. "Because I think... I think at this point... we'd both just get hurt. If something like that did happen." Still staring, still confused. Hoo... let's try this again. "See, Raptin... It's... It's how I am—or... how I was. Once." Memories... oh gosh, memories. "You know, um... back when I was... um. Immature and... stuff.

I think Raptin's trying to look now, but I really don't wanna look back, so I just keep on pretending that he isn't. "You didn't see much of... how I was then. Did you? Well, maybe a little bit... You know, Raptin. I used to act a lot on... impulse. And I've always been the, ah, absolute best at making fun of other people... and picking on them sometimes. I don't know. It's something that... just sort of happened. A lot.

My smile's weak. "I guess I... wasn't always the greatest person."

No. No... not really. Ouch. That hurts a little to look back on. I mean, I grew up with hardly any restrictions, though you'd think my false belief of having two dead parents would knock some sense into me. Maybe I always knew, somewhere... that none of it was really... real. Well that's no good for me, now is it? Oh, what an... idiot. Raptin's still looking at me, trying to catch some piece of my attention, but the longer he stares the more nervous I get until you think he'd realize by now that I'm not gonna freaking look back. I just... can't.

And I've lost my voice, too. I lost... my will to speak. Too nervous, too... many thoughts. Too many memories, about the junk I did and the junk I went through back then, and the junk Raptin knows I'm gonna tell him if I can just find my freaking voice again. And I want to. It's... important, I wanna think. I'm just so... so nervous. It's all... building up inside of me... I'm so nervous.

Droplet stirs again from her spot on my lap. Dino... goodness, are you thinking about when we all came together again? She can tell. Ugh, she can tell. She's making me even more freaking nervous... Hey. I have problems too. And Raptin just told you all about his. She's also not helping. Oh, I can tell; goodness, you. But you weren't... a monster. Or anything. Right? Jkonna wouldn't befriend a... a monster. You weren't a monster. Really. Just... you. And now you've changed, so you look back and you're like 'wow, I was an idiot,' and maybe you're right. But you aren't now, are you?

I dunno, I mumble, I think I'm still pretty stupid. So she snorts, and she tells me to suit myself, but to get over it already, or whatever. Maybe her words, little blunt objects, don't quite hit me right, and where they do they hurt, but I can feel a surge of heart in them too. She's trying. He's trying.

So I take in a breath, and I start again. "It, uh... It started with her. You saw her, didn't you? Rosie. She has to be the most... pink-affiliated creature I have ever and will ever meet in my life. She's... funny like that." Little bit. "And when we met, she got a taste of this tall, bold weirdo who was yelling at all of his opponents even though he'd already lost, like, three times. Ha-Hah... Oh man."

So many air vivosaurs... and all I had was Droplet and myself. And I'd cleaned that skull of hers so poorly... like, I almost shouldn't have been able to revive her, but it worked, and she was out, and we went off to certain doom in Greenhorn Plains, where literally every other vivosaur is air affiliated... and what do you know, air beats water. My water monster had all kinds of fun there.

"So Rosie found an interest in that. I think she likes people... who can stand up for themselves, because she's never been so good at that herself. You've met her... haven't you, Raptin? She's so... dainty. And little. And her voice is so squeaky... and if you look close enough, and if you get to know her well enough, you'll notice that as much as she tries to put up a front... she's scared of rejection. Of loneliness." Such a precious... little thing.

Raptin, stop looking. I'm sorry but it's not gonna happen. "And she followed you... Dino? Your... big, bold self?" He leans back, musing. Without his shoulder for support I casually flop and support myself, rolling over, sitting up again—we catch eye contact for this one horrible second and my face is hot. "You do not appear as... boisterous as you suggest."

I giggle, turned away. "Yeah. Because I'm not... not really, at least. Not anymore. You should've seen how sure of myself I was... iiit was pretty bad. I didn't care if I lost three times! I was gonna fight and win this one! Hwah, hwah! Take that, stupids! Anyways I lost all three times and that didn't knock me down a peg. So you know. Rosie... liked that sense of strength, I guess. That I was... sure. That I was so chill about my failures, as small as they were in... well, in comparison to all the other ones I've made." Let's not talk about my failures. "But either way it doesn't matter: she took an interest, and when that girl takes an interest..." My arm throbs slightly. She wasn't as strong as she thought she was, but that isn't saying anything, it was still pretty bad.

"So... yeah. Rosie became my friend, more or less. Well. She didn't stop following me around." No, never did... that crazy pinky. "We went through a lot of dig sites together. I didn't accept her presence until we got stuck in that hole in Rivet Ravine. Ulgh. We lost our shoes in there. It was real dark..." I shake my head. Not that I even wear shoes anymore. Scales are... wonderfully tough. "Then... one of the BBs kidnapped her, so I went after her... because she's my friend. And I didn't want her to get hurt or anything." Though I admit that I didn't have her best interests up front. It was more Diggins yelling at me to go get her. Also Pippy, because Pippy has morals.

"When I saved her..." Oh, gosh. My chest tightens. "When I saved her... Raptin, she kissed me." And I didn't know what to do about that... no, not at all... So I sort of made a joke out of it. She never mentioned feeling insulted by that, how I never took her affections seriously, not as much as I should've, but I feel it inside of me... I feel my losses.

The way I must look communicates something with him that I hadn't been able to tell him before. Those soft old rose eyes darken. His head lowers. His hand gently grazes my shoulder, and he murmurs, "I am sorry, Dino."

My laugh is weak, too. "Yeah... I'm sorry, too." I sigh. "I didn't treat her all that well, I don't think. She liked... being around me... so much... and I mean, at some point I eventually figured it out, and I eventually decided I liked being around her too. She had a weird sense of humor that made me laugh, she... she had a problem with getting into danger... and I liked getting her out of it. Made me feel... I dunno, special... So, uh... while all of that was going on... Duna."

"Oh," he mumbles, more confused than he's letting on, "Duna."

"Yeah." I close my eyes. "Duna."

Harei's awake. I'm not sure when it happened, but I feel her mind probing at me, then at Droplet too, taking in little morsels of our conversation. Dissatisfied, she wriggles out of her medal and plops on next to a sleeping krona. Those sharp dark eyes of hers press into me, then into Raptin. So she sighs. Are you talking about sad things?

Ummmmmmm. Maybe? A little bit? But... But just a little bit. Not really.

But... why? Dino... why..! Oh, gosh, stop pouting, would you? You're making me all nervous again.

Blushing, I mutter, Cuz... Cuz like... sometimes it's important to talk about sad stuff. Because... there are things important enough to talk about sad stuff over. No, no, my eyes totally didn't just wander over to Jkonna, I don't know what the heck I'm saying. And those important things need it, those sad talks... because without them, maybe they'll never figure out about something... how do I put this... Wrong, I guess? Something wrong? Not the sleepy face, gentle breathing, small smile. N-None of that. Because if I don't talk about it, then everyone's gonna think I don't know what I'm doing. Not like I actually do know though, n-not at all o-or anything.

She pauses, big ourano tail shaking, catching sunlight. From the waves, from the sky. Big, open, sunlit sky. You're not very good at making sense, Dino. Sh-Shut up. I-I-I just... You talk like you have a direction, but then you don't, but then you pretend you don't when you actually have something meaningful to say!

I'm not very meaningful! I squeak, Harei, let's be honest with ourselves! She pauses, head cocked. C'mon, what was the last thing I said that actually meant something to you!

Oh no. She's looking at me like I'm about to lose. Gaaah. You're trying to indirectly tell me that Jkonna means enough for you to want to explain why you act so weird around her! Or... something to that sense!

Harei, you make it sound like I'm in love with her or something.

Raptin. No. Stop that. Bad Raptin, bad, you freaking—"Dino, are you sure?" Please stop smiling. "How can you be sure that... she is not someone you do not wish to be romantically inclined toward? I know... you fostered feelings for Duna. And feelings for Rosie. But neither of them are here with you. Not... like this. Not now. I... ah, it took me time, but I accept that my sister is not of... here... any longer. So you can as well, surely? Besides... while I did think you and she would suit each other well"—ugh, I knew it—"what about Jkonna..? Who is here? Who came with you, and has yet to stop following?"

Stop. Just... stop. I'm gonna keep glaring at you until that smile goes away, but it won't freaking go away. Ugh. I hate this. "I can't! I'm telling you, Raptin, I can't! I'm trying to tell you but it's... it's hard stuff! S-Sad stuff!" Maybe if I'm loud enough it'll wake up Jkonna and then they'll all shut up about freaking shipping us.

Wait no. She's not feeling well. Waking her up wouldn't be nice. Ugh, dang it, Jkonna, why aren't you ever around when I need you the most? Oh and... ugh, never mind, that's a lie too: months of depression and guess who was always there? Oh, gosh. I give up.

Finally his grin disappears. "Sad... stuff, as you so say. Dino... you ceased after you mentioned your kiss with Rosie." I flinch. Sorry. "You have yet to join this with... my sister." Yeah... um... well. I guess I can't stop now.

"So um... your sister." I take in a breath. "Duna." She was... not that different from Rosie, now that I think about it. "I remember when I figured out that her human hologram wasn't real—hah... that was so weird. I was so confused, I—wait. I was there too. Why didn't mine malfunction?" Actually, of course Raptin doesn't know. "Never mind. At least we eventually figured out I wasn't some human. I mean. All respect to humans, I'm just not an actual one or... blaaaah." My tail loudly whumps against Foster's flank, and he winces quietly. "So... Duna.

What happened... "After we more or less befriended each other, both of us having no idea I actually knew who she was before all that—and the other way around, too—I... don't know. I kept... seeing her... running into her, then eventually it became intentional. And then... she helped us after she realized it was me... and, I dunno. She was tall." Raptin's face screws up. "I dunno! Like, Rosie's short, Jkonna's short, but Duna was tall, and I liked that." She was only a couple inches under me. It was nice, okay? It just was.

"And then... at some point... I guess she kissed me too." And I made fun of that, too. At least on the inside, if never directly at her. I just didn't understand. I know. Childish, stupid, whatever. I... I really didn't. "And then we had to fight Guhnash, and I was allowed to take one other person with me... and my choice was between, like, everyone, but Duna and Rosie and maybe Jkonna to a lesser extent, but she told me to choose one of them, 'choose the one I love' or whatever, but Duna was nearest so I grabbed her first.

I swallow. "Now she's not here." As we all know very, very well. "And then I... I think it's around here when it all finally hit me. It's like... feelings, people. How fragile it all is. How easy it was... and is... for it, um... for it to change." And when some things change... then it's all just gone, isn't it? And when it's gone... no coming back. I-I mean, that being said, not all things die so easily, and some things do return, I guess—like Duna'll get out of her second round of stone sleep in some million years, so she's not dead dead—but... there it is.

And there it goes.

Raptin winces as he watches me. He whispers, "How does this stop you? How does this... hinder... any possible feelings you have over Jkonna?" And why... are his eyes so sad... when he asks this? Ulh. It... makes me nervous.

Why is it so hard to explain? Why does... it hurt... to try? Ugh. I'm... I'm gonna do it, and I'm not gonna let some kinda pain stop me... but I just wish I knew why. I guess cuz feelings... or something. I-I don't know. My eyes go for those stupid waves as I try to think. Try to figure out how I'm supposed to tell it. How to tell it right... the right way.

"Because..." While I search, Raptin's head is turning—back to where she is. "Because, like... I..." Soft sigh. "Because there's... a whole lot of sad stuff out there." No wait. That doesn't make sense. Gah. "Because it hurts, th-that's why..!" But can they understand something like that? It's not like I can reach down into myself, pull out my pain, show it off to everyone. No. It's not something they can see. But... oh, of only Jkonna was awake right now. She'd understand, right? She'd get that... this just... can't happen. It—It can't. It just can't. It wouldn't... work.

Because it wouldn't.

"I love her," I whisper, "don't get me wrong... but it's not like that. It just... it can't be like that. I know maybe that doesn't make sense... but it can't. I'm sure Jkonna would know what I meant if she was awake right now. Right? She... understands."

Droplet's looking at me weird. A-And Harei too, for that matter. When did Droplet even wake up? There's no way she heard everything... well, unless Harei told her.. ugh... Those eyes are too much so I close mine again. They don't have to understand: this isn't about them. It's about something else entirely.

My head raises. "I think..." My vivosaurs jolt. One of them starts to ask something but I cut them off—"I think... it's protection." Now they're throwing blanks all over the place. W-Well whatever. Holy turd to their faces. "Yeah. That's... it. I'm protecting her... from something." Now they're all like from what, you weirdo? "From... I guess this." The hurt I can't show them. The stuff inside of me that so much as I feel it, I'm the only one that knows it's there. Those kinds of things. Those little things. Stuff that not even my krona herself would know about.

Maybe that's why I can't deal with it. Because I want to... protect her... from something like that. I-I mean it, too. I promised her, when we left, when we started leaving Vivosaur Island, when we started to look for my sister, I promised I would protect her. A-And I'm gonna do my best to live up to that promise. Because I... I have to. She's been through enough already. She's dealt with all kinds of moodiness on my side and all kinds of moodiness on her side... and it's not fair. And I said I would protect her.

So I will.

They're still looking at me strangely, like I've stopped making sense... but that's okay. I know what I mean. And... she'd know what I mean too, right? I... I want to believe so. I can ask her, if I really want to, when she's awake. But maybe I won't. She doesn't need to think about all that heavy stuff, does she? It's... a little much, a lot much. And she doesn't need to hear it. Maybe one day... but not now.

Do you think so, Dino? murmurs my krona. Well... I guess what we think won't stop you, now will it? Mmmh. You're... annoying like that.

Heh. I guess so. I don't know. Maybe I am sometimes. But whatever. I feel better after getting all that out. Now I'm gonna try to stop thinking about it. Also Raptin's still giving me a weird look, but I think I know what'll fix that.

"So Raptin." He jolts as I casually swerve toward him—cheeks already purple. "If you were soooo determined to get me and your sister together... does that mean this entire time you've secretly wanted to be with mine?"

Oh yeah. He didn't see that coming. With an angry grunt he turns away from me and half-yells, "Per-Perhaps! S-So what does it matter to you? There w-were only four children left alive a-and I always thought I would b-be around the children of the king anyways... s-s-so it was only natural I would ponder my future re-relationship with the princess..!"

No way, he actually thought about it..? Oh my gosh. Oh, Raptin. "What happens if she's dating someone?" I stop, smirking. "What happens if she's married? Ooh, ooh! I know! You gonna kill her spouse? You gonna show them, Rapty? Huh? Huh? You do it! I'll help you!"

His face is all screwed up again. "Why in the world would I d-do that? Dino..." he releases a long sigh, and then, "I would be... happy... for her. Like you would, I am sure, if she had any sort of foster sibling."

I wince. "How about we don't talk about that. The-There's no way she was adopted." Ah. No. That was pretty harsh. "I mean... maybe! But that's... that's whatever! I-I-I'm her brother! She's myyyyy sissy!" Oh, turd, I am so pathetic.

Yeah, well. While we're talking about it, I bet she has Pippy, mutters Droplet. Harei mumbles her agreement, and Lone screeches something about replacement and battle royales and fights to the death and I stop listening after that last one, and I just smile like the big, freaking idiot I am.

But I think it's okay... to be pathetic sometimes. And I think Raptin, and I think everyone else... knows that too.

Heheh, that chapter made me kinda happy TTwTT Rupert's been dealing with some heavier stuff for a lot of his story, so writing about Dino really lightened things up a bit xD Which is good, because Rupert's heavier stuff is starting to give away too. I mean Luk can brood for only so long xD Ahhhh...