Chapter 9: Beach Vacation- Part 1
Man, I hate summer…, Doramen groaned mentally, slumping in his seat on the couch.
He turned his head slightly to the left, letting the small fan standing beside the couch blow air directly at his face. His whiskers were ruffled slightly by the breeze, but it didn't bother him. He was too worried about trying to stay cool. His thick fur made summer feel hotter than it already was. He always had a hard time cooling off, and this year was no exception.
Maybe I should go take a cold shower or something, he wondered.
Instead of rising from his seat to do that, however, he simply groaned again and stretched his legs out. He didn't feel like getting up. He stiffly reached over to the small table sitting beside the couch and grabbed the TV remote. Resting his head on his wrist, he turned on the TV and began flipping through the channels, hoping he would find something entertaining that could distract him from the heat.
However, his search was interrupted when he heard his phone go off from within his pocket. He knew immediately that someone had sent him a message, and promptly tossed aside the remote to dig through his pocket in search of his phone. He found it with ease, and his eyes widened with interest when he saw the message was from Doraemon.
Doraemon? What does he want? he wondered.
He opened the message, revealing it to be quite lengthy.
"Hey Doramen! I hope I'm not bothering you. I really want to do something fun now that it's summer break, and you'll never guess what I found! There's a resort down at the beach that still has some rooms available! I looked into it, and it seems like a really cool place! What do you think? Do you think it could be fun? I kinda want to go with you…," read the message.
Attached at the bottom was a website link. Intrigued, Doramen opened it. It directed him to a standard resort website. Doramen took a few minutes to browse around, mainly looking at what they offered. Of course, the resort offered a started assortment of hotel rooms. The website provided a few photographs of the rooms, and Doramen could tell they were not the standard cheap and tiny rooms one would get in a little hotel on the side of the road. On top of nice rooms, the resort offered an all-you-can-eat buffet that was open 24 hours, which Doramen had to admit sounded great. The resort also had a separate building dedicated to spa treatments, where guests could sit in spa baths, get manicures, buy skin care products, and even get a massage by a presumably licensed professional. There was also an entire other area filled with small stores and shops where guests could buy souvenirs, food, outdoor supplies like bug spray and fishing rods, and more.
Doramen found himself very interested in going. The resort sounded like it was high quality and nice, but not too fancy to the point where the only people going were rich. Even better, the resort boasted about the fact that it was a mere 15 minute walk from the actual beach. No car ride was necessary. Doramen tended to use his Anywhere Door somewhat sparingly, believing it to be lazy to use it when a walk is a reasonable substitute, so knowing he could walk from the resort to the beach was reassuring. The more he read on the site, the more excited he became.
He went back to his messaging conversation with Doraemon, and took a few seconds to think about his response.
Doraemon straight-up admitted that he wants to go with me. I guess there's no point in hesitating, he thought.
"This place looks really cool! I'm interesting in going," he messaged to Doraemon.
Doraemon responded mere seconds later.
"Yay! I'm so glad! So… when will you be available?" he asked.
Doramen smiled in amusement. He could tell that Doraemon wanted to go as soon as possible.
"I'm free tomorrow. We can go then," he texted.
"Oh really!? You mean it? I don't want to rush you…," Doraemon replied.
"No really, I have no plans currently. I'm totally up for going on vacation for a couple days."
"Great! Can you try to get up early? I think we have to check in to our room by a certain time or we'll lose it."
"Yeah, I can get up early. No problem."
"Thank you so much! I'll see you in the morning!"
Doramen simply sent a little heart emoticon in response. As he turned his attention back to the TV, a big smile grew on his face at the thought of going on vacation with Doraemon.
Just me and him, out on the beach together… I can't wait!
….
Doramen eagerly opened the Anywhere Door, perking up in excitement when he was greeted by the front door of the resort. After stepping through his Anywhere Door and putting it away, he took a moment to look around him. The air was cool and moist—seemingly the complete opposite of how it was at home. He took in a deep breath through his nose, relishing the nice weather.
Mere seconds later, he heard the familiar sound of an Anywhere Door appearing nearby. He turned his head, grinning when he saw Doraemon emerging from his Anywhere Door.
"Doraemon!" Doramen exclaimed happily.
"Hey Doramen!" Doraemon greeted cheerfully as he put his Anywhere Door away.
"I'm so happy you're here."
"Same to you!"
Doramen blushed a little, already getting flustered.
"Come on, let's go see our room," Doraemon proposed as he entered the building.
Doramen followed right behind him. He was immediately taken aback by how nice the main lobby looked. The walls were made of a pretty, semi-shiny tile material, and the floor was as well. It gave off a sleek and smooth appearance, which Doramen found more appealing over traditional dark carpet. To the left was a waiting area, complete with big chairs, a small table, and even a small TV mounted on the wall. Doramen could just barely make out that it was playing a sports game. To the right was the reception desk, where Doramen presumed it was where he and Doraemon would be getting their room keys. Against the far wall was a horizontal hallway.
Doraemon, being more social than Doramen, approached the reception desk, where a human woman was typing at a computer. She immediately noticed the two and smiled at them.
"How can I help you?" she asked.
"Hi, we're here to rent a room," Doraemon explained.
"Alright, just one moment please."
The lady went back to typing for a few moments, then stopped. She took her hands off the keyboard and reached under the lip of the desk. Her hand reemerged with a room key.
"Your room is 305. Now, which one of you will be paying for this room?" she asked.
Doramen and Doraemon glanced at each other.
"How much does it cost to stay here for three days?" Doramen asked.
"Oh, I'm sorry, but you can only stay for one day. Someone rented the entire hotel for a wedding at the last minute. I apologize for the inconvenience," the lady explained.
Well that's lovely… Now we gotta cram everything into today! Doramen thought in frustration.
"That's fine. Here, I'll pay for the room," Doraemon proposed.
Doramen stuttered, about to protest, but Doraemon glanced at him, and it was enough to silence him.
After the payment was complete, Doramen and Doraemon were each given their own room key. Now it was time for them to find their room. They immediately walked to the horizontal hallway, where upon going down to the right, they eventually reached an elevator. Doraemon made a lucky guess with choosing to go up two floors, because it was on that floor that they stumbled across their room.
Upon entering, they were greeted by the dining room/kitchen. Directly in front of them was a small dining table in the middle of the room, and against the far wall were a refrigerator, microwave, oven, and washer/dryer combo. The washer and dryer were on the far left, stacked on top of each other, followed by the refrigerator, oven, and then a counter that extended all the way to a doorway to the right, where the microwave sat atop. Between the dining table and the opposite wall was a path that had enough room to be walked through. On each side of the room were two doorways, although only one had an actual door. The left doorway was the one with a door, and that led to a bedroom with a Queen-sized bed, walk-in closet, full-sized dresser, a TV mounted on the wall, and a bathroom. The bathroom was spacious, with a long counter against the right wall, and a shower with glass walls. Back in the dining room, to the right was the living room. There was a couch, small desk, and another TV mounted on the wall. In front of the couch was a small coffee table as well that already had a coaster on it, and behind it on the wall was a large window. The blinds were shut, but the curtains had been pushed to the sides to allow at least a little sunlight come in.
"Wow!" Doraemon exclaimed as he stepped into the dining room.
"This is a nice room," Doramen commented, walking into the living room.
The first thing he did was open the blinds in the window, allowing a beam of sunlight to come in. Then, he sat down on the couch and began to dig through his pocket in search of the stuff he'd packed. He pulled out a few necessities, like his toothbrush and shampoo, along with an extra pillow and blanket he'd snatched straight off his bed. It wasn't much, and it only took him a couple minutes to find everything. He laid everything out on the coffee table, looking it over to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything.
Doraemon had taken some time to look at the bedroom before wandering into the living room and noticing Doramen.
"You and I brought almost the exact same stuff," he commented in amusement.
"I hope we can tell whose stuff is whose then," Doramen replied, setting the pillow and blanket on the empty seat beside him.
He grabbed his toiletries and headed to the bathroom, where Doraemon watched him carefully organize them in the cabinets in a manner that would hopefully separate his things from Doraemon's. Doraemon sat down on the bed and unpacked his own things, which like Doramen, was mostly toiletries. Since neither of them wore clothes, it didn't leave much else for them to pack. After Doraemon put his stuff away, the two robot cats agreed that it was time to try out the buffet.
It took some wandering around, but they eventually discovered that the buffet was on the bottom floor, in the opposite direction of the elevator. The hallway opened up into a huge room that was overflowing with the smell of various different foods. There were dozens of tables scattered around. In the middle was the buffet, which was over half as long as the room's walls. Standing near it was a robot cat in some kind of employee uniform. Doramen figured that he had to talk to them in order to be granted access to the buffet.
He and Doraemon took some time to find a table to sit at, before they decided to talk to the employee. As Doramen was expecting, they had to pay in order to get access to the buffet. Doraemon generously paid for it, and now it was time for them to eat to their heart's contents. Doraemon immediately went for the pancakes, stacking four of them on his somewhat small plate. Doramen scoured his options for a minute before deciding on some ham biscuits.
After filling their plates, they sat down and began to eat. Immediately they were pleasantly surprised at how good the food was. Doraemon fell in love with his pancakes and devoured them at what seemed to Doramen as an impossibly fast pace. Doramen ate much more casually, for he still wasn't sure what he wanted to do for the day. He wanted to take his time eating so he could think about it. However, it was difficult for him to concentrate with all the sounds of other people talking. He glanced over at Doraemon.
"What do you want to do after this?" he asked.
Doraemon looked down at his plate thoughtfully.
"I want to check out the shopping," he answered.
"Okay," Doramen replied, nodding.
The two robot cats were in no rush to finish their breakfast, and once their bellies were happy, they were itching to move on. Doraemon practically dragged Doramen back through the resort's lobby and outside in his search to find the shopping area. He discovered pretty quickly that it was behind the resort, in a big outdoor area. There was a long cement path with little shops on both sides. It seemed to go on for miles, although that most likely wasn't the case.
Doramen honestly thought half the shops looks cheap and sketchy, and he was hesitant to step inside any of them. Although he'd never admit it, especially to Doraemon, he didn't have much cash to spend on casual items, so he was very hesitant to give his money to random shops that he wasn't sure if he could trust.
Doraemon, however, was very eager to check out what the shops had for sale. It was immediately clear that most of them sold clothes and general beach souvenirs, but there were a few that caught his eye. The first store that got his attention was one that was selling stuffed animals. He walked over to the entrance, eagerly beckoning for Doramen to follow. Doramen did so, eyeing the store cautiously.
"You want to get a stuffed animal?" he asked.
"Maybe," Doraemon retorted. "I want to at least take a look."
Without waiting for a response, he walked inside. Doramen followed, immediately feeling uncomfortable with how small the actual store was. He was anything but claustrophobic, but he hated the idea of being forced to be so close to strangers. If the store was busy, he and Doraemon would barely be able to go anywhere without running into someone. However, he and Doraemon were the only customers inside, to his relief.
He looked around at the several wooden shelves with various different stuffed animals on them. There was a distinctly large amount of teddy bears. Doramen wandered away from Doraemon to pick one up off the shelf and look at it. It was a little black bear, wearing a top hat and a bow tie. It gave Doramen a big smile. Doramen had to admit, it was kind of cute, but he wasn't really interested in buying it. He put it back on the shelf and looked behind him, only to see Doraemon on the other side of the store, looking at a different stuffed animal. Doramen couldn't tell what animal it was, but he was pretty sure it wasn't a teddy bear.
Shrugging, he looked back at the shelves ahead of him. As he scanned the rows of plushes, he was surprised to notice a robot cat plush. Curious, he stood up on the tips of his… feet, and grabbed it off the shelf. It was the iconic yellow robot cat with a red collar and tail. As such, it looked exactly like Doraemon. Its fabric was very soft, and it even had a little pocket that could maybe hold a quarter inside.
"Hey, Doraemon," Doramen called quietly, walking over to his lover.
"Hmm?" Doraemon asked, looking over his shoulder at Doramen.
"Look, it looks like you."
Doramen held out the plush for Doraemon to see. Doraemon's eyes widened in interest. He gently took the stuffed robot cat from Doramen and looked at it more closely.
"Wow, it does look like me. I've never seen one of these before," he murmured.
"Me neither," Doramen replied.
Doraemon was silent for a few moments as he continued to examine the plush, before shyly making eye contact with Doramen.
"I kinda want it," he mumbled.
"How much is it?" Doramen asked.
Doraemon looked at the plush all over, searching for a price tag or sticker. When he couldn't find one, he stuck a finger into the plush's pocket. Sure enough, he could feel something inside. He managed to hook it with his finger and pull it out. It was a little price tag attached to a string, although the string wasn't attached to anything.
"It's—"
"Lemme see!" Doramen interrupted, grabbing the price tag before Doraemon could read it.
He squinted, barely able to make out the numbers that had clearly been written by hand and not printed.
"Okay, that's not bad. I'll get it for you," he concluded.
Doraemon stuttered, confused and flattered.
"Why did you take it from me? I was about to read it," he said.
Doramen looked around him before leaning in close to Doraemon's ear.
"I don't want these people to scam us with their insane prices, and I especially don't want them to scam you out of your hard-earned money," he mumbled, his voice lowered.
"I appreciate that, Doramen, but we don't have jobs. We get money from the government because we're students at the Robot Academy. I didn't really earn it," Doraemon pointed out.
"Then they're scamming the government out of their money!"
Doraemon sighed softly.
What's gotten into you? he thought in mild annoyance.
He and Doramen only spent a few more minutes in the shop before deciding they were done. Doramen paid for Doraemon's plush, which he stuck in his pocket for safe keeping. Now it was time to move on to the next shop.
Doramen wasn't seeing much he was interested in, so he simply waited for Doraemon to see something. After all, he wanted to make sure Doraemon was happy. They passed several more clothing and gift shops, many of which looked just as small as the stuffed animal shop, if not even smaller. Doramen felt a little creeped out when they passed a clothing shop that had mannequins set up outside to model various different clothes, most of which were bathing suits.
As they continued down the concrete path, Doramen began to smell food. It didn't get much of a reaction out of him since he just ate, but he still made a mental note of it in case he decided he wanted some on the way back. Doraemon hadn't seemed to even notice the smell, for he was too busy looking back and forth at the different shops.
Suddenly, he came to a stop.
"Let's go to that one!" he exclaimed, pointing to a video game store.
"Okay!" Doramen replied.
The two robot cats entered the shop, where Doramen was once again disappointed by how small it was. However, he didn't have much time to think about it before Doraemon wandered off to start looking at what the shop had to offer. Doramen watched him go before going in the opposite direction. As he scanned the shelves of video games, he quickly realized that most of them were old and of poor quality—low budget games made by smaller companies that wouldn't stand a chance in the market if it weren't for little shops like this. He didn't recognize a single one.
What a bust! They couldn't even bother to get any of the popular series! he thought.
He made his way back to Doraemon, who looked just as disappointed as he felt.
"Any luck?" Doramen asked.
"No," Doraemon muttered.
He took a game off the shelf and turned around to show it to Doramen.
"This game looks like it was made in 2020. It's so bad!" he exclaimed.
Doramen took the game from Doraemon and immediately turned it over to look at the screenshots on the back. Doraemon was right, it looked nothing like the modern quality of games. The company branded on the cover was one that Doramen had never heard of.
"Yeah, it looks like crap. I don't think there's any good games here," he said, handing the game back to Doraemon.
"I agree. Let's go," Doraemon replied as he put it back on the shelf.
He and Doramen exited the store, feeling a little awkward for not buying anything. As they continued their walk, the smell of food only got stronger. Doramen realized that they must be approaching the stretch of food shops. He could smell all kinds of different foods—hot dogs, pizza, fish, chocolate, and more. Despite not being even the slightest bit hungry, he was tempted to at least see what the shops were offering.
Sure enough, the actual stores completely stopped, and now there were nothing but little shops selling food. At that point, Doramen was practically overwhelmed with all the different smells. He looked around at the shops, barely reading any of the menus they had placed outside for customers to read from. Most were selling the typical fast street food, like hot dogs, hamburgers, and tacos. Some were also selling seafood, and the bigger shops were even selling meat dishes like ham and chicken salad.
Doramen wasn't anticipating on buying from any of them, but one shop caught his eye. It was an ice cream shop. Upon seeing the shop, he immediately began craving an ice cream cone. He slowed down his steps and looked at Doraemon.
"There's an ice cream shop. Wanna get some ice cream?" he asked.
"I'd love to!" Doraemon exclaimed.
Determined to pay for Doraemon's ice cream, Doramen walked ahead of his lover and approached the ice cream shop. He was immediately greeted by an enthusiastic human man wearing an outfit that Doramen thought would be more appropriate for a corn dog shop.
"How can I help you?" the man greeted with a friendly smile.
"I'd like some strawberry ice cream in a cone, please," Doramen said.
"And I'll have some vanilla! Also in a cone," Doraemon added.
"Alright, coming right up!" the shop man exclaimed, walking to the left and going out of view.
As he waited, Doramen looked down the path, where shops still continued for as far as he could see.
I wonder what's at the end, he thought.
A couple minutes passed before the man returned with two ice cream cones in each of his hands, one strawberry and one vanilla. He handed each cone to the respective robot cat, and then Doramen immediately proceeded to pay for both of them before Doraemon could protest.
Now that they had their ice cream, they continued down the path. At that point though, they were more focused on their treats, so they mostly ignored the shops they passed, sometimes not even bothering to see what they were selling.
Doramen felt a sense of bliss as he licked his ice cream. He was very happy to be spending all this time with just Doraemon. He almost wished the day would last forever so they never had to go back home.
I can't believe we can only stay here for a day. I hope we can fully enjoy the resort in that amount of time…, he thought.
Eventually, he and Doraemon passed the food area, and the regular shops returned. However, Doramen immediately realized that they were… not as family -friendly. He noticed inappropriate T-shirts and posters being advertised in seemingly every other shop they passed. Many had adult jokes and profanities printed in big, noticeable letters on them, along with artwork of pop-culture characters doing drugs, and even uncensored nudity.
This definitely looks like the perfect place to get scammed at, Doramen thought.
He and Doraemon hastily walked past the shops, hardly even looking at them. The farther down they went, the more adult the stores seemed to become. More and more shops had "18+ only" or "ID required—no minors" signs posted outside the entrances, and Doramen could only imagine what they were selling that required them to put up those signs. Even smoke shops started popping up, emanating a strange odor that made Doramen want to gag. He started to feel very uncomfortable, like at any moment someone was going to pop out and mug him, or try to sell him a bag of cocaine. One shop in particular caught his attention, and he couldn't resist commenting on it.
"Hey Doraemon, let's check out that place," he said jokingly, gesturing to a shop that had a mannequin wearing lingerie outside.
"I don't think they make that kind of stuff for robot cats," Doraemon replied, also in a joking tone.
His comment made Doramen wonder if that was true, and it quickly led his mind down a very dark path. A blush spread across his cheeks before he could think to stop or hide it.
"What are you thinking about?" Doraemon asked him teasingly.
"Nothing!" Doramen insisted.
He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thoughts, and to his relief, it worked.
We haven't even gone on a date yet. I'm such a pervert, he thought as he began to get mad at himself.
Doraemon let out a quiet, uncomfortable chuckle as he had a pretty good idea of what Doramen was imagining. Suddenly, he stopped walking, the amused smile on his face gone.
"Doramen, I don't want to be here anymore," he murmured, lowering his voice.
"Me neither," Doramen replied.
Doraemon reached into his pocket and pulled out his Anywhere Door.
"Let's go back to our room," he said.
He opened the Anywhere Door and stepped through, Doramen quickly doing the same. He felt relieved to be back in the hotel room. Without hesitation he sat down on the couch in the living room and began to finish off his ice cream cone. He stared blankly at the wall, not wanting to make eye contact with Doraemon after what just happened.
I wish Doraemon would slap me, he thought.
Doraemon, also feeling a bit awkward, stayed in the kitchen to finish his own ice cream. An uncomfortable silence filled the air now that the two robot cats weren't talking to each other.
After finishing his ice cream, Doramen stood up and lifted his arms in a long stretch. Despite only sitting down for a couple minutes, he felt stiff and restless. He was beginning to feel anxious that he'd offended Doraemon, plus he was mad at himself for thinking impure thoughts over a mere mannequin.
Hesitantly, he walked into the kitchen, where Doraemon was finishing the last few bites of his ice cream.
"So… Doraemon… where do you want to go next?" Doramen asked.
Doraemon was silent for a few moments.
"You know what? I think I want to stay here for a little bit," he said.
"Oh, okay. Sure," Doramen mumbled.
Now he really felt like he offended Doraemon. Without saying anything else, he turned around and went back to his seat in the living room. A few minutes later, he heard Doraemon get up from his seat and throwing something away in a little trash can that was situated against the wall that divided the kitchen from the living room.
"Doramen, I'm gonna be in the bedroom watching TV, okay?" Doraemon said, poking his head into the living room.
"Okay," Doramen murmured, hardly making eye contact.
Doraemon retracted his head and went into the bedroom, where he got comfortable in the bed and turned on the TV, leaving the door open. Doramen decided to turn on the TV in the living room and try to use it as a distraction. However, he quickly realized that the TV didn't have nearly as many channels as his TV back at his house did. After flipping through the channels for what felt like several minutes, he settled on a random game show.
He watched the show for a good couple hours, gradually beginning to calm down. However, he was also growing increasingly bored and restless. He didn't want to just sit around in the hotel room and do nothing productive. However, he was hesitant to check on Doraemon. Still fearing that he'd upset his lover, he wanted to give Doraemon space and not bother him unless absolutely necessary.
Surely he's over it by now, right..? he wondered.
He sat there for a few moments, thinking, before deciding it was worth the risk. He got up and crept to the bedroom, where he could hear the TV. Since the door was open, he reached into the room and gently knocked on the wall to get Doraemon's attention. In an instant, the TV went silent.
"Yes?" Doraemon asked.
Doramen shyly walked into the doorframe like a small child.
"Umm… so… you don't hate me, right?" he asked.
"Why would I hate you?" Doraemon asked back in confusion.
"For being a weirdo back there."
Doraemon shrugged, still looking confused.
"I don't hate you," he said.
"Oh, good," Doramen replied in visible relief.
Doraemon didn't respond. He just looked at Doramen expectantly.
"So… since you don't hate me, do you want to… I don't know, go do something? I'm bored," Doramen explained.
"Like what?" Doraemon asked. "I don't want to go back to those shops."
"Lunch? It's past noon."
"No thanks, I'm still full from breakfast."
Doramen had to admit, he wasn't in the mood for lunch either.
Why did I suggest that? I'm not hungry either! he thought, once again feeling anger towards himself.
"Umm… what about the spa?" he suggested.
"The spa?" Doraemon echoed, his tone betraying curiosity.
"Yeah, why don't we give that a try? I've heard it's really good for you."
Doraemon was silent as he thought about it.
"I've never been to a spa before," he admitted, averting his gaze in uncertainty.
"Well now you have an opportunity to try it," Doramen pointed out.
"I guess it couldn't hurt to see what it's like."
"Great, then let's go. I bet it won't be crowded because it's lunch time."
….
Doramen and Doraemon ended up with some wonderful news: every hotel room came with its own spa area, meaning they could relax in peace without having to worry about strangers. After wandering more hallways, they eventually found the spa room that went with their hotel room. Doramen used his room key to unlock the door, and was greeted with quite a sight.
The room was enormous. Once entering, it was abundantly clear that there was a lower level to the room. The door opened into the higher level, with a small walkway accompanied by a metal rail on the right side. To the left was a wall. The walkway continued for a few yards before hitting a wall. On the wall were multiple signs incased in waterproof glass casings, listing instructions on how to properly take advantage of the spa experience. In the corner of the far wall and the left wall was a large opening that housed a steam room. To the right was a short flight of stairs, where the metal rail continued downwards, before ending at the last step. Down the stairs was where the room really opened up. A large hot tub sat directly in front of the stairs with only a few feet in between them. It was already full of warm water, ready to immediate use. To the right of the hot tub was a standard in-ground pool that was bigger than the hot tub, but not quite as big as most pools. The pool was also already full of water, which Doramen presumed was not warm at all. At the base of the stairs, the far wall across from the door indented farther back, allowing space for a traditional shower, which was situated directly halfway between the stairs and the far right wall. The shower went into the wall, having only a glass door, rather than being completely surrounded by glass walls.
The floor was covered in dark gray marble tiles, which were a bit warm to the touch from the heat emanating from the hot tub. The walls were covered in tiny, multi-colored tiles, the majority being gray and black, along with some dark blue. On the ceiling were a series of small lights that were dimly lit, giving the room a low, reddish glow.
Wow, this place looks like heaven, Doramen thought in awe as he stepped into the room.
He walked across the walkway until he reached the top of the stairs. He looked back and forth between the steam room and the hot tub, trying to decide which one to try first. Doraemon came up beside him, having already decided what he wanted to do.
"Doraemon, which do you think we should try first?" Doramen asked, looking at his lover.
"The hot tub," Doraemon answered.
"Okay!"
Doraemon couldn't help but blush at the thought of sitting in a hot tub with Doramen, but he really liked it. Perhaps, he wondered, if this was a perfect opportunity to strengthen his relationship with the red robot cat.
Without hesitation, Doraemon stepped down the stairs and walked to the hot tub. He cautiously dipped the end of his foot into the water.
"It's really warm," he observed.
It's a hot tub, what do you expect? Doramen thought as he went down the stairs.
Doraemon slowly lowered more of his foot in until he rested it on a step under the water. He set his other foot in so he was now standing in the hot tub, then gradually began to step deeper into the hot tub. He kept going until he eventually reached the bottom of the tub, where he then wandered around until he found a "bench" attached to the sides of the tub, where he sat down. Now he was about neck-deep in the water.
"C'mon, Doramen! It's not that hot!" he called, doing a beckoning motion at Doramen.
Doramen hesitated. He carefully reached behind his shoulders and unhooked his collar, draping it on the metal rail. He did the same with his pocket, leaving him completely "naked". Doraemon watched him do this with great confusion, wondering why he was bothering to remove a measly collar and a pocket that was completely watertight when not being tampered with.
Doramen then made his way to the hot tub and hesitantly stepped in. He eventually made it to the bottom, where he joined Doraemon on the bench. The warm water felt very nice to him. It wasn't as hot as he was expecting.
"Doramen… umm, I hope you don't mind me asking, but… Why did you take your collar and pocket off?" Doraemon asked him.
"I don't want them to get wet," Doramen answered nonchalantly.
Doraemon just shrugged. He couldn't imagine ever taking off his collar for any reason. It almost seemed morally wrong.
For a few minutes, the two robot cats just sat there in bliss, enjoying the warm water. Doramen lifted his arms out of the water and rested them on the rim of the tub behind him. He slowly looked around the room, already becoming lost in thought.
I wonder what my future with Doraemon will be like, he thought.
"What do you think our future will be like?" he asked aloud.
Doraemon blinked, taken aback from the question.
"I don't know," he admitted. "I bet it'll be great, though."
"Do you think we'll ever move in together?" Doramen asked.
"Maybe, once we eventually get jobs."
"That would be nice, if we lived together. Then we'd never be apart."
"Yeah."
A warm smile came to Doraemon's thought at the thought of living with Doramen. The red robot cat had a point—if they lived together, they wouldn't be separated as much. However, Doraemon also knew that he and Doramen shouldn't rush things. They hadn't been in a relationship for very long yet. They hadn't even gone on any dates. Doraemon recognized that, if he and Doramen were to move in together, it would be a long time from now.
"So, when are we gonna go on our first date?" he asked teasingly.
"Uhh… well, you know….," Doramen stammered, his cheeks turning bright red.
Doraemon giggled.
"I'm just pulling your leg. There's no rush," he assured Doramen.
Doramen chuckled, visibly relieved to learn that it was just a joke.
"Someday. We'll go on a date someday," he said.
"Sounds good to me," Doraemon replied with a warm smile.
There was a brief silence before he thought of another question.
"Where do you see yourself in five years from now?" he asked, being serious this time.
"Five years? I don't know, that's a long time from now. Probably… hmm… married to you," Doramen answered.
"M-married to me?"
"Yeah. I could see us being married years from now."
Doraemon blushed darkly, trying to imagine what it would be like to be married to Doramen.
"So you really think your future is bright," he concluded.
"Yeah, of course," Doramen answered.
He looked down at the water as a somber look came to his face.
"All the bad stuff in my life has already happened, so now it's time for the good stuff," he said.
"Bad stuff?" Doraemon echoed, immediately growing concerned.
Doramen didn't respond.
"What do you mean 'bad stuff'? Are you alright?" Doraemon asked.
Doramen blinked and looked up at Doraemon as if he hadn't realized the yellow robot cat had heard him.
"I'm fine," he mumbled.
Doraemon wasn't convinced, but he didn't want to accuse his lover of lying. He'd quickly learned from being in a relationship with Doramen that the red robot cat was a bit sensitive, and he tended to very quickly get defensive and take offense when he thought an accusation was being thrown at him. Doraemon had grown concerned that Doramen was really insecure, but probing deeper into the matter without offending Doramen had proven fruitless. Even now that they were in a relationship, Doramen didn't like to talk about himself at all. Doraemon struggled to even get Doramen to talk about his day at school, beyond simply "it was good".
It was becoming apparent to Doraemon that Doramen was very withdrawn and had a lot of trouble expressing his thoughts and feelings. Doramen kept things to himself and rarely spoke up about them without being prompted to beforehand. He wasn't the kind of cat to suddenly blurt out things like "School was so awesome today!" or "You'll never guess what I saw on TV last night!". Doraemon kept finding himself having to practically egg Doramen on to get him to talk about something that was clearly on his mind, but for some reason he just didn't want to express it.
Doraemon decided it wasn't worth trying to get more information out of Doramen. He knew it would result in a dead-end, just like it always did. However, he couldn't help but wonder if there was some kind of trick or technique he could use to get Doramen to talk more.
I wish you'd open up to me more, he thought as he glanced at Doramen.
Doramen was aimlessly waving his arms in the water, creating ripples on the surface. Doraemon watched him, trying to think of something that could break the awkward silence.
"What kind of job do you think you're gonna work towards?" he asked.
"I have no idea," Doramen answered, continuing to play with the water.
"I want to be a babysitter."
Doramen suddenly froze. He looked at Doraemon.
"A babysitter?" he echoed.
"Yeah! I think I'd be really good at taking care of kids," Doraemon replied.
"Isn't a babysitter like… being a parent forever?"
"I guess you could look at it like that."
Doramen averted his gaze thoughtfully.
"Would you want to babysit robot kids, or human kids? Or both?" he asked.
"I'm thinking human kids," Doraemon answered.
"Why?"
"It's the least I can do! I would love to help out humans by taking care of their kids while they're attending to their busy lives."
Doraemon was confused to see such an appalled look on Doramen's face.
"You really want to waste your life helping humans?" Doramen asked.
"What are you talking about? It's not a waste of my life," Doraemon retorted.
An uncomfortable silence followed.
"Humans don't deserve our help," Doramen said.
"But humans are so kind to us!" Doraemon argued.
Doramen fell silent, giving Doraemon an eerily dead, blank stare. He didn't try to argue back, and instead turned his attention back to the water. He began to move his arms in towards him, creating small waves in the water that would wash up against his neck.
"What's gotten into you?" Doraemon asked.
Doramen didn't respond.
This is supposed to be a time of peace and relaxation…, Doraemon thought in dismay.
He had to admit, he was surprised how little he was getting along with Doramen. He wanted to become closer to the red robot cat, but instead he felt like they were drifting apart.
How can I get along with him better?
Sighing softly, he scooted closer to Doramen and draped his arm across Doramen's shoulders. Doramen gasped softly and perked up, caught off guard.
"I'm sorry, Doramen. Do you forgive me?" Doraemon asked softly.
"Y-yeah, I forgive you," Doramen stammered, blushing.
"Good."
Doraemon gave Doramen a warm, assuring smile. Doramen gave a weak smile back, flustered.
"I want you to be happy during our vacation. This is supposed to be relaxing and peaceful," Doraemon continued.
"I-I want you to be happy too! This isn't about me!" Doramen protested.
Doraemon just chuckled. He reached around Doramen's chest with his other arm and brought Doramen into an embrace, leaning his head against the side of Doramen's head.
Doramen's blush darkened tenfold. He quickly wrapped one of his arms around Doraemon's shoulders, just as Doraemon had done to him. But, instead of doing the same with this other arm, he grabbed Doraemon's paw and forced it away from his chest. He rested their paws directly between them, effectively coming as close to holding hands as they could with their limited anatomy.
Now Doraemon was blushing. He couldn't believe it—Doramen was holding paws with him. He closed his eyes as a sense of bliss washed over him.
This must be a sign that it's meant to be, he thought. Who am I kidding? Doramen's not perfect. I'm not perfect. Heck, nobody's perfect. I need to stop worrying so much about Doramen's setbacks. He's still a nice cat, and at the end of the day, that's what matters the most
He sighed dreamily.
I'm thankful to have this loving relationship, and I'm thankful that I have this opportunity to spend time with my lover at this resort. I couldn't ask for a better life.
To be continued in part 2/chapter 10 cuz this is getting WAAAAAAY too long for one chapter-