Hi guys I'm back! I know I said every-other-week updates, so... my apologies. I've just got done with this chapter, and honestly, I don't know how I feel about it. If you like it, please tell me, and if you don't... tell me that too. If you want another chapter involving Harbor (you'll meet him soon lol) then leave a review! Let me know what you want to happen next chapter, because although I have an idea, I'm not sure. I might make it in Winter's perspective, to add a bit of Wintiju, so let me know what you think about that! (Or not, but think about it...)
I'll let you read now, hope you like this chapter!
Kinkajou
"WE'RE GOING ON A REAL LIFE ADVENTURE AND YOU GUYS AREN'T EVEN THE LEAST BIT EXCITED?!" Kinkajou yelled, making both Winter and Qibli clap their hands over their ears. Moon was still in the boy's room with Turtle and a sleeping Umber, and Qibli had been doing nothing but teasing Winter and Winter casting enough looks of death for every death in the Hunger Games: times ten.
"Geez Kinkajou, do you have an inside voice? Carnelian and Umber are still sleeping! Oh no the goddess of death herself, we present; daughter of Ares; Carnelian," Qibli said, voice dropping in the last sentence so only Kinkajou and Winter could hear him. Carnelian burst out of the girl's room with a glare more deadly than anything Winter could ever have come up with, and everyone but Qibli flinched.
"Can you be quiet, you morons? Some dragons are still trying to sleep for PyrrhiA'S SAKE WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" She screamed at the door, and the three other dragons in the room whipped around to see an unfamiliar Ice in the doorway.
He looks like he's been in one-to-many fist fights, was Kinkajou's first thought, as both of his eyes were black and he had a split lip.
He looked around the room at the other dragons before jerking a finger towards the hallway, indicating to Carnelian he wanted to speak out there.
"NO WAY IN HE-" Carnelian started, but Qibli quickly cut her off.
"I want my story to go down semi-kid friendly please, no swearing allowed," he said, and Carnelian cast him a glare darker than before, although he still didn't flinch.
"Just come on," the Ice said in a rough voice, and waited until Carnelian came out of the room to shut the door.
"...What just happened?" Kinkajou asked, her hair a clear-ish color and face pale.
"Well, I think that is what we call an 'argument'. It usually has fighting and yelling and cuss words, although I saved us from the last one," Qibli supplied with a grin. Winter snorted and rolled his eyes, casting his normal glower at the floor.
Moon came out of the room a minute later, probably having READ EVERYONE'S MINDS AND FIGURED OUT WHAT WAS GOING ON! As Kinkajou thought when the Night came out.
"Here," Moon said, holding open her palm with a strange look. Qibli poked at one before taking it and rolling it in his fingers, and Winter slowly followed. Kinkajou wrinkled her nose at the small black rock left that was the same as the boy's, before saying aloud what she thought when Moon didn't respond.
"It's not very pretty," she complained, and Moon cracked a smile.
"It's not supposed to be, it's just supposed to protect you guys." Kinkajou's eyebrows cinched, so far that there was a small crease between them.
"From what?" Qibli asked before Kinkajou could, and when she pouted, he cast his eyes away in fake innocence.
"From me. Or at least, from my…" Moon struggled for a word, obviously not having thought of one for it before.
"Condition?" Winter supplied, the same time Qibli said helpfully; "Power?"
And of course, Kinkajou couldn't be left out, so when they boys said their words she added, "Awesome gift of greatness?" Moon looked at her strangely for a second before laughing, and Qibli soon followed. Even Winter gave a small smile.
"Right. It blocks me from hearing the person touching it. Or if it's close to their skin. Turtle said it was part of a meteor his mom found in the ocean. And I figured it wouldn't exactly be fair if I just…" she trailed off again, and Kinkajou went over to beam at her and pick up her own rock. Instantly, Moon's face was relieved, like she had been blind and now she could see.
"What was that for? Couldn't wait for me to have my own rock?" Kinkajou joked, although she was actually wondering why Moon had had that reaction.
"When I'm touching one or almost in contact with one, it stops my… ability, completely. I guess I hadn't realized how… quiet it is without being able to hear anyone's thoughts at all. Which sounds bad," she said when Winter's look grew from slightly interested to slightly sour, "but you'd have to experience it to know. Sorry, that was long." She pushed her glasses farther up her nose, and then asked them all where they'd like to keep their rocks. Qibli decided he wanted a necklace, and Winter just put it in his back pocket before Qibli told him someone would take that without batting an eye. So Winter grudgingly picked a simple bracelet, and it was left to Kinkajou to choose her spot.
"Oh, I know the perfect thing," she said with a grin, and disappeared into the girl's room. She went straight to the basket that held her limited jewelry, and plucked out a simple hair pin. She got her glue from another basket, and put a dab of it on the pin where it shined clearly. She plopped on her black rock, making a sort of decoration for the pin, and clipped it into her hair.
She came back out with a little bow, though it was a moment before even Qibli found the rock. He gave a smile, and Kinkajou cast one back. Winter just rolled his eyes - his normal response to most things - and Kinkajou rolled her eyes sarcastically back. Another death glare. Moon twitched her lips, not managing a full smile at the girly accessory, but at least trying.
"So are we going to the Ice Kingdom, or are we going to stare at my; although it's wonderful; pin all day?" Kinkajou asked, smiling over-sweetly. Qibli and Winter headed to the boy's room to pack, and Moon followed Kinkajou into the girl's.
By the time she was done, Kinkajou had packed everything she thought she could ever need. Two dresses and another set of boring clothes. Swimsuit. Hair ties. A hair brush. Nail polish. Headbands. MP3 Player and earbuds. Her phone. BandAids. Markers. Her souvenir bird plush.
She couldn't really think of anything else as she shoved her charger into her bag and grabbed her purse. She skipped back out of the dorm, and was elated to find Winter and Qibli and Moon already there.
"What do we do first?" Kinkajou asked, and just as Moon opened her mouth, Qibli butted in.
"This," he said, slightly mysterious but also humourous, and he went over to the counter, where a little notepad and pencil was beside the wall. He jotted down a few words, then flipped it so everyone could see.
Going on vacation. Be back soon! -Qibli, _, _, _.
He passed the notepad around, and everyone added their names to the list. Kinkajou wrote hers very neatly, so it took a while, and when she was done, she beamed and turned it around so everyone could see.
Kinkajou
Winter stared a second longer than he should have, and Kinkajou's face fell. Qibli and Moon instantly rushed to help.
"It's beautiful," Moon said, smiling fondly.
"I look four compared to yours," Qibli added with a sideways smile, reaching back and kicking Winter's heels inconspicuously. Winter winced but didn't say anything, seeming to take the hint he did something just as bad as telling a young child they couldn't draw a dog.
"Really nice," he muttered, and instantly Kinkajou perked up, a smile gracing her face again. She knew Winter didn't really think so, but at least he had said it, right?
"Are we ready now?" Moon asked, doing a one-over on their stuff. Kinkajou had an overstuffed backpack, Qibli a single drawstring bag, Moon a navy backpack, and Winter a heavy-duty black gym bag.
"Probably," Qibli said, looking around and smiling ruefully. "Too bad though. Just got here and I'm already going on vacation!" Kinkajou smiled and saw out of the corner of her eyes her hair turn a light redish color.
"As long as I can escape Mr. Webs History, I'm all for this," Kinkajou said, grinning even more as both Qibli and Moon smiled back.
"Let's just go," Winter grunted, starting towards the door. Qibli and Moon shared a look before following, Kinkajou skipping behind excitedly, who had decided that vacation was going to be fun.
As soon as their feet touched the ground outside campus, a sober mood fell on them. They were leaving. Sure, they all we're basically adults now, but it still felt weird to be hiking across the country to find a random dragon. The weight of what they were doing hit them fully as soon as Winter called a chauffeur, the white limo pulling up with a sunglassed Ice driver. All silent, they climbed in the back, Winter not even snapping when Qibli constantly flicked the window settings to different levels.
"Where to?" The driver asked, looking in his mirror back at the college students in his limo.
Moon pulled out the note, reading off the place. "Square of Glittering, please. Ice Kingdom." The driver nodded, sliding the black glass screen back up, leaving the friends to sit in dim light silently. They pulled away from the sidewalk, driving down the street, when Qibli blacked the windows with a small grin.
"So, who has ideas about what to do?"
They ended up playing monopoly for five hours straight. Qibli eventually won, looking more than a little smug about it, right before Kinkajou decided she was hungry. Winter scoffed, but when she kept persisting about it, he finally told the driver to find the nearest fast-food place. It was another half-hour before they pulled up in a Burger King, each of them getting different things. Qibli was the only one who got burgers, and yes, burgerz, as in four. And he ate them all, which made Kinkajou chat for an hour about how much food she could eat.
When it fell night, the driver reluctantly told them he needed to sleep, and Winter had him stop at a hotel. Since Winter didn't want to blow all of his money at once, (like that was going to happen) he grudgingly shared a room with Qibli and the driver while Kinkajou and Moon bunked in the room next to them. Kinkajou had gotten a coffee from the lobby right before she went to bed, which was a bad idea, because while she was chatting Moon shoved a pillow over her head and attempted to sleep.
It didn't work.
Finally though, after forty-five minutes of talking non-stop, Kinkajou deciphered that Moon wanted to be left alone. The excited Rain changed into her swimsuit, as the hotel had a pool that was open all night, and went swimming. Moon fell asleep within minutes, grateful for the quiet of the room.
At the pool a Sea was swimming, his arms cutting graceful arcs through the lighted blue water. Kinkajou sat down on a white pool chair, just watching for a while as he swam from one end to the other over and over. After eight turns, Kinkajou was still watching when his head snapped up, as if he had just now noticed another dragon sitting on the edge. Kinkajou blushed red, stumbling over words as he treaded water, looking at her.
"S-sorry, y-you were j-just swimming s-so I thought I wo-would just watch…" The Sea held up his hand and pool water streamed down. He gently smiled, flipping his dark brown hair out of his face.
"Nah, it's cool." He had a slight accent, and from the pool lights Kinkajou guessed he was just out of college - if he had even gone. "Well, I don't want to stop you from swimming, I can just g-"
"Oh no," Kinkajou rushed, glad that from where he was treading he wouldn't be able to see the color of her face very well. "You can stay. I was just bored, and didn't know what to do with myself…" He smiled, swimming to the edge and hauling himself over the lip of the pool, shaking his head and sending water flying much like a dog.
"Harbor," he said, introducing himself and holding out a hand, which Kinkajou bravely shook.
"Kinkajou," she said, noticing that her hair was pink at the ends, quickly switching it to a black with rainbow streaks. He nodded at them as she did, a smile coming across his face once more.
"That's neat," he commented, switching his weight from one foot the the other.
"Thanks," Kinkajou said, her blush returning to her cheeks. She noticed how the air was a little chilly and how he was still dripping wet, hurrying to ask if he needed a towel. With a small laugh he graciously accepted, and Kinkajou walked across the concrete, grabbing a thick white towel for the older Sea. She turned around, about to head back, but she tripped when she saw he was right behind her. With a breath of a laugh he leaned down, giving her a hand, and she gratefully accepted, passing him the towel.
"So, what're you here for?" he asked after he had dried off, heading back to a different chair that held a neat stack of clothes. Kinkajou followed him, until he headed to the changing rooms, at which point she settled into a chair and waited. After he was back and dressed in a loose, open-neck t-shirt and black basketball shorts, Kinkajou answered his question.
"On vacation from college. What about you?" Harbor sat himself down beside her, watching the water as it lapped at the tiled edges of the pool.
"Running," he answered vaguely, pinching the soft cotton of his shirt. Kinkajou was silent for several moments before gingerly speaking.
"If you don't mind, running from what?" She watched in silence again as Harbor squeezed tighter, until his fingers were white and blotched with red from the pressure. Then he sighed and let go, casting one glance at Kinkajou before looking back to the water, glowing with bright pool lights.
"Life. Family. Ex. Home." He looked over again and saw Kinkajou's face, the questions stuck on her tongue because she wanted to be polite. Harbor chuckled a bit, leaning farther back. "You're inquisitive, you know that?" He shook his head once, running his fingers over the hem of shirt.
"I'll go in order of my life, so it's easier to keep track of. I come from the Under Palace. When I was just three, my family moved to the Scorpion Den. Bunch of outcasts we were. I grew up bullied, because I was a Sea and most of them were Sands. That's why I left my home.
"My family… well, I won't say they hated me. But love isn't the word to use either. They tolerated me, up until the day I got a Sand girlfriend. Then they rejected me, told me I was stupid for loving someone who wasn't our tribe, they called me a traitor.
"So that ruined my family for me. Then there's the actual girlfriend. Her name was Cholla, and she was one of the most stubborn people I knew. But she was pretty, and she had an attractive personality. I moved in with her just a few months after the whole family thing, and was fine for about two years. But then when I came back from college early one day, I found her in the living room with another Sand. He was holding her to the couch, kissing her, and she was giggling like that was all she ever wanted. I said nothing, just walked past them, packed my bags, and left."
His eyes got wet, but he blinked away the tears and grimaced. Kinkajou looked at him sympathetically, not knowing exactly how to respond. Harbor let out a gust of air, a laugh hidden in its depths. He placed his hands on his knees, a smile on his lips.
"So yeah, my life sucks. What about you? What's your life like?" Kinkajou looked up from the concrete of the poolside and found his dark moss-green eyes waiting for a response. Kinkajou swallowed before answering, not breaking the gaze.
"Well, as a kid, I was a handful. So much so that my parents put me up for adoption at age six, after I spit at the teacher because she said I could do better coloring. By age seven, no one would adopt me, so they put me in a group home, taught me how to survive on my own. But they never taught me reading, never taught me to write. They taught me how to work, how to weave, sew, be a good "wife". When I was fifteen, I met Queen Glory, who was visiting the home to improve it. Secretly I had always liked her as a person, because she wanted to change things, unlike the other Queens."
"Queens?" Harbor asked, cutting in with slightly narrowed eyes. Kinkajou laughed a little.
"Forgot no one really reads about politics. It's a long story. Anyways, I never told any of the other girls that I liked her, because they hated all royalty, didn't want anything to do with them. Glory saw something in me, I guess, because she adopted me and sent me to highschool. When I was out, she insisted I go to college to learn more, and because of my curiosity, I went." Kinkajou paused, a light smile teasing her mouth.
"And now here I am, sharing my life's story with a guy I just met." Harbor smiled back at her, and they sat for a few moments until the comfortable silence grew awkward. "Well," Kinkajou said, fidgeting with the tasseled edges of the pool chair cushion, "I better go back before my friends worry about me. It was nice to meet you, Harbor."
"Hey," he said, jumping up as Kinkajou stood. "It's not quite midnight yet… and you never even went swimming." He ran a hand through his hair, ruffling it, and Kinkajou smiled shyly.
"That's ok. I'm sure it's cold by now anyways." She headed for the gate, unaware of Harbor behind her, biting his lip as he decided what he could do to get her to stay.
"It wouldn't be cold if I went with you, would it?" He cautiously asked, waiting patiently as she paused. With an over-dramatic sigh Kinkajou turned back around, a grin spreading across her face.
He really wants me to stay, doesn't he? Kinkajou thought, rolling her eyes to the shadows.
"But you've already changed," she stated, eyeing him with a spark in her eyes. He laughed and went back into the boys changing room, coming out with his damp swim shorts on.
"Not now," he said, and he didn't have time to react before Kinkajou charged him, shoving him into the pool. Kinkajou laughed loudly and then yelped as Harbor yanked her by her ankle in the pool with him, and they started a furious splash war.
An hour later, they climbed out of the pool, laughing breathlessly, exhausted from swimming and dunking and jumping and talking. Kinkajou quickly ducked into the girls changing room, and swapped her swimsuit for a t-shirt and jeans. When she emerged she saw Harbor waiting for her, scrolling through something on his phone.
He looked up and saw her, smiling when he did, and they both walked back into the hotel, talking quietly as to not disturb anyone sleeping.
"Here's my room," Kinkajou said, rocking back and forth on her heels. Harbor put one hand on the doorframe, leaning against it, and smiled.
"Welp, it was a really good night, Kinkajou." He paused for a moment before taking his hand away and grabbing his phone from his pocket. He flipped it around after several moments, and a black number lit up the screen. "If you ever want to talk, I'll probably be awake."
Kinkajou grinned and tucked a lock of her rainbow hair behind her ear. Harbor's eyes followed the movement, and they flashed once before returning themselves to the beam of her gaze.
"Ok, hey, do you have a pen?" Harbor fished around in his back pocket for a second before nodding and handing it to her. Kinkajou clicked it open and scrawled the number down on the back of her hand. "Thanks," she said, and passed it back.
"Anytime," he said, searching her eyes for a second too long. He replaced the pen and rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. "See you around?" He asked, tone almost hopeful.
"You bet," Kinkajou said with a final smile, turning to unlock her hotel door. Before she could though, Harbor spoke back up.
"Kinkajou." His voice was quiet, and Kinkajou faced him, confused. She didn't even have time to say anything before Harbor cupped her jaw and kissed her cheek. Shocked, her hair flared yellow before fading back to a rainbow. She blushed red, and Harbor chuckled, taking his hand back and smiling sheepishly. "Thanks for tonight," he mumbled, and was gone before Kinkajou could even say goodbye.
Still dazed, Kinkajou went back to the room, confused but also elated. She didn't know exactly what she was feeling, but she knew she didn't mind feeling it, so she left it be as she dove under her covers, flicking off her lamp and falling asleep thinking about Harbor.