Author's Notes:
That's right! Another Aimless chapter. Sorry to say this, but this isn't my official next chapter. This one's more like a holiday extra. Y'know, because Christmas, yeah?
After "Teacher's Pet 2" and "Good Listener" (that's a short story set in Aimless canon, about 8 months into the timeline), I feel like I'm spoiling my readers now that I'm releasing this baby.
Anyway, this little guy will be short and sweet. Slightly longer than Random Musings #2. A little over 5,000 words.
And lest I forget, Strykeruk advised me to provide a TRIGGER WARNING for OFFENSIVE LANGUAGE in this chapter. Well... for the people in this generation at least. 90s kids like me aren't all that sensitive to this, and people in my country of origin are still conservative enough to come across offensive statements like the one I'm providing advanced notice for. (Aimless!Joshua is, like his counterpart in real life, born and raised as a conservative Catholic. FYI.)
All right, that's it. Hope you like it!
12/27/2019 EDIT: Added some details as per Derick Lindsey (guest)'s suggestion. I can't believe I missed that opportunity.
Timestamp key: "D" for days, "W" for weeks, "M" for months, "Y" for years, "EM" for early morning, "LM" for late morning, "EA" for early afternoon, "LA" for late afternoon, "EE" for early evening, "LN" for late night, and "AD" for all day. Note that the Realms follows the sexagesimal system for keeping time, just like Earth. (In other words, 60 seconds per minute and 60 minutes per hour.)
Snip category key: There are four categories of snips. "Settling In", "City Life", "Beyond the Wall", and "The Journey Home". All four represent parallel storylines that take place within Aimless, and other than "Settling In", each snip category has at least two subtypes. Those subtypes aren't listed due to potential spoilers.
Enjoy!
Chapter 39: Missing Christmas
"I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all year."
- Charles Dickens
[-2Y/LA]
Before some mysterious force pulled Joshua Renalia into the Dragon Realms and changed him forever, before he found himself living out a common fantasy of gamers and fans everywhere, he was once a normal human teenager.
He didn't have much to angst over.
No problems in the family.
No problems at school, save for his grades and the occasional bully.
No problems with himself, either.
He wasn't a social butterfly; he didn't have that many friends, but the few he had would surely stick with him in the years to come.
One of them was Alaric. He was one of those kids who liked to keep to himself. Quiet at first, but a bit boisterous once he felt comfortable enough. Two years ago, as a freshman, Joshua met him in his high school's video club, where their moderator, Mr. Daza, played movies and short films and taught club members to appreciate the work and effort put into cinematography and post production.
Alaric had the best tech at the time when they were younger. He'd have the latest gaming consoles, handheld or console. His father often spoiled him with the latest smartphones too.
Joshua only stayed around because of one thing, and that was the fact Alaric wasn't bratty. He never gave off those vibes of somebody with an inflated ego. He remained down-to-earth and real no matter what he received.
Even now, almost two years into their friendship.
Joshua Renalia raised his hand to the brass knob and swung the door open. He walked into the room, plopping his SwissGear backpack on the wall. The celeste walls were a familiar sight, having never changed since Alaric's birth (or so he claimed). He eyed the posters plastered on the walls.
Ragnarok Online.
Call of Duty.
Halo.
Megaman X.
And Spyro the Dragon... both the "Classic" and "Legend" trilogies, naturally.
Alaric was sitting in the corner facing away from Joshua, hunched over an Apple Macintosh sitting on a work desk. The gamer gave his friend a precursory glance. "Sup, Ricky."
"Sup."
He eyed the television facing the bed and scanned the consoles idling before it. "Dude, when are you getting the latest consoles? Last year you were telling me you were finally gonna ask your Pops for a PS3 once our report cards came out. But now the PS4's coming out in a few months. What gives?"
Joshua reached for the controller and inserted the disc for Marvel vs Capcom 2. As the machine booted up, Alaric replied, "We aren't kids anymore, Joshua."
The f*ck did he just say?
"Uh, we are? I'm still thirteen. My birthday's not coming for a few more months. Last I checked, the same goes for you."
"That's not what I mean! We'll be juniors soon, bro. Juniors! You know, third year high school!"
The gamer cocked a questioning eyebrow at him. "So what? We're still in high school."
"I realized gaming's a waste of time."
Joshua Renalia was just about to start a three-on-three against an AI opponent with his favorite team when he heard this. Astonishment flashed on his face. He threw the controller to the floor and faced Alaric. "What the f*cking hell was that? Gaming, a waste of time? Ricky, are you f*cking serious?"
Alaric stopped whatever he was working on and swiveled in his gaming chair to look at Joshua. "Of course I am. I've been playing games my entire life. For f*ck's sake, do you think I'll say something like this just to mess with you?"
"No, but—
"I'd love to play games for a living like Markiplier! But who am I kidding, bro, there's too many Let's Play channels now, I'm terrible at ad lib, and there's the whole 'demoney' thing going on! I guess if I knew how to draw and use Photoshop I'd be making Pokemon or Spyro webomics and taking money from $5 Patron subs... but I don't."
Alaric rose from his chair. He ran his hand along a stack of books Joshua never noticed before. As far as he could tell, the subject material covered adult topics. Topics Joshua would never, ever, ever, EVER touch without his dad's or his mom's arm-wringing. After all, the only adult things Joshua liked were porn and whatever fetish struck his fancy, plain and simple.
"Two years from now," Alaric went on, "we'll be seniors heading out. Heading for University! The school we'll enroll in, the stuff we'll do there, the friends we make... that'll determine the rest of our life! Joshua, we can't waste time like this. Not anymore."
Joshua was flabbergasted. Was this why Ricky never upgraded his gaming consoles? Did he ask his Dad for books on these, these difficult topics? Statistics... programming languages... basic Chinese mandarin... holy f*cking shit, the guy was serious!
"Jesus-Mary-Joseph, Alaric. When the hell did YOU grow up?" Joshua wondered aloud, not intending to have verbalized the words.
He didn't even realize what he said until he saw Alaric scowl at him for the first time in months. "You're the one who's not growing up, bro! Look at yourself!"
"...you just gestured to all of me, dude," Joshua said.
"Reciting lines from How To Train Your Dragon now? When's it finally gonna sink in? I can see it in your lifestyle." Alaric walked over to Joshua and poked his side. It surprised the gamer to realize his friend had gained some muscle. Goddamn, when did he start working out? "You don't even know simple household chores, do you? You've always had someone to make the bed, cook your food, wash the dishes, drive you to school—
"How are you any f*cking different, Ricky? You have the same things I do. Same goes for our classmates! Hell, most people in this damn country—
"Joshua, bro, I'm not denying any of that. I'm just saying we're lucky we were born into decent families and we're not out there on our bare feet selling jasmine flowers on the sidewalk! But how long do you think that's gonna last? Good things won't last forever."
Joshua waves him off. "Dude, give me a break. We're just in high school, and our folks are still shielding us from all that adulting crap." He chuckled. "It's not like I'm gonna find myself fending for my life!"
Alaric took out a book behind the stack he showed to Joshua and casually tossed it onto the bed, right next to the teen. Its title read SAS Survival Handbook. "Heh, if that ever happens, I'll bet you'll die of diarrhea or food poisoning first."
"Ha, ha," Joshua deadpanned. "You're turning into one of those... you're turning into a prepper."
"Eh," Alaric dismissed. "That's fine. I don't care what others call me. I can teach you if you want. There's a mountain camp we can go to. A two-hour drive from here."
Joshua grimaced at the offer. "Pass. Chances are, I'll be kicking and screaming the entire weekend." He looked over in Alaric's direction. "What're you working on over there anyway?"
"...nothing."
That piqued his interest. "Really now." Joshua got off the bed. The old video game could wait. "Lemme see."
Alaric fidgeted. "Uhhh, it's not something I think you'll—
"Oh c'mon!" protested Joshua. "You didn't bat an eye to that time your entire class went crossdressing and ran laps around school cawing like crows, and I sure as hell don't give a shit 'bout those smutty pics you have on your computer."
The words convinced Alaric to step aside and let Joshua pass. He walked over to Alaric's laptop and scanned the screen. He had a document up. He read a bit of it. "Oh wow! You're still working on fanfiction, Ricky? I thought you stopped."
"Why would I stop? I... I like writing."
"You've got accounts on FFN, DeviantArt, and FurAffinity, and you haven't posted a damn thing even once!"
"Ehhhhrrmm, I'm not sure if people will enjoy it. I-I read on Reddit that many writers can put in tons of effort into their work and struggle getting feedback while others just half-ass everything with a crappy story and get ten, twenty times the views."
"Still, it would seriously improve your skills. You gotta start from somewhere." Joshua studied the unfinished manuscript some more. He scrolled up and down, and in a while it dawned on him that he not only recognized the characters but also the patterns in the story. "Waaaaiiit a minute."
"Ah shit, I don't wanna see this," Alaric muttered as he stepped away. He looked like he was about to bury his face in his hands. The guy went over to the idle game and started a match.
Joshua quickened his scrolling. "Dude," he spoke. "This... it's an isekai story. Set in the Spyro world? LOL, what?"
Amusement tugged at the gamer. He tapped the keyboard a few times. "Ricky, I know Spyro is something you hold dearly in your heart. Hell, it's my all-time favorite too! I just love that dragon, you know? But this story's f*cking... I'm sorry to tell you, but it's f*cking dumpster fire."
Alaric groused at him. "Hey! I'm putting a lot of love into that story!" He lost one of his characters to the opponent's special attack as a result. "Ah, f*ck!"
"For real, dude!" Joshua insisted. "I've followed a looooot of stories, Ricky, and I'm telling you, this Spyro fic reeks of wish fulfillment!"
"What? No, it doesn't!"
"Yes it does! Goddammit, lemme see your notes." Joshua scrolled to the bottom of the document. Alaric usually put his notes and his storyboards at the end when the documents were still works-in-progress. He's got to have it all down—"AHA! There we go."
"Get ready to kick butt. Engage!"
Joshua Renalia ignored the sounds of the old game and continued reading. His thoughts left his mouth, akin to a stream of consciousness.
"You're naming him Reagan? Tsk, tsk, tsk. Ricky it's so obvious you're inserting yourself into this."
.
.
.
"Aaaaaaand Reagan gets an Element. Aaaand it's totally new! No reference to the games whatsoever! What, you're gonna have him whip it out 'like a boss' when he meets SpyCy? C'mon... dude! You're better than this."
.
.
.
.
.
.
"Oh my god, what the f*ck did I just read?" Joshua couldn't believe his eyes. Alaric wanted to pair Reagan up with a dragoness he runs into very early in the story. There was even a picture—commissioned from some Argentinian girl on deviantart—sitting next to the bullet points. A gracious and beautiful reptile, with ocean blue scales and spiraling black horns. "Eeeeeeew, no." A shudder coursed through the gamer. "YUCK! My God! Oh my f*cking god, Ricky! We're close friends so I'm not gonna hate you for liking this... this bestiality shit. But if you want me to like this, strike it off!"
Joshua quaked. "Nyaaaarrrgh," he groaned. "That's so f*cking gross." He couldn't comprehend it. Why would anybody want to stick their junk with... blegh.
Alaric launched a special attack at the enemy AI. Now it was down to 3-versus-1. "Don't like, don't read! I'm writing it for a reason," he said, nonchalant. "I'm not a hardcore Catholic like you, bro." He rolled his eyes. "Besides, in these stories the other species are sapient."
"Wolf, tiger, fox, a f*cking purple devil from the Ring of Slightly Damned, I don't f*cking care, dude! It's still eeeeeeeeew." He made retching noises for emphasis. "I'm worried God will send you to hell for wanting to f*ck some animals."
Alaric rolled his eyes at him. "Whatever, Joshua. Don't push this bullshit on me."
"Hey! I just care about you!"
"I know you do, but I don't necessarily believe in exactly the same things you do. Anyway, we've had this conversation before, multiple times, so let's not repeat it."
"Fine, fine."
Silence hung between the two boys. Alaric pounded the buttons on his PlayStation controller with vigorous intensity while Joshu continued to read his friend's plans for this trash fanfic.
When he got close to the end, he scowled. "Ohhhh no. No, no, no, no! Are you for real? Bringing Mally back into the fight at the end? What the f*ck is this, Star Wars? Dude, no. No!" Joshua shook his head. "Why are you bringing back the old Big Bad? You're whipping out all the classic cliches here! Who's gonna like this shit? F*ck, Ricky! A lot of Spyro writers revive Malefor already. Don't be one of them!"
"K.O... You win!"
"You got that killer instinct."
The happy, cheerful song playing on the TV screen mounted on Alaric's wall belied the angry tones dwelling in Joshua's voice. "You know what you lack the most? World building, that's what. Like, where's the culture? Where's the thing that gives your world life? How do the people there actually live? Ricky, this world you're describing, it doesn't feel like it exists outside your fantasies. It's f*cking lifeless!
"I swear," Joshua grumbled, "if I ever get good enough at writing to whip up a fanfic of my own I'm making it feel real."
"The genre's called fantasy, man!" Alaric set the controller down and shut off the PlayStation 2. "So lay off of it!" He grimaced, fists trembling.
Joshua softened at the hurt look in his eyes. "Alaric, I didn't mean to—
"And dissing on my work hurts. You know what makes this worse?" He gestured at Joshua. "I'm writing it for you."
Joshua's mouth popped open. "For me?" He gaped at Alaric. "For me?"
"Yeah, that's right! I was gonna give it to you before the New Year. It's supposed to be my Christmas gift for you."
"But, dude, that's a shit story!"
"So what if it is?" Alaric argued back. "There's are reasons why I wanted to give you this."
"Oh really now?" Joshua crossed his arms, skeptical.
"Really. Joshua, I know you love Spyro as much as I do, even though you don't collect any of the merch." Alaric's eyes gave his own room a quick pass. Joshua didn't need to follow his gaze to know the guy had figurines and stuffed animals in the guise of Spyro, Ember, and Cynder. "Anything that's a work of love is a thousand times more meaningful than whatever you can buy at the shopping mall."
"The story's still shit—
"Next!" Alaric cut in. "I wanted to inspire you. Dumpster fire or not, this fic's gonna be well-written. I was actually hoping to get you doing something yourself, maybe fix up your Christmas next year."
"What do you mean?"
"You know what I mean, bro! You haven't gotten anything for Natasha yet, have you?" Alaric not so much asked as he stated it. Joshua couldn't meet his eyes. "She's your girlfriend, man! Your girlfriend!"
"I... It's so hard to get a gift for someone who's got everything..."
"I bet you haven't gotten anything for Mikayla and Lucas either," said Alaric.
"N-no. Not, not really. I-I don't usually have that much money for gifts."
"That's exactly what I mean. The best gifts you can give for Christmas aren't material things. They're supposed to express your love and care. You know, things that're much more important." Alaric sighed. "Joshua, I'll try to help you out with the few days we have left, but I'll pray you'll feel the urge to do something—anything—when you read my story. Once it's clean and finished, I mean."
Joshua gulped. He hoped reading the finished work wouldn't be as bad as he was thinking it would. "T-thank you, I... I guess."
"You're welcome," Alaric replied. He paused, before adding, "And I accept your apology in advance. I know you didn't get anything for me either."
"Actually, thaaat's where you're wrong." Joshua grinned at his friend.
"I am?" He blinked. "Y-you mean you got me something?"
"I figured since we've been friends for a while now, I wanted to get you something I know you'll really love." Joshua went over to his backpack and fetched a small plastic bag. One of those gift bags, with holiday-themed decor printed on both sides. It looked full. "Since you like dragons—scratch that. Since you really, REALLY like dragons—
Alaric snickered. "To the point you sometimes question my sanity. I know."
Joshua kept going as though Alaric never interrupted him. "I got you these babies." He pulled out two plush toys slightly bigger than a human hand and set them down on the bed.
Alaric squealed. "Oh my Goooooood! Bro! BRO!"
"You won't find them in any store, Ricky," Joshua smirked. "Some asshole I know online—Somni, Silent, whatsisname—he hooked me up with this chick on DeviantArt. GoldenGriffiness, if I got her name right. She's a bit pricey, but she's easy to talk to, detail-oriented, and her work's f*cking awesome! You should've seen the other shit Goldie's got on her gallery! She puts all that love and care you like into 'em."
Alaric gasped. The guy was floored. He could barely speak as he reached for the two plushies on the bed, to inspect them one by one. Was he even listening?
Joshua snorted. Where did all that talk about materialism and "labor of love" shit go now, eh?
"Merry Christmas, Alaric Burgos. I hope you like it."
"Like it? No, man. I LOVE IT! You have no f*cking idea how much I love it!"
Alaric picked one up. It was a blue dragon, from one of his favourite stories. The fabric was as the sweeping midday sky. A magnificent light blue. The underbelly was off-white ivory. "Holy shit, it's Aeris."
Joshua pretended to ignore that. Aeris? The guy who wrote that story must've been on a Final Fantasy 7 binge when he came up with it.
"Oh my god, look at that stitching. It's solid. I don't usually see this kind of detail on department store plushies." He gave the tiny doll a squeeze. "Jesus, she's so plump! It's perfect. Let's check the other one."
A yellow dragoness this time. A golden yellow all around. There weren't any other colors on the underbelly. She had brown horns, curving up and around her snout like a ram. Her eyes were a teal kind of blue—a sort of cobalt, Joshua thought—and there was a bit of a grin on sown onto her muzzle. He couldn't quite remember what story she was from, but she looked familiar to him.
"Brrroooooo! Anna's cute too!"
Anna? Joshua scrunched his face. Wait a minute, wasn't her name supposed to be... "Huh? I thought her name is Kilat?"
"No, you dumbass, her name isn't Kilat!" Alaric yelled at him, indignant. "It's Anna! She's named after some Russian! And my God, look at her, she's even cuter like this! F*ck, Joshua! This Goldie's good. I don't know how she did it." The teen wrapped his arms around the plush dragon and hugged it close to his chest. "The stuffing's top notch. It feels different from cotton! Anna's so firm."
Without warning, Alaric ran up to Joshua and pulled the guy into a tight man-hug. He felt Alaric's hand slap his back several times.
"Okay, okay, okay, dude! You're thankful, I got it already! And you're welcome!"
Jesus, that hurt! Joshua stifled his reply, if only because he was too busy drawing amusement from his best friend's reaction.
"I really appreciate this, bro. Having these plushies here, you know it's like, it's like the closest I'll ever come to meeting real dragons."
Joshua watched Alaric approach another desk. It stood next to his bed. "Aren't you afraid that they'll just kill you?" he asked. "Hypothetically speaking."
Alaric set the Aeris doll down on the desk, putting her right between a plush toy of Pinkfong, an old Classic Spyro action figure, and a doll of Toothless. "It depends on the world you're in, I think," he said. "I'd hate to be in How to Train Your Dragon. They can't talk, they're more like dogs, cats, that are smarter, larger, deadlier than you. Then there's the Viking lifestyle. Have you checked Wikipedia on them? It's terrible!"
"Uhhh, no."
"You should! All our teachers like to throw mud at Wikipedia, but I've learned so much more from there. There's just so many things school doesn't teach us!"
Joshua scanned the room. "How about Spyro then?" he asked, his gaze trained on the merch sitting around the room. "Like, I'd love to meet our favorite dragon."
"Pass." A look of surprise appeared on Joshua's face when he heard that. Really? Not even there?
"The best is Classic," explained Alaric. "Cute people, world-jumping, many adventures to experience. Problem is, the dragons there, they're all practically old as f*ck. Legend might have been good too, but I feel that world's too deadly for people like us. Remember those links I showed you before, on life in the Middle Ages? I'll be in a society like that." He shook his head. "Not worth it. I'll go nuts. You will, too, I'm sure."
Joshua squirmed in place. He didn't like how Alaric quickly rejected both Spyro worlds. (Skylanders didn't count!) If it were him, he might have reconsidered it. Meeting Spyro and Cynder in the flesh? That would be sooooo worth it! Ahhh, if only these fantasies could come true.
"Hmmm... what other world has dergs in them?" Joshua thought aloud. At least he was enjoying this thought exercise a little. "Ah, I know. How about Skyrim?"
Alaric ogled the plush of Kilat—of Anna for a few seconds. He smiled. "Joshua, the kind of world I'd like to be in, it's where I get to meet dragons and talk to them. Be friends with them. The Elder Scrolls isn't gonna be fun, and their dragons are too, hmm, I don't know..."
"Well being the Dragonborn would be—
"You're more of a gamer than me, bro. I think you and I want different things. You probably want something more like an adventure, with an epic story and all that." Alaric went to Joshua and held Anna to his face. He started pushing her snout on him, sweeping it up and down as though licking him. "I prefer something like this."
"Ricky..." Joshua tried to push him away.
He persisted. "Mundane, ordinary, nothing like the stuff we see these days."
Joshua slapped the plush away. "Dude, it's getting annoying." The gamer swore his face was feeling more slick by the second.
The teen happily ignored him. "A wholesome, heartwarming experience." He rubbed Anna's cloth snout on Joshua's face again. "That's what I want. I'd still want to stay human though—
"ALARIC, YOU'RE PISSING ME OFF! STOP IT!"
Joshua Renalia snapped his eyes open. The cold wind whistled in his ears. His extremities felt like they were burning.
Twin moons loomed above in the dark firmament. Like a pair of heterochromatic eyes, they gazed down at the human. They gazed with disdain, mocking him for his dreams.
He wasn't in Alaric's room, Joshua realized. Hell, he wasn't even on Earth.
.
.
.
.
[4M/LN]
[Warfang Southwest — Fracture Hills District]
He was in the Dragon Realms, in the world of The Legend of Spyro.
Where the hell was he? Was he back in the forest again? No, that couldn't be right. He wasn't even allowed to roam about the city yet.
So how did he get—
A slimy, slippery thing swept his face. About two inches wide, it effortlessly slicked his skin in a sticky coating of saliva. Some of it went into his nose, the foul smell and the disgustingly slimy feeling causing Joshua to snort and cough.
Too distracted to notice the weight resting on his chest, he swatted at his face with his right hand. "Blegh. Ughh. F*cking hell!"
A girl's voice reached his ears. "Ah, sorry Joshua. Did I wake you up?"
Joshua wiped most of the saliva off his eyes. He blinked, vision slowly gaining clarity. After a few seconds he recognized the reptilian snout hovering just above his face. Its golden scales were barely visible under the moonlight. He stared into a pair of cobalt eyes. He raised his good hand and traced the curvature of her horns.
"A-anna?" he tested.
"Nope! It's Kilat!" Joshua received another long lick in the face for his answer. He could felt her tail swish from left to right. "Awwww, was my silly brother dreaming?" The dragoness nuzzled his cheek. Her tongue slipped out again, then she nibbled playfully at his nose.
Recognition, awareness of everything he'd been through for the last few months all rushed back into his head. Shit, that dream felt so real. He hadn't dreamed about anybody back on Earth in months. "Y-yeah, I was. Dreamed about an old friend of mine, back home."
Another lick. "Can you tell me about it? Please? I'm, kinda bored."
His left hand rested on her hindleg. He moved it up and down. It did not move much. An inch, at most. Still, Joshua was thankful for it, as he could completely move his fingers now. Thank the Lord his therapy had progressed enough for him to accomplish that much. It was wonderful, feeling Kilat's smooth scales and their imperfections at his fingertips. Every ridge. Every bump. Every little dip. He treasured the moment.
"Brrrrr," he shivered, feeling the wind chill his side. "It's cold out here." Even the ground was cold. He could feel it seeping in past his bed of leaves, penetrating his two layers of clothing.
"The Long Winter's almost here, that's why." Kilat unfurled her right wing and folded it around them both. She was a bit bigger than she used to be. Slightly more massive. A reminder that her childhood was gradually approaching its inevitable end. The days that this prepubescent dragon would sprawl on top of him, treat him like her pillow (and her his blanket), and pin him down were numbered. "It's only right I get to sleep with you," she said. He sensed a touch of jealousy creeping in her voice. "Somebody's gotta keep MY hoo-man warm."
"I love you." Joshua drilled his nose into the warm scales on her neck.
She giggled. "I love you too." He felt her tongue ghost his earlobes.
Joshua welcomed the soft, relaxing feeling of her scales. He permitted the rare, content smug when he felt the muscles within moving in sync with Kilat's breathing. The gamer inhaled deeply. She smelled like dragon, of course. It was difficult to describe, but another human in his place might have been repulsed by the odor. Thank God Joshua had acclimatized to it weeks ago. Months ago, he dared to think. As usual, Kilat's scent carried a hint of lavender.
When Kilat licked him again, he felt the urge to ask a question that had been gnawing at his dizzy mind. "Uhhh, where are we again? I, I can't remember..."
"We're in Fracture Hills. We're with our friends. Hunter's teaching us survival stuff. Do you remember now?"
A few moments passed.
Kilat tilted her head. "Do you?" She sneaked in another sweep of the tongue on his face. Joshua had stopped wiping it off. Clearly the little girl kept insisting he had to have an even coating to satisfy her standards of hygiene, however alien and gross they were to him. Joshua would never admit it to her snout, but he hoped she would keep at it tonight.
Because Kilat was warm. Very warm.
Warm enough to snuggle with. That's exactly what he did. He shifted a little and wrapped the young dragoness up in his arms. He noticed she was starting to feel a little too heavy to roll over now. Is she gaining weight?
"Y-yeah, I do." They weren't alone either. Joshua brought his voice down and whispered to Kilat. "Why are you awake? How long have you been up?"
Kilat took her time to answer. Joshua didn't bother her, taking the opportunity to lightly squeeze the membranes on her right wing. "...I had a nightmare about... an hour ago?" she eventually divulged. "I, forgot what it was about but... when I'm washing you like this, I feel safe. Happy. It's as if, as if everything's gonna be just fine."
A loud snort near Joshua shattered the silence. Its proximity startled him. Crap, he forgot about the others. He craned his head up to peek at the source of the noise. He blanched, seeing Vara's muzzle less than a couple feet away. She slumbered underneath a pine tree, curled up beside the silhouette of another dragon, whose scales weakly reflected vivid cardinal tones under the moonlight. Joshua turned his head the other way. A little farther away were the two remaining members of their party: a young mole and an older cheetah. It wasn't difficult to recognize Hunter, the very same feline he encountered on the day of the Incident.
The knights escorting him were out of sight. They were close, as far as he could tell. He just had to dip into his sixth sense a little to see their spheres of life flickering in a dark, glittery sea.
"Uhhh, Kilat, can you lower your voice a little? Vara will throw a bitch fit if we wake her up, and I don't want to find out if Blink or Se—
"I know, I know," Kilat murmured. Consolingly, to quell his growing concerns. She had a confident smug on her muzzle. "I can stay quiet."
Joshua assented, "Alright. Make sure you do and... you can keep licking me if you want. It's, not really a bath, soooo I guess I'll let this fly."
He couldn't tell her he was okay with it tonight. Her entire body radiated warmth and Joshua sought comfort in it, resting his head on top of her paws and letting the young reptile cling to him. Kilat was certainly no Fire dragon, but with the cold air biting at his toes, he was all right.
"Uhhh, I'm cleaning your face. That means it's actually kiiiiind of like—
Joshua hissed. "Please, kid. Shut up and just, just do what you feels best... okay? Before I change my mind."
"Okay!" Muttering her thanks, Kilat happily obliged and continued grooming her adopted brother, knowing he had explicitly given his permission.
Moments turned into seconds. Seconds turned into minutes. Sooner or later, Joshua relinquished whatever kept him alert in the waking world and completely relaxed. Eyes observing his adopted sister, the teenager tightened his embrace and freely accepted the affection he received from her. Neither Kilat nor Joshua spoke another word during this time, and eventually the dragoness stopped washing his face and laid her snout on his damp cheek. She rubbed tenderly against him. There was no mistaking the content sigh slipping out of her.
Joshua's mind returned to the dream he just had. It was more of a memory rather than a dream, for he had that conversation with Alaric Burgos at least two years ago, or so he felt. The gamer felt guilt nip at him. He hadn't thought of his best friend at all since he woke up in the Dragon Realms in the middle of its summer. He couldn't recall if that second plush toy really did look like Kilat. The only thing he remembered was that it represented this moody, temperamental dragoness with a closet addiction for human-made pastries.
Not once did his adopted sister act that way.
How was he doing now? Joshua wondered. How was he coping with Joshua's absence? Was he with his family back home? Was he celebrating Christmas with them? Trying to fill the hole he left behind on his home world?
Joshua Renalia imagined the long, ironwood table in the dining room with stacks of food placed on it. Traditional Christmas ham fresh from the oven, with pineapple sauce on the side. Roast chicken slathered in mushroom gravy. Along with mashed potatoes and a giant serving bowl of beef bourguignon stewed with carrots and other vegetables. His mouth watered at the memory. His eyes became teary when he envisioned his family sitting in the nearby tables and sofas, plates and cutlery in their hands.
He missed them so much. His family. His friends. Everything he left behind.
Joshua kept his eyes closed. He played with Kilat's flews and ended up dipping his thumb into her maw. He tugged at her lips. Ran his finger along her fangs. "Kilat," he whispered, hoping she would hear. "Are you still awake?"
The little girl made a low growl in reply. Joshua was the only one close enough to hear it, to feel the vibrations coursing through the warm, slick insides of her cheeks. She nuzzled him again and her tail wagged a little. Oh, she was definitely listening.
"You asked me about my dream, right?"
.
.
.
"...uh huh. Yeah..."
"Well, there's this guy I know back home. His name's Alaric, but I've been calling him Ricky for as long as I can remember..."
Joshua continued talking until everything went black. He didn't know how much he had said or whether Kilat remained lucid enough to comprehend everything. Despite the chilly air and the green and crimson light shining down from the sky, both human and dragon fell asleep together in the forest inside Warfang's Fracture Hills District, surrounded with friends. Tonight, Joshua and Kilat were at peace.
Tomorrow the siblings would wake up fresh and ready for whatever Hunter had in mind. The gamer would, of course, grumble and complain the entire time, drawing two entirely opposite reactions from their friends.
That, however, was a story for another time.
Author's Notes:
Alaric Burgos belongs to me. Actually, he's sort of my self-insert. I say "sort of" because I TOTALLY wasn't like that back in high school and while I was close with Joshua during those days, we weren't that close. Like, I wouldn't do this shit where I'd casually go into his wrong and treat it like it was my own place and vice-versa. Oh, and Alaric's last name is actually my middle name. XP
Yep, no category for this little snip. It's hard to say what this is, since it's mostly a flashback set on Earth.
I pray life has been kind to you during the holiday season. As for me, I've been besieged with last-minute wedding stuff (the invitations came in LATE! SHIT!), holiday celebrations, year-end crap at work, and personal finance stuff. I'm juggling that with reviews of the long-term plans for Aimless' actual plot. Yes, this story is not entirely slice-of-life. There IS a plot. It's just that, it's advancing very slowly. Inches at a time. After all, there are some details that I totally added out of the blue and I need to see if these are consistent with future events as well as the intended ending for Joshua's personal storyline.
Seriously this'll be the last piece of crap I'm releasing for 2019, sooo… Merry Christmas, everybody, and a Happy New Year! WELCOME TO THE NEW DECADE.
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BTW, if anybody here didn't get my replies to their reviews, that's because FFN disabled email notification of PMs received in your accounts due to spam bots. You've got to check your accounts manually, guys. Anyway, here are my replies to the most recent reviews:
axzknapp. Heeey! Guess you agree with Stryker then! Glad you liked it! Yep, Joshua finally had a chance to shine and I'm happy I was able to portray it well. Writing it out was tough.
Joshua? A hug? Unlikely. Not with his crowd on weirdos. Spyro's in denial now, so he definitely needs something else.
Binge-reading Aimless? Man, I don't know why, but I loved reading that. Thank you! Really! Thank you. I binge-read and reread my favorite fics too, so I know exactly where you're coming from. Though I prefer to go straight to my "favorite moments". Hehe.
Thanks for the review, and happy holidays!
Absymal Void. Joshua doesn't need to shovel shit anymore, yes. That's true. But... now he faces his next challenge. The greatest enemy of all time, following him all the way from planet Earth... BUREAUCRACY. XD
Chaoscontrol108. Hello! Glad you found my previous chapter captivating. Sweet. Thanks so much for your comments.
At the very least Spyro is now entertaining the possibility he's wrong. Oh, and Corey's a fighter. We'll see him more often for sure.
The red cheetah? Ah, yes. Corvold. He's Djax80's OC, and he's given me free reign on what to do with him. He'll definitely show up more, as the timestamps run up the numbers. He has a very good reason to, after all.
Thanks again, man. Happy holidays!
Iceman3423. Hello, and thanks for the review! Glad you're liking the last one.
Portraying the crowd was hard, but that was my favorite moment to write, when they started hurling themselves in front of him. It's gonna be a long journey though. Cynder has walked this path longer than he did and most people in Warfang still hate her. Hopefully he'll have patience.
Ah, noticed Kilat was gone, huh? Yeah... the thing is, she's in an advanced lounge, with people far above her level of seniority. Volteer also likely didn't tell her about this plan either. She can get defensive of Joshua. Violently defensive. Joshua would happily hide behind her little tail, too. He's shameless that way.
Korahnir will get screentime again, as mentioned before. He had appeared or has been mentioned twice before "Teacher's Pet 2", if I recall correctly. Electroy on the other hand... not likely. I needed a disposable OC and he fit the bill.
I don't need to answer that last question. :P
Thanks again for the review, Iceman! Happy Holidays.
DiabloPProcento. And here you go! You got MORE. Look for "Small Talk While Training" and "Good Listener" on my DeviantArt profile if this holiday extra didn't satisfy you.
Aimless has PLENTY of slice-of-life style content to come, not to mention actual plot. So... don't worry about content!
Hehe, I bet you'd take the masseuse option Joshua's dreading, huh?
A Merry Christmas to you, too! Until next time.
Derick Lindsey (guest). Hello and thanks for the review :D
Yeah, he gets his big break at the end of his first month in Warfang. Spyro hasn't exactly "realized he's wrong" about him. He's just starting to entertain the possibility that he is, and even that horrifies him. (He's still a good dragon who means well, really.)
Oh, don't worry. Kilat's and Vara's reactions are two separate chapters that are... probably gonna be as long as this "holiday extra". XD
No comments on Spyro and Joshua's relationship going forward.
Piston24. OMG! I never replied to your review! I'm sorry. Year-end stuff, man... sorry.
Yes, the previous chapter completely wrapped up Joshua's first month in Warfang. :D
And you wouldn't be wrong to say that. That's all I've been doing, really. Setting up the stage while fleshing out the world Joshua's in, breathing in some life and culture. Aimless' long-term storyline is currently under review (again) to make sure everything's consistent and believable. I plan on reaching out to Stryker and one of my other confidants if I find myself stuck in a rut.
Thanks again for praising my accomplishment in getting Aimless this far. This fanfic presently has almost 500 reviews and a word count breaching 350K. It's also the most followed "human fic" in FFN's Spyro archives, second to Idiocy01's A Troubled Soul. I couldn't have done that without dedication to writing this thing by myself and the continued viewership of my readers.
As for my wedding... whew, just a few more weeks! OMG I'm getting nervous. Thank God we have a planner. We're doing a Catholic wedding though (my fiancee's requirement), and all the documentation we're being told to get is just one huge pain in the butt.
Happy Holidays, dude, and enjoy the new year! Time to welcome the 2020s with open arms!
Djax80. Hoooly shit! I knew it! I knew I'll overlook it eventually! Thanks for the timely notice. I corrected it within minutes of you spotting that mistake.
Heh, Joshua's true calling indeed. He refuses to accept it, sadly. I'm sure it'd make for a nice scene.
Thanks for the review, and happy holidays!
LoNeWoLf (guest). Had to be done. It was the only way to get through a bunch of stubborn kids. Glad you loved the previous chapter!
Thanks for the review, and happy holidays!
Bizzleb. Yo! Glad to see you once again. Eh, we're all busy with real life so I totally understand if you vanish from time to time. Just don't disappear for good, yeah? I'm anxious to see your feedback on the upcoming chapters (I'm one of those guys who'd like to see Matt and Selema again in another short story, hehe...)
SpyCy... eh, we'll see. I'm keeping my options open as far as those two are concerned. The characters write themselves sometimes, you know what I mean? You're busy typing, following this outline or storyboard, and all of a sudden you just went waaay beyond what you planned and it turned out to be worth keeping.
Joshua's taking that accountability then. That's a reality anyone in his position has to deal with. He's basically guilty of involuntary manslaughter in a fantasy world. I hope you enjoyed the way he convinced Corey. :P
No comment on Spyro.
Happy holidays! Until next time.
Coollatiospokemon4342. Thanks for the review, Cool Latios! :D
Glad you're enjoying my work. If you want to catch a glimpse of a more mature Joshua, check out the second and third chapters of Aimless: Meaningless Crossovers, for a showcase of how I'd portray him in a fight scene. You may also want to check out "Small Talk While Training" and "Good Listener" too, while you're at it. You won't find it in Aimless proper though. Not for a very long time.
Writing your own fanfic? Yeah, man, go! Do it! Even a "pilot chapter" will work just fine! I gave you an idea on how your long-term storyline should look like. Why not build up on it and then give it a spin?
My favorite Joshua/Corey moment in the previous chapter was: "You can go suck an egg!" followed by "Well you can go F**K YOURSELF!" Hehehe
SonicDJM. Hi, SonicDJM! Thanks for the review. Glad you enjoyed it.
And no, I didn't receive those PMs. Something was going on with FFN's PM system at the time, but now it's fine. Problem's not gone though. PM email notification is still down until now.
SKDaGamer. Hey SK! Thanks for taking the time to review this thing, and I'm still glad you enjoyed it.
You write music? Holy shit! :D Link me to some of your work on Youtube or something. XD
Liking Corey eh? I'll see what I can do about expanding his character some more. ^^
I find it funny that you caught that Pure Light reference before I even brought it up on A/N. You're a person of culture, aren't ya? XD
Hehe, Spyro's conflicted feelings here will certainly lead him to interesting places...
Happy holidays, SK! See ya around.