great unknown - feuepine
“Right! Theo, I’ve decided what we’re going to do for the end of summer! And you’re gonna love it!”
“Uh-oh.”
The sound of a book slamming shut echoed throughout the otherwise quiet library, as Theodore slid down into his regular armchair, the plush fabric causing him to sink down into its depths. Unfortunately for the brown-haired cossetling, not nearly deep enough to escape the excited gaze of Oros, who stood up from behind the reference desk, disappearing into the shelves for a moment. Theodore took the opportunity to sink further into the chair, pulling his hat down over his eyes in a desperate attempt to avoid the inevitable.
He reappeared a few minutes later, carrying a stack of books that he set onto the table next to Theo’s armchair. Theo peeked out from under the brim of his hat, eyeing the top book on the stack warily.
“...Top 50 Camping Locations In Southern Latorre. Oh. Huh, this doesn’t actually seem too bad. I guess I assumed you’d go monster hunting or something like that.”
“Oh, no, no, no, monster hunting is for winter!”
“I’m- excuse me?”
“Since most “monsters” tend to be cold-blooded, hunting in winter is far easier than it would be in summer, since it can slow them down and give the hunter an advantage over-”
“Oros, if you take me monster hunting I will personally feed your books to Ame.”
The other cossetling frowned in an exaggerated pout for a moment, before clearing his throat.
“But yes! Camping! I thought it would be nice to see the locations this book wrote about!”
Theo hummed as he pushed himself up into the chair and stretched his tail out, tilting his hat back onto his head properly and adjusting it around his horns.
“Well, I guess that’s not a terrible idea… So which one did you want to go to?”
Oros brightened, grabbing the book and flipping through it rapidly.
“Okay, so I’ve worked out the perfect route to work through them! We can hike to some sites from others, and we can blink to some others! It’s a little zig-zaggy, but it’ll make perfect sense once we’re on the road! I think we can start by taking the train down towards the Hieland Hills!”
Theo squinted at Oros, adjusting his glasses.
“Yes, fine, a route to get to it, but which one, Oros?”
Oros blinked owlishly at Theodore, a wide grin spreading over his face.
“All of them! Like I said, I’ve worked out the perfect route to get to all of them! There’s also a few nice sightseeing opportunities along the way!”
Theo stared wearily at Oros, once more sinking back into his chair and pulling his hat down over his eyes.
“Oros.”
“Yeah!”
“We are not visiting all fifty locations in that book in one trip.”
Oros tilted his head, tail flicking behind him.
“We aren’t? Why not?”
Theodore sighed, rubbing his eyes.
“I can do one camping trip for a couple days with you, but I can’t handle much more than that, I think. I’m not opposed to more camping trips in the future, but not too much all at once. Remember what happened that time you tried to go all-in on Longon showing?”
Oros’ ears flattened against his head as he looked away, blushing.
“You didn’t have to bring that up. It is not my fault the judges disqualified me.”
“It really was. One of them is still trying to rebuild her home. Last I heard, the foundations still refused to settle.”
“If she was that concerned with it staying intact, she should have vetoed the placement of the ring so close to it.”
Theo shook his head rapidly, lifting his hat to fix Oros with an unimpressed gaze.
“That’s not the point. What I’m trying to say is that you need to remember to take new… ‘adventures’ slowly, at least to start.” He looked to the side, mumbling to himself. “Especially if you’re going to drag me into them…”
Oros let out a long, disappointed sigh, settling into a nearby chair, and looking over the book again.
“Okayyyyy… We can start with just one site this time. But next year-!”
Theo interrupted, raising one eyebrow.
“Next year, we can do two.”
A few days later, the sun shone down on the grassy, rolling hills of the Hielands, and two figures trekking through them, backpacks securely strapped to their backs. The green-haired figure ran forward, laughing jubilantly.
“This is amazing! Right, Theo?!”
He spun around to face his companion, who was… significantly less excited. The other cossetling reached the top of the hill, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. His tail hung limply behind him, petals drooping.
“Just- need- a second. Oof.”
Oros reached to the side of his backpack, pulling out a water bottle and offering it to Theo. He took it gratefully, swallowing gulps of water without hesitation. He stood up straight, stretching his arms and groaning. His flower perked up, and he took a deep breath, one hand on his hips and the other still holding the half-full water bottle. Looking over the Hielands, he smiled slightly, before glancing over at Oros.
“It’s… nice. Unexpectedly difficult to navigate, but enjoyable nonetheless.”
Oros beamed, slinging an arm over Theo’s shoulder and giving him a quick hug from the side.
“I told you you’d like it!”
Theo leaned into the hug slightly, eyes closing momentarily.
“Yeah, yeah. Enjoy being right while you can. Knowing you, it probably won’t last much longer.”
Oros let out a fake gasp of dismay, pushing Theodore away from him in melodramatic fashion.
“How could you?! My own Theo?! Your words are so cruel, how they wound me!”
Shoving him lightly in response, Theo pressed past him, small smile growing.
“Come on, Oros. We’ve still got ground to cover to get to the site, unless you’d like to try and rough it out here?”
Oros laughed, racing ahead once again, hooves brushing past clusters of wildflowers as the two continued onwards in the warm sunlight.
my boys,,,,
Submitted By feuepine
for 🗺️ The Great Unknown
Submitted: 3 months ago ・
Last Updated: 3 months ago