"Hello!" Boolo called from where he was sitting and drawing a lot of rainbows on a piece of paper.
"Hello!" Kuba waved back. "Tell me, do you go to school? What do you usually do during the day?"
"I sit here and I draw. But today, I'm going to eat all the things. Mosssst of the things," Boolo whispered happily.
"Do all the children stay here as well? What about the doctors and the -- well, everyone else?"
"I don't know. Peepoopeepoo. My dad's round. Yeeeeh."
Kuba laughed.
"Why are you drawing all the rainbows?"
"I wanna be a rainbow! But not too much," Boolo explained. "I also wanna eat a rainbow. Where's Peebo?"
"She's with your mother, honey. Why don't you tell me about your father?"
Book Violet excitedly shuffled closer. She loved talking about her husband.
"He is absolutely wonderful is what he is," she swooned. "You should look at him while he gardens. He's beautiful. And the look of concentration on his face? He's tall and strong, but still very gentle. I love him. His name is Onion Tree. I think they named him that after his blonde hair. He ties it like the tip of an onion. There's nobody as lovely as he is. I hope he comes back soon."
She put her cheek on her hand and let out a wistful sigh.
"It's always nice to see people in love," Kuba smiled, and she meant it.
The air felt like it had turned to roasted marshmallows and melting chocolate.
"He's a gardener, then? I assume he's away to get supplies to fix the crops," Kuba went on.
"He is!" Book Violet nodded. "When he comes back, I'll light a fire in the hearth, then snuggle with him for hours. He's been gone for weeks. It's a shame, really. He doesn't usually go out of the castle, like most of us, but, well, the circumstances demanded it. You said it was nice to see people in love, and you were right. I'm happier than I ever was with him and those two little ones."
Book Violet looked down at Peebo affectionately. Kuna noticed that the both of them had bright red hair. She couldn't tell if Peebo would also have blue eyes, but then again, all babies had blue or grey eyes.
"I assume she looks more like you, then?" Kuba asked.
"She does! See, my sister Pink Sky has the same red hair," Book Violet confided, pointing to one of the women who was playing with the children further away. "My Onion Tree, well, he has the palest blond hair I've ever seen, and he looks marvelous with it."
Kuba nodded. She remembered Pumpkin Patch, Red Salsa, and the girl in Beeno's friend group. All had red hair.
"There are a lot of clan members with red hair," she pointed out. "At the risk of sounding impolite, I have to ask: are you all related?"
"Ah, of course not! Not yet anyway, but River Sand's got an eye on Mille, and she's a redhead, too. I wonder what kind of babies these two would make."
"Very adorable ones, I'm sure. I'm not quite used to bright heads. Only brown and black hair where I come from."
"And where do you come from?" Book Violet asked.
"Over there, in the forest," Kuba answered. "Not a lot of people there, either."
"Ehhh," said Boolo. "Mum? Is it true dad's going to be back soon?"
"I don't know, honey, but I certainly hope so," answered his mother. "Oh! Look over there! It's Lord Golden Wolf. Maybe he's going to draw you!"
"As a matter of fact, I am!" Golden Wolf smiled, and he walked over to show them the notebook he was holding.
There was a drawing of Boolo licking a piece of bread, and Peebo looking as fat and adorable as usual. Kuba found herself smiling.
"I'm sorry! I didn't realise I had to call you "lord"," Kuba grimaced.
"You've only been here since yesterday," Book Violet protested.
Kuba shrugged. It felt like it had been ages.
"Bah. You can call me Golden Wolf for all I care. I have bigger priorities than name-calling, or rather, my priorities lie with a different kind of name-calling. Please remember that we have a meeting with the king later today."
"I thought it had been retarded to tomorrow?" Kuba tried sheepishly.
"It might have," Golden Wolf nodded. "Bah! If you feel up to it, you should come by the king's office later on anyway, just to talk."
Kuba nodded. Golden Wolf considered telling her about how the king had been staring at her all morning long, but decided not to embarrass him too much. He instead settled for embarrassing him in person, and took his leave to go find him. On his way there, he spotted Sapphire Rod, holding some sort of tool for planes or something. Golden Wolf was no expert, and the fact that he didn't know what that thing was called annoyed him already. But Sapphire Rod was leaving already. For some reason, he called out to him:
"Hi!" Golden Wolf exclaimed a little desperately.
Sapphire Rod paused. He was making some sort of stupid face, and decided not to turn around and show it.
"How, um, are you?"
Sapphire Rod shrugged, then ran away. The problem was that Golden Wolf was too pretty, and so he couldn't turn around, or he would become even more flustered.
"Wait!" Golden Wolf protested. "Um. Goodbye, then."
He refused to acknowledge any of that interaction and went to knock on his friend's door. Sadly, the Wolf King was already out of the room, and also staring at him stupidly. Golden Wolf decided to elbow him.
"Help," Golden Wolf squeaked.
"I'm the one who's getting elbowed, not you," the king protested.
"Well!" Golden Wolf started. "Well. Nothing."
"Well, in any case, I'm happy to see you, because I'm worried about something. It's been a day since we got new arrivals. Why am I so attached to them? Not them. Lady Kuba, specifically. Why? Now I told you, and I feel stupid. Why are we talking about this in the hallway?" the king fretted.
"You're the one who started to talk in the hallway!" Golden Wolf protested.
They sat down in the chairs, and closed the door behind them.
"So! What is it? She's pretty? I mean, is she? She's rather meh for my standards," Golden Wolf commented. "But I don't count, and besides, it's a compliment for her if I find her unappealing."
The king decided to put his feet on his friend. Golden Wolf whined.
"Stop," he whined.
The king was sniffing a flower pot and didn't acknowledge him.
"You know, I like this new flower. It smells nice," the king reflected playfully.
"You're a tyrant," Golden Wolf teased poutingly.
"Aw. You're pouting."
"No," Golden Wolf frowned. "Where would be the dignity in that?"
"Do you think she would like me?" the king suddenly panicked.
"You have no dignity. So, no," Golden Wolf deadpanned.
The king didn't know what to answer and instead looked back at the glass wall.
"It's time for a nap," he muttered. "And before you complain that I sleep too much, it's your fault this time."
"You're missing all the meals!" Golden Wolf protested. "Did you even eat today?"
The king didn't answer. Golden Wolf decided to slouch some more in his chair.
"Well, I suppose I could go get something to eat, except I don't want to see anyone. Leave me here to starve."
"Stop talking. I'm also taking a nap," Golden Wolf muttered.
"You can't take a nap!" the king protested.
"Shut up. Naptime."
"Not naptime!" the king insisted, and he started to push him out of the chair.
"Can't rulers take a nap from time to time? Do people die when they sleep?" Golden Wolf muttered.
"You're not even sleepy! I'm sleepy!'
"You're not sleepy, either. You just need food. I'm actually sleepy," Golden Wolf explained fiercely.
"Well, you're never sleepy in the morning, so I won't let you sleep until you promise me you'll wake back up for lunch."
"Of course I will. And you'll come to lunch, too," Golden Wolf warned, and he left.
"And I eat at night!" the king called after him as he closed the door, but it was opened back in his face immediately after.
"You know, about Lady Kuba. You've been more awake today than you've been these past few weeks, so you know what? Keep staring at her for all I care. It's good for your circadian cycle."
"I've been awake! I've been doing only taxes and bills for the better part of a week!" exclaimed the king in outrage.
"It doesn't count if it's boring. Your body works like a beatdown old plane. It works extremely well for a second, then stops altogether, then well, then stops. Like a sputtering engine, you know?"
"I don't like this metaphor," the king grimaced. "It makes it sound like I'm dying."
"You should ask Lady Kuba to eat with you. This way, you'll stay awake, and you'll eat," Golden Wolf suggested.
"Let me sleep!" howled the king, and Golden Wolf laughingly said his goodbyes and unflattened his face by finally closing the door again.
The king went back to his chair and muttered to himself until someone screaming "weeeeeh" surprised him out of it. He opened the door and found Boolo staring back at him. Golden Wolf had seen him walk up the stairs, and had decided that he didn't care at all right now. He was currently yawning and sitting in the common room chair to take a nap.
"Eeeee," said Boolo proudly.
"Boolo?" the king smiled. "What a pleasant surprise!"
"Eemeemeemee. I'm not sure if I'm hungry. I wanted to sleep on the floor, but I don't know anymore. What do I do? Weeeeeeeh? Meemeemee," Boolo decided, and he laid down on the floor with his little cheek on the king's boot.
The king bent over to pick him up, but Boolo shuffled.
"I want to stay on the floor, please."
The king couldn't help but smile more.
"Alright, then," he agreed, and he sat down with the little boy.
Only then did he remember to close his door, and he pushed it with his free foot, before putting Boolo's head on his knee instead. Boolo shuffled some more.
"I'm like a worm!" Boolo exclaimed with his arms wiggling. "You know, worms have really big toothy mouths."
He almost tried to eat the king's knee, then looked up at him shyly, and settled for eating his furry cape. He then remembered that it was furry, and started to chew on its leathery inside instead.
"Mwah mwah. I kiss the cape. I kiss apples, too," Boolo explained. "But it's not a kiss like mum and dad. It's like a kiss from Peebo! I like kisses from Peebo. She's a baby. I want to kiss her little cheek and also eat it, but not too much, and I don't want to make her cry so I'll be very nice all the time and never make her cry."
Boolo then yawned.
"I have a lot of things to say, but I'm too speepy to say them all. I should say it like this: sleepy. But "speepy" is funny. Hehehe. I say "Mr king" and also "Mr the king" sometimes. Now I'm sleepy. I also want an apple. I smell a lot like strawberries. Maybe mum bathed me in strawberry yogurt while I was sleeping. Have you ever eaten strawberry yogurt? I want some strawberry yogurt."
Boolo curled up and yawned again.
"Do you know what time it is?" the Wolf King asked.
"Sleep," Boolo mumbled. "Mr king, I'm sleepy and my hands are soft."
He wiggled his little chubby fingers, then fell asleep. The king smiled at him, then picked him up to get him back to his mother, but Boolo started to wiggle.
"Weeeeeeh!" Boolo whined, and he shuffled around. "Hmmm."
He eventually settled his little cheek on the Wolf King's arm, but he was frowning.
"Mr king? I'm bored!" he affirmed angrily with his face scrunched like a little tomato.
"You're bored? Oh no!" answered the king.
"I'm very bored," Boolo nodded.
"What do you want to do?"
"Sleep. Weeeeh," Boolo answered. "I don't want to sleep."
He dangled unhappily.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh," he went on.
"I'm also very bored. I sleep all the time, and I stay in my room all day. Now, we don't want to do like me. Why don't we go outside?"
Comments (0)
See all