Zephyria - Chapter 23
Flufferino couches were ever so prevalent on the island. They were everywhere, in the suites, in the lounges, in the gyms, by the waterfall etc. They all differed in aesthetics, but all retained the same comfort and made for an equally pleasurable experience.
So it comes as no surprise as Ryan sat on one of those couches the next morning, eating a bowl of cereal. The prince had a top tier chef at his beck and call in Roj, meaning he could have any luxurious breakfast he wanted, but he preferred to start the day with a much more humble meal (though it being a meal was rather arguable). Besides, it as a childhood favourite of Ryan, and similar to his seemingly childlike nature, his love for it hadn’t left him since. To be fair this sentiment was shared by many Zephyrians, as the brand was considered one of the better, less controversial ones on the marketplace. It did, however, have a weird name.
“Dave”. Pillows made from the heavenly carbohydrate trio of rice, wheat and oats, making for an unaggressive yet satisfyingly crunchy texture. Contained within each of these pillows was a smooth, chocolate and hazelnut concoction, and the combination of smooth and crunchy formed a flavourful experinence that would rule the Zephyrian Continent and capture the hearts of millions.
The couch Ryan occupied was one of the few sofas neatly spaced out within Laboratory B. To be honest, this name was utter crap and completely inaccurate to its purpose, but it just so happened that all the rooms in the facility were referred to as Laboratories (Ryan had a weird consistency complex). Laboratory B was just a glorified private theatre used for Ryan’s tech demos and personal screenings, but from today it were to be Vanguard’s designated briefing room.
Typically, Ryan would be watching cartoons in the morning, but he wasn’t feeling that today. Ryan sat in the front row, staring at the new Vanguard Emblem that occupied the entire screen. He thought about his new team and the adventures they were to soon have together. He thought about the different sOrs and their usages they’d encounter in the unknown world below. He also thought about the Emblem itself, designed by his trusted graphic designer. It was pretty clean, even by her standards.
“Oh. So you eat Dave without milk.”
Ryan jumped in his seat and spilt half of his cereal onto the floor and sofa, his daydreaming interrupted by another person’s voice. He turned around and saw Aloe leaning over behind him.
“I’m glad I don’t!” he said. “If I did it would’ve gone everywhere! How long have you been sitting there?!”
“Hm..”
Aloe paused to think.
“About half an hour.”
“Half an hour?!”
Ryan had been there for 15 minutes. This meant that she was there when he walked in, but he was too engrossed in the cereal and the screen to notice. He was also half asleep, ironic, since Aloe was wide awake.
“Yup. Anyway, what’s the deal with that?” she continued.
“The deal with what?”
“No milk..”
“Ah. It makes it soggy and stuff, and I dont like that. Anyway, have you eaten?”
“Yep. Yami here made us a rather healthy breakfast.”
“Yo.”
“WHAT?!”
Ryan jumped a second time, spilling his entire bowl of Dave at the sight of Yami next to Aloe.
Ryan was also now fully awake.
“How long have YOU been sitting there?”
“The same. About half an hour..”
“And you both were just, watching me eat?!”
Yami shrugged. “Well, no. We were just admiring this fluff.”
Aloe nodded and ran her hand through the softness, though her admiration for it was hidden by her lack of expression.
“Yes. This is the epitome of flufferino.”
Ryan scratched his chin, evaluating that statement.
“Meh, I’d argue Tedi is the epitome of flufferino. She’s made of a similar material, and she’s much more huggable.”
Aloe and Yami stared at each other blankly.
…
“This is Tedi.” they both said.
Tedi’s large head rose from behind them, it sharing their blank expression.
“Hi Ryan.”
Ryan jumped a third time, but had no more cereal to spill.
“AND HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SITTING THERE?”
Tedi blinked twice.
“The same. About half an hour.”
Ryan sat there shocked, genuinely confused at this whole predicament. Before he could say anything else another voice entered the room.
“Hey Rya- ooooooooooooh Tedi u003c3”
Elektra blinked onto Tedi and hugged her tight.
“Oh how I’ve missed youuu.”
She then noticed that Ryan, now smiling at the sight of her, had spilt his cereal.
**Time Slo-Mo** (1 Second)
Elektra jumped off Tedi, picked up all the cereal from the sofa and floor, then threw it in the bin. She then ran to the bathroom to wash her hands, ran to one of the kitchens to find a Dave box, and dashed back to Laboratory 2 to refill his bowl.
She then sat besides Ryan on the couch, wearing the widest smile in the world.
**End Slo-Mo**
“Here you go c:”
Ryan looked down in his hands to observe the new cereal then back up to Elektra, quickly understanding what had happened. He mirrored her smile.
“Oh, thank you :3”
As they conversed Xero and Gale entered the room, each holding a coffee in their hands (white mocha with 2 sugars and a caramel macchiato). Xero had not gotten over the surprising gaming session they had the previous night.
“Why didn’t you tell me you played CoJ? We’ve been friends for years?”
Xero was mildy irritated, but made his best efforts to hide those feelings, as per usual.
“Because you’d be so annoying about it! Anyway.. I wouldn’t wanna play ranked with you..”
“Aw come on.. I won’t ruin your winrate I promise :)”
“My ranked winrate is 97%..”
…
“Okay what about normal games? They’re more rela-”
“Also 97%”
Xero stopped in his tracks and stared right into Gale’s eyes.
“I hate you.” he said quietly, before walking towards Aloe and Yami and joining them on Tedi.
Gale sighed.
“Ah that boy.. Amber is one lucky girl” she said to herself sarcastically.
She turned around to see Amber walking towards her, also holding a coffee (iced macchiato to be precise).
“Speaking of which..”
“Good morning Gale :3”
“How was your evening? Did you get any sleep” Gale said, before gesturing towards Xero and nudging Amber in her side.
“Shhhh. What about you though? I saw you go into Hikari’s room..”
“Meh. We’re close :)”
“Yes we are 🙂 ” Hikari butted in, his head suddenly appearing between the two.
“Hikari, I thought we agreed that you wouldn’t use your speed around me..”
“I didn’t.. I snuck up on you guys hehe”
Amber was intrigued. “Are you faster than Elektra?”
“Nope.” Gale said, quickly and confidently.
Hikari shrugged and walked off to the front of the room, much to the amusement of the girls.
“Man, why do the boys seem like they have to try and act cool all the time?”
“Nope, that’s just Xero and his weird cool attitidue. Hikari genuinely doesn’t care about that kinda stuff, which is kinda annoying..”
“Oh.. interesting.”
Amber and Gale joined the rest and sat on Tedi. Seemingly everyone ignored the few other sofas, but in all fairness Tedi was just too cute to ignore.
Alas, it was 10:00AM and they were all assembled in front of Hikari, as planned.
“Morning guys, hope you all slept well” he said before giving Amber and Xero a cheeky look, both of whom blushed at the remark.
“Anyway, let’s begin.”