I Don't Expect the Sun to Love Me Back

12: Magic Ruins the Day

The rest of the journey to the Kingdom of Flames is, thankfully, uneventful and rather boring. True to Nao's fucked up nature, he had assisted with cutting up the dead sea serpent so Local could cook with it with more ease. That's not even the fucked up part either: the fucked up part was that it actually tasted really fucking good! This worried Caboose to no end because:

"What if people start hunting sea serpents for high cuisines?! I think that's going a little too far..."

"You need not worry," Nao quickly reassured the woman on the fly, "I'll speak to Captain Sagar and his crew about it. No one will be hunting sea serpents."

Yippee!

Sure, the pirates (Can they be considered pirates? They're not bad or lawbreakers, but it just sounds cooler.) were disappointed at the order, but if the Princess demands it, there isn't much they can do about it. Not to mention, Caboose has been nothing but kind to the crew members, so they have no reason to disobey her anyway. On another note, Ana and Local took the news of Caboose's magic, well... not so great. Ana, of course, did not heed Nao's words regarding that the Princess didn't want to be under lock-down. In fact, Ana ordered Nao that if she is unable to be by Caboose's side, then Nao HAS to be. This caused him to deadpan because it's not like Nao left the human Princess alone for too long anyway. And as for Local...

There's some lingering tension between him and the woman, though mainly because they don't often have serious squabbles with each other. It doesn't help that her words are still on repeat in the man's head.

"Local, to be completely honest, no."

Local knows what she meant, and she explained herself right after. She trusts him so much that she knows exactly how he thinks and feels about certain things. But that first part is still so atrocious. "No."

Caboose has never said no to Local with so much seriousness before, especially to a question like: "Do you trust me?" Who even starts an answer like that?! That's some shit you'd expect from Nao! Maybe the Princess has been spending too much time with him because she would never have said something like that! Of course, it all makes sense now! It's all Nao's fault! It definitely isn't Local's anxiety trying to brush this off in a way where he doesn't have to deal with his emotions if he doesn't have to! Surely not!

...Eugh.

Maybe Local should talk to his friend when he gets the chance, but it's not that easy when he has no other bitches to consult and like hell, he will never talk to Nao about his feelings. He can't even talk to his imaginary friends, because they prefer the company of Nao! That bitch! Another reason to hate him! Everything is Nao's fault!

... Maybe this is why he has no other friends.

Who would have fucking guessed that the Kingdom of Flames is colder than the Frost Dragons' taint? Wobbling off the deck of the ship with Local's help, Caboose is already shivering despite being drowned in layers upon layers of coats. Being a Fire Elf is convenient because his body temperature is naturally high and quite resilient to the cold. Such is why Caboose is using Local as a personal heater and will continue to do so for a while. He doesn't mind it much, especially because it means he can rub their shared intimacy in Nao's face.

The borders around Pylayushchiy Port are starting to look weak, much to Caboose's dismay. The borders around the port are what help keep the monsters out and make international travel and trade possible. The walls are almost five meters high and half a meter thick, made of the strongest stone. The border juts around the port and out onto the waters, wide enough for even Sagar's ship to safely be protected within the walls. There's a stone gate five meters from the deck that leads to the rest of the land of this kingdom. Pylayushchiy Port is the Kingdom of Flames' only port, so seeing it in the beginning stages of wear and tear makes Caboose uneasy.