ORIGIN

Othello had been up all morning, just trying to keep himself entertained while Odyssey slept. It was getting harder and harder to leave the sleeping hybrid alone and he was finding himself staring at them longer and longer before breaking the stare and running off again. He was probably only gone for about five minutes each time he ran off, but it felt like an eternity to the impatient gembound. Maybe if Iliad was around he wouldn't be so bored, but he couldn't even find the blind molefox to pester. And ever since he met the father of the two hybrids, he never saw the fox again. Othello needed Odyssey to wake up.

Finally, the boy bound towards Odyssey, skidding to a stop near him and trotting over. He buried his face in the hybrids neck, grabbing at the flesh and tugging gently, trying to wake them forcefully now. His jaws explored Odyssey, leaving their neck and moving to chew on their ears, forelimbs, and then the little fluff of fur on their cheek. A soft whine escaped his chords as his chewing on his cheek turned into nibbles and then into soft kisses, begging the hybrid to wake up.

@odyssey

Odyssey had never been swimming before. Despite that, in the dark of their sleep, they had been in the water. The puddles in Monoceros were deeper than usual. Or maybe Odyssey was just small, tinier than they had ever been, as though they had shrunken. The stagnant water was unusually cold and there were little animals in the water with them. At first they didn't know how to move in the water and they were afraid of drowning, but struggling and flailing their limbs brought them up to the surface. They gasped for air and went back down, and suddenly they were treading water. Slowly, of course - it felt like there were weights on their limbs and they were panicking, unable to keep themselves surfaced for long. The shores had all gone - it was all water now. But eventually, they were comfortable.

One of the most peculiar things about this dream was the notable lack of Mother's presence. She often intruded on their dreams, existing as the most coherent facet of it, speaking to them as if she were trying to guide them through the hardships of the dream. And yet whenever they presented this to Mother upon waking, she acted as if she knew nothing of it. Odyssey brushed it off as a happy coincidence.

Still, this was one time that Odyssey really did wish Mother was here to help. They were floundering in the water, and the fish were beginning to nip at them. Not their limbs - their neck. In the dream, and in life, the child whimpered and twitched their paws in an effort to escape, but the nibbling and biting was growing worse, and no matter how fast Odyssey swam away, they were still there - and then one of them came right up close and... licked them?

Their eyes peeled open, but it was a giant grey fuzzy that occupied most of their vision, and then the familiar scent of Othello smacked them right in the face. Though momentarily stunned by the dream, Odyssey quickly recovered enough to draw their legs in and push their paws against Othello. "Ugh stop it! I'm awake! What's your problem?" Odyssey grumbled, wrinkling their nose slightly before laboriously rolling onto their stomach and yawning, following through with a stretch of their front limbs.

@Othello

When his friend finally woke up, it was less than plesant. He was pushed away and scolded with the others tone. Frowning, he sulked as he stood where Odyssey had pushed him to until the canine was finished with his yawn and stretch. As if the boy had forgotten, he playfully hopped at Odyssey and jumped at them, hoping to encourage the other gembound to play with him. He reached to chew on their ears some more, taunted by their smaller, erect ears in comparison to his own batlike ears.

He didn't consider how horribly this was going to play out, but instead assumed the other would just hop right into wressling or tag or hide and seek or whatever Odyssey wanted to play! Othello didn't care, he just wanted to run around and play! Stretch his legs a little maybe. Or just chew on Odyssey all day, that was fine too.

@odyssey