Kolos Sugonsath

A day of playing with water and the land dwellers' cars had sounded like fun to Kol. But it was not fun. It was hot and filled with uncomfortable soap and ungrateful customers. If Xehnes hadn’t threatened to sting him if he tried to leave, Kol would have snuck away from the car wash fundraiser hours ago to hide and cool off in one of MAA’s saltwater pools. At least the soap was eco-friendly and didn’t actually hurt him, he thought with a sigh. There were many things worse than spending an entire day with his two best friends.

“Oi Kol!” Malas’ deep, booming voice cut through Kol’s wandering thoughts. “Get your fuckin’ head out of the clouds, slug boy; the buckets are overflowin’.”

Kol blinked slowly, his eyelids slightly out of sync, before looking down at the overflowing buckets by his feet.

“Huh, whoops.” He said quietly before reaching down to shut off the taps, the scorching summer sun beating down on his bare back.

He picked up the two large, and now heavy, buckets with relative ease and began to make his way back to the spot the trio had claimed for the day. Xehnes sat reclined in a lounge chair beneath a large, shady tree, obviously trying not to smile at something Malas had said. The sight made Kol grin crookedly. It was good to see Xehnes relaxing enough for an almost genuine smile in public. Kol wished Prince Xehnes could relax like this more often, especially while he was at university on land, far removed from the official duties constantly weighing him down in Pelareth.

“Oof.” A quiet grunt was torn from Kol when he collided with a smaller figure. The jarring movements caused water to splash over the sides of the buckets he carried and soak his black boardshorts. The water was pleasantly cool, though, so he certainly wasn’t going to complain.

Kol looked down to see who he’d bumped into, intending to apologise, but he hesitated when Malas’ booming laughter signalled the shark’s amusement. Kol shifted his weight from one bare foot to the other, his muscular arms flexing under the weight of the water-filled buckets, trying to ignore Malas’ laughter and Xehnes’ sharp stare that he could almost feel piercing into his back.

“Sorry ‘bout that, little shrimp.” Kol apologised gently with a crooked, sheepish smile playing on his lips and a subtle blush blooming across his cheeks. The cerata adorning his head drooped slightly in his contrition and embarrassment as his gaze quickly flicked over the figure before him to check for injuries.