long vacation

The sun had barely started to peek above the edge of the ocean when Yuuki came across the man.

Ever since relocating to Shepford, Yuuki had found the carefree lifestyle of his new colleagues jarring, having grown used to the early days and late nights of the Auditors. A day which only started at seven o’ clock while ending at the leisurely hour of ten was a lethargic one, and although he was glad the temple head had deemed it fit to maintain some sort of routine Yuuki inwardly grumbled that they wasted too many hours a day just lazing around. Elves did not need to sleep, anyhow, so it was rather perplexing to him that the others seemed to be content following the circadian rhythms of their more human companions. 

It had thus become one of Yuuki’s habits to go for a stroll on the beach at six every morning, a half-hour’s brisk walk from the temple he had come to call his home. There tended to be too many unfamiliar people who would ask invasive questions about the new face in town if he showed up while the inhabitants of the port were getting ready for work, which had proven rather tedious since Yuuki was not particularly inclined towards the act of lying. As such, another presence on the beach at this hour was a surprising occurrence, and Yuuki wondered if he was a traveller who had just gotten off the first boat from somewhere far away.

“Hello,” he called out tentatively.

The person before him was dressed in robes in colours of the dawn sky, the cut of which had a vague resemblance to what Yuuki had been used to seeing back home. The first rays of the day reflected gently off shades of white, rose gold trimmings, and smidges of pink as Yuuki blinked, transfixed by the shifting hues. The stranger smiled back awkwardly; his soft features framed by a cascade of dark brown hair done up neatly in an unfamiliar style.

“Hello,” he replied.

“Um, the immigration office is a little bit further over there, if you’re looking for that.” Yuuki jabbed a thumb over one shoulder.

“Immigration office?”

“You know, the place you go when you arrive in a new country.” Despite being somewhat of a new import himself Yuuki had not quite gone through the process due to certain extenuating circumstances, but he figured it would be standard procedure for other travellers to do so.

“Oh, so this is another country after all! I was trying to figure out where I had landed this time.”

 “Where are you from? How did you get here?” frowned Yuuki, attention drawn to the stranger’s peculiar choice of words.

A pair of dark eyes flickered towards him briefly before the stranger turned their attention to the ebbing waves.

“I don’t remember.”