Disassociation

"Sorry, this just happens sometimes..." Nimbus rocked back and forth on his feet, struggling to stay balanced as the world seemed to spin and reshape in front of him. Static filled his eyes, his head was pounding and his skull felt empty.

"It's alright, I'm here." Arcade whispered, pressing his head against Nimbus' leg as a balancing aid. He didn't flinch when Nimbus placed a hand on top of his head, claws narrowly scratching him. He heard Nimbus apologise again, but his words were slurred. Arcade guided Nimbus to a sofa, the onini felt around the doughy fabric before sitting down.

"I'll make you some tea." Nimbus surveyed the room, trying to focus his eyes as Arcade left for the kitchen. Through his blurred, grey vision, Nimbus began describing the furniture to himself. A wooden coffee table sat upon the hardwood floor, an array of colourful rugs were sprawled across it. The walls were white and messily handpainted with rainbows and tiny doodles. There was a TV across from Nimbus, its frame covered in stickers with a small shark plushie beside it on the stand.

The doorway to the kitchen was as bright as the rest of the house. From where he was sat, Nimbus could spot the bright yellow fridge, its surface was covered in magnets, photos of him and his friends, and obscure recipes. Nimbus ran a clawed finger across the sofa, noticing each pattern in the fabric. Arcade popped his head out of the doorframe, carrying over an oversized coaster with a cup of tea on top.

Nimbus accepted the cup, taking a sip of the warm liquid and savouring the earthy flavours. "Feeling better?" Arcade asked, sitting on the floor with his body pressed against Nimbus' legs. Nimbus nodded, petting Arcade's head while he drank the rest of the tea.

"Sorry for being a burden all the time." Nimbus spoke quietly, setting the empty cup of tea on the coffee table.

"Nonsense, it's not your fault." Arcade smiled reassuringly, "I'm happy I can be here for you."

The two sat in a comfortable silence for a few moments, "Shall we take a walk?" Arcade proposed, standing up as Nimbus did. Arcade quickly returned to Nimbus' side to keep his legs from shaking, "I'm alright, just a little dizzy." Nimbus assured him as they walked together. "Thank you."

Avoiding a coat, Nimbus pushed open the front door. Looking back at Arcade, the canine was holding Nimbus' scarf, an insistent expression on his face. Nimbus rolled his eyes and accepted the scarf, messily wrapping it around his mane. The explorers had homes in many realms - often temporary, but the beauty of Avalon had led Nimbus to buying a permanent home here. The bright colours outside warmed Nimbus' spirits immediately, the pastel trees and the vibrant houses reminded Nimbus of living in a storybook.

The path through town was heavily trodden, the residents of Avalon were incredibly friendly and Nimbus often had visitors. Further up the road, Nimbus spotted Imp, Crew, and Eido. A treble who Nimbus and Arcade were both quite close with. Nimbus waved at them, but the three seemed focused on their game of leap-frog. Bart, another symphony, noticed Nimbus and pointed him out to the trio. The four of them began racing down the track, Imp immediately tackling Crew as they reached Nimbus and Arcade.

Crew went flying into the dirt and Imp leaped over him, "I win!" The red amphibian triumphed, not wasting a second to tackle Eido as well - just for a laugh. Luckily, the treble were durable and playful, often bouncing back up when knocked down by each other.

Arcade failed to suppress a laugh, helping Crew and Eido up. Imp was bouncing up and down on his toes, barely able to contain the violence in his tiny body. Crew and Eido seemed mostly unbothered, teaming up to chase Imp around in circles. Bart stood off to the side, his big eyes as empty as ever. The fish hat on his head was lopsided but he hadn't noticed in all of the excitement. He took the opportunity to socialise, "Dama couldn't make it today." Bart told the duo, usually the two were quite inseperable but Dama enjoyed his personal space.

"That's a shame." Arcade stated, trying to think of something to add. Bart could be vague with information sometimes. Nimbus would usually spill each detail of anything new he learned, everything down to the ingriedients of his new toothpaste. Before anyone could say anything else, Eido pounced on Bart and the two began roughhousing in the grass.

Nimbus' attention turned up the road, in the distance he could see a library nestled inside a hill. The library was a comfortable place for Nimbus, the ceiling was enchanted with a spell that transformed the roof into a sky full of stars. It was decorated with strings of stars and fairy lights. There was a room for magic and rows of books, comfortable places to sit and even darkened rooms with enchantments to make the words glow in the dark.

Picking up on Nimbus' wistful expression, Arcade pulled the onini away from the treble. "See you guys later." Nimbus called, waving his antenna in farewell. The symphonies waved goodbye, Eido's sticky fingers still pulling Imp's ear.

The outside of the library was darker than the rest of the town, the trees had navy blue leaves and star-like fruit. A metal fence flanked the path, the creepy exterior seemed to deter unwanted visitors. Nimbus' friend, Maia, was waiting outside of the library, watering a patch of blue flowers. The introverted kikitsu worked at the library, she loved organising the books and handling conflict with her often snappy attitude. Though, she brightened up when she saw Arcade and Nimbus.

"Good morning." She called out, abandoning her watering can to welcome the duo inside. The library's ceiling was tall, shooting stars racing across it, lanterns with yellow flames were attached to the walls and gave the old building a warm lighting, not too artifical but not too dark either. The walls were painted with various shades of blue, purple, and white. Nimbus had broken free of his disassociation, but still took in everything he could. The library was a safe place.

Maia led Nimbus to his favourite spot, quite literally marked with a sign. He settled onto the beanbag that was nearly perfectly molded to him. Maia didn't bother to pull out a notepad when they sat down, she already knew their orders. The blue kikitsu blended in with the library's decoration, perfect for her low social battery, she seemed to disappear into the decorations and returned moments later with two cappucinos and a blueberry muffin. "Enjoy." She hummed cheerfully, setting the items down on a table and scampering off to clean up another table.

Nimbus noticed one of the pillars holding up the balcony of the second floor had a new design, a snake-like cylinder creeping up the matte pillar. "Hey- did that snake decoration just move?" Nimbus squealed, leaping back in surprise as the end of the snake peeked around the pillar at him. Long Cat laughed at Nimbus, the giant blue eye on her forehead closed and her body slowly shrunk. The 21ft tall feline uncurled herself from the pillar, holding in her laughter at Nimbus' terrified face.

"Do not ever do that to me again." Nimbus whimpered, the natbaktera found this even more amusing. Arcade suppressed his laughter, giving Long Cat a fake stern expression. She pulled up a beanbag next to the two of them, "So, what'cha doing in Avalon? Thought you were studying Reenah's fish?" Long Cat asked, licking her lips at the mention of fish. The feline's small fangs were sticking out, they looked small but you'd hate to get bitten by her.

"Back home for a while, I've been disassociating a little so Arcade said I needed familiarity." Nimbus explained, glad Long Cat wasn't giving him a pitying expression. She was lovely that way, never making a huge deal of things or faking sympathy, she instead watched him with an understanding expression. "Alright, I'll leave y'all to your reading." Long Cat chirped, ruffling Nimbus' bald head before realising her mistake, she shut her primary eyes and slunk off into the depths of the library.

Finishing his cappucino, Nimbus looked around, noticing a little sign. "Live music by Oma?" Arcade read, following Nimbus' eyes. Nimbus heard a voice behind him. "That means grandma in German." Pinto stated, immediately releasing a party-popper in Nimbus' face as he turned around. "PINTO!" Maia shouted, "you're going to blind someone with that, get out." She scolded, chasing the mischevious natbaktera around the library.

Pinto was cackling the whole time, his rainbow pinata-like body twisting around as he rocketed around, confetti dropping from his body. "You'd expect a library to be quiet, wouldn't you?" Maia sighed to Nimbus and Arcade, collecting a broom to chase Pinto away with. The troublemaker shot out of the door like a cannonball, making sure to release a huge confetti-filled fart at the entrance, which fuelled his laughter further.

Nimbus burst out laughing, to Maia's dismay. "What are you, 9?" She teased, sweeping away the mischevious pinata's mess. "He could be Avalon's personal Easter Bunny."

Arcade and Nimbus walked across the smooth floor towards the theatre area, music flowed through the corridor as the duo reached a room, pushing open the door and picking two seats near the front. Oma was a baby onini, he was playing an otamatone and seemed quite good at it. Nimbus noticed he treated the instrument as a bell, its mouth was shaped like Nimbus' own bell.

The music was nice, in between songs, Oma talked about his life and even did a mini QnA. "He's brilliant." Nimbus whispered to Arcade, feeling inspired by the youngster. At the end of the show, Arcade got an autograph and tipped Oma for the show. "100 loonoles? Yippe!" Oma cheered, adding them to his small satchel.

Arcade struggled to adjust his eyes after leaving the darkened theatre, though the sound of crashing caused him to exit the corridor quickly. Pinto was flying around again, Oma on his head. "Yippee!"

Maia was desperately chasing them with a broom again, it was a surprise Pinto wasn't banned but his chaos often brought joy to the locals. Nimbus was glad the place was a hub for magic, he knew Pinto wouldn't be making such a mess if the library couldn't be cleaned in a heartbeat. As much as the local menace enjoyed causing problems, he did care greatly for the wellbeing of his hometown and its residents.

Nimbus avoided the books Pinto was knocking down and made a leap for the entrance, Arcade close on his heels. "At least Oma is enjoying himself." The warm sun was setting, casting golden hues across Avalon, the small town made Nimbus feel overwhelmingly nostalgic. "Where to now?" Arcade asked. "How about Natbak Flapjack?"

The two found themselves at the breakfast shop in no time. Despite it being a breakfast parlour, it was open all day. "Welcome to Natbak Flapjack!" A brown natbaktera greeted them, they were covered in gummy worms and they clutched a clipboard in their hands. "Can I get you a table?"

Nimbus and Arcade followed them to a table, sitting down while they scribbled down an order of their famous long pancake. The server, Dirk, headed into the back. Pinto was sitting at a table as well, tucking into a pile of pancakes covered in syrups, sprinkles, and candy. Dirk popped over every now and again to give him a little kiss. Nimbus found the brightly coloured duo cute, for the first time all day Pinto seemed calm. Honestly, Nimbus was just glad he wasn't trying to swipe pancakes off anyone.

After they ate, Dirk brought some dessert, a sundae with gummy worms and syrups. Nimbus and Arcade decided to share, due to how much ice cream there was. Even between the two, they weren't sure they'd be able to finish it. As the sun began to set outside, Dirk finally got off work. Instead of going home, they sat with Pinto, snuggled up next to him with tails entwined as they shared a milkshake.

Nimbus and Arcade finished their ice cream, heading back home under the stars. "Today was fun, thank you for being here." Nimbus smiled, wrapping his scarf around Arcade's neck to keep out the cold night air. "It was, I'm glad you're my friend, Nimbus."