Ocean Rain

The scent of rain was heavy in the air. Moisture weighed down August’s fur and granules of black sand clung to his pawpads. The gentle roar of the ocean washing in and out made his heart beat slow. 

Closing his eyes, He turned his head up to the clouded sky. Rain pattered on the canopy of ferns overhead, every so often a drop failing to be caught by the wide, viridian fronds and falling onto August. He welcomed the cool sensation. It drew his thoughts away further.

And that was why he always found himself here. It was a bit of an escape. 

Quiet, still. 

All apart from the rain and the gentle sway of grasses and ferns in the wind. Away from the noise and drama of the Valencia manor. The looming presence of September, and the constant drone of creatures, always talking and milling about – which one could hardly ever avoid despite the size of the manor.

It was surprising how much calmer it was just a ten or twenty minute walk from the manor. A completely different atmosphere. There was no one here to watch him or breathe down his neck. And It was nice not to have to think about what he was doing or how he looked to others, just for a little while.

August opened his orange eyes to stare up into the swirling clouds. Between patches of overlapping leaves, the sky peeked out in a languidly shifting tapestry of blues and grays. Watching it made the remaining tightness in his chest loosen. 

It was raining harder, he realized. The pattering overhead had turned into a steadier drumming, but he didn’t feel like going back quite yet. He let his thoughts drift.

In the distance a string of lightning cracked the sky.

Inevitably, they fell to Ame.

When it was raining or storming, it always fell to them. Through the years they had known each other, August had begun to associate those with Ame. Because there was always a chance they were the cause of them, or at the very least an influence.

Even now, a needle of worry pierced August’s calm. Was Ame okay? He had seen them just this morning, and they seemed normal enough.

August remembered many times where they would get into a stupid spat and within the next hour the windows would be darkened with overcast skies. Or he would hear word of a destructive storm that had passed over the kingdom just west of them, and later learn it was Ame’s doing under the orders of September (then rush to find them weak and sickly from overusing their ability). He recalled days when the weather was intermittent, short spits of rain clearing to sunny skies then morphing into gales of sleet that clawed at the walls of the manor. He would track down Ame to find they had been hiding their growing stress for the past couple days and proceed to sit them down and talk it out.

Yet the rain didn’t always mean a bad thing either.

If it was already raining, Ame’s excitement might make it fall a bit harder. And when they were in deep thought, concentrating on a watercolor piece or reading a book August had suggested to them, the wind might pick up with a gentle swell of droplets.

Often enough, it had nothing to do with Ame at all. Just a coincidence. Just weather.

And that was why August thought he had a strange relationship with the rain. 

Separating Ame from it, he quite enjoyed rain. The sound and the smell of it, the way it made a day feel fresher and washed away all other noises. The problem was he couldn’t separate Ame from it. Even if he tried to enjoy it, in the back of his mind his brain swirled with the possible Ame-related implications of it. Good or bad.

A bead of water trailed down his ear and splattered onto the sand. He smiled softly. Then again, it wasn’t as though thoughts of Ame were entirely unwelcome.

Maybe it was because he couldn’t separate the both of them, that when it was raining – even when by himself – he didn’t feel quite so alone. Like Ame was with him, even if they were far away.

A rustle of leaves sounded somewhere behind him. Or above him? He turned, ears perking cautiously at the noise. 

With a brush of salty wind, the canopy parted to reveal none other than Ame. They were in their flight form –  white, marshmallow-y body elongated and clouds trailing from their ears and tail.

There was a pinched look to their face until they caught August’s gaze, then which they broke into a smile as they drifted down towards him.

“Auuuguuussst, How long have you been out here?” They whined, bumping their shoulder with his. “I was looking all over for you and you’re just getting drenched in the rain!”

Despite their playfully put-out demeanor, August knew Ame well enough to pick up on the slight strain in their voice. He was maybe the only creature who would have noticed it. That, and the clouds coming from Ame were more of a gray color than white, only distinguishable if you were looking particularly closely.

He tensed, stomach already churning. “Has something happened?”

“No, no –“ they quickly reassured, picking up on August’s anxiety just as easily as he had their masked distress. Although their smile was still very much there, it had faded at the edges. “Not truly.”

Thunder grumbled in the distance, and the ferns bowed further under the rain.

 “The Valencia manor is in a right state, all is well.”

August leveled Ame with a stare. Dragging what was wrong out of them was always much more difficult than it needed to be.

Ame’s clouds puffed up under his gaze. “No reason to look at me that way, Lord August,” they chuckled.

With a flick of their tail, the rain coming down on them lightened and then dissipated entirely. Only at a small radius though, maybe five feet away from them it was still pouring.

“In any case,” they continued, “you should go back to the manor and warm up. You’ll catch something dreadful out here, and you’re already positively drenched – really Lord August, what were you thinking standing out in the middle of a storm like this?”

August’s tail swished on the ground, fur clumping with dampened sand. “Stop deflecting,” he said softly. “You know that I wasn’t asking about the manor, I was asking about you.” 

At this, their smile finally wavered. They looked away for a moment. 

August thought he heard drumming of rain get louder for just a moment – a few drops finding their way through the barrier Ame had created.

“Would you mind terribly if I accompanied you this evening?” They said. “Preferably inside, but if you wish to stay out here a little longer – even though I advise against it – that’s fine as well.”

Frowning, August’s ear twitched. “You’re still dodging the question.”

“I swe– August, okay – I’m lonely, please hang out with me. Happy?”

He blinked. “Why didn’t you just say so? Could’ve made that easier for both of us.”

“Well…” Ame smiled again, but it looked weighed down. It had a sharp bitterness to it. An air of self-deprecation that August was all too familiar with. His heart ached at the sight. “I know that you prefer not to be around others as much as I do, and I didn’t want to be a bother.” They admitted. So quietly, that he could barely hear them above the downpour.

August reached his paw out to Ame’s. “You’re not a bother. Next time just ask.”

He could practically see the thoughts rolling around in Ame’s head. After a moment of hesitation, their eyes met his. “So then… tonight?”

“Yes, you can accompany me this evening.” August smiled.

After enjoying the outside for a few more minutes in companionable silence, they both headed back to the manor. They ended up hunkering down in Ame’s makeshift art studio for the evening, August with his nose a novel and Ame working on their latest watercolor piece. Every so often August would tell them something interesting or funny happening in his book, or Ame would ask him for advice on what to add to their piece. 

By the time the windows had darkened with night, August realized the storm had quieted into a gentle drizzling.