Work Text:
8pm October 25th
“Ahem… I LOVE YOUUU!” the grey cat shouted full force.
“...Ah.” the human muttered before passing out.
Raymond winced, “Oh. Ken was right…”
~~~~~~~~~~
5pm October 26th
Croissant gulped before heading into Raymond’s house, wondering if it had really just all been a
sleepy hallucination...
“Oh, Croissant, thank goodness! When you didn’t wake up at 10 like usual, I thought you got a concussion from fainting on the ground or something!” the cat worried, hugging the human without a thought. Croissant froze up in Raymond’s grip, eyes wide.
“Oh, so that really happened…” Croissant realized, “I should apologize to Wisp next time he visits.” He looked incredibly tense as he tried to not freak out about his crush giving him affection.
Raymond quickly pulled back from the hug to speak again. “Yes, and I’m really sorry about that! It’s just, our conversations always help me relieve stress when I’m swamped with trying to deal with my business, and Ken joked that you looked like you were crushing on me...” Raymond sighed, looking guilty.
“Oh, so it wasn’t actually a…” Croissant’s heart sank.
“No, look!” Raymond shouted, grabbing Croissant’s hand. “I do want to try this, to date you, but I probably won’t be a good boyfriend if I’m just thinking about work all the time! But if you really love me, I’m willing to-”
Croissant jolted, recognizing something he didn’t want to see again. “Hey, you don’t need to feel obligated to date me! You never did something like that when you were a celebrity, right!?” Croissant said, only mildly joking.
Rymond’s ears lowered and he pointedly looked away, and Croissant pulled away, looking bewildered. “No, uh, I used to get drunk a lot when I was younger, and- it was blackmail! F-from photoshopped pictures!” Raymond started loudly rambling, feeling obligated to explain himself.
Croissant let out a relieved sigh and put a finger near Raymond’s mouth. “Aaand, I don’t need to hear any more of that. Not unless you really think I need to know?”
Raymond let out a relieved sigh and thought back to his crazed thoughts the previous night. “I know I’m not like my public persona, and uh, uhm…” Raymond paused before switching tactics, “I’m just worried that if this becomes an actual relationship, I’ll just use you to relieve my stress from work all the time. And that that would make the relationship feel one-sided, and… I’ve seen how you look when you talk about Australia! I don’t want you to look at me like that!” Raymond seemed to pleading as he spoke, hoping his thoughts got through to Croissant.
The cat let out a sigh when he finished. “That didn’t sound refined at all…”
“And it doesn’t have to be!” Croissant assured Raymond, taking his hand. “But hey, maybe we could just start with a date?” the human suggested, “I really really want to be boyfriends with you, but you’re right about Australia… Crushing is easy, romantic relationships definitely aren’t,” Croissant said, looking out into the distance.
“That’s fine with me, crisp!” Raymond smiled, pulling Croissant back to reality.
“And hey, if we decide to continue dating, we can always actually talk about stress as it comes up, right?” Croissant offered.
“I’d like that!“ Raymond smiled.
~~~~~~~~~~
1pm November 5th
“Alright, makeup bag, check. Tiny hairbrush, check. Wallet of non-bell money, check. And Mister Britches~ is already at Axel’s house with everything, so I’m all set!” Croissant chuckled, glad that his corgi got along with the elephant.
And with that, Croissant headed outside into the rain, pulled out his umbrella, and rushed into the airport where Raymond was waiting. “Hey, Raym!” Croissant greeted him as he entered.
“Hello, Croissant,” Raymond nodded. “I love your dress!” The human was wearing a blue party dress and a black beret, along with white pumps and black garter socks. Croissant adjusted his hexagonal glasses, which were fake.
“And I love your tailcoat~” Croissant flirted.
“Why thank you, I got it for my birthday from a very special person,” Raymond smiled, posing.
Croissant blushed. “I’m glad you like it, but, uh, we’re not going anywhere in the northern hemisphere, right? I’m not really dressed for cold weather,” Croissant added. He was used to November being warm his whole life and he wasn’t going to change that now!
“Don’t worry, we’re staying in this hemisphere… and going to another island! But, y’know, one that’s actually inhabited. Multiple cities, unlike Solaceon,” Raymond chuckled.
“Oh yeah?”
“Actually, the majority of people living there are developed-animals!” he smiled.
Croissant jumped. “Wait, but I told you that I don’t know a lot about developed-animals!? What if I say something dumb?” he panicked, “I didn’t know you can eat chocolate, remember!?”
“I said don’t worry, Croissant!” Raymond shouted, grabbing the human’s shoulders. “Just don’t say any animal stereotypes and you’ll be fine!”
“And it feels weird that you’re not all nervous about dating me anymore…” Croissant added in his panic.
“ I planned this date extensively so I wouldn’t feel nervous anymore,” Raymond whispered in a hiss.
“...Oh.”
“Yes, so let’s maybe start boarding, because Orville is staring,” Raymond added. Croissant agreed and they moved to the reception desk, where said dodo bird was pretending to sip coffee.
“You two ready now?” he asked.
“Yup!” Croissant said, putting on a fake smile. He was really worried he was going to say something stupid.
“Alright, just gotta go over the checklist…” Orville said, pulling out a dusty-looking paper. “Do either of you have tools of any sort? Watering Can included.”
“Does my umbrella count? The rest are in my closet,” Croissant asked.
“I just have my clothes, umbrella, and bells,” Raymond spoke.
“...I only brought the last of my australian dollars,” Croissant muttered.
“Oh, yeah, no, they use bells there,” Raymond said, realizing that keeping their destination a secret might’ve been a bad idea…
“Umbrellas are fine, Nook Inc. just doesn’t want people selling gilded tools outside of their islands… Which leads to the next question, are either of you planning to share any Nook Inc. or Dodo Airlines secrets?”
“...No?” Croissant said, looking at Raymond, who agreed.
“We’re just going on a date, Orville. We’re not leaking what amazing price Nook’s Cranny sells grand pianos for or anything, crisp,” Raymond joked.
Orville threw the paper over his shoulder. “Alright, that’s everything I needed to hear! Have a nice flight, you two,” Orville smiled before opening the gates and signalling Wilbur to go get that airplane moving.
~~~~~~~~~~
“You weren’t kidding when you said mostly d- wait, there’s gotta be a non-offensive shorthand for developed-animals…” Croissant interrupted himself to think.
“Oh, yeah, you never called us Danis, crisp,” Raymond realized, “Spelled D-A-N-I.”
“Oh, Danis, neat!” Croissant smiled.
“Weeell, it’s origins are kind of sketchy, but I personally think devimal sounds dumb,” Raymond shrugged.
“That sounds cute, though??” Croissant squeaked, eyes wide.
Raymond found himself being lost in Croissant’s blue eyes for a moment before pointing the human towards some stairs. “Anyway, we’ll need to use the metro to get our first stop. There aren’t any in Australia, right?” Raymond asked.
“Doing research on my home country, huh?” Croissant joked before nodding. “Yeah, no, you’re correct, I’ve never been in a metro. Is it dark?”
“Not pitch black, at least,” Raymond said as they descended the stairs. The sun’s brightness did indeed wane as they descended, but there were lights in the metro, of course! ...THough the crowd around them didn’t exactly make them feel comfortable.
“...Did we catch the lunch rush or something?” Croissant said as they were bumped around.
“Thiiis is normal, actually,” Raymond groaned, helping his… boyfriend get through the crowd. ‘Aaa, it feels so weird thinking of him as my boyfriend when this is just our first date!’ the cat thought.
Eventually they reached the right train and Croissant collapsed in an empty seat, Raymond standing in front of him due to space. “So, enjoying Tarami so far?” Raymond asked.
“Yeah, but I kind of expected you to-”
“Holy shit, is that RAYMOND!?”
“...get recognized.”
~~~~~~~~~~
“...Did we lose them?” Raymond asked.
Croissant peeked around the corner. “I don’t see them anymore? Maybe?” he whispered.
“Okay, good, because we’re not actually far from the restaurant,” Raymond said, checking the gps on his…
“Wait, where’d you get a normal smartphone!?” Croissant shouted. He only had his Nookphone after his old phone was confiscated by Mr. Nook.
“Oh, remember when you used the restroom after we landed? I had it in one of the airport’s lockers and picked it up,” Raymond explained.
“I hadn’t thought of that…” Croissant sighed. ‘At least Mr. Nook had let me backup my pictures…’ he thought.
“Anyway, it’s just a few blocks over,” Raymond said, glancing around to double check their location.
“Oh, take my beret, maybe?” Croissant offered, handing it over and pulling out his tiny hair brush in one quick action. “Obviously a hat with a brim would be easier to hide your face with, but this is all I have,” Croissant said as he brushed down his hat hair.
“No, that’s fine, thanks,” Raymond said, using the beret to cover his swoop of blonde hair. “How do I look?”
“You look g-Oh, I never asked about that!” Croissant remembered.
Raymond blinked. “Asked about what?”
Croissant was about to say, but remembered their situation. “Actually, I can ask you at the restaurant, let’s just go,” he rushed, grabbing Raymond’s wrist and running out of the alley.
“To the right,” Raymond spoke up when Croissant was about to turn them to the left.
“...Right, you should be leading.”
~~~~~~~~~~
Raymond stopped in front of a skyscraper with windows all over the sides. “The restaurant is on the top floor.”
“...I know I have 20 million bells, but that sounds incredibly expensive,” Croissant said, mouth agape.
Raymond’s eyes went wide. “Uh, and how long have you been earning bells, again?”
“...Since I moved to Solaceon in March?”
“Croissant, holy heck,” Raymond gasped.
Croissant suddenly looked very nervous. “The Turnip Market is pretty easy when you find the right channels…” he muttered, walking up the stairs.
“Dang, Croissant. Maybe I should be picking up weeds and branches, too!” Raymond joked, following his date into the building.
“Just beachcomb around the island once and you’ll have, like, 3 thousand bells worth of shells,” Croissant chuckled, still amazed that giant clams sold for 900 bells.
The two headed to the elevators and headed up many, many floors. When they got to the top, Croissant and Raymond stepped out and popped their ears from the altitude change before approaching the host. “Reservation for Raymond.”
The host checked the list before smiling at the cat. “RIght this way, sir,” the ostrich spoke, leading them to their table in the back corner.
It was a large square table, close to the windows, so Croissant had a good view of the street below. The host spoke about wine specialties, but as Croissant didn’t really like alcohol, he ordered his favorite drink, lemonade. Raymond looked weird about ordering a glass, but Croissant assured him it was fine. “You don’t have to worry about me!” Croissant chuckled, before his eyes widened.
“Oh, yeah, my beret!” Croissant realized.
“Right, I forgot I was wearing it, crisp,” Raymond said, taking it off and handing it to his date. Croissant set it on top of his head and messed with it a bit before giving up and looking at the menu. “Don’t worry, it looks fine on you,” Raymond smiled at the human.
“Thanks, Raym,” Croissant smiled back.
“Raymond, is that you?” a voice spoke up just as Croissant had made a decision.
“Bernard!” Raymond shouted, getting up and giving the dog a quick hug. ‘Bernard’ looked to be your typical Saint Bernard dog turned into a Danis, though the typical floppy lips were less pronounced.
Croissant blinked, having not expected another interruption. “And who’s this?” Croissant asked.
“Croissant, meet Bernard, one of my close friends! He was the one that suggested I follow my dreams,” Raymond beamed.
“So you’re the one that got him to stop modelling, huh?” Croissant asked, getting up to shake the dog’s paw.
“And who’s this lady you fished up, huh? Is she from the island?” Bernard joked.
Croissant broke the handshake, feeling embarrassed. “Oh, I’m a man, actually. Just gender non-conforming…” Croissant awkwardly laughed.
“Oh, sorry about that!” Bernard apologized, “I always forget to ask for pronouns first. And I’m always forgetting Raymond is pansexual!”
Raymond rolled his eyes. “He’s always running headfirst into embarrassment,” the cat groaned.
“So, he said your name is Croissant, huh? Hiding your real name?” Bernard joked.
“...Yes, actually,” Croissant admitted softly.
“Really, crisp?” Raymond asked, blinking in surprise.
“I got it legally changed before moving to Solaceon though, so I can technically say my real name is Croissant!” the human bounced back.
“Oh, this one’s fierce!” Bernard laughed.
“So, what are you doing here, Bernard?” Croissant asked, noticing that nobody was watching them.
“I’m the owner!”
“Oh, wow!” Croissant gasped.
“Yeah, he’s always been a great chef since we were kids and he just opened this place up, what? Two years ago?” Raymond asked for confirmation.
“Yup, we’re coming up on the third opening anniversary, actually! ...Why did I open January Second again?” Bernard sighed.
“Because you got really excited that the kitchen appliances stopped glitching,” Raymond answered, patting the dog’s back.
“We barely got any customers until mid-February…” Bernard groaned as he remembered the beginning.
“But then you got that really good review and customers swarmed in!” Raymond reminded the dog.
“Well I can tell you deserved it!” Croissant smiled before realizing something, “...Actually, I can’t, I haven’t eaten any food.”
Bernard laughed. “Fair enough! I’ll ask for your opinion after the meal, then!” he said, gesturing to the waiter that had been avoiding them as they spoke. “I hope you enjoy it!”
“It was nice to see you again, Bernard,” Raymond said, shaking the dog’s paw again before.
“You too, Raymond!” Bernard beamed before walking off.
The two sat back down in their seats, receiving their drinks before ordering their meals. Croissant ordered a seafood pasta and salad, and Raymond ordered the tilapia and veggies.
“‘Avoid animal stereotypes’, huh?” Croissant snorted.
“Oh shush, the fish here is good. I’m just not in the mood for filet mignon, crisp,” Raymond said, rolling his eyes.
“Well, since we’re alone now, I can ask you the question from earlier.”
“Why’d you wait so long? We could’ve asked me in the elevator,” Raymond suggested.
“I was distracted by the pressure in my ear drums,” Croissant sighed.
“Ehh, same for me, actually,” Raymond admitted, embarrassed.
Croissant leaned forward. “So, is the blond hair on your head just fur you grew out long?”
“It-”
“I’ve always wanted to ask you, but I never saw someone ask that in any of your interviews,”
“Cro-”
“-And then I wondered if it was just something that everyone else already knew a-”
“Croissant let me speeeak,” Raymond hissed in a whisper across the table, knocking Croissant out of his embarrassed rambling.
“Right, sorry.”
“It’s human hair. Otherwise I would lose it every winter,” Raymond explained.
“So you still shed…” Croissant mumbled to himself.
“As the generations of Danis progress, more of us started being born with human hair. It’s not always on the head, though. I’ve heard tales of a Danis going through puberty and suddenly having arm hair…” Raymond shuddered.
“Wow, that’s crazy!”
‘Sometimes scientists think that means we’ll eventually lose our fur, or feathers, completely, but it’s all poppycock,” Raymond said, waving it off.
“...Mainly I just don’t want to imagine a world where we’re all hairless!” the cat shuddered. “Because, well, would we have to wear pants then…? I can’t imagine what the universal tail hole would wind up being!”
Croissant spoke up before Raymond continued his rant. “Uhh, so did you have a human relative, or...?” Croissant asked.
“No, that’s why my parents thought it was so weird! Here I am, the fourth generation of an all-cat family, and suddenly I have human hair. It came in slowly, just like a human baby’s hair does, but of course I was born with all my body fur.”
Croissant’s eyes widened when he heard ‘baby’. “Oh, do newborn kitty Danis still have that period where they don’t open their eyes?” Croissant asked, not remembering if it was a week or longer.
Raymond looked down at the table. “...Yes,” he answered softly, looking like he was getting embarrassed.
“Wait, what’s that look for??”
Raymond looked back at Croissant, eyes pleading. “...Just don’t look for my baby photos. I don’t know if they’re on the internet, but don’t! The mixed DNA just makes me look so weird, ick!” Raymond stuck out his tongue.
Croissant reached across the table to grab Raymond’s paws. “Hey, come on, you were just a baby! All babies are ugly. You can’t put makeup on them, after all,” Croissant joked, cheering up the cat.
“...Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he admitted.
They were interrupted by the waiter approaching their table, tray in hand. “Seafood pasta?”
“And the salad,” Croissant spoke up, staying quiet while the waiter set down their food.
“So, what made you think to move to an abandoned island?…”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Wow, you had a lot more questions about Danis than I thought, crisp!” Raymond laughed as they walked out of the building.
“Yeah, and you sure have a lot of opinions about them, huh?” Croissant joked, poking Raymond in the side.
“Well of course I do! We’re a new species on this planet and we need to think about how the system still treats us! It wasn’t that long ago Danis were still being treated by veterinarians!” Raymond shouted before realizing they were outside again.
“Oh, and meeting Bernard was cool, too! His food definitely deserved those good reviews,” Croissant smiled.
“Yeah, he’s a great guy. Too bad his girlfriend didn’t believe in the restaurant at first,” Raymond sighed.
“Oh no! Because the first month wasn’t great?”
“Yeah, they winded up getting in fights a lot and she broke up with him a week before the place started getting good reviews,” Raymond sighed, ”But hey, at least it only took a month for them to get recognized! It took a lot longer for me!” he joked.
“I actually have all your old childhood commercials downloaded on my computer,” Croissant laughed.
“Noo, that’s worse than the baby pictures!” Raymond groaned.
Croissant rolled his eyes. “Oh, your giant glasses looked cute, shush.”
“Oh god, I forgot the glasses…” Raymond groaned as they walked.
“So, what’s next?” Croissant asked.
“Oh, right, the cinema…” Raymond said, checking his phone’s clock. “...I thought we talked too much, but the next time for our movie is in forty minutes,” Raymond said, heading towards an intersection.
“The movies, huh? What’re we watching?” Croissant asked.
“I, uh, there’s only one romantic movie, so I thought that? Is that a bit too cheesy for a first date?” Raymond asked.
“Not at all!” Croissant smiled before the light turned green and they crossed. “What’s the movie about?”
“Uh, kind of a Victorian period piece about a Danis and Human falling in love. Of course, there weren’t any Danis back then, so it’s technically fantasy…” Raymond mumbled out as he tried to read the directions on his phone.
Croissant peeked over Raymond’s shoulder and recognized a building, helping them continue their brisk walk to the cinema. “I mean, it certainly sounds cool. As long as there’s not a racism allegory,” Croissant said, rolling his eyes.
“There’s always a racism allegory in those kinds of films,” Raymond said, rolling his eyes.
“Well, maybe there won’t be!”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Wow, there actually wasn’t a racism allegory...” Raymond blinked, surprised.
“Yes! Optimism wins!” Croissant shouted, raising his fist in the air.
“It was basically just Pride and Prejudice remade with Danis, though,” Raymond realized.
“I actually haven’t read or seen that…” Croissant awkwardly admitted.
“You didn’t have to read it for school!?” Raymond gasped.
“I only read like three of the books people say they read for school, and I just read The Great Gatsby randomly one day because I was bored at my Gran’s house,” Croissant explained, “...I did not understand a lick of it. Gran asked me what I felt when the woman died and I had no idea what she was talking about.”
“Yeah, the Great Gatsby is weird…” Raymond admitted, continuing to walk away from the theater, back to trying to hide his face from the public. Croissant placed his beret on the cat’s head again and stretched, stopping when his neck let out a louder crack than he expected.
Raymond stared at him with wide eyes for a moment, but Croissant just shrugged. “So, what’s next?” he asked.
“Uhm, well...” Raymond looked at the orange horizon. “Perfect, let’s go to Sunset Point!” the cat beamed.
“Sounds like a kissing place,” Croissant joked.
“Well you were the one who wanted to date me , remember?” Raymond laughed.
“I know, and I love that I’m so close to you right now!” Croissant squealed before trying to reel it in. ‘Aaa, I have to stop putting pressure on him. I don’t want him even more stressed!’ he thought.
“Uh, I mean, yeah it’s greaaat…” Croissant blushed, looking away.
“Croissant, please. I suffered through the many days you just stuttered out your words to me. I mean, I thought you were just a fan back then, and not that you had a crush on me… But the point still stands! I’m used to you geeking out on me. It was really awkward trying to hold a conversation then…” Raymond sighed.
“And then somehow the first real conversation we had was about shampoo… That was so weird,” Croissant chuckled.
Raymond laughed. “Maybe you just needed weird to get used to talking to me?” he suggested.
“Yeah, I guess so!” Croissant laughed.
“Now let’s go to Sunset Point!” Raymond announced, pointing to a hill in the distance.
“...Do we really have to walk that far?” Croissant said. His heels were beginning to hurt.
“No, I was gonna get a taxi for this,” Raymond said before trying to hail a taxi.
Croissant stood behind the cat to block him from the passerbys’ view, not wanting to get chased again. Eventually Raymond managed to hail a cab and they got in, finding a frog in the driver seat. Croissant noticed the many books the frog was sitting on to help it see the road and leaned in to whisper to Raymond when they were seated.
“Aren’t ther-”
“Not when we just got in the cab, Croissant,” Raymond said, not wanting to be thrown out of it because of his curious date. Croissant whispered back a sorry while Raymond gave the driver the location.
~~~~~~~~~~
Not long later, the taxi let them out at the bottom of the hill. “I don’t want people gettin’ all kissy in the back a’ the cab,” the frog huffed.
Raymond chuckled awkwardly and exited, leading Croissant up the rather steep hill, where there was a bench planted. “Ahh, here’s the best view in Tarami,” Raymond sighed as he sat down.
“No way, that honor definitely goes to Bernard’s Place!” Croissant smirked..
“Okay, well it’s the best nostalgic view for me,” Raymond insisted.
Croissant let out a hum, and the two just watched the horizon for a while. “Thanks for doing this, by the way,” Croissant spoke up after a while, “You really didn’t have to feel obligated to date me, but it was fun.”
“I actually had a lot of fun too, crisp,” Raymond smiled.
“When you were just answering my questions all day? No way that’s fun!” Croissant snorted.
“Okay, it was kind of weird, but I didn’t get to voice some of my Danis opinions when I was a model and actor, so it helped me get some stuff on my chest!” Raymond admitted. “Wait, that’s literally the same as me talking to you to relieve my stress…” he worried.
“Uhh, I guess? But you answered my questions! So it wasn’t one-sided like you were worrying about!” Croissant assured the cat.
“Ehh, true,” Raymond chuckled. “Oh, and about the driver, smaller Danis like frogs and hamsters usually have car seats and car pedals adjusted for their size,” Raymond explained.
“Oh, I did see that the pedals were raised!” Croissant said, “Man, Apple and Mint probably had it hard.”
“Yeah, on the other side of the island is a city where only Rodent Danis live. Crisp,” Raymond said, stretching his arms.
“So it doesn’t include frogs?” Croissant asked, giving Raymond a look.
Raymond put his arms back by his side, defeated. “No, they do. It’s just named Rodential, so most assume it’s only for-”
“I wasn’t saying you can’t put your arm around me, Raymond,” Croissant chuckled
“...Oh,” Raymond blushed, doing just that.
“But, uh, has your opinion of me changed? I don’t want to be lead on,” Croissant said.
“Wha-oh, right!” Raymond blushed, remembering he had to speak his thoughts. “Yeah, it has! I really enjoyed this date and learning stuff about you! And, uh, I didn’t realize you were actually so cute,” Raymond said, making Croissant blush.
“Just, uh, maybe tone down your costumes sometimes? I didn’t expect you to wear a zombie costume to my birthday…” Raymond said, feeling embarrassed.
“That princess dress was adorable though!” Croissant smiled.
“It was my birthday and you were more dressed than me…” Raymond sighed.
“Alright, yeah, that was kind of bad,” Croissant admitted, looking away.
“But hey, we’ve gotta promise to communicate if we become boyfriends, okay? I don’t want to hear you stayed up until 5am trying to get 50 packages ready to mail again!” Croissant spoke back up.
“Wha- Bu-It was my responsibility, crisp!” Raymond stammered.
Croissant grabbed Raymond’s shoulders. “Ask your friends for help, you dolt!” he shouted back.
“Fiine…” Raymond groaned. “How long did you want to say that, crisp?”
“Ever since I heard you did that from Ken.”
“Dangit Ken…” Raymond groaned.
The light began dimming as they both laughed at the situation. “We actually didn’t wind up ‘gettin’ all kissy’” Raymond joked as they both stood up.
“Well..” Croissant started for a moment before quickly leaning over to give Raymond a peck on the lips.
“Now let’s head back to the airport before Wilbur abandons us!”” Croissant shouted.
Raymond was shocked for a moment, but quickly spoke up as Croissant stomped off. “He would never!”
“What, did I not tell you the story of King?”
“...What happened to King?”
~~~~~~~~~~
“Alright, we’ve landed in Solaceon, folks. Thanks for choosing Dodo Airlines, and have a good day!” Wilbur announced over the intercom as they landed.
Raymond and Croissant hopped out of the plane and headed back out into their home island. “Holy shit, Wilbur really just abandoned him on a random island!?” Raymond blinked.
“King made it seem like a mistake, but he was there for nearly two years, so Wilbur must be insanely forgetful or something!” Croissant added, the image of nearly-feral lion coming back to him.
“Well he certainly doesn’t show it! His mane seems a bit uneven, but I guess having to cut tree sap out of your fur would do that,” Raymond shuddered.
The two talked a bit more about the other residents of Solaceon, but eventually the two arrived at Croissant’s home, which was just a straight shot from the airport. “Well, here I am,” Croissant laughed.
“Yeah…” Raymond trailed off, feeling awkward.
“Oh wow, they do look like they were on a date!” a hushed whisper came from the next door over.
“Do you think they went to a concert, rockin’?”
“No way, Croissant’s too much of a romantic for that, lats-idasical!”
“...I think the Secret Elephant Club is watching us.”
“We’re not a club!” one of the voices shouted back, followed by barking.
“Yeah, Croissant, they’re not a club, crisp,” Raymond laughed.
“Oh shush,” Croissant huffed, sticking out his tongue at Raymond, who leaned in to poke into with his own tongue for a moment before realizing what he did.
“Ah, wait, uh!” Raymond stammered.
Croissant laughed and kissed Raymond on the lips properly before pulling back and heading into his house. “See you tomorrow, boyfriend ,” Croissant waved.
“Wait, don’t leave me with your corgi overnight!” Axel shouted, rushing past Raymond with the dog in his arms.
“You forgot his leash, bug-a-me,” Tucker said, holding out the bag of dog stuff.
Raymond stood there for a moment before leaving Croissant to deal with the secretive elephants. He needed to think about some things...