Title: Floods are Friends, Not Pets [Lea, Roxas, Ventus]
Rating/Warnings: Gen
Summary: Lea takes his buddy, the orange Flood, on a Wonderland trip.
AN: Written for Shiritori. Another fic about the Floods coming in different colors for different emotions. I think Lea would think they were absolutely hilarious.
Floods are Friends, Not Pets
“This is definitely the start of an interesting friendship,” Ventus chuckled as Lea crouched down to inspect the Flood lurking around their feet. Most of the Floods only lasted a few hours, a day at most, but the orange, curly one had been around for almost a week, sniffing things, investigating corners, and chewing on any unguarded shoelaces.
“What is it?” Roxas asked suspiciously. He’d already fussily shooed the Flood off of his sneakers. Ventus didn’t understand what it was with Twilight Town kids and their sneakers, but whatever it was, Roxas had contracted it.
“You’ve seen Floods before,” Lea said. He poked the Flood between the eyes, making its ears flatten. It arched like a cat when he ran a hand down its back, and then stretched up to take a swipe at the bottom of Lea’s ponytail.
“Only the sharp, purple ones trying to eat my face,” Roxas said. He wrinkled his nose as Lea scooped up the Flood like a cat, making it squeak-chirp happily. “Are we going or what?”
“Sure thing,” Lea said easily, standing up. The Flood lounged easily in the crook of his arm, looking around with perked ears as Lea and Ventus headed towards the door. When Lea noticed Roxas wasn’t following, he called over his shoulder, “C’mon, Rox, keep up!”
“You aren’t bringing that thing, are you?” Roxas demanded as they got outside. Lea’s Gummi Ship was parked on the nearest patch of Land of Departure grass. “Riku said no pets in the Gummi ship.”
“Floods aren’t pets,” Ventus piped up. “They’re…well, they aren’t pets.”
“That’s a Sora rule,” Lea added, dropping his free hand onto Roxas’s hair to muss it up as soon as Roxas caught up. “It’s because Sora tends to try and bring pets home in the Gummi ship, not take current pets on an adventure.”
“It’s not a pet!” Ventus repeated.
“Get it? An ad-VEN-ture!” Lea grinned when Ventus and Roxas gave him identical dirty looks. “Oh man, this is gold, how have I never taken a field trip with you two together before? Here, hold this a sec.”
Roxas protested as Lea pushed the Flood into his arms and tried to push it back, but Lea was patting down his pockets, looking for his keys. The Flood made a grab for Roxas’s necklace.
“Stop that,” Roxas scolded it. The Flood was soft but not furry, more like staticky, making the hairs on Roxas’s arms rise. “What are these even made of?”
“My feelings,” Ventus said. Roxas squinted at him, but Ventus just blinked back, guileless.
“Aha!” Lea exclaimed, yanking his keys out of his inside jacket pocket. He thumbed the clicker, and his Gummi Ship beeped obligingly. “Whoooo’s ready for Wonderland?”
“Wheep wheep!” cheered the Flood, squirming in Roxas’s grip. Lea reached over and bumped a tiny high-five against its waving foot.
“See, this guy gets it,” Lea announced. He paused, tilting his head. “Or lady? This one has less of a dude vibe than the shrieking anxiety one.”
“They don’t really have genders,” Ventus said, patting the Flood on the head. “Since they’re intangible concepts.”
“Intangible?” Roxas demanded, since the Flood was chomping very tangibly on his hoodie strings.
“Good news for you, little buddy, that’s my favorite gender!” Lea scooped the Flood out of Roxas’s arms and settled it slung over his shoulder like an enormous cat. “Me and my buddy here are going to Wonderland for some excellent cookies and much needed synthesis pieces, so get your identical butts in the ship if you want to come along. Play your cards right and I might let you keep a couple centimeters of height when we come back, Light knows you both could use some of that.”
“I’m gonna put bleach in his shampoo,” Roxas muttered. “He’s gonna lose that thing in Wonderland in one second flat, you know that, right?”
“That’s ok,” Ventus said pleasantly. “I’ll make more.”
