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“Chevacchi, Chevacchi!~”
Cheval sighed, craning his neck back at the unpleasant sensation of his collar tightening as his little sister balled his shirt fabric into a fist in her pudgy, sandy hand. She had kept tugging away incessantly, unaware of her own strength yet or how firm she was being.
“… What do you want?” He asked, unamused as he met her expectant, sparkling gaze looming over him.
“Come to my store! We just opened, Onee-chan helped me find lotssss of shells,” she spread her short arms out as wide as she could for emphasis before continuing, “so we have plenty of pro… prod…”
“Products.” Cheval deadpanned, finishing for her as a hinged, plastic jaw clamped down onto the squishy, rubber bait of his toy hook with a muffled snap.
Vivlos’ scrunched up face lit right back up. “Yeah, that!” she beamed. “You’re sooo smart Chevacchi! When I’m a big girl, I’ll know a lot of big words, too!”
Cheval’s brows furrowed as he tore his gaze from her, bringing his focus back to the murky puddle between his legs. “Lots of people know that one. It’s not impressive, and I'm only a year older than you.” he muttered as he took hold of the rod’s dingy, sun-faded handle, it’s thin rope swaying as he aggressively reeled in his catch.
Not missing a beat, Vivlos gasped as the bright blue toy fish, it’s screws rusted from frequent play, breached the surface. “Wow, you caught a big one!”
Cheval smiled contentedly as he held the fish up, dislodging it from the hook and placing it down in the sand beside him before routinely casting his line once again with a quiet plop.
As Vivlos watched on in uncharacteristic silence, she suddenly dropped to the sand beside him in delight.
“Hey! Why don’t you come sell your fish at my store, too?! We could have a b… busy… busynest…”
Cheval raised a brow as he glanced over at her.
Vivlos began to gesture wildly in frustration. “You know! That thing Mama and Papa talk about in grown up meetings!”
Cheval thought for a few seconds, swirling his hook around. “Business partnership, you mean?”
“Ah, bingo!” Vivlos exclaimed, pointing a finger at Cheval with another toothy grin. He quickly smothered the faint flicker of pride that sparked in the depths of his heart, knowing all too well that it would only be a matter of time before Vivlos left him in the dust in this field, too.
Cheval sighed. “I’m not interested in selling my fish. Besides, that’s not one of those things you can just decide on a whim.”
“Eh? What do we need to do first, then?” Vivlos cocked her head inquisitively, eagerly awaiting her older sibling to reveal his hidden wisdom.
Cheval thought for a long moment, wracking his brain for forgotten fragments of conversation he’d picked up on through grand double doors negligently left on a crack and elaborately decorated walls that only gave the impression of insulating the booming, overzealous proclamations of faceless suits and ties.
“… You’d probably need a contract.”
“What’s tha- Ah! You caught another one!” Vivlos cut herself off, pivoting her palms in the sand as she lunged forward and watched in fascination as another sharp clamp rippled tiny bubbles to the surface.
Cheval snapped to attention, that brief shimmer returning to his eyes as he started to wind the handle vigorously, it’s awkward creaking mingling in the air with a cry of a seagull resounding from the distance.
“It’s some piece of paper that lays out what adults get from working together, and what they have to do. Then everyone signs it as proof they agree.”
Stumped, Vivlos leaned back, beginning to stroke her chin. “… Paper… Paper… where could we find paper at the beach… Ah! Maybe a message in a bottle will show up!” she lit up before quickly deflating again. “Oh, but that paper would have stuff on it already… hm…”
“I told you, I don’t want to sell my fish. Even if you found paper and brought me a contract, I wouldn’t sign it. You can’t force someone into it. That’s illegal.” Cheval grumbled, starting to claw at the sand to forge a defensive wall between his beloved aquatic friends and potentially part-kaiju little sister.
“But-”
Before Vivlos could protest further, the increasingly tense atmosphere was swiftly mediated like a hot knife through butter by the shuffling of sand and the soothing calls of a familiar voice approaching them.
“Cheval, Vivlos! What are you two up to over here?”
“Onee-chan!” Vivlos shouted right into Cheval’s ear, earning a slight wince from him. She burst from the ground, her feet leaving tiny craters in their wake and kicking stray grains of sand into Cheval’s fishing hole as she dashed over to Verxina. Cheval simply curled into himself, hanging his head back down and letting his hat fall over his eyes as he prodded at the sand absentmindedly.
Vivlos leapt into her open arms, latching tightly around her torso. “Chevacchi won’t come to my store!” She pouted, pointing an accusing finger at her sibling.
“She’s leaving out the part where she started nagging me to sell my stuff there!” Cheval shouted back defensively over his shoulder before aboutfacing with a huff, crossing his arms.
Glancing between Vivlos, who’d begun forcibly quivering her bottom lip and Cheval, whose tail flicked erratically behind him in annoyance, Verxina let out a sigh as a gentle, patient smile found it’s way to her lips.
“Vivlos,” she started, gently setting her baby sister down before crouching down to her level. “I know you’re excited to share with Cheval, but he has his own way he likes to play, too. Why don’t you ask if it’s okay for you to set up shop down here for a bit so you can just show him?”
After pondering the idea for a few seconds, the sparkle returned to Vivlos’ eyes.“That could work!” she beamed, in awe at her older sister’s genius. “It’s good to spread your busynest to lots of places, that’s what Mama said, at least.” she added, proudly pivoting her hands on her hips as she nodded thoughtfully.
Verxina hid her giggles behind her hand. “Yes, that’s right, isn’t it?”
Vivlos rushed back towards where Cheval sat in his stubborn brooding, his ear twitching. She skidded to a halt behind him, clasping her hands together pleadingly.
“Chevacchi… I’m sorry I didn’t listen to your feelings better… Is it okay if I bring my store to you, instead? You don’t have to sell your fish, I promise, it’s not a trap! I just want you to see my hard work…”
As his little sister spoke, a tidal wave of guilt washed over him, leaving his hardened expression muddied and soggy. It was moments like these where he wished he were a turtle, so he could tuck himself away in his shell and hide forever. Not that any of this would matter if he were a turtle in the first place though, for he’d be living a free, unburdened life in his beloved sea; deep in the depths where nothing that made his heart wrench and twist could reach him. He wouldn’t be able to play baseball, or even run, if he were a turtle though… that would probably be a problem, wouldn’t it?
Cheval gave a slight nod. “… That’s fine.”
He braced himself as Vivlos burst into excited cheers like an explosive firework. “Yay! Chevacchi, you’re the best! I love you sooooo much!” She shouted into the summer sky, throwing her arms around his shoulders and knocking his hat right off with the force of her embrace.
“Okay, okay, get off me!” Cheval snapped, desperately trying to wriggle from her grip. Not missing a beat and completely unfazed by her sibling’s adamant disdain for the affectionate gesture, Vivlos took off back down the beach in the opposite direction, zipping past Verxina before she could offer a hand as she rambled on about how she was gonna grab everything “super duper quick.”
After a few hard blinks, Verxina at last brought her attention to Cheval, who was attentively inspecting his hat for any sand. He finished the top with one last swift brush before turning it over to scan the brim, folding over the inside flap and bringing it right to eye level.
Verxina moved over to him slowly before crouching down in the space Vivlos had previously occupied. She watched him patiently, not wishing to disturb him, and made sure not to touch his shoulder in an attempt at reassurance.
Once he fit his hat snugly back to his head with a sigh of relief, Verxina finally spoke.
“… You okay?”
Cheval’s eyes widened as he glanced over at her, seemingly having just noticed her presence. He averted his gaze just as quickly, staring back into his puddle. By now, the remaining fish had bobbed up to and were floating aimlessly across the surface, gravitating towards the jagged, hastily carved corners as they begged to be wound up again.
When Cheval only gave a wordless nod and hugged his knees to his chest, Verxina understood right away.
“… Got it. I’ll keep her busy for a little while so you can take a breather. We’ll be back in a bit, okay?”
Verxina rose up from the ground, turning on her heels before setting off back down the beach after their little sister.
Once her sandy trudging was far enough out of earshot, Cheval finally reached forward, taking one of the fish in his tiny fingers. He began to wind slowly, savoring each predictable, soothing creak of the motor inside before tossing it down with a small splash.
Back in those days, this was pretty much what their summer vacations looked like, full of resplendent sparks unintentionally scorching the shells of turtles.