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The Monk wanted to do something special for her partner The Watcher. They had been together for quite a while now, and if Spearmaster’s timekeeping efforts were to be trusted then it would soon be the anniversary of when they had first met. Monk remembered it well, she had just decided to go back to her home in Outer Expanse after failing to find her brother Survivor in Five Pebbles’ complex. Watcher had agreed to make the journey with her.
She reflected on this as she considered what they might like as a gift. Suddenly, it came to her: something to help display Watcher’s treasured collection of colored pearls. Normally, they kept the pearls in a small satchel in their room, but the pearls couldn’t really be observed and appreciated like that.
After some consideration, Monk decided that the ideal gift would be something like a board with indents that could hold the pearls so that they could be seen without rolling away. It would need to fit on one of the shelves in Watcher’s room and be large enough to hold all thirteen pearls. However, she had a problem. She didn’t know how to make something like that.
Thankfully, she knew just the slugcat to ask: Hunter had taken up a variety of hobbies now that he wasn’t on a time limit. He said it was nice to be able to just relax and make things without having to be anywhere for once. Fortunately for her, one of them was pottery. With her plan set, Monk got up and walked over to Hunter’s room.
The thing that immediately stood out the most in Hunter’s room was the king vulture mask on the wall, his most treasured trophy. Framed by two spears, the display took up an entire wall of the room. Monk was always amazed at how Hunter could’ve taken down an apex predator like that. On the opposite side of the room, idly fiddling with an electric spear, was Hunter sitting at his workbench.
“Hey Hunter!” Monk called out from the doorway.
“Huh? Yeah?” Hunter replied, turning to look at Monk.
“Uh, would you mind helping me make something? A kind of pearl holder? I don’t really know how to describe it…”
“Hm, is it for Watcher?” Hunter asked with a smirk.
“How did you know!?” Monk blushed slightly.
“Hah, ok, lovebird,” Hunter teased. “So what exactly were you thinking?”
“Um, like a board shape with indents so the pearls don’t roll away. It needs to be this big this way to fit on Watcher’s shelf and this big the other way to fit all the pearls.” Monk gestured with her paws to indicate the required sizes.
“Alright, I can work with that. Let’s go outside and get started. I’ve got a blank pearl or two in here that we can make properly sized indents with.” Hunter walked along the row of cubbies in the wall searching for a blank pearl. Finding one, he grabbed it and headed for the door.
“Wait,” Monk protested. “I want it to be a surprise for Watcher! They can’t see us making it.”
“Yeah, makes sense. Maybe I can get Spearmaster to take them on a short trip?”
“Sounds perfect.”
“Ok, let’s go talk to them.” Hunter hurried off with Monk in tow.
Hunter and Monk found Spearmaster practicing throwing their needles outside. They seemed to be competing with Artificer, as each slugcat would move a small stone forwards along a drawn line when they hit their target.
“Hi Spearmaster! Umm, could I ask something of you?” Monk said.
Spearmaster turned and signed something, a smile evident in their eyes. Monk had been trying to learn the sign language they used, but they signed too quickly for her to make out the meaning. Thankfully, Hunter was there to translate.
“Sure! What do you need?” Hunter read out.
“I’m planning on making a gift for Watchy, and I want it to be a surprise. Can you take them on a trip for the afternoon?”
Spearmaster chuffed lightly. “Of course! I wouldn’t want your special surprise to be ruined!” Hunter broke into a wide smirk as he translated the last sentence.
“Ugh, you two are the worst,” Monk protested half-heartedly. “I should tease you too! Don’t you have the hots for each other?”
Hunter and Spearmaster both suddenly became very fixated on the top branches of the colony tree, leaving Monk and Artificer to snicker quietly.
“Ummm, so about that project, I could get started while you send Watcher to Spearmaster…” Hunter said to Monk.
“Alright, I’ll let you off the hook for now,” smirked Monk.
Hunter hurried off towards the nearby creek, thinking about Spearmaster, glancing at the sundial that they had made with one of their needles on his way over. He really needed to have a chat with them…
“Hey Watchy!” Monk said with a smile on her face.
“Hi! What brings you to my room this fine day?” greeted Watcher.
“Oh, um, your beautiful face! But also, Spearmaster wanted to go on a trip with you. Something about finding flowers to make it official with Hunter…” Monk only smiled wider knowing Spearmaster had said no such thing. Now this was proper revenge!
“How romantic! I suppose I do have some experience in that field…” Watcher smiled, remembering that afternoon with Monk. It was actually pretty recent, but it felt like ages ago. Monk was the most wonderful thing to ever happen to them, and they felt like every day spent with her lasted twice as long.
“Are you coming too?” Watcher asked. What a nice date that could be! Something so similar to Monk’s confession night would bring up old happy memories as well as what was happening in the moment…
“Oh, sadly not, Artificer asked me to help clean up the target range. And my room could use a little cleaning as well.” Oh well, Watcher thought, maybe they could ask Monk out on a date like that in the future.
Watcher got up and made for the door, but not before being wrapped in a hug by Monk. “Stay safe out there, ok?”
“No worries, I’m only travelling with THE apex predator themselves,” Watcher said confidently.
“Right, right, of course. The one, the only ‘I Eat Red Lizards For Breakfast’ Spearmaster.” Monk released Watcher from her embrace. “Come back soon!”
When Monk got over to the creek, Hunter had already begun making a long rectangle the approximate size of Watcher’s shelf. He had started the unfinished construction on a wooden board that he used to carry around wet pottery.
“Hey Monk! It’s about time you got here, I was about to go making the whole thing myself,” Hunter joked.
“Come on now, you forgot that blank pearl you were planning on using at the tree!” Monk replied.
“No I didn’t! It’s right here- uhh, here…” Hunter stood up and turned around several times searching for the pearl.
“Uh-huh.” Monk held up the pearl, which she had indeed picked up outside the colony tree on her way over.
“Ok, ok, gimme that.” He set the pearl down next to the board.
Monk crouched down opposite Hunter and began adding clay to the board.
“So, we should make it as shallow as we can to reduce the time it’ll take to sun-dry,” Hunter said while working.
“Yeah, the indents only need to be about this deep, so it should be about that tall.” Monk picked up the pearl again and held it next to the clay. “And I wanted to write the glyphs for the places they found each pearl in for each indent, so it should be a little wider.”
“You remember all those?” Hunter asked, surprised. “All I remember is that yellow one from Shoreline.”
“Yeah, of course! How could I not, they talk about their collection daily!”
The slugcats quickly finished the pearl stand, using the blank pearl to carefully measure each indent. Monk meticulously assigned each indent a specific pearl using the glyphs for color and region. She organized them in the order Watcher had collected them in, remembering the countless stories Watcher had told of their time in Five Pebbles’ complex.
“Perfect!” Monk pronounced, standing and observing her handiwork.
“Great,” Hunter responded. “Now to let it dry. It should be done by the time Watcher gets back.”
The mention of Watcher returning brought a smile to Monk’s face, both because Watcher would be back and because she would get to see what her misinformation about the reason for the trip had resulted in.
She set the gift out to dry and went back to the tree to wait, noting the time on the sundial in front of the tree.
Monk could hardly wait. The gift was finally ready and Watcher was due home any minute now. Before long, she saw a rustle in the bushes at the edge of the clearing at the base of the tree. Sure enough, it was Watcher and Spearmaster. It looked like Spearmaster was carrying some flowers, Monk noticed with a smirk. She’d have to ask Watcher about that later.
For now though, it was time to present them with the gift she had made. She held the gift behind her back as she walked up to greet them, slowly swaying side to side.
“Hey Watchy! Spearmaster! Glad you guys are back! Was the expedition a success?”
Spearmaster blushed and nodded, quickly running off to their room before anyone could ask about the flowers in their arms.
“Yeah, you could say that…” Watcher added, still fixated on Spearmaster practically sprinting out of sight.
“So, Watcher. I have a confession to make,” Monk started. “I was not cleaning while you were out and about. Instead I made you a gift.”
“With some help!” Hunter called out from the range.
“With some help,” agreed Monk.
Watcher looked stunned. ”You made me a gift!? Oh void I’m so excited! What is it?”
Monk slowly brought out the pearl holder from behind her back. “I made you something to display your pearl collection in! You kept complaining about how you didn’t have anywhere to put them, and I wanted to help out!”
Watcher looked like they could’ve exploded. They rushed forward and took the offered item, quickly examining it. “Oh I love it! It has spots for each pearl… Oh my gosh they’re in order of when I found them! I love you so much, Monk. Thank you for making me such a wonderful gift.”
Now it was Monk’s turn to look like she could’ve exploded. Her partner loved her gift, and at that moment she wanted nothing more in the world. “I’m so happy you like it! Let’s go get it set up!”
“Yes! Let’s!”
The pair rushed over to Watcher’s room.
“I know the perfect spot for it!” Watcher announced. “Right here. This shelf is centered, low enough to be seen, and just the right size.”
They carefully set the pearl stand down on the shelf, then reached for the satchel with the pearls.
“Now to put all the pearls in! This one is the very first one I found, I got it in Outskirts when…”
Monk had heard the story of each pearl a thousand times over, but she was more than willing to keep listening as Watcher excitedly described each pearl before setting it in its place. Her partner was always so animated when talking about their pearls, and she loved seeing them so happy. Their expressions as they talked, the little paw movements as if to draw out the scene, all the little things she loved about Watcher came out right here.
Soon enough, the last pearl was carefully set into place. Watcher turned to Monk and hugged her tightly.
“Thank you so much, Monk. This was the perfect gift to give me, and it shows how much you care. Rest assured I have my own plans for our anniversary, too.”
Monk nuzzled into their shoulder.
“And what might those be?”
“You’ll have to wait and find out!”
“Mm, okay…”
Watcher had begun to rub Monk’s back as they hugged. They had always known Monk liked it, and the low purr emanating from her seemed to confirm it. Watcher could feel themselves begin to purr as well; they were always happy when Monk was happy.
They wanted to stay like this for just a little longer.
Monk looked out over the jungle canopy from the top branches of the colony tree, Watcher by her side. It was beautiful, the pinkish orange of the sunset splaying across the clouds and coloring the whole world with its glow.
“Isn’t it great?” Watcher asked. The pair sat on a platform made of thick sticks lashed to the branches with vines. Monk had been amazed by the creation, thinking of how many times Watcher must’ve climbed the tree carrying the heavy staves to construct it.
“Absolutely! And now I know why I never see you around at sunset!” Monk replied.
“Yeah, this is my little private place. I come here when I need some space to think, or if there’s a nice view to be seen. I wanted to share it with you.”
“I’m honored. Rest assured, the secret is safe with me,” Monk said.
In reply, Watcher snuggled up closer to Monk. “The view only gets better, even if it can be a bit cold up here.”
Monk rested her hand on Watcher’s head and began slowly rubbing between their ears. They started to purr, and wrapped their arms around her. The two stayed like that as the colors of the sunset sky began to deepen until the sun had fully sunk below the horizon.
As the night darkened, the stars twinkled a deep green above. Distant communications spires lit up in red, and the many far-off iterators began their cooling cycles with accompanying green lightning flashes. The moon shined down, bathing the landscape in a quiet silvery glow. It was peaceful, the only sounds being the breeze in the branches and the chirping of insects in the grass far below.
“...it is beautiful,” Monk whispered in awe.
“I know, I’m so glad I got to share it with you,” murmured Watcher, still cozied up to Monk’s warm body. Having another to hold really did help with the biting chill the night brought.
Unfortunately, all good things must end, as Monk was beginning to get chilly.
“...watchy, can we go inside, i’m cold…” she mumbled, half-asleep.
Even after cycles of use, the nickname still made their cheeks redden. To think that Monk had given them a new name, one that defined them instead of what they do… it gave them that wonderful fuzzy feeling that Monk always brought. Slowly, they got up and began carefully climbing down the tree, Monk not far behind.
“Do you want to stay in my room tonight? The window catches the moonlight in the prettiest way,” offered Watcher.
“...yeah sure…” Monk must be really tired, Watcher thought. They supposed today had been a lot for her, with making that gift and everything.
They led her to the bedding and sat her down before moving to cover the lanterns that dotted the walls. As the warm glow of each lantern was extinguished, the moonlight seemed to grow brighter, shining over the bed and landing on Watcher’s pearl collection, now proudly displayed as the centerpiece of the far wall. The pearls sparkled in the moonlight, and Watcher thought of all the memories they held. Watcher’s time in the complex, their journey to Outer Expanse with Monk, and now today.
Watcher laid next to Monk, taking one last look around the room before curling up. The flowers Monk had gotten them were thriving in the vase Hunter had made. Watcher always made sure to water them daily and place them in the sun when they needed it.
As Watcher drifted off to sleep, they felt the sleeping Monk wrap her arms around them. Careful to not wake her, they returned the embrace. The last thing they heard before sleep took them was Monk’s quiet purring.