Odelia's Fluffia Immigration Trial

Part 1 - Prince Sandal's Shoes

Odelia wasn’t one for nerves, purely because she had long since abandoned the kinds of social etiquette and comprehension that would nurture a sense of anxiety towards certain situations. As it was, whilst Florianne fluttered nervously about the door to the palace (her fingers wrung together and her brow furrowed in that way which made her look unapproachable to most, but cute and squishy to Odelia), the snake-loving bagbean simply dropped onto all fours and waited patiently for the doors to be opened and the two of them to be let inside. There was a line of bagbeans, kryptoxes, perfaunts and even some fornlees waiting to meet Prince Sandal today.

Truth be told, Odelia didn’t really understand what the big deal was all about. Sure, he was rich, famous, and important because he ruled over Fluffia, but she wasn’t really sure why that mattered so much to others? It was boring at best, downright mind-numbing at worse. Odelia was more interested in the little bugs fluttering around Flufftox! She hadn’t been to Fluffia before, but she was enraptured with all of the creatures here. They were small and very cute, even if Odelia was more prone to be invested in reptiles and amphibians than anything else. She wondered if kryptoxes were considered amphibians, given they had flipper feet and looked like those would be good for swimming with!

No, that wasn’t it. Florianne had told her many times that kryptoxes had funny magic – arcane? – that let them move things they touched, and that really didn’t have anything to do with the water. Odelia’s ears flattened against her head and she pouted at the thought, before she was scampering towards the edge of the building when she spotted a bumblebee. It was so pretty! Its wings shimmered in the sunlight, catching the rays and splitting them off into a thousand little glimmering rainbows and sparkles. Odelia wiggled her forked tongue at the creature, curiously testing the air around them with her multi-coloured eyes gleaming. She was so delighted by all the flying things! She’d even seen what Florianne said was a fairybear, and they looked cute too, if not a little scary.

Apparently, there were big ones, too! Huge ones! The size of Odelia herself (tail not included, mind you, because her tail added quite a lot to her height when she stood on it!), mind you. “Lia,” Florianne’s soft voice called, and the snake bagbean could hear the smile in it. When they’d first encountered one another whilst Odelia was chasing a snake near Florianne’s beloved time tree, Florianne had thought her just as odd as everyone else that Odelia had ever met. She’d stared at her, bewildered, as Odelia wiggled her tongue and hissed quietly, flicking her tail around her body protectively. There had been something about Florianne though that had drawn Odelia in – the sadness that permeated the air about her. She tasted lonely, and it was such a moving emotion that Odelia hadn’t felt all that often, she’d found herself wanting to take it away from Florianne.

So she had. Quite thoroughly. Now, Florianne smiled when she saw Odelia coming, and just watched on with bemused eyes as Odelia played with bugs and crawled around on all fours. That kind of acceptance for who she was made Odelia love her girlfriend all the more passionately. She made a noise of happiness and scuttled back over to Florianne’s side, standing up (because she really did try to be normal for Florianne, she knew that appearances were important to her girlfriend) and leaning in to swoop a kiss over Flo’s cheek. “We’ll play in the garden after and see if we can find any new bug friends for you, okay? They’re letting us in now,” Flo touched Odelia’s cheek, a touch that she leaned into and nuzzled against happily. “Okay,” Odelia murmured. She hadn’t really spoken more than a few words in years before she met Florianne, but now she found it easier to speak words just to her beloved.

Even so, she preferred to communicate through purrs and hisses.

The doors in front of them were swept open and they were lead into a waiting room, which felt oddly warm and friendly in spite of the fact that it must’ve been expensive to build. Odelia didn’t like places that reeked of wealth, in spite of what the gold she wore all over herself might suggest about her, because she was far too used to caves and open spaces. It suited her and Florianne both, because Flo’s home was a comfortable little cottage, and they spent most of their time gardening and adventuring together. Flo didn’t mind Odelia’s cave all that much either, though she sometimes did wrinkle her nose at the moss.

“You may come through, Prince Sandal will see you now,” a white bagbean announced, his fur looking soft and pretty. Odelia made a noise of delight as she moved forwards, reaching out to touch it before she could remember herself. “Pretty tail,” Odelia cooed, before Florianne was quickly grabbing her and apologising profusely as she pulled Odelia along. The bagbean could only grin at Florianne, who rolled her eyes and grinned back. “I don’t know why I put up with you,” Flo huffed at her. Odelia scoffed.

“You love me,” she reminded Flo, who just smiled and held Odelia’s paw as they approached the Prince of Fluffia. He was propped up on two ribbons, and Odelia marvelled at how such flimsy materials could hold him up. On his feet were two big, gold sandals. “Wah!” Odelia exclaimed, dropping to all fours and bounding forwards. She sat on her ass and wagged the tip of her tail like an excited puppy, making noises in the back of her throat. “Flo! Flo! Look!” She exclaimed, delighted by the gold sandals.

The Prince himself had looked startled, but upon realising that Odelia’s enthusiasm was over his sandals, he cackled and leaned forwards. “Marvellous, aren’t they?” He asked with a grin. Odelia nodded enthusiastically, wiggling her tongue at them. “Pretty,” she cooed, putting her tongue back in her mouth.

“They are very nice,” Florianne agreed. “Excellent craftsmanship, who did you have make them for you?” She asked of the prince. Odelia beamed and tuned out the fashion conversation, too busy happily taking in the gold and comparing its shine to one of her own rings.

Idly, she entertained the idea of how difficult it would be to climb up here whilst the prince was sleeping, steal his shoes, and run back to Beania with them. It would be worth it, even if Flo would be furious with her. 

Part 3 - Desserts with Pladdy

Odelia was content. She was beyond content. She was the very definition of contentment itself, all wrapped up in a night little green parcel with her tail curled around her entire body, her eyes shut tight, and her breaths coming out in soft little huffs. She was tucked away on Florianne’s lap whilst her girlfriend read a book, one hand holding it up as the other curled through Odelia’s thick, black locks of hair. Odelia snuffled a little and snuggled closer, happy to stay exactly where she was for the next 100 years. She could never move again, probably die a very happy bagbean.

Then again, she might miss food. Odelia loved food.

“We should go do something,” Florianne announced without warning, startling Odelia’s peaceful dozing. The bagbean hissed at her girlfriend and sat up a little, looking up at her through moodily half-lidded eyes. Her tail thumped against the bed like an unhappy cat being denied a meal, or being given too much affection. Florianne huffed at her grumpy bagbean and reached out to cup her cheeks, squeezing them and moving her fingers up to play with Odelia’s hair. It always settled her, even if Odelia was being grumpy over the silliest of things. “I don’t want to,” Odelia mumbled, though she leaned into the touch and purred anyways.

“But we’re all the way over here in Fluffia, and we’ve never been here before! We shouldn’t be sitting inside reading and sleeping, we should be out doing new things and exploring. Don’t you want to go find some new bugs? We could even take Dakarai out with us, he’s probably bored being cooped up inside our hotel room,” Florianne reasoned. Odelia couldn’t really argue with the logic – they hadn’t been to Fluffia before, and they really shouldn’t just spend their days doing what they do at home – cuddling and reading (only Florianne for the latter though, Odelia didn’t have the patience).

With a long-suffering sigh, Odelia clucked her tongue and reached out a hand. Dakarai slithered up over her arm, curling around it the way her gold band did on the other side. He wiggled his little tongue, and she wiggled hers back, silently communicating with her snake. “Fine, we’ll go out,” Odelia grumbled. She climbed off the bed and pulled Florianne with her. “But I want sweets, and to find more bunblebees,” Odelia demanded.

“You’re easy to please, you know that?” Florianne laughed, taking Odelia’s hand and leading them both out and down the hallway towards the doors to the building. Odelia just purred softly in response, blinking hard against the flood of light. They should maybe have opened the curtains so that the real world wouldn’t be so damn bright!

They wandered off down through streets, exploring every crevice and chasing after various creatures they found, until they were drawn towards a street filled with life and merchants selling their wares. “Oh, this looks lovely,” Flo gasped, Odelia nodding her agreement. She forced herself to stay on her own two feet, not wanting to embarrass Flo when there could be someone around who would recognise her. Odelia didn’t think Florianne noticed all that much how often she tried to be normal for her girlfriend, but then, maybe she did. Flo was much more intelligent than herself!

“There are dresses there,” Odelia pointed them out, watching as her girlfriend’s eyes lit up with unbridled delight.

“Do you mind if I go look at them?” Florianne asked, the eagerness in her tone making Odelia beam. She licked her girlfriend’s cheek in response, before disappearing on her own path through the crowd. She loved all of Florianne’s dresses and her creations, but she wasn’t interested in watching her gush over fabrics right now – she wanted to find something to eat! Or something to play with. There weren’t often bugs around this many people aside from flies and other scent-attracted pests, but sometimes you could find cute little pets hidden away.

Before she could be distracted by any kind of critters though, a glint of something caught her eye. She swivelled towards it, her eyes brightened at the jewels laid out on a table. She wiggled her tongue at her snake, who moved up to settle around her neck and hissed excitedly. They were both rather enraptured with jewels, even if Odelia didn’t care much for expressions of wealth. She just liked shiny things! She used to bring them to Medusa when she was in the human realm.

It was as she was heading towards the table of jewels that the most wonderful scent hit her nose. She lifted her head to the air, sniffing, and allowing herself to be guided along. She got on all fours without even realising it, curving around webbed feet until she bumped right into someone. “Woah, hey! Look out there!” The voice exclaimed cheerfully. “I nearly dropped a tray of cookies on your head,” he said, beaming. Odelia’s eyes lit up at the mention of cookies, and she stood immediately to peer at them.

They were all in funny little shapes! How cute! “You want one?” He asked. “They’re fresh out the oven, and free since I burned the edges a little,” he held the tray out to her. Odelia considered it for a moment, before grabbing half of the cookies and stuffing them into her mouth. His eyes widened, before he started to laugh joyfully at the sight of the bagbean’s mouth bulging with them. “You’re a quiet one, but I see you’ve got quite the sweet tooth! Do you like them?” He asked. Odelia nodded enthusiastically, swallowing and starting to purr as she leaned towards the other sweets he had. “Those ones cost coins,” he warned her.

Odelia poked her tongue out and flicked it, as if to say ‘I know!!!’ in an exasperated tone, without speaking the words. She slithered closer, her tail pulling towards her body as someone bumped into it. Considering the sweets before her, Odelia pointed out one that looked to have custard and cream squeezed between two layers of delicious biscuit. “Ah, that’s quite a favourite of what I make, a good choice,” he hummed his approval and picked up the delicious treat for her to try. Odelia’s mouth watered and she handed over the coins Flo had given her, before quickly stuffing her face with that one. “Amazing!” Odelia exclaimed as flavour exploded on her tongue, wiggling excitedly.

Pladdy, as he later introduced himself, was quite delighted to be kept company by Odelia who spent all of her coins on the sweets and didn’t have a single regret – even when her tummy was full and bulging. “I hope you’ll come again sometime, you’ve been quite the customer!” He beamed. Odelia wondered how he could’ve enjoyed her company when she barely said a word, but didn’t doubt that he meant it when she looked into his earnest eyes. The bagbean leaned down and smacked a kiss onto his forehead, before wiggling her fingers at him and slithering back into the crowd in search of her beloved girlfriend. She wanted to show Florianne all the treats she’d bought that she hadn’t eaten yet, because she wanted her girl to try them. What a fun day!

Part 5 - Relationship Advice

They’d been travelling for a while now, the soft plod of their floophorse’s hooves against the earth a nauseating rhythm that made Odelia’s skin crawl. She didn’t know how she’d ended up agreeing to this idea to travel all the way out to Coralove Island, just to meet two kryptoxes who were apparently very in love?

Okay, that wasn’t true. Odelia did know why she’d agreed to it, she was just regretting it now because she hated travelling, being cramped up, and she really just wanted to go explore for a while. There was all this open space going past, and she’d spied so many creatures that she wanted to play with, yet she was stuck in this carriage being pulled along at such a slow pace she thought she’d go crazy before they ever reached the island they were headed towards. So, why in fact, had Odelia agreed to go on this venture? The first reason she’d agreed to it back when they were in Beania was because it had seemed to mean something to Flo, though she’d been a bit evasive on exactly what it was about ‘Sweetheart and Honey’ that was important to meet. Maybe she thought that she and Odelia weren’t going to work out, and they needed counselling?

That thought had been dashed when Florianne had quietly admitted before they’d left that she wanted her and Odelia to be soulmates. It had shocked Odelia to the core at first, and she’d been uncertain as to how to feel about it. She didn’t know much about soulamtes or love, and she’d never even thought that love was for her until she’d met Florianne. Before then, any bagbean that had attempted to pursue her had been put off by her strange tendencies, and if they hadn’t, then Odelia had never harboured any interest in them. It was just how she was; she wasn’t really that interested in other bagbeans, or perfuants, or anything that walked on two legs and seemed of a ‘higher’ intelligence. She related more strongly to the critters on the ground, particularly if they wiggled their tongues. Dakarai, for instance, was her most faithful companion and she’d thought he would be the only one she’d ever want to spend the rest of her life with. That was, aside from Shrub and Annette! They were her very best friends and she always liked to be around them both (even if Nettie wasn’t as fun as Shrub Shrub!).

However, after laying awake at night beside her girlfriend, cuddled up under the stars, she realised that she wanted to be soulmates with Florianne, too. She hadn’t thought herself capable of love, but even where she and Florianne didn’t fit, they still somehow managed to. It was sometimes as if everything about them was made to complement the other – where Florianne was too obsessed with appearances, Odelia didn’t care at all what others thought about her. It was those kinds of opposites that helped them to balance one another out, find a common ground that they could work with. Even if Odelia had never thought it important, the ways in which Florianne helped her understand social behaviour had made her realise that it was fun to know others and meet others, and in kind Odelia had helped Florianne with the demons in her head that told her she should always be watching what she said.

At the end of the day, all they wanted was each other to be happy. So of course, being soulmates? That would make them both happy, and wasn’t that perfect?

She told Honey and Sweetheart as much, once they arrived and Florianne seemed too embarrassed to speak.

“That’s… A beautiful sentiment,” Honey simpered, her big eyes wide and shining with unshed tears. Her side was pressed up against Sweetheart’s, and Odelia was embarrassed that she’d even shared all of those thoughts with the two. She didn’t like to talk, but something about gushing over her love for Flo and how well they worked together had her lips loose and her heart exploding out of her mouth. “Truly, I find that so inspiring. I mean, we’ve heard of you Florianne and are fans of your work, but we can understand why being in the limelight would be so much pressure on you, and it’s beautiful that you’ve found this bagbean who is the opposite of being obsessed with appearances. You guys seem to complement each other so much!” Honey exclaimed. Sweetheart chimed in with some spew along the same lines, but Odelia was too busy watching the flush on Flo’s cheeks and the pleased smile to notice.

Odelia didn’t know how she’d ever found herself in a position where she’d be giving love advice to the most loved-up things she’d ever seen, but hey, life was full of surprises. Florianne’s eyes shifted to hers as Honey and Sweetheart started to talk about why they would love to see the duo soulmate, but Odelia couldn’t listen. She was too enraptured with the emotion in her girlfriend’s eyes, the pure love that emanated from her very being. Odelia tasted the air around them and it was full of it, affection and trust and happiness. She looked back towards Honey and Sweetheart who had finished talking, waiting for them to go on. When it became obvious Flo still didn’t have any words, Sweetheart prompted, “So that’s why you think you work, right? Because you just want each other to be happy?” He asked.

Odelia nodded without hesitation. “I love… I love Flo,” she muttered, shuffling her feet a little shyly and wiggling her tongue again to calm her nerves. “I think… Loving each other, and being happy with each other the way we are, that works. I-I don’t want Flo to change, and I don’t think she wants me to change even though I’m weird and embarrassing, so we’re just… Good together. Because it’s only love, here.” Odelia explained.

Florianne looked like she was about to faint.