An Act of Kindness

Posting at work, shhhhh. X3 This picture has a story to go along with it!

“Monet?” Blizzy scampered across the beach, making his way toward the last place he’d seen the other experiment. The sun blazed down on him from a nearly cloudless blue sky, turning his fur a blinding shade of white. It made him all the more mindful of the ice cream treat he was carrying. If it melted, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. Just a touch of his hand and he could re-freeze it with his ice abilities. But still, better find Monet sooner rather than later.

The beautiful weather had brought everyone on the island to the beach today, it seemed. Blizzy dodged around clusters of tourists sprawled on beach towels in every color of the rainbow. Loud country music blasted from a portable radio somewhere. Blizzy ducked his head as a neon green Frisbee sailed by above him.

At last he managed to escape the crowds by moving further up the beach, away from the water. Soon he found himself on the short stretch of sand where he’d been talking with Monet barely fifteen minutes ago. At first, Blizzy thought the place looked empty. But then, when he squinted his eyes, he could see a familiar gray figure sitting against the base of a nearby palm tree. The tree’s shadow fell over the figure, making it all but impossible to see. Blizzy gave a tight-lipped smile. Wasn't that just like Monet, always trying to be alone.

Blizzy darted over to the tree, seating himself next to Monet. The other experiment barely looked up as he approached before dropping his gaze to the sand.

“I have the last one for you, Monet!” Blizzy announced, holding the ice cream sandwich out to him in an outstretched hand. It was a Nestle Chipwich – a scoop of vanilla smashed between two chocolate chip cookies and wrapped in yellow cellophane. 

Monet’s ears perked as he turned to face Blizzy. “REALLY?” he exclaimed, in a voice louder than Blizzy thought was possible for the melancholic experiment. “Thank y- Uh, I mean…” Monet pressed a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. When he spoke again, it was in the dull monotone Blizzy was used to. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome, Monet.” Blizzy smiled at him, his stumpy tail giving quick little wags. “All yours.” He watched as Monet unwrapped the ice cream sandwich and took a bite. The moment the frozen treat touched his tongue, the corner of Monet’s mouth twitched upward in what was almost a smile. He visibly fought it, though, forcing his lips together into a grim line.

“It’s okay to be happy, Monet,” Blizzy teased, gently nudging Monet’s shoulder. “I’m always happy when I eat ice cream.”

Whatever trace of a smile was left on Monet’s face vanished as if it had never been there. “Nothing makes me happy,” he droned, lowering the last of the ice cream sandwich to his lap. “The world is too dismal for happiness…” 

Blizzy wrinkled his nose. Not this again. “A world without ice cream, maybe,” he tried, forcing his grin a little wider.

“This is a world full of terrible people who do terrible things.” Monet met Blizzy’s gaze straight on, a challenge in his stony eyes. “What reason do we have to be happy?” 

Blizzy’s ears dropped. Hadn’t they been past this? “Oh, sure, there will always be bad people,” he mumbled, his words sounding unconvincing even as he spoke them. “…But there will always be good ones too, right?” 

Monet sighed heavily and turned back to his ice cream. “But they’re few and far between…” 

“But that makes them much more special!” Blizzy burst out. “Like…” His eyes darted back and forth, searching for something, anything to make Monet understand. His gaze fell on a seashell half buried at their feet. It was a white shell, touched with shades of peach and violet where the sand wasn’t covering it. “…Like the tiniest seashells I sometimes find here.”

Monet’s expression softened. “I suppose so…” He followed Blizzy’s gaze to the seashell lying on the ground between them. He picked it up and brought it to his face. Red paint from his fingertips left prints all over its ridged surface. The smooth interior shone like a pearl when he turned it to catch the light. 

Blizzy looked away, staring off over the water to the distant horizon. “So… um, you still wanna be alone…?”

Monet glanced at him sideways through the fringe of hair falling over his face. “I don’t have to be…” 

“Really?” Blizzy’s ears shot up. “’Cause I do enjoy your company.”

“You do?” Monet tilted his head. “I’m not too… melancholy for you?”

“Well… it does rub off on me,” Blizzy admitted, rubbing his forearm. “But I used to be just like you, Monet. Angry at the world and at myself.”

Monet snorted, dropping his eyes to the ground again. “I bet you’re glad you’re not like me any more…” 

“But all I really needed was a friend,” Blizzy pushed on, “and I think that’s what you need, too.” 

Monet went silent. He was utterly still, not even the ends of his ears quivering as he stared at the sand. After a long moment, he slowly lifted his head. His eyes had gone as round as the full moon. They found Blizzy’s and stared back at him with something like wonder. “I never… had a… friend before…”

Blizzy beamed at him. “Friends are the best thing to have, Monet. I’ll be your friend, and you can be mine.”

Monet’s ears lifted. “…Do you mean it?”

Blizzy nodded, his smile wider than ever. “Yeah! Let’s be friends, Monet!” One of Blizzy’s hands was still stained with red paint from when he’d helped Monet to his feet earlier today. That was the hand he extended to Monet now, offering a warm handshake. Monet returned it eagerly, a smile spreading across his face. It was the first true smile Blizzy had ever seen from him, the first that made his eyes light up and crinkle into half-moons. Blizzy couldn’t help but smile in return.

“Wow, Monet. It’s really good to see you smile now.”

“…I’m not smiling!” Monet protested. He tried to push his face back into a frown, but it was hopeless, and both of them knew it.

Blizzy chuckled. “Okay, Monet. Don’t worry about it.”

Blizzy's ears twitched. Some of the other experiments were having a picnic on the beach nearby. He could hear the chatter of their voices, punctuated by the occasional burst of laughter. The smells of maple syrup and sizzling pancake batter were carried on the ocean breeze. Blizzy shook his head in faint amusement. Latke was the only experiment he knew who would make pancakes at a beach cookout.

“This calls for some pancakes!” Blizzy exclaimed. “We should grab some before they’re all gone.”

“Food sounds good.” Monet got to his feet. He seemed quiet again, his eyes fixed on something distant as various thoughts passed over his face. “Hey… er… Blizzy?” he said after a while.

Blizzy turned to him.

“You… you’re one of those seashells. No, uh, I mean…” Monet closed his eyes for an instant, organizing his thoughts. When he opened them again, Blizzy was staring at him in faint puzzlement. Monet cleared his throat. “You’re a good person in a world of bad people. Yes.”

Blizzy smiled softly. “Thanks for the compliment, Monet.” 

The two of them ambled over to the picnic, side by side, leaving the paint stained shell resting in the sand behind them.

- - -

I doubt anyone read all that, but virtual cookies to you if you did! This is an illustration and rewrite of a scene from a roleplay and I did a few years ago. Blizzy is his character, and all Blizzy's dialogue is credited to him (although I modified it slightly here and there to help with the narrative flow). This scene is kind of from the middle of the roleplay. Basically the context is that Blizzy saw Monet painting on the beach in the middle of one of his melodramatic moods and tried to cheer him up, then offered to get him ice cream.

Blizzy and Monet’s friendship has always meant a lot to me; Blizzy is really the first one who’s able to get Monet to see the world in a different way and to become more open to establishing meaningful relationships with others. I hope I conveyed that okay here, although I fear I ventured into cheesy territory. XD Seashells are very important to Monet because of Blizzy. c:

This is my first time drawing a background digitally! Gentle critiques are welcome. I always strive to improve. ^^

Again, Blizzy is ’s character. c: