The world is not always nice. Lucky knows this, perhaps far too well. There are days when friends argue, and wasps sting, and the only thing wanted is a safe warm place to curl up.

Lucky smiles at Codec from his place in his human friend’s arms. He really does feel like he lives up to his name here. He found a safe harbor to rest in, and someone who cares deeply for him. He can rest and be carried. He knows if he wants something he’d only have to say it. Not that there is much Lucky wants.

He perks up as he spots a couple of his other friends in the flowers. He waves at them as they hurry over and hug their friend’s legs. “Hey Codec, Lucky!” Midge greeted cheerfully. “Are you going to join us?”

Lucky shrugged, content to stay where he was snuggled up. Codec smiled and patted him on the head. “Sit on the bench with me?”

“Okay,” Lucky agreed. He was so happy. His favorite person was spending time with him. Lucky watched the other villagers play in the flowers, Raddle falling over at one point and deciding right there was a perfectly comfortable spot to rest. Lucky laughed softly tail wagging.

He looked up at his friend. “We’ll have lots more days like this, right?”

Codec paused, before giving a smile. “Yeah, we will.” Lucky settled back into Codec’s side tail still wagging. Yeah, there would be more good days.

Bruce headed out of his house and blinked a bit grumpily at the morning light. As pretty as it was playing out over the ocean he could never really enjoy it. It took far too long for his eyes to adjust. At least it was dimmer than if he had waited for noon. As cool as it was to hang out in his house, it wasn’t as bright as the sun on the island.

He picked his way through the roses that overflowed across everything. They were beautiful. They reminded him so much of his human friend. Fragile, a little strange, and yet flourishing all around him. He smiled and took out a watering can to tend to them, working slowly across the field.

Bruce stopped as he reached his friend. “Good morning,” he said to him. The human shifted in his sleep. “It’s a nice day. Do you mind if I join you?” Bruce settled down beside him and looked out across the fields. His friend shifted so they could lean against each other. Bruce smiled.

“Have you seen the butterflies around here lately? My niece would love one.” He looked over at his friend, and smiled at seeing him listening. He was a very good listener. “It’s too bad the emperor butterflies don’t last.” He laid back in the warmth, and let the time pass, just watching the sun reflect over the water. Maybe later he would go fishing. For now, he was content to stay where he was.

He couldn’t resist diving into the odd nooks and crannies of the place, scaling the walls and jumping from the rooftops. The sudden change from urban to rural could be shocking, leaving him to bounce off plants as he scrambled to get back on track.

Or he could be a jungle explorer diving through the plants and marking down unusual fauna, such as that blue rose that he’d seen that had been twice as big as normal. That had been incredible! He had just been imagining discovering an entirely new unexplored cove when he’d entered onto a street and had to rapidly spin around and dive back out.

Then there were moments like this. Where he balanced perfectly between the two, hopping between street and trees. Snake grinned as he spotted his friends up ahead and decided to crouch down to surprise them. They wouldn’t see him coming at all! Snake’s long ears twitched to lay back on his head as he sneakily bounced over.

He loved his island.

Sunspot is a nice place