Swimming trough the rivers in Mireh, Twinkle and Finn has picked up a nice chat as the currents carried them further into the region. They had been sent there by Koi, who claimed she needed some seeds from the plants growing there to add to the growing collection in her greenhouse. as they swam, Finn's eyes caught on Twinkle's sleek fur. Frowning, she said "Has your pelt changed colour lately? It looks a little different." at Twinkle's side-eye he backtracker a little "Uh, I mean, it could easily be the light y'know." stumbling over her words "It's just, uh, it looks more pale? Y'know?" Twinkle huffed, before realizing that her annoyance seemed awfully directed at the wrong Xunari. She rolled her eyes, not so fondly recalling the conversation she had with Bloo before she and Finn had left. "Hmm?" Bloo had hummed at her question, confused. "My pelt. I's gone all pale and grey." Twinkle said, full of concern. Bloo frowned "What do you mean? You seem fine." he said, clearly confused. Twinkle shook her head, frustrated "No it's not! It's never been this pale, especially on my shoulders. I look ridiculous, Bloo!" The older Belemoid rolled his eyes a

little. "Alright, let me see then." As the bloo belemoid looked at Twinkle's shoulders, a realization hit him. He gently swatted at Twinkle "That's just because you're getting older, you silly whelp." Twinkle made an offended noise "What do you mean? What if something is wrong with me, we still don't have a healer so-" Bloo, again, rolled his eyes. "You're fine, don't be so dramatic. It just happens to some Xunari." he explained "Sometimes their pelt just gets grey as they get older, it's nothing to worry about." Twinkle huffed a little embarrassed. "Well, you could've told me before I panicked about it, Bloo." The older belemoid, again, rolled his eyes "How was I supposed to know you were going to panic about this?" Twinkle reiterated the conversation to Finn who hummed a bit and nodded. "I suppose that does make sense." "Yea!" Twinkle said "And like, he totally didn't buy it at first!" rolling here eyes "Can you believe that? Why would I make that up anyways!" Finn chuckled "You probably would've been better off asking Empress, honestly." she hid her face behind one of her claws "Bloo isn't-" she hesitated "I mean, he's just not that smart,

y'know?" Twinkle fake-gasped "Ruuude!" she teased Finn. "Anyways," Finn shrugged her off "how haven't you noticed the greying before? Roam has it too, so obviously it's nothing to worry about." Twinkle huffed, annoyed "I mean, I have never seen it on myself so- I mean, you'd also be pretty surprised, right Finny?" Frowning a little, finn gave it a short though "I suppose I would have." she shrugged a little, chuckling "Not as much as you though." Twinkle huffed, stubbornly insisting "Yea you would've!", she swam ahead, leaving a started Finn behind "I mean, if that yellow marking around your eye suddenly changed colour." Finn glanced back at it playfully "If it turned red, maybe. Grey though? That'd be fine. Like I said, I've already noticed it on Roam before anyways, so it's not like it's a big deal." Twinkle rolled her eyes- having to admit to herself that she could kind of see the humour in the situation. She tried her best to shrug off the left-over bitter feelings a bit, since honestly it was hard to convince herself she hadn't been overreacting anyways. At the end of the day, she was mostly glad that her family would help

her trough any times of hardship- whether an overreaction on her side or not.