Ebb and Flow - Book 1

Thirteen

The day's classes had been dry and tiresome and hadn't improved Gulf's sullen mood in the slightest. He had frowned in the morning, and still frowned in the afternoon, barely acknowledging Mild and Bow who were seated either side of him in the lecture hall.Finally, as the lecture drew to a close, Bow chewed on her lower lip nervously and, taking a steadying breath, spoke up.

"Gulf, what's going on? I can see that you don't want to talk about whatever it is, but you know you're a little brother to me. You've been like this for days now. I'm worried nong"

It hurt Gulf to hear this, pulling him out of his tunnel vision of darkness to see the concern in her eyes. Bow was the 'mother hen' of their group - although Mild challenged for that title at times. With fluorescent, rainbow coloured streaks in her dark hair, and piercings to her nose and tongue, she had an air of self assurance and maturity that proved vital to her group of younger male friends (making her girlfriend's eyes roll - "Stop mothering them!"). Mild, the second eldest, was happy go lucky, an incurable gossip, and more than a little naive - but always kind. Then there were War and Yin, the two youngers of the group. Childhood friends, inseparable. War was sharp and eccentric, with a dark sense of humour, whilst Yin could be hot headed yet was soft and firmly loyal at heart. They were all outsiders, for their own reasons, but found a sort of home in each other.

So, working against his overwhelming instinct to blow up at the question, or refuse to respond entirely, Gulf felt compelled to give Bow something.
"I'm just hurting a bit, Phi. Ever since working last Saturday, my body has been aching all over"

"Did something happen that night Gulf?", Bow spoke quietly - Mild leaning closer to be party to her words. "You just seem so different. Like you're, I don't know...questioning yourself. Your spark has gone. Did someone say something bad to you or...nobody hurt you, did they?"

"P'Bow, who could hurt me?!", Gulf scoffed, rising from his seat to emphasise his statuesque height and flexing his biceps in faux bravado, bending both arms at the elbow.

"Honestly, I just met someone at work that confused me a bit, but I'm fine now. Just a little achy, that's all. Probably carried too many wine crates, you can count on the fact that I never paid attention to that shitty manual handling course they put me on", Gulf continued, rolling his eyes. "Shall we go for drinks tonight? I want to dance".
Hoping he had said enough to close the conversation, he began his descent of the lecture hall's staircase.

Behind him, his friends spoke in hushed tones behind their hands...

Mild: "Ok now I'm worried, since when was Gulf ever that polite with us?"

Bow: "Hell yes. There's something nong's not telling us"

Then, gathering up their lecture notes and bags, the two followed Gulf down the stairs and out into the suffocating, heavy humidity of the overcast afternoon.

The air was still, poised and somehow coiled. Students thronged in all directions like ants in a nest. The sky seemed to darken second by second. And standing still, in the midst of all of the movement and heat, were a blond haired alpha and a dark haired omega, drawn back to each other's lives once again.

"Hello Mr Saturday night", Bow muttered to Mild, before a crash of thunder pummelled the atmosphere, and the rain began to fall.