Sub Terra: Et Reditus

Thirty-One

The young man impatiently skipped up the stairs of the dilapidated, but functional apartment building. Just a couple of steps behind him was a young woman, who tried to keep up with her excited boyfriend. It seemed that nothing could ruin the man's mood, not even the presence of the towering Narkephian guards standing outside on the street.

"Man, we're almost there, come on Jess!" He said, stopping and turning around.

"I'm... trying!" the woman said, nearly out of breath. "Can't we take a break?"

"Of course not! We're on the 15th floor. Just a couple more, you can do it."

Uplifted by his words, she smiled at him. He reciprocated this, before continuing on the last leg of their walk.

The young couple soon arrived at the door of the apartment they were going to visit. The man made three quick, successive knocks on the door, and moments later, a man the same age as him opened it.

"Shit, it's you, Ryan!" he said, pulling the man in for a hug. "I didn't expect you to come over."

"You bet. I was just passing by, so I decided to stop over. It's been a while, huh, Jack?" Ryan said, entering the apartment, before gesturing for Jess to do the same.

"Sure has," Jack said, "It's been, what, a year almost? Time goes by fast. Come,  sit on the couches. I know there's not much, but you'll be comfy."

The trio entered a small living room with minimal furniture: just a couple of couches and a small coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Oh, before I forget, I wanna introduce you to someone. This is my girlfriend, Jess." Ryan said.

"You've been more productive than I am, I see," Jack said, chuckling.

"Pleasure to meet you, Jess. I'm Jack," he said, offering his hand out to shake with Jess. "I'm Ryan's, uh, I'm-

"His brother." Ryan said, filling in the last part of the sentence for him.

"It's nice to meet you too," she said. "I've never met one of Ryan's family before. This is the first time."

"Oh, really?" Jack said. "Well... we don't really have a lot of them, you know. No one, in fact. It's just us two."

"Oh I'm- I'm so sorry. I... shouldn't have said that."

"No, no. It's fine. Everyone's lost someone, especially given the situation we've been in for so long. It's normal."

"Yeah..." Jess said, her voice nearly trailing off. "It's normal."

Ryan stared at the floor ahead of him, the light in his eyes glowing just a bit dimmer. He had lost so many loved ones. It hurt to hear the only two left in his life talking about such a topic.

"What's with the glum look all of a sudden, Sterling?"

"Huh?" Ryan said, caught off guard by Jack's question. "Oh... it's- it's nothing. Don't worry."

"You sure?"

"Uh-

"Hey, it's okay. I'll make you something in the kitchen. Lemonade, perhaps? It's pretty warm right now, so having some will make you feel better."

"Oh, um, sure. I'd love some. Jess, you want some too?"

"Why not?" she said. "I've been itching to have something cold all day."

With that, Jack set off to the kitchen to make his guests refreshments.

"So, what do you think of him?" Ryan asked his girlfriend.