major tom

chapter 2: by the blue sea

"you bloody fools!" the headmaster yelled at the top of his lungs, heaving as he ran after the four boys. davit had his hand on his hat as he sprinted across the grounds, ammon and charlie struggling to keep up. 

tamino darted towards the boarding house, his coat flying with the wind. 

suddenly, a loud thud followed by a groan was heard from behind them. 

charlie had tripped, his shoelace caught under his foot. 

"man dowwwnnn!" ammon screamed as tamino broke his sprint and turned around to get his friend who was now in the line of the headmaster's wrath as the old man struggled to advance towards the boys. 

tamino grabbed the other by his thigh and arm, throwing him over his shoulders before breaking out into a run again.

"you have amazing upper body strength," charlie commented, his body shaking like a rag doll on tamino's shoulders. 

the taller boy mumbled a thank you as he caught up with the other two who stood waiting by the stairs. 

of course, the headmaster was bound to call them to his office by noon but a scolding would be better than the beating they were bound to get that morning. 

they had spent the night in alexanderia, by the sea. going bar to bar, singing in the streets as old women on balconies cursed at them to shut up. 

tamino had a quiet and heavy train ride there but on his way back he felt lighter, his mind was free of lazuli -- or so he thought. 

"the blue sea ..." ammon whispered as they stood by the beach watching the sun peek over the horizon. 

"it's called the medi--" 

"i know you idiot, i'm talking about the colour of the water," 

"azraq," charlie added, "that's what the arabs call it." 

davit hummed, "the persians--" 

"what about the persians?" ammon cut off,

"--can you let me finish?" tamino and charlie let out muted laughs, "the persians call it azure" 

"is that where they get lapis lazuli from?" charlies asked. 

tamino's eye twitched, the gods were against him they really were. 

"no, lazuli means sky which is blue sometimes," he sucked in his breath, "or heaven." it was his only contribution to the conversation.

on their way out of the train station, tamino's eyes glanced at the ticket booth to find it empty. his hands tingling at the thought of having brushed fingers with the girl at the ticket booth. 

even the way she held the tickets in front of him was ridiculously charming. 

back at tamino and charlie's room, the four lay sprawled across the room, awaiting a knock on the door and the evident scolding that was fated to them. 

"i ought to get to rowing soon," tamino stated, his eyes strained to the ceiling, face stoic as ever. 

"you ought to lick my a--" ammon started only to be cut off by davit, 

"you've barely slept all night how are you going to row a boat this bloody early?" 

tamino shrugged as he pushed himself off his bed, his slacks crinkled, shirt untucked with his sleeveless sweater ridden up his torso, his hair dishevelled.

tamino wasn't going to the canal. 

after an excruciatingly long walk, tamino smelt gasoline in the air, a train's horn echoing in the distance. he stood by the ticket booth, coat in his right hand, left hand stuffed down his pocket. 

lazuli, attended to an old man in line as tamino stood a few feet away, waiting his turn. 

when his turn came lazuli gave him a smile of familiarity, her eyes soft and welcoming. tamino felt his gut twist, losing all the confidence he had mustered up on his way here. 

"you're quite the traveller," lazuli smiled, the apples of her cheeks pushing her eyes close. 

tamino wasn't sure where to take this conversation, his mind had been wiped clean of everything he had rehearsed, he couldn't do much but stand blankly and stare at the girl. 

"where to?" she asked, after a moment of silence, her mood turning professional seeing that tamino didn't have a response for her joke. 

"i'm not sure," he said dumbly which caught the other off guard. 

"what do you mean?" 

"i'll likely go back to my boarding house after this,"

"and what is this?" lazuli had a strict look on her face, tamino could feel his palms warm up. 

"are you free?" he blurted out. lazuli's left eyebrow shot up.

"not really, but if you want to talk by the booth then be my guest." 

this wasn't going very well, tamino hadn't planned it to go about like this at all. his presence seemed to be unnecessary and bothersome to lazuli. 

"i'll come back later then." 

he had only turned around and taken a few steps back when he heard a crackle from behind him. 

"come back you fool," lazuli laughed, obviously amused by whatever had just happened before her eyes, "what is it you want to say?" 

"how do you know i have something to say?" tamino enquired, standing sideways, his face towards the girl.

"we all have our fair share of things to say," she said and with it, she gave him brilliant smile. 

tamino wasn't sure what to say, there was a burning pressure at the back of his head and in his stomach. every word the girl had said till now felt perfectly thought-out and poetic, how could he ever match that?

"i don't know what my name means," tamino blurted out and as soon as it processed in lazuli's head she burst out laughing. 

"oh you poor thing!" she laughed, "how will you survive! with a meaningless name that too!" 

though tamino's being flushed from the embarrassment he couldn't help but join in laughing with her. her laugh rich and honest, he hadn't heard anyone laugh like this before. a real laugh from the lungs and the heart. 

.

helloooo 

i know tamino's (amir's) name means smth im just gonna reveal it later :D

btw if you're interested in reading my other non-tamino stuff i have a book called 'one late winter night' which i am very proud of so do read it if you're interested :3

vote and comment!

thank you for reading!! 

-shir