Bittersweet

Chapter 4

Airy flinched as he saw where they had landed. He felt anxiety rush up as he took in everything around him. There was so much noise-
Liam looked at Airy, then around them, recognising where he was. He felt tears streaming down his face. He was… home.
Airy shut his eyes, before he turned around, beginning to walk away from Liam. Liam turned in shock as he heard Airy slip.
“Shi- Airy! You- Ugh…” He grabbed Airy before he could hit his head, and pulled him back up.
“C’mon, you idiot. Don’t go charging off the bridge…” He kept his grip on Airy’s arm as he led him off the bridge. Airy remained silent, letting Liam drag him along. Liam looked back at him, annoyance rising at Airy’s quiet stubbornness. It was quite late, but the area was still quite busy. Airy covered his “ears” as he heard cars going by. It was still so loud. Liam continued dragging Airy along, trying to find somewhere where he could actually talk to Airy.
Sometime later, they found their way to a small bar, where Liam put Airy at a table.
“Wait here, I’m going to try and get some food.” Liam quickly checked his pocket, making sure he had money in it. Sure enough, he had a small amount of cash Bryce had lent him. Airy watched silently as Liam wandered to the counter. He was alone. Airy shut his eyes, trying to relax.
Soon after, Liam returned, holding a box of chips.
“Here, you’ll need to eat something.” Airy looked at the box, as Liam opened it. There… He felt confusion cloud his thoughts. What was Liam saying? It did not look like food at all, yet Liam just-
Airy slapped Liam’s wrist, knocking the chip he had grabbed onto the table. Liam sighed in annoyance.
“They are perfectly edible. Look.” Liam picked the chip back up, eating it before Airy could knock it away again. Airy stared in surprise, before grabbing a chip. He stared at it for a moment, taking in the bright yellow, and the small rocks coating it. He nibbled it, still uncertain. His eyes widened as he continued nibbling. It tasted strange, but it was good. Liam rolled his eyes at Airy, before continuing to eat. It had been so long since he got to eat something.
After some time, after they had finished their food, Liam hopped up.
“We need to find somewhere to stay for the night.” Airy nodded silently, the bar had gotten quiet, he didn’t want to go back outside to the noise. The duo exited the bar, and Liam immediately started looking around. He, thankfully, still had some money. They would probably only be able to afford one room, but Liam didn’t care at this point. He wanted to keep an eye on Airy anyway. As they wandered, Airy took in his surroundings, the city was still quite loud, but there weren’t as many people wandering around. He figured the later it got, the less people out. He flinched as Liam grabbed him, dragging him into a building.
A flower waved as they entered, smiling at the pair.
“How much for one night?” Liam grabbed the money out as the flower quickly checked a book next to her.
“Uh… Fifteen… dollars.” She tried to avoid mumbling, “Uh… you have enough. Just the one room?” Liam nodded as he grabbed Airy and pulled him toward the counter, as the flower handed them a pair of keys. Liam led Airy to the room. He blinked as he looked in the room. It was quite decent, but the main thing he noticed was the bed. He looked towards Airy, then the bed. Groaning, Liam grabbed a blanket, placing it onto the floor.
“You take the bed.” He flopped onto the blanket, pulling it around him. Airy stared at him silently, for the fiftieth time, before laying on the bed. After a moment, Airy seemed to be extremely comfortable.
Airy yawned as he woke up. He could hear sobbing, he realised. He looked down to where Liam had fallen asleep, realising it was him.
“… Liam?” Liam flinched as he heard Airy. He looked over at him, wiping his tears away. Airy reached his hand forward, poking Liam’s arm. Liam turned back to him, tears pouring down his face again. Airy stared as Liam grabbed his hand. Liam sighed.
“I… Let’s just go back to sleep.” Airy watched as Liam let go of his hand, and turned away from him. Airy yawned before readjusting himself. He hadn’t thought to remove his deflector before going to bed, and the thought still hadn’t crossed his mind.
Liam scowled as he dragged Airy along with him. Airy had been refusing to follow him, instead trying to head back to the bridge, even though they were hours away from it by now.