Storms and craters

Chapter 20

"Have you ever thought about death? Well, about how it is... to live, and then not to live... eh?"

"Uh... why such questions all of a sudden?"

The first day of their journey is over. Vegas insisted on spending the night in a motel, but Pete began to whine, "there's plenty of room in the pickup truck, when else will we spend the night under the stars?". And Vegas gave in. The place was chosen away from the highway, at the quiet forest spot.

Above them - a milky belt of stars. Two warm blankets do not let them shiver. And for some reason, Splinter decides to have such a joyless conversation.

"Well, did you think or not? Is it hard to say?"

Vegas invisibly shrugs his shoulders and puts his right arm bent at the elbow under his head:

"You see, Pete... my job is dangerous enough. Death could have overtaken me on any of the cases that we had in development."

"But even knowing that you could die, you still went and did your job, didn't you?"

Vegas nods, grazing Pete's shoulder with a sharp elbow. The latter turns to face him. And through the darkness Vegas feels how probingly these lively eyes are staring at him now:

"And I get so creepy when I think about it... It turns out that everything that surrounds me will exist, but I will no longer exist... and those I love, too," Pete sighs heavily and grumbles. "It's not fair."

"It's just life, Pete. Everything and everyone leaves this world at some point. But you're still very young," Vegas turns sideways and rests his head on his hand, "why think about this? Live and enjoy your life."

"Yeah... Build was young too. But he left. Sometimes it seems to me that Tankhun is deceiving me. He didn't just 'run away'. He was killed on some affair, but they didn't tell me because they knew how attached I was to him."

My poor little wolf cub... How strong I want to help you. But it's too early. I can ruin everything.

"Pete," Vegas covers him with a blanket and wraps him in a warming embrace, "well, why these thoughts? Let's go to sleep. You've been driving for a long time, aren't you tired?"

Splinter blinks frequently, tickling Vegas' collarbones with his eyelashes, and then asks:

"Why are you messing with me? Because feeling you're obliged?"

"What do you mean by 'messing'? I invited a friend on a trip. Well, we agreed to be friends, right?"

Pete giggles, which makes Vegas tickle even more:

"For friends, we somehow often sleep too close. Don't you think so?"

Vegas twists his mouth and wants to take his hands away, but Pete himself clings tighter, hugging his waist:

"What else. It's not hot here."

"Okay. Then go to sleep and don't talk nonsense."

"I can't sleep."

"Hmm, of course I could sing a lullaby, but..."

"No, no, no, then I will definitely not fall asleep until the morning, or I will have nightmares," a little pain in the ass laughs, "there is another way."

"Which one?.."

Pete catches the doubt in his voice, rolls his eyes and giggles:

"No. It's not something you've had time to think about, of course. No one is encroaching on your honor. You're going to stay a virgin until you're a hundred years old."

Vegas unwittingly slaps him on the thigh:

"Aren't you tired of chatting?"

"Nah," the restless wolf cub presses his forehead.

"All right. What kind of way?"

Pete lies down on his stomach and, closing his eyelids, whispers:

"Comb my hair with your fingers."

"Uh..."

"Oh, okay, forget it."

Pete defiantly turns his face away, and Vegas pulls his hand to Pete's head and begins to comb his hair, from the very tips. He lies down closer, almost breathing into his neck. Touches the head, lightly massaging. Then he slides his fingers lower, runs along the neck, strokes the shoulders and back.

"When did my hair grow back there?" Splinter giggles.

Vegas doesn't seem to hear him, continuing soothing strokes. And then he lowers his head and, holding his breath, kisses Pete's shoulder. The latter immediately moves his head and glares at him sharply:

"Someone, like, wanted to sleep, no?"

Vegas opens his mouth, but the words come out of his lips with an almost soundless rustle of breath. Pete shakes his head and turns away again, grumbling hollowly:

"As for me, if you like a person, kiss him, if you don't like him, don't kiss him. What's complicated here? And you're always doing a half-assed job and lie with that kind of face... just pissing me off!"

In the morning they have breakfast with homemade sandwiches and coffee bags. And by noon they get to places familiar to both since childhood. Vegas is very excited. He is sure that Pete's memory should revive his childhood years here. Even if not immediately, but something should seem "his" to him. Of course, he does not risk taking him to the house where he once lived with the grandparents. They check into a hotel in a nearby town, and then Vegas takes him for a walk in the woods, where they often played as children. He keeps looking at Pete, trying to read something important on his face. At first, the boy behaves normally. He looks around curiously, takes off his sneakers and runs barefoot through the grass. However, he quickly puts his shoes back on. Finds a hollow in one of the trees and pokes there with his hand. And only when Vegas warns that there may be wild bees, and not a squirrel, pulls his hand away and runs away with a squeal.

And then they sit face to face, as if hidden from the whole world by tall grass. Vegas puts on his bracelet and timidly asks Pete to do the same:

"It's with you, right?"

"Yeah... but it's his, not mine... why would I wear it?"

"Once he gave it to you, it means it's already yours. Put it on, please."

Pete fulfills his request. And as time passes, Vegas notices a zigzag crease on the bridge of his nose. Pete somehow turns pale, the corners of his lips droop. And then he says:

"I know why you asked me to do this. But I can't replace your childhood friend, Vegas."

You can count on your fingers how many times during their acquaintance Pete called him by name. If he did it at all. Which Vegas already doubts.

"You're wrong, Pete."

"Wrong?"

"Wrong. I don't need to replace one with another. I didn't understand this before. But now I know for sure. You are you, Pete. With all your stuff."

Pete snorts and takes him by both hands. Vegas strokes his wrists with his thumbs. He hears the words begin to sound softly in time with the beautiful melody that is playing in his heart. It's very calm now. And then Pete puts the head on his shoulder. They hug each other, comforting and encouraging at the same time. And leaving this place, Vegas notices how Pete panoramically looks around the area. He frowns again and seems to shake something off his shoulders.

In the hotel they got a single room, however, with a fairly wide bed. And everything would be fine. And he could bury his fingers in Pete's hair again, stroke his shoulders and back until the boy calmed down and fell asleep. But the emboldened wolf cub himself hugs Vegas from behind and takes him by surprise with his request:

"Let at least once in my life it will be with someone I like."