Shouts and curses could still be heard from the nearby dock, but they were fragmented and bitter instead of the volcanic rage from earlier in the day. After hours of abuse, people were starting to make their way home, resigned to the machinations of their king. The last fighters left were putting up a decent stand, but even their number was falling off and making the long tread home to fill their stomachs while they still could. Climbing the hill in that sullen air, the pair came upon a cottage looming dark over the scene. Asha could see Simon sitting on a stump, a few paces from his front door. His hands were busying themselves with a net. Full of seaweed and other refuse, his fingers danced across the muck and grime to dislodge the mess. She studied his expression from afar, his mouth was set in concentration, not anger. She pursed her lips, and looked over at Sol, "You stay right here, ok?"
The corner of his lips rose, taunting, "What do you mean, aren't I your cousin Armando?"
"Alessandro."
He nodded, "Exactly!"
"Exactly why you're staying here," she stamped her foot for emphasis, "I'll only be a few minutes anyway," she spun to face the cottage again, "It's a favor, that's all."
The boy didn't reply, but when she approached Simon, she walked alone. She could see the corpse of the hollowed-out barn rising above the stubby cottage. It looked even worse one day on, she really had to make it right with him. Her fingers wound themselves into a loose fist and knocked against her thigh with every step. She got to the front gate and unlatched the leather strap that held it in place. The old wood creaked, but the stout boy kept on with his task. Asha's boots crushed the grass underfoot as she edged her way over to the tree stump. She was not ten paces away when he spoke.
"Ah, a lady is approaching! To what do I owe this illustrious visitor who deigns to grace my humble abode!" his eyes never lifted from the net.
Asha cringed at the sardonic tone. She held her breath, looping her hands behind her back, "I just wanted to check up on you. You disappeared so quick the other day...Dahlia was really worried."
He made a face, "It's nothing. I'm over it."
"You don't look like you're over it."
Simon yanked out a nasty- looking piece of seaweed and flung it at Asha's feet. She let out a small gasp of surprise, leaping away from the slimy thing, "What, you want me to talk about it?" he sneered, "Believe me I have enough to say about it, and about you, but it's not fit for repeating among 'polite society,'" he raised a clammy hand in salute, "So see yourself out, if you please...I'm busy."
The girl continued to watch the boy as he wrestled with the sludge filled net. She finally sighed and started to turn back toward the open gate. She took a step before shutting her eyes tight and whirling back around. She stomped her way right up to the sulking boy and gave his shoulder a shove, "Look, I know you're embarrassed. I know yesterday was the worst day ever! But for..." she gesticulated manically, the boy's eyes aflame in her shadow, "You can't sit around and feel sorry about yourself. I mean, Dahlia is sick about you! And I-"
"I couldn't care less about how you feel," his words were frigid.
"Well sorry for being a concerned friend!" she bit back.
"Concerned?!" the boy jumped from his stump, looming over Asha like a giant, "A concerned friend wouldn't have burned down my barn!"
"I told you I would make it right!"
"Oh, FORGET IT!" he yelled, turning away from the girl and grabbing the fallen net. He sat back down on the stump, his back to her. His voice dropped to something low and throaty, "What do you want me to do, congratulate you? Tell you how much of a good person you are? Fall to my knees and admire how you took a few seconds out of your day to see how 'poor old Simon' was doing?" he shot her a poisonous look over his shoulder, "Well I hate to be a downer, but I have no intention of puffing up your ego like everyone else has. You lied and cheated your way to the top. You stole that position from someone far more deserving than you. At least I lost with honor."
YOU ARE READING
Of Stardust and Wishes (A Wish Rewrite)
Fanfiction"Salvē!" The golden specter repeated. She was in shock. That had to be it. All that tossing around in the water must have shaken her insides around enough to make her see things. She blinked a few times, but he was still there, looking even more con...
