Dainty and Dauntless

Mates and foes:

They shared laughter, silly pats on the shoulder that left an itch, cracked lame jokes together and almost lost breath humoring each other, dreamed about the coolest lives and painted them. He thought the other fella was a fool, and the thought was mutual. They were two foolish friends.

👊👊👊

His deep sigh came forcibly, leaving his chest heaving a bit. Breathing had never been so complex. He struggled to steady his breath just as much as his body. His teeth sunk into his soggy lips that he kept on licking. For some reason they were drying up fast.
His eyes were as thin as a line, the squinting made it look so. His gaze bore into the black hole that enveloped the whole forest.
He shuddered.

The chilly breeze, almost freezing his spine was a crude reminder of his independence. It gave no disclosure to the answers for the questions poking at his brain. He was never really good at quizzes so he neither fancied questions nor having them answered. His brain, on the other hand, was doing the most.. in the most fruitless way possible. A dull ache was starting to ensue. That was no good. Actually that was the jolt back to reality.

He had been standing there a while now. The figure next to him had vanished for that tiny moment. In the corner of his eye sat "him", calmly staring at him. It was static, silent and unfazed by all that was going on. It just looked back at him.
Was it studying him?
The wind with its grace danced with the ends of its thick earth toned scarf. When their eyes met, his face hardened. It was going to say something again.

"Valer"   It called.

"Huh" Ethan answered back and felt his armpits sweat. They were back at it. The heat spread all over his body, mostly to his forehead.

"The question, you haven't answered me?"

BLOODY ILLAI! Ethan hated him for this.
With a sigh, Ethan steadily walked towards the fire. Maybe beneath the red hot flames was the guide to breathing flawlessly. His lungs needed the relief.
It seemed keeping her close wasn't a good idea after all.
Was what he had done two years ago a mistake, added to the many he had previously done? What was he thinking then, going to see her?

"She.." Ethan started but failed. He felt like an idiot. This frustration was  driving him nuts.

Through gritted teeth he said, "She's like any other, ok?" The sentences pierced his conscience deeply, and the other man making him talk back appeared to care less.

"Any other, huh? I bet any other girl can drive you to your lowest and replenish your soul in an instant. Right, bud?"

He knew he needed to get out of there as fast as he could or else the next question would possibly leave him broken. He couldn't risk another horrid cycle.
He stomped off into the darkness, searching his brain one last time.
Why? Why had he lied? He knew Illai had seen through all of it. How pathetic he seemed in his eyes. He felt judged, embarrassed and sorry. He was a bad liar.

DAMN! DAMN! Damn it all!

        .....

Illai had kept his breath steady, his chest rising and sinking smoothly. His strands of hair flowed with the wind. The windy atmosphere helped him keep calm. The trees swayed and the leaves rustled.
His eyes caught Ethan and nothing about him was calm.
His face crinkled with a look so confusing. He looked troubled, restless and for a few seconds—vulnerable. Garf would have loved to take a picture.
He couldn't help but smile faintly at that. He felt his gut twist when he remembered it was just the two of them. How convenient!
Garf had stormed off earlier, bitterness evident in every step. Well, so much for catching up.
Speaking of anger, Illai was boiling but a fist fight or storming off wasn't going to get him his answer. Ethan did.
He had to ask now.

"What is Natalie to you, Valer?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Ethan's eyes bulged. He had fallen silent after, until he had called out to him.
Illai saw him struggle to catch his breath and try aimlessly to say something. When Ethan approached the fire, Illai felt him make a plea to it. In full honesty, Illai felt guilty for loving every second of his falling apart. He was witnessing the start of the crumble of Ethan Valer's pride.

"She's like any other, ok?"

What nonsense! Illai thought.
The nerve this guy had to still lie to his face, specifically about Natalie. After all this time and everything that had unfolded to this day, Illai had expected some resolve from Ethan on the matter. This wasn't five years ago. They were less naive, ignorant, insecure and selfish. He thought they had at least progressed for the better. Ethan had chosen the easy way out, once more.

Illai was about to call him out when the other guy dived into the darkness of the forest.
He sighed and looked hopelessly into the flames,
he felt a little less shittier knowing Natalie hadn't heard what Ethan had to say.
She was a no-show today for the class reunion. As much as he longed to see her and catch up, this was no environment he would have loved to meet her in. He planned to check on her later and be reminded once more how lucky he had been, once upon a time.

Left alone, Illai wondered about what everyone else loved about the dark in a forest. He thought it better to just watch it from near the fire glow.
If Natalie were here, she would sit with him and talk endlessly about life, love and poetry. He craved a moment with her.
He thought, if Valer knew better, did better and spoke truly, maybe he would be blessed with a moment with her. All he had now was the darkness. This darkness that kept all the events from all those years ago.

Simply nostalgic.

👊👊👊