Evenfall

Diversion

Today (Mid-morning)

The sun glared through the side window and blinded him as it rose steadily in the sky. Theo frowned and unhooked the sun visor from the ceiling to swivel it so that it blocked the bright rays of light. Then he let his arm fall across the windowsill again, enjoying the rush of cool air across the hairs on the top of his forearm and the warm press of the metal car door underneath.

Corn fields striped the rolling hills that stretched in every direction, sliced by the black ribbon of highway that they coasted along. The engine's rumble and wind blowing in the open windows drowned out any other sound. But Theo imagined that if he were sitting quietly among the rows of crops, he would hear the rustle of the corn stalks, the chirping of cricket, and the sunshine beaming down on him.

"Do you want a snack?" Abel asked.

Theo turned to frown at him. "We just had breakfast."

"A couple of hours ago," Abel twisted his torso, leaving one hand on the steering wheel and reaching into the backseat with the other. His shirt stretched across his chest, sleeve riding up to show off his arm's soft, pale underside, crisscrossed by a patchwork of stark black tattoos. The spicy scent of his deodorant filled the space between them. Theo bit his lip.

"I could go for a snack," he murmured.

It was his sex voice, which had Abel looking immediately from the road to his face. He smirked and glanced in the backseat to finally grab whatever he was pawing around for, then lifted the bag of snacks into the front and dropped it into Theo's lap.

"You horndog," he teased, "I meant actual food."

He grabbed one of the granola bars and opened it, the heels of his palms braced on top of the wheel to steer as he used his fingers. Theo poked around in the bag, then decided to eat the rest of his breakfast burrito before it went bad. He couldn't rip it up and eat it the way he had earlier without making a mess, so he ate it as neatly as he could manage while it was rolled up.

The fields suddenly gave way to a small town. Their speed slowed as they passed the conversations and coffee aromas spilling from the open doors of cafes lining a cute little main street. Theo twisted in his seat to watch a dog tied to one of the metal tables on the sidewalk where its owner sat reading a book.

"This town has a petting zoo if I remember correctly," Abel said as they slowed to a stop at the town's singular cross light.

"Really?" Theo licked his fingers and crumpled the burrito wrapper. "A petting zoo? How does that work? They let people pet tigers and monkeys and stuff?"

Abel turned fully in his seat to gawp at Theo, jaw dropped. It was serious enough that he removed his sunglasses. Theo looked away, down at the snacks in his lap, and twisted the bag's straps around his fingers—embarrassed because, apparently, he had said something stupid or abnormal again.

"Hey, it's okay," Abel told him. "I'm just surprised. Have you never been to a petting zoo?"

"I've been to the zoo," Theo mumbled.

"Baby, a petting zoo is a little different. They have farm animals, like goats, alpacas, and rabbits."

Theo pursed his lips. "I've never been to one of those. What's an alpaca?"

The person behind them beeped. Abel jumped in his seat, and they both looked up to see that the light was green. He pulled through the intersection.

"They are like llamas, kind of."

"Oh." Theo nodded. "And they let you pet the animals?"

"Yes. Would you like to go to this one?"

Theo thought about holding a little bunny rabbit in his hands and stroking its soft fur. That sounded nice. He kind of wanted to know what an alpaca looked like, so he pulled out the new phone that Abel had bought him before they left on their trip and tapped alpaca into the search. They looked fuzzy like sheep, had long necks, and had silly expressions on their faces. He immediately wanted to meet one.