The Ascension

5: Crushes

No one had slept well the previous night, but with dawn coming, they felt compelled to move forward. There was no true reason beyond Aster's insistence, but suddenly that insistence seemed to be a very legitimate reason to do anything.

They passed through a small town at the mouth of the forest, and Senya quietly remarked, "Aio. We have time to eat."

"We're that close?" Aster asked.

"Closer than we should be." He nodded. "It'll still take most of the day to walk, but we can lose an hour."

"A whole hour to eat seems like too much." Wren said, and the other two looked at him with empty stomachs and desperation. His bag had all the food, and a few coins. "Okay, I'm starving too. But after the stress of last night... we could lay off on eating everything we have."

"The only reason I remember to eat is because of stress, so I'm not sure what you're talking about."

They found a small crook of the town to eat in where they wouldn't be in anyone's way, a small strip of field covered in mounds of grey rock. They sat on one such pile to eat, perhaps up ten feet around the surrounding plain. Aster let her feet dangle off a sharp spire.

"What is this place?" Most of the food Wren had in his bag was specially made in labs to be filling, though it was rather bland to eat. They were like soft and chewy squares, and the texture reminded Aster of fabric.

"It's the graveyard." Senya was a messy eater, even with such basic foods, and he spoke with his mouth open. He was less alluring when he did so, much to the thankful appeal of both Aster and Wren.

They kept a bit quiet after that, though it honestly had nothing to do with any childish fear of the dead. They had all come out of the woods perhaps a bit traumatized, between all the gods and grisly death.

It might as well be stated, if it was not already gleaned, that the act of killing a man was not something Aster was fond to accept as part of her life's experience.

It was only petty things that could preoccupied a worried mind, and Aster found herself thinking, cautiously, about the boys she was with. She was not really the sort to understand the appeal of romantic relationships, but she couldn't deny the aesthetics at play. Senya was good looking. Wren wasn't bad looking either, but of course, he wasn't into girls anyways.

If Wren liked boys in the same way Aster did, did that mean he was as keen on Senya as she was debating to be? With the three of them together like this, of course, nothing could happen with alienating the other. So she probably needed to just keep her thoughts quiet.

Besides, with gods always watching her, wouldn't it be a little weird to... pursue any sort of relationship? And this wasn't even about the petty short term, like some quick happening one fateful night. If she kissed someone, thirty years down the road, would some god be watching her?

These were the tedious thoughts that concerned Aster, as truthfully, they concern many teenagers. Boys and girls. Not everyone, but many, have someone cross their mind where they think 'Well...'. And then that thought is rarely addressed again, especially in shy and sheltered kids like Wren and Aster.

Senya was really the opposite of that, and for anyone particularly touched by the plight of his two blood-stained companions romantic feelings towards him, the question of his sexuality may arise. The answer to that would be simple: Senya didn't know. Rather unfortunately, a free upbringing, bold personality and three years of life on the road did not necessarily make for a young man at all versed in sexual behavior.

But he gave off that allure, according to people who were not him, and others would flirt with him. And he'd flirt back. But he'd never actually done anything- and was, in fact, too afraid if he did he'd want to commit and to settle down- and give up on his nomadic life.