Avatar Rose: Dusk

Ch.62:Nathan

Sleeping in the same tent as Rowan, Xander and Evan is incredibly interesting. It seems I've learned a couple of things about my future comrades.

1. Never sleep in a ten-foot vicinity to Evan Lotekka.

He sends bloodbending grips spasming all over the place. Although they're not strong grips or anything, every so often I can feel my veins tighten, or my blood start rushing faster. Especially since Xander, across from me sleeps with his eyes open, the effect is increasingly eery.

2. Never let Xander Kazennska sleep opposite you.

He sleeps with his eyes open. You feel the hairs on your neck raise in fear due to his endless staring. His pupil doesn't shift, he doesn't blink. He just stares blankly into empty space. One could mistake the kid for a cadaver.

3. Don't let Rowan earthbend a tent.

It looked sturdy at first. Now, though, the occasional crackle of breaking foundation tickles our ears. I don't know if it was Rowan's poor skills or the bad quality of the land, but our little shelter in unstable. We really should have been less lazy and risen a prime-quality survival tent like the girls did, but Rowan said in a quite knowledgeable tone that  it'll be fine.

Sure, Rowan. Sure.

I'm riled up now. Between the staring, the gripping, the crumbling- I feel my head's slowly inflating, ready to pop.

Welp. Time to evacuate.

I remove myself from the situation and calmly head outside, into the cool midnight air. Wrapping my blanket around my waist, for a long time, I stare at the dying embers of tonight's fire as they dance along the remaining log. I sit there, in lingering darkness for at least an hour. By the time the flames die out, my eyes have adjusted to the darkness.

It's around this time that I hear a shuffle and a step, then the sound of a sock on gravel. Evan drags himself out of the tent, and sits next to me. For a while we sit in silence, listening to the crickets, insects and to the occasional hoots of nocturnal birds.  Then I speak up.

"Couldn't sleep, bro?"

"Guess not," he replies, "it's been some time since I shared a tent with 3 other men. The air was starting to really reek."
Evan takes a lighter and a cigarette, brings it to his mouth and flicks the lighter a couple of times, lighting it on his 4th attempt. With a nice deep breath in, he lets the smoke trail out of his mouth. "Much better," he says.

Evan shows up, and already the cool air seems to become more comfortable.

After he's finish puffing, he turns to me. "You couldn't sleep either?"

I hold off the resist to chuckle. "Yeah, that's right. Were you having nightmares? You seemed to toss and turn quite a bit."

Evan shrugs. "I don't remember my dreams," he says, "so I really don't know."

"Fair enough."

He shoves me. "It's not like I'm asking for your approval."

I sigh. "All right, all right. No need for violence."

"Says the guy who wants to kill the Fire Lord."

"It's for the sake of the greater good!"

"Hah," Evan says spitefully. "Hah, hah, hah."

"Oh, shush."

Surprisingly, Evan shushes up. He takes another smoke. "You know," he says after a while, "I've always wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"Where did you grow up?" He asks. "How old are you? Even though I'm your brother, I know absolutely nothing about you."

I look up at the sky. "Well, we moved everywhere. The condensed version- 50% tribes, 49% Fire Nation, and 1% Republic City. Before the Fire Nation started dropping bombs on the place, that is. I'm 17 years old. How bout you? Where did you live, how old are you?" I ask, still not making eye contact.

Evan sighs. "Born in the tribes, 10 years in the tribes, and then the rest in Fire." He says rather fast. "We're 5 years apart- I'm 22."

"And I'm 3 inches taller than you."

He scowls. "Shut up."

I smile. "Sorry."

"Sure you are," Evan says sarcastically. He drops the cigarette and rubs it into the dirt below with the heel of his foot.

After a while, I decide to tease him some more. "So..." I say. "You and Liesel, huh-?"

Evan slams his palm against my mouth. "Don't even."

"So you do!"

"Shut up, Nathan."

"When will you talk to her?"

"I said shut up!"

"Fine."

Evan smiles. "Good boy."

I scowl.

Evan laughs. He looks around. "I'm going to try sleeping again- but I'm going into the house this time."

"Oh that sounds good," I say with a yawn.

We both get up and walk, our feet pacing across the grass. "Night," he says as we reach the door, and he goes up the stairs and I go down.

"Night, Evan."