Oblivious {Niall Centric}

vii

Niall's eyes were drooping low, sleepiness weighing heavy on him, yawns passing through his lips every minute or so; his muscles relaxed, and Liam's chest felt more and more comfortable. They had been lounging around around Louis' room all afternoon, the Saturday sun blocked by huge masses of dark gray clouds.

It hadn't started to rain yet, but none of them wanted to chance going outside. Except Liam -- he could just water-bend the raindrops away.

"Want to play Elements?" Louis asked when staring at the ceiling got boring.

Elements was one of their favorite video games to play - especially Niall's. It was one of the only times he could pretend to control any sort of element. It was completely random which element the player was able to control in the game, and one player could control all of them if they were lucky enough.

They loaded a new game. Liam could control lightning. Louis was blowing fire from his mouth. Niall could run.

It was also possible to not be able to control an element at all in the game.

"Let's start a new game," Liam suggested, even though he was having fun setting trees on fire with his lightning strike.

Louis got air. Liam, too. Niall smiled; he had air as well. Along with the other elements.

"Nice, you got master," Louis congratulated.

That was the title of the person who could control all 6 elements. People like that existed in reality, but it was so rare that the last one was the only one in recorded history. She was considered a god, and her nickname was "Mother Nature". She had lived seven hundred years ago, and nobody knew when the next one would come, if at all. It came to a point where people began to believe she was only a myth.

~.~.~.

Tilly wagged his tail whenever Niall would get close to where he lay on the couch. Niall found it endearing, but he was too busy cleaning his apartment to rub the puppy's tummy.

Greg was visiting with his long-time girlfriend, Denise, and they would come stay with him for two days at the request of Niall. Rex would probably be there, too, but he usually slept with Niall anyway.

Tilly let out a sneeze, releasing a stream of fire that scorched the coffee table. Niall sighed; he would have to cover that with a table coth.

A knock came at his door.

Niall set down his duster and pulled down the surgical mask from his face. He sneezed  just before peeking through the peephole. It was Louis.

He opened the door with a wide smile. Ever since Louis' essay got burned by Tilly, Louis had avoided coming over. It seemed like the boy came prepared by bringing nothing of value with him besides his favorite pair of Vans.

"I was in the area, so I thought I'd pop in for a moment," Louis greeted as Niall brought him into a warm hug. "Were you cleaning?"

"Yeah, Greg's coming with Denise tomorrow. Want something to eat?"

"Just tea."

~.~.~.

"I like your new garden," Louis commented after sipping his tea. They were sitting in Niall's back patio, Rex's teal watering can on the table between them.

Niall only hummed in reply. Rex would kill him if he ever told someone about Rex's secret obssession.

Suddenly, the glass door slid open, and Liam and Rex walked out with bags of Chinese take-out.

They all agreed to watch a movie with Tilly put outside to sniff and play around as he pleased. The movie was about a rare spirit-seer who had to single-handedly prove his talent was not a hoax. The people who could see and control spirits and spiritual energy were often said to be exaggerations of religious experiences or derived from folktales, but all stories were based on some truth.

Niall was no longer watching the movie, drifting off to daydreams.

He was imagining his reunion with Greg, wondering what his brother had been up to lately. They didn't talk much over the phone because Niall liked the thought of sending letters back and forth even though it took two weeks for a reply from California.

He had only seen Denise in pictures, so this would be the first time meeting her in person. Niall was nervous; not everyone was kind to him when they found out his inability to control an element.

The boys seemed to notice Niall lost in his own world, especially when he remained silent the third time Liam asked a question.
"Niall," Liam pinched Niall's hip, making the boy jump. "I asked if you wanted some more lomein."

Niall nodded his head, sliding out of Liam's lap to let his friend stand up.

"So what were you daydreaming about?" Rex asked, eyes locking onto Niall's.

"Greg," Niall answered, pulling his legs under him to sit on. As an afterthought, he added, "And Denise."

"Excited?"

"Yeah, but I don't want to go to the 'family dinner' tomorrow night, and Greg said he won't go without me."

"Then go. It's free food, right?"

Niall groaned in reply before happily accepting the new plate of food in front of him.

~.~.~.

When Liam and Louis left, Rex went straight to gardening. Somehow, Tilly had sneaked inside and plopped himself on Niall's stomach with a lazy yawn.

He could smell burnt whatever from the puppy's breath, urging him to seriously consider getting doggy toothpaste. Niall stroked Tilly's fur absent-mindedly; he briefly wondered if Tilly could burn the family event down.

It was only a thought -- he would never. . .

~.~.~.

so this is my way of revealing a little more info about their elemental world and more build-up towards the next chapter which is going to be pretty dramatic tbh