surreptitious 💫💐💫 ⌠joshler⌡

~!two!~

june 7th 2004

"you do know that we barely know each other."

josh and tyler weren't in their usual spot by the forest, they were outside josh's backyard, sitting on the grass underneath an endless, crystal-blue sky. josh had forgave tyler about the incident that happened a few days ago. they were back to being friends again.

whatever that meant.

"well, we only met six months ago." tyler addressed. he wore the same mask as yesterday, along with the same outfit. josh wondered if he ever showered or if he had thousands of the same white-button shirts and black slacks.

josh bit the inside of his cheek. "yeah but we should know each other inside and out by now..."

"so do you want us to play the 'get to know each other' game?" tyler asked and laid down on the grass, his eyes closed peacefully. 

"yes."

"go ahead."

"why do you always wear the same clothes?"

"why not?" 

"so you never shower then?" josh assumed. tyler snorted.

"i am a man who takes pride on appearance and hygiene." he asserted defensively and sat up. "just because i wear the same clothes everyday doesn't mean i don't at least clean myself. i just enjoy wearing this." he gestured at his clothes. "makes me feel... i don't know - comfortable? less insecure?"

josh frowned at tyler. tyler raised a perfectly-plucked eyebrow back. "wait- you pluck your eyebrows?" josh gasped audibly, tyler offendedly looked away from him, cheeks burning up. he looks absolutely adorable, josh thought.

"who are you talking to?"

josh turned his head and saw his younger brother, jordan, by the backdoor with his head peeking out. 

"i uh-" he looked back at tyler but he was no longer there. josh sat there puzzled. "no one?"

"no one?" jordan echoed and giggled childishly. "you're so weird jish!" he called out. josh shook his head, chuckling silently. "okay well, mom said dinner's at six." 

"okay." jordan smiled at josh and closed the door.

josh looked back at the empty spot where tyler was sitting, "sometimes i forget that you can disappear." he wasn't really used to the fact that tyler wasn't a human. josh found it hard to accept it at first, believing that he was just a figment of his imagination but no- he's very real. but was he alive? josh couldn't answer that. "are you sure you're not a ghost." he quipped, knowing that it would piss off tyler.

"ghost? " he said incredulously. "please, those creatures aren't even half as powerful as my kind. i mean, come on, they're translucent! what comes in them, falls right out."

"so ghosts are real then?" 

"mhm."

"liar." josh said wryly. 

"indeed." his soft lips stretched into a radiant smile. "ghosts aren't real."

"dang it." the dark brunette said playfully. "but you're real right?"

"maybe, maybe not." he trailed off mysteriously.

both of them snickered in unison but the question still floated at the back of josh's head. was tyler real? well,  he's right there, laughing along with him. he can hear him, see him.

though he's never touched him.

it occurred to josh that they never once hugged, shook hands, high-fived. not a single physical- contact at all was made between them.

tyler noticed josh blank out and asked him what was wrong. "um. i-" he hesitated, trying to find the right words to say but he was tongue-tied. "wanna arm-wrestle?" josh asked casually.

tyler blinked at josh, "what an odd question, but no thank you." 

"come on, i'll go easy on you"

"it's okay, honestly. i'm weak anyways." 

"no you're not."

"yes i am."

"you carried me once."

"it was because you slipped and twisted your ankle." he pointed out. "plus, you're heavy, did you think it was easy?"

josh rapidly flailed his arms around, "you're missing the point!"

"what point?"

"i have never touched you."

"um."

josh sighed heavily at the innuendo, "no, i mean like we never made contact. you know, hugging and stuff."

"but why would we hug?" tyler wondered. josh groaned in frustration. he was clearly dodging the question. "josh, im sorry but i don't understand."

"clearly." josh snapped, his fierce expression against tyler's wildly confused eyes. he blatantly avoided every question. josh badly wanted to know what was going on - six months in and their friendship was going nowhere. "what are you?"

"what do you mean?"

"you know what i mean."

tyler stayed silent for a long moment. there was a pause in the air, the birds stopped chirping, the clouds stood still and time seemed to be falling behind.

josh stared at him hard in the eyes, not once that he broke his gaze. he was determined what tyler was and who he was. he didn't even know what his last name was : when they met, he only offered his first name, tyler. it baffled him how he and him casually became friends, without knowing a single thing about each other. 

"so?" josh pushed. he was stood in-front of him, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. "you gonna answer me?" he asked impatiently. tyler glued his eyes to the ground and remained quiet. "so i guess that's a no."

he clenched his fists so tightly that you could see the veins in his arms popping out like vines. josh stormed out of his backyard and into his house. he looked over his shoulder and saw that tyler was gone.