Tino's Word - Past and Present

Part one

The sun quietly set behind the trees as Matthias Khøler poured a cup of lemonade for Tino. He handed it to him, a permanent smile plastered to his face. "Here you go," he said.

"Thanks," Tino said, smiling back.

"No problem, my dude," he replied with his unusually high-pitched voice.

It wasn't that Matthias was nervous or anything. Matt, in contrary, was the chillest person ever, usually lounging around somewhere working through math problems or writing music history papers. Even when he was exhausted he was still pretty chill.

Perhaps the word "dude" was the best way to describe him. He did look like he spent his days on a sunny California beach surfing and catching cute girls. Instead of this appealing way of life, Matt wore button ups, buttoned all the way to his neck, studied calculus and was (happily) engaged. Tino still couldn't shake the idea of Matt surfing, though. It was hilarious to him.

Not only was Matt the chillest man alive, he was also the clumsiest. So when Tino casually suggested that Matt try surfing for the sake of sating his vision for Matt, Matt laughed. "Where did you get that idea?"

"Dunno," said Tino. "You should though."

Lukas, who was sitting next to Tino and across from Matthias, laughed. "I think if I saw Matt surfing, I'd pray he didn't fall and hit his head on a rock," he said darkly, winking at Matthias. Matt smiled. "Me too," he replied.

Lukas was perhaps the most opposite one could be of Matthias. Lukas Bondevik was not chill. He was uptight and perfectionist. Tino was pretty sure Lukas had a stick up his ass, for real. Their love found a way, though.

Later, Elizaveta smiled at Tino, sparking a conversation. She hadn't spoken to him all evening. "I'm so glad midterms are over," she said happily. "I'm pretty sure I failed my English paper. I didn't even read A Midsummer Night's Dream to the end."

"I know. I think my ass got kicked in Russian. Chinese is basically the only thing I had down," Tino laughed sheepishly. "My GPA won't take that bad of a hit because I did study, just probably not as much as I should have."

Elizaveta's face fell as she said, "Oh my gosh, Spanish was so hard. You're lucky you're good at languages."

Gilbert leaned over from the other side of Elizaveta, hearing their conversation, and said, "I regret taking German."

"I took it in high school and didn't do very well either, don't worry," said Tino, laughing.

Despite there being actual snow on the ground, Matthias insisted on an outdoor picnic honoring the end of the stressful midterm exams. Tino's had ended yesterday, but Berwald was still in class. It was a Saturday afternoon, and Berwald was probably somewhere sweating as he turned in a design paper. Admittedly, Tino had been disappointed that Berwald was not going to make the picnic, but there had been no other choices for what time people could get together. Maarten had insisted that he had to go to work, Elizaveta had tutoring, Natalya was tutoring and Lukas said he had a job interview with a lab. Thus Tino was left eating a questionable hotdog on a snowdrift, listening to Lukas and Matthias flirt with each other and Maarten arguing with his sister about her spending habits.

Maarten's sister was called Bella and she was very nice and pretty. She was also Tino's girlfriend.

Her friend Lucille sat next to her, staring into space. She was probably thinking about warmer weather. Tino was too. Or maybe she wasn't, maybe Tino was just cold. Tino had grown up in Northern Europe, but that didn't mean he didn't get cold. He had worn a fleece jacket with layered sweaters, but had underestimated the power of wind.

He didn't notice when he was tapped on the shoulder by Lukas. He was deep in thought. Mostly about how much coffee he would drink when he got back to his dorm room.

When Lukas finally brought Tino back to reality, he pulled his shoulder, wanting Tino to stand. He did, giving him a face that said what's up? in a really very concerned way. Tino did not know Lukas very well, but they trusted each other. Lukas was very trustable.

Lukas did not remove his hand from Tino's shoulder. Despite Lukas literally radiating intimidation just from his resting bitch face, he was a really very warm person. His hand was ungloved and clearly cold.

Lukas was one of those people that anyone would be comfortable curling up with under a blanket. He was likable that way. Matt always insisted that Lukas was never this way until the year he left for university, but somehow Tino doubted that. Lukas was intrinsically warm and welcoming–at least towards Tino.

"Tino," Lukas said, pushing him into a corner, out of sight of their other friends. "You have to promise not to tell anyone I said anything strange, okay?"

"Yeah, sure"–Tino's voice quivered–"what do you need?"

He felt suddenly very self conscious in that corner, with Lukas talking very close to his face. Of course, it was fine, this was fine. It was just weird. Although Lukas was a bit strange, he had never demanded Tino to keep a secret like this. There had never even been a reason for him to ask Tino to not tell anyone anything. The way he said it also made it sound like Tino couldn't tell anyone. As in, neither Matthias nor Berwald. And Tino told them almost everything.

"Listen... if you feel weird, tell me. I'm... working on a project for school. I don't want to freak anyone out, but you're showing signs of what I'm looking for."

Tino panicked for a moment. "What–what do you mean?"

"I would really appreciate if you could tell me if you smell something weird? Or if the water is off. Or color changes or, you know, everyone's skin disappears. Stuff like that," he says quietly. "Not that the last one will happen."

"Is this for music or chemistry?" asked Tino.

"Chemistry," Lukas said. "It's something messing with perception and hallucinations. In order to ensure you're okay... take this when things get weird."

He pressed a small violet capsule into Tino's gloved palm. "What is it?"

"It's a medicine that helps you stop hallucinating. You seemed like you were earlier. Before lunch, I mean."

He had been–Tino had gotten one of those feelings where he should turn around, he had felt like he was bing watched. So he did. What he saw? There were two young boys in period clothing staring at him with wide eyes. He blinked in surprise, and then they were gone.

"Shouldn't I go to the doctor? And how the hell did you know that I was having... perception issues," said Tino, his voice cracking as he realized how crazy Lukas was being.

"Trust me. If–when–things go to shit, take it," he said. Then he took Tino's arm, and led him away from the building. He slipped a chain with a hollow rectangle charm into Tino's hand on the way back. "Put that in there and don't let it out of your sight," he commanded, his voice quiet and urgent.

Tino began to edge away from Lukas, very sure that Lukas was off his rocker. "Yeah, sure, thanks Lukas," he said shakily.

"One more thing," Lukas said, standing static in the shadow of the building. "If there's a man who approaches you, and who looks like me... do not trust him. No matter what he says."

His eyes were dark, and he promised to see Tino back at the picnic. Tino swore to himself that he would not take it. It seemed a little shady to him.