Armed Enlightenment V2

Post Mortem

It was getting hotter with summer right around the corner. They gave their feet some slack as their wristwatches buzzed, just in time to come across a vacant park bench for Adel to stretch his legs and a vending machine for Avrora to rummage through the coins in her belt.

"I'm buying. What do you want?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"I'm not feeling too fancy today."

"Oh."

Adel took out his phone and snapped a shot of her. Her instincts kicked in, and she posed for the camera.

"What was that for?"

"I thought you wanted to post a story of the real deal. Your exercise album was lacking anyway."

Avrora tossed him an energy drink.

"Thanks."

A cold bottle to ease off a late-afternoon run always scratched a tickle Adel never knew.

"And posted," Adel said.

"What did you caption it with?"

"'Nothing like flying high with Runner's High.'"

Avrora gave him a look and returned to the vending machine. Adel backed away at the sight of her coming back with a shaken can of soda and a determined gaze, and hurriedly edited the caption.

"'Keep running, and you'll find yourself where you wanna go.' There!" he showed the edit to her.

"Cheesy, but bearable. Now sit down."

"Yes, ma'am."

They got back to the bench and reset the interaction.

"Del, how does an evening jog sound?"

"If that's going to be a routine, I'll need to plan how I prepare dinner."

"Uhm," her lips pursed. "Since I brought it up, I could pitch in if it starts messing with you. I— I'll even split the bill for groceries and lend you the kitchen in my apartment. It'd be like married."

"What ever happened to finding me a girlfriend? All you gave me were your friends."

"I tried, okay?"

Adel scowled. "More like doing it despite me saying no."

"Don't be so grumbling," she pressed a finger to his cheek. "They had other ideas."

He swiped her hand away. "That tends to happen if you stick to me when they think I'm sticking to you."

She shrugged, tracing a quick circle in the air. Adel knew the drill. He turned, and their backs pressed each other. The soda can wedged between the backs of their necks sent a sharp, welcome shock of cold.

Their final semester was coming to an end. Avrora had to go back home and do her National Service, and Adel had to find a job. The fact that they could be like this after all the gossip and snark he got for being an irreversible stain of an expensive stick showed everyone how that stick would swing hard at anyone who wanted to wipe it off.

"Are you sure you don't want me to set you up on a job?"

Anyone, even Adel, would jump for that opportunity. However, "I told you, Av. I want to challenge myself."

If it gets handed down to him, he might end up stagnating.

"I wouldn't put it past you to disappear rather than come begging me for help."

"I wouldn't put it past you to green-flag my name in a subsidiary."

"You know me too well."

Both grinned.