Corpus Civilization

Andorra

Warmth.

Warm.

So...warm.

He doesn't know how else to describe it.

The feeling of safety, a gentle caress, almost like a blanket wrapped around him.

"Biel—gwef loft of tferef!"

The voice above him is muffled, the water a sweet, sweet sound killer. He sinks deeper into the water of the hot spring. No coming out. The water is his destiny. His home. His...ecstasy.

"Biel!" And then he is being pulled up, up, up and away from the water.

"Nooo—" his mind and soul groan, the word elongated to make its way to the owner of the hands that bothered his underwater sleep.

"Biel, get out of there! You've been down there for way too long. You wanna drown in your beloved water?" His friend, Nil growls, still trying to pull him out of the water.

"Death in my favourite place would be lovely," Biel replies, wrenching his arm away. Nil may be his best mate, but sometimes, his protective nature can be a bit too much. He sinks back into the water, the warmth like a shock to his body that was just previously in there. Damn, the air can do some serious damage.

He lets out a deep sigh of relief, utterly ignorant of the frown his friend supports, his eyes closed. But he really can't ignore it for long. "What do you want, Nil?"

Sighing, this time in defeat, his friend takes a seat beside him, submerging his legs in the water, the liquid lapping at his shorts.

Biel sinks perhaps just a little bit lower, letting the water cover his entire chest, pushing against it, not allowing him to breathe properly.

"I wish you would be more..."

"Normal?" Biel doesn't open his eyes, but he knows what his friend is going to say. It's been said to him all the time.

"You know we mean no offence by that."

"Your intentions may be different, but that's certainly what others mean." The words come as a growl from his mouth. The anger is not towards his friend. Just some other people.

"Your parents love you, Bei. You know that."

Biel opens his eyes, causing disturbances in the water as he turns to face Nil. Narrowing his eyes, he stands up in the water, pushing himself away from the warmth, letting the cold hit him.

Nil begins to back away, slow scoots away from his scary best mate. Biel can be really scary when angry and it's never a good idea to get in his way when he is.

Smirking internally, Biel reaches out with a hand to latch onto his leg, eliciting a shriek from his friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Bie, I didn't mean anyth—" Nil gasps out, trying harder than ever to get away from his friend.

Shoving aside his friends' statements, Biel brings his friend closer until his legs are back in the water, on opposite sides of Biel's waist. Reaching up on his tiptoes, Biel whispers a question that will determine their future.

"Why did you become my friend, Nil?"

Nil, who was previously sobbing out apologies, straightens up, his face void of any emotion. "That's what you wanted to ask?" his face breaks out into a mock snarl. "You had to resort to scaring me for that, you milksop?" He pushes his friend back, a hard shove that sends him directly into the water.

His friend disappears into the water, the last known sighting of him, his brown hair, gleaming in the sunlight.

Nil, too busy in his laughter and relief doesn't notice the non-existent surfacing of his best mate. Once he's done, he finally looks at the surface of the water, calm with gentle ripples from the occasional wind. His feet, submerged are warm, unlike the rest of his body. He wonders where his friend disappeared to. Maybe he sneaked off somewhere while he was laughing. Maybe he's right behind him, ready to surprise him—

Nil turns around sharply, his neck letting out a loud crack. No one is there. Well, people are, but not the one person he's looking for. He turns back to the water, seeing something from the corner of his eye. Was that...a hand?

Keeping his eyes sharply on the water, not even daring to blink, he watches, carefully, making sure not to miss a single spot.

A hand parts the surface again, rising for a total of one second and ten nanoseconds before disappearing again, leaving bubbles in its wake.

"Biel!" Nil calls out, wondering if that is truly his friend. That hand certainly looked like it was his. "Biel..."

Lowering himself gently to the water, Nil gasps as his body is enveloped in warmth, the water constricting his airways. The water and he have never been friends. It was always his friend who was friends with the water, dancing in it like Nil didn't exist.

Taking a deep breath, he pulls himself down into the water, the warmth now stinging his eyes. Speaking of which—he can't see.

Dammit, dammit. Biel, the things I do for you.

Bad experiences with the water has turned the water and him into enemies. He is supposed to fight the water, not make a truce with it. But supposedly, the water and him have a mutual friend. And he'll do anything to get him back.

Going back up to intake another breath, he drowns in the water again, searching in the blue with blind eyes and wandering hands. His fingers scrape a rock on the bottom and he flinches, accidentally letting out some of the breath.

Left with no choice, he goes back up to take another breath. Oh why, oh why did it have to be Biel who was lost in the waters? At least he could hold his breath longer. I can't believe I'm doing this for you, Biel.

Going down for the third time is a nightmare, the darkness of the water pressing into him, constricting his airways again because the water loves nothing more than taking advantage of the fear of people. He wants to scream out to the water that they're on the same side, they're looking for the same damn friend!

His hands wave around, fingers colliding with something that feels a lot like cloth. Taking chances, he grabs on tight despite the small amount of strength in his fingers. He isn't about to lose Biel that easily.

Swimming up, up, up and away from the nightmare that is blue, he pulls first himself out, then the body he tagged himself with.

The body gasps and coughs and Nil thanks anyone he can think of, throwing himself on the body before sobbing his heart out. This time for real.

"N-Nil?" the body sits up and through clouded eyes, Nil looks up to see the face of his best friend, alive and speaking, concern on his face.

Tears slip out again, not even bothering to hide. Nil wraps himself tightly around his friend's body, slightly calming as Biel runs his fingers through his hair.

"Bie, Biel, I became your friend because your not normalness popped out and I wanted to be with someone who had different views on the world. I loved that about you. I had no other intentions, I-I swear! Please still be my b-best friend!" Nil manages to make the words come out of his throat, at last, these words that have been stuck in there since Biel asked the question.

"Nil, Nil, mate, I know, I love you too, buddy. I welcomed you in as my friend because I knew you were special as well." Then Biel is picking him and enveloping him in a hug because that's what best friends who risk their lives for each other do.

"You're a nebbish, Bie. I hope you remember that."

Biel lets out a loud guffaw.

"I'm so glad we came to Andorra La Vella."

---

By Jem