Transversals

XXV. The Date

I struggled to slip my swords back in my sheaths, breathing heavily, hands on my knees.

"C'mon Axelson, you can't be tired now?" Ben asked, crouching down before me, elbows slung over his swords dug into the ground. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair he got to be in shape and I had to have noodle arms.

I looked up and met his wide smile, still heaving. "What's up...with you?" I breathed out.

He stood up and swiftly sheathed both his swords, holding out a hand. "The usual. Kicking ass, taking names."

Reluctantly, the smile came on as I accepted the help and dropped my hand from his, the two of us starting off toward town. There was a mutual understanding in our walks, at that point, that the silence was comforting. It was okay to not talk then, as opposed to the suffocating tension that had plagued our relationship beforehand. And something about the silence just felt...nice. It was this unusual form of trust that had no in between: small talk wasn't our thing, so we didn't trust each other when talking about the weather or school. We either kept silent or talked about important issues, deep issues, everything from every reach of the universe, and there was no trust in between the two. I wasn't one to talk about an untied shoe, and he wasn't one to talk about the flight team.

"So tell me more about Mattie," I asked, ducking under a branch.

"He's a gadgets kid, obviously."

"About his parents."

Ben glanced at me questionably, then set his sights ahead again. "They're Wings. Not much else to it."

"But there's something about him being so smart," I said, biting my lip in thought. "There's something else there, I'm not being weird."

Ben laughed enticingly, head thrown back and smile bright. "You're weird about everything today, aren't you?"

"Can I tell you something?" I burst out, pulling his arm back. We came to a stop in the woods. His head tilted to the side in question as a response, brow furrowed. I felt my heart start pounding as I looked at him, at his navy eyes and dark hair, rose cheeks and imperfect pale skin along his neck. The dream. Was I really going to tell him? No. Yes! No?

A smirk spread across Ben's face as he backed up a step and leaned against a tree, foot folded up, arms crossed. He raised his eyebrow, and my palms started to sweat. "I'd love to hear what's making you go Hellboy again."

I pursed my lips and punched his shoulder before leaning back against the tree behind me, calming down and setting sights on the leaves as he laughed. I let the wind cool my face, relax my muscles, ease the stress. It wasn't a big deal. If we were going to be a team, then we had to be honest with each other. And on a more personal note, the dream was really bothering me too.

So, I launched through it. I gave the details. I rushed through the last portion of it and fought embarrassment with all my might. Throughout it all I tried to get a sense of what was maybe swimming in that pool of thought within my brain. No bullshit, no horsing around: what did I think about Ben? No. What did I feel?

As soon as I finished the explanation, I pushed the thought away. That was induced stress I certainly didn't need at the moment, thinking about the prospects of...oh, no. No way. No no no no, it was just a weird dream. God, dating my partner in crime? Was I insane?

Ben laughed again in the silence, pushing himself off the tree, leaning his forearm against mine. I could feel him right behind me, looking out on the forest as I was, seeing the same things. I heard him sigh, feeling his warm breath brush against my neck. "If you want to know what a real date's like, I'll pick you up next Saturday at 8."