What Side Didn’t Know – A2,C4. The weight of this world

Time marched on.

I found my training difficult, because his thoughts were so noisy, and ever present.

He continued to think about his memories of the past, but then those slowly gave way to bizarre imagery of what I could only describe as deformed people dressed in blocky colorful clothing that appeared to stay on no matter what they did.  Sometimes they fought each other. Other times, they released or blocked odd projectiles or lights.

It was surreal to say the least.

I, on the other hand, have gotten better and am able to pull a fruit from the vines above us, slice it into many pieces, and maneuver it to my mouth, all without spilling a drop. My ability to manipulate air has become faultless.

Of course, this was the perfect opportunity for the jerk to steal my victory.  While I was performing such a feat, completely focused on my task, and unawares of my surroundings otherwise…

“CHOMP”

“AH!  My fruit!?”  I exclaimed in surprise, and the other pieces dropped to the floor, my concentration broken.  “You ate it!  That was mine!”

He smiled coyly.  Or perhaps, I could now call it evil.  He ate my fruit! I had worked so hard for that, and now the rest was on the floor!  “Yes, the Trees has provided me all, including this delicious morsel of food.”

RUDE!  Well, yes, I mean, it did just provide, but that’s not the point right now!  That was MY fruit, I was using it to practice and I was going to eat it.  “I… You… Those ones are dirty now, you better eat them, and not disrespect the Tree by being wasteful!”  I wagged my finger at him reproachfully.

“Ah, yes, yes…”  He seemed somewhat disappointed and gathered up the pieces off the ground.  Inspecting each one for a moment, he would then place it in his mouth and savor it.  Seeing that just made me more upset. Maybe it was irrational, but I really never could get one over him yet.

“And get me another fruit when you’re done, since you took mine.”  I added, seeing if I could further injure his ego. Maybe I could get him to be a bit nicer to me yet, show him that he shouldn’t recklessly upset me.  I was starting to see through his conniving mind, and after I finished saying that and he thought for a moment, another wicked smile crept on his face. I’ve repented, I don’t want him to get me another fruit.  “N-nevermind, I’ll just get it myself.” I sighed and sat down. I would get it in a moment, when I’d relaxed from the exasperating incident at hand.

He leaned down to take the rest of the pieces in his hands and downed them all at once, then stood up again.  He casually walked over to the hanging vine, and pulled off a fruit. One thing I noticed about him was once he got something in his head, there was no letting it go.  I didn’t see what happened next because I knew something regretful was coming, and I had already put my head in my hands. He was completely unexpected in so many ways with all the bizarre things he thought and did.

Contrary to me expectations, he handed me the fruit, and said simply: “Here.  Sorry about that.” What is he playing at?

I took the fruit cautiously, and looked at his face, he seemed genuinely repentful.  Feeling vindicated, I casually took a bite of the fruit, careful to not let any juice escape.  Each drop with a gift, after all.

That’s when I noticed it, the fruit was slightly damp.  I’m sure it wasn’t juice either. I sniffed it. “You licked this didn’t you?”  I looked back at him, and of course he was smirking.

“I would never.  That would be… rude… or something.”  He put on airs, and pretended to be somewhat outraged at the suggestion.

I have never, ever met someone like him before.  And perhaps that why it took so long to understand, but this is exactly what he wants.  He wants me to be upset. I thought hard while looking at his face, his smile. Despite his lawless attitude, and his characteristic antics, this isn’t unpleasant.  A bit of saliva isn’t that bad, and it’s clear I won’t win if I continue to get upset at his harassment. So maybe it’s time to fight fire with a bit of fire. “It tastes good.  You should always serve me.” I stretched out my legs and sunk slowly into the cushiness of the couch.

I think, for a small little moment, I understood how he took pleasure in this.  His smile faltered, and he even frowned. I could get used to winning. I didn’t mean him unhappiness, but sometimes, I think I deserve to be the one with the upper hand.

And just like that, he had to try and take it from me.

He sat down beside me, and looked at me carefully.  He reached over, and took the fruit from my hand. That was mostly confusing, and unexpected, but honestly not vicious.  I couldn’t detect even a single ounce of malice in his actions. There wasn’t an evil smile, nor a coy quip. Just him looking at me in thought.

Then he kissed me.

I got mad.  Not a little mad, like, really mad.  More mad than I have ever felt before.  Without thinking about it, I had punched him in the gut.  Hard enough that he flew quite the distance away. One thing I noticed about this jerk, was that no matter how much abuse he took, he never bruised, or got injured.  He felt pain, but his body must have been blessed with the Tree’s constitution.

“Why would you do that?”  I yelled, I felt hot in my head, and like my thoughts wouldn’t calm down, and my ears rang with some buzzing noise.  “That wasn’t okay! You don’t get to touch me! It’s not okay! Do you understand!?!” I couldn’t think of anything other than that.  He needed to understand, I wasn’t happy with this, I was angry. And, to be honest, sad.

After such a long time, to finally meet another Void, and it had to be this jerk.  Every moment he gets the opportunity, he finds some way to bug me, to get under my skin, and irritate me.  This time, though, he had taken it too far. “I don’t want that from you.”  My voice dripped with vicious reproach.

He skittered back on all fours, and found the place furthest from me to sit.  I glared knives and malice (Editors Note: shouldn’t it be “glared daggers” or “a glare dripping with malice”?) at him for a while before going to pick up the dropped fruit on the floor.  Brushing it off, I ate what was left, and gave thanks to the Tree. I didn’t forget to apologize for the wasted juice that had splattered on the floor.

Author’s Note:

Thanks for the support!  I am in your care!

Editor: DungeonPalmz