The week flew on by without much incident other than the usual. The city´s initial lockdown after the terror attack on the trains got dismantled through the actions of Harville´s underworld, who actually profited more from normal operations than from uncontrolled panic. Understanding that would make people in the future realize why Harville, even if being a town mostly run by criminals, still retained a sense of security among the anarchy of its streets.

Czesch divided his time between getting info on his contacts and working for the group presentation.  He had received a report from Peru that one of the clients had only paid half of the price agreed upon. As such, standard company procedure was to deliver half the content of the shipment and issue a warning of pulling away remaining shipments if the situation were to arise again. They were running a company, not a charity, so an action like that was understandable… even if it meant that some people would have to go hungry or spend a night without power. Panama reported no other changes, as the routes were being re-secured.

He was waiting on a report from the SAS as he finished up the script. Annie had been quick enough to send the project to his e-mail, giving him plenty of time to read through and directly copy important pieces of text to another document. He organized it, summarized the fluff and prepared each part for a staunch delivery. He had to word it in way that would lead to dinamism, leading to different registers and word changes mid-presentation. That way, each time a new person got on stage, people would be getting a different way of seeing the subject at hand, which would probably help people stay up. That had been his go-to strategy when delivering situation reports, and it hadn’t failed him to date.

Right after sending Annie the first draft, he got a message from Jenny. He hadn’t talked to her in a while, apart from an odd message here and there. This one, however, looked more interesting…

-Can I come over your place? Need help. :J

-Sure, pop on over. :C

In less than a minute, there was a knock on the door. Czesch, before opening it, did the sensible thing and locked the shooting gallery, hiding the real weapons behind it. Knowing  what little of Jenny he knew, she would probably end up entering the room at some point. As he opened the door, he lay eyes on a massive backpack and, under it, the girl who had called, carrying around a face of angst and tiredness, breathing with urgency.

“Do you have your Paintball gear at hand?”

“Errr, yeah? What about it? Want to check it out now?”

“No time for that… I need to ask a favor!”

A favor… the way she phrased it only made his concern grow larger than that during a bombardment.

“… Why do I get the feeling Im not going to like this?”

“Please be my partner for the afternoon!! I beg of you!!”

Czesch stood there for a few moments, processing all the possible meanings behind that sentence. He already had a basic idea of what she meant, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get a few laughs out of it. Besides, he was a bit fed up writing and editing texts, so…

“… I thought you were going the lesbo route, but fine… so, dinner or we getting straight to business?”

The ground of Mars probably looked a lot less red than her face upon hearing those words. She had expected anything out of him, all except that.

“… Wait… W-W-Whaaaat!? I didn´t-“

“I know, I know! Pulling your leg here!!”

“Fuck me… am I really this desperate to be asking you of all people?”

“Hey, I might get a giggle or two sometimes, but I´m all business when it comes down to it!”

Even though he meant it, Jenny couldn’t help but shoot a glance of disbelief his way.

“Sureee… Look, I need a partner for a Paintball match this afternoon, and the one I was assigned got sick today. It´s a bit of an important match, so I have to be there with someone.”

“And I´m the only person you know here who does it apart from that person… and the only who you know well enough?”

“Nah, you are my last resort. I literally went through my entire list… even called some people from Edinburgh before coming here.”

The way she said it so non-chalantly… the Kid did deserve it after such a prank.

“Feels good to be wanted… Fine, I´ll do it… had nothing else today anyway, and blowing some steam will help.”

“Glad you feel that way, but we have about 20 minutes and you haven’t even got your stuff ready!”

20 minutes… the sudden urgency of it all compelled him to respond appropriately.

“Wha- Are you kidding me!?!? You could have said so earlier!!”

“I thought it all would be a dead giveaway!! Come on, you´ll also need your own paint for it!!”

He rushed back to the firing range and quickly loaded everything into a backpack he had lying around.

“This is worse than Stockholm… at least they gave us half an hour there…”

“You said something!?”

“It´s nothing!! I have it, let´s go!!”

And so a mad dash began, Czesch realizing he´d be getting his shooting practice sooner rather than later. He had to keep ahead when it came to engaging hostiles, and a shooting gallery sometimes created unwanted mannerisms and tendencies. That´s why they held similar events to the Paintball one for training purposes.

This turn of events was a nice replacement.

The Paintball field was an indoor court set up for regular games and it showed. There were walls and makeshift buildings strewn around a large cuadrilateral box, most of them already strewn with paint. People had already been doing mock games to get their blood pumping and prepare for the real deal.

Czesch and Jenny arrived at the scene 5 minutes before the start, enough time to get prepared. They shared the same locker, with the Kid making sure no to get a peek…  she might not be into guys, but she was still a girl and Czesch had been smacked by enough women already. He finished prepping up, checking on his weapon as he readied some magazines.

“That gun looks quite good... an AK model?”

She must have given a quick peek when seeing the weapon. Another gun geek to worry about…

“AK-5 carbine. Quite reliable, to be honest. Hasn’t broken on me once.”

“Can´t say the same for my baby… she has taken quite some beatings, yet she still fires.”

“Alright, can I look your direction now?”

“You can.”

They both stood up at the same time, checking their war gear as they did. Jenny´s outfit was an urban camouflage set with a lighter vest than the one the Kid was wearing. Her mask was also painted in a similar greyish disposition, surprising Czesch as to how well thought out her gear was.

“Err… how to put this? You-“

“If you say what I think you are going to say, I´m going to-“

“-look quite menacing in that.”

“Oh!... Thanks! I didn’t expect that one! Errr… you look, fine as well?”

He scratched the back of his neck, still not used to people complimenting him on his fashion sense… even if it wasn’t his in the least.

“I´m still surprised it fits… they got the measures down to the letter…”

“You forgot the mask.”

“Oh, right… the mask…”

Czesch now realized that when trying it out the week before he hadn’t put on any sort of mask. Finally, he found it, setting it up on his face. It was just as uncomfortable as other face protection he had worn during operations.

“… Liking the wolf theme going there!! Very original!!”

“Wolf theme!?... Oh, god dammit, K!!”

One of Karen´s pranks. She knew perfectly well that Czesch hated the “Wolf” nickname, so she had just sent him a wolf themed mask for the Paintball game… He´d get her for this one, of that Czesch was more than sure.

“Is that K one of your friends?”

“Yeah, the one who sent me this bloody mask…”

“Thought you said your gear was from your old place.”

He momentarily froze at her realization, finding a quick excuse to satisfy her.

“Mask is new, y´see. Old one was almost broken, so…”

“Most of your gear does look quite shiny…”

“I´m a bit of a clean freak. You can see that much from my place.”

“True enough. Guess good maintenance beats weapon jamming, right?”

The Kid reached a new level of adoration for the girl in front of him at the mention of maintenance.

“You bet… quick note here, I have no clue what the ROE are… nor the objective.”

She moved her head to a side, giving him a quizzical look.

“ROE? What are you talking about?”

“Rules of Engagement… am I clear to shoot people in the face or is there some sort of rule?”

“Errr… there is a safety distance of about 2 feet… then again, people here tend to wear a lot of padding, so you should be good… what is with the military jargon anyway?”

“Oh, just something I picked up… what are we doing?”

“This one is an elimination round. 5 teams of 2 fight it out for 10 minutes until everyone but 1 team remains. If you get downed, your teammate must remain at least 10 feet around your position, otherwise he or she will be disqualified if he´s away for more than 10 seconds. Each team starts at a corner of the box, with the 5th one starting at the central complex. There are no respawns, so you better avoid getting shot.”

“Trust me, I don’t plan on it.”

“Okay, let´s see who we are fighting against.”

Czesch had to chuckle at the way she put it: Fight. This in no way resembled an actual firefight, yet… she was taking this whole situation quite seriously, so he would humor her as best he could.

“I´ve know those two on the right… real pros. Scots, if I heard it right. They aren’t going down without a proper fight… The rest I don’t exactly know of, probably fresh meat. A lot of the usuals are sitting this one out.”

“You seem to know your way around.”

“That is what happens when you love doing something so much you´d like to do it for a living.”

Living by shooting paint at people seemed like a dream come true… where it not for everything else in between.

“Play Paintball for a living? I don’t know about that. I feel it would get dull real quick.”

“Paintball is one of the few things that never gets dull. It´s all about how you view it… Alright, let´s get to our starting position, game is about to start.”

She did have kind of a point. Czesch viewed his job as quite an entertaining ordeal, probably because it was so diverse and had him adapt to situations like this. A month ago he never would have imagined himself fighting a fake skirmish with paint weapons with a girl he had met a week ago. And he was doing just that.

They came to position, masks down. He felt that the mask was actually obstructing his view more than protecting it, but the rules were there for reasons he didn’t care much about.  Jenny seemed to take this whole thing quite seriously, since she was breathing heavily to calm herself into a fighting stance. Czesch wasn´t planning on disappointing, so he went over his gear so that everything would check out.

“Alright, so how do you want to do this?”

“I think we should avoid the center for the time being… those two Scots will probably dig themselves there, since they won the lottery… it´s going to be extremely hard to make our way around like that.”

“It´s never that hard… only as hard as you want it to be!”

The Kid puffed his chest twice, trying to prove a point Jenny found childish at best.

“Ha, ha, very funny… we should deal with the guys in our side first… which ones do you prefer, left or up?”

“How about we deal with them both?”

The lack of snark in his tone immediately put her off.

“Errr… what?”

“Rule only applies if one of us dies, right?... Are you good at Paintball?”

“Quite so, yeah.”

“Then we follow the “Divide and Conquer” principle… we take them on from both sides and surprise them by being aggressive instead of defensive.”

That was the way he fought, after all. Quick engagements in short bursts, to avoid having to prolongue a firefight and getting hit by a stray bullet. Jenny wasn’t a big fan of it, though-

“That´s probably the stupidest thing I´ve ever heard all week… and, trust me, some of my classmates borderline retardedness.”

“We´ll never know until we try!! I´ll take the guys up there, but don’t push left too far. In case one of us gets locked down, the other can cut through the middle and support.”

“What about the Scots down the middle? Wont they shoot at us?”

“I´m not sure if you noticed, but the guys in the corner opposite to ours? They were keeping their eyes on those two same as we did, but my guess is they are going to get them first… I think we´ll have the Scots off of our backs for a couple of minutes at least.”

Under her visor, Jenny almost looked at him in surprise, realizing that he had meant the whole “business” deal.

“I hope so… Engage quick, move quick, then?”

“The longer we keep the firefights, the more a possibility that we get nailed… so yeah, smart and quick.”

“Heh, let´s see if you can keep up!”

The horn blared through the building and reverberated as both Jenny and Czesch went their separate ways. AK5 locked and loaded, Czesch rushed forward as if he was in an actual operation, his steps echoing through the concrete floor and mixing themselves with the sounds of other steps and gunfire.

The group in front of him was directly engaging the opponents to their left. They were dead set on it and paid no heed to their flanks, being daft enough to go together. Czesch simply rushed over to a piece of cover and flanked them, unleashing half a magazine on their backs. That was 1 team down, 3 to go.

He rushed back to Jenny´s position, only to get shot at by one of the Scots, who had set himself in the 2nd floor of the central building. He kept on moving as he would while under fire: Suppression, then movement in short bursts. The magical words repeating in his subconscious, like an old lullaby of sorts: “He sees me, he aims, he shoots”. That way, he was able to make it back to their initial position and moved back to his teammate.

She had managed fairly well, taking down one of her targets, while the other was kept suppressed behind a wall. Czesch took this as a sign and rushed forward, taking him out at close range from the back. Jenny ran next to him as soon as the target raised his hand in surrendering fashion.

“Oh, come on!! That guy was mine!!”

That style of complaint… exactly in the same way Buri would do it. The Kid couldn’t feel more at home than by hearing that. He responded in an appropriate fashion.

“You were doing an excellent job at keeping him pinned… next time, I´ll do it”

“So, your guys were complete pussies, huh?”

“Yeah, it was actually kind of sad to bring them down.”

“Come on, we need to find a way to make it to the- Shit, behind you!!”

A ball flew right past Czesch´s head, as he rolled to cover, firing some rounds to cover Jenny on her way.

“I thought you said these guys would be down!”

“Guess they bit more than they could chew and went for us!! Come on, flank them from your side, I´ll cover!”

Czesch loaded a new magazine and proceeded to waste paint on their general direction, while also pushing up slightly. Their 2 attackers were probably thinking that Czesch was the assaulting party, noticing way too late that Jenny was rushing from their right side. The moment they did, they were immediately thrashed by their combined fire.

“Sweet! I didn´t know you were so good at this!”

“Had quite a lot of practice back in the day! Glad to see it´s still paying off!”

“Alright, let´s go for the last two.”

They were both quite well dug in, expecting an attack from their direction as well. It was usually Buri´s job to find a way to breach a building like that without much issue. It didn’t matter if they lacked the necessary material, Buri would always find a crazy way to accomplish their objective. But Buri wasn´t there, so Czesch would need to think like him for a moment to find a way.

“Dammit! They aren’t just camping, they are holding it as if their lives depended on it.”

“I´ve been through worse… I have an idea, a bit risky, but it might just work.”

“Do tell, because right now the last thing I want is to lose after all of that.”

With Jenny on board, Czesch put his gun on the ground and used it as a marker for the building as he layed down his strategy.

“Circle around to the upper part of the arena and shoot their position from there. I´ll stay hidden in the southern one and once they get eyes on you, I´ll rush in and take them.”

“All by yourself? Fuck that, the moment you train your weapon on one, the other will just take you out!”

“If there´s something I´m good at it´s at quick engagements… Come on, last plan worked like a dream! This is bound to work as well.”

She didn’t seem to like this plan either, but a defeated sigh was all he needed to hear.

“… Urgh, guess we have no other choice, huh?”

“Not if you want to win this one quick, that is.”

“Let´s do it then.”

4 minutes left and each of them went to their respective positions. It was a risky plan, but Czesch had the gut feeling that it would all somehow work out.  This wasn’t a real combat scenario, so fucking up wouldn’t end up with his death… yet he felt that he had to give it his best, to treat it as a real situation to not let complacency grow within.

His train of thought broke with the sound of Jenny´s gunfire, which drew one of the Scots to her side, while the other looked on Czesch´s previous position. He started movement slowly, trying not to make a sound, only to break into a quick sprint at the end of it. Balls of paint soon started heading in his direction as soon as he started his run, but they came too few and too late to stop him. He pushed himself against the house wall, squeezing through as much as possible to avoid getting seen from above.

“Marty, he´s in the southern wall!! Eyes south!!!”

That “Marty” fellow was probably aiming at the window next to Czesch, so he merely crawled under it to avoid getting immediately blasted in the face. He turned the corner to get eyes on the entrance and also on Jenny. She was doing well enough, firing short bursts and controlling her ammo while also stopping the other party from popping up. He made his way, slowly, towards the entrance, using the sound of Jenny´s gun to mask his footsteps.

To his surprise, Marty had taken position in a corner, ready to shoot at any miscreant who dared pop at that window… and the corner he was in was right next to the door. Czesch peeked slowly and shot his gun twice at the man´s torso. Behind his mask, he must have given a look of surprise.

“Thought ye were by that window!! Nice one, mate!”

“I´m sneaky like that. Let´s see if your friend-“

He hadn’t the time to finish that, for Marty´s buddy had just come down to the ground level to aid his companion, only to find him “killed” and his assailant merrily talking to him. The following events happened in the span of a second: Czesch side-stepped to the right, his new contact readying his weapon. He then took his secondary out and fell straight to the floor, lowering his profile considerably, all the while the Scotsman fired at where Czesch´s torso used to be. Czesch then simply fired at the man with his pistol, taking him out in quick fashion.

The man stood up, stunned, still trying to comprehend what had just happened. He then burst into laughter, Marty accompanying him.

“Da was some action movie shite right there, mate!! Well played!”

“Yeah, ye and yer friend put us in a pinch through this one… Glad to see we finally have some bloody competition here in Harville!”

That type of friendly banter was of the sort he´d hear from the other operatives in the company, so there was even more of a reason to retaliate in a similar fashion.

“Was really fun shooting at you guys as well! Amazing target practice!”

“Hahaha, I´m liking this bastard already!”

They all came out from the building, the blaring of the horn signaling the end of the game. Jenny got out of her spot and made the way to the 3 men.

“Did we do it!?”

“You see any paint on me?”

“Holy shit, we actually made it!”

For some reason, Jenny and Czesch went for the high five at the exact same moment… to further add surprise to it, the two Scotsmen also joined in. Jenny reeled back a couple of steps when seeing those two joining in.

“Errr… what was that?”

“Oh, we just thought it would be fun to join in!! Lass, I´ve seen ye around here sometimes and knew that yous rocked already, but ye didn’t tell me yer boyfriend would be as ice-cold as ye!”

“He´s not my boyfriend.”

“Then yous found a better pick than I thought!! I´m Sam, and this here is my half-witted cousin Marty.”

“Who ye callin half-witted, ya dunce!?”

“Bloody 007 over here fooled yer arse like ye were fucking window cleanin or somethen!”

“Ye told me to watch the bloody window, so I did!”

“If the guy don´t pop over, then he´s probably not there, arsehat!”

“Don´t ye go touching me bollocks, gobshite!”

Two Scotsmen in a pissing contest… and both of them having little to no piss to go on with it.

“Guys, calm down!! You two were acting quite well out there, considering the circumstances… I´m Czesch, and my partner in crime here is Jenny.”

“Pleased ta meet ye both!! Seeing such talented people here? Best part about this game!!”

“And also shootin at em!”

“Shut up, Marty!”

They spent the rest of the afternoon playing 4 similar games, with variations: Flags, hostages and even a vehicle of sorts were added to the drill. It was quite an inventive way in which these people managed to set new, compelling objectives, whilst keeping the essence the same.

The Kid felt right at home.

Friday´s sun started to pop down over the horizon and the moon started showing face as both Czesch and Jenny went out of the arena, both exhausted from all the running and gunning, also having made two new battle buddies.

“At first I thought they were weird, but those two Scots are really nice people!”

“Yeah, it´s quite a fun ride with them shouting at each other after a fuckup… still, they concentrate during a fight, which is the most important part.”

“That last round was madness with those two in the other team. Good thing you traded shots by the end of it, otherwise we would have lost!”

“I ran out of ammo just as the plays were getting good! I swear, I need to bring more for future ones.”

They walked a few more steps, a cold breeze running through them as the cloudy sky kept in place. Jenny chuckled for a moment, turning to the Kid with an apologetic look. He knew exactly how to turn that around.

“… I don’t think I said it before, but… thanks for coming with me… I really-“

“Hey, you still have some paint on your left ear.”

“Wha- Really!? God dammit, I´m sure I cleaned- Hey, wait a sec! I wasn’t shot there!”

His snort and successive giggle must have been an alarm louder than any siren during the Blitz. Her kick on his bum only made it funnier.

“You weren´t shot at all, I´m surprised that even worked!”

“Argh, you asshole!”

They spent the rest of the way back home fooling around, and Czesch started to feel like he was getting to know Jenny better and better. She wasn’t the best centered person he knew and her emotional stress was off the charts, but she was quite likeable. In a sense, she reminded him of Sabrina… like a cheap, knockoff version, but still her nonetheless. And that was good enough for him.

“Hey, C?”

“Hmmm?”

“I think… I think I´m going to tell them… about the… you-know-what”

When it came to relationships, Czesch realized that his were much faster and awkward than one would believe at first. That girl had revealed her sexual preference the first day they met, and after a single week she was now confiding in him on something regarding her family. He still wasn’t sure what they all saw in him… maybe it was that he looked old and mature? Trustworthy? Available?

“Oh… are you sure about it? You finally decided to do it?”

“Well, I can´t… I can´t really keep on going without knowing what they think about it. They are my parents, so if they can´t understand, no one will… apart from you, I guess.”

“That´s good and all, but try to word it well. No matter how good your intentions are, if you present it in a bad way they won’t take it as you´d expect.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Well, imagine I confessed to you that I´m a sadistic homosexual in the looks for another butthole to ravage… would that sit well with you?”

She snorted upon hearing those words, regaining her composure right after.

“Errrr, I would think you were joking.”

“Imagine it with a dead serious face.”

He put his most serious face in store… her face said it all, he hadn’t sold the pitch at all.

“I´d still think you were joking.”

“Well, Errrr… how about this? I´m a killer for hire and have no regard for human life.”

“OK, that sounds quite creepy, yeah.”

“But if I say “I´m a fixer who solves people´s problems”, what would you think?”

“Knowing the town we´re in… yeah, I guess you just said the same.”

“That´s the whole point. Make sure you go for the latter rather than the former.”

She blew air through her mouth loudly as she stretched her arms around, hands shaking and showing stress about to get the better of her.

“… I think I gotcha… phew, I´m actually quite nervous about it right now, can´t think straight at all.”

“Nerves have to come before the moment of truth. That way, when it actually comes, you´ll glide through it without issue.”

“That sounds about right… OK, I´m ready for it! Thanks for the help, C… you really gave me the courage I needed!”

The tinge of satisfaction he felt was almost unnatural. Like in those old chivalry novels, he felt he had to deliver a line to properly see her off., as they had just arrived at their apartment complex.

“Courage is for those few afraid that conquer the unthinkable… a coin more worthy than all of the gold in the hands of lords and kings.”

At first she couldn’t quite comprehend what the Kid had just said, so Jenny just laughed as hard as she could at his corny dialogue. He now realized that it didn’t sound as cool as he had once thought, so he looked away in embarrassment.

“God, I needed that… well, wish me luck!”

They both went their separate ways, making Czesch wonder if the girl would be lucky enough when revealing the truth. He decided against worrying about it, since he´d be the first one to know the results. He went over to cook himself some dinner, then remembered that he had some leftover food from prior days. Instead of that, a shower and then a quick bite filled his head with much needed respite.

After that, a report came through on the Zimbabwe front. The SAS had set the operation for Friday, which mean it had already gone through and the report on it was filed. The result had been a bit sour: The HVT had been eliminated successfully, but 2 in the SAS group got killed in the resulting firefight. The surviving members of the groups did so from the help of Zephiros, who had reacted quickly to the sudden engagements. According to his liason, “the lives of those men were saved by the quick reaction of the Blue Sparrow operatives”. Czesch would make sure to send a good word about their actions, since the Zephiros team was quite new and needed some background info for future contracts.

The way the contracts were delivered to specific teams depended on the severity of the situation (The colored alert system) and on the specified quantity of payment. A squad like Zephiros worked only in supporting assignments and would get a meager payment when compared to some of the contracts the SOT got around to dealing with, since those required quite more coordination and were usually of life and world stability-threatening consequences.

That was one contract down. The only remaining thing was for Gavin to collect the rest of the payment and then Czesch would be able to write down the final report on the company database. Reports like this one usually entered in a register separate from the usual one, since the real meat of the op had been accomplished by agents external to Blue Sparrow, but the actions of Zephiros had to be recognized in some way.

He prepared a basic layout to finish up the moment Gaz sent him the transfer information. Just as he was finishing it, Czesch got a text message from Annie.

-Draft looks good, finish it up and send it to all. Tomorrow at 11 for lake trip, go to crib. :A

-Sounds good, will do on Sunday. :C

Part of him thought that finishing it up that night would be far more efficient, but he was feeling worn out already and he didn’t want to mess something so simple up. Instead, he opted for the bedtime option, looking forward to the following day.

… Of course, plans have a tendency to screw themselves up.

The van-bus carrying the Bloody Bastards to Willow Lake was in quite good shape, considering it was a vehicle scrapped together by Big Bo´s father, a mechanic. In the past, his dad had worked building armored vehicles for the army, so creating a vehicle like that was no problem for him and, since Big Bo had a driving license, they could use it however they saw fit. It made a dreadful noise whenever it stopped and the ride was quite bouncy, but the fact that it had sofas in the back made the ride quite a comfy one.

Czesch spent the whole trip talking to Djura about both past and present, Czesch leaving out most details for safety purposes while Djura speaking freely about everything. He talked about his family, his little brother and about the sudden change to city life from the village they used to live in. He also mentioned his sporadic contact with the other kids in the village and, even though he offered to give their numbers to Czesch to speak to them, he refused politely, arguing that he wouldn’t feel comfortable doing so. After all, his only proper contact with that world had been through him and him alone.

They arrived at their crib by the lake. It was a small hut in disrepair, but it was quite separated from the rest of the spots were people decided to spend the last days of Summer heat. The sides of the lake were not quite packed with people, but there were still quite a few families having their fun. Apparently, the spot belonging to the Bloody Bastards had once belonged to Reuben´s father, although the legitimacy of that had been put to question several times. Still, the spot was empty, so they used it frequently… and it showed. There were still empty bottles and trash strewn about, giving the place a dreadful smell. Czesch and Djura decided to clean up while the others went about to set up camp.

The day was more than perfect and the gang went about to have their fun. The girls decided against going into the water, instead preferring to take advantage of the sun´s rays, a rare sign in England, to get some tan on as Summer gave way to Autumn. Big Bo started a card tournament with Chester, Reuben and Fred, while the John twins, Allan, Tony and Djura went off with Peter to take advantage of their patch of fresh water, all while carrying drinks that Peter had got a hand on the cheap. Czesch watched them drink and push each other from the shore, all the while drinking a beer and relaxing, not feeling any pressure to get wet. As much as he enjoyed the company, he wasn’t comfortable enough to risk anything near the water. He lay on the almost sandy shore after finishing his beer and fell asleep as quickly as his mind allowed.

By the time he woke up (after waking up 7 times beforehand), it was already past midday and hunger took over, enticing him to grab a snack of sorts. The next thing he knew was that Annie and Tiff were on top of him, giving him a weird look that put him off for a moment.

“Hmmm? Have you girls lost something?”

“No, we were just… wondering what you were doing.”

“Just taking a nap.”

“You spend every bloody day taking a nap. Is nighttime sleep taboo to you or what?”

“I´m making up for lost time… anything else?”

“Yeah, Annie here saved you some food from those wolverines we call men.  They even thought of throwing you into the water to wake you up, but we just left you to your thing. Djura convinced us that you were too much trouble when angsty…”

“Thank god for that, I´m actually starving!! Thanks, Annie!”

“Next time, you´ll just get the bones and marrow, I swear.”

A nice piece of pork with fries, enough to satiate Czesch´s hunger. He ate it all as the girls sat by his side, Tiffany sighing in disappointment while Annie lay down in a manner similar to Czesch.

“Czesch, I really wish there were less spineless guys and a few more like you… would really make my day to finally make it right.”

That sudden revelation definitely made him uncomfortable. He was used to people talking about guns or shootouts, but relationship statuses or sexuality were akin to nuclear power. The theory being there, but a lack of any practice.

“Oh? Who are you with, Tiff? Someone I know?”

“That excuse for a man over there named Allan. Went out with Chester for a bit, but it never worked out between us… and I´m getting the feeling that it´s going the same way with this one… I have some terrible luck with men, I tell ya.”

“Why not quit with him if you feel like this?”

“Because we started a few weeks ago, I haven’t given him enough time to prove himself… but, seriously, as Annie sells ya, you must be the dream of every girl!”

Was… Annie “selling” him to other women? Was he simply a trophy to put on display?

“I… wouldn’t know about that…”

“Come on, you are buff AND smart to boot! Besides, as she puts it, you are also a problem-solver, so you are the perfect package!”

“He´s still a sleepyhead and a bit of a dick whenever he wants.”

Both Tiff and the Kid looked at her while she attempted to sleep on the shore, arms wrapped behind her head.

“An hour ago you are praising him, now you are talking shit about him. Come on, girl, make up your mind!”

“I´m just stating facts… isn’t that right, C?”

She shot a quick glance his way, a cocky smile forming on her face. He couldn’t help but concede, sighing deeply as stretched his arms out while looking back at the lake proper.

“Yeah, yeah… hey, what is that rope line for? The one at the water.”

Tiffany squeezed her eyes, trying to see the same as him.

“Oh, that? That marks the swimming safe zone. Lake here gets so deep up in the center that it forms currents around that drive you downward, so it gets almost impossible to swim around.”

“I see…”

“Hey Tiff!! Need your help with something!!”

The voice came from the hut and was loud enough for any group nearby to hear it as if it were right on top of them.

“Coming, love!!... Shit, here we go again… keep that drink cold for me, OK?”

Annie grabbed the beer and gave Tiffany a thumbs up.

“Just go to him, I´ll save it.”

“You´re a true sis, Annie… I´m going, I´m going!”

Tiff went towards her boyfriend, while the rest of the boys were trying out some sort of fabrication Djura had created: A buoyant belt. It was made out of several stones and rope and it served to make a man into a floating raft. It was quite impressive and the results came in the form of the John twins laying on top of Reuben as he floated around.

Annie and Czesch just watched them from the shore, giggling when the twins came down crashing into the water.

“Hahaha… well, what do you think?”

“Place is really nice and it seems that you know how to have your fun.”

Annie knelt back upright, grabbing her knees while watching the lake.

“There hasn´t been a single summer I haven´t come down to this place since I was 10… I used to hate it for a while. But I´m starting to bear it better every year.”

“Liking your stay this time around?”

“In this one I´m actually having a bit more fun… it´s true that this is the first time we got the whole gang together. That must be it.”

Czesch scratched the back of his neck, feeling a bit uncomfortable when staring at the murky waters.

“Yup… definitely beats a lot other lakes I´ve been to.”

She definitely noticed his uneasiness, chuckling as she proposed the following.

“You know, you could go with them, have some fun instead of sitting here.”

“I´m good right now, thanks.”

“What, are you scared of the water?”

He gripped his legs, blowing as much air through his nose as possible.

“… Not quite… I´m just not comfortable in it, that´s all.”

“Not a good swimmer, I presume? You had to have some downside to-“

“It´s not swimming, I´m alright at that. It´s… complicated.”

She couldn’t help but throw in a nervous laugh.

“Is anything with you ever not complicated?”

“This is the most complicated one yet, I´ll tell you that much.”

Suddenly, Czesch´s eye caught movement in a place that should have been motionless. There was a living being in the middle of the lake moving around like crazy, making a lot of splashing movement.

“What the hell is that?”

Annie glanced in that direction and squinted her eyes to get a better view.

“I´m not entirely sure… wait, is that a person?”

“Fuck me, it´s a kid! What the fuck is a kid doing over there!?”

“He´s right near the center of the lake, why did he-!?”

Before she could finish the sentence, the boy got swallowed down to the depths of the lake. Screams from the boy´s mother could be heard from every point of the area, as people watched from the shores in horror. A contest of bravado gone wrong, most definitely…

“Oh god!! He´s going to drown in there!! He´s- Wait, Czesch!!? Where are you going!?”

Czesch had stopped listening at the word “drown”. It was a word that still stung to that day, and would still bring unpleasantness to the table. He couldn’t help but hear it bouncing around in his mind, making arms tense up and that drowning sensation come back as he rushed towards the water.

“Djura!!! Give me that!!”

Czesch went over across the water and grabbed Djura´s buoyant belt, skidding through it as quickly as his legs could allow, the rest of the boys calling him out.

“Make fucking sure that you grab him when he pops up!! Give him CPR, make sure he lives!!”

Cries for him to stop or to call on his madness never reached his ears, as he started his trek across to the center of the lake. His legs and arms pulsed rhythmically through the water as he maximized his speed on it. Every second was crucial to ensure the survival of the kid, and that was the only thing Czesch was interested in.

He finally reached the point where the kid had been snatched from, taking advantage of the belt to get as much air in his lungs as possible. He had done such a thing, a few years… for a similar reason. He threw that thought out of his head and started his way down to the darkness of the depths.

Swimming towards the bottom with the belt was consuming his strength quite rapidly, his legs feeling like they were about to break like twigs. Still, he pressed on through the pain, retaining the air in his lungs and the speed of his mad rush, words hammering in his mind like bells on a church.

Right near the bottom, he lay eyes on his objective. A dim light penetrated the surface and reached such depths, enough for him to see the kid´s situation. He was clearly out of breath, his legs lacking the strength to push him against the current and his lungs about to give in from the lack of oxygen. Czesch had to move in quick and act.

He took out his belt and tied it around the boy, making sure that it would not loosen itself on the way up. Then, he opened the kid´s mouth and filled it with as much air as possible, giving a reaction as the boy started making his way up to the surface by himself, all while Czesch tried to regain some of his strength while down below.

Czesch began to make his way up himself, his lungs half empty and his legs tired from the mad kicking he had just done not half a minute ago. Every kick against the current was like kicking concrete over and over again, every wade more excruciating than the last one.

His strength, which he at one point had thought limitless, had vanished. His legs couldn’t move, his arms were tired beyond human condition… his lungs started accepting the dark, murky waters of the lake. He thought the end was quite fitting to a monster such as himself… forgotten on the bottom of it all… dying the way he had meant to from the start of his career… drowning… drowning… and another… and another… and another…

The human mind can sometimes achieve miracles, true impossibilities that still fill us with much awe whenever we watch them in action. They make us question our limits and reinforces the idea that there is much more to us than merely meets the eye. That the subconscious may be in fact quite stronger than our conscious self. And Czesch got a taste of that idea first hand.

For at the end of the line, like many other times, a miracle saved him… in his case, not quite a miracle, but a nightmare taken form. One that made him question his reality more so than a thousand reoccurring dreams.

For at the depths of that murky lake, when all hope was gone, Czesch saw a familiar face. The face of the man he feared most, a man he had killed a long time ago…and who had killed him in return in countless occasions.

And Czesch, for the first time in 4 years,  truly panicked.

Djura remembered that the raft they had built last summer to visit the center of the lake was still intact, so he used it along with Peter to get there. When they saw the kid surface, the first thing they did was carry him to the shore, where they both performed CPR on him. Djura knew quite well how to do it, so Peter just followed his lead on this one, his legs still tired from pushing against the current.

After a second try, the boy finally vomited whatever water was left inside his lungs, to the joy of the kid´s mother and the rest of the people around, who were treating them as heroes. A large influx of people had gathered around, including the Bloody Bastards. It was Annie who finally pointed out the obvious, a grave expression formed:

“Where is Czesch!?”

It dawned on them that he hadn’t made it to the surface with him. Maybe that´s why he had taken Djura´s belt. Because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to swim back up while carrying the kid, and so he had chosen a suicide mission.

“No… don´t tell me he-“

Pete gritted his teeth in desperation and growled as much as his lungs could allow.

“Djura, you and I are taking the raft!! We don’t leave the bloody water until we find-“

“Pete, that´s madness!! You saw how strong the current was when you got there, we barely managed to make it with the kid!”

“Fuck… Fuck, fuck, fuck!! We can´t just leave him down there!”

“Pete, calm down… we must assume that he made his way upwards, so it´s only natural that he did so away from the center as he swam…”

“What is your bloody point!?”

“The point is that he´s away from the center and the currents there go towards the shores of the lake! If we check on those, then we are bound to find him!”

“… Dammit! Alright, I´ll take the raft and check around the southern side of the lake, you people either go to the shore or to the areas around the rope! Either way, we ain´t leaving until we make sure our buddy is safe, understood!?”

Annie made her way to Caddle Cove, a small point were lots of objects thrown at the lake ended up at. She was one of the few people that knew about that specific spot, using it from time to time to be alone and away from human interaction, so she hoped that maybe Czesch would end up there. Everyone else went around to where they thought he would most likely end up at.

As she jogged through the shrubbery, the only thoughts that entered her mind were of how stupid he had been to try and save the life of a kid he didn’t even know, risking his own life like that. Why would he do that? Hadnt he been through enough pain already? What would he gain from doing something so selfless? Why was he so devoid of self-preservation?

Even though she was more than angry at him… the fact was, she was scared of not seeing him again. When everyone cheered at the fact that the kid was safe, she could only think about him, about the man who had truly saved him from drowning at the bottom of the lake. The man who had jumped out before anyone else to make sure the kid would safely make his way up to the surface.

Maybe it had something to do with that “complicated” thing he mentioned about water. Had something happened to him revolving around water? Was it the reason why he wouldn’t let the kid drown? Because he had allowed someone else to drown and it weighed heavy down on its conscience?

She finally arrived at the Cove and, to her surprise, something was there alright… a body.

“Oh god… Czesch!!”

She started running down towards the seemingly lifeless body of her friend, almost falling 3 times on her way there. She had no time to lose. Even though she didn’t know any CPR techniques or how to properly do it, she had seen Djura and Pete do it. She had to manage herself, or else he might die on her.

Then something shocked her so much that she had to stop about 20 feet away from her friend: The Kid´s breathless husk suddenly knelt up and vomited all of the water in his lungs in an unnatural way, throwing quite an unpleasant groan as he finished. The groan made Annie shiver, for it barely resembled the sound that a human would do. He made his way, crawling, away from the shore, shivering and muttering to himself, until he arrived at a bunch of rocks. Then he put his back on one of them and curled up in a ball, rocking back and forth, still shivering and stuttering while his eyes remained closed.

The scene left Annie motionless, watching something so surreal that her brain couldn’t quite process the whole picture. Whatever had happened to Czesch, he was clearly not having the time of his life with it. In a sense, it looked like he was truly broken, like in all those war movies she had seen. She made his way to him, noticing that, even though he was finally looking in her direction, it appeared that he wasn’t seeing her at all, an angry and unfocused squint in place of his usual expression. She was right next to him and his mumbling made as much sense as it did from afar, from time to time understanding the words “And another”. Maybe engaging with him would help? The only thing she could do now was try.

“… Czesch… are you-“

The moment she touched him, Czesch screamed in horror, making her scream as well. He started blinking furiously, coughing to a side as he took deep breaths desperately while punching his chest, as if he was running out of air at that instant. He looked back at Annie´s direction and this time it seemed like he was actually registering objects.

“Annie!? Is… Is that… that you!?”

“Yeah, it´s me! Czesch, are you alright? How are you feeling?”

“Oh god… I´m here, I´m not… I´m not back th- Fuck… shit, shit…”

Annie sat next to him, trying to make sense of what he was trying to say. Czesch was still shivering, having a hard time trying to make words come out of his mouth, biting his tongue and punching the ground whenever he finished a thought.

“Czesch, talk to me… what´s wrong?”

“I can´t… I can´t…”

“It´s alright, I´m here… y-you are safe now, whatever it was that happened, it´s over… I´m here…”

“I can´t… I can´t do it, god dammit!!”

Then the last thing she expected happened: Czesch hugged her tightly, quite so. It was something awkward, sloppy… and, still, she felt how warm he still was, even though he was soaked to the bone. He was sobbing and crying as he rounded his arms around her, something she didn’t mind for some reason. It felt… right.

“Don´t go yet… you can´t go… you can´t…”

“I… I´m not going anywhere… I promise…”

“Fuck… not this shit again… that bastard…”

They spent the following 10 minutes like that, silently. The only sounds coming were those from the water and Czesch´s sobbing and heartbeat. Even though the situation was more than surreal, Annie felt at peace. She hadn’t felt like that in a long time. Even with the help of her “medicine”, it was still something so new that she became enthralled by it.

Czesch dissolved his hug after that time, leaving part of Annie wishing he had held it for a bit longer. He had stopped shivering and crying and had regained his composure, although part of him was still quite shaken. He muttered something, his mouth finally calm enough to not bite itself in frustration.

“… drowning…”

“Hmm?”

“I´m afraid of drowning. That´s why I don’t quite like water.”

… She didn’t buy it. There was something else, something in those terrified eyes that undersold that statement.

“I-Is that it!? Czesch, that was more than just-“

“Annie, I know what you want to know and I can´t tell you… I´m sorry, but I… I can´t.”

He was in his right, but… he was hurting too much inside. It was painful to see him like that.

“Why not? Czesch, I´m your friend. If something is bothering you, I-“

“I don´t want more people knowing of this… it´s not right.”

“What isn’t right is you hurting yourself over it by not telling people!”

“Annie… you are an amazing person, you really are… and I appreciate you worrying about me, but… this one problem I have… this fucked up part of my life, I… I cant… tell you about it.”

“… Can you at least tell me why you can´t?”

Czesch thought about the answer for a while, enough time for people starting to show up. Right before any of them reached them both, he gave it to Annie:

“Because a problem without solution needs no attention.”

Their way back became a bit more sour than their way in, even though the gang tried their hardest to keep their mood up for Czesch´s sake, who told them all that he was doing fine while looking like a walking, talking corpse. Annie was the first to realize that something was up, and asked Pete if she could watch over him until they got him safely back to his apartment.

“Are you sure you have to? He looks fine to me… besides, afterwards we have to go get “that”.”

“I know, but… damn, you haven’t seen him like I have. He´s strong as an ox, but even he has his limits.”

“That was ballsy, that´s for sure. Still, the kid lived and the only thing we got out of him was scare… I´d say it went well.”

A scare. Czesch also referred to it as that, even though Annie knew it was much deeper. She spent the trip back talking with him, making sure he was comfortable enough. They sang songs he had never heard, he told jokes that people laughed only to humor him, for they were quite bad,  drank some leftover beer on their way, spilling some of the couch and getting Big Bo mad.

They dropped both Annie and Czesch a few blocks away from his apartment, her kissing Pete and telling him that she´d call him as soon as she was done. Czesch knew why she was coming with him, but paid it no mind. The company was certainly appreciated to postpone the inevitable.

“I´m sorry the day went to shit because of me… I´m more of a “shower” kind of guy, baths never were my favourites.”

She debated between humoring him or telling him to stop trying so hard. She went for the former for his sake.

“You kidding? Finally something exciting happened for a change! It was getting quite boring from doing the same thing over and over.”

“Really? Huh. I guess I should drown more often then!”

Silence. She couldn’t understand how he could laugh at something like that right after suffering through it. She acted like she didn’t hear that one, walking by his side without asking anything unnecessary.

“Annie?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for… for everything, I guess.”

That was… odd. Out of all the people she knew, no one had thanked her like that, a compliment wrapping what was otherwise an apology. He still seemed shaken up, so maybe he just needed to vent what was on his chest.

“Huh? What are going on about?”

“It must be quite hard… dealing with a guy like me, I mean. I´m not exactly the easiest of people and I´m quite fucked up, even though I try to appear more normal on the outside…”

“That´s definitely true…”

“So, yeah… thanks for dealing with my shit! Really appreciate it!”

“Well, you know… you helped me out as well, so I thought it was the least I could do.”

Silence yet again. Annie was dubious about whether to ask him or not. She finally gathered the strength to do so, seeing that he needed a little push to gather his mind properly.

“Why did you save that kid?”

“Hm? You are asking why I wanted to save the life of a human being?”

“No… I´m asking why would you throw away your life like that. You knew that you couldn’t save both of you at the same time, your actions said that much. At the impossibility of that, why risk it?”

He pondered for a moment, scratching his beardless chin. After a minute, he shrugged with his shoulders and spoke his mind.

“Yeah, a bit hard to understand, huh? I don’t really have a definite answer for that and I don’t think I ever will… You could say my gut told me it was the right thing to do.”

“Your gut? You trust your gut against common sense?”

“My gut told me it was wrong for you to get detention and not me. My gut told me then to not strike back during that football game. And so, my gut told me that I couldn’t let a child drown at the lake.”

“Going about with your gut isn’t quite a smart thing to do. It would make your life a lot easier if you used common sense more often.”

“...Common sense… right…”

They finally made it to Czesch´s flat. He still looked a bit shaken by what had happened, a fact that he couldn’t hide by just smiling it away.

“Are you sure you don’t want the company? I-I´ve never been through something like you have, so I´m not entirely sure how to-“

He urged her to stop with his outstretched palm, that wide, annoying smile of his hiding the anxiousness and pressure.

“Annie, you have already done more than most… and it was helpful. Now I just need some proper rest, that´s all.”

“Okay… alright, if you need anything just give me a call. I´ll probably be free, so don’t feel any guilt by calling.”

They stood right there for a while longer, Annie wondering why the Kid wasn’t closing the door on her. He seemed to be caught in a thought, but he was having a hard time transforming it to words. He finally spoke up.

“You know… I don’t understand why people paint you that way.”

“What way?”

“Everyone I´ve met aside from the gang and Jan and Lucie think you are some kind of selfish asshole that does everything to please herself…”

It was true. She had been like that for the longest of times, acting only for her benefit and just to enrich her life in every tiny way possible, even if it meant harming people in the process. It was a devilish way to go along through life, and she had exploited the hell out of it. Hell, she had done so with Czesch from time to time.

“… but you´ve been rubbing my shoulder ever since I got here.It wasn’t the best start, sure, but you´ve been really kind with me up to this point. If it weren’t for you, I´d probably still be near the lake crying like a little baby!”

Kind. The word “kind” and her actions didn’t go together at all, but… she felt like he meant it. She had felt quite at peace when she had him between her arms, as if she was keeping him from going astray. Helping him felt good, like she was accomplishing something greater with her meager abilities and, as she did so, something inside her told her it was the right thing.

Her gut was telling her that. She chuckled, now noticing how she was starting to sound like him. That was probably why Czesch was so special: He helped you remember that cold and hard analytical thinking was nothing if your gut wasn’t in on it. And people can´t be pleased with what they do if they don’t follow what their gut tells them to do.

“… You know? Helping people… it feels oddly comforting. Must be why you do it so often.”

“Better than trying to screw them over, that´s for sure.”

“Oh, I don’t know… still feels quite good to mess around with you and others.”

“You can still mess around and help at the same time. Plenty of people I know do just that.”

“Really now?”

“You should meet my big sis… she´s a master at that sort of thing. A devil at times, but with a kind heart.”

“… I think I´d like to meet her, just to take notes on how to-“

“Please don’t.”

“Huh? Thought you just said-“

“I already have enough with one of her, don’t need more on top of me.”

That had been a good enough ending for a less than ideal trip. She waited a bit longer before taking her leave.

“… Okay then, I think I should… go, I guess?”

“Oh, right… I´ll call you if I find myself in a pinch, OK? Night!”

“Good night.”

As Czesch closed the door, Annie didn’t exactly know how to feel about him. The guy was one of the most stand-up people she knew and definitely one of the most strong-willed… but he definitely had a side he couldn’t deal with by himself, something to do with his past. Every time he got around to it, he always tried to avoid speaking of it… then again, he probably felt it was for the best. It´s never easy to bring up your trash over and over again, no matter how done you are with it.

She wanted to help him as best she could, even though she was pretty useless in that regard and would end up causing more trouble than good. Maybe that´s what Czesch needed: Trouble, action, something to keep his mind from entering that dark side of his. He had said it himself, he never recalled being bored, A.K.A he probably had spent most of his life trying to survive one way or another.

That she could do. She was now dead set on helping him get back on track and into a busy schedule… and maybe, just maybe… he´d one day be able to talk about his problems with her.

Curiosity is one hell of a drug.

Czesch sighed as he reached the door. The day had gone to shit and all thanks to him, since he could have let the boy drown or let someone else take care of it, as Annie had kindly put it. Worst part, he had done his theatrics in front of her… now she was probably even harboring even bigger questions than before and Czesch was afraid of even considering possible answers.

For a moment, Czesch had lost consciousness… then he had been at the beach… no, he had been somewhere else… somewhere familiar and very,extremely wet… he breathed out through his nose, trying to not think about it, due to it probably fucking him up even more.

He took not 2 steps into the apartment… and there he was, standing in the corner, frozen in place and smiling like the devil he was, the dastardly shadow that haunted through water. For a moment, Czesch wanted to run, grab the door and flee into the night. Then he realized it would be worthless. The ghost in front of him would pursue him wherever he went and would never stop grinning and just… just stand there in place.

He didn’t want to look. He wanted to close his eyes and wish him away, but doing so would only bring that monster closer and closer to him. He had no choice. He couldn’t fight this threat in any way possible, so the only option was to do the only thing that somewhat worked to put the devil at bay: Ask for help.

He sat with his back against the wall, feeling the cold floor on his legs, as he dialed in Vivi´s number, handgun aiming and trembling in his other hand. In this case, the only person who would know what to do was her, and he knew that she´d be able to fix him up. The shadow was still grinning at him and Czesch started feeling a cold beyond frigid. As his teeth and breath started clattering, Vivi answered the phone.

“Hmmm? Czesch, dear, it´s 1 AM and I´d like to spend my day off sleeping for more than 5 hours… what is it?”

He tried to speak, but the only thing coming out of his mouth was gasping and teeth clatter.

“…Is this some sort of prank one of your new friends told you to pull? Because it is something a 10 year old would do, so tell them to get a little more imaginative…”

“…V-Vivi…”

“Czesch? Yeah, it´s me, what´s wrong?”

“H-He´s… H-h-he´s…”

“What? He is what? Who are you talking about?”

“…H-h-he´s in…in here w-w-with me… V-Vivi, he´s s-s-staring at m-me…”

“What are you going on abou-? Wait, don´t tell me you…? Oh, shit… argh, god dammit…”

“…W-What do I… I… I c-can´t just… h-help me…”

“Czesch, listen to me very carefully, OK? Are you listening?”

“… I-I am…”

“Listen to the sound of my voice, OK? Nothing else is there, just my voice.”

“… O-OK…”

“Close your eyes and repeat after me… he´s not really there.”

“H-He´s n-not really t-there…”

“He´s not real.”

“H-He´s not real.”

“He can´t harm me in any way.”

“He c-can´t… He can´t harm me in any w-way…”

“I´m safe from him.”

“I´m safe from him.”

“I´m safe from him, come on, once more.”

“I´m… I´m safe from him.”

“Good… Look, I have to do a check in here at 7, so I can probably be there by 10 or 11… I´ll pop over and give you a hand, OK? Stay strong, I know you can.”

“W-What do I do while I wait?”

“Try to get some rest. Some sleep might do you some good… just remember, he cant do anything to you, so don’t bother about giving him attention… you are better than him, stronger and kinder.”

“A-Alright… I´ll give it a shot, V.”

“Wouldn’t expect less from my favourite soldier… Sleep safe, C. I´ll come by tomorrow, so be strong for me…”

“… Night, V… Night…”

Czesch hung up the phone, gathering as much broken and twisted courage he could muster. He got to his feet, walked past the shadow and got into bed. He´s not real, he kept on muttering that to himself as a sort of prayer.

There was a moment where he thought he´d be able to get some sleep, where his mind almost drifted back to the realm of nightmares, where he believed he´d be safe.

“… Good Night, Favourite Soldier…”

That voice echoing through his head… was the sign for another long, sleepless night.

Vivi managed to arrive at 10:40, having almost crashed into a couple of bystanders on her way there. The fact that Czesch had asked for help was rarer than a moon eclipse and definitely more serious.  There were little to no situations Czesch couldn’t handle by himself, which was why he couldn’t really handle protective detail, since no amount of planning and risk assessment could have forseen suicidal hosts in his case. His voice during the phonecall… he was probably stressed beyond sanity. Something had happened and, depending on its severity, she would have to take out her mean side.

As she went to Czesch´s floor, she found a young girl about to knock on his door. She probably didn’t know of what happened to Czesch, so showing herself to Czesch in his state… Vivi couldn’t think of a worse idea.

“Excuse me! This is Czesch´s apartment, isn’t it?”

The girl jumped up when hearing the energetic voice behind her, turning immediately to face her.

“Argh!! Sorry, you startled me! Yes, yes it is…”

“Oh, good! I thought I wouldn’t find it!! I´ve been running around for hours trying to find this place! I´m Vivienne, Czesch´s “big sis”, although everyone just calls me Vivi.”

“Oh! I´m Jennifer, Czesch´s neighbor! I- I didn’t know he had a sister…”

“He doesn’t talk much about me, that rascal… I´m here to take him out a little bit, have him take some fresh air… wanted to talk to him or something?”

“Errrr… I´ve been sending him messages, but he doesn’t seem to be answering… came here to see if he was in…”

“He´s probably sleeping like a koala in there… he loves his sleep… I can get him to wake up, so do you want me to tell him anything in particular?”

“Just tell him to check his phone, that´ll do.”

“Ok… nice meeting you, Jennifer!! Hope you have a good day.”

“Likewise, Vivi! Cheers!”

With the girl gone, Vivi could get to work. She started knocking on the door, hearing steps as they closed in on it, but then stopping by it, as if waiting for some sort of voice code of sorts. She took that as an opportunity to play with him.

“I´m the great warlord Aziz-Bykel and I´m here to scorch and burn everything you hold dear through my vengeance, mwahahahaha! Who do you think it is!?”

Several inner locks were being displaced, meaning that Czesch´s paranoia had appeared. After a minute of unnecessary unlocking, the door finally opened.

“Took you long enough! Rise and shine, for today is a day you´ll remember for- Damn, you look shittier than usual…”

Czesch´s deadpan look equaled his overall demeanor, with eyes that barely remained open and bags the size of almonds. He tried looking more alive, but lack of sleep does that to a face.

“…Ha ha, very funny… come on in…”

The flat was absurdly clean, which meant Czesch hadn´t gone full cabin fever just yet. Vivi was still amazed by Czesch´s sense of cleanliness, since he always took time to double check just about anything, which made her wonder…

“What have you done throughout the night? And don’t give me the “I slept” card, because I´m not buying it…”

“W-well… y-y´know…”

He scratched the back of his neck. She had a pretty solid idea as to what had occurred.

“You spent the entire night cleaning the house, didn’t you?”

“…Yeah…”

“How many times?”

“… 2… Okay, 4 and I was moving for a 5th run before you- Ouch!”

It was a light hit with her elbow, but enough to get the Kid to spring back up to his usual self for a moment.

“I should have figured as much… Okay, get dressed and also some water on your face! We are going places!”

“Huh? I can barely stand and you want to take me out somewhere?”

“What? I thought you wanted the help.”

“I do want it, but… this isn´t what I envisioned…”

“You wanted me to stay in your flat of delirium and talk about the Illuminati or shit like that… No.Thank.You.”

“That… sounds bad when you put it that way… don’t know why, though…”

Vivi was now more than aware that Czesch´s mind wasn’t working as intended. He needed new scenery and fast.

“… Now I see you are worse off than I thought… What happened that triggered this response?”

“I… almost drowned while saving a child in Willow Lake.”

She almost smiled while hearing it. Of course it had been something so dumb and knightly.

“Hmm… Okay, let´s go shopping!”

The mention of shopping definitely riled him up. She was doing better than she had hoped.

“I´m sorry, what?”

“You heard me right! Take me to the nearest mall, I need to get some new clothes!”

“Nearest mall is 20 minutes walking from here, but I thought you were going to help me!”

“And I am going to! But your fee is a shopping spree!”

“Last shopping spree I went to, I broke a man´s arm and threatened a girl who now avoids me like I´m the plague times 100.”

“Good thing you are going with me then! Come on, staying here is going to make you even more of a looney!”

“What are you even going to buy that you cant get at Hereford?”

“I don’t have time to go shopping there! Besides, I need a strong man like yourself to help carry all of the bags!”

His eyes were filled with the same disbelief that men encountered when faced against impossible odds. This was the first time outside of operations where she had seen those eyes.

“… This is some sort of rebirth thing, right? Make me die inside to appreciate life or some shit like that?”

“Nothing of the sort!! Just get dressed already before I take out the boot!”

“Aye aye, Ma´am!”

And that was the therapy: Taking him out to do something out of his field. Vivi knew for a fact that nothing else would work quite like it, and she did really need new clothes. 2 birds with one stone, one of the birds grumpily getting itself ready.

Shock therapy at its finest.

Czesch had made a terrible mistake. Worst part was that he had asked for it.

They both arrived at the mall in Vivi´s car, a place packed full of people, a typical sight on Sundays. Stores felt more like they were funneling people into gas chambers rather than selling a product. It was part of the reason why Czesch hated that sort of thing. He never had anything that interested him in those shops and he felt out of place every time he went to one. This one mall was apparently run by the British mafia, and it showed in the lack of robbers of any kind… save for those outside the mall itself. One who tried to nick the Kid´s wallet ended up on the other side of the pavement.

Then again, Karen and Vivi had never managed to get him inside a mall like that. This was actually his first time in one, if you didn’t count that one time with Alice.  He wasn’t sure on how to not get noticed, but with so many people walking around, he´d just have to act natural… yeah, as if trying not to drop asleep wasn’t hard enough. While he ruminated on his bad luck, Vivi looked him in the eye at an uncomfortable distance. She always looked at him that way, and it always caused the same reaction.

“Earth to Czesch!! Come on, you are going to fall asleep while standing there!”

“D-Don´t think I´m ruling that one out…”

“Oh, before I forget! Girl who said she knew you told me should check your phone one of these days.”

“Oh, shit… left it silent.”

He unlocked it and checked his messages. A small grin appeared on his face, seeing that his advice had done some good for someone.

“Well? What was it?”

“Oh, nothing important… apparently it went well, so I´ve nothing to worry about…”

“Cryptic as ever, huh? Doesn’t matter!! Shopping tiiiimeee!!!

Most of the mall looked at her, some laughing at the woman stretching her arms out and frolicking around. The Kid, at that point, gave up any pretense of undercover work.

“I better just write my eulogy right now, save time and all…”

The following hour and a half was spent around shops which were only meant for women. One sex was the one selecting and hunting for the perfect price/fashion ratio, while the other just wished for a quick deliverance away from such hellhole. Czesch crossed his sight with that of another man in his situation, and for a second he felt a connection to that complete stranger who was sharing the same pain as he was.  Sadly, it was just a moment of understanding among a sea of soul-crushing angst, as he was called over by the woman he was attached to.

It wasn’t just carrying around her purchases, it was also a matter of fashion sense. For some reason, Vivi kept on asking Czesch what he thought about her choices. Czesch had no clue on what he should say, how could he bloody differentiate the good from the bad? Was yellow a bad color? Red a good one? What about brown? Hell, he didn’t even know that black went along with every other color, a lesson he´d learn later down the line. His knowledge was limited to camouflage patterns and certain styles Nate had imprinted onto him.

Still, they kept on walking around in circles, scanning the same spots at times. He felt that he was about to just drop dead on the floor at any moment, but he was probably just feeling  fed up with how useless he was right there and then. Still, it was probably better than staying in that apartment for any longer… maybe… in a sense… thinking about it didn’t make it any clearer.

They were going through the last set of stores, and Czesch found a fantastic spot near a column to wait for Vivi in. He rushed over to it, hoping that no other man would take it for himself and luck was with him for that endeavor. He settled his head on the column and went ahead for his midday nap. He didn’t worry about any burglars going through the bag, but that might have to do with him not caring… hell, it would probably spark some kind of activity for him to engage in.

His sleep was cut short by something or someone. As he opened his eyes, he found that a person was talking to him, or at least having a one-sided conversation in his general direction. As he started to get his bearings, he noticed that he was pretty familiar with that person indeed.

“Czesch? Seriously, how the fuck do you manage to sleep in spots like this!? And what are you doing with this many bags on you!?”

“Hmm? Oh! Morning, Annie! I… I really don’t know what I´m doing here…”

That defeated look on his part was doing everything but putting Annie at ease.

“You don’t know? What, you mean you are sleepwalking and hoarding bags?”

“No, I mean it metaphorically… I-I know what I´m doing, but I wish I wasn’t…”

“Might be the lack of sleep… you look real bad. Sure you are doing fine? After that scare yesterday-”

“Huh? Yeah, yeah, I´m totally fine! I just… opened a can of worms for myself… that and Im tired to the bone”

“… Meaning?”

“That I have to deal with this shit and cant complain about it because I asked for it.”

“… The more you talk, the less sense you make.”

“Maybe I should just shut up for a while… too tired to make sense…”

His consciousness flashed for a second, as he wasn’t quite sure whether he was watching another nightmare or his eyes were merely closed and he wasn’t realizing a thing outside. Annie hadn’t seemingly noticed.

“Well, at least you are trying to- Hey!! Don’t you dare fall asleep on me!”

She kicked him in the shin, getting him to open his eyes while he cursed under his breath.

“Argh, motherfucker!! Hey, I really need the sleep right now, before she actually-“

Vivi came hopping out of the shop, humming one of the tunes that Czesch had composed for the band while carrying yet another bag. He hated when they did that.

“C, you won’t believe how cheap those shorts were! Seriously, I wish they had them on every- Oh… I see you have company… and of the good variety.”

If there was one thing that Vivi liked doing, it was pushing him towards other women. The amounts of teasing she had done between him and Karen could fill up an entire server worth of information. His best defence against that sort of attack was a healthy dose of snark, courtesy of Nathan Croxley.

“Wow, 20/20 vision there on your part. Amazing… Ouch! What was that for?”

Another elbow, this time to the ribs.

“For being rude, that´s what. Excuse me, young lady, who might you be?”

“Oh, I-I´m Anna, I´m… I´m one of Czesch´s classmates.”

“V, she´s one of my friends, we go together to that borefest called “high school”.”

“Am I glad to meet you!! I´m Vivienne, or Vivi for… well, just about everyone!!”

“N-nice to meet you… so, errr… Czesch, is she…

“She´s my often-times annoying big sis, that´s who she is.”

“Officially, I´m her tutor. Mother-son thing never worked out between us, so we went for the next best thing.”

“… You have to tell that to everyone we meet? No matter how many times you say it, it doesn’t take away how weird it really- Ouch!”

Vivi was now fixating on his ribs, her elbow being oddly attracted to them.

“You must know by now he loves his groveling, don’t you?”

“Yeah, he really does…”

“Splendid! I was going to have a cup of coffee with him, talk about his school life and everything… you wouldn’t mind joining us, would you? I mean, if you have anything better to do-”

 “Oh, no, not at all! I came here to pick up some things, I can do that later!”

“That´s great news! I´m sure Czesch is going to be really glad about it… aren´t you?”

“… I´m feeling sorry for her, that´s how I´m-Ouch! Quit it!”

“And we´re off!”

Vivi lead the march while the Kid, sighing in frustration and rubbing his ribcage, walked along with Annie, who was having more fun than she bargained for at first.

“… She really is quite chipper, isn’t she? You weren´t joking about her.”

“I know someone who is ten times worse than her… so pumped with joy that it gets scary.”

“You have some weird people around you, has anyone told you that?”

“Huh, like you are one to talk…”

They sat down at a café inside the mall, quite a tidy and well-polished place for a city as corrupt and vile as Harville. It showed that Czesch was quite a bad judge of character when it came down to cities and that focusing only on the darker side of society doesn’t pain the whole picture more than focusing on the lighter one.  Even in his dormant state, he had to agree that the place was extremely well-off.

Vivi ordered an expresso, while Annie settled for a latte (even though she had heard that the hot cocoa in that place was absurdly delicious). Czesch simply asked for the largest coffee they had in store, so they presented him with a nameless concoction that made the girl´s coffees look like tiny display pieces in a museum. He´d definitely need that large amount of caffeine to keep up with those two.

“So, Anna, I´ve heard that Czesch is quite the killer already!!”

Czesch was drinking at the time and he almost spat the entirety of his beverage into the table up front, opting instead to choke on the hot liquid and try to cough it out.

“Errr… killer?”

“V, what the fuck!?”

“What? I heard about that football match you played from Nate! Said you basically saved their asses at the end.”

“Oh… that…”

He felt like an idiot… then again, if Nate had heard about the match, then that meant they could know about the curse… a shiver ran through his spine upon realizing the second meaning.

“It was quite a game to watch, but… Czesch did get pretty mangled up out there.”

“Ahhh, I´m sure he was fine!! C here has the good fortune of being quite tanky! Plus, it just takes him a couple of days to get all the dirt off of him! Isnt that right?”

“If by dirt you mean scratches, cuts and a great assortment of wounds… then yeah, I´m fortunate enough.”

“You see, C here has always been a healthy person. I mean, you´ve never actually been ill at all, have you?”

“Can´t recall ever being, so no… at least, I don’t think so…”

He remembered only select occasions when his body hadn’t quite managed to regain its strength, forcing him to push through the tiredness. Otherwise, he was, by all accounts, an extremely healthy person in a body that got little to no sleep, with a metabolism that healed wounds faster than a normal human body… that was the gist of it.

“Well, some people are lucky like that… I, for one… well, let´s say I could be worse off…”

“… What? Annie, I didn’t know you were sick or anything of the sort… is it-“

“No, it aint life-threatening or anything! It´s just a weird disease I´ve got that gives me terrible migraines sometimes. There´s no cure, but I´m taking treatment every 2 weeks to make sure it doesn’t get any worse.”

“Whew, you got me worried there for a second!”

There was still some healthy concern in regards to her. Migraines stop people from having a normal life, more often than not erupting in the most egregious circumstances and doing so unannounced. He might be a terrible sleeper, but at least his own head wasn’t trying to kill him.

“Speaking of weird stuff, did you know C can see through walls?”

Another choking feeling on Czesch´s lungs as she spat those words out of her mouth, heart beating faster and faster with every new sentence. Was she trying to give him a heart attack or what?

“See… through walls?”

“Ahh, it´s just a joke we have amongst friends! A bit of a recurring gag we have with C here, with his eagle eye vision… ain´t that right?”

“Y-Yeah, Vivi´s just… such a… funny woman…”

“Hey, C… mind giving me a light?”

Czesch raised his view only to get eyes on a Smith&Wesson-style revolver and a cigar on Vivi´s mouth. His heart almost jumped two streets out of his chest.

“V-V-Vivi!!! What the fuck are you-!?!?”

“Relax!! It´s a lighter, see? Nate told me it worked great when trying to pull off the joke, so I had to try myself! It works really well!”

“You are…trying to get me killed… aren’t you? You don’t even smoke!”

“Oh, right! Forgot about that one, hehe…”

“And I thought this day couldn’t get any worse…”

Czesch just wanted everything to end. The shopping crusade had burned him out already and Vivi´s shenanigans weren’t helping. To add insult to injury, Annie was probably feeling more than weirded out by that exchange, even if when she giggled at the revolver joke.

“And how did you two meet, Anna?”

“Oh, he… Czesch helped me out with a bit of a prank I had to pull on someone.”

“A teacher, right? Don´t worry, I know all about it. I just wanted to hear it from you.”

“After that, well… since we were in the same class, we became friends. I think that´s how it went.”

“Aaahh, always starts like this… so romantic when-“

The Kid shoved his hand right into Vivi´s mouth, covering it as best as possible with an annoyed expression.

“She has a boyfriend, get that bloody idea out of your head.”

She got the hand away from her mouth, a cocky smile still in place.

“My, my, aren’t we getting defensive all of a sudden? What, you fancy her?”

“Vivi, I don’t think it´s appropriate to talk about that sort of thing in front of her!”

“What? It was an honest to god question, nothing wrong with that! Anna, if you weren’t already with someone, would you go out with C here?”

“Annie, you don´t have to-“

“I think I would… then again, he does a lot of talking. And he´s a bit of a smartass sometimes.”

That was quick. What little neutrality Annie had left suddenly transformed into opposition, as the same cocky smile Vivi was wearing stuck to her visage.

“I know, right? I think I´m starting to like you more and more!”

“Oh god, this is going to end me…”

“You know, I´m kind of surprised Czesch actually managed to end up with someone like you.”

“Oh? How come?”

“You see, C might be quite a handsome, young rogue with a bit of a stubbornness issue, but I´ve never seen him going for a girl!”

“V, don’t start this bloody topic again, please…”

“What? Oh, you mean Czesch is actually interested in-“

“I´m. Not.Gay… I´m not into dudes, even if I find it fine for them to want to do that. I´m into women, thank you very much, stop bringing the fucking topic out, V!”

“I… wasn’t expecting a rant out of you.”

“You have no idea of how many times I´ve had to explain this… It´s infuriating…”

“I was going for that… you see, C here had a bit of a romance back during the war. I´m not sure if he´s told you about it, but it won´t hurt for you to know, wouldn’t it? Well, you see, he-“

Czesch´s frustration began turning into anger…what the hell was Vivi doing? Why was she bringing that one topic up, the one she knew Czesch hated talking about above all else? Talking about Laria like that was off limits, she knew that fully well.

“- and I think he´s still in love with her and that´s why he doesn’t want to date anyone else! It´s romantic, but also a bit stupid.”

“When you put it like that, yeah… from experience alone, limiting yourself is daft.”

“I mean, he has to try out new experiences, meet new people! I´ve been pushing him for years, but-“

“Vivi, can we quit this one? I… You know I don’t like it when you talk about her like this…”

“C, it has been 4 years since you last saw her. Being that loyal to a person is not healthy and you know it.”

“V, I´m asking kindly… drop it…”

“Even if you do meet her again, what then? 4 years is a long time, a lot will have happened. She´s probably with someone else already.”

“… Stop it…”

“Or, most likely, since she got off at the end of that clustefuck, she´s dead in the gutter of some city, making your whole chivalrious homage look like-“

“SHE´S NOT DEAD, GOD DAMMIT!”

Czesch slammed his fist against the table, almost breaking it, hadn’t he controlled the blow in the last second. The scream did startle Annie, but Vivi remained put, staring at him intently. Some of the clients began looking at their direction, wondering what the problem was with that boy. If she wanted to get him mad, she had just managed it without much effort. He began breathing loudly, fist still stuck to the table.

“… she can´t be… she is not gone…”

“Czesch, are you-“

“Leave him, Anna, this has to happen from time to time.”

Her smile wasn´t gone, but it had turn from cockyness to patience. Not that it mattered much, the Kid wasn’t going to lose his anger just from a look.

“… You love doing this, don’t you? Pulling the pin out of the grenade and watching it explode? You get off doing this?”

“You know I don’t like this any better than you do, but it has to happen.”

Czesch got up. He needed to freshen up, get his mind to clear out all the murderous intent inside of him. Vivi´s face was a helpful reminder that such an option was still available.

“Going to the bathroom?”

“Yeah… need to cool off… for safety that is.”

“Go right ahead, wont stop you.”

Czesch left for the bathroom, deep inside of him a mix of confused feelings battling for supremacy in an endless conflict. He knew Vivi´s points were solid… but, still, he couldn’t let her go.

He would never let her go.

Vivi sighed deeply, with a puzzled Annie still trying to figure out what just had happened. It was risky, uncorcking Czesch like that in a public area. Last time they did it, the entire SOT had to reduce him… and it took them all 15 minutes to get him to stop.

“Is… Is he going to be OK?”

“C? Oh, we´ve been through this quite a few times. You could say it has become routine at this point, but barely anything he does can have something defined as “routine”.

“Hmmm… it was a bit cruel, if you ask me.”

It was… but that was the way the Kid operated. He had known cruelty all of his life, and it was only against that cruelty that he would vent out his inner daemons.

“Sometimes you have to be cruel to the people you love to show them how far you will go for them… and, girl, I love that boy quite a lot… how about you?”

“Huh!? Me?”

She almost seemed surprised by the question, as if she hadn’t really thought hard about it. That got Vivi in a curious mood.

“Yeah… for a taken girl, you really are worried about C. Genuinely, I mean. He doesn’t have a bad eye for people, I´ll tell you that much. From the moment he said you were friends, I already knew you were a cut above the rest… so, what got you interested in him?”

She was dubious, but she slowly found the appropriate words.

“He´s a… an exceptional person. He´s annoying, elusive, a sleepyhead and an idiot at times, but… he´s also smart and really strong, but kinder than most in town… I… I admire him for what he is, for what he´s trying to do.”

“Oh? That means you wouldn’t want to fuck him?”

Such a sudden query didn’t have the intended effect. She was so used to seeing Czesch riled up that she forgot some people aren’t fazed when talking about sex. She had expected a communist flag to pop up in her face, but all she showed was a meager reddish tone on her cheeks.

“Well… I can´t say I wouldn’t like it, so-”

“Haha, kidding, kidding! He´s a bit naïve in that regard, so if you do try to go for him at some point, he´ll probably have a hard time noticing… that or he´ll notice and be too nervous to act properly. Never been overly good with women, I´m afraid.”

“Errmmm… about that girl you mentioned…”

“Hmm? What about her?”

“You… you defined it as a romantic deal… were you telling the truth or…?”

The girl knew something, Vivi was sure of that. Maybe she could fill in where she was having trouble… yeah, that could work.

“I was just trying to get him pissed off, that´s all! The relationship is there between them ,but it´s a bit hard to describe.”

“How hard?”

“Hard enough that not even he really knows. C has never gone into specifics it… hell, he hasn’t even given me a name! The only thing I know is that the two were close, but not the boyfriend-girlfriend deal we usually picture in our heads.”

“So, something more complicated, huh?... What is it with Czesch and complicated things?”

“He´s had a complicated life himself, so I don’t blame him for that…”

“We went to see a film about the war and I think that girl appeared at some point. Czesch started crying when he watched that part… I guess their relation was that strong…”

There it was, the inciting incident that got her in the game. It made sense… after all, it´s not every day you get to experience a love story that isn’t quite the usual Hollywood trite.

“A tip if you plan on being around Czesch: Never mention her. It´s one of his worst triggers and the one that you´ll run up to most easily.”

“Noted… so, what now? Have you finished up mind-fucking him or…?”

“Usually, I´d try to prepare something to cheer him up, but I´m not sure what to get him… arrghh, this was easier when he was a bloody kid!! What can I-“

A lightbulb lit up on Vivi´s head just as she got eyes on a small wooden piano standing at the back of the shop. It could work so well that she was surprised at how lucky they had been to pick such a place.

“That might work… yeah, it´s definitely going to work!”

“A piano? How will a piano help?”

“Trust me, girl, it will… excuse me, do you know if that piano works?”

The waiter turned around elegantly, keeping momentum.

“Of course, miss! But you do require permission from the manager to play it during business hours.”

“Can you call the manager for me? I´d like to request permission.”

“Are you going to play?”

Annie´s question was naïve in an extremely loveable way. She didn’t have the fingers of a pianist, nor she wanted to ever have them.

“No… he is.”

Czesch was definitely having a god-awful day. It took him 10 minutes to cool his jets and not cause a massacre in the café with just his bare hands. Vivi had pushed the button she wasn’t supposed to, endangering the lives of everyone inside that establishment… especially Annie´s. For some reason, he felt that it would have been a grave mistake to have Annie watch such a gruesome spectacle.

When he got out of the bathroom, he found Vivi, along with 2 other men, standing next to a piano, while Annie was sitting on the table closest to it. He sighed, walking along towards the group of people, knowing fully well what Vivi was about to propose.

“Hey, C! I convinced these two amazing individuals to show-off your amazing skills at piano! How cool is that?”

“… V, I´m not in the mood for this…”

“But you´ll be able to show your magic fingers and suave voice in front of Annie and the rest of the shop! I mean, bragging rights aside, you haven’t been practicing enough, so you really need some of it.”

“What you say isn´t… wrong, but-“

“And I went through a lot of trouble to get you this seat, so don’t go throwing it away now. Let´s have some fun with this!”

Fun. Did she really just tell him to have fun after prodding him like that? The innocence of it all was beyond anger-inducing.

“… After that fucking stunt you pull earlier, you want me to just forget about it and act like a domesticated bloody dog!? Do you think I have a short fucking memory or-“

Vivi leapt in closer, getting her mouth closer into Czesch´s ear as she wrapped her arm across his neck.

“I want you to blow off some steam, so… please, play it… for me…”

Czesch bit his tongue and then sighed, finally conceding to Vivi´s wish. She had that kind of power over him, often times reassuring and infuriating at the same time. He sat down in front of the wooden contraption, making sure the keys were properly aligned with their corresponding notes. The sound was alright, if a bit echo-y.

Just as Vivi was about to sit down with Annie, Czesch grabbed her by the arm, locking her in place with a dumbfounded look on her. If she was ready to play with others, she had to be ready for others to play with her.

“Oh, don’t think you are getting away from this one!”

“Huh? What would you have me do? Didn’t bring my trumpet with me.”

“You are a decent vocalist yourself. I do know that you have memorized at least half of our songs.”

“I-I may have been singing in the shower to them, but that doesn’t mean I-“

“Either sing along with me or I wont sing at all….”

He played the keys in order, getting some attention out of the audience.

“… and that would be the shittiest performance of them all”… alright, fine! Which one are we starting with?”

“Hmmm… how about…”

Czesch started playing a small tune, one which Vivi immediately recognized, a smirk forming in both of their faces.

“You really know how to start strong, don’t you?”

“Well, it´s part of what I do… and a 1,2… 1,2,3,4…”

The song in question was called “Back-Alley Cats” and was one of the fastest in their repertoire, featuring some parts with various voices performing at the same time and an improv section that always left Vivi with a sore throat. The lyrics for the chorus went something like:

And we are back-alley cats, purring through the city lights!

We head off together and hunt for blinding sights!

And if you take a go, to cut our tail

Or if you sing a blues, to make us wail

Back-alley cats, in the morrow they will come alright!

The song definitely sat well with the people having a coffee, most of them enjoying the catchy tune and the vocals going along with. Vivi managed to not fuck up, which was, by Czesch´s standards, quite the positive result. Hell, she even managed to add a new layer to the mix.

Apparently, the clients liked it so much that most of them agreed that an encore was the next order of business.

“I think we got ourselves more work ahead.”

“Come on, you are loving this, don’t deny that much!”

“I might be having some fun, true… what should we go for next?”

“I´d go for something lighter… “Dance-Off in Cornauille”… and a step and a rhythm to challenge the wind…?”

“Nah, let´s go for… Back off and rest for the day…”

“You cheeky brat… Rest up and throw out your dismay.”

“Don´t fret and snap to rid the shame.”

“Lord of Shadow, cast the doubt away… let´s get it on…”

“Lord of Shadow” was a piece they barely played, since it wasn´t meant for a full band. It was mostly ideal for whenever Vivi and Czesch played together, and even without the trumpet it still sounded solid enough. Much slower and mellow, this one a chorus that built itself from the ground up to the title in a grandiose way. The clients seemed to like it as well, not as much as the 1st one but enough to garner another round of applause and cheers by the time they were done.

Czesch felt… well, all around better. He was still a bit pissed and tired, but it was a long way from how he was hours before. Even though he had played quite badly by his normal standards, it had taken his mind away from all of the previous shenanigans. And that, he considered, was good enough.

After being offered to play every day as an employee and Vivi kindly refusing, they both sat back with Annie, who had her jaw almost detached from her mouth at the absurd levels of awe she was having.

“W-Wow, I… I would have never believed that you played the piano! And in that way, it´s amazing!”

“I felt that the usual classical pieces weren’t exciting enough, so I decided to experiment a bit… and, lo and behold, mix of jazz, soul and a bunch of others suited me fine… in no short part to Vivi constantly telling me to practice.”

“And the vocals… it´s almost like you have a different voice the moment you start singing!”

“… I´m not sure if I´m supposed to take that as a compliment, but… thanks, I guess?”

“Speaking of… C, would you say you played well enough?”

“Errrr… well, V, I… I could have done better, but I did alrigh- Ouch!”

This time, the magnetism worked on a different way. Instead of an elbow and ribs, it was a fist against a head open to attack.

“Every time we get around to play, you are always the guy nitpicking every single bloody mistake we make, but when you do it, it suddenly becomes “alright”!”

“No need to hit me over that, it wasn’t that- Ouch!”

Another strike, same spot.

“It was terrible and you know it! You should feel ashamed for being so out of sync! I hope you don’t fuck up this bad when we get around to play again!”

“Huh? You are in a band?”

True to form, Annie had no knowledge about the Kid´s other activity aside from getting paid to kill people in the corners of the world. Vivi was kind enough to start filling her in.

“Me and a bunch of friends decided to start a small improv group and since C here is a boss at piano, singing and also composing, we decided to turn it into a proper one.”

“But we just play in small locales and once every month or two, so we mostly do it for fun.”

“Still, it´s kind of amazing that you got so good at it!”

“I´d call it “spare time well spent”. Took me a lot of time to come up with proper tunes and a ton of trial and error between them… mostly error…”

“Haha, your first songs were laughably bad.”

“I was 14 and had barely started! Whenever we tried one of yours, I would almost break my fingers just trying to-”

“You had to get better quick, what other option did we have?”

Czesch´s hands still remembered the onslaught of that first song. It was a part of his musical experience he´d rather forget.

“… Still, you are right. That was pretty bad on my part. Just practicing with the piano won´t do if you are not around to try things out… I´m not sure of how I could make it work…”

“How about making it a proper activity?”

Annie spurted a suggestion like that out of the blue, and it came down as an interesting experiment that could come to be a solution. Music wasn’t an essential part of his life, but it helped the SOT relax and remain in working condition after a series of operations, while also serving as entertainment for the rest of the company. If he could keep his edge, then he was all ears.

“Hmm? How can that work?”

“An… old friend of mine is running the jazz club in St Vincent´s. They´ve been having trouble keeping it up due to… let´s say, lackluster performances…  and they are without a pianist at the moment! You could practice with them, let me put up a good word.”

“And maybe help them out in the process! That´s something definitely up C´s alley!”

“Hmmm… It would do me some good, true… could we go tomorrow to check them out?”

“I think they do practice on Mondays ,so we could probably come watch. They barely get any visitors, so they´ll be quite welcoming.”

“Sounds like a plan. Definitely better than spending another afternoon doing chores.”

The mention of housework had Vivi rummaging around her phone for something, desperately scrolling past messages.

“V-Vivi? What is it?”

“Speak of chores… oh, dammit, I completely forgot! I have to go back to work right now!”

“You said this was your day off!”

“It is, but I forgot I promised Nate to help him out with some work… sorry, Kid!”

“Urghh… it´s alright. Guess you´ll need help carrying everything to the car?”

“What, you were going to leave me to carry them all by myself?”

“Errr, yeah? I mean, I know for a fact you can carry them all without much-”

“Less talking, more carrying!”

Begrudgingly, Czesch grabbed the absurd amount of shopping bags Vivi had hoarded and began taking them to the parking lot, where Vivi´s trunk was waiting to receive them in full.

“Want me to help?”

“Oh, no need, dear! C here is the perfect person for the job! He doesn’t need help.”

“One of these days, V, I will get tired of your shit.”

“Let´s hope that day never comes then!”

After a walk through the mall, they finally arrived at Vivi´s ride, where Czesch finally put the instruments which had caused him such grief to rest.

“If anything happens, call me again, alright? I´ll be there in a flash!”

“Will do… Oh, almost forgot… meant to ask you about-“

“He´s doing fine, talked with him yesterday. They haven’t sent him to do anything dangerous yet, so I´m relieved… not OK with it yet, but… y-yeah…”

Vivi´s little brother was still in a dangerous position, and she couldn’t do a thing about it. The Kid could only guess as to how frustrated she really was… adding to that the anxiousness of seeing him through such an awkward phase… he felt bad, extremely so.

“V-Vivi, I… errr…”

“C, I have to go, so make it quick.”

“Ummm… s-sorry for worrying you like this…It must be hard with your bro stationed there, and you had to come here because I fucked up…”

“…Argh, you are just so sweet sometimes!”

Vivi´s bear hugs differed from Karen´s in that Czesch could actually breathe through the former, since the latter took the form of a choking hold. She ended her hug by squeezing her fist on the Czesch´s head, something she would always do after a successful mission or to reasurre him that she was there for him.

“Catch ya later, Kid!”

“Drive safely!”

“I´m not you, so don´t got worrying about that!”

“Y-You damn-!”

Vivi drove off, leaving an exhausted Czesch and an Annie who had just now remembered she had to pick something up. It had been the only reason she had come to the mall in the first place.

“I´ll come with, I… definitely need a walk after that clusterfuck.”

“What, are you tired from handling your sister? I thought you´d be used to it.”

“People so positive just end up draining you, no matter how ready you are. They are alright for the moment you meet them, but get to know them better and it just becomes a bit unbearable… then again, she only acts like that when she´s in a good mood.”

“So, she isn’t always like this?”

“When it comes to work, she´s as dead serious as one would hope to be. With family matters, I know for a fact she will burn down heaven and hell. And when she just wants to have some fun… well, she pulls of worse stuff than what you have witnessed.”

“Aha… Oh, shit! I forgot they closed this one early! What time is it anyway?”

“It´s… holy shit, 6 o´clock.”

“We´ve been talking for 4 hours?”

“Seems so… looks like Vivi´s ability to make time go faster just made its appearance… was it something important?”

It wasn’t just hers. Karen also made time progress more quickly than intended… Nate often had the opposite effect, for some reason.

“Nah, I can pick it up tomorrow after class… well, after we meet your new band, that is.”

“Ummm, my band? What, they are going to suddenly put me on a pedestal?”

“They are getting a bit desperate, you know… school is going to shut them down at the end of the year if they don’t pull a good show for the festival.”

That statement didn’t quite put him at ease. There was a chance that they were bad, but going ahead and making him the lead player on the spot? That was absurd… but the mention of a school festival did grab his interest.

“There´s a school festival!? And here I thought you people barely did stuff in town!”

“It´s a month away. The week before, you really start to notice clubs working overtime to get their shit done, but beforehand nothing happens… it´s done at the same time with an autumn fair, commemorating something nobody really remembers anymore. Most of the town gets around to make it work properly, so that week you can sleep easy knowing there won´t be firefights.”

“So you think that they´ll be desperate enough to let me boss them around with those stakes? Are they that bad?”

“It´s not that they are bad per se, it´s… it´s something you have to see for yourself.”

The joke was too prominent not to make good work on it.

“Or “Hear” for myself, eehhh? Eeehhhh?”

Annie immediately turned, merciless eyes focusing on him.

“You deserve to burn just because of that one.”

They started to walk home together… a reocurring theme, Czesch noticed. People in the neighborhood would start gossiping about them both being together, which was definitely not on Czesch´s best intentions. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Annie, it was simply a matter of keeping things as close to reality as possible. While thinking about that, Annie suddenly smashed her hand against her forehead.

“Dammit, I also forgot I had to finish the presentation!! Argghh, I haven’t done jack today!”

“Hehe, serves you right for slacking off.”

“Says the guy who spends class sleeping!”

“Look, this was mostly my fault, so I´ll make it up to you: Lemme help with it.”

“No way. You have already done the script by yourself, I have to do this one.”

“What good is a script if I don’t know what you´ve set up? I need to get eyes on first to make any changes before we start practicing.”

“… You have a point there.”

“Besides, if we don’t get it done by tomorrow, then we won´t get time enough to practice.”

“Alright, alright! You can come over and help.”

Czesch did a small fist-pump in the air. He had nothing better to do that afternoon, so he considered getting himself some work a victory, even though it was petty at best. Sleep was always an option

It took them 5 minutes to reach Annie´s place, which was indeed quite close to Czesch´s. It was a similar apartment complex, but much shinier in comparison, even though his apartment was quite well-off. Annie lived in the 2nd floor, on the left side of the building, in a flat hidden behind a robust door that basically said “No trespassers” to any daring burglars. Not quite as robust as the Kid´s, but certainly flashier. Annie stopped halfway while introducing the key.

“You are about to enter hallowed ground, so be careful of what you do in there.”

“What, are you hiding some dark secrets and you want no one to know? Oooh, spooky.”

“No… but start fiddling where you are not meant to be and you´ll leave without a certain body part… and we both know you don’t want that to happen… got it?”

“… Got it… fucking hell, you girls are rounds of the same caliber…”

When she opened the door, Czesch was probably expecting something… well, he wasn’t sure  of what to expect from someone like Annie.  It could range from the girliest of apartments to an abysmal tidal wave of dirtiness and decomposition. The former sounded comfortable enough.

To his dismay, the latter became more of a reality.His nose had smelt far worse, but the sight before him was too discomforting to keep it to himself.

“Jesus, and here I thought guys are supposed to be the ones shitting on walls! What the actual fuck!?”

“What? It isn’t that big of a mess.”

She walked in through mountains of empty food containers and unwashed clothes, over to a living room with only one freed up spot for her bum to sit on, a laptop readily in place. The Kid remained in place, still aghast and feeling uneasy.

“You mean you can do worse than this!? Good god!”

“Look, are you going to give me shit for being lazy about cleanup or will you help me out here?”

“Help you out? I´m going to make sure this house gets proper maintenance, that´s what I´m going to do! You cant live like this for extended periods of time!”

“Well, I have and I´m still alive…I thought you were the guy who had spent half of his childhood surrounded by muck and filth.”

“Yeah, no shit! Reason enough to not want to repeat that experience in someone else´s house!”

He rushed to what seemed like a side closet and opened it up, revealing yet more clothes. At the 3rd try, he found cleaning utensils. Not the ones he was used to, but proper ones with not a grain of filth on them.

“Wait, you aren’t kidding? Are you actually trying to clean this place up!?”

“At least to an acceptable degree, I´m… a bit neurotic about this type of stuff… please, at the very least let me make human life viable in this mess!!”

It sounded like he was begging, but he meant every word he said there. He couldn’t keep a leveled head in such an unkempt apartment. After a short while, Annie conceded.

“… OK. You go do that while I finish up over here… You did say you wanted to make it up for me.”

“Gotcha!”

Annie started her laptop and typed away, all the while Czesch did his best to clean-up that abhorring mess that was before him. Back during the war, his mentor had taught him a very valuable lesson: “You can be as full of shit as you may want to be, but you get a speck of dirt in your gun and you are done for”. After seeing weapons jam in front of him hundreds of times, he took that lesson to heart, and it translated to a small obsession with cleaning. It was nothing major and, considering his other issues, it was menial at best. It, however, was a real deal and he couldn’t stand watching that miasma of detritus before him and do nothing about it.

Annie probably thought that he was weirder than… well, weirder than he already was. Nate used to laugh at him for it, until Vivi told him off (he still did it sometimes when she wasn´t watching), and Rob always had him clean-up after he prepared a meal for all of them. Upon thinking about it, Czesch started to miss Rob´s amazing cooking. He wasn’t a chef a la French cuisine type of definition, he was a Spaniard after all. His meals were hearty and meant to last for the whole day, all the while tasting like heaven. Czesch knew for a fact that he could live just eating those types of meals.

About an hour passed and Czesch was mostly done with the clean-up. He made sure to not throw away anything that seemed important for obvious reasons, like pills or other relevant products. He was in someone else´s house and he was already being quite disrespectful by, as Buri would kindly put it, “cleaning someone else´s shit”. Then again, now the flat looked like an actual apartment and not some sort of storage container for unwanted tat. Annie was more than impressed.

“You are done already? Wow, I should have you clean up every week!”

“Don´t count on that, just consider this a gift of sorts.”

“Remind me to never ask you for gifts then, they are kind of shit… hey, come check what I´ve got. What do you think?”

Graphics, relevant sentences, transitions… it almost looked professional, extremely well put together. Then again, he was no expert at it,

“It looks good… then again, I´m not the best person to give an opinion about it. I understand the appeal of presentations like this one  as much as the next guy.”

“True… designs are all about catching their attention. Usage of words, positioning of audiovisual content, fonts, colours, order, everything must fit into a neat picture. If one of the elements doesn’t fit, people will notice. They are never dumb when it comes to nitpicking, so be honest with me here.”

The amount of earnest dedication she was putting on such a tiny task impressed the Kid, who always loved that sort of thing whenever Karen did it.

“…Looks better than anything I´ve done… shit, it blows anything I´ve seen Vivi do when it comes to it, and she´s not an amateur. You are amazing!”

It was her turn to look surprised. It seemed she wasn’t really used to being complimented like that.

“O-Oh, I… I actually really like doing this, for some reason. Creating something and making it look visually appealing and such. It´s… comforting, I guess.”

“Comforting” is not the word I would use… It´s more appealing than anything.”

“Y-You think!? I don’t know, I always thought of this as more of a hobby than anything else. Helps when I have a headache to just… order stuff around like this.”

“Which begs the question of why you keep your place a dump instead of… well, what you just said.”

“Hey, one thing is artsy design and another is chores! It´s not my problem that you are dead set on cleaning other people´s messes!”

“It´s what I do! So, are you done with it now?”

“Yeah, it took less time than I expected… Want to run over it with the script and make sure we didn’t screw up anywhere?”

“Yeah, lets. Otherwise rewriting this whole thing is going to be a pain tomorrow.”

They spent 30 minutes going over the presentation, piece by piece. Czesch now had a good grasp of the content they were presenting and it differed only in parts with what he had in mind. It just took a bit of rearrangement to get the pieces to fall in place.

It was at that moment that Annie´s stomach went for a recreation of a volcanic eruption, getting quite a good impression of it. She closed her eyes and groaned in discomfort, clearly upset at the lack of food in her system. After voicing her thoughts, she took a glance at her phone.

“9 o´clock already!? Fuck, that means that they´ll be closed already… god dammit, I´m running late on everything today!”

“You were going to order takeout today?”

“I always order takeout… my favorite joint closes real soon, so I usually order early. Guess I´ll have to get something else… Chinese should  be alright.”

The thought that a human being could survive only by eating food coming from fast food emporiums was something that, combined with her lack of cleaning habits, immediately rang alarms inside his head.

“Wait, you eat takeout… all of the time!?”

“Errrr, yeah… I´m not any good at cooking, so I go for the 2nd best thing. “

“That´s…”

“I know, I live alone and I cant even cook or clean up properly… I´m a damn mess…”

“I was  going for a “not nutrinitional at all”, but that also works… say, how about I make something? Feeling a little peckish myself.”

Instead of admiration, Annie´s glance turned into the closest thing resembling envy.

“Hang on, you cook as well!? Is there anything you can´t do!?”

“There are a lot of things I wish I could do… while I was rummaging around your cupboards, I did see some cooking utensils and ingredients.”

“Yeah… from my failed cooking experiments a few weeks ago. I´m a complete disaster at the kitchen.”

“I can make something simple from that, won´t take more than 20 minutes.”

“Hmmmm… I guess I can let you do that while I get the rest ready. Besides, I don’t think I´d be able to wait for the delivery guy, I´m actually starving.”

He gave her a condescending look, asking what should have been obvious.

“… Starving “starving” or just starving “peckish”?”

“Oh, you know what I mean! So, can you make anything or are you going to sit on your ass all day?”

“Hmmm… OK, let´s do this!”

Annie´s small kitchen barely had anything to make a proper meal, but Czesch had worked with less. Rob had taught him that the only point in which you cant make food is with an empty kitchen. And, in this scenario, Czesch had a couple of eggs, some butter, 3 potatoes and a bit of leftover meat.

And 20 minutes later, a plate of fried eggs with mashed potatoes and fried meat was made, with some spices on top to make add a bit more flavor. This was the easiest thing Czesch had ever made for others, even though he was more accustomed to using olive oil from Rob. Then again, olive oil was quite expensive, so butter it was.

“Bon Apetit! Hope I didn’t take too long.”

“It took you long enough… hey, it aint half bad… I mean, it´s not the best thing I´ve tried, but I´m impressed.”

“… When you put it like that, it´s actually quite insulting. Even a kid knows how to fry an egg.”

“You´d be surprised…”

“Hmmm… so, you are completely useless in the kitchen? Huh, I would have never guessed…”

“Is that coming with seconds? Saying that women belong in the kitchen?”

“N-No! I didn’t mean it like that!!”

“I hope so… but, then again, you have a point in being surprised. I´m terrible at it… makes me look like one of those rich girls that needs a servant to do everything for them. I hate being compared to that…”

“And you wish you got better.”

“At least to make myself some proper meals. I´m not planning on opening a restaurant or a bar, I just… I want to be self-sufficient… prove my old man I can live off on my own.”

“I see…”

“Problem is, I know no one that can teach me properly. If they can, then they are so lenient about it I just screw up even more and I end up feeling like even more of a failure… it´s the worst…”

Seeing her like that, an idea popped up in Czesch´s head. Part of him kept repeating that he had done enough and that he needed the rest, but it was such an exciting challenge that he wanted to try his luck.

“… Want me to give it a shot?”

“Huh?  A shot at what exactly?”

“At teaching you… I´m not the best cook in the world, but I defend myself quite well in the kitchen!  And if it´s just learning the basics, then it´ll be alright.”

“… I thought I mentioned the “lenient” problem. How do I know you are not a babysitter when you get in there? I´ve seen quite a few people transform, you know.”

“You´ll just have to trust me on that one. I´ve never taught anyone before, so it´d be a first. Consider that… errr, I dunno… something to make you feel better?”

“I´m not sure… what´s the point in doing it if I´m sure I´ll fail at it?”

“… What is the point in jumping to the lake if the kid is going to drown?”

Annie raised her eyes to meet those of Czesch. He had a wry smile formed in his face, and a melancholic feel in his eyes.

“I didn’t… mean it like that, you know… it´s different when-“

“Not at all. It´s actually quite similar in that regard.”

“Huh?”

He put his plate to a side, looking at the ceiling. His mind was still fresh from the incident, but he still felt like he had to reasurre himself that his actions were the right ones.

“Sometimes life puts hurdles in our way. Other times, we put the hurdles ourselves and, sure, you´ll bang your legs when trying to jump. And it hurts, oh, trust me, it hurts a lot when it comes to the big ones… but, afterwards, you have two ways of looking at it. You can decide that it´s enough, that you have banged your knees for god knows how long and that taking another shot is foolish… or you can try it again. And again. And again, until your knees are bloody and raw.”

“Nice metaphor, but-“

“If you run away from the hurdle, then that´s that, you… simply stop trying. But there´s a thing you´ll never forget: Failing. Failing at overcoming that jump, and that will haunt you for as long as you live… in my case, I´ve got a bunch of hurdles I´ll never be able to jump anymore… and God knows I would have broken my legs if it meant getting over them…”

He tightened his fist. Why was he saying that all of a sudden? What was the surge behind those words? Was he really that concerned that, half-jokingly, Annie had mentioned giving up an ambition of hers? Maybe so. He wasn’t really sure about what he was comparing stuff to anymore. He just rolled with it, hoping the comparisons where still sound. He took a deep breath and continued.

“It´s all about trying. In the end, you´ll get over the hurdle, even if it takes you weeks or months or maybe a lifetime. What matters is that you will have gotten over it… and you won´t have to live with regret in you.”

Silence fell in the room. For some reason, Czesch felt he had come to trust Annie a little more, talking about almost metaphysical subjects with her. She was mulling over what he had just said, all the while finishing up her dish. Czesch had almost forgotten about the food, and started to devour his ration at mach speed.

“You know… have you ever thought about being a philosopher? You are really good at that.”

“Oh, trust me, most of the nonsense coming from my mouth has already been said by old men with beards centuries ago.”

“And here you could have actually cashed in on it… shame… then again, it is wisdom to live by. If only it didn’t sound so hard.”

“There are definitely harder things than cooking. Hell, you´ll be having my help!”

“You are still willing to sacrifice your sanity for my sake? You have a deathwish, you know that?”

“I´ve probably dealt with worse…”

“You don´t know that…”

The Kid finished his meal and, wanting to change the mood of the room, stood up immediately and clapped his hands together.

“Do not fret, young lady! This gallant knight is offering his services at no fee! Alas, shall you take mine offer from thy humble servant,  Ser Travaly of the Thousand Pillows?”

He wasn’t quite sure why he´d come up with such an ostensive and ridiculous way to start. But seemed to work as intended, with Annie bursting out laughing and slamming her dining table.

“My knight? Hahaha, oh man, don´t make me laugh this hard, hahaha… oh, sure, sure… you can, haha, run me through the basics!”

“Splendid! Let´s start!”

“Wait, what!? Right now?”

“A wise man once said, there´s never a better time than the present! Now, come on, let´s get to it!”

They spent the following hour cracking jokes while Czesch went step by step on how to act properly while in the kitchen. It felt weird, him giving the explanations to Annie. Also, the way that he did it was almost… military-like, giving precise orders and calling for attention whenever she thought of something else. It felt surreal, to have an almost drill-sergeant experience while learning how to cook. It was so out of place it was genuinely fun.

Annie was indeed having fun. She realized it only half way through the course and it struck her as something novel. When was the last time she had truly felt like this? A long time, she reckoned. Taking away the parties with all the booze, she hadn’t really given much thought to the whole “having fun” ordeal. The most she had felt had been “mildly entertained”, but this was entirely different. It was a lesson, something she was supposed to abhor, yet the way he was doing it and his doubt at certain points made it more endearing and certainly made her laugh without having to control it in the least.

Meanwhile, Czesch wasn’t sure of what he was supposed to be doing, so he went over the complete basics. He felt stupid while doing so, but he figured that the reason she had no clue what to do before had something to do with not going over essentials first. It was something that even a child knew, but some points came as a surprise to her. That made him realize that she hadn’t lied when stating that she was useless in that department.

Czesch´s teaching methods were… unorthodox, sure. He was used to running courses for governmental militias on combat procedures and other subjects of warfare, always having to impose his will over others due to his young age. In a world filled with sharks, he thought, you have to be the first to show how big your teeth are. Even with how weird his theorizing was (he now realized he had done the same during that history class with Hawkins), Annie still paid close attention and even laughed at his quips. It was quite the change, hearing her giggle instead of groan at him. He never got a proper laugh out of her during the time, but he didn’t expect that much.

After a while, he realized that he didn’t have that much more to say and that it was getting a bit late for his taste. On the one hand, he would barely get any sleep that night, on the other… he thought that sleeping in Annie´s house would benefit no one. Especially him… Vivi´s words still resonating.

“I think we can call it a night here… I guess.”

“Huh? That´s it?”

“Of course it´s not it! I just… don´t want to bombard you with info all in one day, that´s all.”

“I can take it, you can go on if that´s the issue.”

“You know, that´s not how the human brain works at-“

She grabbed him by the shoulder, squeezing it tightly.

“I. Can.Take.It… OK?”

“OK, OK! I get it!”

She released her grip and crossed her arms together.

“Then, what´s the problem?”

“I, uhhhh… might need some time to actually prepare a proper lesson… I´m drawing a blank right now.”

 “Oh, that… I guess it was a bit of a “spur of the moment” decision, wasn’t it?”

“On my part… At least I hope this one helped.”

“Trust me, it did! I can´t believe I was fucking up that bad!”

“People often take things for granted. Then again, practice makes perfect, that is something no amount of impromptu lessons will teach.”

“So, in your train of thought, fucking up a thousand times may get me a good result in the end?”

“If not, you are clearly doing something wrong in the way you approach it.”

“Aha… I think I got it… soooo… you planning on staying or-?”

That was his queue to leave, and he was planning on taking it as quickly as possible.

“Errrr, I think I´m going to go now!!”

“Huh? You can stay the night here if you want, I don’t mind.”

And there it was, the proposal he didn’t need in the least.

“I know, I know! Thing is, I live so close and-“

“Oh, come on, I´m not going to eat you or anything!”

“I have some stuff to do at my place, so I do need to go there to finish them up”

It was a white lie of sorts. He had work that he could do for the company whilst there, but his body was asking for a well-earned rest. Annie seemed to buy it.

“You could have started with that! If you gotta go, you gotta go, simple as that.”

“OK… leaving now… if you do have any doubts, do give me a call, OK? Should be able to help anytime.”

“Why, you better! You do know you became my knight just now? Not living up to your word would have bad consequences.”

“I can imagine… see you around, A!”

“See you around… C…”

Czesch left the flat pretending to be in a hurry. True enough, he had to write up quite some reports, including the finalization of the Zimbabwe operation. He´d probably have to spend most of the night filing them up, not that he was planning on spending it doing anything else. With his 30 minute naps, he was bound to get more work done at night than at daytime. Plus, since he had stuff to do that afternoon, he would have the reports ready and just send them the moment he got back home. It seemed like a perfect plan.

Then again, plans tend to have this small consequence of always going down badly at the end. Experience had taught him, time and time again, that just believing things wont go to shit doesn’t imply that they wont. It simply creates a false sense of confidence that immediately gets shattered away, like a crystal ball thrown at the face of a fortune-teller.

He sighed as he exited the building, rain now drizzling down onto the lamp-lit streets. It was such a common sight in England, yet he always managed to retain that one property that rain had on him: It was soothing. Sure, cold and bitter as hell, also quite depressive, but also calming. The sound of the water falling onto the ground, the sensation of it touching skin… back in the Czech Republic, he prayed for rain to fall almost every day.

Then, he thought, it would take longer for him to break.

Annie wasn’t sure what to think of Czesch anymore. It was weird, how the guy could be able of being such help and do so while having problems on his head. It was his determination that astonished her, a will so unbroken and headstrong that it mattered not if what he was going to do was bonkers, a part of her would always believe him capable of doing so.

She giggled a bit as she watched the kitchen. She had fucked up quite a lot of times, and all he had done was clean up and order her to do it again. The place hadn’t been as clean as when she had arrived at the flat, and now it really looked brand new. Cleaning, cooking, playing an instrument, football… was there something this guy couldn’t do?

As she thought about it, a migraine hit. It was a small one, but it still hurt like hell. Aspirin did nothing of the sort, just make her realize how pointless was to fight it. Her dad would take her to a place filled with researchers and such and fiddle with her head about for 2 hours, not to fully remove the pain, but to make it less concurrent.

But she had already found an alternative medicine. One that hid all of the problems and worries, buried them deep down again and helped her wake in the morning. It couldn’t stop the migraines from hitting, but it made them not as hurting as they usually were. It wasn’t a solution, she knew that much…

Still, she took the medicine… and the world recovered some color.

Next Chapter: Chapter IV: Music, Princesses and that One Bird You Always Hated