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“…So what happens next is… are ya listening, Johnny? You need to be listening for this part.”
“Yeah, I’m listening.”
“He got to the final guy, know what he said?”
“Humor me.”
“’It flew at me so I kicked the shit out of it!’”
Johnny glanced up from scrubbing Slow Dancer’s saddle.
From across the steady campfire, Gyro was giving him that don’t-disappoint-me-I-fricken-nailed-that look he always sported after sprouting one of his longer-winded jokes. Johnny tended to view such a stare as a challenge to react little as possible. “Hm. Good one,” he acknowledged with a nod, setting the clean saddle aside.
“Ah come on Johnny, it took me a while to think of that joke. Don’t I even get a laugh?”
“No no Gyro, it was great. One of the better ones you’ve told, actually.”
“Really? You really liked it?!” Gyro’s golden smile glinted in the glowing light and Johnny had to try harder still to withhold his own grin.
“Yes, I did. I’ll write it down when I next have a pen and paper handy. Wouldn’t want to forget it.”
“You better not forget. I worked hard on it.”
A quiet moment followed and Johnny laid back, admiring the stillness of the night sky. The silence between himself and Gyro was comfortable and serene, the clean air allowing one’s mind to be easily cleared. Above them, the universe extended its infinite arms, beckoning them to be enchanted by its very existence... They’d been in this race for some time now, yet it was moments like this that never bored Johnny in the slightest. The freedom of the expanse before them was even greater than that of the plains they were yet to encounter, and of the adventures they'd already left behind. Truth be told, he hadn’t spared much thought for the end of the race, nor of what he’d do with his life afterwards. Perhaps there was a part of him that wished for the race to last forever, for his adventure across the country with Gyro to be as eternal as the sky that shone above them every night. But the Steel Ball Run, like all things sans Gyro’s aptitude for bizarre jokes, would come to an end eventually, and Johnny would deal with that when the time came. For now he was content in sharing the company of the dear companion he’d gained, beneath the blanket of the dazzling Milky Way.
“It’s so clear,” he remarked after a few more moments. Why he'd felt particularly inclined to comment on it now, he was unsure; there had been several nights just as clear as this on their journey thus far.
Gyro shifted from where he too was lost in the night above. “It’s nothing like this in the big cities,” he said. “You know what those stars remind me of?”
“Umm… a pretty girls eyes?” Johnny guessed.
“Nah,” Gyro shook his head, “Maybe they did once. But now they remind me of your ass.”
Johnny raised an eyebrow. “That so? You’ve been looking?”
“I keep telling myself it’s those pants of yours, but I dunno,” Gyro said, shaking his head, “When I see the stars in the night sky, I think of your ass.”
Johnny found himself absent-mindedly admiring the way the glow of the fire cast shadows across Gyro’s face, defining the… dare he admit—rather attractive—facial structure of the friend he’d gained. “You’ve gotta be kidding, right? Why would you think of my ass before anything else?”
Gyro looked him in the eye, presenting a pure and genuine honesty. Whatever he was about to say, he meant with all his heart. “Your ass is starrier than any girl’s eyes, Johnny,” he said, “And that’s a fact. Never let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Johnny was taken aback for a moment, but quickly regained his composure. “Well thank you,” he said, “That’s very thoughtful, Gyro… And your wit is more obscure than any girl’s… uhh… well it’s like nothing I can compare it to. Not even all the stars in the sky. You’re the most ridiculous person who’s ever walked this planet. You know that, right?”
“I’m glad you feel that way,” Gyro beamed in response. Another moment went by before he said anything else. “Also kinda reminds me of diamonds, y’know? The type the rich ladies would wear to big events back in my home country. Makes me feel a little nostalgic.”
Johnny stared at him blankly for a second.
“The stars I mean, not your ass,” Gyro quickly clarified, “The stars remind me of the crystals or whatever they were in the ball gowns back at home… Speaking of which, did I ever tell you about the time I snuck into a masquerade?” he questioned.
“I don’t think I’d even need to write that one down to remember,” Johnny replied, “So no, you haven’t.”
Gyro glanced back up at the sky, lost in a fond memory. “It was a night a lot like this… except it was in Rome and the weather was foul. Really windy, raining a whole lot…”
“…So it was actually a night nothing like this one?”
“Shut up, that’s beside the point. Anyway, I wasn’t actually meant to be there at all. It was invite-only, but I snuck in with some girl and they didn’t realise until they did a headcount—not sure how, with everyone moving about the place—and realised there was one extra than there should have been.”
“Pretty dumb on their part.”
“Right? So they know there was someone there who wasn’t supposed to be, but they didn’t realise it was me,” he explained, “That’s the best thing about a masquerade. Everyone is wearing a mask so if there’s enough people, you can’t really tell who’s who, but they tried to find me anyway. I think they thought I’d be trying to get into the vaults or wherever that place kept its riches. They were chasing down a guy they didn’t even realise was in the main hall, dancing the night away with all the pretty ladies and gents. I was just there for the party.”
Johnny allowed himself to chuckle at the story. “Sounds like you had quite a life.”
“When I could,” Gyro said.
The campfire crackled in front of them and Johnny shifted to place another log on top. Just like Gyro and the masked attendees of the ball, the embers seemed to weave in and out of one another in some sort of dance. “I don’t remember what it feels like to dance,” he admitted after a moment, unsure why it was worth mentioning. “Well I didn’t really do it much at all, I mean… I went to a few charity balls back in the day and there were two, maybe three times where I’d ask a girl to dance or she’d ask me, but I never went out of my way to do it,” he glanced down at his legs, “If I’d have known what was gonna happen… maybe I would have tried to dance more while I still could.”
“Well what’s stopping you from ever dancing again?” Gyro asked as though it weren't the most obvious thing in the universe.
“Uhh…” Johnny mocked thought, before dragging one of his limp legs up to his chest and letting it flop back down, “I’m not really sure… maybe the leg thing?”
Gyro almost looked sorry for him for a moment, but then snickered. “Nyoho, nice try!”
“Hey quit laughing! That one wasn’t actually a joke, you asshole.”
“Johnny if you can traverse this country on horseback and do everything that comes along with it, you can still dance. C’mere…” Gyro covered the small distance between them, placing his hands beneath Johnny’s armpits, and subsequently hefted him upright.
Before he’d even had time to react, Johnny found the upper-half of his body held firmly against the other man’s torso whilst his legs dangled helpless and unfeeling.
“Okay, hold on to me. If we can just get your left foot atop my right and your right atop my left… that’s it… don’t let go, won’t do any good if ya fall on your starry little ass before we even begin…okay, I’ve got you.”
“Gyro, what are you…?”
“We’re gonna dance, Johnny. You and me. Right here and now. Ready?”
Johnny glanced down to see he was literally all but standing atop Gyro’s feet. “I haven’t done it like this before...”
“Then let’s make this a fantastic debut. Away we go…”
As Gyro’s legs moved to the melody-less night, so did Johnny’s. The movement was somehow captivating. Johnny closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the warmth of Gyro’s body as he clung to him. He reopened them, taking in the night once again. The sky above them brimmed with all the light in the universe, though that was no longer what Johnny was looking up at. Before the night sky, there was Gyro. “I… I’m dancing…” Johnny said, a feeling of warmth coming upon him as he unconsciously tightened his arms around Gyro’s waist, “We’re dancing…”
Gyro grinned. “Was that a giggle just now?”
He’d slipped up; smiling without even realising it. Johnny pressed his head against Gyro’s chest in attempt to hide his mirth. In all likeliness, he was failing miserably.
“Well then,” Gyro concluded. Satisfied with the lack of verbal response, he allowed a free hand to sweep a lock of hair behind Johnny’s ear and lean in. “Lesson four point five,” he whispered, “Seize the day… or in this case, night; when asked to dance by a handsome man, don’t let the opportunity slip away! And be sure to enjoy yourself,” he proceeded to waltz them in a tight circle, “Though it looks like you’ve already passed this lesson, haven’t you Johnny?”
By now, Johnny wasn’t even trying to hide his grin. Their procedure probably looked clumsy and unrefined, but that didn’t matter. Of course, he couldn’t feel the motion of his legs moving with Gyro’s longer ones. He couldn’t feel Gyro’s feet beneath his own, nor could he feel the way those feet brushed against the surface of the earth below them. But he could feel the muscular arms encompassing his upper body, and the heart beating within the chest he was tucked up against… or was it his own heart? Johnny couldn’t tell and it didn’t matter. Even if it was just for the time being, they moved as one.
And to Gyro, hearing Johnny’s laughter as he held him close and nuzzled the top of his head was all that mattered right now, if only for the moment.