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“Your name’s Marcelo, right?”
It was early. So early, that a dense fog still rolled across the dew-soaked grass. The sun was hidden beneath the horizon, still hours away from burning off the thin layer of condensation atop seemingly every surface. There was a chill in the air.
“Yes sir.” Bossa’s hands were shoved into his pockets, his fists balled for warmth.
“I’m Nikolai.” The older man stuck his right hand in front of him. “I’m Chobotok on the field, but that’s a mouthful to keep up with.”
Bossa took the other man’s hand into his own, shaking it as firmly as his icy fingertips would allow. He kept his eyes averted, the dark stain of sleep rings marked underneath them. It was a rare occasion to be up as early as he was. Being forced to function any time before eight in the morning was considered an act of cruel and unusual punishment in his book. If a meeting this early had been at the suggestion of anyone but Aruni, Bossa would have tried his hardest to weasel out of it.
“So,” Chobotok interrupted the long silence. “Would you like to lead the way?”
“Uh,” Bossa straightened his posture, his head snapping to attention. “I haven’t…been out this way yet.”
“Really?” Chobotok sounded curious despite the softness of his voice. “Seamus hasn’t brought you down here to run laps yet?”
“Sir?”
“Guess not…” Chobotok thought for a moment.“Nighthaven must be a lot kinder to their new hires. I’ll never forget my first few weeks with Rainbow…”
Bossa shifted his weight from foot to foot, blinking slowly as he tried his best to concentrate. It was too damn early.
“It’s a pretty walk…when you’re not running through it at Mach 10, that is. Sometimes I come out here and enjoy the sunrise.” The older man motioned toward the trail in front of the pair. “There’s a nice little overlook about halfway through. We can watch it together if we head that way now.”
“Yes sir.” Bossa nodded his head.
The two headed down the sidewalk, and then onto a dirt trail. Crickets chirped in the tall grass off to the sides, a remnant of the night as the brightening sky ushered in dawn. The trees were still, almost eerily so, the occasional branch rustling in the breeze. A silence hung between the pair, the cool air against his face the only thing keeping Bossa from falling asleep while walking. He yawned, turning his head to the side and hiding his face in his elbow. Chobotok chuckled.
“Sorry kiddo. I’m not that great of a conversationalist.” He looked over his shoulder, slowing down to match the shorter man’s pace.
“It’s okay, sir.”
“You can ease up on the formalities.” Chobotok smiled. “Just because I’m an old fart doesn’t mean I deserve a fancy title.”
“Sorry sir.” Bossa cringed at himself, keeping his eyes on the trail ahead. “I just want to be respectful.”
“You’ve been plenty respectful from what I know. Apha tells me you have a good head on your shoulders.”
“Oh, you’re friends with Apha?”
“Of course. She’s only my wife.”
“Your wife?” Bossa turned his head toward the other man. “Are you being serious?”
“Serious as a heart attack.” Crow’s feet creased at the corners of Chobotok’s eyes, a smile still on his face. “She didn’t tell you that?”
“No s- uh…no?”
“Ah…typical Apha.” He laughed to himself softly. “It’s okay, according to her, we’d supposedly get along. I trust her judgment…usually.”
“She didn’t say anything else?”
“Nothing that I haven’t already mentioned.”
“Huh…”
The sky had become a lavender-purple, the sleepy clouds of the morning becoming more apparent in the brightening sky. Bossa looked down, then back at Chobotok, then at the ground once again.
“So, Marcelo…you’re polite and you have a good brain.” Chobotok could sense the younger man’s anticipation. “What else?”
“Uh…I work for Nighthaven. I’ve only been here…I dunno…a month maybe?”
“I’ve got that, but what about you?”
“What do you mean?”
“I know where you work, your official business, who pays your salary,” Chobotok put his hands in his coat pockets. “What’s beyond all that?”
Bossa’s face contorted as he thought, his brow furrowing in concentration. He fidgeted his hands in his pocket.
“If you want to share, that is.”
“I have two brothers…I’m the middle one out of the three of us.” Bossa began, cautiously. “I’m from Brazil. I used to live in Santos, it’s along the coast. We basically grew up in the ocean.”
“Two brothers, huh? How was that?”
“Imagine being sandwiched in the middle seat of a shi…a cheap flight. That’s essentially it.” If not for the cold, Bossa would have elaborated with his hands. “I love them both, though. I have a little niece but-” He cut himself off. “It’s nice to see them all when I can.”
“You’ve got a big family by the sounds of it. Must’ve been a handful for your folks.”Chobotok commented.“This must be a big change for you then?”
“Yeah. Getting used to the weather has been a nightmare.”
“I understand.” Chobotok waited a moment before continuing. “I moved to the United States from Russia in my teens - the south-west to be exact. Culture shock is no joke.”
“No kidding…” Bossa cracked a smile. “That’s kind of nuts. You went from like…snow and those uh…” He mimed a hat atop his head. “The snow hats?”
“Ushanka?” Chobotok laughed.
“Yeah! You went from those and snow to cowboys and…the desert, right?”
“Yep, snow and ice to picking a scorpion out of my school bag in a matter of months.”
“Bro, that's messed up. What a way to make school worse than it already is.”
“It built character. Helped me become the man I am today.” Chobotok continued. “Then there’s my Air Force days…but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms.”
“You got any good stories?”
“I’ve got a few I keep in my back pocket.” Chobotok could see Bossa from the corner of his vision. “I’ll share one if you tell me more about yourself.”
“Ugh…I can’t even think right now…” Bossa resisted a groan. “I don’t know…like…I play guitar?”
“Very nice. Acoustic or electric?”
“I mean, I can play both. I prefer acoustic. I have this-” Bossa paused, nearly stopping in his tracks.
“Are you alright?”
“Yeah. My bad…” Bossa picked up the pace. “My dad gave me my first real guitar when I was…god…fourteen?” He scrunched his face as he recollected the memory. “It’s the same one I use to this day.”
“It sounds like it means a lot to you.”
“I guess so yeah. They must have spent a fortune on it so…” Bossa shrugged. “I don’t uh…get to talk to them very much. It’s weird I dunno. Everyone’s family is a little crazy. Maybe I hold onto that stuff because it makes a weird situation feel like it’s all okay, right?” He sniffed, the cold air numb against his nose. “Sorry. I don’t know why I’m telling you all this.”
“Hey, that’s alright. We’re here to get to know each other, this is what it’s all about.” A silence hung between them once again. “Nowadays, I don’t talk with my folks either.”
“Mmhm.” Bossa looked down as he walked, stepping onto small twigs as they continued down the trail. “So, your Air Force days?”
“Ah, right. A story for a story. Where do I start…” Chobotok furrowed his brow as he thought. “Alright. So I’m nineteen and freshly a citizen of the United States. I decided that joining the military would put a healthy amount of space between my mother and myself. I was torn between the Navy and the Air Force for aviation. When it came down to it, the Air Force looked more promising for academics.” He looked over at Bossa. “You know what they called Air Force boot camp?”
“Uh…no?”
“Loafer Camp,” Chobotok noted Bossa’s confused expression. “Think of a pair of office shoes.”
“Ah, okay.” Bossa grinned. “So you were in it for the nerd stuff.”
“You can't fly planes if you’re not willing to stick your nose in a book.” Chobotok veered to the left as he talked. “But this was before all that. Our Basic Training is in Texas, so not too different from what I’d become used to already. It’s week two and I’m cleaning out my footlocker. I moved a book and the biggest scorpion I’d ever seen crawls out from under it.” He continued to the left, pulling into a fenced-in outlook with a single bench. “I don’t know why, or how, but I picked the sucker up with my bare hands and walked it out of the barracks in front of everyone.”
“With your bare hands?!” Bossa cringed.
“Yeah. Tossed it out into the bushes and everything.” Chobotok approached the railing and leaned his elbows against it. “My teammates were shocked. I became the barracks exterminator from that point on.” He laughed to himself. “Funny thing is that I didn’t really talk to anyone and mostly kept to myself. I’ve always been taller, especially among my teammates. I always felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb. It wasn’t until the last week that my training instructor looked me in the eyes and told me that she didn’t even realize I had been there the whole time.”
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. My almost six-foot-tall self that towered over the other women and I somehow flew under the radar completely.”
“Man…” Bossa joined Chobotok against the railing. “Sometimes I wonder if people see me when I do something embarrassing like...uh…if your voice cracks or whatever. I guess people don’t pay that much attention unless you make yourself stick out?”
“It’s just a matter of your personality.”
“I see.”
“How old are you?”
“Twenty-four.”
“Twenty-four?” Chobotok echoed Bossa’s words. “I see why Apha tells me you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. At twenty-four, I barely had any idea of what I was doing.”
“I don’t know,” Bossa felt embarrassed. “Sometimes it gets like that I think…”
“You know, it wasn’t until I was a year or two older than you now that I started transitioning.” Chobotok looked ahead, the streetlights of the city in the distance flickering off as the sun began its ascent. “Only then did I start to feel like I had some control over my future. It was like the world suddenly had color. You have a bright mind, Marcelo.”
“Oh?” Bossa turned to Chobotok briefly before quickly turning forward again, the sudden realization hitting him like a bag of bricks.
The golden yellow of the sunrise had broken through the clouds, warm fingers of sunlight cutting through the chill of the morning. Bossa looked down at his hands hanging over the railing. He ran his thumbs over each other, digesting the information his teammate had just shared.
“I think I know why Apha set us up like this,” Chobotok spoke before Bossa could open his mouth. “I feel like we have a lot in common. What do you say?”
“Yeah…” He nodded slowly. “I think so too.”
“You have a warm presence,” Chobotok added. “I feel like all we've done is talk about me.”
“Pshh…I asked you all the questions.” Bossa waved his hand around. “I like to listen as much as I like to talk.”
“Really?” Chobotok cocked his head as he looked over at the younger man. “As much as we talked about my story, I feel like you only got a word or two in for yourself.”
“I shared that stuff about my family and my guitar.”
“That’s true.” Chobotok smiled, noting the look of awkwardness on Bossa’s face. “I understand. I’m someone you’ve only just met.”
“You seem like a good person.” Bossa rocked on his heels, his hands against the railing as he returned his gaze over the city below.
“I’d say the same about you.”
The sound of the wind in the trees broke up the moment of contemplation. Bossa fidgeted with the metal beneath his fingertips, dragging them across the droplets of dew dotted atop the railing.
“Apha must have told you.”
“‘Bout what?”
“About me.” Bossa shifted his weight from one foot to the other, a look of concentration on his face as his eyes remained down. “My family…me…”
“Kiddo, I promise.” Chobotok sounded sincere. “The only thing I knew about you is that you’re Nighthaven’s newest recruit and you’re giving Ace a run for his money in terms of winning the popularity contest.”
“What about-”
“Trust me, when you’ve been around as long as I have you develop a knack for detecting that kind of thing,” Chobotok answered the question before it was asked.
Bossa looked up, his eyes meeting Chobotok’s. There was an expression of soft reassurance on the older man’s face. The tension in Bossa’s shoulders eased as he took a deep breath.
“I don’t usually get up this early. To be honest, I was thinking about making an excuse to sleep in.” Bossa said earnestly. “Apha has been good to me, though. I didn’t want to break her heart.”
“The woman’s made of steel and her perseverance is just as strong. She would have come over to wake you up herself, I’m sure.”
“I can’t believe she’s never told me about you. She was one of the first people to say hi to me and show me around.” Bossa smiled. “We’ve cooked together once or twice and she checks in on me at least five times a week.”
“That sounds about right.” There was warmth in Chobotok’s voice. “She’s a firm advocate for meeting face-to-face and making genuine connections. I’m sure this was all part of her plan.”
“I appreciate her a lot…” Bossa thought for a moment. “It would be cool if we could talk more too.”
“Lucky for you, we have the whole rest of this trail to get through together.” Chobotok patted his hand against the younger man’s shoulder. “I’m ready when you are. It’ll be too warm for your jacket here in another hour once the sun is up.”
“Oh yeah,” There was a flustered, awkward smile on Bossa’s face. “Yeah that’s fine we can do whatever.”
“Alright.” Chobotok took several steps back toward the trail.”Under one condition…if I share a story, you have to share one too.”
“Man, it’s too early! I can’t think of anything.”
“I thought you said you like to talk. I’m sure you have something you can share with me.” The older man laughed softly. “The sooner we finish, the sooner you can get in and take a nap.”
“You don’t even know. I have a million and one stories, but you need to ask specific questions or something because I genuinely can’t think right now.” Bossa cast one last look across the city before bounding up the trail after Chobotok. “We have the brother stories…the school stories…the Marcelo stories…” He counted his fingers as he listed each category. “I have fun facts…I’m like an open book.”
“As an only child, I’m curious about your brother stories.”
“No way, you too?” Bossa matched the taller man’s strides. “You’re the second person I’ve met.” He squinted his eyes “And both of you have similar names.”
“Are you talking about Nicholas?”
“Yeah! That’s the guy.” Bossa grinned. “Kali sorted something out with Rainbow and he’s my mentor. He’s uh...”
“He’s an excellent teammate. We’re on the same squad.” Chobotok added. “I’ve worked with him for a while now. I’m glad his leadership skills are being put to good use.”
“Oh no, I wasn’t going to say something rude. I don’t do that.” Bossa said frantically. “I feel like…a bit overwhelming. He’s kind of reserved.”
“You should get to know him,” Chobotok reassured. “He’s a good kid.”
“That’s the plan. We’ve already gotten to know each other better through training. Maybe he’d want to do something outside of work. I dunno…” Bossa retraced his thoughts. “Sorry, you wanted me to talk about my family?”
“I want to hear whatever you have to say.” Chobotok slowed his pace. “If you want to talk about what you’ve been up to, that’s fine by me.”
“For real? I don’t want to sidetrack us or anything.”
“I promise. This is what connection is all about.” Chobotok smiled. “Besides, who’s to say your teammates can’t be like family?”