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What am I doing. I’m a blummin’ idiot. Joel thought, regret settling in his stomach.
The park bench was cold. The air was cold. Joel had forgotten his stupid wing blanket thing. He had finished the hot chocolate he brought already, meaning he was still getting colder. And the worst part?
Etho was still not there yet.
He said yes to hanging out, saying he knew a cool place, but he wasn’t at the park they agreed to meet up at. How the hell could Joel find the place if Etho wasn’t there and didn’t give him the place’s address?
The answer was that he couldn’t, so he froze his ass off staring at the messages from Etho. There were no new ones.
Joel looked back up. People walked their dogs and kids fell into the chilled grass. Pigeons waddled around looking for scraps and some of the dogs barked their direction. Some people were in a similar situation to Joel — sitting on a cold bench, although they had someone else with them.
Joel sighed and reached for his earbuds in his pocket. He switched on his phone’s Bluetooth, selecting the earbuds to connect. He shoved the earbuds into his ears before opening his music app and playing some random playlist. His hands made their way into his pockets and he leaned back into the cold bench. It was a little relaxing now that he had words blasting into his ears, but still irritating that Etho still hadn’t shown.
Whatever. He could chill at the park for a bit until his feathers started to freeze and then he’d go home. If Etho’s a no show then that’s that.
Joel stared at the cloudy sky above. It was nothing new for it to be gray during this time of year. In fact it often was that shade instead of the natural blue. He kind of liked it, made it easier to be moody. He did not like when it brought snow. Which unfortunately was now.
There was no way he was sitting out in the snow. Zero chance. Sorry Etho but if you don’t show up in one minute, I am booking it.
It was like Joel summoned him with that on thought. He leaned over the back of the bench, smiling with his eyes. It made Joel jump, wings puffing out. He scrambled to pause his music and put his earbuds back in their case. “Sorry, dude, I was starting to think you weren’t coming.”
Etho chuckled softly. “All good. I should’ve warned you I had to finish something. That’s my bad.”
“Whatever, it’s fine.” Joel rose from the bench, shivering. “Where’s this place? I’m freezing my ass off.”
“It’s really close by. Like easy walking distance.” Etho turned and pointed a direction. “Follow me.”
He started walking, and Joel followed. They walked through the park, eventually coming out of it onto the sidewalks and streets. Etho led the way, weaving past people with ease. Joel slightly stumbled behind, definitely not as adept at walking through crowds. He tried to keep an eye on Etho, but he inevitably failed, stopping to the side of the crowd he had no idea existed.
His head spun around until something cold wrapped around his hand. He turned to investigate, finding himself face to face — like really close face to face — with Etho, who was holding his hand gently with both of his frigid hands. The fox’s eyes were squinting, and Joel just knew Etho had the stupidest giddy smile under the mask. He envied the other a little as the warmth flowed from his hands to his cheeks.
“Lost?” Etho giggled.
“Not my fault you’re good at sneaking around.”
“You can hold onto my hand so you don’t lose me.”
“Thanks..”
The cold hand was oddly comforting. Maybe he was used to warm sweaty palms that the chill was refreshing. Or maybe it was Etho…
He shot down that thought as soon as it appeared. It can’t be. He didn’t know the guy. He just wasn’t thinking properly. It happened all the time in the cold.
But the cold of Etho’s hand felt nice. The roughness of his hand pressing against Joel’s palm was a sensation he had never felt, but thoroughly enjoyed. And watching Etho walk was mystifying. His hair flowed like a white river, his body matching similar patterns. Joel’s own hands were starting to become clammy, the fear of slipping out of Etho’s grasp creeping into his mind. He no longer realized the cold, either due to the newfound flush on his cheeks or the multitude of other Etho related thoughts.
A turn made by Etho broke him out of his trance. They turned down an alley, Etho guiding the way to a door at the far end. He allowed Joel to stand beside him for a moment before reaching for the door with his open hand. His back held the door as the two of them entered inside.
Inside was a dimly lit fusion of an aquarium and fine dining restaurant. Sea creatures floated in the tanks embedded into the wall, the water glowing out onto the tables before it. A jazz band serenaded through the room, with multiple patrons nodding their heads to the music.
Joel stared for a moment in awe. The amount of time planning the design, the money to build it, everything. It all flooded into Joel’s mind, the admiration only growing further. He continued staring at the infrastructure even as Etho pulled him towards a booth. His mind returned to Etho when his chill left Joel’s hand.
It felt empty without him holding it. There was the thought in the back of his mind to ask for it back, but his better judgment kept him from doing so. Instead his hands found a menu, and started looking over it.
“So,” Etho’s voice nearly made him jump. “Thoughts?”
“The place? Cool as hell.”
“I thought you might like it. I don’t know what food you like but I heard you talking about cool architecture, so.”
“How’d you find this place?”
“I’m friends with someone who knows the owner. He brought me here one time before.”
“Wish I’d known about this sooner. Like I said it’s cool as hell.”
“I’ll see if we can get reservations and we can work on the project here next time.”
“Nah. Don’t ruin the sanctity of this place. It’s now for us only.”
“Only us, huh?”
“Yeah. We can hang out here again. I’ve decided.”
“You haven’t even tried the food yet.”
“Well, I’m about to, aren’t I? Is there an online ordering thing?”
“Yeah. An app. Allow me.”
“You offering to pay?”
“That was my plan.”
The warmth returned to his face. “Oh, cool.”
“What are you thinking of ordering?”
Joel looked back down at the menu. “Eh, this catfish and chips sounds good. Oh and I want that shark drink thing.”
“Good choices.” Etho’s eyes squinted in a smile as he clicked on his phone. “Cool. All ordered. It’ll be out in a bit.”
“Cool.”
Silence wormed its way in between the two. Or at least, as silent as no talking. The swing jazz still played with no cares. Joel’s eyes darted around the room, attempting to avoid eye contact.
That endeavor proved to be quite difficult. He wanted to stare into Etho’s two toned eyes, he wanted to watch Etho’s hair flow with every head movement, he wanted to tear the mask down and — ahem. He wanted to look at Etho, but he absolutely did not want to risk any more of those thoughts.
So he let Etho ramble on about redstone, a topic Joel had no interest in, but for some reason he didn’t mind. Stupid Etho.
The food eventually came out, although Joel had nearly forgotten they had ordered it. His curiosity found himself glancing at Etho’s food, which had been brought to the table in to go boxes. Joel looked from the boxes to Etho’s mask, wondering what could be underneath.
Time continued to pass. Etho and Joel said their goodbyes before parting ways.
Questions rotted in Joel’s mind about Etho. By the time he was comfortable in his bed again, he couldn’t sleep. His mind was zero tiredness and all Etho. It was mildly infuriating, but more interesting.
Joel sighed softly, pushing himself up from his bed and making his way to his desk. He put on some music in his earbuds as he sat down and pulled out his sketchbook and a pencil. He opened it to the page he had previously doodled Etho, and went back to it as She Wants Revenge flowed between his ears.