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People could be mean. When someone wasn’t born in the same country, same culture – kids could be cruel. You don’t speak as well as they do. You use the wrong words. You don’t eat all the same foods. Kids could be so very unfair.
Luckily for Ram, he didn’t need people. He was five when his parents brought a puppy home. Ram spoke to it in English, and it responded just the same. When he tried to tell his parents what the dog said, they thought it was cute. But when it became clear that Ram truly believed the dog was talking, his father got angry. He demanded Ram stop pretending, and when he caught Ram continuing to have conversations with the dog for months after, he took the dog to an animal rescue and left it there.
Ram cried for a month. Because he hadn’t been pretending. That puppy had been his best friend.
His mother realized the truth – that her son had a magical gift, just like twenty percent of the world population. She was excited for him where his father was scared to the point of anger. It was one more thing that made Ram different. One more reason for people to be mean to him.
So Ram didn’t talk to dogs in public. Most of the time Ram didn’t talk to anyone at all. He grew up quiet, observant, and thoughtful.
Ram’s mother had always been his biggest supporter. She often asked him what the dogs in the park were saying and encouraged him to ask if he could pet dogs they passed in public. When he was twelve, his mother convinced the family to buy their first dog since the puppy. She smiled at Ram when she proposed it, and he loved her all the more for it.
It was when Ram was murmuring comforting words to the new pup in the living room that he realized he was not the only son born with a gift. Ruj had always seemed to understand things beyond his years. But it was then, when he told Ram to just talk like normal and he wouldn’t judge him, that Ram realized his brother always seemed like he knew more than other people because he could read their minds.
“I knew dad would be mad if he knew,” Ruj said while petting the dog with Ram. “But I trust you. And you can trust me too. When it’s just us, you don’t have to hide.”
For the first time in his life, Ram felt like he had a friend who was not an animal, and it was his brother. From then on, Ruj would often voice thoughts Ram was too quiet to say. And over the years, Ram grew more confident, but he still kept mostly to himself and a small set of friends.
“You think you’ll have trouble finding someone to be with because you’re so shy,” Ruj mused one day when Ram was in his last year of secondary school. “But I think someone as nice as you will find someone. You just gotta keep your mind open to the idea.”
“Yeah, you’re the best!” Kali, their dog had agreed. “No one is better than Ram!”
It was a nice sentiment, but Ram doubted he would find someone okay with both his shyness and his magical ability. That was okay. He would be... okay. He had his brother. He had his dogs. He had two good friends, even if they didn’t know the truth of his strangeness. By the time he reached college, he had convinced himself he didn’t need anyone else.
So it was strange to find someone else haunting his shadow, following him around, and trying to get to know him without any provocation from Ram. P’King was a senior, but he said Ram was too interesting to ignore.
“If you won’t tell me your name, that’s okay. I’ll just have to call you Cool Boy,” King declared, and that ruled out King having mind reading abilities like Ruj.
For months, King appeared around campus, helping Ram with schoolwork and events. And the weirdest part was that he seemed to want nothing in return than to hear Ram talk and give him attention. He was so strange. He was so... impossible to ignore. He was so very handsome.
But he would lose interest in Ram if he knew the truth. Wouldn’t he? He seemed to find everything about Ram fascinating. Maybe he would – just maybe. But then, King had a fear of dogs. Ram’s gift would likely come between them either way.
Ram pushed his anxiety down by taking his three large dogs – Kali, Remy, and Asher – for a walk around the neighborhood. As they walked, the dogs excitedly commented on everything they passed. They wanted to go everywhere, wanted to walk farther, wanted to be allowed to run, but Ram kept them together without even using a leash.
“Oh! I smell something yummy!” the youngest dog, Asher, suddenly exclaimed. Before Ram could remind him they were heading home for food, the dog took off down the sidewalk and disappeared into a side alley.
Just before Ram got to the entrance, he heard a terrified scream, and his blood ran cold. Had Asher attacked someone?! He ran into the side path, Kali and Remy at his heels. Almost immediately, they all came skidding to a halt.
The entire path was covered in plants, and they appeared to be growing abnormally fast. Then there, wrapped in vines, was Asher. The dog whined and struggled against the binds, but they didn’t budge.
“Help!” Asher barked. “Help! I can’t get out!”
“What’s going on?!” Ram asked, stunned into paralysis even as Remy and Kali jumped forward to bite at the vines.
The sound of their growling and barking elicited a shout from the plants. No, not the plants. Ram hurried forward into the foliage and found a young man lying on the ground, the plants surrounding him like a protective barrier.
“P’King?!” Ram exclaimed.
King’s head snapped up, eyes wide in terror and confusion. “Cool Boy? Shit! Shit!” He turned his head away and grabbed at the plants as if he could pull them off the walls. He rapidly murmured under his breath. “Knock it off. Come oooon. Go back to normal.”
To Ram’s surprise, the vines around King began to shrink and retreat from the surrounding area. A bark from Remy caused a sudden surge of the plants from King’s hand as the other flinched.
Ram glanced back at his dogs, all now getting wrapped up and calling for help, then back to King, cowering on the floor. He dropped to his knees and put a hand on King’s shoulder. “P’King... They’re my dogs. They won’t hurt you.”
The vines did not react, and neither did King. Ram pressed his lips together. Based on King’s reaction to seeing Ram, perhaps he had the same fear as Ram – that someone would learn about his magic gift and reject him. King clearly had some kind of power over plants. And it reacted when he was scared.
“P’King,” Ram said, voice soft. His heart raced under the weight of what he was about to do. “It’s okay. I’m - I’m like you. I can talk to dogs.”
The vines shivered around them. “What?” King peeked back at Ram.
Ram motioned to his dogs. “They won’t hurt you, because I can talk to them. I know they won’t. You can let them go. You’re safe.” He looked back at the dogs. “When he lets you go, stay low. He needs to see you aren’t dangerous.”
When he looked down at King, his senior’s eyes were fully on him now. His breaths were shallow and shaky, but he didn’t look away. Slowly, the plants released the walls, the path, the dogs. As promised, they lowered themselves to their bellies and waited. Ram did not check on them. He kept his eyes on King.
He had worried King would not accept him because of his magical gift, but it turned out King had one too. Would he believe Ram? Now that the truth had been revealed, Ram couldn’t help his sudden desperation. He had been holding himself back from King for various, valid reasons, but now they all seemed way less daunting.
“Phi...” Ram said. “Are you okay?”
“You’re not afraid?” King asked, pushing himself up from the ground. The plants had mostly shrunk back to their usual sizes as house plants and weeds. Ram shook his head and tried to smile encouragingly. A similar smile appeared on King’s face, comforting Ram. Then King frowned. “Cool Boy... I’m so sorry about your dogs. I didn’t mean to. I mean, okay, I did. But I didn’t know they were yours.”
“It’s okay. Look.” Ram pointed to the dogs, who all started wagging their tails at the attention. “They aren’t angry.”
“Oh.” King pursed his lips. “Can they still stay over there though?”
Ram chuckled but nodded, even as Remy whined in disappointment. Asher yipped about the nice smell he’d been following and Ram glanced around. A bag of food had spilled on the ground, possibly when King had been startled. There were kebabs of chicken and pork, now inedible for humans. Ram would have to buy replacements.
“Asher. His food. Apologize,” Ram ordered and the dog whined its apology.
“You really can talk to them,” King said. A true smile started to split his face. “That means you’re magic too! That’s awesome! You just keep getting more amazing, Cool Boy!”
A rush of adoration hit Ram and left him breathless. His brother’s words from so long ago came to him – that someone would eventually like him because of his traits. The way King was beaming at him, Ram finally believed it.
The timing was probably wrong but -
“P’King,” he said and grabbed his senior’s wrist. He tugged slightly, trying to work up the courage to ask King on a date.
While King did not have the ability to read minds, he still had the almost uncanny skill of reading Ram. He looked down at their hands and then up at Ram’s nervous expression. He tilted his head cutely to the side and smiled again.
“Cool Boy, I like you. Do you wanna treat me to lunch?” he asked, no hint that he thought he’d be denied.
Not that Ram had any intention of denying him. He took a steadying breath, smiled, and nodded. He very much wanted to see how far this relationship could go.