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A tall, dark-skinned man stood close to the firepit, fiddling with the striker of a lighter. He knew there should still be fuel in the barrel, but the lighter was stubbornly refusing to work. A much younger woman walked over, dropping a pile of twigs at his feet, looking to be in her early twenties. Her black hair with pink tips contrasted her pale skin.
“Finally. There are, like, no sticks around here. I guess it makes sense, being in the Mist and all.” The woman shrugged, then turned her attention to the man. “Ryder?”
Ryder sighed, turning his copper eyes to the shorter woman. “Yes, Makoto?”
Makoto leaned forward on a nearby fence. She rested her elbows on it and her hands held the sides of her face as she asked him a question. “Would you mind if I invite the rest of the fam?” Her pinkish-red colored eyes blinked rapidly, silently pleading for him to say yes.
“Fine, the other two can join.” Ryder turned away, trying to focus on starting the fire.
“Yeah! Thanks!” Before either of them said another word, Makoto raced off.
I’m going to regret this, aren’t I? He pushed that thought away as he began to set up the tinder, followed by kindling, and the logs. Once arranged, Ryder flicked the lighter one last time. This time, he held the flame longer than a second and brought it toward the tinder, waiting for it to catch. As soon as it caught, Ryder backed up, sitting on a log. The once small orange flame quickly spread through the wood, creating a large, but constant, warm-colored flame.
He stared at the bright flame. Its crackles and pops could be sudden and off-putting, but it also could be relaxing. It reminded Ryder of when he and his father went camping. He never liked it. It was either too cold or too hot, plus being surrounded by different bugs was irritating. All he heard was crickets and cicadas chirping throughout the night. It might be white noise to some, but it always kept him awake. There were a few things that Ryder got out of camping: mosquito bites, no sleep, a hatred for camping, and how to build a fire. His dad taught him one trip because it was an important life skill to know, just in case. Oddly enough, that was the only fond memory he had of camping.
“I’m back!” He heard Makoto’s voice in the distance. Turning around, he saw multiple people walking over. He only knew a few by name. The ones he knew the names of were Parker, Gavin, Gavin’s sister, Becca, Makoto, obviously, and Makoto’s girlfriend, Seoung. There were two other people Ryder recognized during rounds, but didn’t know the names of, and two he hadn’t ever seen before.
When Makoto sat to his right, he turned to her. “I thought you were just inviting Gavin and Parker.”
“Oh, I was, but Yuli overheard, and it kind of got out of hand from there. My bad!” She chuckled awkwardly. Shortly after Makoto finished her sentence, Seoung sat next to her girlfriend.
Ryder just blinked. He didn’t know exactly what to say to that. Makoto had always been a loudmouth. If you told her a secret, the secret’s out, and everyone seems to know in a round or two.
“Mind if I sit here?” A calm, slightly quiet voice above him asked. Ryder glanced up. It was Parker. His black hair moved slightly in the soft breeze.
Ryder shrugged. “Yeah, go ahead.”
Parker smiled, settling down next to his boyfriend. Gavin sat next to Parker, and the two of them began chatting.
Ryder looked at the fire, unsure what to do or who to talk to. He was never really good with small talk. Besides, everyone was talking to someone else already, but the noise of all of the conversations overlapping slowly started to bother him. Everyone was close together, which definitely didn’t help. Everything felt louder, as if someone had raised the volume on a TV. The heat from the fireplace was fine a few moments ago, but now all he could think about was how overheated he was becoming.
“Does anyone want a marshmallow?”
“I got some chocolate over here!”
As well as the smaller side conversations that Ryder couldn’t decipher all of the words to. It was strange, sure, but he’d be lying if he said this wasn’t the first time something like this happened. His senses had always been more intense than most of his peers; smells were stronger, noises were louder, and lights were brighter, to name a few. No one seemed to understand why certain things would set him off one moment, but would be fine another time. It was difficult to explain, but it was like turning on a sink with a bowl at the bottom. The faucet could be dripping at one point, or at full blast. No matter what, though, eventually, the bowl will overflow. That was the best way Ryder could ever explain what it was like.
There was one solution that always worked, though. Separate himself from the situation, either by excusing himself or just staring off into space. Not like zoning out, more like completely forgetting he was real. It was strange, sure, but it somehow helped when he couldn’t physically leave. The fire was a good escape for that. Its constant movement was eye-catching, distracting him from the stimuli around him. Not by much, but enough.
Someone nudged his shoulder. Ryder blinked, sort of like he was snapping back to reality. He turned.
Parker looked at him. His amber-colored eyes looked confused, but not upset. “Are you alright?”
All Ryder had the energy to do was nod.
Someone yelled something in the distance. Ryder slightly tensed at the sudden loud noise.
“Do you want to go somewhere quieter?”
Ryder nodded again.
Parker nodded, but didn't say another word, all he did was walk away from the crowded firepit. The two men walked to a flat, grassy area.
Ryder sat, hugging his knees toward his chest. Parker sat to his left, but gave him space. Both Gavin and Parker seemed to understand that being too close would contribute to being overstimulated, but they also wanted Ryder to know they were nearby if he needed anything, which Ryder really appreciated.
Before Parker said anything, footsteps approached from behind. Both of them turned to see Gavin walking toward him. “Hey. I just wanted to make sure you two were doing alright.”
“We are. Thank you for asking, though, hun.”
Gavin paused for a moment at the nickname his boyfriend said. “Could I join you guys?”
“I’m alright with it.” Parker shrugged, turning to Ryder. “Do you mind?”
Ryder shook his head.
“It’s fine by us.” Parked smiled.
Gavin sat next to Parker. There was some laughter that they could hear in the distance. “I didn’t know it was that loud over there until I came over here.”
“I didn’t either.” Parker paused before continuing with a different thought. “I thought Makoto was just going to invite us, but I guess I underestimated how hard it is for her to keep a secret.”
“No, Makoto, unable to keep secrets? No way.” Gavin rolled his brown eyes as he responded with his sarcastic comment. He changed from sitting to laying on the grass.
Both Parker and Ryder chuckled at their boyfriend’s comment. All of them loved her dearly, she was a really sweet kid, kind of like a daughter to them, but she could never keep her mouth shut, even if her life depended on it.
“Did either of you two notice there are stars here?” Gavin mumbled. “It’s really pretty.”
“Huh?”
“Yeah, look.”
The other two peered up, noticing the dark sky was illuminated with thousands of stars.
“I never noticed that before…” Parker muttered. “But, to be fair, I had no reason to look up.”
“Me neither. Maybe it’s just another weird gimmick here in the Mist.”
All of them fell silent. It never was easy talking about life in the Mist. It was an endless death game with only a single night of rest in between, if you were chosen. Plus, there wasn’t a single way that anyone had found to escape from this thing, keeping them hostage, including two agents whose jobs were to study the Mist before it took them as well. Honestly, the whole entity was like one big mystery that none of them could ever solve.
“Anyway,” Gavin continued. “I can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a night so clear. I think the last time I’ve seen this many stars is when my family went camping when I was really little.” He sighed, taking it the star’s beauty it seemed.
“Alright, Grandpa.” The bartender teased.
“I’m a year older than you!”
Parker giggled, Ryder as well, and Gavin sighed. He wasn’t actually upset, more playing into the joke. Once the laughter died down, Parker replied. “I know, hun.”
It was silent again, but this time, no one spoke a word. It was nice after their discussion. Although Ryder was more of a spectator than anything else, he was around two people he cared about deeply, and they cared as well. Even if things were loud behind them and he was still somewhat overstimulated, Ryder didn’t really mind anymore. He laid down and gazed at the stars like Gavin did, Parker followed shortly after. The stars were gorgeous, and he got to enjoy the stunning sight with his boyfriends, even if the night started on a rough patch.