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Cale sits on the reclining chair beside Roksu, getting himself comfortable, laying down in a relaxed manner before reaching for a grape in the table between them.
Roksu doesn't say a word, just acknowledged his presence by pouring him a glass of wine that Cale accepts, and then drinking straight from the bottle.
They're in the shores of Cale's seaside jungle estate. Ahead in the waters they watch the children playing, splashing and running around, the other adults also in the water for a swim. Not far off from them are the barbecue, with Vicross looking busy tending the grill and his father helping him.
They're far off away from the others that they could talk comfortably without being overheard, but the two had always preferred silence in each other's company.
There's a sense of camaderie between them, veterans of different wars no one else in their present company knew or remembers.
For once, Roksu breaks the silence.
"I fought here once" he starts, and Cale didn't say anything, just listened.
"We were on a winning streak, the frontier against the jungle were depleted but the morale was up. I was one of the reinforcements. We were supposed to secure the stretch of shore of the whole section 1."
Roksu takes another mouthful of wine.
"It was a bit suspicious how there were not enough soldiers on the jungle's side, but the superiors in the capital would not listen to the field generals."
Roksu then raised the wine bottle, looking through the glass and through the red wine, bathing the scenery in his vision in a reddish tint.
"It was a bloodbath. We were flanked from the jungle and the sea. Apparently they used an illusion to distort the morning fog and cover the ships. We were caught unawares. It's how I got this scar right he—"
The hand that hovers on his stomach paused, and Roksu chuckles as he remembers that although there are many scars in this body, the scar he was talking about is no longer there. He waves his hand off as if to disregard the mistake and drinks more wine.
"Anyway, I was surprised when you introduced me to the jungle queen. I saw her head get lopped off when she dared to stage a coup to regain the jungle. There was a commotion everywhere, and that's how I escaped. Took me a while to get back to a Rowoon camp though."
Roksu chuckles again and he looks over to Cale. The redhead is looking back at him, and although he wasn't saying anything, the look on his eyes tell of understanding.
Sometimes there are just bad days.
Although Roksu is more than content that the world he watched burn down is now alive and well, there are just some days where the burden of knowing weigh too heavily down at him.
He supposed he's lucky that he was not the only one left that remembers. Although their experiences are different, it was also similar enough in it's core. War is war, may it be against monsters or man acting like monsters.
You lose people just the same.
Knowing that someone else understands what it feels like is enough for Roksu.
Cale though is not a very outwardly expressive person, and instead of offering him words of consolation Cale instead offers him a bowl of grapes.
Roksu smiles and accepts gratefully. He prefers this than empty platitudes anyway.
"It gets better..." Cale says, after a while. He sips his own wine and watch the family he gained build a truly gigantic sandcastle on the beach. A smile appears on Cale's face and Roksu watched his eyes softening at the scene.
"The memories will always hurt all the same, but it gets better." Cale tells him, and Roksu agrees.
The past he remembers may have been undone, but it doesn't change the fact that it happened, and that he remembers it.
Roksu will always carry those memories with him even on these peaceful days.
It is alright though.
He'll remember, and let it pass through him, and then look at the scenery before him.
Children smiling and having fun under the warm sun, the sound of laughter and the smell of good food in the air, in company of friends and family.
"Thanks." Roksu says, and the smile on his lips is different from the bitter ones he wore earlier.
"Hmm." Cale hums his acknowledgement, "Don't eat all the grapes."
Roksu laughs, and the memories of a war that never happened are locked away once again.
For now, he lives.