Élan: A Youngblood World

1 | Evening In The Garden |

       "I said enough! You're ruining my gel!" The hostage, Ryeld, exclaimed to no avail.

       "Chill out. I'm just fixing your groove if you want to charm some girls," Hiro said. Half his attention turned to Zakuro and Kayne, eyes wandering about. "She's still not here?"

       Kayne shrugged emptily. "Guess not."

       The climate had brought about cozy winds that were neither too cold nor too hot for one who had been a native of the eastern hemisphere. Nevertheless, everyone wore whatever snuggly their closets had provided for them.

       Exerting one more final thew, Ryeld managed to free himself. "You half-wit brat head of an imbecile! This took me a whole hour to perfect! I swear if my bodyguards were here, I'd ... aghh! I'm gonna give you a whole lot of beating after this, Hiro Taravon Amaerys!" he snarled, combing his hair with olive-tanned fingers back to their decent shape in a slicked-back fashion, leaving the twin, sharp-pointed bangs hovering above his jade eyes as if his irises were carved from the Emergaea Mountains. "Great! There's not even a mirror here."

       "Yeah, yeah, you and your precious, fragile locks that always needed to be tended to every thirty seconds or so," Kayne commented.

       "At least my natural appeal speaks for itself," Hiro said, pumping his sienna-red tricep. His hair were alike to the scarlet flames of his Fire, challenging eyes glistening of amber pupils. "My incomparable plumps will no doubt lure the ladies. Don't fret yourself over it, Rye. After all, some women are into tall walking sticks."

       Ryeld almost laughed, more so to mock. "Gee, you're charm is working well. If you want to attract girls, it's all about elegance and formality. You really are all brawn but no brains if you think they're going to choose a hunk of dried-age meat over a proper gentleman."

       "Hey, hey, I'm just saying. But know I appreciate a good criticism from a bitter spectator."

       "Bitter? Me? Oh please, you're just in denial Dana got over you."

       Hiro's light demeanor changed. "You don't dare bring that up!"

       "Oh? Or what? Am I hurting your feewings?" Ryeld gibed.

       Hiro's face blushed with rosy red. "Don't make me-"

       "Aaand there they are again." Kayne sighed, watching the two dogs who could only growl but swallow their bites. "You look awful."

       The shift of shadow in his peripheral caught his attention. Zakuro was rubbing his temples, almost looking exhausted as he sat on the cedar bench. "Just thinking about the upcoming test."

       Kayne stared at him for a brief second. He was quick to recognize the subtext within shallow words, but brushed it off. "Alright then." The brunette proceeded to clear his throat to steer the conversation. "Speaking of school, mind if I copy your homework? I dozed off throughout Professor Herring's mid-lecture about the Ecological Crisis again. Had to catch up with the latest season of Uncanny Valley. You understand I can't miss the whole night premiere."

      "Hiro has my paper, but he hasn't returned it yet."

       "Hope he didn't spill his coffee all over it again," Kayne jested, but Zakuro could give no more than an impassive response.

       He better be joking.

       Over the trickling flow of the fountain and the consistent prattle of the raucous two, the sound of scurrying shoes came into. "I'm here!" A familiar voice called out. Upon arrival, Cazzie panted thinly from what looked like a several-kilometer marathon, ash ponytail sweeping down. She wiped the fog from the round lens of her glasses, and put it back to augment her black eyes. "Sorry for the delay."