Wayfaring Companions

iv. New York

iv. New York 

"Xander,"

"Kira,"

"I'm bored," Kira whined obnoxiously from the old faded sofa, dramatically throwing her arms upwards towards the ceiling as she let out an elongated groan.

Xander rolled his eyes, "You're a drama queen, that's what."

Kira gasped, throwing him a look of disbelief, embellished with her wide, crazed eyes. "You take that back," she chastised.

Xander shook his head as he sat cross-legged atop the lumpy fabric of the loveseat across the divergent end of the room. He quickly went back to reading his book he had been assigned over the break by his English teacher, and Kira huffed before rolling her eyes, going off on a silent mantra of how much of a hopeless overachiever he was. 

Annoyed that her best friend was too absorbed in the novel of fictional words to start conversation with her, Kira grabbed the first thing she could blindly lay her hands on from behind her, which just so happened to be a box of Kleenex tissues, and she wordlessly chucked it across the room towards her friend, whose eyebrows were furrowed and forehead was creased as he stared deeply onto the printed pages. 

The cardboard box landed amongst the skin of Xander with a resounding thump, causing him to jump in his seat and frown at the box of cardboard. The impact had led to a few tissues spewing out from the box which then graced across his pants and the arms of the loveseat. 

"Ow?" he said as a delayed reaction, blinking back at his pouting friend with a glint of amusement shimmering through his brown eyes. 

"If you're going to read the whole time, why'd you even come here?" Kira grouched, dodging one of her mom's hand sewn decorative pillows. 

Xander cracked a knowing smile out of pure entertainment, "You were the one who practically begged me to come over this morning. And you even threatened me!" 

"Pish posh," Kira drawled, playing with her own fingers like a child as she brushed her hands through the air.

As she feigned tenancy with her lively fingers, Xander was quick to return to his book. With his head ducked and his back slumped against the curvatures of the loveseat, he zoned into the words and soaked them up, paying no mind to Kira as she unexpectedly sat up atop the faded sofa. 

A disconsolate sigh sounded from between her chapped lips, and she stretched her arms over her head in an attempt to soothe her stiff back. Kira’s arms dropped to her side and she noiselessly plummeted a short roll of not even a foot onto the carpeted floor before scrambling onto all fours and stealthily making her way towards the view of Xander’s bare toes cushioned upon the regal carpet. 

She stopped short and stretched out a hand to poke at his big toe once, twice, three times. She scrunched up her nose as the toe wriggled almost consciously after her touch, and she took it upon herself to lay down against the carpet and trace the outline of Xander’s foot almost affectionately, and thoughts of tracing her own hand with crayons and markers filled her mind as she reminisced the tummy-tickling tingles she had felt as a curious child in elementary school. She wondered how it felt to Xander, since he had always claimed that he wasn’t even the slightest bit ticklish.

Kira’s wistful reverie was metaphorically split into two when Xander peered over the pages and the hardcover flaps of his book, lifting all five of his toe upwards and wiggling them around as he finally took note of his attention-seeking friend sat beside his feet. He looked down at her and held back a laugh as the image of her resembling a lazy cat filled his mind.