[rewritten]
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"Hi Viktor! Woop-" I jumped to the ground, my bag almost making me lose balance because of how heavy it is. Viktor lifted his head from his task to greet me. "Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon! I'm glad you're okay, I was nervous the whole night thinking about you inside the cave. The cave just have this...really scary vibe, I thought it ate you the moment you went deeper inside. Anyways, look. I brought you snacks." I let my bag fall with a thud, I sat beside him and unclasped the closure to show the food that filled it, rummaging through it to show him what's inside. His eyebrows raised and his mouth opened from amazement after seeing the amount of food.
"Do you like pastries? I have some macarons- oh! Here's some leftover peanuts too. Do you like peanuts?"
He has his head tilted. "Yeah, I do."
I pulled the container from my bag and opened it, giving it to him with a grin. He put down the things he was holding and received it with a grateful smile, his eyes sparkling. "Thank you so much."
"You're welcome! What's that?" I motioned at the metal thing that he placed on the ground. He was already crunching on the peanuts before he spoke, "I don't know, I haven't figured out what to do with it yet."
"I see." I reverted my attention to my bag to take out the macarons. I took one out from its container and started eating it.
"Mmm. It's so good~" I squealed from the sweetness. "Here, you should try this too." I offered him one. He was chewing on the last piece of peanut already when he took the macaron and brought it to his mouth to eat. He made a delighted sound, I gave him the remaining pieces as he seemed to want more of it.
Since I was getting thirsty, I searched my bag for a specific drink.
"There you are." I muttered as I found the familiar yellow cap, I pulled the bottle out, finally letting my bag have its normal space back.
I could feel Viktor's eyes on me while I attempted to open the bottle with my bare hands.
"Hrrgg...hmmmrrgg...!" My palm felt like it was burning as I struggled with the cap. "Why is it so hard to open?" I tapped at the bottle aggressively, face red from holding my breath in while I forced to open it.
"Let me help you." He spoke, grabbing one of his tools and opened his palms to me, waiting for the bottle. I placed it on his hands, letting out a heavy sigh.
He used the tool's hand to wrap itself tightly around the cap, then twisted it. It took all the energy from him before it popped open.
"Haaaa...there you go." He wiped the sweat from his forehead, giving the opened bottle to me.
"Wow! Thank you!" I immediately drank the thick liquid, consuming half of it in one go. It wasn't warm anymore, but it doesn't matter much as it didn't change the taste and the flavor.
"No worries."
I gasped for air after quenching my thirst, then I shoved the bottle to his face, he leaned back so it wouldn't hit him.
"Thank you gift!"
He waved his hand to me. "You have already given me enough, you really don't have to..."
I cut him off, "Aww, come on. It's my favourite drink, I just want to share it with you. Plus, don't you need to drink after eating all that?" I pointed at the two empty containers between us.
He moved his head to the side shyly, "Well, if you insist." He grabbed it from my hand.
The moment he took the first gulp, his eyes widened. He pulled the bottle away from his mouth, licking his lips like he's savouring the taste. I've never seen a face brighten up the way his face did, he had a smile but his eyebrows furrowed upwards, like he's about to burst out crying.
"What...what is this?" The tone of his voice sounded like he was talking about something sacred.
"It's sweetmilk. It's good, right?"
I chuckled when he bobbed his head excitedly, drinking more of it.
"I have never tasted anything like this before." He was ecstatic, smacking his lips with every sip, squinting his eyes every now and then. It was funny to watch.
For the next 20 minutes we bonded over the foods, I was surprised to learn that most of it he have never tasted before.
"Although we still have good foods in the undercity, it's nothing like these. These are more..."
"Sweet?"
"That's right! Sweet. Amazing. Spectacular."
I chuckled as he continued to list words after words, swinging his arms dramatically with every word.
"I'm happy that you liked them. I brought them here for you, afterall."
He stopped and looked at me. Then he beamed, the brightest from him yet.
"Thank you, I don't understand why you would bring this much food, for me? But I really appreciate it."
"Well of course! We're friends, aren't we?"
"Yeah...friends." We shared a grin.
"Hehe." I stood up and stretched my legs to rid of the ache from sitting too long. "Hurhgg, my back hurts." I cracked my back with the help of my hands. I turned to Viktor only to see him focusing back on the metal he was building.
"Aren't you tired? You should stretch your body every once in a while."
"Eeh, not like I have much to do anyway."
"Still, it's not healthy if you just sit there without moving your body even just a little bit. My teacher once said that if you don't exercise your body, it will..." I trailed off when I noticed he wasn't paying attention. I groaned.
"Does your leg hurt when you step on it?"
"Huh?" He replied without looking up from his work, "No. No, it's just numb."
"Good." I grabbed his arm and forced him up on his feet, causing him to drop everything.
"Wha-hey! What are you-"
I wrapped my arms tightly around his waist, then I started twirling us.
"Weeee~"
He was an inch smaller than me so our height and our strength difference made it easier for me to lead him around. He had his grip on my shoulders so he wouldn't fall down, grunting with every move we take. Our feet were clumsy together, tripping and stepping on each other but never falling over.
I halted, he was panting already.
"Oh, there's this one move my teacher taught us in our dance class. It goes like-"
"Wait-"
I spun him quickly then let go of his hand, because of his inability to stand properly without his cane, he fell back. His arms flailed for something to hold on to, but before he could fall, I caught him on his back with my arms, then dipped him.
The moment I did, I heard his back crack loudly.
"Ow!" He exclaimed, causing me to let go of him out of fear. He yelped and fell.
"Ah! Gods," I kneeled beside him as he groaned in pain. "Are you okay? I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry."
His gasps of pain turned into a burst of giggles. I let out the loudest sigh of relief.
"What was that?!" He went from giggling to laughing out loud, sitting up with his hand still on his back, his shoulders shaking violently from his laughter.
It was so contagious that I couldn't help but to start laughing with him.
"Stoppp! You-hahaha...I thought you really got haha-hurt-"
"You were like-weeee-" He laughed harder, his voice cracking as he spoke. "-and my bAck crAcked sO lOud! WhY was it so lOud?!"
"Your voice!! HAHAHAHA-"
Our fit went on for about 5 minutes, finding it harder to calm down as we kept adding more and more into what we were laughing about. By the time we were able to calm down, tear stains were already on our faces and my jaw was hurting.
I wiped my wet face with the sleeves of my uniform. "Ahha...my stomach hurts."
"Mine too..."
Our voices were hoarse, we sat besides each other, now calmly staring at the river as it reflected the orange sky. I looked up, the sun isn't above us anymore.
"It's turning late...I should go home soon."
"Mm." He pursed his lips. I stood up and walked to where our belongings were, taking his cane and his things, bringing it to him.
"Thanks." Standing up with the help of his cane, I let him adjust to it while I went back to put the containers and the left over snacks in my bag, closing it and carrying it on my back.
He walked over to me, I turned around to face him. We smiled at each other.
"Well, it was really nice hanging out with you." I swayed on my feet.
"I had a lot of fun."
"Me too!"
"...You know, I thought I would stay lonely forever just because of how I am..." He was looking at the ground, fidgeting with his wooden cane. "I'm really happy that I met you, Ica. Thank you...for being my friend."