When dinner was over, everyone dispersed after helping Mama Knight clean up. Logan got butterflies when Kendall invited him into his "mancave" as he called it. Logan knew he should've declined so he could finish getting settled and get a good night's sleep before his hard work began the next day, but he just couldn't resist the blonde.
Kendall's bedroom sat right next to Logan's. It had a sign on the door that had the word "Kendizzle"—probably a nickname of his, Logan thought—in huge, blocky letters. There were multiple stickers on the door as well. Logan only had time to notice a few before they walked into the "mancave."
The decorations on the door were nothing compared to the room itself. Posters of bands, hot female celebrities, and athletes lined the walls as if they were wallpaper. Bob Marley, Lindsay Lohan, Shaun White, Incubus, The Minnesota Wild, Kim Kardashian... Yep, he's definitely straight. I'm surprised there aren't any issues of Playboy in plain view. A large bed sat in the middle with one end table on each side. There was a closet in one corner, a beanbag in another, and a desk in the third. The door, of course, took up the fourth corner. Kendall lounged on his bed, facing the beanbag, on which he invited Logan to sit.
"So, tell me about yourself, Logan. We should get to know each other." Kendall stated once Logan looked comfy enough on his beanbag.
"Umm. What do you want to know?" Logan asked.
"Everything. What's your family like? What do you do for fun? What's it like living in LA? You know, basic stuff."
"Okay. Well, my family is just my parents and me. They're pretty cool." Logan started, before being interrupted by Kendall.
"As cool as parents can be." Kendall laughed at his own joke, which elicited a bashful chuckle from Logan. Then, Kendall continued, "Sorry for cutting you off. Keep going."
"It's no problem at all. For fun, I usually hang out with my friends, see movies, go to the mall, usual stuff like that. LA is awesome. I love it there. It's nice and warm." Logan didn't want to tell Kendall that he was gay, in case he was majorly homophobic or something. For all he knew, Kendall and everyone else in Sherwood had never seen a gay person, let alone liked one.
"Then you're gonna hate winter in Minnesota. It's freezing. I'm serious, everything freezes: ponds, pipes, rivers, basically anything watery." Kendall said.
"That's what I've heard." Logan responded, nodding his head.
"But it's awesome. Winter is the best season here, in my opinion. The ice is so good and we get so many snow days." Kendall said excitedly. When he noticed the brunette didn't look as happy as he did, he asked, "You're not here by choice are you?"
"How did you know? Am I that obvious?"
"Well you're not excited about winter in Minnesota. Everyone who comes here by choice loves winter in Minnesota. So, if it wasn't your choice, why are you here?" Kendall inquired before realizing that his question could be interpreted as mean and quickly added, "Not that I'm not happy you're here, it's just… Well… I'm curious." Nice save, Kendall thought sarcastically to himself.
Seeing Kendall flustered was adorable to Logan. Logan also hoped Kendall was "curious" in other ways. "My parents wanted me to come and experience a different culture. They want me to immerse myself in the Minnesota farm lifestyle. They think it'll prepare me for college and the rest of my life."
"But you're not happy about it." Kendall observed.
Logan didn't want to make Kendall feel bad about the lifestyle he seemed to love so much, so he lied a little bit, trying to make the blonde feel better. "Well, I haven't been fully immersed yet. I'll never know for sure whether it was a good experience or a bad one until it's over."
"And you can't wait until that day." Kendall said, smiling because he thought he had caught Logan in his lie, and because he had made Logan blush.
Logan was surprised at how Kendall both caught his lie and didn't seem offended by his obvious dislike of Sherwood. "It's not that, it's just, it's different for me." Logan decided to be honest with Kendall, in hopes that he would make less of a fool of himself. "I don't really know what to expect. And you know how people have a tendency not to like things that aren't familiar to them. It's just not familiar to me yet."
"Oh it will become familiar to you after nine months. Maybe then you'll love it so much you won't want to leave." Kendall smirked as he spoke. "And as for what to expect, there's gonna be a lot of hard work, good food, more hard work, cold weather, and fun."
"How can there be that much hard work and also fun?" Logan questioned, confused.
"We work hard and then we play hard. My mom will make you do lots of annoyingly difficult tasks to do at the farm, but there's so much crazy fun stuff to do in Sherwood. You have no idea how much fun it is to be a hick." Kendall stated that last sentence proudly.
"Why did you call yourself a hick? Isn't that supposed to be like an offensive term or something?"
Kendall laughed out loud at Logan's question. "Everyone in Sherwood calls themselves a hick. It's true. We are hicks. Or rednecks. What ever you want to call us."
"Wow, I've never heard of a group so readily accepting of their stereotypes." Logan said, lightheartedly but shocked.
"Well we can't deny the stereotypes if they're true can we? Yes, we love John Deere, hunting, camo, pickup trucks, and all the stereotypical stuff. There's no reason to fight the name."
"Do you guys like marry your sisters and stuff, too?" Logan joked now that he was starting to feel comfortable with Kendall.
Kendall laughed for a few moments and then replied, "No, we ain't no hillbillies. My wedding ring isn't on my sister's finger is it?" They both had a good laugh together at Kendall's joke. They talked and talked for a great while longer, getting to know each other. Then, Kendall asked, "Do you know what kind of work we do at our farm?"
"Judging by the horses I saw on my way to the house, I'll say you guys deal with horses."
"'You guys'? You're working here now. WE deal with horses." In addition to stressing the "we" with his voice, he pointed to the both of them while he said it. "WE also deal with chickens and cows. Oh, and we have a garden too."
"Sounds like my kind of work."
"Oh hey there, Mr. Sarcasm. I'm glad you could make it. I know how busy you are all the time. I feel honored to be in your presence—" Kendall's facetious rant was cut off by Logan getting up, grabbing a pillow from Kendall's bed and smacking Kendall with it. They both burst out in fits of laughter as Logan kept hitting Kendall while Kendall rolled off his bed, got his hockey stick from his athletic bag and started fighting the pillow with it. Neither of them were fighting very well since they were having such a good time and laughing too hard to breathe well enough to play fight that well. They were bounding and leaping around the room, knocking stuff down and breaking things that Kendall didn't seem to care about.
When Kendall had Logan cornered, the shorter boy surrendered. Kendall helped his new friend up and they went back to sit in their original positions, panting, laughing, and smiling all the while.
After hearing the friendly scuffle from downstairs, Mama Knight knocked on Kendall's door. "Boys, It's getting late. And you both have to be up early tomorrow. Don't you think it's time for bed?"
Kendall rolled his eyes and sighed at his mother. Logan lightly giggled at Kendall, then said, "She's probably right. I mean I'm going to be working harder than I ever have tomorrow and I'm going to need all the sleep I can get."
"I guess you're right." Kendall admitted even thought he didn't want Logan to leave. Logan made his way to the door, but before he exited, Kendall said, "Hey, Logan, it was nice hanging with you today. We should do it again tomorrow."
Logan's heart fluttered. "Sounds good, 'Kendizzle'" Logan said, referencing the sing on the half-opened door. "G'night."
"Night, Logizzle…?" Logan sniggered, making Kendall laughed at his own failed attempt to come up with a nickname for Logan.
"Nice try. If you really want to call me something besides Logan, some people back in LA call me Logie. You can call me that, too, since you seem keen on giving me a nickname."
"I will. Night, Logie."
Logan left Kendall's room with a smile plastered on his face that didn't go away even when he fell asleep.