[Running Away]
Miklotov could not bring himself to look at Camus after that incident. He figured that for now, avoiding Camus would save himself from doing something stupid like confessing his more than platonic friendship feelings towards Camus. He did know that he shouldn't keep secrets from Camus, but what if a secret destroyed the friendship between them? He would rather have an imperfect relationship than to have no relationship at all. Especially since their friendship had just revived a week before.
So as Miklotov perused the weapon shop in order to spend as much of his free time away from his room, he was startled by the sound of heavy footsteps. The person seemed to approach him, and sounded so much like Camus that Miklotov had to turn around and see who it was. He almost crashed into the weapons display behind him as he involuntarily stepped back at the sight.
The man before him, with his reddish-brown hair and brown eyes, laughed at Miklotov's shock. "Am I that intimidating?" he said with a smirk. Miklotov forced himself not to blush in embarrassment. The low, smooth rumbling of the man's voice reminded him of Camus, but it was a bit darker. "Or am I just so attractive that you are startled?" Seeing Miklotov even more flustered, he stopped jesting and put out his hand. "I'm Red, by the way."
"Red?" Miklotov blurted. Chuckling nervously he rambled, "Your parents aren't very original with names." Shaking the man's hand, he said, "I'm Miklotov."
"Nice name for a knight," Red commented. "Looking for a sword? The ones in that rack are too easy for you, you know."
Miklotov turned to look at the sword rack and noticed that he had owned a similar sword a year ago. "I know," he said. Clearing his throat, he looked the taller man in the eye and said, "I was waiting for someone like you to come by."
Red smiled. "Are you flirting with me?" he asked. Miklotov smirked to himself. Wow. I didn't know that I had that in me.
"Maybe I am," Miklotov replied smoothly. "But I know I'd like to see you again."
"But I just met you," Red protested. Miklotov just smiled at him and went towards the expensive two-handed sword display. He picked out a sword for himself and a longer one for Red. Red was surprised when Miklotov presented it to him.
"You know the type of sword already?" Red wondered. Miklotov nodded and pointed to Red's hands.
"You hands, when clasped, look like they would go around such a sword. I use whatever I can to my advantage as a knight, you know," Miklotov answered.
Red looked at Miklotov's hands and noticed the same kind of position. "I'd definitely like to talk to you again," he said.
Miklotov smiled again. "Tomorrow at the same time," he proposed. Red nodded. With one last look into Red's eyes, Miklotov left the store, reflecting over his actions at today's meeting.
*****
Miklotov shoved his fingers in his coat pocket, feeling for the coins he needed in order to purchase the sword he found yesterday in the store. Then lifting up the sword, he felt the handle one more time. Deciding that the purchase was worth the money, Miklotov approached the merchant.
"Sorry I was late," Red yelled from the doorway. After the merchant handed him the change, Miklotov put the new sword in his knapsack and greeted his friend.
"Hello, Red," he said. Red pointed towards the door and he nodded. After leaving the store, Miklotov asked, "Where are we going?"
Red pointed towards the gates of Rockaxe. "I figured a spar would be fun. I haven't fought against a human in a while, and those monsters are really boring after a while," he replied.
"That's fine," Miklotov said. "I haven't fought much besides other knights. I think a change of style would be fun."
The two of them warmed up by running about a mile away from Rockaxe. Miklotov was envious of the long strides that Red employed effortlessly during the mile run. Though neither was tired, they both knew that the other was no joke.
"Let's go until the first cut," Red suggested. "As in the winner is the first to cut the other person, or damage the armor. Of course, if he is skilled enough to knock the other's blade out, then he definitely should win," Red explained. Miklotov nodded and took his position opposite of Red. "Let's see who's better, the knight or the mercenary?" Red said.
"The mercenary?" Miklotov wondered. He had no time to think more about that because the first clash of blades would occur in a few seconds.
*****
"Sorry to knock you out, man. I forgot that you trained like 5 hours before you came here. Though you still were a great sparring partner," Red said. Miklotov woke up and blinked at seeing the sun setting.
"How long…" Miklotov wondered. Red helped him stand up and he took the time to stretch out his limbs.
"An hour," Red replied. "Now don't feel bad or anything. I read through some parts of your books in your knapsack. The Ultimate Test was my favorite when I was about five years younger. It's a little idealistic for my tastes now."
"Oh…we should get back now. I think my roommate will be worried," Miklotov mumbled. Thinking of Camus made his head hurt a bit. "Ah…"
"Don't think so hard, Mik," Red said. "We can walk back. I'll carry your knapsack, and you can lean on me."
Miklotov nodded and allowed himself to be led towards Rockaxe and up to his room. Did he fall asleep? He remembered entering the castle, but not opening the door, because if he did, he would have remembered seeing Camus's face.
*****
Miklotov woke up again, not knowing where he was. He yelped when he noticed someone's arm around his waist, his very bare waist. What was worse, the man with him was also bare at the chest, which was pressing right into his back. What the hell? I wasn't drunk, was I? I didn't invite Red to sleep with me, did I? I didn't do anything…stupid, did I?
The groan emitted by the person with him, though, betrayed the person's identity before Miklotov even shifted to look at the man. Camus? When was…Camus…
The person beside him sat up, pushing Miklotov up as well. "Good morning, Mik. How are you feeling?" Camus asked. He brushed his own bangs away from his face before slowly pulling off the sheets.
Miklotov panicked, not wanting to know what was under the sheets. "What happened?" he said. "Did I…did we…" His head hurt a bit, but it wasn't really a headache.
"No, not that!" Camus exclaimed. "You fell asleep on your way up. Well, that's what Red told me." He watched as Miklotov's hand rubbed the sore spot on his head. "Did he beat you up? You had a bruise on your head. I'll get him for you if you want me to…"
"Stop, Camus!" Miklotov shouted. "I met Red at the weapon shop two days ago." He paused to catch a breath. "We were sparring yesterday afternoon. He's a really nice guy."
Camus did not look satisfied with that. "Well I want to see him," Camus insisted. Was Camus acting a bit…jealous? Maybe he wants to find out my "weakness" from this guy. Miklotov restrained from chuckling at that thought.
"Uh, okay," Miklotov replied. "I'll tell him that when I see him today." Miklotov was not prepared to find himself barraged by a spout of angry words from Camus. Unfortunately Camus was not articulate enough for Miklotov to decipher what he had said. "What did you say?" he asked carefully.
Camus blushed before forming a brilliant smile. "Nothing…" he said, faking cheer. Miklotov sighed, but decided not to bug him about it. After all, he did not like it when Camus did that to him. He let Camus slowly dress and comb his smooth hair as he lay back down on the bed. Camus took one last glance at Miklotov before giving a hand gesture.
"Well, I'll see you later," Miklotov said after Camus left the room. What's going on with Camus…
*****
Red stood by the same display as he did two days ago, his eyes glazing over the swords that Miklotov knew he really wasn't looking at. As soon as Miklotov was within talking distance, Red turned around and greeted him. Miklotov replied the gesture and the two exited the store. When they were outside, Red commented, "Hey, your friend is like paranoid or something."
"What do you mean?" Miklotov asked genuinely. That particular word did not even enter his thoughts when he thought to describe Camus. Maybe there was a side he hadn't seen… I'm doubting him again. What kind of trust is that? Though Camus did not feel that he could trust his secret, or whatever he mumbled this morning, with Miklotov, so Miklotov figured it was okay to doubt.
"He almost killed me when I brought you to his room," Red had continued. "He accused me of beating you up. He threatened to kill me if I harmed you again." Miklotov was a bit surprised that Camus would go to that extreme. Red was the one who brought me safely to my room.
"Oh," Miklotov managed to blurt out. "Well he should know that I can take care of myself," he said. Though he is probably worried about me after that thing with Frank.
"I know," Red agreed. He dug a hole in the dirt with his right boot and added, "I would have just camped outside, but since you're a knight, you had to return."
Miklotov nodded. "Well I missed my training before breakfast. I think a spar with you was worth missing one of those," he admitted.
"So did I," Red confessed as well. Miklotov was surprised again, after believing that Red was much more experienced than him and thus probably fared much better. "I skipped my practice this morning. If you were stronger, you could have knocked me out by just crashing your sword against mine. I didn't even notice my own fatigue until I collapsed on my bed last night."
After talking about more sword-related topics as well as battle strategies, Miklotov remembered the one thing Camus had asked him to do. "Well, anyway…would you like to go out tonight with my friend Camus?" he asked. "He won't be as bad as he was yesterday," he quickly added.
Red seemed to mentally review his schedule before he nodded. "Sure," he said. "I'll get to see why you two are together," he teased.
Miklotov, however, jumped at the word "together". "Together? Camus and I?" Miklotov questioned.
"You don't believe me?" Red responded. "I can tell by the way he acts towards you," he stated. "It's so obvious."
"But I confessed…" Miklotov protested. And we haven't talked much since. He hasn't said anything back about liking me, so therefore…
"He doesn't want to face it. Trust me, I know," Red replied.
Is he right? I wonder…
To be continued…
