Love Struck Delusion
Chapter 285 - What are friends for?
Char's POV, A few days later, Ron's Bar.
I sat alone for the majority of the last few hours. My mind at a loss for what to think about the future. For both myself and my home. The longer I sat here and thought about it the more confused I was getting. The bar was about as busy as to be expected. People were still overly joyed about the end of the war. Afghanistan was getting a makeover thanks to G.U.N and Pakistan was basically all back together now that the power plant was back up and running.
Politically speaking there were a lot of things starting to happen. The complete loss of the rebellion name had been all but finished and thanks to people like General Hoffer and Hecan Moore, talks of what Raptor wanted were beginning to happen long at last and thankfully Raptor himself was starting to recover both mentally and physically. Yet that was no easy process to watch.
The man was still stuck in bed and only a select few could actually see him. Marx and Raptor's therapist were working in tandem to help recover his memory and very slowly that was happening. Yet something wasn't right. He was depressed. More so than ever and it's almost gut wreaking to watch. His voice barely raises itself past a whisper and when he speaks it's just a few words. He hasn't talked to either of them about it, but right now it was just good to have him remember reality. But from where I stood, I was scared for him. He's not himself and everyone can see it.
The public only knew what Hoffer was allowed to say about the situation. To everyone; Raptor was fine. He was just stuck recovering from his injuries and because of that he was unable to do any live interviews or accept guests outside the inner circle. Which was for the best right now. However Hecan was praying things would change over the next few weeks. I prayed for it too, because right now I wasn't in any condition to take his place.
I couldn't replace that man. How can Raptor even begin to think I'm capable? I don't get it. Sure I love my country and I've done my part to save it, but running it? I'm barely in my twenties. There has to be better people out there. So I pray to god ethier Raptor recovers or they find someone else. I can't handle that pressure.
As I drank alone, I widened my eyes when I felt someone place their hand on my shoulder from behind. When I turned around to see who it was, I was surprised to see it was Roz. He smiled right at me and asked in a very calm voice.
"Can I sit with you?"
Unsure how to respond, Roz nodded his head and came around to fit in the booth with me. As he sat, he said to me.
"I figured you'd be here. Diz said you wanted time to yourself."
"Yeah." I mumbled as he had a beer in his right hand.
"What's going on? You haven't been yourself for the last few days. Talk to me."
I took a few moments to just take in some air. Roz took a drink and watched me closely as I soon said back to him.
"I've just been thinking a lot."
"About Raptor?" He wondered as I gently nodded.
"He's gonna be fine. He just needs more time to recover. He went through hell Char."
"I know but that's not what has me worried Roz." I replied as he then asked.
"Then what is it?"
Looking up into his eyes I replied.
"General Hoffer told me if Raptor isn't able to recover fully, that I'm next in line to take his place."
Roz widened his eyes. He was stunned for a moment which allowed me to mumble into my own chest.
"I'm not that guy. I can't replace him. I'm not even old enough to call myself an adult, let alone run the middle east."
"Are you being forced to take that position if Raptor can't?" Roz wondered as I shook my head to respond.
"No, but….?"
"But nothing Char. If Raptor can't do his job; you aren't taking it from him. That's ridiculous that they would even tell you that. Leave that kind of work to people like Hoffer. I'm not saying you couldn't, but more so that you shouldn't. You're just a kid."
"I know." I replied as I lowered my head completely till it was resting on top of my arms. From there Roz ordered me.
"Stop thinking about it. It's not doing you any good and right now I need you more than anyone else. If you're not being forced at gunpoint to take that position Char, then you need to put your foot down and decline. In fact, that's the only way going forward. You aren't taking that spot. You understand me?"
I kept my head down and didn't respond to him. From there our conversation went mute. Up till I heard him ask me.
"Do you have any friends outside the military Char?"
With my head still down I replied.
"Not really. I mean I have family but no…...no friends."
"Sisters? Brothers?" He then asked.
"One sister. Two brothers."
"How old?" Roz questioned as I muttered back.
"My sister is two years older than me. Both my brothers were born twins. They're about sixteen I think."
"Any girlfriends in your life?"
"No." I replied sadly as I then heard him mumble to himself.
"Hmmm. Okay….well let me see what we got here."
In confusion, I peeked one eye up over my arm to see him looking around the bar. At first I wondered what he was doing, but it quickly hit me when he asked.
"What you into? I remember both Raptor and you said you liked the little ones."
"What? I never said that. I just said they were a handful. Roz? What are you doing?"
Smiling down at me he replied with a slight chuckle.
"Nothing."
"Doesn't feel like nothing." I muttered back as I began to hear big footsteps heading our way.
Very slowly lifting up my head, I looked back to find Ron heading over. The bear came to our table with that big smile and happy voice to ask us both.
"How we doing gentlemen? Nice to see you again Roz. Char? You want another beer?"
Nodding my head but keeping my eyes down, I replied quietly.
"Yeah. Thanks Ron."
Patting my back not a moment after, Ron asked me with concern.
"What's wrong? Come on, I can't serve downers here Char. You look like a woman just stepped on your heart and took your dog."
I let out another sad sigh as I was put on the spot. Roz however was the person to respond.
"The opposite Ron. He needs a woman."
"Oh?" Ron replied as I quickly defended myself.
"That's not what's going on Ron. I just….?"
"He's just been a loser the last few weeks now that all the fighting is over. He doesn't know what to do with himself. So instead of finding something, he's decided to spend his time in bars drinking his problems away."
"Ahh your no loser Char. You're quite the opposite. If it's a girl we're looking for I might know a few nice ladies."
"Can you guys stop? I'm not…?"
Roz widened his eyes and sat up as the door to the outside opened up. In confusion I turned to see Ryker walking her way in. Gently sitting back down, Roz asked Ron.
"How's Ryker Ron? Is she looking for someone?"
Ron's face turned upside as he replied.
"I have no clue. But Roz….come on. That's my girl. She's family."
"Ahhh your right. Sorry."
Ron nodded as I let out a sigh and put my head back down. From there Ron got back behind the bar, leaving me with Roz who kept to himself the next few minutes of my depression. After a few minutes more he asked me casually.
"Hedgehog? Wolf? Cat? Fox? Echidna? Rabbit? Wessal? Ferret? Bird? Bear? Snake? Fish? What is it?"
"Can I just order you to stop talking? Aren't I in charge?"
Laughing pretty good, Roz replied back.
"Technically I guess you could. But on the other side of things; we aren't technically a team right now."
"Ugh." I groaned as he reached across the table to pat my arms with the backside of his hand. I looked back up at him as he again asked me, but this time more sneaky.
"Come on. What?"
I felt defeated. This guy was really pushing for answers. With our eyes locked I caved and replied quietly back.
"Anything that can't squish me Roz. I don't care if they're four foot or seven foot. It doesn't really matter to me. It's all about personality."
My friend gave me this soft hum back as he took in the information. As he began to think, I put my head back down. That's when I heard him say.
"So it can be anyone, so long as they aren't capable of killing you with their weight. I would say that helps but it really doesn't."
"Fuck you." I replied back as he began to laugh again.
We probably spent the next few minutes just to ourselves. People were coming and going and my world got a little more cramped when I heard Diz's voice call out to us.
"There you guys are!"
Lifting up my head and looking back, I widened my eyes to see he wasn't alone. He brought Saff and Cooper with him too. The boys were all happy to see us, but I couldn't find it in my heart to smile. All I could do was move further inside the booth as Diz sat down in my place. Saff and Cooper got in with Roz and with a nearly full table Cooper asked us.
"So what's going on? How's tonight been for you guys?"
My friends knew something was up when I didn't answer. I just looked to the wall like a sad sap and listened as Roz replied.
"We got a small problem with the Major here. I'm hoping you guys can help us."
Every one of them felt like this was a code red situation. They leaned in close and got super serious and even lowered their tones. However Cooper was the one to ask.
"What's wrong?"
"He's lonely. Doesn't have any friends outside of the military and currently doesn't have a girlfriend."
My face was going red. Right when Roz got done saying that, Diz replied.
"Oh I can change that."
"Please don't….?" I tried to beg. However Diz wrapped his arm around me to ask.
"So what kind of girls do you like Char?"
"I don't know. Listen, I don't need a girlfriend." Diz kept a firm hold over me as Saff pointed out.
"There's a nice looking girl over by the bar. Looks like she might be fun."
Diz forced me to look in that direction. Together we spotted and stared at the girl Saff mentioned. Turned out to be a pretty small hedgehog. She was loud. Laughing with a few friends of hers who all looked like they could be her girlfriends. With Diz looking back to me, I mumbled.
"She's with friends and I'm not really the type of guy who can just invade a conversation with people I don't even know. She's also a little loud for me."
"Okay bud. Well how about her?" Diz's hand reached out to point at a lone wolf who was towards the very front of the bar in a booth of her own. She looked like she was alone, but she seemed focused on her phone. She was cute though. Had a surprisingly dirty color to her fur. Mostly all brown but had more than a few shades where black could be seen mixed in. She was also wearing a loose red zip up hoodie and a tight pair of black jeans. She still looked out of my league though. Unsure of how to respond, I replied.
"I mean she's cute but….?"
"But nothing Char. Go talk to her." Roz ordered me as Diz and the others agreed with his idea.
Widening my eyes, I questioned.
"What? I can't just go up to her and do that."
"Yeah? Why not?" Diz asked me as I had no idea what to say other than make excuses.
"I don't know…..she could be waiting on someone. I don't want to just barge over and make an ass of myself."
My friends weren't buying my bullshit. Instead Diz began to try and drag me out from the booth.
"Just go over there and ask for her name. Introduce yourself and just run with whatever she tells you. Trust me, you'll know if she doesn't want anything to do with ya. Come on."
"No! Stop!" I begged him as Cooper and Saff both got involved by helping him pull me free from the table which I was clung to.
Before I was on my feet, Diz whispered into my ear.
"I'll go with you. Come on."
"Oh god. Fuck me." I mumbled as I gave up and allowed him to push me out front and towards the girl.
Diz's POV.
Grabbing Char by the shoulders from behind, I guided him towards the other wolf. Roz and the others watched us as it was clear Char was more than just nervous. I think he was less scared fighting for his life during the war.
Approaching her table, the girl looked up to see us coming. She was a pretty good looking chick. Better than most of the people who drank here. With Char right out in front, she asked seeing his face.
"Hey. How are you guys?"
Char hesitated enough to have me worried, so I jumped out in front to reply to her.
"We're good. Hey so listen…..we see that you're a little honed in on your phone, rather than the party. We were wondering if you maybe wanted to catch a drink with us? I'm buying."
Char was shaking as I was nothing but enthusiastic for the situation. The girl however seemed all but down with the idea and with a smile replied.
"I can't pass up a free drink."
Pushing Char so he would sit down across from her, I asked as he found himself knee deep in the event.
"What do you drink?"
Putting her phone on her lap, she replied.
"I'll take a screwdriver."
"I'll order three. Wait here while I go pay Ron."
"Thank you." The girl said as I left Char alone.
Char's POV.
Oh my god I can't believe I'm in the middle of this shit show. This woman was beautiful and I could barely look at her directly from fear I would be laughed at. However she seemed all but sweet as she asked me from her side of the table.
"What's your name? I'm Luna."
"Char." I replied as she then asked me.
"Who's your friend?"
"His name is Diz."
Giving me a smile, she went on to state.
"Well he seems nice. To be honest I wasn't expecting to meet anyone here tonight. I'm kinda just out killing time."
"What are you trying to do?" I asked her through a cracky voice as Diz came back over with the drinks in hand. As he got down next to me, she replied.
"To be honest again? I'm trying to find some bud. No one has any right now and I can't catch a break. All my friends are out and anyone I try to talk to about it says the same thing."
"Which is what?" Diz wondered as he took a sip.
Luna calmly took a grasp over her drink and before taking a big gulp she replied.
"It's too risky with G.U.N around. People are worried they'll have a say when it comes to the country's drug enforcement policies. I mean pot isn't illegal in the middle east but what's stopping them from saying otherwise right?"
I nodded my head, but Diz calmly told her back with a confident tone.
"Char and I are both part of the military and I can personally tell you right now that G.U.N isn't a problem. The only reason it's hard to get anything like that in is because most of the crops are grown in Afghanistan. Ever since all that shit went down over there, no one has been able to get anything moving. And G.U.N could care less about what we smoked over here."
With two wide eyes Luna questioned.
"You're both military?"
With a smile, we both nodded our heads. That's when I felt Diz reach under the table and grab my hand slowly. In confusion, I looked back over at him and grew lost when I felt him slip something into my grasp. At the same time, replying to the girl he wasn't trying to hook me up with.
"Infantry. We both saw action. Now we're just happy things are over and we can….?" Stopping his sentence midway, he widened his eyes and looked back at our table to shout.
"I'll be right there Roz!"
Both of us were a little lost. I swore I didn't hear Roz say anything. Yet for some reason Roz replied.
"Hurry!"
With Diz jumping out of the booth, he grabbed his drink and said to Luna with a graceful spin.
"I gotta go talk to them. Is it cool if I leave him with you?"
Smiling Luna replied.
"Yeah go on. Thanks again for the drink."
"Anytime." Diz replied as he winked at me and made his way back over to my friends.
Looking down to my hand, I felt my heart come to crawl as what Diz had given me appeared to me a small glass vial with a rubber top plugging it up tight. Inside were a handful of decently sized nugs. Enough to put me under easily, but that wasn't the point. The point was, Diz knew what he was doing. Now I was left with Luna and the one thing she craved other than a good time.
mT Shadow.