[So, not to sound ungrateful, but is anyone even reading this? I mean, I am putting effort into this and I really would like feedback.]
Slowly yawning himself awake, Neil absentmindedly rubbed his eyes. It was still night, and not just because it was dark out, but because he could still see the full moon. Not bothering to lean up, he merely used his eyes to scan the room. Perhaps it was old habit, but he always tried to be just a little careful. After all, who knew what manner of ghouls resided in this large, jungle nation?
Everyone had heard the stories; ghosts of reconnaissance units from both sides that had been lost since the war's beginning, the sound of distant artillery fire that could not be traced or identified. His favorite had been a report of a sprawling VC outpost hidden deep in the forests near Quang Tri, only to go to the exact spot and find nothing but thousands of years of tree and brush growth. Oh, that had kept him awake for days. Not just because a few GI's had talked about it, but because about a hundred GI's had talked about it. Filed reports swearing it existed. All swearing it existed in the exact same spot.
With another yawn, Neil relaxed his head back into the pillow. Surely midnight was not the apposite time to entertain these thoughts. Especially not when Kristoph was snoring loud enough to possibly alert whomever else was staying in the Hotel. He turned slightly to observe the sleeping blonde.
God, neither of them belonged here, but Kris really didn't need to be seeing the things they looked upon on a regular basis. Christ, Kris belonged taking pictures for the PGA tour or the World Cup, not ankle deep in shredded human. And Neil? Well, he fully intended to go to work for Rolling Stone or The Sporting News the minute all this slaughter was over. Part of him laughed because he knew Kris would follow him wherever he went. And that, well…that was reassuring.
His mind still active and unwilling to go back to sleep, he sat up, running a hand through his lengthy hair. He considered intercourse, but Kris appeared to be in a truly deep sleep, so that was out. Damn, this country could be boring when you weren't getting shot at. He looked down at the calendar that lay on the nightstand. According to it, it was only a few days before Jake would go on R&R and probably come and join them. Well, that was certainly worth looking forward to. If only because Jake's almost devil may care attitude would at least brighten things up a bit.
Rising slowly from the bed, still a little worried that even the floor could be booby-trapped, he made his way over to the refrigerator that Krissi's endlessly supply of money had bought and shipped all the way over here. Fishing through it, he came up with a slightly chilled bottle of Cold Duck wine. It was cheap, but it was good.
Pouring himself a plentiful glass, he retreated to his bed and turned his gaze out the window, gazing out the window, trying to silently will the skyline to transmute into some place friendly. Or, at the very least, a place with better nightclubs.
Taking a sip, he slowly resorted back to habit. Scanning the room, he began to try and deduce what would make a good picture. His artsy side thought up putting the square glass on the open windowsill and using the light from the streetlights and the cliché neon signs found so often in Asian countries. That'd look good, but Neil really wasn't that kind of photographer. He seemed almost cursed to be only able to capture tragedy and sorrow. Whereas Kris could walk onto a battlefield and come back with sweeping testaments to the human spirit.
Chuckling to himself, he sat the glass on the windowsill, adjusted it so it had enough light behind it and went to fetch a tripod, because God knows how Kris had such good balance. Probably some sort of weird Germanic gene trait. Fixing his Nikon to the tripod and spending a few moments picking the best angle and settings, he snapped off four or fives pictures.
"Those better look good." He drawled to himself, putting his equipment away and snatching back his drink. Sitting back on his bed, he felt a breeze sweep in and sway the adjacent curtains. Again, this entire Country seemed like one big Haunted House. Still drinking, he wondered why he appeared to be the only person who was affected by all the various… ethereal tales and happenings.
Sitting back near the top of his bed, using the wall as support for his back, he cast his eyes upon the ceiling and the pair of spinning fans. His mind wandered about; about how many nice things he could buy with a stable salaried job. Well, that was a stupid thought because it banked on the logic that he wouldn't escape this Country, and Neil sure as Holy Hell wasn't going to die here.
Shaking his head in effort to get his long brown locks out of their sleep molded position, the young Texan yawned, too tired to sleep. In the past few days, he has become increasingly disturbed by the fact he couldn't remember what being normal felt like. Granted, he was only 23 and by his own standards was still 17 at heart, he had forgotten the feeling of doing nothing but drinking and playing pool all day.
"Well, you're a perfect model of reflective." The voice suddenly broke. Neil turned to his left.
"Hey, Kris." He said, chuckling a little. "How long you been up?"
"Since you tried to show your artistic side with the glass." The blonde answered, sitting up a little, his smile dangerously close to coy. Neil, clearly amused, took another sip.
"Well…it looked good in my head." The Texan explained. "Might be a chore to develop it. We can finally use all the fancy Kraut equipment you have."
"Amazing. Even at 2 in the morning you can come up with Ethnic slurs." The German added, smiling drowsily. "Something wake you?"
"Nah." Neil assured. "Just…woke up." He explained with a light shrug. Kris sat up a little further as he yawned again. Putting his glasses on, he tried to get a read off his best friend, just to see if he was hiding something.
"Nightmare?" The blonde asked, quietly as not to make the Texan feel bad. After all, Kris was prone to them as well. This was a war after all.
"Nope. Not this time." The younger Marshall said. "It is kinda stuffy in here, though." He added. Kris nodded and rose to turn on the AC. The room cooled almost immediately. "Better." Neil commented.
"Yeah, shame we can't the fight humidity." The blonde quipped as he took one last look at the street below before shutting and locking the window. Safety first. As he turned, he let out a small yawn. "Tell me you're going back to sleep."
"Yeah, probably." Neil confirmed, if only because he didn't want to spend a whole night distracted by the horrors of war. Kris nodded as he returned to his bed after fetching a glass of water. Neil scratched his head.
"You hear the latest batch of rumors?" The brunette asked, still nursing his drink. Kristoph nodded as he sipped at his water.
"Yeah. The human eating elephant one is back. What about you?" The blonde asked.
"Oh, at least the one I heard was original. Apparently…there's some small Special Forces unit on their own out in the jungle. Doing God only knows what." Neil explained. His blonde counterpart arched an eyebrow.
"Really?" He asked, swirling the water in his glass. "Sounds… interesting."
On his bed, Neil could just see the sparks firing in Kris's mind. His inner star was clearly thinking of ways to rise. "Kris, what are ya thinking?" He asked.
"Well… the major American operations are winding down… the ARVN missions are way too dangerous to go on, especially for American reporters… Anyone else know about this?"
"Kris, we don't know of this is true, but no, I haven't heard Mia, Spark or the rest of the gang talking about it… Kris, what are you thinking about?" He drawled.
"What I'm thinking, Neil." The blonde began, smiling over the top of his glass. "Is that this is our shot to get something big out of this war." He said, eyes now fully alight. The more he thought about it, the…well, it didn't sound good, but it did sound plausible.
"Last I heard, they were stationed at Da Nang." Neil said, clearly pondering if this, while plausible, was possible. "You actually willing to go chase ghosts, Kris?"
"I am." The blonde affirmed, determination manifesting in his eyes. Neil was quick to note this.
"What happens if we find them?" The Texan countered.
"Beg pardon?" Kris replied.
"Let's say we do find this… Kurtz. What then? If this group is real, I have to doubt they're gonna let us make a feature story out of them." Neil reasoned.
"Assuming they're real." Kris pointed out, doing his absolute best not to laugh. Neil jokingly narrowed is eyes, more amused by the retort than he let on. Mentally, he admitted that while gutsy and borderline stupid, it was the kind of story that would get you a great deal of fame back home. Which would mean a fantastic life for he and Kris.
"All right, all right." Neil began, taking the last few sips of his wine. "When Jake gets down here, I'll talk to him. If anyone would know about this, he would." Neil said, proving to be possibly telepathic in addition to being a photographer.
