A Night by the Lake

Jaime turned around and looked at Linri, her eyes looked irritated.

"Everything is alright, you don't have to bother yourself with me." Her voice was cold, indicating that she wanted to be left alone. Normally Linri would but this was his friend, or rather the only person in this world he could call a friend. That didn't sound right. Maybe it was more appropriate to say she was his confidante. Someone he could share his secrets with, probably the only person with whom he could share his secret. Maybe it was a selfish reason but for his own sake, he could not let her break down right now.

Seeing that she was about to close the door to her room Linri placed his foot in front of the door. It hurt but at least it got the job done.

"You don't seem alright though. It seems to me that you want to talk and I am here to listen." Jaime opened the door a little then slammed it back.

"Then you saw it wrong." Linri was not bothered by the little amount of pain she inflicted. He suffered way worse when he fought against Udcek. Her hostile behaviour, on the other hand, was disturbing. This behaviour did not belong to Jaime nor Alina. There was something wrong, maybe something happened at the temple. Jaime was violent but she was cool at the same time and more importantly, she always had a reason for her violence. This one, however, seemed like she was venting frustrations by inflicting pain on others.

"Well even if you don't, I do. So you have to listen. Anyway, open the door my foot is getting itchy and I can't scratch it because of the door in the way." Jaime looked at Linri then opened the door.

Linri got inside the room, everything was as he remembered, except for two things that is. The first one was the backpack next to the wall, it was half open and there seemed to be a couple of clothes poking out. The other thing was the sword that was leaned against the nightstand. That was probably a way to make herself feel safe but from what? Nightmares? Him?

Maybe there was one more thing that was different from before, it was the ambience of the room. Compared to its lifeless state, this room felt more alive, be it the slightly out of place pieces of furniture due to use or the distinct flower like smell. It now had a breath of life in it

"I would talk to you here but it would be inconvenient. Anyway just follow me for now, a night walk would be refreshing." Linri walked towards the window and opened it. He slowly went outside to the unofficial gazebo of the house.

It was the slightly sloping roof of the garage. Because it was in front of this window as a teenager he liked to lay down on it and watch the stars, as a bonus he could also use it to get inside the house when he was late. Then there was the third use, sneaking out of the house. Technically it did not count as sneaking out since he was sure Arkady was aware of it but whatever.

After getting out he signalled Jaime to come too. She seemed to be struggling with pushing Linri from the roof or following him but thankfully she chose the latter. They then made their way into the rain pipe and made down their way.

They were finally on the road so it was time to make their way towards wherever Linri was leading them.

"So what did you want to talk about?" From her tone, Linri could tell that she wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

"No rush, just watch the view for now." The night was serene, actually, it was better to call this dusk than night. There were parents scolding their children for being late, there were some people rushing towards their home and lastly, there were others who were just strolling down the street. It felt peaceful. So peaceful in fact just by looking at this scene one might forget this world bred mages, super soldiers, gods or dangerous monsters.

Following the uncomfortably silent walk, they arrived at a park. This park was different from the last one they went together. It had a lake and pave roads, there were trees everywhere and benches to sit on. Most importantly there wasn't a kid park in it so it was quiet. There were still people around but they had come here to relax and chat with family, friends or their significant other. If you listened to it you could still hear the murmurs of the people talking but the feel this park give one at night was that of total silence.

"So how do you like the neighbourhood. Nice place right." Linri said to Jaime after sitting down at a bench facing the lake. At night the birds slept so it was unfortunate that they came too late to see the swimming ducks and cute little ducklings. Seeing her still standing up he signalled her to sit down.

"Depends on your perspective. I find the lack of the car sounds disturbing."

"Oh? Right! I forgot that you grew up in an apartment in the city centre. It must be hard on you then."

"Yes," Linri looked at Jaime from her head to toe. She was still irritated, cold, angry even. The question was why?

"What exactly is hard for you then?"

"Living in somewhere I am not used to, the fact that my parents and friends are gone, this world, everything is just unfair." Seeing her start to talk was a good sign. At least this meant that she was ready to say what was bothering her.

"Why everything? What exactly is unfair?"

"You! You are unfair." Jaime turned towards Linri, her eyes carried a meaning he could not decipher. It was not love, it was not hate, disgust or anger.