The main dish (2)

Lazar looked down at the asphalt of the sidewalk 5 meters below him, then he put one of his feet in the void before making a short involuntary pause caused by the fact that his brain wasn't accustomed to the idea that what he had just done could no longer be considered as being a dangerous behaviour...

Faced with this, he leaned his head to one side, wondering briefly how much his conception of things had remained the same, then he shoved this thought to the back of his head, saving it for a time when he could afford to think about it.

"Let's go." Lazar told Amandla in a low voice before putting his second foot in the void and falling at full speed right on what he was staring at earlier.

*TUD*

*TUD*

Lazar then Amandla landed on the ground without any problem, which in the case of the former was a great evolution compared to the last time he had jumped from a building…

After having recovered their balance, they didn't waste any time and started to walk straight ahead in the direction of their destination.

To see how she was doing, Lazar glanced sideways at his partner, 'She seams ready for anything.' He told himself enthusiastically, finding that she was at first sight just as stoic in the face of danger as she usually was since despite the threat they were gradually heading towards, her slow and regular breathing and her pupils that weren't dilated at all by adrenaline were giving the impression that she was totally calm…

However, upon further observation, he noticed how clenched her jaw was and how she was clutching her bow in her hands so tightly that numerous veins were pulsating on the back of them.

Lazar understood it, Amandla wasn't at all calm, and in a fit of guilt he stopped walking and start staring at her back with a complicated expression; he knew that her reaction was the result of a frustration that he caused...

As for determining what he was guilty of, it wasn't very complicated to guess; like him she wanted to return to her country at all costs and like him it wasn't out of homesickness but because she had to accomplish something important for her there, something undoubtedly much more important and meaningful than risking her life in a fight that wasn't hers to help a person she had known for barely 36 hours.

Lazar bit the inside of his right cheek in exasperation; knowing roughly what Amandla had in mind, he was conflicted about what to do or say in consequence...

On the one hand, seeing her like this was giving him qualms about abusing her help to the extent he had planned to do it now because 36 hours had been enough for him to have great respect for her, and on the other he was still thinking about what would be the best way to avenge Lana.

Finally, Lazar decided to rely partially on what kind of human being his adoptive mother was to influence his behavior concerning this issue and it became clear to him what she would think of this situation, 'You wouldn't have wanted me to drag her into this shit in the first place, would you?' He said inwardly with a sigh while looking up to the sky...

'But it's not that simple.' Lazar couldn't tell Amandla to get out of here and let him handle the rest because, first, Amandla would refuse, he was sure of it, and besides what Lana would have wanted, he knew he couldn't totally dispense himself of Amandla if he wanted to have any chance of getting out of this alive too...

In the end, to cut through it all, Lazar thought about a lesson his grandfather had given him on making choices, 'When you're wavering between two options that will necessarily satisfy one party but not the other in each case, you better find a third one that will satisfy no on.'

Lazar called out to Amandla with a resolute voice, "Wait a second." He told her, which earned him in return a look of incomprehension from her as she turned back to him...

"Is there a problem?" She asked him in a normal tone as if nothing was wrong.

Lazar stared oddly at Amandla, taking note of how good she was at pretending to be okay, then he worded what he had in mind keeping a steady face to let Amandla know that his words weren't thoughtless, "When the fight will start, stay back to attack from a long distance and if it's not looking good for me... run away." He told her promptly giving her a lot to swallow at once.

Amandla blinked a few times with a complicated expression before responding to Lazar with a mocking smile, "It's sweet of you to worry about me like that but I'm not made of sugar so... fuck you." She responded dropping her smile before insulting him...

Lazar raised his eyebrows, he wasn't surprised that she was going against his decision but he was that she was doing it with such assurance, "Excuse me?" He replied reflexively, not sure if he had heard what Amandla had said correctly.

Amandla sighed then locked eyes with Lazar, "Listen. I'm scared. So scared I even want to get out of here, you saw it and I'm not going to deny it. However, I'm not a quitter and I know that without you I have no chance of..."

Lazar sensed that Amandla was about to broad a sensitive subject when she interrupted her sentence with a sad look on her face, however, instead of finishing it, she slowly turn around without adding a word, which didn't encourage him to ask her to say more about for what she needed his help...

Seeing that she was heading towards the construction site as planned originally, he remained silent, followed her and simply rejoiced inwardly that he could count on Amandla.

A few meters further, they arrived in front of one of the grilled facades which delimited the building site...

Since Amandla hadn't said anything special to Lazar after she warned him that the presences were at the other end of the construction site, he didn't ask himself any questions and jumped directly over the fence before being followed by his partner.

*TUD*

*TUD*