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It was quiet outside. Not a peep from students, teachers, or animals. The rain was pouring far harder than expected. The sky was filthy dark with clouds covering up whatever sunshine there was. It smelt dour outside, but also a bit refreshing. Nobody remembers the last time it was raining this hard. Looking at the clouds was completely unappetizing, but maybe, it was a bit more durable with him.
Cater sat completely still, watching the small raindrops attack the bigger rain puddles. But the more that happened, the bigger the puddle got. Maybe it wanted to attack the bigger puddle but had to give in due to the immense size difference. Or maybe, the drop felt the need to match with the rest to seem normal. He saw himself in the raindrops, foolishly enough.
His eyes darkened the more he watched. His grip around his legs tightened the more he watched. His mind clouded the more he watched. He enjoyed the rain. It just justified his reason to think about his life without running away. The moment the sky became grey, he allowed himself to drop his act and huddle in his room. This time though, he wasn't in his room or alone. He was outside of school, sitting under a soaked tree with Idia Shroud.
Idia's big jacket covered the heads of the two, preventing them from getting more soaked than they were.
Cater was sure Idia could hear his heavy breathing. He would have to apologize afterward for it, but for now, he just wanted to relax.
He kept his act up when he was with Idia of course. But on other rare occasions, he would find himself wrapped around Idia's arms. He was completely numb and dull. It was just their quiet time.
That's what Cater liked about Idia. He wouldn't force him to talk. But maybe that was because he didn't know what to ask. But whatever the reason was, they both enjoyed the silence.
Right now, Cater and Idia sat shoulder to shoulder. Cater had no problem with this. As long as he was close to Idia, he gained a bit of hope. Hope for himself, and his future.
Cater dazed out. Completely unaware of Idia's staring. He stared and stared at him. Perhaps he was waiting for him to say 'Let's go before we get sick!' But, even after 30 minutes, that never happened.
Idia's legs were drawn up to his chest. His head laid gently on his knees. He faced Cater and stared at him intensely. His hair was damp. His usually front strands had droplets of water falling from them. His makeup was smudged clean.
His eyes seemed much darker when he was focused. This was different from the times he was choosing tags for his post. He was really really focused. He was pissed, angry, but most of all, dull.
He wasn't skulking or anything but seemed to be remembering a lot of traumatizing stuff. He did that often when the two were alone. He wouldn't talk about it, but Idia didn't mind if he told him or not. He just preferred Cater to be comfortable.
Idia looked forward and frowned. He was 100% going to get sick at this point and miss the limited event in the new RPG game he was playing.
"Cater, we should get going..." He softly said. He started to get up but stopped when Cater grabbed his hand. Idia looked over at the boy and saw him with the most desperate look he had seen from Cater.
Cater felt his voice shivered. "Please... Just a bit little longer..." He softly begged. Idia had never heard this tone before. It worried him. Cater as a whole worried him. He knew someday he would snap and everything would come undone.
Idia wanted to protest, but couldn't find it in himself to do so. He slowly sat back down and sighed. "Yeah... Sure... Just a few more minutes..."
Cater gave him a soft smile. It looked forced in context but probably would have looked real in any other context.
Idia slid down on the tree and looked out. He felt Cater's finger lock into his, tightly holding on as if he was scared to let go.
"... Thank you..." Cater whispered.
"Yeah... N-no problem..."
As long as Cater felt better, he would let this happen once. Just once...