The radio crackled as the distant voice spluttered and died. Now we felt completely alone, cut off from the rest of our crumbling world. But surely there must be others like them out there? right? Arabella squeaked and scrambled towards her automaton. She had made it during the last Creo festival. It had won her first prize; she was always proud of it. Now it looked like her heart had been ripped out of her chest.
"He-hey! The radio- it broke! Wait...i-i'll fix it. We can listen to them again!" she rushed ahead and started tinkering with the complex brass knobs. Fishing a Solus rod from her rucksack, she attached it to the radio and started her regular system checks. Byron looked at her with sympathy. "Arabella? You made that. We saw the testing during the festival. It's BRUTAL. You made that radio invincible. The design could handle 1,600,000 Nitons of force. It CANT break. There's just no one online" he said. His words were cautious like he was afraid Arabelle would come and strangle him if he spoke any louder, but she didn't seem to notice as his words fell on deaf ears.
"Structural integrity is at 100%-" Arabella mumbled
"Arabella-" I tried to interrupt
"The power core's at 86% power, not enough to shut down -"
"Ara listen, it's fine-" I tried
"antennae are signaling at 35Bz, the range is fine-"
"Arabella you don't have to fix it-"
"I MUST!"
I jumped. "I-I must fix it! It's our o-only hope!! We NEED to k-know what's ha-happening okay! It's the only w-way to be SAFE!" Arabella stammered, then went back. Her mechanical arm whirred as slim brass fingers fiddled with the screws on her creation. Beeps and pops sounded from her Solus rod as Byron looked at me with sympathy again; I didn't like his beautiful face right then. I could easily say that that is my least favorite expression in his repertoire. It's also a look that I'd seen several times during this disaster.
I looked out of the only window in our safe house. Reinforced Elementium glass panes with 12% steel support; Clearly the best work in all of Steelmire Province. Elementium was the rarest transparent metal known to humankind. It's the type of material used for military-class bomb shelters; whoever owned this safe house must have sold an arm, a leg, and his firstborn child to get enough fortune to make this glass pane. But now it was cracked; A single line starting from the top right and branching out and joining back like a beautiful cobweb, covering almost half of the bluish-green glass pane
The once-great coppery spires of my hometown were now smoking. This wasn't the usual smoke of industry and forging; It was the smoke of burning buildings and screaming people. I could still remember the bodies strewn amongst the rubble. The one mom trying to lift the boulder to save her trapped child.
Is mom okay, what about dad, how is the business, the shop, what ab- A hand rested on my shoulder. "Al? What are you thinking about darling?" Byron asked, his voice uncharacteristically soft. He was such a sweetheart; he helped me and Ara a lot during this catastrophe.
"Ron...do you think the smithery is fine? What about my mom and dad?" I asked as a tear made its way down my cheek. I could see their faces in my head; Mom's fiery red hair, wild and curly that she would tie back to avoid setting it ablaze while welding metals in the shop, and her face full of freckles that I was always jealous of because of how cute they looked, dad's long locks of raven hair that I inherited that were always a little greasy because of his habit of running his hands through his hair after a stressful day. My body shook as a sob wracked through my body. Arms circled my waist, and a weight pressed on my shoulder "I don't know Al..." Ron answered. He sounded sad too, after all, we never got to tell them about us. They didn't know the wonderful man that was Byron Iaugustus like I do. Maybe they never will. Byron didn't have a mum, his dad already knew about us, at least I can take some solace in that, uncle Brook got to see his son smile after a long time. I can be happy knowing I was the cause of it.
Sounds of tinkering stopped, as I could hear silent whimpers from Arabelle. I guess she couldn't 'fix' the radio after all; I didn't want to see how sad she was, I didn't like seeing her sad. Memories flew through my mind as the living nightmare of the past few days came back with a fiery vengeance. What I'd heard on the radio did nothing to settle my nerves as more tears fell down my cheeks. Soft kisses were pressed against my head as Ron quietly tried to calm me down, his cheeks streamed with occasional tears. I guess we were all weepy today, it didn't bode well.
Not just my hometown of Steelmire, the nearby province of Brasshaven as well as the well-known capital of Copperworth was now facing the full wrath of the attack. Nicklemoor, the first province to be attacked wasn't responding anymore and communication with Zincwall, the first responder to the crisis had also been severed. The neighboring kingdom of Bronzegaurd, according to the newscaster didn't even exist anymore.
We don't know when the attack even began. It just sort of happened. The entire kingdom was shocked.
Crowallow, our nation, had always been at relative peace with our neighbors. We had a simple agreement and a simple philosophy. We only support those who can offer a good deal in return.
Whenever two nearby kingdoms went to war, a meeting would be set up with the respective leaders. Each leader would set the deal he/she is willing to give and our king would decide which one will benefit us the most. Whoever gets the deal is supplied with weapons and ammunition from the Crowallow kingdom without any amnesty from either of the warring factions. Once the war ended, all previous relationships were cut.
It had been a glorious system, that allowed our Kingdom to prosper and grow for eons if the historical archives are anything to go by.
But things, unfortunately, cant stay calm for long...
A recent war had just occurred between two empires about 600 yolts away from our kingdom. A meeting wasn't held as the two kingdoms were considered too far away to be of concern for our homeland.
The warring kingdom of Utmark won. But this is where the trouble began. Crowallow blueprints had been leaked out to one of the warring kingdoms. The traitor was discovered and given a public execution. It was a punishment that had long since been banned, but the Patriarchs made an exception for him. A check of enemy weaponry by the Utmark revealed that the equipment was VERY similar to ours, an imperfect but convincible copy.
You could probably guess what happened after that.
The Utmark declared war on us.
They called it treason that we had supplied weaponry to their opponents without the customary meeting; that we never gave them a chance of a fair deal. And now here we were. Half the kingdom was destroyed. Just three young people alone in our home.
We needed to get out soon. The radio had warned of search squads that were sifting through the cities, trying to look for survivors. Utmark rules of warfare were simple; complete, and utter annihilation.
Holding hands with the wonderful boy beside me, I once again looked out at my half-destroyed world. I hope we survive this insanity. I thought before turning around to face Ara.
"The message was clear, We need to head out. Get your sacks and as many resources as possible. We'll leave at dawn." I said as we scrambled around searching for resources. There were plenty in the bunker. Canned foods, bottled water, repair supplies, etc. I contemplated taking the 3D printer but decided against it as it was too bulky.
I walked back into the room that I and Ron shared, I dropped my much heavier rucksack beside the bunk. Apart from the entry area where we were listening to the radio, there were two other rooms. A larger bunk area and a small one at the back. Arabelle had READILY volunteered for the small room when we were trying to call dibs on the bunks. Byron didn't realize why she was so eager to scurry away before he noticed my smirk and put two and two together.
his blush was rather cute, and that night was... let's just say. Spectacular!... The bed was the most comfortable thing we had slept on since we ran out. We slept like logs (A/N what did you think was gonna happen? huh?)
"Where do you think we'll go after this?" Byron asked as he entered the room with his sack. "I don't know babe, Maybe the Slatetown City center? It had the biggest market before this war right? it might have some long-term supplies; If we can commandeer one of the nearby mansions without greatly damaging the security, we could stay safe for quite some time" I said.
"Hmm," he said as we changed into our sleep clothes. Laying down on the bed, the exhaustion of the day came back. "Come here" I slurred to him, and he gladly responded. In a tangle of limbs, I pressed a sweet kiss to his forehead. "Good night Ron"..."Good night Al.."
.
.
.
THUMP
I awoke, my eyes fluttering open a little. There was something warm in front of me, with warm arms wrapped around my waist...Ron. I smiled and closed my eyes again. Wish we could stay like this. I went to sleep again.
.
THUMP
I woke up again. "wha-what?" I muttered. I blinked in confusion. Why did I wake up?.
THUMP
Wait, Is that- I jumped up. "wha?" Byron asked. "WAKE UP!!" Byron jumped as I hopped off the bed and swung my rucksack over my shoulder. "We need to leave!" I shouted back. "There's someone-
THUMP
Byron's eyes widened in surprise, he hopped off the bed as I rushed to Arabelle's room. "Ara, Wake Up!! We need to GO!!" She opened the door with disheveled hair "what's wrong Al-"
THUMP
"WHY DOES NO ONE ELSE HEAR THIS!?" I seethed in anger. Her eyes widened as she raced back into her room to get her bag. Scrambling down the hall, Byron exited our room, he was still in his nightclothes, now with his shoes on and he had his rucksack on his back; he looked worried.
"What do we do?" Ara asked, stumbling down the hall with her rucksack on one shoulder.
"Ara! Get your Solus! Scan the Padlock integrity, and check how many intruders are outside. Ron! we might need to break that window if we wanna get out, put your glass-blowing knowledge to good use and help me use the tools here to break the window. If the intruders are too many to take out, the window can be a second escape! We'll need to search for weapons, If nothing comes up, use the tools you've gathered, we don't have much time!"
Nodding, Arabelle rushed over to the padlock to scan it. Byron investigated the pane and removed a vitrumter from his sack, he went to work on the Elementium.
"It's not looking positive Albert. The structural integrity is at 72%. Three out of the nine bolts on the left side have already snapped and the iron core center is severely dented from the outside. If they continue at this rate, we have at the most fifteen minutes before they break the left side completely. Busting down the rest of the door would be a piece of cake. From the heat signatures, I'd say there are approximately nine individuals on the other side. We are outnumbered three to one.."
"Barricade it, we'll use the window. It won't hold them for long but it'll stall them till we can escape. If we get separated, regroup at the Slatetown City Centre." As she ran to haul the furniture, I whipped around to Byron.
"Babe, status?" His vitrumter was embedded in the center of the green pane, as he turned around to talk to me. "It'll take more than fifteen minutes to break this. It has been tempered too well, and it is at the perfect thickness to be hard without being brittle. It'll be better to just unscrew it rather than try to break the pane. That's more of your expertise.." He says pointing to the bolts securing the pane to the rest of the wall.
I went to work on the panes, as Ron rushed away to help Arabelle. They hauled the dresser and the closets in front of the padlock, as the THUMPs got louder. "Extreme corrosion..lug nuts for sure... M14x15 approximately.." I searched around for a 14x15 lug wrench in my rucksack, before pulling it out. Attaching it to the nuts, I tried to turn it but it wouldn't budge.
"Ron, Ara! The nuts are too rusted, we need to work together to unscrew them!" Having finished the task of hauling all the furniture in front of the padlock, they rushed to my side. Grabbing an arm of the wrench, we turned it simultaneously. With a small whine, the bolt turned and loosened. I spun the wrench around and quickly removed the connection. One down, five more to go. With excruciating slowness, we began to unscrew the pane from the wall
...
2nd
...
3rd
...
4th
Ara's solus gave another report. " Only three bolts are holding the left side in place Albert! we don't have much time. The side is going to break any second now!"
5th
...
6th
Clang
with a soft thump the last nut came off, I removed the metal braces and the pane. Grabbing my rucksack, I slung it over my shoulders and scrambled through the hole in the wall. Ron came next, and then Ara, scrambling through with their rucksacks.
"Come on!" Grabbing my hand, Ron pulled me away, as we ran off to the sound of crashing coming from the bunker. We ran for a few seconds before the sounds of shots firing echoed through the air.
Crack!
"AAH," The scream pierced through my head. Ara fell onto my back, as tears sprang from her eyes. A simple glance down, showed me her leg streaming red. "Come on Ara!" I shook off Ron's arm as I supported her back, and we stumbled around to find some cover from the lead rain. extending my other hand towards Ron, I hoped that even the fake vibrations might help calm me down.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
Crack!
Clang!
I jumped as vibrations shot through the mechanical arm and the AI malfunctioned at the loss of half of the fingers. The hand hung limp as the AI tried to recalibrate itself. "Fuck..." ignoring the metal weight attached to my shoulder, me and Ara stumbled behind one of the buildings along with Ron. Whimpers came from Ara as she tried to shift her weight onto her injured foot.
"I brought the med-kit from the bunker..." Ara's voice came out breathy and pained. Ron took her rucksack and searched around for the med-kit inside it. I dropped down to the floor and ripped the cloth of Ara's pants to see the wound. There was a lot of blood but it didn't look like a serious wound. "It grazed your skin, it'll heal." Taking the medkit from Ron, I cleaned up the wound and wrapped it up. "ALBERT!" Ara squeaked when I tightened the gauze wrapping, "sorry!!" I apologized.
Having wrapped her leg, we stood up again. "Slatetown?" Ron asked, I nodded and we slowly made our way there
*A Week Later*
Ara's leg was healing well. She spent her time making schematics for my new arm and coding a better AI that would be able to deal with limb losses. We were able to break into one of the rich houses just behind the Slatetown City Centre. They were very tricky to hack, but we managed to do it with Ron helping the frequencies and Ara with her technical prowess. We set up the defenses again and we hoped we could stay there for at least some time before we were forced to flee again.
We used scraps of metal from around the city center to make my new arm. It was better articulated, with more sensitive pressure sensors; Ara assured me that it would deal with damage and loss of limbs on its own. Ron was using his glass expertise to fix the windows of the house. Some were broken into, and we did find the body of someone who had tried to break in but the house security had taken care of them Why would the Patriarchs even authorize such a security system?
Ron would often go out for long lengths of time. He would say he was 'foraging for materials' but always came back with his hands dirty like he had been digging for buried treasure and not scouring the various stalls in the center.
I found a small jewelry box in one of the upstairs bedrooms. There were pearls and some gold filigree necklaces. I kept the box with me since it brought memories to me. Memories of my mom in her beautiful dress with gold swirls around her neck, memories of my dad making a crown for me to wear for my 7th birthday, and one memory of Ron...
I always had a fascination with gemstones. Whenever I would draw my ideas for a machine, I would make sure to add jewels to it. Jeweled eyes for my robot dog; Jeweled buttons for my fabrication machine; Jeweled receptors for my VR neuroappraiser. One day Byron came up to me as I was sketching a new design. "Hey, Al", he asked me "You always add some sort of stone to your drawings, is there one you like particularly?"
I thought about it for a second. There were several beautiful ones, viridian emeralds, vermillion rubies, and crystal-clear diamonds. But one single gem came to mind "A blue spinel.." I told him. He seemed surprised, it wasn't a very well-known type of jewel after all. "..why?" He prompted. "I think they are fascinating. They look like a piece of sky has been frozen into a gemstone and presented to humanity. I always assumed they are associated with life, freedom, or purity. The clear ones look like a clear summer sky, the foggy ones look like a cloudy day. They never seem to look bad, no matter the clarity they always resemble the ever-changing sky above us. I like that about them. No matter the appearance, they always appear beautiful.."
Ron stared at me for a second, then smiled "Didn't know my boyfriend was an inspiring future philosopher along with a high-level mechanic" I giggled at him, then swatted at his face. "Oh shut up, I've heard some of the things you mumble in your sleep. The dreams you have would make every philosopher in our history book cry with pride."
"I don't talk in my sleep!"
"You do!"
"I don't!"
I always giggle when I remember it. Apart from reminiscing about our normal lives, I got used to my new arm by doing odd jobs around the house. I helped lift boxes of scavenged food into the room we had turned into our pantry and helped Ron around with his window fixing adventures.
I added some things to my new arm, including two extendable daggers that popped out like cat claws and a welding torch to the index finger. You know, for emergency use.
That's basically how we passed our days, foraging, fixing, training, and surviving like a system of complacent planets revolving around each other. At night, we slept in the same room in case anyone of us had nightmares. I and Ron shared the bed, in a tangle of limbs and affectionate kisses; Arabelle took the couch which was big enough to be a single bed on its own.
According to her, it felt like it was "made out of the gods' asscheeks or something" so she didn't seem to mind sleeping there.
Today didn't dawn like the others though. I woke up a little colder than usual, turning to find that Ron wasn't beside me. Sitting up, I saw the couch was also empty. I got up, freshened up, and walked downstairs to the large living room.
Arabelle was sitting on the floor working on an impromptu radio. We weren't able to rescue her original one and we decided that going back would be too risky. Since my arm project was done, she had been immersed in this new endeavor. I asked her about Ron's whereabouts but she told me he had gone out for some 'urgent personal business'
I was a little confused but decided to pass my time as usual. I helped Ara with the radio until noon arrived, bringing with it my boyfriend who came back looking like he had lost a wrestling match with an opponent made of sand. He immediately went to freshen up and then came back with one of the nicer pairs of clothes that we had.
I was going to sit down for lunch since we reduced our intake to only that meal every day when Ron stopped me. "I-uh. I have something to show you. Come with me, we'll eat outside.."
Even more confused, I followed Ron through the security gates, the plasma fields opening to let us through before closing back up behind us as we walked out and onto the streets. I followed Ron, the walk filled with surprisingly casual banter as if we weren't walking through a post-apocalyptic warzone.
We stopped at one of the abandoned mansions at the edge of the city center. It had been too badly damaged to be a good safety bunker, but it had a great view of the rest of the city because of its position on the cliff edge. "Umm...why are we here?" I asked Ron. He gave me a sheepish little smile and told me.
"Well...We haven't gone on a date in forever, I wanted to do something..."
My mouth hit the ground at that, we were on a DATE? I was even more shocked when he walked around the house to its big open backyard.
... a picnic
... There was a freaking picnic set up in the yard. With a blanket and a basket of what I assume is food.
What the heck. "Ron...I love you and I appreciate the sentiment... but did you forget that we are in the middle of a LITERAL war-"
Ron shushed me with his soft lips. "I know what's happening around us babe, but a man's got his needs and this is one of mine. Humor me for a little sweetheart" He quietened any further inquiry with another kiss before he walked over to the picnic with me trailing behind like a kite
Ron reassured me that he had set some alarm system to let us know if people came nearby. He'd also set up some basic force fields with Ara's help to provide basic level protection. That skank knew about this, 'urgent personal business' my ass. I wasn't sure if I should be angry or grateful for my sister. I decided that that was an introspection session for later.
We sat down and talked again. We almost felt like we weren't on the cusp of death. We usually ate a larger than usual lunch which was probably why after a little talking, we stopped and focused more on inhaling our food. It was full of several things I liked. How he acquired this was again a question for another day.
We talked once our ravenous hunger was satiated to some extent. We talked about plans, about what we'd do later if we saw anything interesting during our scavenger hunts. We discussed how Ara's new radio was almost complete and what we might be able to hear on other broadcasts soon. It was so casual, that I felt a pang of nostalgia.
An hour or so later, the basket was empty and our stomachs were full. We stood up and grabbed my hand. "Hey...um...there's one more thing I wanted to show you.." He said with a shy smile, his dark skin blushing to the shade of raspberry chocolate.
"Do you have something planned Ronny~?" I asked, causing him to blush harder. "N-no, just come with me, I really wanna show this to you!" tugging my hand, he closer to the edge of the cliff. There in the ground, I could see a rod sunken into the dirt. It looked like a holographic projector, so I assumed he wanted to show me something on that
"You've probably seen the projector by now. I wanted to show this to you. It was going to be a little video for your birthday, that I wanted you to see. But I don't want to wait any longer, I changed it a bit and I think you should see it. I feel like you would like it though I can't guarantee it I really want you to see it so...:
The projector flashed to show the floating screen. It was a video, taken on a shaky handheld camera. I recognized it immediately. It was the first birthday party I shared with Ron after he had shifted from Brasshaven to Steelmire. We had newly become best friends
Little Albert and Byron came into view, along with some of my other friends. We were giggling and laughing as we went to sit behind the table. A pair of hands came into view, carrying a plate with a giant cake on top. It was shaped like a dog, brown and gray colors. It was made after Cogs, the mechanical dog that my parents created and gifted to me on that birthday
Wonder what happened to him I thought. I was pretty sure it malfunctioned sometime when I went away for my pursuit of academics at the wise capital of our kingdom since I sort of forgot about him and I never saw him again.
The scene continued as my mum's voice said "go on Al! blow the candles" little Albert looked at the camera, furrowed his brows, and pouted. Then looked towards Ron. "No! Ronny! You blow the candles with me!" some laughs came in from around us. "But Albie! it's your birthday! you blow the candles!".
"With you!".
"No, you!".
"You!"
Deep laughter could be heard. My dad's voice came through "Al! what happened? why don't you wanna blow the candles?" at this little Albert fiercely hugs Ron and looks at the camera. "Ronny blows the candles with me OR AM NOT BLOWING THEM!"
More laughter before my parents finally agree to let Ron blow the candles along with me. The video ends with both of us, our cheeks red with all the candles blown out except one, with both of us looking at it like it has personally wronged us.
I laughed at that. "You are still as stubborn as you were then," Ron says from beside me.
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
"Am not!"
"You are just proving my point, Al," He said as we both started laughing. The other videos follow Little moments that were captured from our life with us together.
There was a snapshot of us at the school play, both of us kings of warring factions. The story of the creation of our kingdom
"You shall not fight me you foul creature, I am much too beautiful for you for you to come near me!" I said in a deep voice, I still remembered that line. It made me laugh several times during our rehearsal. Ron doubled over laughing. A new video showed up.
It was taken from an unsteady source, I could see Ara trying to fix something offscreen.
"Goddamn it, pull yourself together Ron! It's just Al, not a fucking monster or something." Ron's voice said, the camera moved as if it was walking. I realized it was from a camera attached to Ron himself.
"Listen, Ron. You've got this! Al's clearly head over heels for you, everyone can see it besides you! So just go up to him, ask him out and you'll be fine. It's not like the guy doesn't fawn about you 24/7!" Ara's voice called out.
"Wait.. is this?" I asked, and Ron nodded. "You captured it?" I asked and he sent me a sheepish smile. "I wanted to have a record of it since it was my first...you know..."
The camera turned back to Ara.
"I don't even know why I'm so nervous, it's Al. It shouldn't be this hard!" Ron's voice sounded increasingly panicked, as Ara gave him a sympathetic look.
"It's because you like him more than you think. Look at it this way, you guys are tied at the hip, ever since freaking 3rd grade! If a confession is what breaks you apart then it wasn't bound to be forever anyways. I know that's kind of sad but it's true. You're scared of losing him, Byron. That's fine!" A huff is heard
"Thanks, Ara. I'll let you know how it goes later."
The video moved unsteadily, through halls before cutting to the back of the building where I came into frame. I was leaning against the wall waiting for him.
"Hey!" I said as I came closer, the camera was obscured as I hugged Ron. "Why'd you call me here?" After some silence, Ron answered...
"We gotta talk"
I waited, and I could see my expression turning from confused, to content and after a few minutes to worried. "Ron-?"
"I like you"
The camera still showed my face as my eyes widened in shock. I remembered that Ron had been staring at the ground, unable to see my expression as it changed from understanding to affectionate incredulousness
"Al? Are you okay? You don't have to like me back or shit, I just wanted to spit it out before it drove me-" Ron was cut off and the camera once again became obscured as I hugged him
"Took you long enough to say that you dunce!" There was a pregnant pause them a small "Oh " was heard. My face came into view again, as I smiled at him.
"Hey, Ron?"
"Yeah?"
"Wanna watch a movie? and then we can talk it all out later, it can be a sleepover!" I said with a warm smile.
"y-yeah! sure!'
I turned before looking back at Ron with a smirk. Suddenly the camera was obscured again. A surprised"mhhh!" could be heard as I stepped back, licking my lips.
"you have no idea how long I've wanted to do that"
"That was, is, and forever will be the best day of my life," I said as I pulled Ron into a chaste kiss. "Honestly same..." He whispered as he held my hand. There were many more videos. A picture of us hugging during our graduation from the Copperworth knowledge circle. A video of us on All Hallows Eve, dressed as cyborgs. Mine made of coppery red foam, Ron's made of tin-silver foam. Both of us laughed as we waved rubber guns around; Our parents laughed in the background at the fact that we both chose the same thing to dress up as.
A video that was recorded by Ron's dad after we came out to him. Of Ron blowing out the candles for his birthday before I tackled him into a kiss that caused his dad to go into fits of giggles, the time when my parents weren't able to accompany me because of an urgent conference that they had to attend. There were several memories, preserved in that video. Several moments were captured and kept for safekeeping.
A new video started, this one was different. It was Ron, behind him was the yard. It was recorded recently. I could faintly see the burning spires behind him. It was a video recorded AFTER the war, quite recently if the clothes were to be believed. I was confused.
Ron seemed hesitant at first, but he took a deep breath and began speaking. "I'm not sure why I'm saying this, but I don't want to chicken out. If you're seeing this, then at least I did something. Al, I love you so much. I've never felt this way about anyone or anything. You're always on my mind, day and night. Even when I dream, I dream of you."
Ron smiled softly at the camera and continued. "I remember when I confessed my love to you a few years ago. You were wearing that big black shirt that I later stole from you, and your plaid vest was tight against your chest. Your curly black hair was draped around your ears and neck, and you wore brown jeans that fit you perfectly. You were the most beautiful boy I had ever seen."
Ron's eyes were filled with adoration as he shared more. "I didn't kiss you that day, but the next morning, I couldn't wait any longer. I kissed you gently, just our lips touching. It was my first kiss with you, and I was so happy. When I told my dad about us, he just smiled and hugged me. It made me proud to be with you."
Ron remembered a conversation they had and chuckled. "You once said that people present themselves in the way they want to be perceived and that they accept the kind of affection they think they deserve. But you also said that you don't care how people perceive you. You just want to live your life the way you want, regardless of what others think. I always loved that about you."
Ron ended with a bittersweet smile.
I was still reeling from this. What is he talking about? I was completely immersed in the hologram. I felt Ron move beside me, his hand moving in mine. But I was too focused on the screen to pay attention
"For years after that, I have been thinking about what you said and I've lived a good decade of my life to your philosophy. You didn't know it but you made an impact on me and I wondered every day if I could even have the slightest chance to do the same to you. When we stayed together for so long; I knew then that if the universe had given me this chance to impact your life there was no way in hell I was gonna pass up the opportunity. Do you want to know the reason I would come back empty-handed and dirty after all those hunts? The past few days have made me realize that time is short. Our world is changing and right now, the change is bad. The future is not certain and the last encounter proved to me that time could run out at any moment. I do not wish to delay this till I am forced to do it when the time is about to run out. I want to ask you a very important question. Something that I hope will affect us in a positive manner
Albert Rowan...will you spend the rest of your life with me?
..what? I was shocked, my hand was still in Ron's. I turned towards him...
There he was, kneeling in the grass, my hand in his. In his other hand, there was a simple small wooden black box. And inside that box was a simple ring. Silver wire elegantly wraps around like vines, holding up a simple blue gemstone. A blue spinel...
Ron had a hopeful smile on his face. "Y-you already heard it there. I really do love you, Al. You are someone who brings light to my life and has filled the hole in my heart left after my mother died. Will you marry me, Albert?"
I was shocked, but the answer to that question was so obvious. "..yes.."
I whispered it softly, Ron didn't hear it. He was about to ask when I said louder "Oh god yes" I said as a wobbly smile rose on my face. Hearing that, Ron gave me a megawatt smile and slowly slipped the ring onto my finger.
Standing up, we gave each other bright smiles before Ron tackled me to the ground with a kiss.
We sprawled out on the grass, him hovering over me. As we smiled at each other. At that moment, nothing else mattered around us. The world could burn around us as it pleases.
At least right here, right now. We have each other. And we will, till death do us part. I rose for another kiss. This war was far from over
.
but
.
at least
.
We have each other...
(A/N Whooo! that was a journey. Apparently, a prompt for an English paper that was supposed to have a word limit of 450 words can result in a 6180-word apocalypse gay love story! Who would've thought? Although I think with the hologram, I made Crowallow too modern for this world. The universe is supposed to be in a time where swords and stuff are still used, horse-pulled carriages transport goods, fire and lamps are used for light soooo, eh? you know what? Im keeping it, Crowallow is gonna be futuristic af! The art for the title was created by a dear friend of mine. Sadly he doesn't have any art accounts that i can use to give him credit but let's just say, he did a FANTASTIC job at it. Thankyou my little breakfast biscuit! This was amazing!!!