He wanted...no needed to say something. Anything would suffice but his voice just wasn't feeling cooperative and so he just sat there in silence, the weak side of Esmeralda etched in his mind..
After a few minutes of awkward silence Vincent finally spoke up "hey..."
Esmeralda shifted slightly, a sign that she was listening albeit not looking his way
"Look, I know you and I don't exactly get along well, but if you think about it that's really your fault for being so unapproachable.." Esmeralda turned to give him a 'what the fuck' Look "...anyway, I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm sorry for barging in on your life, especially since I was the one who walked away in the first place and I didn't mean to be a thorn in your side. I just...wanted real friends...I think. And I felt we had a connection again, even though we only ever traded insults everytime we crossed paths "
"What are you talking about? You're the captain of the football team, you have tons of friends"
Vincent scoffed "yeah right. What I have is a bunch of fake followers riding my coat tails, acting like they care and hanging on to my every word. They're not my friends. I mean I didn't really care at first but with my parent's divorce I needed someone to talk to, someone that'll actually listen and talk back with some feeling not some pre-programmed responses from a robot who couldn't give two fucks about my life " he looked directly into her eyes
Esmeralda looked back at Vincent, studying him. He'd grown up well from the chubby 8 year old that loved catching insects and frozen yoghurt. His brown hair retained their natural curls, his grey eyes still seemed to shine like steel and he was a lot more fit. The sadness inbhus eyes seemed genuine, but she couldn't push the feeling he wasn't quite telling her the actual reason he approached her again a year ago after ignoring her existence for the past 5 years
"why are you telling me all this?" She finally asked. Vincent ran his hands through his hair against sighed
He still does that when he loses his edge..
"Maybe 'cause I'm hoping you'll give me a hug and get me frozen yoghurt with chocolate chip toppings like you used to?" He flashed a smile but it looked all too forced. It was Esmeralda's turn to sigh
"Look Vincent th-"
"You used to call me Vince, remember?...back when we'd climb the trees at the back of your house and then I'd get too scared to come back down. Then you'd promise to catch me if I f-"
"That was all in the past Vincent, we were kids without a care in the world. So I'm sorry but we can't go back to the way we were ten years ago. You said it yourself you walked away first... I can't start pretending everything's fine between us just because you feel remorseful, life doesn't work that way"
"I know bu-"
"What I can do, is call a temporary truce between us. We're partners till we find the mortal and get the hell out of this game. We'll tolerate each other while we're in here until we leave but from then, we go our separate ways...deal?" She offered him her hand
Vincent sat still, staring at her outstretched hand for a few seconds before he finally took it "deal" he said with a smile.
Esmeralda smiled too. "Great, now all we have to do is clear this game and find our way back home"
"Yh, but first we need Clyde to give us answers. You can come out now by the way dude" Vincent raised his voice towards the end and watched as a baffled Esmeralda stared at said viking chief as he walked out of a partition in the wall that wasn't there when they first arrived.
"When did you?..how did you?.."
"I sensed him there a few minutes ago" Vincent said, shaking as he tried to hold in his laughter
Clyde laughed "sorry, didn't mean ta eavesdrop on ya chat. I was just waiting for the right time ta come out, after ya resolved ya issues of course"
Esmeralda still sat, unmoving, gaping at him..
Vincent finally laughed along with Clyde at Esmeralda's expression, until she sent him a look that said 'you're walking on thin ice'. He immediately stopped and put up his hands as a sign of surrender, avoiding her sharp gaze.
Clyde coughed, getting their attention "moving on, ya had questions ya needed ta ask didn't ya? Well ask away!"