"Vier!" Lynn messaged him repeatedly, clicking the call icon but he wouldn't pick up.
"Ugh, Vier again?" A man in a business suit looked over her shoulder.
"Yeah, he just won't pick up." Lynn placed the phone next to her ear. "C'mon..." She checked her watch.
"Leave him, let's go, Boss Cheng is gonna kill us if we're late." Lynn turned off her phone and placed it in her pocket.
"Please be safe." Lynn thought to herself.
xxxxx
"C'mon, cheer up, it's not that bad." Sylas, seemingly out of character, comforts Nuki and Vier.
They all have an awkward silence.
"Let's set up camp, shall we? We're all tired and exhausted." Ella sat down on the ground, exhaling.
"Well, I guess I should leave, I'll start taking advantage of you guys sleeping and carry on without you." Alev's cape flew in the wind, even though we were in a room encased in ice in every direction except the floor. He disappeared as the cape covered him.
"Flashy idiot." Sylas sits down.
"I guess I could spend a couple points on food and warmth." Vier opens up his menu.
xxxxx
"To health and wealth!" Ella, Vier, Sylas and Reane cheered, as Nuki tried to join in on top of Vier's head.
"It's probably already nighttime out there..." Vier thought to himself worryingly. "What if Lynn already arrives?" Vier took a sip of the drink, it tasted like sticks and hot sewage.
"Hey." Sylas sat next to Vier. "I know we kinda got on the wrong foot and all..." Sylas tried to talk to Vier.
"What if she... then... if.... another guy??? what... when... how.." Vier mumbles to himself as his hand shivered from the cold.
"Hey!" Sylas knocked Vier's head. "Stop mumbling."
"H-Huh? Oh, sorry, just- complicated... stuff..." Vier said unconfidentally.
"Sure..." Sylas took a sip of the drink, he actually enjoyed it.
"So, we've got what? 2 tents?" Reane said to the rest of the group. "We have to split it amongst gender. Me and Ella will take 1 tent and Sylas and Vier will take one." Reane looks over to Nuki. "It can stay outside."
"I'M NOT AN IT!" Nuki smacked Reane's head with a stick that was being used to fuel the fire. "I'm a woman! I would've thought you guys were better than this! Where I came from gender was trivial!" Nuki puffed her cheeks and crossed her arms.
"Sorry...sorry. Me, Ella and the dog will sta-" Reane got smacked over the head with the same stick, this time the stick broke.
"ONE MORE TIME AND THIS STICK GOES SOMEWHERE ELSE!" Nuki was seriously angry.
"Jesus Christ..." Vier thought to himself, he wondered what he got himself into...
xxxxx
"Hey, dumbass." Sylas and Vier were inside the same tent, each had their own sleeping bags. Even though they were in the same enclosed space, they couldn't be further apart. "What were you mumbling about?"
"Oh, just, a friend of mine that I was supposed to meet..." Vier got up, facing Sylas who too had now gotten up. Vier was drinking the drink from earlier, even though it tasted like sewage water, he had gotten used to it.
"Huh, that's... pretty cool..." Sylas was obviously trying to make small talk, except he didn't know nor could he make small talk. "So... how's it going with my sister?"
"Oh, your sister? She's-" Vier immediately spat out his drink, Sylas catching the majority of it. "WHAT?"
"What do you mean what?" Sylas wiped the drink off his face. "Aren't you and my sister going out?"
"NO!" Vier was shocked. At the same time flattered, to think he thought he had a chance with Ella.
"THEN WHAT THE HELL HAVE I BEEN ANGRY AT YOU FOR? I'VE SPENT THE LAST 3 HOURS TRYING TO CONVINCE MYSELF THAT YOU'RE A NICE GUY!" Sylas was angry, but he seemed relieved as well. "WHAT'S SO WRONG ABOUT MY SISTER? IS SHE UNDATEABLE?" Sylas had now gone on the offensive.
"Nonononono..." Vier had now gone on the defensive, trying to defend himself and justify himself. "Your sister is amazing! Trust me! I only got into this business because of your sister!" Vier had his arms up, as if surrendering.
"Uh-huh..." Sylas was skeptical. He grabbed Vier's drink and handed it back to him. He took a sip."So you're not a womaniser?"
"PFFTTT-" Vier spat the drink all over him again. "YOU'VE GOTTA STOP WITH THESE QUESTIONS!" Vier cleaned his mouth. "I AM NOT A WOMANISER!"
"WELL THEN MAYBE DON'T BE SO LOVEY-DOVEY WITH MY SISTER AND I WOULDN'T GET THE WRONG IDEA!" Sylas was now arguing with Vier.
In the other tent, Nuki, Ella and Reane had their pillows clutched against their ears, not wanting to hear what either of the two were saying. "I told you putting them in the same tent was a bad idea." Ella mouthed to Reane.
"For the last time, I AM NOT DATING YOUR SISTER!" Vier and Sylas had their fists at each other's faces.
"So what? You've never touched a girl?" Sylas punched Vier as he lost all strength in his body to continue.
"I- I-" Vier was absolutely stunned shocked.
"Hey man, it's okay, some people are just late bloomers." Sylas was applying salt to the wound.
"I'll have you know I've kissed someone before!" Vier looks over to Sylas, remembering what had happened between them. "Let's not talk about it."
"Yeah." Sylas responded almost instantly
The two of them just sat upright, looking off in different directions, an awkward silence fell upon them, again.
"You've got a girlfriend?" Sylas looks over to Vier.
"A girlfriend?" Vier thinks about it. "No, but I do have someone I like."
"Who is this person?" Sylas was intrigued with Vier, not only to find out who he likes but so he didn't have to go to sleep.
"Well, it's a long story. She's suppose to come to Oase Hafen today, but y'know, dungeon stuff." Vier put his legs up and his hands on his feet. "I just... I just want a regular life, I never wanted to get into this dungeon stuff. I just wanted to be a famous and earn money, I never wanted to put up with all this shit." He looks down and tucks his head into his knees, as if he was ashamed by what he just said.
"It's completely okay to have shallow ideals..." Sylas was comforting him. "Here, have this." Vier looks up and Sylas had a gold coin in his hand. "It's currency from where I come from." Vier takes the coin from Sylas.
'In Our Dame We Trust.' The coin had been engraved.
"Take it as a token of our friendship." Sylas looks up at Vier with a smile on his face. His was hesitant, but he placed the coin in his back pocket and smiled back at him.
"Are those love birds finally done?" Nuki had all 3 of the pillows up to her ear, as Reane and Ella were crying as they placed their ear up to the tent wall, overhearing the bromance that was happening the tent next door.