Vertex - Chapter III, A Walk in the Park

		Chapter III, A Walk in the Park

Craig and Farai reviewed a little bit of the stuff they had been working on, and the bus ride ended in what felt like an instant. They continued until their classes started, after which they departed.
That was when Craig realized he didn't even have math that day. Oh well, studies are never wasted, right?
He had not managed to ask Farai if she'd like to go home with him. In retrospect he'd been fussing over nothing, her school day would end two hours before his anyway.
The day went by in a haze, without anything sticking in his head. That may have been bad.
Craig had little in his head as he went home, either. The guys talked about going to play laser tag sometime. Hmm... that was fun. It would be fun. What else... Andrea asked a hypothetical about having sex with non-blood related siblings... that's a tough one. And there was no right answer. Oh, this was his stop...
Homework... he jotted something down as quickly as he could while snacking down on an apple. It tasted bitter.
Obligations fulfilled!
...almost.
There was still that thing to see to... he'd skipped out on it yesterday. But hey, what hurry was he in? He had all evening, and it was only afternoon now... maybe he should go for a walk? That was healthy, and the nippy, fresh air would totally, like, clear his head and... stuff. Maybe he'd be inspired into writing a novel or...reach enlightenment...

Craig headed outside and found his feet leading him inevitably to where they had led him yesterday. Wait, that's no good! He couldn't just go randomly popping up at Farai's place like this! Or... could he?
Deep down this was what he had wanted all day. To see her again. To just talk to her again. About anything. Seeing her smile, hearing her voice... aahh goddamit he was pathetic.
Craig stopped. Then he realized that he was in the middle of a very visible sidewalk and just standing around there was suspicious, so he pulled out his cell and pretended to be texting. This, he realized, was even more pathetic. It was time to man up.
He pocketed his cell and kept walking. There was nothing to be afraid of. There had never been anything to be afraid of. He'd just go up there, ring the doorbell, and as her if she'd go out... for a walk. Of course just a walk, it's not like he could ask her out for a date or anything. And if she thought it was weird? He'd just say it was to make up for her not being there to go home together with him. Yeah, he'd make a joke out of it, so it wouldn't be weird, at all. Yeah.

She wasn't home.

Craig rushed down the stairs and looked around. Now what? This was the second time in his life he'd gathered up his courage to go to her only to find she wasn't at home. Was this fate? A sign from heaven? Craig didn't believe in either, but it had to mean SOMETHING.
"If there's anyone up there actually listening, do something about this and I'll give you a bag of sugar" he muttered, staring at the sky. There were a few clouds forming up to cover up the few patches of blue sky left. It didn't look like rain yet, but the wind was picking up. That meant rain was coming, right?
He was being stupid over this. He should just get her number like a reasonable person. Or maybe her e-mail.
Craig found himself skulking into the small forest between Farai's apartment block and the local park. 20 years ago there had been gang war in that park. The forest on the other hand had been nicknamed Slender Woods by his pals when they were in elementary school.
"Slender Woods... tsk... OH WHOA SLENDER!"
Craig shouted out all of a sudden, turning to look into a random direction while pointing. That had been so much funnier to do as a kid. At night. With a flashlight. Truly, they had proven their courage those nights.
...and gotten in trouble for it. Their parents made it clear that Slenderwoman was nothing to fool around with, and that very real children had been kidnapped because they had been doing the kind of things they had. Those sermons had warned them from practising black magic, too. As if any horny teenager didn't try to summon a Succubus...
Craig hadn't though. Not after what happened to Samuel. A Paladin run private school? Fuck that shit. Though with the way things were going, that might not be such a bad idea. It's not like he'd get into trouble with anyone but the Immigration Office if he successfully summoned a Succubus and got it addicted to his jizz. Unless that didn't actually work outside of porn and Soap Operas.

Craig emerged from the woods in a nostalgic state. Maybe he had just started to ponder these things to keep himself from thinking about how much his stomach hurt. Yeah, he was trying to think happy thoughts now. Eugh.
The pond still had ducks in it. Hmm. Craig had once been here on a picnic with his parents and a duck had stolen a cracker from his hands. Cheeky bastard.
Someone was feeding the ducks now. Now THAT was something an old person would do! An old person wearing some sexy boots and cute, pink earmuffs. An old person who wasn't an old person at all.
Beat still, my heart.
Craig didn't know whether or not he should approach her. She hadn't noticed him yet, right? He could still just slink away and... wait, wasn't he out here to see her in the first place? What was he trying to run away for?
She brushed her hair neatly behind her ear and tucked it under the... uhh, the part of the earmuffs that went over her head and kept the muffs themselves held together. That was cute... wait, fuck, this was Twilight-level lameness, thinking that was cute!
Craig couldn't deny that it was, though. And then she was already waving at him and he had no choice anymore.
"Fancy meeting you here!" she said in a  genuinely delighted tone. Craig was sold again.
"You're uhh, feeding ducks?"
Great, that's fucking slick. You could walk into an Oni Biker bar, use their bathroom and walk out unraped with that silvery tongue.
"Yup! They're such little champs, staying here over the winter, I can't help but reward their tenacity, you know?"
Craig stared at the ducks. He remembered only one fact about ducks. He read somewhere they were a rapey bird.
"I read that ducks are rapey" he said.
OH FUCK WHY DOES THIS KEEP HAPPENING TO ME?
"Eh? Really? They look so cute though..."
AND WHY DOES SHE KEEP LETTING ME GET AWAY WITH IT?
"Uhh, yeah, I uhh, read their, like, genitals evolved into, uhh, spirals"
AND WHY CAN'T I JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?
"Spirals? Are you just pulling my leg?"
Oh whatever...
"Yeah, the females, uhh, vaginas turned into spirals so the males would have, would have a harder time ra-raping them, and the males, uhh, dicks, evolved into spirals to have an easier time, d-doing it. And the, the dick of, of a duck, it can be, like, three times as long as, as the rest of the body"

That was awful. Craig couldn't do anything but stare at the pond. That was just plain awful. Why would he speak of such things to the girl he had a crush on?
"You wouldn't believe it when you look at them. Spiral-genitalia? Ahahahaha!"
Farai seemed to find it hilarious.
"And, uhh, ducks can be gay, too"
FOR THE LOVE OF HATHOR WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU MAN!?
Farai tilted her head.
"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"
"It's true!"
"Hmm? I don't believe you!"
"Come on, it's true..."
"As if! Gay ducks? Then why don't I ever see them Alping out?"
"Ducks can't Alp, there's no demonic energy..."
"Well that's just... well that's just true, but... hmm..."
Farai seemed to be seriously contemplating this matter.
"I HAVE seen them pair up with just males, but... do they really do butt-stuff?"
Craig chuckled.
"Ducks have cloacae, like Lamias, you know?"
"Hmm? Really?"
"All birds do"
"Harpies don't!"
"Harpies are not birds"
"As you say sensei!"
Did she just...?
"Wh-what did you just call me?"
Farai blushed for the first time in Craig's memory.
"N-nothing. I mean, teacher. I, I called you teacher"
Oh, I know that.
"In Moon" Craig said, not willing to let up.
"Y-yes..."
She was looking very, very embarrassed.
"Don't judge me!" she said, seemingly only half joking.
"I'm not judging you" Craig said, finally looking her in the eyes. She had her arms crossed.
"But I don't get it"
"What's there to get? I'm a girl with vices"
Vices. Not a lot of people Craig knew used that word unless they were quoting paladin books. Then he noticed she was shivering.
"Let's walk" he said, turning to face the end of the park. The end furthest from where she lived.
"Walk?"
"Yeah. Come on, just fifteen minutes"
What am I thinking? No, wait, this was the plan, wasn't it? Yeah, thanks Brains!
"I thought that since you, uhh, went to school with me today, but we, you know, missed each other coming back, you could, well, make up for it?"
BAD WORDING.
Farai let out a little sound. It seemed like a stifled bit of laughter. And her smile was still there. Such a pretty smile...
"I'll just let the little gay rapists feed on the rest of this..."
She shredded the bread she had quickly and threw it all over the place.
"Let us off, oh childhood friend of mine!" she said and suddenly clung to Craig's arm. She smelled so nice...
Wait, childhood friend?
"W-wait, c-childhood friend?"
Farai let out a little giggle.
"Told you I had vices, baka!"
Craig was suddenly very conscious of her body and the fact that she was taller than him. And she had quite the grip, too.  And she smelled nice. He could feel the warmth of her body, too, cold as she herself was feeling, and that made him conscious of the fact that he might be, to her, pretty hot. Tskhahaehe.
"Tskhhaehe"
"What was that?"
"N-nothing. Just... thought of something funny. And stupid"
"Hmm? 'kay..."
She was so understanding and kind. And she smelled really nice.

They kept walking, and Craig found himself enjoying the familiar sights a little more, as if seeing them for the first time again. With a girl holding on to his arm. A girl who smelled really nice. And had the sexiest boots...
"Hey Craig..."
"Uhyeah?"
"Do you like, believe in fate?"
Awkward topic.
"N-not really..."
Honest Abe for the win?
Farai stiffened up.
"Were you going to, uhh... go somewhere with this?"
"N-no, nevermind"
Craig wasn't about to.
"Come on, I'm not going to, like, call you an idiot or anything..."
Farai relaxed again.
"Okay, so this might be, like, totally out of the left field, but I actually, umm, was hoping to see you today"
"We saw at school" Craig said, his brain not completely registering what was happening.
"Ye-yeah, I know. But it's just that, I meant after. I said to myself, you know, that, that if I met you today, I'd take it as a sign. I didn't, like, pray about it, but..."
What was she saying?
"You know... this isn't maybe the, umm, most, like, the, the best way to, to say this, but... oooh... this is harder than I thought..."
Craig had not a single thought in his head.
"You remember how you asked me about my hobbies, in the morning?"
Craig nodded.
"So I... like I said, there's something I've been wanting to try, and I don't mean that just recently, I mean this is something I should be doing as, as a part of my cultural heritage, I mean, it's practically hardwired into me, you know?"
Now Craig stiffened up.
"And I had been thinking recently... I mean, I'd been really antsy about it, you know? Like, this is something I should be doing, but I wasn't, just something I'd been putting off and off even when I knew I shouldn't..."
Craig knew exactly what the feeling she was describing was.
"Umm..."
She was biting her lower lip.
"Go on..."
"Right. Uhh, so, so what I'm talking about isn't something you can do on your own, you know? And I haven't ever really met anyone I really wanted to partner up for it with, but I had a good time with you yesterday, and then you asked me about hobbies... I couldn't concentrate in school at all, I mean I hardly remember the day at all... and so I promised myself, that if I ran into you today, I'd ask you..."
Craig was shocked. How was it possible that they had been experiencing such similar emotions?
"Sooo..."
She stopped walking and grabbed on to his hand with both of hers. She was looking him in the eyes now. Her face had a very serious, stern look on it.
"W-would you... please become my, my umm... would you please..."
She was having a lot of trouble with this. Craig brought his other hand to hers. Now they were standing there, holding each others hands, staring at one another. Anyone who saw this scene would be compelled to misinterpret it.
"C-Craig... would you please become my... augh, that's all wrong! I'm getting way, way ahead of myself... stupid..."
She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths.
"Craig, what do you think of when you hear S&M?"