[Gift] Unlearned Solitude

A refreshing stroll through the woods wasn't usually a bad idea. Not as a hobby, but just as a way to clear his head. Today though, he was far from the only one.

Reeses could only glare across the water, the trail around the lake full of people. Small gatherings were everywhere. Some kind of an event was set up. What, did the entire neighborhood decide to do lantern fruit carving for the upcoming festival? And why here? In his personal safe space? With a sigh, he leaned up against a tree to look around at his now invaded haven. One family here, a group of kids off in the corner... It didn't matter, this was his space! There were too many for him to try and drive them off, but they certainly weren't going to keep him out.

Only half-suppressing his sulking posture, Reeses hiked his way around the lake, stepping off of the wide path to get around groups. It was all he could do to not bare his fangs at the intruders, but he knew better than to make trouble. It was his space, he wasn't about to give anyone a reason to keep him out. So for now, he gave them all a wide berth.

His first assumption had been right, they were all here for some kind of lantern fruit carving event for the neighborhood. Wonderful, he was going to have to sidestep the goopy stuff from all the carving for a couple weeks even after this was all over.

A few glances were cast his way, more put of concern for the constant growling he was doing, but his irritated walk kept anybody from wanting to bother. He'd made it all the way around to the cliff side, if it could really be called a cliff. Only 5 meters or so above the water, but enough for any kids to use it for jumping dares.

Much to his chagrin, Reeses found that the isolation in this corner wasn't enough. The sound of kids gleefully screaming still carried across the water too easily. 

Maybe coming out here wasn't such a good idea. It was his place, but who was he proving a point to? Himself? Was that even worth just sitting out here and listening to this crap?

Several minutes had passed before the little Xero decided to take a dive into the water, then call it a day. He could be as off-putting as he wanted, but that wasn't going to make all these people go away. And unfortunately for him--or perhaps fortunately--his solitude was broken just as he was nearing the cliff edge.

"Hey, you don't have to sit over here all by your lonesome, we've got plenty of extra lantern fruit if you want to carve something."

Irritating, but at the same time, a chance to make a point. Help get these people to get off his back every time they show up.

"And get my paws and fur all goopy? I'll pass, thanks," Reeses snapped, turning his head to glare at the intruder. He was a peach colored Xero, with nothing quite so eye catching as some other Xeros he had met. Maybe a young adult, but on the verge of losing that little bit of youth.

The adult recoiled, then shook his head. "Look, I'm just trying to be nice. You look miserable over here, I figured I could offer you a spot with us to hang out."

"I'm good," Reeses asserted, perhaps a bit too aggressively. He stepped over to the edge, stretching his arms out a little bit, cracking his knuckles where he could. 

"Hey, kid, if you're thinking about-"

"Don't call me 'kid'! Just buzz off and mind your own business!"

"No seriously, the water's-"

But Reeses had already jumped. He'd turned back to face the stranger just to pose at him in the air, winking and pointing at himself before curling up into a cannonball.

Upon hitting the water, Reeses immediately recognized his mistake, as his whole body stung with the bite of cold. He reflexively tightened up his whole body, and a half gasp forced the air from his lungs. If he was a fraction of a second slower to react, he would have inhaled following, but he caught himself. Only a few seconds passed while he pondered his predicament, and then the burn of his lungs demanded that he swim up. 

Only he couldn't. 

His arms and legs refused to budge, to answer his commands. The muscles were tense and he couldn't do anything else. Panic set in, and he exhaled what little air he had left, involuntarily. He panicked more. He strained to fight his own body and keep himself from breathing in, his lungs burning-

His arms were tugged upwards, and thanks to his locked up position, he didn't go slack. The panic half-faded, but the desperation didn't. His body started loosening up. He could twitch. And once his ears were above water, he could move once more, though the two larger xeros holding onto him were not letting him go anytime soon. His snout broke the surface and he gasped for air, choking and coughing on a mixture of air and water. He blindly moved his arms to try and climb, though he contributed little to the effort, even when they reached the shore. There was another effort by another Xero to grab him separately and pull him up.

Everything around him seemed to fade away as he buried himself in his thoughts. How could he have been so stupid? He knew it was basically winter. Of course swimming would have been a bad idea, there was a reason that none of the kids were swimming when they weren't engaged enough by the carving. He just had to insist on trying to keep his little haven, he should have just given up. It was only one day, for a couple hours if that. And what the hell was that weird paralysis?

"KID!"

Reeses blinked hard, drawing himself back to reality so he could look the adult in the eye. As his awareness returned, he steadily became more aware of a burning itch in his lungs.

It quickly grew to be unbearable, and Reeses leaned to the side so he cod forcibly cough up more water.

And then a towel was thrown around his shoulders, which he quickly clung to and pulled tight around himself. And then someone behind him pulled it free.

"Hold still, let me-"

"I c-c-c-can do it m-m-m-myself…" Reeses trailed off, embarrassed of how he sounded.

"Yeah yeah, I've heard that before. You'll actually get sick if you don't let me get all this water out of your fur."

Screw it. He couldn't even get himself to his feet, he'd at least let this stranger get him dry. Dry enough to leave anyways. He glanced suddenly to his sides, then tucked his head back in. For half a second, he wanted to be sure the others were okay. And then he regretted it. He'd just made two people come diving after him because of his stupidity. He didn't want to see their faces, just to remind himself if what he did. Didn't matter if he didn't want anyone to get hurt, his actions still led to it. 

For nearly ten minutes, he shut himself down, not listening to anyone that spoke around him. For the most part, everyone respected that, and turned away when he didn't answer any questions.

"You should be good to go." It took nearly ten second for the sentence to register in Reeses head, and when it did, he just opened his eyes and said, "what?" while keeping his gaze on the ground. "You're good to go. We're still going to send someone with you just to make sure you're okay though."

"...You're not trying to get me to stick around for--" He got caught in a coughing fit for several seconds, thankfully with little water coming up. That was a good sign. "You're not making me stay for carving?"

"What would be the point in making you stay? You clearly aren't interested in joining us."

Well, when he put it like that, now he just wanted to stay. Have some company. Would be nice after an incident like that.

But no, he wasn't going to burden them with that, after the stunt he just pulled.

"I'll pass, yeah. But I think I'm good to head out on my own."

"That isn't a debate. I'm making sure nothing happens on the way back. Once you're home fine, but you're not making the walk alone."

Reeses growled lowly, but sighed. "Fine." It was less a matter of relenting and more that he just didn't have it in him to fight. He didn't have to acknowledge them while they were there, after all. That was the theory, anyways.

Once he was back on the trail and walking, he was shivering since his fur wasn't completely dry. He insisted on not taking the towel with him, he didn't want to take someone else's possession even if it would have made a world of difference. Didn't want to owe anybody any favors.

Of course it was tremendously awkward with this other Xero following him. He had a different pace, and after being so used to only hearing his own steps, the crunching of leaves by the other was almost jarring with each step. Beyond that, it was awkward like nothing else. He didn't want the help, or the company, yet he felt better and also felt a need to thank them. But he didn't ask, in fact he asked to be left alone.

The older Xero could see the internal struggle that Reeses was going through clear as day. It took only a moment for them to realize that letting him burn himself out in his thoughts wasn't the best idea.

"My name's Fenrir, by the way."

"....Reeses, if nobody got around to telling you. What're you doing here anyways?"

"Just visiting." Fenrir smiled a bit, noting his success. Even if Reeses wasn't happy, he still looked less miserable and angry than he probably would be if he were to be left alone. "I travel around a lot, and I already did some celebrations for the Twilight Festival. I got invited over here for this little outing, so I figured I'd come along. Lucky you, huh?"

"Yeah, sure, lucky me."

"So why'd you jump?"

Reeses jerked his head over to the stranger. "What?"

"Why'd you jump?" Fenrir repeated. "it looked like you were practically running from the guy up there."

"No… I mean yeah… I was gonna jump anyways. I go swimming over here sometimes."

"So… what, you forgot it was basically winter time?"

Reeses was silent in response to that. He knew it gave the answer, but thinking about admitting to it out loud somehow seemed worse.

"Then I guess you're lucky that there were in fact people here. Cold shock is nothing to mess with. You’re really lucky that-”
“Don’t even get me started on ‘luck’,” Reeses nearly snarled. He didn’t quite have the energy to be vicious.

At some level he knew that he was, in fact, lucky, but hearing it said out loud was such a different experience. His spine went cold, in a different way, and forced him to shudder. He fought himself for words to protest, but nothing would come. No thoughts to help him. If this whole event hadn’t happened…

"Just be more careful, okay?”
“Yeah, I got it.”

Silence followed the pair the rest of the way back to the neighborhood. Even the wind was absent, no rustling of trees or anything. It was all Reeses could do to keep himself from being the one to break the silence, but finally he had enough reason when his home came into view.

“Thanks for… helping me, and whatever. That’s my house over there. You can… head on back, or whatever you want to do.”

Fenrir stopped in his tracks, watching Reeses storm the rest of the way home, almost running in an effort to be alone again. "Yeah, no problem…" By the time Reeses reached the door, he turned back, and scowled when he saw the older Xero still watching him. He slammed the door behind him, and then shuddered when his solitude reminded him of how cold he was. His thoughts wandered for a while, between a little bit of regret, still being angry that the event broke his peace, and deciding whether he wanted to get a blanket first or making something warm to drink, or eat. He shook his head and let his instincts decide for him, his first steps leading him into his kitchen. Hot chocolate did sound nice…