After Images of Summer

TW: Swearing, implied violence

People always said that he was a bit odd, of course no one would bother explaining why or how - but in a town this size it’s easy to paint a picture of someone just from hearsay alone. The picture that most had of Lucius was of a timid kid, shoulders practically sinking into a hunched torso; a human hook that would rather spend his days alone walking through the woods than with anyone else.

To be fair, it’s not like he had many other options for enjoying his youth - Nearbay was a notoriously boring town - meaning that its only notable characteristic was being antithetical, that and some really good fish at the local restaurant.

Said restaurant was ran by the typical Nearbaynesse family, remarkably unremarkable. The eldest son, Robin, tended to the cash register while ma and pa worked the stove and served the clients, his little brother still had the privilege of studying in the back; Robin had to do it in between payments.

On a particularly quiet day, Robin looked out the window, towards the busy main street. Through the dirty glass and middle-aged women he saw a small, hunched figure walking by - a colleague from school that was still wearing his buttoned-up uniform despite the unbearable summer heat. His gaze followed the lost figure as he dragged his feet toward the boardwalk, turned away from the restaurant and proceeded to walk in the direction of the topanga.

Robin had always seen him around, the shifty looking sort that glades by the corner of the eye without drawing attention. He didn’t know the guy’s name, never was one for rumors neither as he was always buried in a pile of textbooks - entrance exams would be soon and it’s not like Nearbay was brimming with opportunities for higher education.

Putting his academic endeavours aside, all he could do was stare at the odd little shape that slowly distanced itself. It was a quarter past midday and no one would dare go out into the humid heat, so what was he doing?

His nose still ached something awful, swollen to the touch and dripping viscous blood. All he could do now was hope to get to his safe place without drawing much attention and wait for it to dry up.

Mission failed. Lucius heard quick steps coming up behind him, it sounded like only one person, thankfully. Maybe he could talk his way out of this one, the other guys had already taken all his money.

As he spun on his heels, he was greeted by a lanky boy - probably around his age with the poorly shaved edges of a mustache to prove it.

“Hey, what’cha doing out here?” The boy inquired. Lucius kept his face half-turned to avoid showing his bloody nostril.

“Just…out on a stroll.” He was as shaky as a bamboo tree with white-knuckled fists.

“Odd time for it, but who am I to judge, right?” He reached for something behind him. “Take this, in case you get thirsty.”

A shiny cylinder glistening under the sunlight, an ice-cold cola. The gift was like a mirage, transfixing enough for Lucius to forget about the wound on his face.

“Woah! What happened to your nose, man?” Robin asked, taking a slight step back.

A flustered Lucius desperately tried to cover the wound, but blood would not stop gushing out.

“Some guys got to me…” Was all he could say.

Robin tapped his pockets quickly; he pulled out a napkin to stop the bleeding - his new friend looked at him completely mesmerized.

“That should hold ‘til you get home.” He concluded. “You are going home, right?”

“Not right now, it’s still too early.” Lucius massaged his swelling nose. “But thanks, either way.”

He turned around in silence and began to walk. After a few steps, he could hear the familiar sound of someone walking behind him.

“Not letting you go alone, y’know.” Robin smirked, moving into his line of sight.

“It’s fine, really…don’t worry.”

“I don’t think it’s fine to see someone all beat up for no reason at all. At least lemme make sure you’re gonna be safe.”

“What’s all this for? There’s no need…really.” He covered his flustered face, beads of sweat poured relentlessly.

“No reason, just wanna clear my head a bit too.”

Much to Lucius' delight, they spent the rest of the walk in silence - merely observing the quiet crashing of the waves and the sound of cicadas as they moved further into the woods. The shade greeted them with a cool breeze and a clearing where the dim sunlight pierced through thick oak trees. The pair sat next to each other and shared the bubbly soda.

“Why’d they beat you up, anyway?”

“Folks say I’m different.” Lucius fused his knees to his chest like an armadillo.

“I think everyone’s a little different, but that don’t make it weird.”

“No, it’s not your regular kind of different…”

Lucius grabbed the empty soda can with one hand and suddenly the aluminum began folding onto itself, the material bent and stretched midair like a complex lightshow. All Robin could do was watch in awe as it twirled around in an incomprehensible dance. The final result was an origami crane that nestled into Lucius’ hand.

“How did you…” He could barely form a thought, let alone a sentence.

“I’m different.” Lucius smiled shyly, having found some seed of trust in his new companion that allowed his abilities to bloom. “But it’s not just this.”

The teen rose to his feet, plucking a leaf from one of the towering trees nearby. He sat the leaf on the ground and, in a fraction of a second, it sprouted into a fully developed tree, sending all the others toppling down the cliffside.

“This is…amazing.” Robin proclaimed as he cleaned dirt from his overalls. “Since when could you do all this?”

“Ever since I was little.” The reminiscence of his great powers were filled with equally pungent sadness. “But people never did like it. It scared them.”

Robin looked at his partner in awe, buried under the monotony of this small town was a person so extraordinary that words faltered in describing him. Lucius was change incarnate, like the movement of the crashing waves below them. And, much like the newly sprouted sapling, Robin felt a rush - an ever expanding feeling inside of him.

Two weeks passed since then and summer properly set in. The last few days of school were filled with rumors about the “new freaks”, the hunched weirdo and the bookworm.

They, of course, paid no mind - having one another was enough to silence any naysayers and keep any violent intent away. Soon, they entered summer break and their days were filled with excursions to the hills and nights swimming by the sea.

On a day like any other, they climbed up to the topanga where their tree laid. The sun was setting in the distance and they had brought supplies for an impromptu camping trip. Not that it mattered anyway, Lucius could simply will a fire into existence without any source of fuel, same with the food.

As the teen crouched around a small fire, he saw his companion moving towards their tree with a pocket knife in hand.

“What are you gonna do?” He inquired.

“Gonna leave a mark.” Robin stuck his blade into the thick oak, carving at it intently.

Lucius quietly watched as every forceful stroke quickly took shape. In his mind, he knew that he could do it effortlessly in a fraction of the time, but it wasn’t about time or efficiency, it was about doing.

After the longest five minutes of their lives, Robin stepped back and revealed the initials R+L etched upon the tree’s surface.

“I guess we own her now.” Lucius commented, stretching his body upon his sleeping bag. “Should we give her a name?

“Why bother? I think it’s fine as is.” Robin laid by his side, on his own bag.

“Hey, Robin. I’ve been thinking…” He turned to face his partner. “Why hang out with me? You probably have other friends, right?”

“Not really friends, no. I don’t get out much either, so most people see me as a huge nerd.” He gazed contemptly into the cloud covered night. “Tell the truth, I think most people here are boring, which you aren’t.”

“Boring? How so?”

“Dunno how to explain it,” He lifted himself up as if it would make anything clearer. “The whole town is…stale, same old people, same old things, all the time. All I wanna do is get away, change. And you, I mean,” Their eyes met in the dim firelight. “You’re unlike anything I’ve ever seen.”

“So, you wanna get away?” Lucius’ voice was shaky.

“More than anything.”

“I’ll take us there, wherever it is. Far away from here. Promise.” He rose to his partner, meaning every word with his life.

“Maybe one day..” The conversation’s shift made Robin quite reflexive, something that his companion was attuned to.

“Hey, wanna see something cool?”

“As long as it doesn't end in you dropping your pants, yeah.”

With a mere wave of his hand, Lucius transformed the murky night sky into a dazzling spectacle. Before their eyes rose an unimaginable amount of stars, so bright, vast and unknown that one could get lost in their mere gaze.

“What is that?” Robin’s eyes were completely absorbed into the night sky.

“That’s the andromeda galaxy. Normally you’d point out what stars and constellations are where…” It wasn’t the first time he had done it, but he was still left in awe at it. “But I don’t know anything about that sort of stuff.”

“Guess that doesn’t matter. Still a heck of a show.”

And so, in a moment of perfect silence, the pair watched the mystifying stars. The andromeda galaxy nursed them into a deep slumber, forever etched into their minds - the face of their dreams for years to come.

A few days had gone by since then and Lucius was nowhere to be found. Robin searched all the places he could think of, his house, the school, their hideout in the woods - no one knew where he was. During a particularly busy day at the restaurant, where even Robin’s little brother had to get involved, he saw a familiar figure standing on the beach outside.

A client quickly approached the counter and was left flabbergasted as Robin rushed out the front door. Lucius stood at the very edge, where the sand met the sea, dressed in his uniform with a sling bag on him. He slowly turned to meet his partner’s gaze.

“Lucius…where’d you go man?” Robin gasped for air with knees shaking.

“I was gathering my things. Are you ready to go?” His voice was as still as a pond, soft and innocent.

“Go where? What are you talking about?”

“You said you wanted to leave, right? Let’s go.” He sounded so sweet that just about anyone could be convinced to do his bidding.

“You mean-” Robin’s mind traced back to the starlit encounter. “I didn’t mean right now. I want to leave eventually but-”

“What will you wait for? Why delay what you want? What we want?”

“Listen, Lu, I like you a lot but I can’t just drop everything on a whim, you get that, right?”

Lucius stared at him with blank eyes, his pupils fading into a milky pale iris. “No, I don’t.”

“I got a family and a job and-”

“You have me.”

“We’re great together, Lu,” Robin chose words carefully, feeling the weight of each option on the tip of his tongue and in his trembling heart. “But I have to stay, at least for now. I promise that one day we’ll…”

Without another word, Lucius raised his hand and their oak tree suddenly rushed above his head; flung past it, and crashed into the restaurant. Robin watched in terror as his companion summoned even more trees, boulders and storms to crush the city - streets flooded and houses were destroyed. Like the trees from before, Robin saw life being uprooted in front of him.

“What did you do…” It wasn’t a question, it was nothing. A pure instinctual reaction to destruction beyond what he could understand.

“Now we can go. There is nothing left to tie you here.” Lucius spoke with the same grace as before, oblivious to what he had done.

As Robin stared into the ruins of what once was his family’s pride and joy, reality set in. He turned towards Lucius with blood in his eyes.

“We? What the fuck are you thinking?!” As he lunged forward, the creature in front of him backed away in fear. “You ruined everything! Everyone was right about you, you’re a freak! A monster! I tried to be by your side, to lend you a hand and you killed my family!”

“I don’t…I don’t understand.” Lucius dipped his feet in the turbulent waters.

“I doubt you ever will.” Even with his blood boiling, he couldn’t help but look at the thing in front of him like an animal - a dog that hunts only because it is what it knows how to do. Somewhere deep inside him, Robin hoped that was true. “Get out of here. If you ever come back, if I ever see you again, I’ll kill you.”

“I thought we were going to leave…” Lucius’ hands trembled uncontrollably, his eyes welled with tears.

“You are. Go.”

Lucius looked at his partner one last time, turning his back and slowly walking into the water. Even as his head was submerged in the waves, he never looked back - disappearing into the turbid depths. Robin fell to his knees, bawling in agony under the turbid sky.

For years to come, even after the city had been rebuilt, after it had sprouted from the depths; he would look into the night sky, wondering why the stars never looked the same.