Even if this rain lets up
I'll walk onward, never forgetting
The me of today who looked up

𝗖𝗔𝗥𝗣𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗘𝗠 : 001

Run, run, running, and then boom! You see a small pond with a few rocks surrounding it steps away from you, "I see one right there!" You cheered.

Looking behind you, you see the blonde boy far back behind you, walking painfully slowly whilst staring at the grass. So you quickly ran back.

"Hey! You were running a while ago! Why did ya slow down?" You asked. The blonde then looked at you, "Can we take a break...? I need a quick rest..." And then started zoning out.

"Alright then...!" You replied while the blonde sat down on the grass. You followed, sitting next to him. He started chewing on his sleeve again.

Right! You haven't even said your name yet, "Also! I'm [NAME], who are ya?" The blonde then stopped chewing,- "I'm Luka." Well, now you can stop referring to him as blonde.

"Uhh... Nice to meet you I guess?" Then, your patience started to fade away after a short introduction, "And can we go now? The pond is literally just some steps away from us!"

"Wait... Just a few more seconds..." Luka replied and closed his eyes, as if he's taking a nap.

.

.

.

He opened his eyes, "...I'm good now."

"Great! Let's go!" You then ran to the pond and looked back again, and see Luka far behind you again, trying his best to catch up with you. And he did catch up after a while!

You stared at the small pond infront of you both, "So this is where the fishes are, right?" You kept staring, waiting for an answer.

Luka answered, "Mhm! Here, I think." He also stared at the pond, and out of nowhere, started playing with the pond's Adam's ale.

"You do that... I'll try catching a fish! I've seen multiple kids like us with a fish!" You stepped in the pond and looked everywhere. "Hey... That part of the water is moving!"

Luka blankly stared at you, "Of course it does, [NAME]. Water does move."

"Ye- Yes! I do know that water moves, but look! There's circle things... Gipples was it?" You replied defensively. Luka then blankly stared at you again, "It's called ripples...!" What the hell are you saying. What even are gipples.

"Yes... ripples! And there's probably a fish under that... I'll check!" You made your way to the "moving water circle" and tried grabbing it and...

Boom! Your first fish ever caught! "See! I was right! It was fish!" You felt incredibly proud over robot fishes, but, "-It's moving, the fish! How do you stop it? Do you throw it on the grass and wait for it to dry!? I'll try that!"

Luka then went up to you and punched the fish, "Ouch!"

"Why did you do that...? Fishes have feelings too!" You felt offended only FOR the fish. He looked at the fish in confusion, "Then, I'm sorry...?" He apologized to a literal fish.

Wait- do fishes even have feelings? You stared at him with an eyebrow raised, and then replied, "Nevermind, it's your choice if you wanna apologize to the fish or not. I wanna insult it now, unlike a few seconds ago."

Luka nodded, "Well, I think it looks ugly..." You nodded as well, in agreement. It did look ugly, "Yep, but the only difference between what we think is, I don't think, I know... Let's go back to the grass though, I don't wanna offend its family... there might be prettier fishes."

The both of you, still holding the fish, stepped out of the water and sat beside a huge rock that was nearby the pond.

"So, how was your fishing experience?" The blonde was curious. "It was fun! It was the first fish I've ever catched, if you weren't here it'd probably be less fun! But still quite fun." You smiled at him.

His face had a shocked-happy expression. His eyes pretty much sparkled when he heard that, you don't know why. "I make your experience more fun?" Okay, he looks REALLY happy.

"...yes?" You were so confused, you don't even know what to say anymore. "-Anyways, you probably have terrible stamina, right?"

"Yep! Terrible stamina somehow... It's really easy for me to get exhausted." He replied.

You examined him, and realized that he does NOT look healthy at all, "You look quite starved... Does your guardian feed you cyanide...? I dislike cyanide!"

He didn't reply. When mandatory playtime is over and you guys get to eat, you should probably give him more food from your tray. He looks terribly underweight.

.

.

.

"...Do you wanna try solving a Rubik's cube puzzle with me soon?" He asked out of nowhere, breaking the awkward silence.

"Of course! My analytical-ness depends on my mood though..." He smiled softly when he heard that answer.

"I can help you with that. I wanna go get it now!" He stood up.

You stood up as well, "Let's go get it then!" You placed the fish near the pond.

You followed him. Still wondering, what happened? Did he do a sudden personality shift? Isn't he supposed to be calm?

⋆ ꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

The both of you got the Rubik's cube and went back to the same huge rock, the fish was trying it's best to flop back into the pond. It could be a torture method for every fish.

Luka looked at the fish and then looked at you, "You should try it first! I'll shuffle it for you."

He shuffled the Rubik's cube and gave it to you, you didn't even know what to do first.

After a while, you eventually got one side complete, and Luka suddenly took the Rubik's cube away from you, "You're being too slow... I'll do it for you."

You nodded and watched him as he- SOLVED IT IMMEDIATELY!? Is he superhuman? Does he have magical intelligence powers? I need answers!

"How did you-? That was quick!" You stared at the solved cube in disbelief, Luka softly smiled, "It's fun. It's easy too."

"I-I can do that too! I just need practice and time to adjust! I might as well call you a 'baby genius'!" Practice makes perfect, but if it didn't take a long time for him to practice getting better at solving one... Then I DON'T KNOW EITHER?

The blonde blankly looked at you, "Baby genius...? I assume that I'm older than you though..."

"Older-? You look younger than me...!" You said in confusion. He stared back the Rubik's cube again and replied, "That's up for you to find out."

You took the Rubik's cube from his hand, "Okay- nevermind that, solve this one! Close your eyes!" You playfully said.

He didn't close his eyes, he just stupidly stared at the cube.

"I said close your eyes-!"

"Alright!" He laughed and eventually did close his eyes. You shuffled the Rubik's cube and hid it behind your back as a "magic trick" and it disappeared.

That was the first laugh you've ever heard from him. Cool.

"You can open your eyes now!" You excitedly said. Wondering how he would solve it if the Rubik's cube disappeared?

"Where's the cube?" He asked. You giggled, "Don't ask where it is, find where it is!" And then he began thinking.

"It has to be behind you." He said.

You replied with a playful grin, "Hmm... What if it isn't?"

Luka scooted over behind you, and pointed at your hand with the shuffled Rubik's cube, "Well, it IS right behind you."

"Aha... Then grab it and solve it!" You passed him the cube, and he tried solving it immediately.

The both of you sat comfortably next to eachother, basking in the artificial morning glow.

Now you've gained someone who you could call a 'friend'. He chews on his sleeves sometimes and is a huge genius weirdo, he's also starved and has terrible stamina.

Who cares though, if it's to have fun everyday and to forget, then it's fine.

I can't fold up my heart quite so easily
So I want to collect the moments that pass by
Aah, every single drop

⋆ ꩜ .ᐟ˙⋆✶

002→
DUM SPIRO, SPERO