Francis Green | Faramir (ithilienranger) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2018-09-26 07:51:00 |
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The trails along the river in Fountainhead Regional Park winded through thick forests, and every now and then Kai could get a glimpse of the river and reservoir to his left. It was a surprisingly quiet day out on the trails -- maybe that was to be expected for a weekday, but he wasn’t complaining. Sometimes these trails were full of mountain bikers and horseback riders. Not that day, however. Kai paused at the trailhead that would lead him up towards one of the regional parks upstream on Bull Run, and then he kept walking. He hadn’t planned to do the entire trail out and back, but he could go about halfway before he’d have to turn around. He’d been spoiled, living in the Bay Area. There were so many easily accessible parks and recreation areas. When he’d first come to Dunhaven to visit the university, it hadn’t been on the top of his list of things to look into. He wasn’t sure if it would have made much of a difference in the long run when there were so many positives to moving to Dunhaven for school, anyway, but he was pleased to discover there was a lot to see not very far away. It wasn’t just urban sprawl from Washington DC. The parks along the river became some of his favorites, very quickly, for their ease of access. And for their peace and quiet, too. There was nothing quite like stepping into a forest and hearing birds chirping, hearing leaves rustled by the breeze. It wasn’t the ocean, but it was still nice. The sound of wildlife off to his right drew his attention as he walked, and he lost focus on the trail ahead of him -- and, more importantly, whether or not there was someone else there. “Shit!” he exclaimed, reaching out to steady himself on the other person’s shoulder when he bumped into them. “I’m so sorry!” Francis was used to a little existential oblivion. After spending a good 30 hours awake, working on a paper that had only recently been turned in, he decided to retire to the woods and get his heart pumping. It was only that the paths along Bull Run distracted him with their historical markers. As he stopped to read, engrossed in the bronzed wording, he certainly didn’t see his fellow hiker. He certainly didn’t expect to become an immoveable object, either. Automatically, his hand reached out to steady the figure and he turned with fair brows arched to see who didn’t see him. (In gray, fair haired and pale, he all but blended into their shaded environment anyhow.) “Hey, no problem. I should keep moving.” “I should look where I’m going,” Kai corrected with a warm, bright smile. He was normally better at that, but his attention was scattered. That was on him. Once he wasn’t afraid he might fall over, he took a second to get a better look at the other man. His heart skipped a beat, unable to help himself. The other man was cute - and remarkably familiar, but Kai couldn’t put a finger on it. “Have you been here before?” Francis’ hand left the man’s elbow slowly, wide pale eyes taking in an eerily familiar face. Dunhaven was small, though. He could have seen him anywhere before. Right? “This -“ he cleared his throat, attempting to sound a little more masculine. “Uh this is my after class hang, most days. Do you go to DU?” “Huh.” Kai wondered why he’d never seen him before, but maybe the timing explained it. He liked early morning hikes, before class. His afternoons, especially lately, were taken up with his job at the zoo or in labs. After a moment, he snapped out of his thoughts and nodded. “Yeah, I do. I’m Kai.” He held out a hand for the other young man. “Maybe we’ve had class together?” He sounded unsure as he tried to put two and two together. “Or I’ve probably seen you around campus.” Francis stared at the confident young man a moment longer before he leapt into gear. He eased his hand into Kai’s and squeezed. “I’m Francis …” But Francis still couldn’t shake this weird sense of knowing him. Instead of following it, he threw an obvious answer. “Bet we had some of the same seminars. I’m a philosophy major - gonna go to grad school and get my doctorate.” Before he could ask Kai about his major, though, a fact bubbled into his consciousness. Here was one memory? “Wait. Kai. You started a hiking club on campus.” He didn’t know what to do with the swelling in his chest. The other young man was way too cute. And Francis felt way too awkward about it. “Dude!” Kai exclaimed, his smile brightening. “Yeah! That’s me.” He felt like he should have recognized Francis in return - maybe he did, a little, but not enough to remember his name - if Francis knew him. He felt guilty for that, suddenly, and tried to think back. Specifics didn’t come to him, but that was okay. “I take it you’re a fan?” he asked, sounding hopeful. He liked finding out that the club mattered to other people and that they’d had good experiences with it, too. “I’m excited for the fall. I’ve got some good weekends planned already. We’re gonna go up to the mountains.” Francis’ smile went crooked. “I haven’t ever really gone … but it definitely seems cool. I really like hiking and it kind of gets my mind out of the philosophical gutter.” Shifting his feet, he moved to get a better look at Kai. “Never really had anybody to go with.” That took Kai off guard a little. The entire point of the club had been to offer companionship to people who didn’t have anyone else to share the experience with. It wasn’t always safe to go alone. Closer in town was fine, but for the longer excursions, it was best to at least have a buddy. But maybe Francis had been too shy to show up alone, Kai thought. “Well,” Kai started, “you do now.” He looked at Francis with a serious expression. He meant what he said. Kai wanted him to know he was welcome. “Just bring yourself, and you’ll have a hiking buddy in me.” “I’ve never actually spent the night in the woods before,” he admitted, leaning forward and balancing on his toes. “So, um. Hell yes. I’m ready to do this thing with you.” It was weird making a friend this easily, wasn’t it? But Kai was just so much sunshine. He couldn’t help but smile away any of the weirdness. “Glad you literally ran into me.” “You know what?” It was the last thing Kai expected out of his afternoon in the woods, but it was turning out to be an even better idea than he’d thought it would be. He’d just been looking to relax and get out of his head a bit. He hadn’t thought he’d find a new friend. “So am I. You’re in for a treat, seriously. There’s honestly nothing like a clear sky, a campfire, and good company. You’ll like it.” He took a step closer to Francis as another pair of hikers passed by. “Which way are you headed?” He swallowed, then charged on with his next question, “do you want company?” “ … really I just head down the river as far as I can go, then I meander my way back.” Francis swallowed, close enough to scan Kai’s face and get a good scent on his aftershave. He internally berated himself because he was sure he smelled like unwashed Arts student in comparison. “I would totally love the company.” Kai hadn’t really realized it, but he’d been holding his breath after he asked, waiting for a rejection. When it didn’t come, he breathed a sigh of relief. “Down the river sounds good to me.” He could see that Francis’s eyes weren’t just blue, they had a bunch of different shades in them too. And then, abruptly, he blinked and looked away, self-conscious. “C’mon, let’s get a move on.” Francis smiled and forged ahead, schooling himself into something more friendly than vaguely turned on and really curious. He didn’t want Kai thinking he was weird. But Francis was definitely left-of-center. He took a moment to scan the trail, then stopped about fifty yards ahead. “Bobcat tracks.” Kai almost didn’t believe it, but Francis was right. “Holy shit.” Eyes wide, Kai bent down to get a closer look. “Do you know how rare this is?” he asked, already pulling out his phone to take photos of the area. “I mean, this is definitely their natural habitat, and they aren’t really held back by urban environments, so long as they can find suitable cover and prey, but --” He glanced up, then. “I haven’t gotten this lucky here before. I figured if they’d be anywhere nearby, it’d be somewhere like this, because we’re a little farther removed from the busier areas and this is really heavily wooded, but, wow.” He was rambling. Kai’s cheeks turned pink and he looked back at where the tracks were headed. “Do you study animals in your freetime? I thought you said you were a phil major? Not a lot of people would recognize these.” “I just …” Francis frowned, unable to really describe how he knew what he knew. He’d read, he really liked nature. But this environment? He felt like he knew every piece like the back of his hand. “I’m really familiar with this forest,” he said lamely. “And I like big cats.” A pause. “It’s a bobcat, right?” “Yeah, you got it.” Kai wasn’t used to philosophy majors knowing anything about wildlife and forests, so he was surprised - pleasantly so, however. “I’m a zoology major,” he continued, in case Francis doubted how he knew. “And I’ve been working at the zoo this summer.” He took a few more photos and tapped his phone to send them to one of his professors. “It’s cool that you know that stuff,” Kai added as he pushed himself back up to a standing position. “Not a lot of people care enough to learn.” Francis’ eyes widened -- “Really, that’s awesome. I’m just.” He gestured to the bobcat track. “I read a lot. I like knowing what’s about me, especially because I love it so much.” And Kai didn’t need to hear about a dad who only left him alone when he was in the woods or in a classroom and out of arm’s reach. Softly. “Thanks Kai.” It was endearing, really, the way Francis was so bashful and earnest about it all. Most guys he met were stuffed full of confidence to the point of bursting. They took up every space they could, and all the attention too. Here was someone who Kai could tell was content in the quiet, and he appreciated that. “Anytime,” he answered, trying to hold back his smile a bit so it was there, but not so bright that it came across as odd. “And thank you,” he continued, reaching out to grab Francis’ arm so he could guide them around the tracks, “for coming out here today, of all days. I think we were meant to be here today.” There was an electric spark between them and Francis turned into Kai, stepping around the tracks to leave it there for someone else to find. “It definitely feels like fate. And, as much as I know it’s conceptually trash, I’m into it. Fate.” Fate, Kai thought, that was the word he was looking for. He usually didn’t give a lot of thought to it, preferring to believe in manufacturing one’s own destiny, but there were a few stories he believed counted. His parents, for one. Maybe this one -- but he shouldn’t get ahead of himself. “Conceptually trash?” Kai laughed. “That’s one way to put it. I don’t know if I’d call meeting you conceptually trash, though.” He nudged Francis playfully with his elbow. “But I’m into it, too.” Was he flirting? He tried not to wince, but he was definitely flirting, and he didn’t even know if Francis was into men like that. “Maybe we could make this a regular thing?” Francis laughed softly, covering his nape with his palm as his eyes darted toward Kai. Was he flirting with him? Because Kai was cute and way out of his league. But he exuded the kind of confidence Francis wanted to possess. “Yeah. I’m into that, too.” Kai’s breath hitched in his throat as his eyes met Francis’. There was something here, right? He wasn’t just imagining it? His skin tingled. It hardly ever did that when he met someone. In fact, he wasn’t sure he’d ever felt the specific combination of tingling and butterflies in his stomach and an intense desire to be impressive all at the same time. “Give me your phone,” he stated, and he held out his hand. It was bold -- bolder than he would have been otherwise. Then he added, “please?” just so he didn’t sound too demanding. Tentative as ever, Francis held his phone out to Kai on the palm of his hand. He grinned. “Okay.” “Okay.” Kai plucked it out of Francis’ hand and began to create a new contact. He added his name and his phone number, and was about to hand it back when he got an idea. He held the phone up to take a selfie of himself grinning goofily at the camera. Then he saved it and handed the phone back. “There. I didn’t want to forget and miss my chance.” Francis watched Kai, a little entranced, palming his phone when he gave it back to him and taking a moment to feel the transferred warmth. He pocketed the device and nodded. “So the next time I’m out here. I call you. Right?” “Exactly. Or whenever you want.” Kai shrugged, trying to seem cool and nonchalant and casual. “Like if you see… a funny looking cloud. Or you learn something in class and you don’t think anyone’s gonna get it. I might not, but I’m a really good listener.” Really, he just wanted an excuse to talk to Francis again. “Ooooor you wanna get coffee but don’t wanna go alone. Or tea! Either one!” Francis’ lips pursed - the kind of purse one does when they’re trying not to grin as hard as they can. Finally he just let it happen. “Hey, back at you. I … don’t really know what to say other than seriously, I’m excited. This is going to be good.” For a moment, Kai wondered if he was coming on too strong. Sometimes he got too enthusiastic and forgot not everyone was on the same page he was, or that sometimes people were a little slower to get up to his speed. He just met this guy; he didn’t know if Francis was even interested in him -- in any sort of way. Even just as a friend. But then Francis smiled, and Kai felt a spool of warmth uncurl in his stomach. “Okay, so. Why’d you come up here?” he asked, wanting to fill the time with something more than silence. Normally, he just listened to the forest, but he wanted to know everything about his new friend. Francis thought about his dad at home. He thought about his mother. Mostly, he considered that this distance afforded him a break from the discomfort of his father’s presence and his oppressive opinions about Francis’ appropriateness as a man. But Kai didn’t need to hear about all of that negativity when they just met. Not when Francis wanted them to stay friends for a good long while. He hooked his thumbs in the straps of his book bag and began to walk slowly down the path. “I like coming here when I don’t have to study because I spend so much time in my own head. Using my legs, getting out in nature, people watching … sometimes it seems more real than the stuff I read about.” What Francis said sounded like he could have plucked it right out of Kai’s own brain. He beamed, falling in step beside him easily. “I used to go down to one of the beaches near my house when I was done studying. Or when I didn’t want to. Or when I was trying to avoid helping my mom out in the kitchen. My friends would go off skateboarding or to play video games or something, and I’d be scrambling over rocks and looking for shells.” That was the sort of thing he wouldn’t have admitted to right away, usually, or would have been embarrassed by, but he felt at ease, instead. It was so strange -- nice, but strange. Kai’s mention of where he grew up and what he liked doing didn’t gel with the image in Francis’ mind. It seemed to him that he was thoroughly rude. And he liked Kai so well that he blushed with guilt. “The beach? Hey,” faltering, he stepped around a large mud puddle. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I asked you where you’re from. I just assume everyone’s a townie except me. I grew up close to the water, too.” “Oh,” Kai shook his head, brushing the apology off. He hadn’t asked where Francis was from, either. “Don’t worry about it. Definitely not a townie, although I’ve been here enough in the last few years that I’m starting to feel like one. I’m from California. Daly City. It’s near San Francisco, a bit south of the city. But we’re right up against the Pacific. What about you?” “I’m from Baltimore. But wow, never been anywhere near San Francisco.” He wondered if Kai’s parents were Silicon Valley heirs. Then, he suddenly wondered if they knew the Baltimore Greens. It made him walk a little faster. “We don’t have the proper ocean. But the harbor is pretty cool.” He had to practically bite his tongue to stop himself from suggesting that Francis come home with him sometime and he’d get a tour, and the thought brought a blush to Kai’s cheeks. It was too soon for that sort of suggestion, in whatever sort of way he intended. “Baltimore reminded me of home, a little,” Kai stated, picking up his own pace to match Francis’s new one. “With the harbor right there. I’ve only been a couple times. It’s just missing the fog, and then it’d feel really like home.” He paused, but only a beat. “We call the fog Karl. It has a twitter account.” It was a stupid, dorky little tidbit that he knew that other people he’d met didn’t find very interesting at all. He really hoped Francis wasn’t one of those people. Francis snorted. “I love it -- especially since every picture I ever saw of your city had fog and the Golden Gate Bridge.” He paused, letting the leaves crunch under his boot as he considered his next words. “Do you go home a lot?” That image wasn’t inaccurate, and it made Kai laugh. The fog was just as much a feature as the bridges or the hills were. Kai thought it lended some mystery and intrigue to the city. He shook his head, “no, not as much as I’d like to. Money’s -- well, I got a scholarship here but my parents don’t really have a lot of extra to give me, so I have to take care of everything else, and San Francisco’s far away.” He shrugged. That was the hardest part about being in Dunhaven. His family was incredibly close, so to be so far away was both a blessing and a curse. “But everyone wants to come out here for my graduation!” he added, sounding brighter. “So here’s hoping.” Francis felt the guilt start to wash over him. His Green family didn’t know about anything like Family weekend. They didn’t bother to come for graduation. But he didn’t want them to, either. Instead of languishing in ways to get Kai out to see his folks, he smiled. “They’re proud.” “Yeah, they are.” His parents had sacrificed so much so that he could have this opportunity. Kai understood that and felt the pressure on a daily basis. It was difficult, too, because he knew he couldn’t risk failure, not when it had cost his parents and his grandparents so much. “What about yours?” Kai asked, wanting to get the attention off him for a second. “Do you go home a lot? It’s not that far.” Francis bit his lower lip. He didn’t want to lie to his new friend, but the question was awkward. It was because it was wholly negative. He didn’t have anything positive or hopeful to say and it felt off to bring the Greens up to someone as bright as Kai. So he shook his head. “Nah. I said bye to Baltimore a while ago.” He walked ahead of Kai for a moment, then turned and smiled again. “We keep hiking like this and I’m going to have to get better boots.” Kai wanted to ask what had happened, but he could see from the look on Francis’s face that it wasn’t a topic he wanted to talk about. Instead, Kai stayed quiet, waiting. Had he ruined this by being nosy? he wondered. But then Francis smiled, and everything felt right again. It felt familiar, like they’d been friends for years and years, even though they’d just met. Kai couldn’t explain it at all. “You’ve got a deal. I know just the place,” he answered, reveling in how sure Francis sounded when he brought up the future. Kai wasn’t a pessimistic person, so he already spent most of his days filled with hope for the future but the potential of this friendship felt huge in a way he’d never felt before. “I think this is the start of something really good,” Kai added, before he could feel self-conscious. He hoped Francis felt the same. He really hoped Francis felt the same. That mood that Kai presented was infectious; particularly for one like Francis, prone to bouts of solitude and melancholy. His smile split into a grin as he slowed down to draw abreast of Kai. There was that familiarity again; odd, for someone who he had only met, but he supposed it was just an instant connection. It was something that should be enjoyed and not scrutinized. “Yes. Me too.” |