Fifteen: Stroll

*thanks to Avellie, spuwus buwu, and aseretoynok for your support!*

***

“Heroes and villains – it’s all very theatrical, isn’t it? Very black and white. Maybe that’s why people love it so much. They love those clear-cut boundaries, the simplicity of good and bad. You don’t have to think too hard about morality when it’s already been decided for you with a neat little label,” Ash mused.

He and Sage had been chatting for a while now on their stroll, and while the topic had ranged from their favorite food to favorite season to the best way to eat ice cream (in a cone or a bowl), it had eventually drifted back to a topic they both seemed to find interesting – heroes and villains.

Sage considered that in silence for a moment. He and Ash had already wandered away from the shopping district, into a more residential area with tree-lined streets and a park every couple of blocks. Ash’s hand hadn’t left Sage the whole time, though it had migrated to resting over his shoulder instead of his back. Sage couldn’t bring himself to mind it too much. The warmth of Ash’s body warded away the autumn chill in the air. Right, Sage told himself. It was just for body heat.

Sage had to agree with Ash’s view. He himself was considered a villain by society, and while he did get a kind of sick thrill out of committing crimes, he did it for reasons that, he believed, were just. Then again, perhaps reasoning didn’t matter. No casual observer could possibly know why Sage did what he did – all they saw were his actions. With only an outsider’s perspective, how could anyone know whether what he did was motivated by good or evil?

And why would they care? It was like Ash said: the morality of it all was already decided for them, by media outlets, by rumors, by the government itself giving those harsh black and white classifications.

Villain, or hero. Good, or evil. Black, or white.

What lay in between didn’t matter, especially not to people who only cared about the entertainment of it all.

“I can agree with that,” Sage murmured after a moment. “Heroes and villains are essentially puppets on a stage, playing the part that was cast for them, not the part they chose. But I guess that’s the point of all the costumes and the drama – it’s a performance. Who they are in reality is likely very different from the part they play.”

A hint of a smile graced Ash’s lips. “True enough.”

A comfortable silence fell over them, interrupted only by the sounds of the city around them as it started winding down for the evening. Dogs barking as they were let outside for the final time. Children giggling as their parents called them in for the night. Cars trundling up and down the streets before pulling into a garage and turning off. It was all very peaceful and normal, very different from the inner city that was all go-go-go at all hours of the night and day.

Sage was just about to ask Ash about his favorite kind of music, because Ash seemed perfectly willing to answer small, superficial questions about himself, though he tended to dodge anything more personal, when Ash’s hand suddenly clenched tight on Sage’s shoulder. Sage flinched slightly and paused, closing his mouth and turning to look at Ash questioningly. It didn’t hurt, but that grip was definitely strong.

To Sage’s surprise, Ash’s lips were pressed into a thin line, eyes dark and shadowed, like he was angry about something, and Sage felt uncomfortable suddenly, voice shriveling in his throat when he instinctively went to ask Ash if he was okay.

Sage was confused. He’d been smiling just a moment ago – what had made him so upset? Was it something Sage had said?

After a moment, Ash seemed to notice Sage staring at him and appeared to forcefully smooth out his expression, offering Sage a very plastic smile.

“Something wrong?” he said lightly, as if nothing had happened, and Sage frowned slowly.

“…Nothing.”

That was…weird. Right?

They kept walking without pause, as if nothing was wrong, and Sage averted his gaze awkwardly. He didn’t know Ash well enough to understand what had just happened, and given Ash’s apparent desire to pretend it was nothing, Sage knew trying to pry would get him nowhere, so he could only play along.

Blinking rapidly, Sage glanced around the neighborhood they were walking in to distract himself. Cute little two-story houses side by side on one side of the street. A small pond surrounded by cattails with little benches around it on the other side of the street, and next to it, a small graveyard that they had just passed, fenced in and shaded by large overhanging trees. It was clearly a private cemetery for a few select families, set back from the sidewalk quite a ways to give the people living nearby the illusion of distance from it. The front entrance to it was nearly invisible, in fact, a winding dirt path hidden by well-placed bushes and trees. The only reason Sage knew it was there was because he could see the white glint of a few headstones through the foliage, and a small stone sign near the road with the name of the graveyard.

It was late, but not so late that everyone had gone to bed. There were still a few people out and about, a couple teenagers working on a car in a yard, a woman out walking two large dogs.

Perhaps Ash had seen someone he recognized? Someone he didn’t like?

They’d been walking aimlessly, no real destination in mind, so maybe Ash just didn’t like the neighborhood.

Still a bit unsettled by the moment, Sage cleared his throat, coming to a slow stop and making Ash stop along with him. Ash glanced at him curiously, apparently over whatever had angered him.

“As much as I hate to cut this short, I have to work tomorrow,” Sage said regretfully, and despite the little hiccup earlier, he meant it. Ash was great company, if a little quirky, but Sage was intrigued nonetheless. He found himself not minding a second date, if Ash offered one at all.

Ash nodded understandingly, slowly removing his arm from Sage’s shoulder. “Alright. Can I ask if I’ll see you again?”

Sage smiled. “Definitely. I’ll text you?”

Ash nodded and stepped back, eyebrows tilted up, amusement glinting in his dark eyes. “I would offer to walk you back, but your escorts have been waiting an awfully long time to take you back themselves.”

Escorts? Sage frowned and followed Ash’s gaze curiously, only to see two shadowed figures several yards back down the way they came, who both attempted to duck behind a lamppost when he looked at them, except they tripped over each other in their haste and both of them fell to the ground, one shouting a ‘Fuck!’ that was audible even from this distance.

Sage sighed and fought the urge to slap his own forehead. Idiots.

Ash huffed a laugh and stepped into Sage’s space for a moment, leaning in until their faces were close. Sage held his breath, waiting for a kiss on the lips, but Ash just watched him from a close distance for a moment before gently kissing Sage’s cheek and pulling back.

“Until next time,” he murmured, and then turned around, continuing to walk up the street, hands in his pockets. Sage watched him go until he was nothing more than a silhouette in the night, a lump in his throat, fingertips tingling, and not from the cold.

“So?” a voice said from behind Sage, making him jump slightly and whirl around to see Abe and Carolyn right up on him, recovered from their fall and eager for the juicy details. “How’d it go?” Abe continued, eyes alight with excitement. “Was he a gentleman? I bet he was a gentleman. Did you kiss? Are you going to go out again? Is he - ?”

Carolyn slapped her hand over Abe’s mouth. He continued trying to talk through her hand, but it was just muffled ‘mmphs’. Sage rolled his eyes and they all started walking back as a group, but Sage spared one last glance over his shoulder where Ash had disappeared.

He was no longer in sight, but Sage couldn’t help but feel, oddly, as if Ash was looking back.