In a large open expanse, there wasn’t anyone yet. Everyone else was much further along while the man who trudged forward had only just arrived. 

“It’s been a while huh?” he said, as the dark woodsmoke scales rippled over his chest and shoulders in a strained laugh. His tail dragged heavy behind him and across the unseen floor the two individuals stayed on.

“A whole day Alexander…” Replied the other who had been waiting. His dark scruffy hair that always felt untamable was a bit more tamed, combed by long hours of stress. The 5 o’clock shadow was not kept in any way although through the disheveled appearance, Alexander knew it was still him by the tattoos that stretched up the arm, over the shoulder and covered the pectoral.

“I guess you could say I couldn’t stand to be apart.” Alexander sneered in an attempt to make a joke he wasn’t quite accustomed to doing. Stopping in front of the man who was waiting, stared at the back that was facing him. The man sat on the floor, one leg propped up, the other wrapped around the first and used his arm to lean on the standing knee. “What did you do?” The man on the ground asked, his head tilting to the side and furrowed his eyebrows for the unpleasant news.

“I-...” Alexander started before taking a sigh “I gave up.” He said, giving into the weight of his own body, he sat down on the ground and leaned his back up against the other’s, tired and exhausted, with not much left within himself. “You gave up to cause all of this?” Dylan asked the man who joined him on the ground without turning to face him, gesturing out in front of himself even though it wouldn’t be seen. “Alexander…” his words grew soft “I died…” “I know.” Alexander filled the silence, almost in fear of letting it scream the echoes of the hard truth. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this…”

“Then how was it supposed to be?” Dylan asked. A small amount of desperation could be heard in his weakness, needing an answer, even if it was a disappointing one and “I don’t know.” was what he got. “What did you know then?” he whispered, crestfallen further. “All I’ve ever known was to plan ahead and to plan better.”

Alexander searched into the vastness before him, a path he wasn’t sure how far he had walked that displayed nothing for his eyes to find. “I never knew when to be done…” he resigned. 

“Well, it is now.” The bartender’s voice came from behind the crocodilian. “Where is Ethan?”
Alive and as spineless as ever.” the reptile laughed.

“You always hated him.” Dylan stated. “But not as much as I hated you.” Alexander replied bitterly. “Why was that?” came the first of the two, turning his head almost to look back at the late arriver but stopping before he could see.

“You left… before we could ever figure out what we had…” he answered. Despite the much larger and stronger physique of the gator, at that moment, he felt small. For a moment almost looked so much smaller than he was. “I moved on Alexander.” Dylan reassured firmly but not without sympathy. “And that’s what I hated you for.” Alexander heaved, gaining his composure and collecting himself as he stood up, growing exhausted of the other’s company. 

“We could figure that out now. We have all the time we could ever want.” Dylan spoke with a bit of irony despite it being the truth. He never left his seated position on the floor or fully turned to look at the other man, but neither did Alexander look at him.

His body stood tense, chest aching with a pain that felt more vulnerable and more exposed than it had ever been in his life. “Would we ever?” he asked through gritted teeth, not expecting an answer.

“You let me see my father one last time…” Dylan reached up behind him for Alexander’s hand but again hesitated just before making contact and let his arm fall back down into his lap. “It’s been so long that I had started to forget what he looked like… and yet I still missed him.”

“You fought valiantly…” Alexander spoke in slow earnest, reminiscing at the intensity of the fight. “And so did he” Dylan interrupted his silence with a voice that had a hint of a smile on his lips. “He had always promised to let me see the beast he conquered once. I finally got to see that.” he gave into the smile fully, at ease knowing that even in the worst of life, his father had always kept his promises.

“Yet it was the last thing you ever saw.” said the man standing with bitterness at his friend’s fate, his head hanging lower again pained by the events his own actions caused. “For that I’m not sorry.” Dylan said with pride. “I know who I’ve been all this time and that will never change.”

“So, what’s the point in talking it all over and trying to justify anything. We’re both already done.” The last words choked out as he struggled in handling all the emotions that began to swell. Emotions that have been suppressed for an entire lifetime, came bubbling to the surface with no way to contain them. “We could figure out what we had?...” whispered timidly. 

Alexander’s footsteps started across an infinite floor forward to move on. “Maybe in another lifetime,” he sighed.

“Our souls are already gone, you know? It’s just us now.” Dylan called out. “Just us and our memories, to live on here.” The footsteps behind him stopped and he could hear another tired breath before more steps, undoing the advancement forward that was started. “Then I guess we do have time.” The gator returned. “Enough time to answer every question we ever had.” Dylan could feel the warmth of Alexander’s back press against his, bringing in some comfort in his company and his forgiveness. “We can make up for everything gone… and all the time we’ve lost.” leaning his head back against the broad shoulders, Dylan closed his eyes with a pained smile. Tears of relief made their way down his unkempt face as he listened to the strained quiet sobs of his dear old friend.