Have you ever stopped to think about what the night really is? Yes, the night. Technically, it’s just the period between sunset and sunrise. Many people describe it as the end of the day, and very few see it as the start of something new. And if you ignore the concept of “time,” night could very well be viewed this way, right? So why am I bringing this up? Just to say that the night can be both a beginning and an end, and at that moment, it was the backdrop for the start of something that didn’t have a shape yet but was already getting its first outlines.

Wave had resumed his relentless search for his keys in the dark expanse of the park, following a brief burst of happiness after hearing Dan’s first words. Dan, for his part, was helping with full dedication. Nearly an hour had passed since the search began, and the key still hadn’t shown up. But Wave refused to give up and muttered to himself:

“Come on, Wave! There’s no way you’re not going to find this; things don’t just vanish like that.”

He was already exhausted, straining his eyes with the beam of the flashlight and beginning to feel a bit dizzy. Fatigue was written all over his face, but he kept bending down and examining every inch of the ground with meticulous attention. His main concern at that moment was the other guy, who, despite the darkness and evident frustration, stayed close and continued searching with the same intensity.

“Dan, you can go home. It’s late, and I don’t want one of my juniors wandering around alone at night; it’s dangerous,” he said, watching the other guy crouched and focused on his task.

“...”

“Did you hear me?” He approached and grabbed Dan’s shoulder, who briefly looked up with relaxed shoulders and a neutral, almost indifferent expression. Without stopping his methodical hand movements exploring the ground, Dan returned to his task. Wave seemed to get the message: “So stubborn.”

He moved on to searching other areas, but his eyes felt heavier and heavier, and his brain seemed to spin slowly in his head; something felt off. He briefly remembered that it had been many hours since he had eaten; that was probably why he felt this way, but it shouldn’t be too worrying, right? So he kept his focus.

The problem was maintaining that focus for more than a minute without needing to steady his vision. His mouth was dry, and his legs weren’t as firm as before. He considered maybe stopping to rest and resuming the search later, but that idea remained just that—an idea. Before he could act, his body began to sway to the side. He braced himself against a tree and tried to rub his eyes to clear his vision.

“Damn it...” was all he could whisper before feeling his consciousness momentarily slip away.

He was bracing for the impact with the ground when he felt two strong arms catching him firmly from behind. Slowly, his body was guided down to the grass, and his back was supported against the tree he had been leaning on moments before. His vision was still blurred, and it took some time for him to make out Dan’s worried face in front of him. The boy’s warm hands were gently exploring his face, as if trying to detect any changes in temperature. Soon after, Dan appeared with a bottle of water, pouring it directly into Wave’s mouth, who was taken by surprise.

“Dan... Dan!” Wave tried to protest as he drank the liquid. “That’s enough, that’s enough! I’m feeling better!” he finished after realizing he had drunk almost the entire bottle.

Gradually, he started to feel better—still a bit unsteady, but less dizzy. It was probably just a sudden weakness from going too long without eating, combined with the stress and effort of the whole day.

Dan, seeing that Wave seemed better, grabbed his phone and typed something, then pointed at Wave’s hand, which made the other phone beep.

“You sent me a message? I thought we’d moved past this phase...” Wave grumbled, his eyebrows furrowed and the corners of his mouth turned down as he unlocked his phone’s screen.

[Dan Zanon]

How are you feeling? What happened?

“Why don’t you just speak...” Wave muttered before looking back at Dan and starting to reply. “I’m fine. My blood pressure must’ve dropped, but it’s nothing serious. Relax, I don’t die easily.”

Dan tilted his head slightly, and his eyes seemed to be asking, 'How do you know?' This made Wave let out a small laugh.

“You’re so literal, Serious Boy.”

Dan picked up his phone again, and Wave continued to watch the chat screen, knowing something would appear soon.

[Dan Zanon]

When was the last time you ate?

“I don’t remember, probably a few hours ago,” he answered without much thought and then gave a sidelong glance at the guy in front of him. “Why? Are you taking me out for dinner?”

Wave asked this jokingly, and never, I repeat, never, would he have imagined that the “Serious Boy” would actually take him out for dinner. But to the surprise of our nature-loving boy and ourselves, Dan turned out to be unpredictable at that moment, and yes, he took Wave out for dinner.

Without saying a word, Dan pulled his senior by the arm out of the park and put him on the extra seat of his bike, leading him to a simple restaurant nearby. Wave spent the entire ride not understanding what was happening but was too curious to interrupt the process. Before he knew it, he was sitting in a somewhat noisy place with the tattooed guy in front of him.

“Offering a meal to your senior? I never thought you were that kind of person, Serious Boy,” Wave said with a nearly angelic smile. “I’m so proud!”

Dan ignored him and just placed his order with the waitress. Wave did the same right after. The older boy couldn’t contain the smile spreading across his face and his eyes shining with excitement; it was as if he had moved up another notch in the 'get closer to Dan Zanon' game, and this made him boast about his social skills, even though everything had been caused by a sudden fainting spell rather than a tactic he had created.

“Serious Boy, now that we’re here, we can actually talk,” the smile grew wider and wider, but the other guy didn’t even look at him. “So, tell me, have you lived your whole life in Thailand? Or did you spend part of it in another country? Are you also from Italy like Marco?”

“...”

“Come on! You’ve spoken to me before... Okay, it was four words, but still,” he leaned forward, trying to get into the guy’s line of sight. “Serious Boy, Serious Boy, Serious Boy! Dan, Dan, Dan!”

After the insistence, the guy shot a nearly freezing glare at Wave, who immediately noticed that he was feeling uncomfortable. But Wave didn’t care; he wanted Dan’s attention, and he had gotten it.

“If you don’t want to talk, at least you could type!” He was a bit frustrated. “Okay, okay... let’s talk about something else.” He thought for a moment and then came up with another topic cheerfully. “University! Why did you choose engineering?”

Wave’s gaze seemed magnetized by Dan’s features, even noticing the relaxation in the tension in some parts of his face at the mention of the topic. His eyes also softened and seemed more receptive, but he still didn’t respond.

‘Okay, I’ve found a topic that bothers him less, but not enough to make him respond. I’m getting close!’ Wave thought to himself while still scanning Dan’s face. He lowered his attention to part of the dark design that vaguely appeared on the side of the guy’s neck, originating from the nape.

“Your tattoo...” He pointed to Dan’s neck, who instinctively placed his fingers there. “It’s super cool and somehow suits you. But what is that design exactly?”

Bingo! Wave realized he had managed to peel away another layer of protection. Dan’s expression changed completely with the question; his eyes, previously almost opaque, were captured by Wave and showed a hint of lightness and interest. He hadn’t noticed it before, since the guy rarely made eye contact, but he found it easy to read what Dan was thinking without him even saying a word. This was confirmed when Dan picked up his phone and began typing.

[Dan Zanon]

It’s an Eye of Horus.

Wave read the message on the screen and broke into a wide smile. He had genuinely caught the guy’s attention.

“That’s it! I knew I’d seen that design somewhere before. An Eye of Horus! I’ve read about that legend at some point in my life. It’s an Egyptian symbol associated with protection, linked to the sky god Horus, right?” He was excited and knew all the history behind it. “And you were really clever to place it in such a visible spot like your neck, you know? Because the legend says that the Eye of Horus brings protection and defense, shielding a person from negative influences and ensuring safety. The legend also says that Horus lost his right eye in the battle against the Seven who…”

After that, Wave began recounting all the legends and sacred messages involving shamans, nature, animals, and Egyptian mysticism related to the symbol. Deep down, he wasn’t sure if he believed in all of it, but he was very interested in legends and sacred things from ancient peoples and always ended up reading stories about these topics. In one of those readings, he had studied everything about the amulet, but at the time, he must have been around thirteen and thus didn’t immediately connect the designs.

The legend was quite interesting, but what I really want to highlight about this moment is Dan’s reaction to that flood of information. He was completely taken aback, and it was obvious to anyone with a sense of observation. His eyes were wide open and blinking rapidly, probably trying to grasp how the guy in front of him knew so much about such an obscure subject. But even I couldn’t say if he found Wave utterly fascinating or extremely odd.

“Enjoy your meal!” A female voice interrupted Wave’s thoughts, placing their food on the table.

Wave was quite pleased to see that Dan seemed more open and interested in what he was saying, and this seemed like the perfect moment to bring up the topic he really needed to discuss with the guy. So, after a few bites, he started:

“Dan,” he called, and the younger man immediately looked at him. “Can I ask you something?”