Blackblade 0.03 - Never Profess Love in the Rain

“That was great! You saw how many people turned out this time, and that’s even with the bad weather!” Jack’s excitement was barely contained, and hardly affected by the rain that soaked him through. He walked briskly through the alleys of Kalleandar, Ridley following behind.
“Yeah...yeah. It was great,” Ridley’s reply was subdued. His gaze wandered around, and he fiddled with his hands. The rain had drenched his hair, and it lay plastered across his face; he idly shoved it back only to have it return in moments.
“We’re making so much progress! A few more months, and we’ll have everyone on our side. Then we can start making real changes! The government can’t ignore the whole city, even if it wanted to,” Jack continued on. Ridley followed behind, keeping mostly quiet. His eyes kept drifting back to Jack, even as he tried to look elsewhere. “So we’ll get back, get out of these clothes, maybe have a drink…” Jack cut himself off as he looked over his shoulder at his companion. “What’s wrong?” he asked, stopping and turning towards Ridley. 
The elf put his hands up and looked a bit sheepish. “Nothing! Nothing wrong, not a bit.” 
Jack looked skeptical, “Bull. You’ve been quiet, and you look like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar.” 
“Nope!” he wiped his hair back again, smiling weakly. “Just the rain.”
Jack looked at him disapprovingly for a minute, then rolled his eyes. “Well, when you feel like telling me, I’ll be here,” he offered, and began to walk away. Ridley watched him take a few steps, then shut his eyes and muttered something, his hands clenched. “What?” Jack asked over his shoulder, stopping when he saw that Ridley wasn’t following. 
“I…I love you,” he repeated, louder this time. Jack just stood in the rain, blinking, confused. Before he could say anything, Ridley continued, his eyes still closed and his head tilted down. “I…I’m with you, and it’s as if I’ve never even liked anybody else on the planet. There’s no one else who’s half as good, or strong, or…anything. Nobody compares. You make me better, you make everything better, just because you think you can. You’re like…this light that no one can dim.” Ridley paused and wiped at his face, rain dripping off of his hair.
“Ridley…” Jack began, stepping towards him. 
“And I know…I know what you’re going to say, and it makes it worse, but I can’t…I just…” He couldn’t seem to find the words he wanted, so he stuttered, his hand still violently wiping at his eyes.
Jack stopped in front of him, his face a portrait of concern. “Ridley, I…” He considered his words and started again, “I don’t feel like that about you.”
“I know,” Ridley said in a tiny, miserable voice.
“But you know you’re my closest friend, right? Hell, only three people even know my name. Your closest competition is Aiden,” Jack said jokingly, which prompted a little smile out of Ridley. “Seriously, though,” he tipped Ridley’s face up, despite him being a few inches shorter than the elf. “Your friendship means a lot to me, and I don’t know where I’d be without you around. I just…don’t think I’ve got anything else I can rightly give you.” 
Ridley was quiet for a moment, before he asked quietly, “Can I always be with you?” He hurriedly continued before Jack could reply, “I mean, not always always, you’ve got things to do and I’ve got to keep up appearances, and I don’t want to stand in your way of anything, or anybody, I just…” 
“Rid, Rid, Rid,” Jack shushed him, and put a hand on his shoulder, his expression still worried. “I know what you mean.” Ridley stopped rambling and looked at Jack with a mixture of sadness and hope. “Is that really what you want? There are lots of other people and elves and I’m sure…” Ridley shook his head emphatically, shutting his eyes again. Jack sighed and said, “Really?” Ridley gave a small nod. “Well,” he sighed again with a side-long look, before he looked back to Ridley and continued, “if that’s what’s going to make you happy, who am I to stop you?”
“Really?” he squeaked a little.
Jack gave a self-conscious chuckle. “Well, I never really expected you to leave anyhow, so…” he trailed off. Ridley just looked at him, trembling slightly. “Come on, let’s get out of the rain before we both catch our death.” 
He started to turn away when Ridley barely squeaked, “Can I hug you?” 
Jack paused, pulling back his hat and wiping away his bangs before replying, “I guess there’s no harm in that.” As the words finished leaving his mouth, he was enveloped as the elf’s arms wrapped around him tightly, his face buried into his shoulder. It felt like he may have mumbled something, or maybe he was crying, or maybe it was just the cold. Jack couldn’t tell; he smiled slightly, tinged with pity, and held his friend in the rain.
Category:Banishment of the Blackblades