Bloodhearts

Chapter five: The Returned.

On Friday, things seem to be a little better. Jay is in a better mood and he even seems excited to go to the bar. He hasn't seen it yet or tasted the alcohol they serve. I think the prospect makes him feel a little like his old self. He went to a lot more parties than I did back when that was still a thing.

When we walk (or limp, in my case) through camp in something other than uniform on one of those rare nights where we're both off duty, it almost feels like we're a normal couple just going on a date. I remember how I fantasized about going to New York with him to see the city. The thought makes me both happy and sad. We never got to go, of course.

Jay looks at me. "What?" he asks, eyes going left to right and back again.

"Nothing," I tell him. "This is nice."

Jay's smile is small but it's there. He takes my hand while we walk to the bar. We can hear it before we can see it. It seems like they have a live band playing. The instruments are acoustic, but it still sounds great. We're lucky enough to have some skilled musicians in camp. And there's quite a few people here, and the place is buzzing with life. The sight could make anyone smile.

The first thing I do is to take Jay to the makeshift bar and get us two beers. Jay looks at me like I'm crazy when I tell him what it is. He sniffs at it and scrunches up his nose.

"Cory, this is not beer," he insists, but caves and takes a sip with my encouragement.

I take a huge gulp of my drink and Jay raises an eyebrow. Despite the fact that we've been together for so many years, he hasn't seen me drink more than a handful of times.

Just then, Marc comes up to us and taps me on the shoulder. He looks pleased to see us.

"You made it," he said and his eyes flicker to Jay. "And you must be the infamous Jay. It's good to meet you. I'm Marc."

"Hi," Jay says and shakes Marc's hand rather stiffly.

"How do two you know each other again?" Jay asks me. "Did you meet here?"

Although the question is polite enough, I know Jay well enough to understand that he's really asking me why we're talking to a stranger like this. He thinks it's weird. Maybe it is. But I see a lot of Jay in Marc.

"We ran into each other right here," Marc replies, still being kind even though Jay is obviously trying to ignore him. Sometimes Jay can be a little jealous.

"Yeah, and then we got talking a little bit," I add. "I was just taking a walk. I was sick of being stuck in the house."

"Try that for over several months and call me back about that," Jay says dryly.

I almost step on Jay's toes.

"How about another drink?" I suggest and get one for all three of us.

Marc introduces us to a few of his friends, all of whom are returned like himself and Jay. Marc's friends sit at their usual table and look a little gloomy, but I don't want to bother them about it. Jay acts a little bit better with them and they seem a little surprised when Marc introduces us by name. They are all pretty recently returned and don't talk too much. Maybe they're nervous, maybe they're just not very talkative. But Marc is. It's him and me keeping the conversation going - until Marc thinks it's time to play an old drinking game; namely beer pong. He teams up with one of his friends against Jay and I. Since we're drinking spirits now, losing means getting very drunk. I'm not sure the General would be very happy if he saw us doing this, but Jay is not one to back down from a challenge. Especially not when Marc is the one posing it. Did I mention that Jay can also be very competitive?

I smile as the game starts and we make a pretty good start by getting the old and not-so white ball into no less than two cups in the first round. Then Marc hits one, and I drink. Then none of us hit anything for while and then Jay hits another one. He looks very smug and pleased with himself. If I'm not much mistaken, I see a flicker of irritation cross Marc's face, but he expertly hides it behind another one of his charming smiles.