Thaddeus

Chapter 29

               (Few days after last chapter)

"So, for the entire drive over here, you didn't tell me why you've taken me to a pier. You gonna tell me now?" Ashur says as he looks out at the calmly moving water of the river.

Thaddeus stood next to him on a wooden platform, also keeping his eyes on the water. He turned around for a brief moment, looking past a narrow bridge connecting the platform to the parking lot. He had to almost squint to see where he'd parked the truck. He didn't know why he decided to park so far away, but he had.

"I wanted to talk," Thaddeus answered simply as he turned back to face the water.

"About what?" Ashur bluntly spoke as he looked over at Thaddeus, his eyes narrowed.

Thaddeus exhaled, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Would you, well, would you want to go back to school?"

Ashur felt immediately stunned, not by much however. After a minute of silence, he confusedly answered. "Weren't you the one that hated the idea of it? And you do remember what happened, right? Why would you want me to go back?"

Thaddeus looked at Ashur, his eyes softening. "I'm not gonna lie and say I feel great about it, but you deserve to live a normal life. Or at least as close to normal as you can get. I figured school would be a step closer toward it." He replies gently, "I already looked into a school closer to Kali's house. I know you were hesitant about it last time and I kinda forced it on you. I don't want to do that again, so I thought I'd ask you first."

Ashur's mouth had fallen open for a moment, his arms crossed. He eventually composed himself. "I- I need to think about it. I hadn't even considered it." He said after a minute.

Thaddeus's expression turned into one of understanding as he nodded. "Good, yeah, take all the time you need. I didn't think you'd have an answer for it immediately anyway."

The two fell quiet for a while, each to their own thoughts as they watched the water. Finally, Ashur was the one to break the silence, a small smile on his face. "Did you really take me all the way out here just to talk about school?" He almost laughed at the thought of it.

Thaddeus suddenly looked as though he'd remembered something, he too smiled. "Actually, no, I, uh, had something else in mind.." he trails off for a moment, becoming just slightly more awkward than he was moments ago.

"....like?" Ashur questions, a small amount of confusion and excitement in his voice.

Thaddeus took in a breath, looked away for a second, then looked back. "Do you know how to fish?" He randomly asks, a hint of nervousness under his tone.

Ashur's eyes widened as he laughed. "Fishing? You took me out here to fish?" He says, his eyes lighting up.

"I, uh-" Thaddeus gave a dry chuckle as Ashur continued laughing.

"No, that's not a bad thing! I'm just surprised you even know what that is. I didn't take you for someone who could fish." Ashur says.

"My dad took me a few times when I was a kid, I thought it would be a good idea to take our minds off of everything. I asked Kali about it and she happened to have a couple poles." Thaddeus said as he fiddled with a small cigarette box in his pocket, something Ashur didn't know he had.

"Well, I'm up to learn how." Ashur said as he looked at Thaddeus with a slight smile, still trying to get over the fact someone like Thaddeus enjoyed fishing. It was certainly an odd thought.

"I left the damn poles in the truck, I'll be back." Thaddeus said before walking away from the pier and up to the parking lot. He took out a cigarette from the box in his pocket and lit it with his own hand. Sometimes, Thaddeus thought having his fire abilities lead to nothing but chaos, however, it meant he didn't have to carry a lighter, which was handy.

He arrived at the truck and leaned against it as he took a minute to smoke. Thaddeus never wanted Ashur to see him do this,  so he always tried to do it when Ashur was out of sight.

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Sudden ending, I know, but Ferret's gonna take over from here.

This officially my shortest chapter. :)