Chance - H2OVanoss

Chapter 22

"You remind me of the Windflower."

"I have to ask," Akito started, breaking the thin silence between them, "Why is it that Delirious thinks so negatively of you?"

Evan wanted to laugh at how mild Akito made the situation sound. Delirious hated him and even if he thought really hard about it, Evan truly didn't have a definitive answer as to why the man loathed him so.

"I don't know," he said, "Maybe because I talk back to him? Don't let him walk all over me without letting him know exactly how I feel about it? Perhaps he feels threatened by me? Which I wouldn't understand if he does," Evan added, "He could feel suspicious of my character, or maybe he just doesn't like the fact that I'm not frightened of him. I really don't know. Maybe it's just how the universe wanted it."

Akito didn't respond for a while, his honey eyes trailing the rivers frothy path through the meadow and into the woods a good distance away.

"As Delirious is a man of authority, I could understand if he felt frustrated by insubordination, but I do not feel that he is a man who trods over people for the sake of it," Akito elaborated.

"Neither do I," Evan said, thinking of how much Delirious' crew respected their captain, "But Delirious hates me, yes? He acts as if I forced him to take me on, when I clearly gave him a bargain he could say yes or no to."

Akito blinked, tilting his head to the side a bit when he turned to meet Evan's gaze. It was the first reaction Evan's seen the man do beside his blank expressions and calm eyes, "Bargain?"

"He didn't tell you, did he?" Evan asked, amused despite himself, "I offered him myself for two years to use as he pleased and, when he felt done with me, dispose of me however he wished."

"Interesting," Akito commented, though Evan felt like it wasn't exactly the response the man intended.

Evan frowned, "What do you mean?"

"I assume that you know what it means to be a man of leadership - it requires skills. Many of which are seen as both strengths and weaknesses," the man said, "I've always seen a major strength in understanding the people around me and you, Vanoss, are very easy to read."

"Easy?" Evan knew he sometimes wore his heart on his sleeve, but he didn't think he was a man who was too obvious when it came to how he felt.

"Yes," Akito intoned.

"How would you describe me then?" The curiosity to know was strong, and Akito seemed willing.

"A man of conviction," the man said immediately, "Of purpose, need - protection."

Akito wasn't meeting his eye, but his tone was one that implied no argument was to be made as he knew exactly of what he said. Instead, his focus was on a small red flower, bright, small and fragile, it's petals spread open, thin and smeared with white closer to where the pollen stood tall and gold.

"You are highly intelligent and speak with the air of a man who's lived both good and bad times, a man who's gained and lost. You speak of wisdom, but know you haven't much, humble in ways many wouldn't understand," Akito locked his honey eyes with Evan's brown ones, "You are beyond your years, harboring secrets just beneath the skin that you feel others are not yet ready to hear. Anxiety comes in different forms, but Vanoss, I find that honesty is the worst enemy for those who hate to lie."

Speechless, Evan watched a breeze cut between them, wisping black hair harried into a pale face. The silence was deafening in a way that heavied the invisible weight sitting upon the shoulders of a man who felt that he needed to keep the whole universe from caving in.