In Saving the Imperfect

17. We wanted to go back

The hardest part about Troy being gone was how little impact did it have on life in the Land. Everything just seemed to go as normal, no one even mentioned him nor Layne's conflict with Victor.

Just like before, Layne did his best to avoid the leader of the village – or anyone else. He spent most of his time in the same place he'd always hang out with his friend and Cat. The dog still came to see him every day, begging for food and simply laying around in a safe distance. Only one thing was different.

And it hurt.

Weeks passed in the same monotony. Religiously, every morning, after breakfast, Layne would leave and spend the day in the same place with Cat, who each time dared to come closer to him. Still didn't trust him as much as he did Troy. Each evening, he'd return – and no one questioned him.

One of those days, Layne sat leaning at the tree, just like usual. The dog wandered around nearby, sniffing the surroundings, until it lifted a leg next to one of the bushes.

"How am I only now figuring out you're a dude?" commented Layne.

Cat wasn't much for a conversation. Of course. He only acknowledged Layne by tilting his head to one side before he returned to his businesses.

That was the first time when he didn't run off when someone approached from the village's direction. Layne turned his head to see Coden, holding something that looked like a short plank in his hands.

Coden frowned. "Is that the same dog?"

"He grew. No longer a puppy. More or less."

"Okay," Coden dragged out. Upon looking around as if someone was watching them, he squatted next to Layne. "How are you?"

"Good, how else? Just. Great. Awesome."

"Ok, I won't ask."

"You already did."

Coden shut up for a minute before he spoke again, "anyway, Alana told me you and Troy wanted to help me. You didn't have to, but, thanks."

"We didn't," Layne disagreed. "I looked for reasons to get him to do that stupid shit with me."

Coden squeezed his lips tight. "Either way, Iker's been teaching me how to carve."

He held out what Layne had thought to be a plank – and, well, it was. It contained the name 'Troy Normand' carved into it in big letters. The work itself was messy and the letters got smaller one after another. Still, it was clear that Coden had put a lot of work into it. He even tried to decorate the edges of the wood – which didn't look half bad.

Layne took the carving and held it in front of him. "You made this?"

"I know, it's bad. I've never carved anything into wood before. Especially not letters."

"How long did it even take you?"

"It gets faster once you get the hang of it," he dodged the question.

Layne traced his finger along the letters. The wood felt rough against his skin.

"Careful," warned Coden. "You'll get splinters."

Layne laughed, for the first time in weeks. "Aren't you a caring one?"

He shrugged. "I got enough of them myself. Not very pleasant."

"Looks... Great."

"Thank you."

Layne set the board aside and leant back. Unlike what he expected, Coden sat next to him and watched Cat sniffing around.