SoulCoil

Today's weather was a bit overcast. Gray clouds. Nice breeze. Overall, it felt like everything stood still, as if time decided to slow down for just one day.

Just the way Vera liked it.

There was a small hill nearby the local park that she liked to visit frequently. The grass there never got too wet, it wasn't prickly, and that made it perfect to just lay down on and stare up at the sky. Although, there wasn't all too much to stare at. Vera could care less. At least it was quiet enough, so she could think about how much she appreciated life right now.

....Or something like that. The topic was sort of a jumbled mess right now. Like if someone tried to cook something specific, but ended up making something entirely different, just because they mixed up one ingredient.

That's how her life felt right now. ....Huh.

At least things couldn't get any worse.

Her head bobbed along with the silent tune playing in her mind.

Despite the overcast, it felt like rain to Wes. He had been walking around town in heavy thought for maybe an hour or so. After his partner straight up abandoned him after an encounter he was left feeling empty. Not bitter, not hate, just empty. The deal he had reluctantly made still lingered in his mind, had he really been that man again? Wes tried to shake off the thought before ending up in the park.

He wandered for another fifteen minutes in reflectance. He had been that man again. It was a dark thought, having turned into a murderer for what? A wish? A wish that his partner had convinced him to want. No, the wish wasn't for him, it was a ploy, just so his partner could get the wish to himself.

"That good for nothing son of a-" Wes stopped himself, just shy of a hill that someone was laying down on. He didnt think anything of it till he recognized the green hair. It was one of the people he had attacked with his partner.

Biting his lip he took a step back, wanting to say something, to apologize, but with what he had done, twice now. He had no doubt that it would be wasted words. He just hoped he hadn't been seen, or heard, given the outburst he had just a moment ago.

He turned and walked back down the trail with a sigh, he couldn't bring himself to say he was sorry, that to him was pitiful. Shameful even. He sat down on one of the benches, his partner not even remotely close. It was the feeling he had felt long ago, true loneliness from the world. He just hoped he wouldn't have to bear that on his conscious forever.

After a little while, Vera shifted her position ever so slightly. The sky had gotten just a tad bit darker since she had arrived. It was getting a bit late. Probably time to head back. The walk to get here took a bit longer than usual anyway. Maybe after a good five more minutes of just laying there, Vera had finally sat up and gotten to her feet. She took a moment and stretched out. Then she went down the hill.

The teen had only gotten a little ways down the trail. From the corner of her eye, she saw someone familiar sitting on a bench. It took a moment and her eyes widened slightly in realization. The guy from the other night.

Although.... He looked a lot less threatening now. Sad, even. Surprising. She only stared, contemplating whether or not she should try and interact with him. There was no Revenant nearby, that's for sure.

With a shrug, she approached him. What did she have to lose? Vera plopped down on bench on the space next to him and sighed out.

Now she was going to have to choose her words very, very carefully.

"Nice weather we're having....?"

Jesus Christ.

Wes let out a sigh, he looked up from the bench to see the green haired teen sit down next to him. He was more surprised when she spoke to him, at least attempting to talk to him.

"I suppose so..." Wes replied. He spoke with a hint of regret in his voice.

"I... I don't know your name, but... How's your wrist doing?" He said, trying to form some type of apology, but it was going... rather awfully. He felt emotions flood through him, anger, grief, sadness, regret, and more, so much more.

"I don't expect you to forgive me after what my partner and I, no, what I did. My partner wouldn't care, I messed up. I screwed up big time..." Wes moved his hand, feeling his back, the wound he had sustained was still recovering, but it would take time before it was back to normal.

Honestly, Vera had no idea what she was even doing here—and talking to the guy that almost tried to kill her and her friends, no less. Maybe she was finally losing it. She honestly wouldn't be surprised if that were true.

At the mention of her wrist, she held it up, showing off the neatly bandaged injury. "All good. Uh, thanks."

For a long while, she was silent as she listened to his words. Her wrist fell back to her lap. This guy really did seem that he was regretting what he did. With a small sigh, she nodded slowly.

"Don't worry about it man. It's what this game is supposed to do; makes you into a psycho and all that, they manipulate you into doing some crazy shit...." She trailed off and was quiet for a moment.

"Apology accepted though. Just don't try and cut me anymore, alright?" An awkward chuckle escaped her as her gaze became downcast.

Wes let out an awkward chuckle in return, "Promise. Thank you too... For being able to forgive me. I never wanted this contest, I never wanted to really hurt anyone. Vince, my Revenant, had very different ideals in mind." He paused, nodding absently. "Looking back on it now he was just trying to get the wish for himself and be done with it all. I was caught being manipulated by him. I suppose this contest does do that to people..."

Wes looked up into the darkening sky, he frowned slightly before deciding on something in his head. He extended a hand out towards Vera, with a shy smile, "Wes, my name's Wes." He said, "Can we put this behind us and uh... start over?" Clearly Wes was trying to make the effort to amend his wrongdoings. He may have been older than Vera, but that didn't stop him from at least wanting forgiveness, to which he had been given. And he valued it deeply.

I don't think anyone wanted this contest.

She refrained from voicing that though for whatever reason. Instead she listened to the man's words. That sort of situation must've been horrible for him. Being used for some dumb wish? Sick. In the bad way. All she did was glance up and nod slightly in response.

Eventually, the guy introduced himself. Vera blinked, staring at his hand for a bit before grasping his hand and shaking it.

"I'm alright with starting over," she smiled lightly. "I'm Vera. Vera Crawfield. Like crawfish, but with a 'field' at the end. Nice to meet you, Wes." She soon let go of his hand and thought about something for a moment before speaking again.

"So, uh.... What happened to Vince? I'm guessin' he ran off somewhere?"

Wes hesitated, debating on telling her of the encounter he had while running off from the fight, or telling half of the truth. Either way would work, but he didn't want to start off being deceiving or hiding anything.

"Well after Vince and I were running off from the workshop we were stopped by another competitor. Or I was at least, a Revenant pinned me down and said if Vince made any attempts to attack that she would've easily ended me. I begrudgingly made a deal with this Revenant that I would harm neither her, her human, or her allies to which Vince started to get mad over. I assumed it was the idea of being bound by a contract of sorts, but I don't know. After the Revenant lept off my back she disappeared into the night. Vince was fed up with me for accepting the deal and not giving a fight, so he left. I was, and still am in no condition to do anything straining thanks to that back wound, so I couldn't chase after him. Not that I'm mad or anything about the injury, I deserved it and plus its just more of a... reminder to be better than who I was." Wes paused, he said what he had wanted, sparing only the details of the Revenant. Whom he remembered being feline-like, but nothing more than a cream-colored large cat-like Revenant.

"Hey, if you do ever see that other guy, Aeon if I recall, please tell him I'm sorry. I really am." He paused, wondering the same question she had, but in reverse, "Say, where's your Revenant too? I'm not trying to sound suspicious, but I'm a bit more... cautious than normal seeing as he probably hates me..." Wes said, looking down.

"Man, that's rough buddy...."

Her only memories that contained Vince were as followed; fierce, bloodthirsty, and pretty much everything else she wanted to avoid. It made her pretty thankful that she was paired with Morty and not a Revenant that was probably a serial killer in their past life. The mere thought of that was pretty scary.

....Back on track. The Revenant that forced him into a deal.... Allies.... There was a good chance that it was Amanita, but other people could be teaming up as well. But whoever it was, she was definitely thankful that they got at least one troublemaker of their back.

She nodded slowly. "If I stop by, I'll be sure to tell him that." Would Aeon even accept the apology? Probably not at first. It was good enough to at least try, though. At the mention of her own Revenant, she paused.

"Morty is back at my place. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't hate you—at least, I think so. It's really hard to tell what he's thinking half the time. So I would ask him yourself if you want a straight answer."

"I see." Was all Wes said before closing his eyes in thought. He felt better, at least somewhat better, but he still felt the gnawing of the ability that he could do something more. Something helpful. Maybe he could offer something?

His mind drifted to his times as a kid always going out for ice cream with his friends, it was a heartwarming memory, but the friends were long gone. He shook the thought and tried to stay positive. With a sigh he looked over at Vera,

"Hey Vera. Would you like to maybe... I dunno, go and get some ice cream? My treat. I figure it's the least I could do to break the ice and all." Wes offered with a shy smile. It had been some time since he had been able to comfortably talk to someone that didn't judge him or his actions, even with his work. He was a computer technician, but even then it wasn't like he was a bad person, he was just judged often.

For what seemed like forever, Vera only stared. Then laughed. She didn't know what it was, but what he had asked was funny to her. Not that it actually humorous or anything, it was just hard to put it into words.

The teen finally nodded. "You know what.... Sure, why not? I can't exactly refuse free food." She returned his smile with a slight one.

Wes let out a laugh in return to the teen's reply. Free food was something most people couldn't deny, a truth he loves to remember. He stood up with a more prominent smile. "Well I know of a good ice cream shop that's maybe a block or two from the park entrance. Nice little joint ran by a lovely couple. Believe me when I say that they are the top of the line in price and quality."

He started walking down the trail, expecting Vera to follow. Wes was starting to feel better after his conversation with her. Like some weight of the world became lighter, it was still their no doubt, but at least the burden felt lighter on his mind.

She nodded, standing up as well. "Sounds good enough for me."

Vera watched him go off for a bit, then followed, catching up. The teen strolled along next to him as they went along the trail. She began quietly humming a tune that had been stuck in her head for a little while. A thought had come up in her mind after a moment. She turned to Wes.

"....So, you got any hobbies or anything? Or like, a profession?"

"Oh? Well I'm a technician, a computer technician. And as for hobbies... well other than gaming, I can play the harmonica, so I guess that's something." Wes said, shrugging.

"I'm guessing your still in school, right? You got any plans on what you want to do afterwards? Like colleges or careers?" He asked. The two were nearing the end of the trail, it wouldn't be too long from there.

Yeesh. What with all the stuff that had been going on lately, she didn't even stop to think about her future. Most of her time was spent thinking about not dying. In fact, so many times, she honestly thought she was going to die. It took her awhile to think of an answer. Nothing exactly came to mind though.

"Not exactly sure. Still thinking about it." A moment of realization crossed her. She snapped her fingers. "You know, actually, I've always wanted to start a band. That was....hockey themed."

Damn. That sounded a lot cooler in her head.

Wes let out a small chuckle in response to her answer. "Hockey themed? Well if you need a harmonica player for the band, I'm your guy." He said jokingly.

They had just got out of the park and onto the main street that passed by the park. Wes reached into his pocket, realizing he actually had his harmonica on him. He pulled out the silver instrument with a nostalgic smile.

"Speak of the devil, I have my harmonica on me. I could play a song or two. Got any in particular you'd like to hear?" Wes offered, trying to fill in the time.

"I'm gonna have to think about your offer." She remarked. Silence filled the air for a little while as they headed out onto the main street. It stayed like that until Wes spoke again. Vera glanced at him, the harmonica catching her eye.

The offer of a song request immediately brought up a number of her favorite tunes into her head. But there was one in particular that she always loved to play on her guitar.

"You think you could play 'Nothing Else Matters'? It's from Metallica."

Wes gave the song a thought. He had heard the song, knew the melody, and knew the tabs, but he wasn't exactly sure he would be able to pull it off successfully. "I'll give it a shot, but I can't promise it'll be any good. Or as good as the original." He said, holding the harmonica up to his mouth.

He began humming the melody in his head, something he always did before starting to play. After a moment he started playing, it wasn't the best recreation of the song in the world, but you could still recognize the song by the tune. Wes played on as he walked, feeling free. Like all the cares in the world didn't matter. It was just him and the song. Nothing less. Nothing more.

He smiled once he played the last notes to the song, snapping back to reality. It was a pleasant thought of being able to play music without feeling a constant dread. Like a sense of, 'you know you have better things to do.' He let out a small laugh, "How was that? I'm a bit rusty, but I'd like to think I'm getting better."

She silently listened to him play. The tune was recognizable, and even though it might have been a little bit rough around the edges, it still had value to it. He honestly seemed really invested in playing. That reminded Vera of herself when she's playing the guitar. In her own little corner of the universe, just her, and music.

The teen definitely might've spaced out a bit during the song. It always happened when it was playing. Though when the song stopped, she was brought out of her thoughts. She looked at Wes and a smile crossed her face.

"Whoa. That was pretty awesome. Now you gotta join my future band." A small snicker escaped her.

"I'll take you up on that offer kiddo." He replied with a laugh. "Although, as impressive as that song is, I think my favorite song is 'American Pie' and despite how long it is, I can play it quite well."

He started humming the tune aloud before raising the harmonica to his mouth again. He played slowly as the song started out low and slow, but he steadily became faster as the tempo of the song increased. It was the song he played to forget his worries. To let it all go. And of course to entertain others. Unlike the last song this one was played near flawlessly, it was clear he had practiced it often.

When the last sullen notes faded down the road, they had arrived. The ice cream shop was right across the road, and was open too. Wes reached over and hit the crosswalk button as he was a somewhat law-abiding citizen.