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"Do you hear that, Ramón, what is that?"
The two of us stood in the grand building where drawings made by people from somewhere outside this realm hung on display, my eyes searching for any sign of life, threatening or otherwise, and Ramón's ears twitched slightly to determine the direction the source of noise came from, or if it was ever even there.
"Sounds like wings flapping or something. What is that?"
I was right. It was something flapping its wings. The wings were thin, delicate, and an off white color. They were attached to a small black body with six legs and a pair of antennae.
"Do you think it drops anything? I don't know. If it dropped anything good it probably would've started attacking."
Ramón had an expression on his face that was sad maybe? He seemed almost hesitant to bring his hands up and sign a response.
"It's called a butterfly."
"A butterfly. Interesting. Should we leave it alone?"
Ramón nodded, I nodded back, and we explored the drawings hanging on the walls a bit longer, until we heard a certain Brazilian's voice echo in the building.
"Oiiiii."
"Hi Fit! And hello Ramón, hello nené! How are you doing?"
"Doing alright, what are you up to?
"Look at this new building, it's so big, it's so nice!"
"I know, it's so cool, with all the nice trees and flowers and pictures. Oh, earlier we saw there was this insect called a butterfly, that was pretty cool."
"A butterfly?"
"Yeah, it was pretty neat, it had wings."
"Oh!"
Pac had the same look on his face that Ramón had earlier. Something similar to sadness was in his eyes but he smiled at me regardless.
Soft and warm and safe. Like a blanket. Or a hug.
The three of us continued to walk around, occasionally looking at art, but mostly catching up on the time we had spent apart.
A couple days had passed since that interaction when my communicator pinged. A message from Pac.
"What are you doing today?"
"I was just working a little bit on the shit shack and doing some mining with Ramón. Why?"
"I was wondering if it was okay if you wanted to do something else?"
"Always, you got something in mind, Pac?"
"Maybe."
I could hear him giggling at himself if I focused.
"I'm down for whatever you have in mind. Is this something where Ramón can come too?"
"I was thinking it would be something just us went to? Not that I never want to not be seeing Ramón. But if it's okay he can not be there?"
"Of course. I'll let him know where I'm going. Wanna send the coordinates?"
"I know that face. Pai was messaging you, wasn't he?"
"You caught me, my boy."
"What did he want?"
"He wants to go do something together. Just us. If that's alright."
Ramón's eyes lit up in adoration and a bit of mischief.
"Yes, that's fine, you can put me to bed early!"
"Alright, Ramón, alright. Come on, mi huevito. I'll be back before you know it."
"Have fun on your date."
I stopped tucking him in and stuttered, trying to come up with an alternative response and found none.
"I will."
The coordinates led me to seemingly the middle of nowhere. There were some scattered trees and the occasional flower but that was it.
I double checked my communicator to make sure I was in the right location when Pac walked up.
"Hi Fit."
His accent was added to the end of my name.
"Hey Pac. I was just making sure I came to the right area, but since you're here, I guess I am. Where are we anyway?"
"Actually, the place I wanted to take you is not very far, but I told you to come here because I wanted to surprise you and walk there."
"Oh, okay, that sounds good, should we go then?"
"If you would still like."
"Lead the way."
After a few minutes of walking, pixels of a building started to take shape in the distance.
"That looks like a cool little building."
"Good. Because that's actually where we're going."
"Yeah? Is there something in there that we're going to see?"
"You will see soon because we are almost there, bobinho!"
"Alright, alright. Carry on then."
"We're here!"
Pac's smile was soft and sweet.
"We're here!"
I smiled back.
"Ready to go in?"
"Actually, could we do something, could I ask you to close your eyes?"
I was hesitant, stuttering on words I had not yet spoken, and that was apparent as Pac tried to reassure me gently.
"It will only be for a moment, I promise! I was just trying to continue the surprise, if that's okay. Do you think you can trust me for just a minute longer?"
"I always trust you, Pac."
"Do you think you can continue trusting me?"
"Alright."
"Could I hold your hand if that's alright?"
I gently closed my eyes and, albeit slightly shaky, held out my hand for Pac to take and we walked inside.
It was quiet aside from the door shutting and water running from a fountain maybe. It smelled like flowers, subtle and sweet. There was the sound of wings flapping or something again.
"It's okay, Fit, do you trust me still?"
I hesitated for a moment, then nodded, lightly squeezing the hand that had not yet let go.
"Then open your eyes."
It was water running from a fountain making noise. It was flowers I smelled. It was wings flapping I heard. From the thing I saw the other day. A bunch of them actually.
"Butterflies."
"Yes! When you told me you saw one the other day, which thank you I'm glad you wanted to tell me, but it made me kind of sad because you acted like you didn't know what it was. And I thought you would like to know about them and see one again!"
"Did you build this?"
"Yes! And filho helped!"
"Oh so that's what he's been up to. I knew he wasn't asleep the whole time we weren't together. You two were being sneaky together."
"Only kind of! Come on!
He was still holding my hand.
I stood still, my eyes open and scanning the vicinity for any possibly unnatural sign of movement, my shoulders tense.
Pac was practically dancing as he moved between small bushes and flowers standing alone in pots. He had a smile on his face competing with the sun, all teeth and reaching the corners of his deep brown eyes, my guard lowered ever so slightly.
One of the things, the butterflies, left the flower it was snacking on and flew my direction.
It's alright, it's not dangerous, it's just hanging out.
It was on my shirt.
And Pac was laughing.
"Um."
"It likes you, Fit!"
"Okay, cool, but why is it here?"
"Because it likes you!"
"So you've said."
My fists tensed lightly at my sides in more of a self soothing action than one of anger or annoyance, but they tensed all the same, and it was apparently noticeable, as Pac walked back over to me.
"Are you okay, Fit?"
His accent dripped in a second syllable on my name like honey into tea.
"What's it doing?"
"Like you were curious of them the other day, they are curious of you now too! See? It's just saying hello!"
He moved his hand toward my chest with a finger extended and carefully offered the butterfly a new place to rest on.
"See? It's not going to hurt either of us. It's just saying hello. Isn't that nice?"
The butterfly stayed for a few more seconds before flying back to the flower, and I found myself reaching for Pac's hand again, and intertwined our pinkies.
"Thank you for making this and bringing me here and for showing me sometimes things that might be scary can be cool."
"I'm going to take a guess and say that means more than just today?"
"Maybe."
Pac adjusted to stand on his tiptoes, the apples of both of our cheeks rosy, and understanding what was being initiated, bent my knees slightly for him to reach for a quick and gentle kiss, our fingers still linked, and the sound of butterfly wings flapping beyond us.