Work Text:
Almond would give almost anything to get rid of that long, unnecessary stretch of dirt between his farm and town that took away an extra five minutes of his time. It usually took three minutes to cross, but the amount of foragable crap strewn near the bus stop was too tempting to forget about. The process of stowing away random flowers and gross berries into his ridiculously expensive backpack like a rat hindered him less than it did almost a year ago, but it was still annoying to go through. Could he stop hoarding and just move along the path without straying away? Of course. But does he want to? Hell no.
But this time Almond was on a mission. Having spent a while with Alex at the beach last week, Almond intended to invite him out again. It was likely that Alex would accept. All he ever does in this small town is toss around a ball and look too sexy while feeding his massive dog.
Leaving behind the spiceberries at the bus stop already set Almond on edge, but when he passed by Shane, who gave him a quick hello, he was reminded of his own curmudgeon-like traits. Almond found it a bit concerning that he got along with one can consider the “assholes” of the town, and most of the time it didn’t bother him too much, but god, the last thing Almond wants is Alex to think is how similar he is to an old man.
Seeing the old splintering fence that caged in Dusty, Almond slowed his pace. The dog’s raspy snores fell in an uneven rhythm, interrupted by sudden snorts. A familiar, handsome face was peeking over the fence, with a thoughtful furrow on his brow and his plump bottom lip tugged into a pout. Green eyes were trained down into the small space where Dusty was snoring away. Almond felt as if he were interrupting something and he would’ve disappeared onto his beastly horse if those eyes didn’t flick towards him and those pretty lips curved into a small smile.
Almond’s heart nearly forced its way into his throat. There’s no return now.
“Hey Almond,” Alex grinned. The slightest tinge of pink on his tanned skin made Almond’s pale cheeks light up like red holiday lights. “Kinda surprised to see you outside just to think. Call it an omen of bizzare events to come.” Almond droned, but the way his thin fingers fiddled with the button of his overalls gave away some underlying timidness that Alex hadn’t seen since the first flower dance Almond attended.
“Nice that you always greet me with an affectionate insult. What’s up?” Alex asked, and the blush on Almond’s face grew worse as Alex reached over with a strong hand to brush Almond’s greenish-yellow bangs from his face. He was now exposed. Vulnerable. Doomed, even. He can’t look into Alex’s pretty green eyes without suffering a small heart attack.
“Nothing. I wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out today. Got nothing else to do.” That was a lie. Almond could be organising his hoard of literal trash in his three chests right now, and then mess it up again while looking for his packet of coffee beans, but he didn’t want to break the cool facade that he’s built up for months by admitting that he was putting off work to hang out with his best friend. Getting Alex to think he was cooler than he actually is must’ve been the greatest scheme of all time.
“I’d love to, but I’ve been thinking.”
“That’s not good.”
“Haha, I don’t think it’s good or bad. Just a revelation.”
“Oh god..”
Alex let out a small chuckle and nudged Almond. “It’s not about you.”
Narrowing his eyes, Almond spoke cautiously. “It worries me more when you have to specify that this revelation isn’t about me, as if you already deciphered every aspect of my shitty personality.”
“It’s because I know you probably dropped your self esteem back in the mines.”
“Shut up.”
Alex laughed again, sighing as he leant back onto the fence. “What were you thinking about?” Almond asked.
There was a short pause, Alex gathering his thoughts before he spoke.
“I’m too much of an idealist. You know that stupid dream I had? The one where I thought I could be in a great gridball team just because I was the best player in high school?”
Biting his lip, Almond shrugged. “I don’t think it’s that stupid.”
“It’s okay, you can say it. It was silly.”
“It’s just, I’m not one to comment on someone’s dreams. I wanted to become an engineer since I was in middle school. Got a degree in engineering and ended up working a desk job.”
Alex blinked. “You have an engineering degree?”
“Yeah.”
“Where’d you go?”
“I went to this big campus near the east coast-Wait, nevermind. Just continue on what you were saying.”
Sighing, Alex rested his back against the fence. Dusty immediately started snorting and came up to the fence for headpats. “I just don’t know where my place is. I always thought it was in gridball, but I guess I just couldn’t find anything else. Maybe I was too scared at the thought of my only passion not being able to take me anywhere.” Alex tugged at the collar of his jacket. It felt surreal to witness Alex, who was normally so irritatingly cocky and proud, fidget nervously. It was usually Almond’s thing to fiddle with a stray lock of hair or his worn clothes. “Sorry to bum you out with this kinda stuff, but I feel like I can talk to you about anything.”
“That’s… sweet.”
“I figured you would know a lot about this. You zone out a lot with a dumb look on your face.”
“Wow, fuck you.”
“What do you think about this revelation? I’m worried.”
It took Almond a moment before he realized that he had to provide an acceptable answer. “Uh, well… I… don’t know… I do know that it’s gonna be alright, though. That’s what I told myself while things weren’t going my way, which was often. Things tend to work out in ways you don’t even notice.” Almond paused as he thought back to himself, which was already scary in itself. He leant back against the fence as well, Dusty prodding his nose through the hollow knot in the board. “It’s gonna be alright. I know it will. Out of all the things that could’ve happened versus what did happen, I say the universe doesn’t want me to suffer too much. It’s going to be okay.”
“Is it really gonna be okay?”
“Maybe not right away, but, I’m always here for you… bro.”
Alex snorted and scratched behind Dusty’s ears. “I believe you.”
“Is that a sarcastic tone… bitch.”
For the first time that afternoon, Alex let out a big laugh, his cheeks pink and the corner of his eyes crinkling into a smile. “It really worries me when you don’t curse for a while.” he said airily. “But I really do believe you. You’re a very honest person. I’m grateful for that.”
Almond scoffed, but his cheeks burned like a furnace. “Damn you.”
Laughing again, Alex tucked one of Almond’s locks behind his ear and leaned onto him as Almond squawked indignantly. “You’re my favorite person.”
“Suck dick.”
“So sweet. So endearing.”
“You have shitty wallpaper.”
“Maybe I can be a farmer like you. Looks like fun.”
“You trying to say something? Farming isn’t as easy as it looks.”
The point of Alex’s nose nudged Almond’s ear, and Almond nearly dropped dead at the tickle it left. “I’ll explain it later. Let’s hang out now.” Alex said warmly, a genuine smile on his lips.
“Uh, what do you want to do?”
Alex’s eyes flicked towards Dusty, who whimpered for attention. “Let’s take Dusty out to the beach. He needs to stretch out some more.” Almond nodded and watched as Alex proceeded to unlock the gate and the giant dog bounded out, wagging his thin tail so fast that it looked as if he was about to take off into space.
“C’mon boy! Let’s go!” Alex whistled. Dusty bounced and twirled around Almond’s legs before heading for the beach, and Alex threw Almond a wide grin over his shoulder, making Almond’s heart jump again. At that moment Almond knew that things were going to be okay. At least for now.
.