Chapter Text
Thursday 3rd October 2025
18:30 Grange Lane bus stop.
Wildbreak was glad he'd worn the huge hoodie on top of the thick long-sleeve and beanie, and especially glad Knockout had encouraged him to pack a camping pan and mugs, water and hot chocolate packets to make a warm drink for when they were sat at the fire. Should be a good night to see stars though. He was sat huddled at the disused bus stop, ears perking up at every sound, on alert for some kind of ambush. It wasn't like he didn't trust Dragstrip, just reflex. Speak of the devil, he heard footsteps getting louder to his right and peaked out of the sheltered stop to see Dragstrip idly strolling towards him, wearing a cosy looking fleece, with professional hiking trousers and boots. They were a bit snug, and Wildbreak could see the shape of his thighs through them. Good lord.
"Hey." Dragstrip said as he stopped by the shelter.
"Hi." He said back, reminded of the similarity to the start of their conversation at lunch.
"Ready to go?"
"Lead the way. Do you have a map?"
"Yup, won't need it though. I know this path like the back of my eyelids!"
"If you say so."
They talked about random things as they walked, from music preferences to favourite foods, Wildbreak adding to his mental note of things that Dragstrip liked the most, that he totally wasn't going to use to plan a date. They eventually fell onto the subject of family.
"My dad Knockout is a surgeon at Sentinel Memorial, my da Breakdown is a construction engineer. They both had pretty homophobic families so moved out as soon as possible, both signing up to the army. They met when da got hurt on a tour and dad was his field surgeon. They fell in love with each other but neither of them knew it was reciprocated until they met again on a different tour and da confessed. They both left with honours and moved in together, that was over 20 years ago, and a couple years later decided to have me."
"How do two ex soldiers afford surrogacy and a house? They couldn't have made that much money in two years."
"There was no surrogacy. My da is trans, had me while transitioning, before his hysterectomy. It's not exactly common knowledge though." No one knew this, but he trusted Dragstrip.
"Oh, word. I won't tell a soul. That's pretty cool though."
"What about you?"
"Mums a nurse, I don't know what my dads up tp. They divorced when I was little, mum got me, dad got my sister. She killed herself a few years back. Greif turned me into this awful person, starting fights and committing general antisocial behaviour like vandalism and shoplifting. I got adopted by a group of punks that saw me getting my ass handed to me when I tried to pick a fight. I toned down the violence and actually tried at school because of them and discovered I liked biology. I got into one last fight defending this girl. She was bullied for being a lesbian and she looked just like my sister so I felt this surge of rage and beat the shit out of the guy. I'd already been kicked out of so many schools that no where in the city would take me. So we had to move here."
Wildbreak was stunned into silence. He hadn't been expecting that. Words swirled in his head as he tried to formulate something to say.
"I'm sorry. You did the right thing and didn't deserve that. School sucks everywhere huh." He joked.
Dragstrip laughed, "Yeah pretty much."
"I bet it hurt, having to leave your friends."
"Yeah but we meet up in the city every couple weeks or so. By the way, they wanted me to invite you to one of our movie nights. We go to the cinema, get sandwiches from this deli, then chill in the skatepark until sunset. It's good fun."
It was so tempting. Wildbreak hadn't been on his board in so long.
"What day are you thinking?"
"Friday the 18th. There's a reshowing of Kill Bill, volumes one and two at 4:30."
"I'm down, I'll have to ask my dads though."
"No worries."
"Hey, what are you wanting to do after school?" Wildbreak asked, curious.
"A paramedic science degree. I'll probably minor in virology or something. What about you?"
"I'd love to do a history of literature degree."
"What'll you minor in?"
He slipped up.
"Performance. I'm hoping to get a scholarship." Shit, no no no no no no.
"Sweet, figured a literature guy would like theatre."
Wait, he wasn't teasing him for it? No, right. He wasn't like this others. He breathed in deep, and took the leap.
"No, classical ballet actually." oh god oh god oh god oh god oh god oh-
"Whoa, that's sick. I hear it's really hard to do. How long have you been at it for?"
???
He was interested? Really?
"12 years."
Dragstrip whistled, "dang you must be pretty good at it."
"I started later than most professionals do, so I'm not going to get anywhere in a career. Sure, I've done competitions and shows but I'm only good enough to get a decent scholarship for college."
"Don't be so hard on your self, I'm sure you're great!"
He must look really flustered right now.
"Thanks," he muttered shyly.
They walked in silence for a bit until they finished the climb up and walked out of the trees into a flat clearing that overlooked the steeper side of the mountain. All the mining equipment had been taken away and the mine boarded up after a group of kids came up here a few years back and one of them died. It had made state and national news. Wildbreak went to gather the driest wood he could find whilst Dragstrip cleared an area close to the cliff to build the fire, retrieving a collapsible bucket from his rucksack and filling it up with dirt using a shovel he'd also packed. Guess he camped a lot huh.
He returned with full arms of heavy wood, smaller fire-lighting twigs on top, and placed them down, the two of them moving to arrange and light the smallest ones with a lighter before piling larger bits on top. They sat around it, feeding the flames occasionally, as they waited for it to get hot. The sky was starting to go pink and gold as the sun kissed the horizon.
"Reckon this fire is hot enough now for s'mores?"
"Sure looks like it."
Wildbreak pulled out the pan, water bottle, camping mugs, and hot chocolate pouches.
"Nice idea."
"Can't take the credit, it was my dads suggestion."
The two of them chatted while inhaling s'mores and the hot drinks, watching the sun vanish from the sky in waves of orange that made the sky appear to be set on fire, a blazing death for the the star. After a while longer, the equipment was all packed up, the fire safety put out, and torches retrieved for the walk back home. Wildbreak had had so much fun today, and truly felt as though he had a friend for the first time in years. He was so happy he was bursting at the seems, the joy probably radiated off him. Dragstrip walked him home and the two said goodbye. He couldn't help it, the need almost too much, as he pulled him into a hug. It was only short but it made him feel so happy, he was sure he was grinning ear to ear. Dragstrip was jelly in his arms, and as he pulled away, found he was smiling giddily too. He gave a short awkward wave whilst walking backwards up the driveway, before turning to go through the door. He watched through the porch window as Dragstrip walked off, a joyful skip in his step, then walked to the kitchen, to be met my his parents both sat on the sofa.
"What time do you call this?" Knockout frowned.
The smile drained from his face, "Uh I-"
"What's wrong with you?" Breakdown scolded, whacking the back of his husbands head and turning to face him, "How was it honey?"
"Ouch." His dad mumbled under his breath, smiling cheekily.
His grin returned, "It was so much fun!"