The forest turns a blind eye to those who worship it. It had remained silent and cold amid those howling winds and deep nightmares, but aren’t all gods like that? Observant and stripped from all human emotion. A faceless carcass that people kneel in the mud for, begging for second lives, begging for the rivers to flood once more. Tyler had dreamed about the woods again, the third time this week. Something about it speaking to him, the branches reach and sway for him, the leaves rustle in the humid breeze. There is always something decomposing underneath the soil and maybe that’s why he’s drawn to it. The roots, the grass, the dragonflies that flit around his face. Look, they say: we’re beautiful and short-lived. Each time he tries to chomp on their frail wings and swallow them, their bodies torn apart by something larger than they are. This is an addiction, he’s assuming, and a side effect of the shift. He wasn’t a carnivore before all of this, was he? Certainly he had wanted to be. Slipped on the skin of a man before he had turned fourteen. Kept a knife as a tongue and bullets as spit. He was cruel and soaked in his violent nature like a king in an ice bath. Is this a trait of the son or a trait of the father? Is this what a life of broken bones leads to; pain, suffering, a rabbit that stumbles upon the fur of a grizzly bear? They are all pretending to be what they aren’t. Puppets dancing along to the invisible string of old curses, the ancestors of pointed ears and big paws. There’s a relief to be around someone who accepts, even if he doesn’t fully understand, what his brother is. If he had a body to bury he would only bring Matt along. They both taste the grave of the father, the bitter absence and the overwhelming presence. Where Matt had adopted a soft-spine, Tyler was the backbone. A solid piece of ancient oak that refused to splinter for any foe that bared their teeth at either of them. A loose smile hangs along his mouth, brows raised with feigned surprise as he hoists a shopping bag over his shoulder, the two new shoeboxes growing awkward to carry in such a small bag. ‘ Jesus man. Pretty sure my mom is more subtle than you when it comes to asking about girls. ‘ Still, he doesn’t share. Doesn’t offer any generously intimate details like he would if this was a meaningless fling. Some girl that he was reckless around would be plastered across his face with false praises and animal-like remarks about her body. Instead, he shakes his head lightly, a nod towards the food court. ‘ Gonna’ have to buy some fries, Donovan. Only way to make me talk. You owe me with that whole insurance shit, anyway. My dad was pissed. Your mom hooking you up with some money eventually, or am I claiming you as a dependent? ‘
brotherhood was not in the blood. matt had learned this early in his life, but it was not passed upon him from his elders. they had never taught him how to love another as if they had been born from the same womb. no one even said it was possible. friends, they said. friends would come and go and family was what mattered. but tyler was family. more than his own had ever been to him. it was bittersweet how even vicki did not know him as much as the man next to him did. there was safety in knowing that the feeling was mutual -- tyler had always looked out for him. he was the first to run to his side when he fell, the first one to pat on his back after a heartbreak, the first one to put himself in line if ever needed. and matt was awfully human. he did need his best friend a lot more than he would voice, but in actuality he didn’t even have to. in honesty, he didn’t remember an instance in which he had to yell in the other’s face that he was not okay, that he needed him. tyler would just know. he would know what he was going through and what he needed to do. not even needed, as there was no pressing matter that put him in a place to do it all by force but he was simply the most selfless person he had ever known in his entire life. he had watched him put his loved ones over himself countless times before and he had not changed one bit in that habit over the years. it was admirable and matt could only strive to be as selfless as he was. despite not being the type of guys to share such thoughts openly, they both knew. they both knew how much they cared for each other and their actions did speak louder than any words they could muster. their ‘i care for you’s were hidden in the way they stood up for one another, told each other to stay out of trouble and how they would not blink before stepping in if they did get into it anyway. and matt appreciated this. he appreciated tyler so much that every banter was out of fun, fights nothing less than playful. “ since when do i have to be subtle with you? am i still talking to tyler? tyler lockwood, the star quarterback, the one and only? ” he exaggerated the way he spoke of the other, lips pulling into a grin despite the confusion remaining over his features. “ i’m getting worried over here, man. ” he added before hearing him out, which emitted a groan out of his throat and matt threw his head back for a moment. “ i should have known. dammit. ” a pause in his steps, then he pulled at the other’s shoulder towards the food court, quickly making their way over. “ you really believe that’ll happen? ” a snort, he shook his head. “ i gotta get a job at the grill again if i’ll be paying you back in french fries like this. ” he said before placing their order quickly, attention returned to the other man. “ about that, though -- thanks man. you got my back again. i made kira sign it first but i reserved the best spot for you. ” he said with a grin, referring to the cast on his arm.
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