“Azure!”
“They’re fast acting.” He makes a sprint for the two story building as the flames begin to die down and Ocher follows backwards, trying to keep the other soldiers in sight.
Ocher fires as the soldiers appear, their heads visible just above the line of flames. His aim is perfect and everyone he hits drops after a few seconds. Yet, he still has to get out of firing range. His bullets may be non lethal, but the soldiers don’t have that same care.
Azure stops in front of the building, close enough to read the ‘Records’ sign. That won’t work. Destroying a few documents won’t hold them up, if anything they’ll come back angrier and faster.
Aware of the urgency of their situation, he casts his gaze around to find anything else and he lands on...a water tower. The tall structure is comprised of bricks in their nation’s colors, as befitting a base, but inside he can feel the water just waiting for his nudge to burst the pipes.
He turns around and grabs Ocher by the back of his jacket, dragging him out of the soon to be flooded path with one hand and the other, he squeezes into a fist. The effect is instantaneous. One pipe breaks under the increased pressure of the water and knocks a brick loose. Azure pulls harder and one entire side explodes outward. Hundreds of gallons of water flood the ground, sweeping away those closest to the tower in a relentless tide.
Havoc reigns as soldiers try to outrun the surge of water and more appear, summoned by the screams. Taking advantage of the confusion, he makes a break for the entrance with Ocher right by his side. They’re almost to the entrance when in the middle of the chaos, Ocher freezes.
His eyes go wide and his grip on his gun loosens as he stares at someone. Azure follows his line of sight to see an unfamiliar soldier with dark brown skin and shocked brown eyes staring back at Ocher, reaching out a hand towards him.
And Ocher hesitates.
In the midst of their potential capture, he hesitates for this stranger and Azure feels rage flow through him, tinged with betrayal. Ocher is his. There’s no way he’s going to let this man undo everything. Azure runs back and body checks Ocher out of the way and into the dirt.
“Azure, don’t kill him!” Ocher yells before he can lay the man out.
He wavers. Who is this person that Ocher would actually ask for his life? Ocher has never once mentioned someone important to him, never mentioned that he left someone behind. Azure looks away from pleading gray eyes and sends the soldier flying backwards with a wave of his hand to divert the flow of water. He grabs Ocher’s wrist in a tight grip, dragging him back through the entrance until they’re clear of the compound and the trail of destruction they’ve left behind.
Azure shoves Ocher away from him once they arrive back at the port. He’s furious about what could have happened back there. Stopping in the middle of that mess was the single most unintelligent thing Ocher has done so far. He’s spent fifteen years in the army, there’s no excuse for life risking hesitation over a person.
“Azure,” Ocher begins. “I get it. You’re mad at me but-”
“No, you don’t get it!” Azure turns on him, mouth twisted in anger. “You hesitated. In the middle of a battle, you hesitated for some random soldier! You’re useless and can’t be trusted!”
“That’s not fair! I’ve done everything you’ve demanded, then one mistake and suddenly I’m useless?” Ocher shakes his head, “No, I won’t let you act like I haven’t kept up my side of the deal.”
“Barely.”
“Dominicus was the closest person I had. I wasn’t just going to shoot him! Even if it wouldn’t kill him, he could have drowned!”
“Oh?” Azure raises a single eyebrow, lips sliding into an insincere half smile. “You like him, Ocher? He’s your best friend from the army? He made you happy?”
“Azure, stop it.”
“Fine, I spared his life like you wanted. He can be the new leader of the army if he wants and he can stay away from you.” He doesn’t need an allegiance change from Ocher. He turns away, “Well...he can have that and his life provided you stay away from him too.”
“Azure!”
“What? You want him that badly?”
“No! That’s not what I’m saying.” Ocher yells in frustration. “He was my friend.”
“Really? Because from what you told me, you didn’t have any friends.”
“I mean we weren’t that close…”
They weren’t that close, but he would still risk his own life at the mere sight of him? Azure turns away, “I don’t care what you have to say, Ocher.”
“I can’t believe you.”
Azure keeps walking. He hates himself for caring that much and he hates Ocher for putting him in a position where he has to care. What’s wrong with him? He shouldn’t care this much! But that brief moment where Ocher jeopardized their lives for one man. He can’t pretend it didn’t happen.
Ocher can say they’re not close all he wants, his actions will always speak the loudest. And then where does that leave him? Ocher knows far too much, everywhere he’s been, everyone he’s talked to, everything he’s done. If they had captured him, all that information would have been theirs.
It shouldn’t even be a possibility. No one should know enough about him to seriously affect anything. Somehow, he hadn’t realized just how much he’d let Ocher in. He’s gotten used to Ocher being next to him, unconsciously trusted him enough that his presence became natural.
Let him in far too deep and now, it could all be broken apart faster than it ever formed. How could he let someone weasel their way inside? He’s cornered now. If he lets Ocher go, he puts himself and everyone else he’s introduced Ocher to at risk and if he keeps him, he’s keeping a potential betrayer with him.
Neither option seems ideal.
There is always the third option, though it’s barely even a choice anymore. He may threaten Ocher with death, but his heart’s not in it anymore. Where is his heart? It’s not something he even cares to discover.
He has to wrap things up quickly now. Before they both suffer.
Chapter 14: Ocher
Azure doesn’t trust him now.
It’s obvious in the way the other male has grown colder towards him. He was never a warm person, but his coldness was sprinkled with the occasional dose of affection. Now, Azure almost always looks like he’s two seconds away from throttling him. Not that he’d go down easily, he’d just rather avoid a fight in the first place.
He doesn’t think his hesitation was wrong though, nor he does he regret it. Dominicus had been his only constant for almost fifteen years. He might not have ever completely opened up to him, but there’s no denying that he owes Dominicus a lot. No matter how difficult he was, Dominicus had never abandoned him. Loyalty to Azure aside, that’s not something that he can forget just because he’s escaped the army.
If he could go back, he would have avoided Dominicus altogether because he still wouldn’t be able to bring himself to hurt the other man. In the moment, he never imagined Azure would hold that brief hesitation against him. He should have known better. Azure isn’t the forgiving type.