literature

Beach Party (Not Really)

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It was a steaming summer day, and it was getting a little hot for even Nadim and his desert upbringing. He lay on Gade's floor – the man himself lay sprawled out on his sofa. Both were silent, listening to the insects outside and wishing for a breeze. Gade took an occasional swig from his sweating beer, but other than that, there was no movement. Until Nadim groaned and rolled over.

“Ugh, it's sooo hooot,” he not-whined, resting his chin in his cupped hands, staring blankly at the wall. “We should open the refrigerator door and let the cold out.” At Gade's stern look, he sighed and flopped onto his back again. “I know, I know; ee-lek-tree-see-tee to run the refrigerator costs money. Ugh, is there anything fun to do when it gets this hot?”

“Well, what did you do when you were hot in the desert?” Gade asked listlessly, staring at the ceiling and wiping sweat from his eyes.

“We still had to work,” Nadim sighed, grimacing with distaste as he remembered his previous living situation, “But sometimes if you were in the same room as the prince, you could get some air from those waving the fans for him. We mostly just sweated; much like this.”

The silence stretched between the two for a time, both too hot to continue the conversation. “Well,” ventured Gade, “We could go to the water. 'S nice down there, I guess. Cooler.”

Nadim looked up, intrigued. “The water? You mean like a lake or an ocean?” At Gade's nod, he sat up quickly, all heat-induced weariness gone. “Well let's go! I've never seen either of those things before!”

Gade sighed from his place on the couch; he regretted mentioning it. It wasn't too far away, but in the heat, distances seem to multiply. “Nng, fine, brat. It's a long walk. Don't forget your shoes.” Nadim had a habit of foregoing shoes in favour of creeping around barefoot. It completed the 'dirty homeless foreigner' appearance, and Gade was almost embarrassed to have such a person as an employer. Whatever; as long as he was getting paid, he didn't care much what Nadim looked like.

Nadim jumped up with previously untapped energy, grabbing his shoes from their place on the windowsill and bursting out the door. “Wait,” Gade called after him, “You don't know where it is, brat, so let me lead.”

He heard a dramatic sigh from the hallway, but he knew Nadim had stopped to wait. Gade grabbed another can of beer and stuffed it in a pocket. It wouldn't be cold by the time they reached the beach, but beer was beer. He tugged on his boots, seriously considering just staying inside and forgetting about the beach. He knew, though, that if he didn't come soon, Nadim was liable to run off without him and get himself lost or caught or something else equally stupid. Sure, Gade was warming to the kid, but those feelings of not-active-dislike came with a heavy dose of exasperation. Kid had a lot to learn about the real world.

“Right, I'm coming,” he mumbled in the direction of the hall, stopping to lock his door. He turned, mentally dragging his feet until he came within view of Nadim, who was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Alright, let's go!” the Arab crowed, turning and marching out the door.

The walk to the water took as long as Gade knew it would – much too long. It didn't help with Nadim chattering on about this and that as they walked. Gade knew the kid could talk for hours with no indication that anyone was paying attention, so he tuned out the constant flow and concentrated on thinking of the coolness of the water they would soon reach. As soon as they got a view of the water, Nadim let out a whoop and ran towards it. Gade rolled his eyes. By the time he caught up with the excitable kid, Nadim had already shed his shirt, shoes and turban, and was now splashing around in the water like it was the greatest moment of his life. As far as Gade knew, it could have been; there weren't really lakes or oceans in Arabia for the kid to play in, if his knowledge of geography was reliable.

“Gade, why didn't you tell me there was a real lake here?” Nadim shouted over to Gade, a big smile on his face. “When I passed by before, I thought it was just a mirage, like they always are in Arabia!”

Gade shrugged from his place on the shore, before kicking off his shoes and standing ankles-deep in the water. It wasn't as cool as he thought it would be, but it was still refreshing. “You never asked,” he commented, fishing out the can of beer from his pocket and cracking it open.

They stayed like that for a few minutes; Nadim running to and fro in the water, laughing and splashing and getting soaked. Gade hadn't seen his childish employer without his turban on before, and was mildly surprised to see a tumble of curly, messy dark hair brushing his narrow shoulders. He was obviously in dire need of a trim, but if he liked his hair long and dirty and tangled, it didn't matter to Gade. It was always tied up in his turban anyway.

Gade was content to stand and drink his beer in the relative silence – relative until Nadim broke it by calling out “Why don't you come deeper, Gade, it really is nice!” Gade passively took one step farther into the water and Nadim rolled his eyes.

Nadim couldn't believe he was standing in a lake. He'd never seen this much water in one place before – sure, there were wells in Arabia, but you couldn't really see the bottom and it was stupid to lean over the side, because someone could come up behind you and push you in. And every other lake look-a-like in the desert had been a mirage, which is why Nadim thought this one had been too, on the day he passed it by on his way into town. Who knew there was an actual lake here? Nadim didn't really know how to swim, but it was fun to run around in the waves anyway.

As fun as it was, however, the novelty wore off eventually, and not even Nadim had indefinite energy, especially not in this heat. The water was relatively cool, but all the running back and forth had tired him out. He waded back towards shore to flop down beside Gade, who had moved from the water to the shade of a tree nearby, beer can empty discarded beside him. They lay in silence broken by Nadim's quiet panting and the sound of the waves on the shore. There was a bit of a breeze, which helped to cool the two. “That was fun,” Nadim eventually declared, a smile on his face as he watched the sky through the leaves. Gade grunted in acknowledgement from beside him. Nadim pushed himself off the ground and collected his shoes, shirt and turban, tying the latter on as he made his way back to the tree under which Gade was lounging.

They sat in silence for a while, Nadim's eyes sliding shut every once in a while before snapping back open. The heat and the exercise were getting to him. He snuck a glance at Gade, who was zoning out listlessly at the horizon. Nadim figured it would be okay to take a small nap before they headed back – Gade didn't seem in any hurry to move yet. With that, he let his eyes slide shut and let his body relax.

Not ten minutes later, Gade stood and stretched, yawning. “Okay, brat, we should head back.” Despite being the 'employee' in this relationship, Gade still decided a lot of things; neither of them cared. Gade looked down at the dozing Nadim and toed him in the ribs. Nadim's brow furrowed and he rolled over, a muffled 'no' coming from his mouth, now shoved into the ground. Despite his hyperactive lifestyle, Gade decided, he really was a lazy kid. Gade picked up the beer can and bounced it off the Arab's shoulder, earning himself a yelp from a flailing Nadim. Smirking, he turned back towards the road and began walking. “Whenever you feel like coming,” he called over his shoulder.

There was a scuffling sound and Nadim appeared at his side, still yawning. “No fair,” he whined, “I just fell asleep too.” They continued on in silence for a while. The air was cooling a little as the sun sank lower in the sky, and they walked slowly, not in any hurry. Gade noticed Nadim kept dropping back, stumbling a little more with his eyes slipping shut, and the sight made him smile a little internally. Although he wouldn't show it on his face, he did like the brat. But enough was enough.

Gade sighed and stopped, turning to watch a stumbling Nadim catch up. If Gade didn't know any better, he'd say Nadim was drunk. “Alright, kid, I'm sure you want to get home before the sun sets, so...” Gade couldn't believe he was offering this, but... “It'll be faster if you get on my back.”

Nadim perked up a little. “Really?” At Gade's nod, he grinned and scrambled onto Gade's back into a loose piggyback. Gade scoffed; Nadim couldn't weigh more than 100 pounds. It wouldn't be difficult at all to carry him home and probably longer. Gade resumed his pace once more, unperturbed by his strange burden.

“Thaaanks, Gaaaade,” Nadim sighed in a sing-song voice, swinging his feet and face-planting into Gade's shoulder. He was snoring within minutes. Gade rolled his eyes, but felt some fondness mixed with the annoyance.

When they reached Gade's apartment a half hour later, the sun was almost gone, and Gade was able to somehow unlock the door without dropping the sleeping Nadim. Once inside, he considered simply dropping the kid on the floor or something, letting him find his own place to sleep. He sighed, kicking a pillow from the couch onto the floor and awkwardly getting the kid from his back onto the floor. Not bothering with a blanket for either him or the kid, he flopped on the couch himself, asleep within minutes.
Just a drabble I wrote for my friend whose account name I can't remember for the life of me. Contains my oc Nadim, the childish recently-escaped-servant-turned-pickpocket from Arabia. Travelled through the desert to this Mediterranean town where he meets Gade, my friend's character. Gade is a surly soldier-for-hire, no ties or loyalties as of yet. Nadim, in a strange turn of events, has come to 'own' Gade, meaning Gade is now acting as his personal soldier and is paid by Nadim. Doesn't really have a point besides the fluffy bits at the end. Enjoy.

Note: I don't have reliable knowledge about the time period (which is based on several different time periods), about Arabia in this time in history, or about how people from Arabia should conduct themselves. If something is offensive or inaccurate, don't hesitate to let me know.
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