The Golosina, the Forgotten Land and the Skurkene - 5. Chapter 5

Freddy felt so dazed. He could hear the sharp clinking sounds when he moved his wrists.

Shaking his head, he blinked more, trying to get his vision back into focus.

There was an old building smell around him, dusty and dirty.

‘Awake now, sleeping idiot?’ Tav was suddenly in front of him, smirking.

Feeling his arms ache, Freddy looked at them. They were both above his head, chained to the wall.

Freddy tilted his head, confused. He looked around. It appeared they were in some sort of castle room, not too grim to be a dungeon, but dull enough to be out of sight.

‘You were supposed to get me with the sword,’ snorted Tav. ‘You couldn’t even do that right, you just stood there, like an absolute gormless moron.’

Tav walked to the central of this room, there was a giant blue flame. Tav waved his hand over it and the flame showed images of Keira and her sidekick talking to each other. Keira did not look very impressed.

‘They had to put a new spin on the story,’ Tav said, staring at the flame. ‘So, now you’re here. Making my life more difficult than usual. Keira isn’t happy either but they are, what’s the term, ‘improvising’ a new storyline. She will become the hero and you are the damsel in distress. How embarrassing for you.’

As Tav talked, Freddy stared at him. He never lost those handsome features from when he was a kid, in fact he grew into them more, his jawline sharper, his eyes darker, his hair thicker.

‘It’s good to see you though,’ Freddy smiled.

That remark made Tav turn around and stare at Freddy. He opened his mouth a few times to respond, but shook his head and smirked, ‘We are not friends. You’re just a very lousy good guy.’

Freddy shrugged, looking away, ‘You make a fair point, I did a very poor job of being a hero. They’ll be marking me down for that.’

‘Because of you, the script has to change,’ Tav said looking back at the flame. ‘Looks like your princess is going to come rescue you instead. She’s getting all geared up and trained now.’

‘Ah, there we go,’ replied Freddy, cheerful. ‘The princess saves the day; that’s still a good storyline. Better than apples and trees any day.’

Turning around Tav marched up to Freddy, he got right in his face, grabbed his shoulders with such force and pushed him hard against the wall.

Freddy grimaced a little.

‘We are not friends.’

‘Sure,’ winced Freddy.

‘You hate me and I hate you.’

‘That’s a shame.’

Tav pushed Freddy once more before walking away.

‘You know, I could do this magic against you.’ Tav said over his shoulder. ‘Melt you into the wall, turn you into a tree, or, you know. Something.’

‘I have no doubt about that,’ smiled Freddy, getting amused by Tav’s annoyance. No matter what Tav said, it wasn’t upsetting or making Freddy angry, he was just so happy to see Tav after such a long time. He was also pleased with how handsome he was.

‘I might have to put a spell on you to make you hate me,’ Tav said.

‘Go on then,’ replied Freddy. ‘Your magic is good, you can definitely get me to hate you if you put a spell on me, but it won’t be real hate, but it will work for this storyline.’

Tav went to say something and paused. He then smirked and put his hands on his slim waist, ‘How do you know I haven’t put a spell on you to make you like me? Make you easy prey?’

‘Guess I don’t know if you have,’ Freddy simply replied. ‘If you have, it’s a very good spell.’

‘Ahh!’ Tav vented out, his scales turning a dark red. He walked towards the wall. ‘I’ll be back; you’re annoying me too much.’

With a flick of his hand, he conjured a door into the wall, on the right side to Freddy. Opening it, he went through and slammed it hard behind him. Freddy giggled a little and then glanced over the giant blue flame which slowly started going dark.

Later on, Tav came back running around the room, the blue flame came back to light and Keira and her sidekick were now dressed differently, in trousers and top, she was wearing a bandanna, a sort of modern version of a princess.

Freddy nodded, he was impressed.

‘Right, they have found out where we are and are heading for us,’ Tav rubbed his hands. ‘There should be with us soon…’

As he was pacing around quickly, he lost his footing, tripping over himself and started to fall to the ground.

In an instant Freddy rushed over, the chains on the wall suddenly long enough to let him run from the wall and rush over. He managed to catch Tav in his arms. He was strong enough to pull one of the chains completely from the wall too.

Tav just stared up at him while Freddy held him. Shaking his head, Tav pulled himself up away from Freddy. He then stared where he had left the door, it was so close to where the chains were on the wall.

‘You were able to get all the way here,’ he muttered. ‘You could have reached the door any time. You could easily leave this place.’

Freddy just shrugged, staring at the chains around his wrists, ‘Didn’t realise.’

The blue flame behind them lit up more. Turning his back against Freddy, Tav looked at the flame, he stared at it, ‘They’re quicker than I thought they would be. The cloud is there too, recording her venture.’

‘Ah,’ said Freddy, sadly. ‘I mean good for them, I guess. Smart.’

Tav waved his hand and the room around them started to change.

‘Just moving the room type for a few minutes,’ muttered Tav.

The room was now luminous with red carpets and long yellow drapes on the wall, old furniture of chairs, tables, stools, beds, wardrobes scattered everywhere, almost like a celebration dumping ground. It smelt of roses too.

Tav’s voice softened, his back was still turned against Freddy, ‘Why don’t you want to be saved?’

‘How come you didn’t come see me last time?’ Freddy replied back. ‘Our last night as friends before we had to be who we are now.’

Tav went to say something but just rolled his eyes.

Freddy instantly added, ‘Something happened, didn’t it? You did turn up, didn’t you.’

‘Look,’ Tav’s face softened and he looked at the floor, his scales turning lilac. ‘It’s best we are not friends, we have to follow our story, you’re the good guy and I’m the bad guy’

‘Did you enjoy the time we had?’ Freddy gave an undefeated smile.

‘They were okay.’

‘I enjoyed it a lot, I looked forward to seeing you,’ Freddy paused and added, ‘I missed you.’

‘You should feel like that about the princess, you know,’ snorted Tav, folding his arms, and still not looking up at Freddy. ‘You should be looking forward to seeing her.’

‘Well, I guess I feel that way about you.’

Sighing, Tav paced the floor, muttering under his breath, ‘Look, I can make this all go away, I can think of more spells to undo all this and it can go back to how it should be.’

Freddy realised out loud, ‘You’ve already tried to do that before.’

Tav rubbed his face, his voice cracking, ‘We are not meant to even be friends, so we can absolutely definitely not be… you know.’

‘Love?’

‘Not that, no,’ snapped Tav, tapping his foot, looking up at Freddy finally. ‘What sort of fool are you, you know we can’t be. I can’t even begin to count how many codes it would be breaking, for both your lot and mine.’

Freddy realised that Tav never said he didn’t love him back. Tav was ranting. He was glaring at Freddy, was snapping at him, telling him how things must be. But he was not denying how he felt.

So, Freddy decided to push on this, ‘You keep saying we can’t. The rules won’t allow us, I understand that. But you’re not saying you don’t feel the same way back.’

Tav wouldn’t look at him, so Freddy caught his wrist and made him stop walking. Pulling his chin towards Freddy, he made Tav look at him. His eyes were so dark and his scales kept changing colours, flashes of red, yellow, green, orange.

Leaning in, Freddy cupped his face and kissed him.

Tav pushed him back, ‘I just told you we can’t.’

Not letting go, Freddy kissed him again, ‘Tav.’

‘Freddy… we can’t,’ whispered Tav.

‘Please tell me what happened that night,’ Freddy whispered back.

‘I…’ Tav faulted. Sighing, he touched Freddy’s hand and gently pulled him away. He sighed again and sadly whispered, ‘Okay.’

He then placed his fingers against Freddy’s temples.

Freddy’s eyes rolled into the back of his head.

It felt like a hazy dream but he was in the garden. Their garden, their meeting point.

He could hear a teenage version of himself talking.

‘I can’t believe this is the last time.’

He followed the sound and he saw the younger version of himself speaking to the teenage version of Tav.

It was their last night. The night Freddy thought Tav didn’t turn up.

‘It’s going to be hard pretending to hate you,’ said young Freddy.

‘Oh, come on, you’ll hate me eventually, I am quite annoying and good at being rude,’ young Tav pulled a face.

‘I do hate that we can’t do this anymore,’ young Freddy sighed and dropped back, lying on his back next to Tav.

Tav paused, already on his back, looked sideways at Freddy. He stared at Freddy a while, pulled at some grass, his scales going amber. Freddy turned his head to face him and smiled.

Clearing his throat, Tav sighed out loud and then stated, ‘Well. I guess. If this is the last time we will see each other, I will do this, it will help to make you hate me.’

Tav then leaned forward and planted a sweet kiss on Freddy,

Young Freddy was lying there, in stunned silence. He smiled, touching his lips,

‘See,’ sniffed Tav, his scales turning white as he was sitting up. ‘Now you will hate me, you will want revenge, find me disgusting….’

Freddy sat up in an instant, grabbed Tav, curled a hand round the back of his neck and kissed him back.

Tav smiled, his scales glowing like a sunrise and he kissed Freddy more, running a hand through his blonde hair. They rolled around on the grass as the kissing became more passionate and urgent, wanting each other desperately.

Then suddenly there was some rustling. They both froze and pulled off each other, lying next to each other panting. Freddy caught Tav’s eye and they both giggled. Freddy reached down and his small finger stroked the side of Tav’s hand.

‘You are not disgusting,’ whispered Freddy.

Tav gave a sad smile and then sat up, he ran a hand through his own messed hair and murmured, his voice tight with sadness, ‘Got to go. Sorry.’

As Tav rushed away, he looked over his shoulder, Freddy was lying there, staring into the dark sky, with a look of peace and content on his face. Freddy closed his eyes. With a hard gulp, Tav waved his hand and muttered the spell.

Freddy was now back with Tav, older and in this strange room. Taking his fingers off Freddy’s temples, he stepped backwards but Freddy followed him. Taking hold of Tav’s face, the chains still clinking around his wrists, he kissed him deeply. Freddy remembered how he felt that night, it came flooding back, all the feelings, the thoughts, the physical touches.

Tav didn’t push him away, instead he closed his eyes, ‘Freddy.’

‘Tav.’

His scales were now turning into the colours of sunrise, it even felt like a sunrise, the heat, he was warm and almost glowing.

Shaking his head, Tav took off Freddy’s chains. Once freed, Freddy put his arms around Tav’s waist, and kissed him again. A little smile emerged on Tav, a small genuine smile, and he held Freddy’s face and kissed him. They kissed more, holding each other closer, wanting each other more, knocking into the furniture in their desperation, falling onto a large chair and then a bed.

***

‘I can’t believe we did that,’ chuckled Freddy, lying back down on the bed, staring upwards. Their clothes forgotten about on the floor.

Tav was quiet on his side, just staring at the wall.

Freddy turned on his side to face him, instantly reaching out his hand to gently brush his face. Tav’s scales were now a soft blue and pink. Freddy’s fingers lingered under Tav’s chin, gently pulling him forward and making Tav roll onto his side, and, almost hypnotically, he leaned in and kissed him deeply.

When he pulled away, he saw a little smile hiding from Tav.

Resting his forehead against his, Freddy’s other hand reached down and took hold of Tav’s hand, interlinking their fingers together.

‘Thank you,’ whispered Freddy.

‘It could still be a spell,’ tittered Tav.

‘Guess you must have put a spell on yourself as well,’ giggled Freddy. He paused, ‘This feels good, this happiness.’

‘Yeah, I guess you’ve worn me down,’ Tav chuckled a little, pulling away, going back onto his back. Freddy rolled with him, resting his head on his shoulder.

‘You are absolutely beautiful.’

‘Oh, shut up,’ Tav rolled his eyes.

‘I think you are,’ said Freddy, softly.

Tav didn’t reply for a few moments.

‘I thought all the Golosinas were pompous,’ he said, brushing his nose against Freddy’s blonde locks. ‘Or boring.’

Freddy laughed, ‘Yeah. I’m boring but I’m fine with that.’

Tav smiled, feeling and hearing the laughter, ‘Just. Mm.’

‘What?’ grinned Freddy. They were still holding hands, so he put their linked hands onto Tav’s bare chest.

‘I like it when you laugh,’ Tav admitted. ‘I like being the one to make you laugh.’

‘Well, I enjoy it when you make me laugh too,’ Freddy replied back into his shoulder. ‘It was a break from being told what to say, what to do, what to look like, and just seeing you who was different. I loved different.’

‘So, you became obsessed with me?’

‘Naturally,’ smiled Freddy.

They sighed and Tav hugged Freddy tighter to him.

Kissing on top of Freddy’s head, he murmured, ‘We will have to go back soon, you know. Finish the story up. We fight. You win.’

‘I don’t want you to die.’

‘I’ve told you before, we don’t die we just…’

‘Go to a different place.’

‘Yeah.’

Frowning, Freddy sat up, ‘How about we don’t do that?’

‘Freddy.’

Freddy held up his hand, ‘Let me think of a plan, okay?’

Tav sighed, he sat up and waved his hands and created a yellow band, he placed it around Freddy’s collarbone.

When Freddy looked at this confused, Tav simply said, ‘Look, just make sure Keira doesn’t see this. Hide it under your shirt or something. It’s how I can communicate with you.’