Аннотация: Ham and Deniska's training session. A declaration of love for Noverry. Deniska's super plan.
I emerge from the depths of memory, forcing the balls one by one to dive into the box. The gate slams, loud laughter is heard from the lawn, interspersed with heavy breathing. I go to the window, and the brothers are lying on the grass with their arms outstretched. Deniska's skin glistens with sweat.
"13:50 Hame! We have improved our time."
"Oh, yes! I thought at the end that I would just fall and die!"
"Oh! Eugene is looking at us."
"We see you, Little Fox!"
I look at the vacationing brothers, and an amazing meeting that took place last June comes back to my mind. The meeting finally set the record straight, gave me amazing knowledge, and taught me how to control my empathy. It allowed me to feel this world much more deeply. I realized fatally that I would have to face a living nightmare. The Reapers!
Eugene (Mendoir June 2360)
The Hectic Year (part two)
June 10, 2360 6:45 AM
The training is over, I go down to the kitchen, there is peace and quiet at home, the whole family except Deniska and me is still asleep. My father is not here, he is on duty at the plant. I go into the kitchen and take a one-and-a-half-liter plastic canister of juice in the refrigerator, pour half of it into a glass carafe and dilute it with water. Pure juice is too sweet, and after a workout it's not exactly what you need. But it's worth diluting, that's it! I take plastic cups from the locker and go to the brothers.
They're just lying on the grass, a quick glance in my direction, joy and malice in their feelings.
"I told you that she would come, and not only that, she would also bring juice!" This is Ham speaking.
"That surprised me! Yes, at the Fox Cub chuika, you and I have never dreamed of being poor. I wish I had one. Ehhh!"
"Don't be jealous, it's not good!"
"That's who's talking! He's the one!"
"I can!"
"That's why?!"
"I have white envy!"
"Does it mean black for me?!"
"And you're just jealous."
"I don't understand... What does simple mean?"
"Where are you going! This is not for average minds..."
"Does that mean I have an average mind?! That's it, then! Sir Haymon! I am offended in my best feelings, and I demand immediate satisfaction!"
"Ha ha! Sir Denis! I accept your challenge! Where are the trainees?!"
"It's in the shoe box."
The guys pulled out training knives, they are made of soft, flexible plastic, but they leave bright luminescent marks after blows. It is extremely difficult to injure them, but the result is clearly visible.
They kicked off their shoes and socks, and pulled off their T-shirts, leaving only light sweatpants. They stood opposite each other and bowed slightly.
The beauties! Deniska is slightly shorter, but much stronger and slightly heavier than Ham, with already well-defined muscles. Ham is faster and more flexible, with amazing predatory grace, the collar has already formed, has not yet hardened, and is still soft, as are the protective plates on his head and body. Tight rolls of muscles curl around the body and arms. In a couple of years, he will become a thunderstorm of women's hearts. Beware, young Turians!
They moved slowly in a circle without taking their eyes off each other, slightly crouched, deceptively relaxed, the right hand with the knife slightly in front, the left slightly closer to the body and lower, the palm turned down. I feel excitement and anticipation of a fight.
I miss the moment of the beginning of the movement, the moment, the flashing of hands, the pile of deceptive movements, the brothers entwined into a ball and fell apart panting. In Deniska, a bright blue stripe runs diagonally across the peritoneum, in Ham, a bright green stripe runs from the right shoulder through the collarbone and down the throat, disappearing at the ear opening.
"Ha! I got you! In real life, I wouldn't blow your head off." Denis said, panting.
"Look at yourself!" Ham is panting.
"Oh!" Denis looks down at his stomach and says. "My giblets went for a walk! My poor guts! I'm smitten." The brother falls on the grass, spreading his arms.
"It's a draw again!"
"I don't like sparring with you Ham! It doesn't do any good!"
"I agree! I know you like crazy! All your feints and tricks."
"Tell me, when was the last time our sparring ended with a victory?"
"Er... Well, it seems like it happened last week... You kind of won!"
"Sort of... You were in the clouds then! Master Tanris scolded you back then. And by the way, who is she?!"
"What are you talking about!?" Ham flashed with embarrassment.
"Come on!" Denis broke into a smile. "Who were you thinking about!? Come on, come on!"
"You imagined it." Ham replied, even more embarrassed.
"Oh brother! You're definitely in love!"
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm telling you, you imagined it!"
"Oh ha haha! Oh, I can't! Haam! You don't know how to lie at all!" Deniska reaches into the box and takes out bags of wet wipes, throws one to Ham. "Catch a lover! Otherwise, you'll be shining a green stripe on your neck!"
Ham opens the bag, takes out a napkin and begins to wipe off the paint, his gaze becomes blurred and he just smears it on his skin in vain. Deniska lies on her stomach, supports her head with her hands and, smiling, begins to follow the manipulations of her brother-in-law. I set the decanter on the grass, drop the glasses, take the napkin from Ham, and carefully begin to clean up the stains. Ham looks at me, and blinks in surprise at Deniska, who is smiling.
"Well, that's why you intervened, Little Fox!? This lover would have smeared a marker all over his neck right now and wouldn't have noticed. And then it would be green!"
Ham looks at me with his clear light blue eyes. He's embarrassed, and he takes my hand with the napkin in his.
"Let me finish it myself... Little fox!"
"There's not much left." I answer, wiping off the last traces, lean into Ham's ear and whisper. "What's her name?"
"Noverry Rinaris." My brother answers softly.
"That bully!" Deniska's voice is heard in my ear. "Ohhh!" He gets my elbow in his side. "Foxi, don't push!"
"And she's not a pushover at all!" I'm talking. "She's just very shy and hides behind it. "And Ham she likes you very much, too, and even, in my opinion, more than very much."
"Really?!" My brother is surprised and delighted.
"Wow! Yes, it's mutual!" There is surprise and a little envy in Deniska's emotions.
We sit on the grass for a while in silence.
"So!" Deniska smelled of efficiency. "I have a plan!"
"What's the plan?!" Ham asked suspiciously.
"How to arrange your date! Otherwise, you'll be beating around the bush and you won't decide on anything! And she's even more so! Little fox will need your help. How are you doing?!"
"Of course! Don't even doubt it!" I answer.
"And my opinion, as it were, is not taken into account!" Ham is surprised.
"As if not! You're too indecisive!" Deniska answers. "And your salvation is now in our hands!"
"That's what scares me!" Ham mutters. But he's actually very pleased.
"In general, listen here!" Deniska begins. "As far as I know, she goes to the city's preference club every morning to play the piano!"
I must say that a real piano is a very scarce thing, it is clear that electronic analogues are mostly used in the 24th century, but in order to learn how to play correctly, you need to play a normal instrument. And there was only one like that in our town. And he was standing in a local club. It was organized on a shared basis by three reasonable people: a human, an asari and a krogan! On the ground floor, it was quite an ordinary entertainment venue with a restaurant, a disco, a bar and a cabaret. And on the second floor there was the only preference club in the entire colony. There was a piano in it. In the evenings, various distinguished people gathered there, including the colony's management, my fathers and their friends, to paint a different bullet! During the day, everyone was taught to play the piano there, for a fee, albeit a small one.
"We're waiting for her on the way home, then you!" Deniska points her finger at me. "You invite her to the mirror, under some normal pretext, with us. Then we take her to the lake, and then it's a matter of technique."
"I might not be able to do it very well, but if we take Vaska, then the two of us won't give her a chance."
My brother scratched his head. He ruffled his hair and answered.
"So we take the blue one, she definitely won't refuse to participate in such a case."
"Is there a place for me in your plans?!" Ham asks in surprise.
"And you! So as not to scare you off, you will prepare a place with Tam! In general, a table, juice, a cauldron and a heater for cooking рако-крабов will be yours. As soon as we fly out, I'll beep on your communicator and you'll run off to the foothills, pick flowers. We're going to catch Рако-крабов, all together."
"What kind of flowers?!"
"Yes, any kind, there are many different ones growing in the glades, you can choose a more beautiful one! We'll settle down for now, you'll be fine. Come back and give her this bouquet! She's not stupid, and she'll understand. Do you understand everything?!"
"Got it! It's kind of simple."
Deniska takes the decanter, we sort the glasses, her brother pours the juice, raises his own.
"I have a toast! To the success of our event!"
"For success!" Ham and I talk in unison, clink glasses together, and drink juice.
Two hours later, having mobilized all the young people in our village, including Nino, Jina and Ivan, we clarified and supplemented our plan and began to implement it.
I fly to the town behind Deniska's back, and a memory of a year ago wakes up in my memory, on the same day, but only a year ago, I also flew to Leonov, but only behind Ham's back. Clinging tightly to my sworn brother's hot back, I cursed my gift of empathy. Being in large crowds of people became more and more painful for me. It was especially hard at school, well, our kindergarten was actually called a junior school. So, being among classmates was akin to sophisticated torture, because children absolutely do not know how to restrain their emotions! And when there are eighteen of them! I told Ray and Mom about the problem. Mom burst into tears again, Ray said that going to school would have to wait. And I spent the whole of last May sitting at home alone, Kaadi was looking after me, of course, but with only half an eye because of her newly born baby. Although, for obvious reasons, I didn't cause any problems. They only took me to the mnemograph so that I would not lag behind the other children. That's when I decided I wanted to know both Turian and Asari. We flew to our Galamarkt supermarket to buy summer clothes, underwear and other necessary junk. My thoughts were full of the darkest forebodings. Yes! If I had known what kind of meeting was waiting for me at the store, I would have run on foot!