Les Laches

Hush!

The next morning, Tian was tidy in a brown wool pullover and his navy jeans an hour before the time Meda had promised to pick him up. After making sure all the items he wanted to carry went into his chocolate bag-sling, he went down to the first floor. While plucking a piece of toast from the top of the kitchen counter, he saw Bella still struggling with the shrimp curry she cooked. On the other side of the counter, a basin of raw indigo looks still untouched.

Tian glanced at his watch. Knowing the habits of his mother, the indigo will remain in its raw state until he finishes the previous cooking. In fact, a few more minutes was the hour his father had breakfast. Adler wasn't the one who would nag because breakfast wasn't ready in time. However, he would not wait until his wife's cooking was ripe before leaving for the office. Inevitably, Tian had to intervene.

"The season's ready, Ma?" ask Tian.

He grabbed an apron from a clothes hanger in the kitchen and rolled his arm over the elbow before starting to clean the fish's entrails.

"Not yet."

Bella throws a desperate look at her daughter. Actually, he wanted to prevent Tian from going to the kitchen with him because he knew that Meda would pick him up in a while. However, she realized, without Tian's help, she would make her husband leave for the office on an empty stomach.

Tian himself worked without much talk. Even after he smeared the fish he had cleaned with lime, he tasted Bella's cooking and asked his mother to give him a little more added sugar and flavoring. In the end, all the menus were served at the dinner table about five minutes after Adler came out of his room. The man threw a meaningful glance at Tian, because he knew that it was his eldest daughter who had a big hand to prepare the breakfast menu this time.

"Aren't you eating rice?" reprimand Bella who saw her daughter had finished her third piece of toast since she came down from her room.

Tian shook his head quickly. He reasoned, his stomach was full enough thanks to all the bread he consumed. Just as Bella was intending to feed Tian with food from her plate, the sound of the front door bell rang.

"It must be Meda."

Tian immediately knew that the one who came was Meda because he had told Eko, the gardener and the postkeeper in front of his house, to let the young man enter immediately when he arrived. However, before Tian got up from his chair, Bella held her daughter's arm.

"You wash your hands again. Don't still smell fishy. Let Mama open the door" Bella ordered, which immediately made Tian sniff her fingers.

Although Tian was not sure there was an unpleasant smell left in his hands, especially since he had no habit of keeping long nails, he kept up and walked towards the kitchen sink to wash his hands with lime juice and soap as much as possible. When he returned from the kitchen, there was no one left at the dinner table, even Adler seemed to rush through the leftovers on his plate before leaving the table.

Tian immediately knew the reason behind the "disappearance" of all the residents of his house. The girl walked into the living room and found the people she was looking for were sitting chatting with Meda. The young man looked handsome with ash polo and jeans in the same navy color as Tian's. The black boom jacket he placed on the edge of the seat reminded Tian of their moment of closeness in Cienfuegos.

"Well! It's Tian!" exclaimed Bella who was late to realize the presence of her daughter because her sitting position turned her back to the exit.

"Yeah!" Tian gestured to Meda who immediately kissed Adler and Bella's hands before stepping out of the house.

"Safira like the others have entered first," Tian said as they almost reached the playground that became their first destination before watching in the cinema.

The four best friends decided to join the plan to meet with Meda. Meda said she didn't mind. The more the merrier. He said so when Tian told him the request that Hera had placed on him. Meda sincerely said that because according to him if the relationship and Tian succeed, then the girl's friend is her friend as well. There is no harm in getting to know yourself as early as possible.

After parking his Mustang, Meda and Tian walked to the ticket counter. They both paid for tickets for themselves. Tian deliberately refused when Meda intended to pay for all their expenses today. For him, if he has not been able to accept the full feeling of Meda, then he should not expect the young man to treat himself as a lover who can take advantage of the contents of Meda's wallet at will.

"Tian!"

A voice from the corner of the playground shouting his name made Tian turn away. Safira waved her hand. Gesticulating to himself and Meda to get closer.

"Damn, panda!" Tian snorted at the image of the bamboo-eating animal emblazoned amidst the oversized sweater his best friend was wearing.

"This is Hera's job. Likes a sudden relapse if shopping souvenirs for the theme." Pouting, Safira threw a sharp glint at Hera who immediately put on an innocent face.

"And you are a panda lover" said Hera who increasingly made Safira hissing annoyed.

The name of the panda lovers he addressed to Sapphira was not without reason. Sapphira's love of black and white color that made Hera gave him the nickname. The girl is most creative when it comes to giving strange names to those around her. Including Tian who got the nickname Nyi Roro Kidul thanks to green objects that dominate all the collections of objects and furniture he has.

"It's a good thing the pieces of his shirt aren't tacky." Safira was still grumbling when he stepped towards the swing boat rides that became the first vehicle he wanted to try.

"That's lucky it's black and white. Same picture of the view." Tian's lips itched as well.

Hera laughed with satisfaction at having an ally, while Safira finally rode on the ride alone without waiting for the others to follow.

"Ti."

Afgar held Tian down just before the girl stepped into the swinging boat. Meda, who was preparing to catch up right behind her so that she could sit next to Tian, stopped to listen.

"What's up, Gar?"

Afgar pointed towards his own head before throwing an amused laugh at Hera and Alvin who were also nearby. Alvin first reacted to the code with a frenzied laugh, while Hera tried her hardest to hold a smile before finally giving up and laughing. Tian himself responded to Afgar's cue by immediately reaching into his pocket and searching for something. Moments later, his hand moved towards her hair and tied it in the shape of a midget.

"Why, Ti?" Meda who could only be confused at the sight, finally asked.

"Will we get off the ride, I'll tell you." Tian retorted briefly before starting to enter the rides.

While getting off the swinging boat, Meda clung next to Tian as if worried that the girl had forgotten her promise thanks to the shocks that occurred during the moving rides. Tian smiled wryly before starting to recount the memories of when they first boarded the ride. At that time the four were still sitting in High School and did not know Safira. Alvin was not dating Hera at the time.

As a result, there were two embarrassing events when the group got off the vehicle. The little boy who was crying because his candy was "tainted" and Tian was forced to ride around with the wet end of his hair after trying to clean up the trail of candy that made several ends of his hair cling to each other. Hera herself was safe because she was braiding her hair.

Returning from the playground, Tian cut almost half the length of his hair and from then on, he never extended his hair beyond the middle of his back. Tian tried to check the expression shown by Meda during her recounting of her experience. The young man made no comment at all and only responded a few times to Tian's story with an amused grin.

Along the way around, Tian had not lowered his hair at all. Several times he fixed his ties because the only hair strap he found was already about to lose its elasticity. Beside him, Meda also did not calm down to see Tian who could not stay still. Until finally, when his brain remembered the thing he saw before entering the playground, he asked permission to leave the entourage for a moment.

"I'm waiting for you on the Hysteria deck, huh?" Tian slightly shouted as he said it because the young man had already darted away before he finished his words.

A few minutes later, Meda returned with a white plastic bag with Cabello Accesories on one hand and four animal ear-shaped headbands on the other. At the head of Meda itself is attached an ear bando ala Mickey Mouse character in black. He handed the parcel in his hand to Tian before handing out the bandos to the four others in the entourage.

Hera gets a cat's ear, Alvin gets a rabbit's ear, and Afgar acquires a lion's ear bando filled with a lot of fur all over its surface. Afgar immediately protested when he saw the appearance of his head accessories that were more splashy than the other five people's. However, when Tian commented that the model looked warm and suitable for the cold-resistant Afgar, the young man finally gave up and put on the bando. Inwardly, he wondered if Meda was taking revenge on him when choosing the model for him.

Actually, when talking about protests, Safira is the most entitled to express his opinion. Meda bought her a panda ear bando. He threw an annoyed look at Meda who only returned with a wide grin. A sign that he did pay attention to the conversation between them from the beginning.

Tian checks the contents of the pouch that Meda handed over and pulls out a bando of Minnie Mouse characters and a very pretty hair tie. The hair tie was black and decorated with blue ribbons and white pearls on its surface. Tian murmured his gratitude while wearing that thing to replace the hair strap he had previously worn.

The party then entered into the Hysteria queue. Tian was secretly grateful that he did not eat too much at breakfast so it was unlikely for him to have his entrails removed after getting off the ride.

The next ride they rode was ontang-anting. It was the third and last ride by Tian. The girl almost fell to the ground as her gaze swirled as soon as it came down from her seat. Fortunately, Meda quickly restrained her arm and guided the girl to one of the nearby benches. The other four friends decided to sit for a while while buying snacks and drinks to accompany their break.

As the recovered Tian lined up to buy a snack with his entourage, a hand patted him on the shoulder from the side. Tian turned his head and shrieked softly as he recognized the familiar face of the owner of the hand.

"Elmira, right?" Tian asked doubtfully. Hoping that he did not remember the name of the woman he knew as a friend of his organization at High School. Tian immediately breathed a sigh of relief as the woman nodded quickly.

"The more beautiful you are, Ti," praised Elmira sincerely, although it was always only considered a form of pleasantries by the figure before her.

"Thank you. You look more mature now. I'm horrified last month abis lahiran, huh?" Tian opened the conversation.

"Yes. Chick. Twins. Her name is Rara the same Rere."

Elmira then started telling me that she was dating her husband. As she was waiting for her husband to return from the toilet, she recognized a Tian-like figure and decided to approach him to find out.

"Still with Afgar?" ask Elmira then.

"Still."

Tian replied while looking for Afgar. The young man stood a meter away from the queue and was playing with his cell phone after he finished buying his food. Tian called out Afgar's name and waved his hand, gesturing for the young man to come closer. Afgar twisted his body and walked towards Tian, the bando he had been wearing hanging from his neck.

"Now you want Elmira?" Tian threw a wide grin, waiting for a surprised response to appear on Afgar's face.

"Elmira who's a ten-nine?" tanya Afgar confirmed her memory. As the two girls in front of him nodded confirming, he extended his hand to shake hands with Elmira.

"How are you, Mir? Healthy now?" Afgar teases Elmira who does look full after giving birth.

"His name is also abis placed in twins. It's funny that I'm still as slim as Tian" said Elmira while pretending to frown. "When did you guys follow? Marriage chorus, don't date just," he added.

Tian and Afgar exchanged glances, while Meda who stood not far from the two could only wince in dislike.

"We're not dating, Mira." Tian became the first to break the silence.

Elmira's eyes are round. "Decided?"

"We've never even dated."

This time Afgar corrected. There was a hint of a strange feeling in his chest upon hearing Elmira's misunderstanding. However, Afgar tried to ignore it.

"Not you guys," Elmira hesitated a little to continue. However, since he was basically not a figure who could hide his curiosity, he ended up swallowing his doubts, "same-like?"

This time Afgar could not control his feelings and looked at Tian instead. He knew that Elmira would not brag about it due in part to the fact that he said Afgar had feelings for his childhood friend, it was a little secret he had told Elmira accidentally. And given that Tian was indeed quite close to the girl during her time in High School, Afgar was increasingly convinced that Elmira was nothing at all.

"Tell, Ti?"

Afgar again demanded a response from Tian although he could already clearly see the answer from the all-rounded expression shown by the girl. He himself could not think clearly hearing facts he had not known for many years. His brain even forgot that he was in the future with many things that could not possibly change even though he tried to confirm the truth in the past.

Tian began to look down as he felt Afgar's gaze grow more intense. And when Afgar's patience runs out, he intends to get closer to Tian, Meda finally interjected by grabbing Tian's arm and pulling him away after saying goodbye to Elmira who seemed to realize that she had brought up something undue.