[BL]QT: Daily Life of an Unreliable Host

ARC[1] - 1.2

The wind gently ruffled Floyd's unruly hair, making it fluffier. The breeze was followed by an awkward silence as Floyd was busy cursing and whining about Brian to Riya, while Brian was busy admiring this soft chick (no, not that chick, but the chick chick) that appeared in front of him. The sun gleamed from behind the boy, giving him a halo, which made him look dazzling.

Another poke to the face brought Floyd back from his complaints. With a twitching smile on his face, he not-so-gently tugged the stick out of Brian's hand before Brian could protest.

Brian gazed up at Floyd with a face full of grievances making Floyd feel like a bully (which he was). With a resigned sigh, he extended his hand and asked, "Do you wanna play with me?" Floyd couldn't handle being looked at so pitifully by a kid, especially one that was not a devil wearing an innocent mask, but a truly innocent kid.

Brian was in a daze, not that it was noticeable. Kids usually avoided him due to his expressionless face, leaving him lonely. One time, he stumbled upon a boy, whose eyes were filled with tears, threatening to fall. He was startled by it and used what meagre coaxing skills he had to question the crying boy. Tears poured out like a waterfall and his story of being a neglected child was spoken to him in between hiccups. This was how he made his first friend.

But this was the first time someone had taken the initiative to invite him, leaving him in a happy mood that could last days.

Floyd, on the other hand, felt a little surprised by the other's happy countenance. After all, he was famed 'Frost Prince', so to see even a sliver of emotion was rare. Yet when Floyd reached out and held the boy's hand giving it a reassuring squeeze, the other's round innocent eyes brightened all the more. It almost blinded Floyd with its pure glow.

Riya interrupted Floyd's fanboying over Brian's cuteness with a single word. Pervert. This was vehemently denied by the fanboy, Floyd but Riya kept teasing him till all Floyd could hear was the word "pervert" echoing in his mind. This made him feel extremely bad. Not the fact that he was being called a pedophilic pervert, but the fact that his beautiful self was being classified among those low-lives. Riya was speechless by the direction of her host's thought process. Also, did he not realize that the connection between them was still open?

Shortly after Brian stood up, Floyd dragged him deeper into the closure, towards the play area that was situated at the farthest corner from the entrance.

The park consisted of a walking track for adults to prevent them from getting bored and a resting area located at regular intervals, where people could sit and chat when tired. This long track led to the furthermost left corner where refreshments ranging from juice to biscuits were placed. The left from the entrance led to the butterfly garden. It was a small dome that consisted of various species of butterflies, some even claimed to be extinct in other parts of the country.

The right path led to a place similar to karaoke and only here, you could simply just sit and listen to music or play any instrument of your choice. Lastly was the play area and main attraction of the park positioned at the farthest right corner.

***

Floyd heard a soft voice repeatedly calling out for them to wait, but the voice was so soft that Floyd wondered if it was a hallucination. It probably was not because Brian's steps came to a halt when the voice got a little bit louder.

He looked around but was still unable to spot the person who spoke. He glanced at Brian for a clue as to where the person was located. When he noticed Brian staring in a particular direction, Floyd followed his line of sight and spotted a child peeking at them from behind a bonsai tree that was little more than a head taller than him.