Chapter 13: Honesty

Jazz and Carter talk to each other about research.

He walked alone, the breeze rustling the leaves. The heat had intensified over the past week; summer was on the horizon, he thought to himself. He hadn't visited the waterfall since the incident... but the heat was getting to be too much. Dry clothes in his rucksack, he found himself in the waterfall area before he knew it. The outside area was quiet, almost eerily so; neither bird nor man were making a sound. He set the rucksack at the edge of the lake, looking up at the massive waterfall overhead before silently jumping into the water, lazily swimming behind it. The rush of the water drew a wind to the water, the roar deafening with how close he was to it.

It was wonderful. He treaded water for a time, the rush of water and the feel of the air immersing him in his own thoughts. He'd had plenty of time to at least accept how he felt, at least; a part of him still wasn't sure if he was truly "in love" or not. For all Jazz knew, it was simply another unfortunate case of puppy love... Whatever it was, he was okay to accept it, even if it didn't lead to...

Splash. he looked over, color draining from his face as he saw Carter had jumped into the water, Flora not far behind him. The two were in their underwear, chatting idly as the two swam, splashing water on their faces.

Jazz froze, allowing himself to sink in the hopes he wouldn't be noticed; even without the goddess' water breathing spell, he could still hold his breath for enough time for them to get in, finish whatever they were about to do, and get out before he had to come up for air. A part of him understood, yeah, they were only here to bathe from the look, but - There he was. In his underwear. Jazz peeked his eyes back up above the water's surface.

He was somehow both chubby and muscular, with his hair stuck to his face and his glasses on the shore. Flora was thin and muscular, hair untied for once as it swirled around her on the water's surface. She giggled, pointing at the shore as Carter squinted.

His rucksack was still sitting there. Jazz dunked his head back under, swimming as fast as he could behind the waterfall and scrambling towards the other shore - he slipped, yelling as he fell back into the water.

Just as soon as his body sank, Flora's hands were on his arms, dragging him back across the river. She tossed him up onto the shore, sighing in relief as he sat up, rubbing his head and groaning.

"You alright?" Flora asked. Jazz nodded, sighing.

"I'm fine. I'd hoped you wouldn't see me."

"Well, we probably wouldn't have if you hadn't tried to climb up the other way."

Jazz chuckled, sighing. Carter climbed up onto the shore behind him, shaking the water off of his arms as he plucked a towel from the ground, haphazardly slapping it against his head and rustling it violently, pulling the towel away as his hair poofed outward before toweling off the rest of him and walking towards the tent.

"...So has he said anything about..."

"He wasn't sure what to make of it." She shrugged. "He knew you felt bad about it, but he just... he didn't mind it? i guess?"

"You looked pretty hurt."

Her face fell. "It wasn't how I really felt." she shrugged, sighing. "Maybe I worry he's going to end up alone the rest of his life. All he ever talks about is work, you know? And, I get it, I like hearing him talk about our findings... but at the end of the day, there has to be something he likes, right?"

"I mean... yeah."

"And, you know, food doesn't work, and then nothing else seems to work, either..."

"You too, huh."

"Always, in a sense." She sighed. "It's hard not to, really. You spend every night with the same person for three years, you bathe together, you eat together... who wouldn't start to fall for him after a while?"

"I... that makes sense."

"I gotta start cooking dinner, anyway." She climbed up onto the shore, looking at him with sad eyes. "I'll see if he can't talk to you about what happened, okay?"

"...Sounds good to me." Jazz mumbled, lying back on the ground as she toweled off, gathering both towels and heading inside the tent.

Carter came out not long after. His hair was still wet and frizzy; his glasses neatly on his face as he sat on the grass, feet dangling over the edge of the river. He wasn't wearing his vest or his pendant; simply a plain white button-up and his smaller necklace.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked, looking at Jazz; he rolled onto his side, sighing.

"Not really." he shrugged, "You must hate me for that."

"I don't... was I supposed to?" He raised an eyebrow curiously as Jazz shook his head. "Must I hate you?"

"I mean, I kissed you. In front of everyone. And with me, being, you know..." he vaguely gestured to himself, "...another guy." He shrugged, "I figured maybe kissing you in front of your girlfriend wasn't the best look for either of us, especially drunk."

"She's not my girlfriend, for one." He chuckled, "Maybe I would've preferred to not be kissed in such a compromised state of mind in a public place... yet, I understand you weren't exactly uncompromised yourself." He shook his head, "I'm just wondering what you were after."

Jazz groaned, sitting up and glaring at him. "Nothing... I'm not 'after' anything. I can't be, right?"

"You don't usually kiss your friends, especially not like that."

Jazz fell quiet. Carter waited patiently.

"I'm... I can't say." He sighed, sitting up. The sun obscured his face, shadow over his eyes. "I want... I don't know what I want. I do, but I can't... say it the way I want to."

"You've found a prized specimen but you can't bring yourself to submit it for review." Carter picked up a rock from the ground.

"Have I? Tell me what makes it so special." A tiny smile made its debut on Jazz's face.

"Well, it's got a friendly face, and it loves how it gets to go outside and absorb the sun every day. Maybe it feels a bit like a plant, sometimes." Carter said, counting on his hand, "It enjoys a good glass of whiskey from time to time, it can recite 41 digits of pi, and it has very uncooperative hair." He smiled, looking at Jazz - who's face had gone bright pink as he turned away from Carter. "Maybe you've been taking notes on it?"

"Well, not directly about it." Jazz chuckled, "More about... how I feel about it."

"I've never heard of a researcher documenting his feelings about a subject." He laughed, jokingly. "Of course, I've got a couple subjects of my own."

"And what traits do yours exhibit that make them so special?"

"Well, one of them tends to vanish for long periods at a time; the other is always waiting for me in the morning. One doesn't quite know what it's doing, as a newcomer to this environment... the other, more acclimated to the climate, is more readily able to handle any tasks that come its way."

Jazz sat up, hands behind him on the grass below. "One of them doesn't know what he's doing half the time, and the other... knows exactly what she's doing."

"Not entirely." He shrugged, "She pointed out your backpack, after all."

Jazz laughed.

Carter paused, "These decisions are a lot to think about... and all of my thought power goes towards work, naturally. This is my passion, this is going to be what I'm known for - as the doctor who finally... discovered the cave's secret. My father couldn't, my grandfather certainly never figured it out." He chuckled, shrugging. "All things considered, if I figure out the secret of this cavern, if I can make my life a happy one... I'll die a happy man."

"The goal is just to be happy, isn't it?"

"Isn't that your goal?" Carter raised an eyebrow, "You're not gonna last a year if you're only here to make money and find your meaning."

"What if finding my meaning is what's going to make me happy?"

"Then you probably haven't found your meaning yet." Carter grinned, "I used to be a musician, you know. I can still play darn near any instrument you throw at me... but, end of the day, I like digging for hints of the past more. You and Flora are wonderful friends - hell, any friend I can share a drink and a good laugh with is a best friend to me."

Jazz's heart hurt. Only a friend? He knew it was coming, but the wound was still deep and biting. Nothing he couldn't recover from, of course.

He'd just have to try even harder.


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