Author: London_Calling

Pairing: Tao / Sehun

Tao stared at the koi pond indifferently. Maybe it wasn’t indifference, maybe it was all an attempt to shut everything out. Forget the world existed, the memories – no, the last week – existed.

“Hm. Interesting friends you have there.” Sehun dropped his backpack down, the thud of the canvas hitting the paving stones shaking Tao out of his self-absorbed, depressing reverie.

“Sehun.” Tao spoke. It wasn’t a question, an off handed remark, perhaps.

Sehun dug into his backpack, huffing and puffing as he sorted through textbooks and pencils and random crap he had thrown into his bag. “Here it is.” He said softly, pulling out two wrapped ice cream cones. “It might be kind of melt-y now.”

Tao took the offered ice cream, opening the wrapper he smiled. A rare smile.

“I wasn’t sure what you wanted.” Sehun at his ice cream cone, staring down into the koi pond “So I bought vanilla.”

“Vanilla is good.” Tao didn’t know how to say it. That no matter how little and stupid and simple it was – there was something good about being offered an ice cream cone. From a friend? Were they friends?

They watched the fish as they ate their ice cream.

“He has a crooked back.” Sehun pointed to one of the large, white fish, whose tail was clearly malformed.

“He does.” Tao nodded “He seems to be okay with it.”

Sehun agreed, silently, not sure what to say. How to say that ‘your life , everyone thinks that, in fact most of us don’t want to talk to you because we are afraid what you will do but I bought you ice cream because, well, I could and maybe you want to talk’.

“Sehun?” Tao bit into his ice cream cone, the crunch sounding as Sehun looked at him.

“Yeah?” Sehun asked, watching as Tao a drip of vanilla ice cream that was escaping his mouth.

“Thanks.” He smiled. “For the ice cream, I mean.”

“No problem.” Sehun turned back towards the fish, watching, not sure what to say.

“It looks like those two like each other!” Tao pointed at two koi fish that had been swimming near each other the entire time.

“It does.” Sehun smiled slightly.

“Maybe they are married?” Tao imagined, pointing, diligently to the pair “And in five years perhaps we shall see their children.”

Sehun grinned. This was Tao, the Tao he grew to like. To stare at across the lunchroom table, to play basketball with when their older friends were too busy. This was Tao – even when life wanted to kick him in the nuts.

“Should we name them?” Sehun pointed at the white fish “I want to call him Tao!”

Tao laughed, unabashedly, slapping Sehun’s arm as he giggled.

Somehow, it was pretty amazing that he could laugh, Sehun thought. It was pretty amazing that he could still smile. It…no, he was just pretty amazing. Sehun wanted to offer a shoulder to cry on, an escape. But Tao smiled. And maybe that was okay.