C5 - Plans and a Date

Narrator's POV

"Raziiiii" – Navyx

Raziri covered his ears due to the sudden screeching squeal from his best friend, Navyx. He asked him what had happened to him as they got out of the classroom and headed downstairs.

"Have you seen Emery Devrald? He's all over the news!"

The pink-haired lad leaned closer to his phone seeing a post with tons of likes and comments.

"The successful young businessman huh. . ." Raziri muttered. "Interesting."

So he did change his name then.

"You know what's more surprising?" Navyx asked with his eyes sparkling and his hands curled right in front of his face like a puppy. Raziri asked him what he wanted to say.

"I had a few conversations with him during group projects and he's a chill guy. Really good at academics too. Such a great guy in general." Navyx continued to talked about the young successful businessman at Raziri, who only responded in 'wows' and 'oohs'.

Later on, they both arrived at the school's gate, went out and turned sideways towards their destination. While slowly walking, Navyx still continues to yap at Raziri.

Suddenly, Raziri's phone started ringing in his pocket. He found his screen showing the caller's name as 'Him'.

He answered it. "Yo, what's up?"

"Mind looking behind you?"

Raziri halted his steps and so did Navyx. As the pink-haired lad looked back, he scouted the area first before his eyes caught sight of the same expensive looking car he keeps riding in. It parked behind a tree then moved a bit backward before heading towards where Raziri is.

The pink-haired lad could only sigh, and a chuckle was heard on the other end.

The car stopped right in front of him. "Hop in," was what Raziri last heard before ending the call. He said goodbye to Navyx whose reaction was only in pure surprise. Out of curiosity, Navyx leaned in to take a peek inside as Raziri opened the car door, which made him even more surprised.

As Raziri closed the door, the car drove off at speed. Navyx, standing there with his mouth agape, now mutters to himself in realization. "Did I just see Emery Devrald?"

"But wait, when were those two, friends?"

Now in the car, Raziri's face is neutrally glanced at the view outside. E'rald cleared his throat which made Raziri brought his gaze towards him.

"How's school?" E'rald asked.

"Kinda alright. At least the exams are now over and the semester will end soon." Raziri responded. E'rald nodded at him.

"We can now focus on dealing with the nightmare case." - E'rald

"Yeah." Raziri glanced back again at the window, placing an elbow on the side and his head leaning on his inclined arm. His thoughts wandered a bit before he suddenly asked a question. "Why'd you change your name?"

"Had to, as a business name." - E'rald

"I only know movie actors and actresses do that." - Raziri

The pink-haired lad heard him chuckle. "I'm not just a businessman."

"Ah. . ." Raziri responded as he now got what he meant. "I see."

"By the way, you keep chuckling at me here and there. Do I sound that funny to you?" - Raziri

"Frankly," E'rald then hummed, "maybe."

E'rald can sense Raziri's glare at him which made him chortle. Raziri's not sure why E'rald seems so happy whenever he's with him. It made him smile a little 'til he heard E'rald's snicker.

"Is there anything in your mind Ri?" E'rald teasingly asked which made Raziri blush a little.

"No." The pink-haired lad turned his gaze again out of the window.

"Let's take a little detour." E'rald told his driver, then glanced at Raziri. "An early celebration for you, my dear friend."

Raziri can faintly see E'rald's figure on the window screen though he's also aware that now, E'rald knew he's also paying attention to him.

They arrived at a cozy-looking café that's built in two storeys. E'rald got out and so did Raziri. The teal-haired lad gave orders to the driver by an opened car window before it drove to a nearby parking lot.

E'rald then suddenly opens his hand, a gesture of offering himself to hold Raziri's hand.

Raziri blinked twice at it. Then he gently flicked at his hand before walking to the cafè door. E'rald scoffed and shook his head in a delighted expression.

[ In the Public Cafè ]

E'rald arrived at the counter and talked towards the person in-charge at the cafè's front desk. Raziri, on the other hand, looked around in awe at how the place looks so much cozy and vibe-y, and with much greenery too. Although, the greenery came from cosmetics plants and vines, but they were well-designed.

He noticed a few real plants by the big glass pane. As he was about to head towards them, his name was called by E'rald, who asked him where he's going. Raziri pointed at the plants he took attention of.

E'rald first walked towards it, then Raziri followed by his side. The teal-haired lad leaned on one of the plants that grew a familiar flower.

"I'm not entirely sure if this is the same flower you and I think of," E'rald said, "but this looks like the Sampaguita flower, considering its color and shape."

"This is quite the shrubby plant though, cute-sized and well-maintained." Raziri added. "It's amazing how they could grow one in here."

Raziri then sniffed it, and to his surprise, a radiant smell had emitted from it. "It smells the same as a Sampaguita too."

E'rald then sniffed it, and they both talked about it a bit. They decided to ask the person in-charge about it, and the rest of the real plants there too.

Getting a little side-tracked, E'rald led the way upstairs as Raziri followed him. They arrived at a room divided by large glass panes that served as walls, while also having an adequate number of of plants — some with flowers and some having none. A circle wooden table was seen with two comfy-looking wooden chairs was there too. Menu booklets were placed on the table, facing towards each seat.

As they both went in the room, E'rald pulled back a chair and gestured Raziri to sit on it with a smile. Raziri, still feeling very surprised for this is all new to him, just gave him a smile instead and sat down.

He sensed E'rald pushing the chair, then halted it as a fair distance of it from the table has reached. E'rald walked to his seat and sat on it too.

"I've ordered the meals, but if you'd like to have another, let me know." - E'rald

Raziri glanced at the menu book, then grabbed and opened it. He looked at the pages one-by-one and carefully rreadthrough all the foods and drinks listed in it.

E'rald smiled at him warmly, unbeknownst to himself too. He can see Raziri's eyes shining while reading. This guy really loves food and wants it.

Raziri then closed the menu book, then told E'rald that if he ordered the meals, he'll only order them a dessert set for two. E'rald agreed, then proceeded to shift the topic to an important one.

"Regarding the nightmare case, I may have found the source." E'rald then placed his hands together. "Any guesses on what the source is?"

He noticed E'rald didn't say 'who', but a 'what' instead. If he'll say 'from someone', then that'd be embarrassing on his end — and he can't afford to be more embarrased as he is now, but in a good way.

Raziri hummed in thought, then he looked around. He kept looking around, then looked under the table. "It should be in this room, right?"

"Nice guess." E'rald opened his arms wide with a grin. "It's all around us."

"It's a plant?" - Raziri

"Precisely. But to be specific," E'rald then pulled out something from his pocket, something blue in color.

Raziri noticed its form immediately. "A flower?"

E'rald nodded. Then he handed it over to Raziri, to which the pink-haired lad accept it, receiving it on his palms.

Raziri gazes at it with a warm smile. "Nice origami you got here."

"Took a while to perfect it." E'rald then points at its center. "Mind opening it?"

Raziri's brow raised, so he did open and found an image of a flower inside. A very strange looking flower — one that he'd never seen before.

A flower with many petals in hues of orange and purple on its inner and petal tips. Each petal has a purple line and a dot, from its innard to near the petal ends. Its leaves also has tinges of purple. It's pollens are glowing in orange but also with purple tinges.

"That is not an ordinary flower." E'rald suddenly talked. "Nor does this exist in this world everyday. It's called a Flaumara, the flower of nightmares."

"Its petals are extracted into liquids. Once someone drinks it, nightmares began to appear in one's dreams." E'rald then pointed at the pollen in the image. "These pollen double the effect of the nightmare occurrences, and worsening it."

Raziri could only listen in silence. His feelings mixed with shock and shivers hearing every word E'rald said about the flower. Then, he realized something, and so he asked.

"What do you mean by 'nor existed in this world everyday'?"

"This flower only appears every two decades on a certain night, on the 24th day of September. It appears with only one flower though." E'rald then hummed in a sudden deep thought. "I wonder why it appears on that night too."

Raziri's gaze was fixated with amaze on E'rald, seeing how serious he was. He then heard faint knocking of door beside him, so he turned to looked at two waiters carrying a tray of their meals.

Raziri got off his seat and opened the door for them to enter. He apologized if ever they took a while to open, but the waiters delightedly told him that they just arrived. They placed the meals on the table and brought the trays with them as they headed outside, shutting the door too.

"So," Raziri then clapped his hands. "Let's eat?"

E'rald nodded. His arms once crossed now had one of his hand do the Sign-of-the-Cross and a short prayer. Raziri did the same too, then they both dig in.

E'rald drank water from Raziri's water bottle and gave it back to him with a thank-you.

Then, he continued to speak. "I've heard about the university's schedule on the return of classes. Which is why," E'rald pulled out his phone with a photo. Raziri recognized it immediately — it was an official plane ticket paid online. "We're going back to our hometown."

Raziri deeply sighed. "This will be great."

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