Page 20 of Solo Stan

Elias

Before Elias and Dakarai could get to the restaurant, they had to maneuver through crowds headed to a concert at the large outdoor amphitheater Red Hat.

A DJ was in the middle of a pre-show hype-up, and the music boomed through the streets.

Elias and Dakarai quickly walked by couples holding hands, groups of friends laughing, and overturned e-scooters in the grass.

Despite the activity, there was a stillness and calm to the city that Elias enjoyed.

Most of the stores had up their neon Closed signs.

The rumble of passing cars felt meditative, and he would catch little bites of conversation from passersby.

Elias had a hard time ignoring the romantic charm.

When they arrived at Death & Taxes, Dakarai took Elias’s arm and brought him around to the back of the restaurant, where there was a large mural depicting a maze made of fire escapes.

The mural started with a painted window at the top, followed by an intricate network of fire escapes that culminated in a single ladder at the bottom, leading to the ground.

They had to navigate from the painted window of the mural to the real parking lot below, all within their remaining three minutes.

Dakarai traced the air with one finger, like he was making a painting in the sky.

Elias watched him, his cool demeanor still unshaken and a low hum coming from deep within his throat though the time was dwindling.

Dakarai wore the same expression he did as when he drew Elias, completely focused, only furrowing his brow or twitching his lip when he hit dead ends.

The painting wasn’t coming together quickly enough, and he dropped his arm in frustration, looking to Elias for rescue.

Elias closed his eyes, rubbing his temples as he visualized the mural in his mind, mentally climbing up and down the metal steps and ladders, searching for a way to the bottom.

“Got it,” Elias said after a moment. He stepped behind Dakarai, gently sliding his hand over his. “May I?” he asked, and Dakarai nodded. Elias then guided Dakarai’s finger through the air, tracing the correct path—up and down, left and right—until they both reached the bottom of the maze together.

“Your mind is so rare,” Dakarai said, his sincerity making Elias’s face flush with heat.

“ Tch , whatever,” he replied, playfully pushing Dakarai away.

They huddled over Elias’s phone, their shoulders brushing as the light illuminated their faces. With steady hands, Dakarai traced the correct path through the maze, solving it and submitting with just seconds to spare.

They received a number 3 for their efforts, which meant as little to Elias as the last number, and somehow even less than the word puzzle from CYPHR’s social media post. Deciding not to waste time pondering, Elias and Dakarai agreed to move on and go over the post and all their gathered clues after earning a few more.

Elias read the next one quietly to himself.

Random Act of Joy

Take a picture of something beautiful.

Dakarai’s head tilted upward toward the maze again, but his long lashes brushed against his cheeks as his eyes remained closed. This touched Elias. It wasn’t often that others tried to see the world from his point of view.

In a maze more to his liking, Elias’s eyes trailed down the slope of Dakarai’s nose, resting on his lips for a moment before continuing down his neck, across his shoulders, and finally to the hand that hung freely at his side.

Elias clenched his own fist, remembering just how surprisingly strong Dakarai’s hand felt.

Elias shut his mouth, catching himself gawking.

Without disturbing him, Elias discreetly captured a candid photo of Dakarai framed against the backdrop of the fire escape mural.

Dakarai turned around slowly, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. “Did you just take a picture of me?”

Without hesitation, Elias said, “You drew a picture of me. Why can’t I take one of you?”

“Was it for a task?” Dakarai asked, craning his neck to peek at Elias’s phone, which Elias held against his chest. Dakarai’s smile broadened. “It was, wasn’t it? Let me see.”

Not wanting to repeat the struggle they’d had earlier over the drawing, he took a deep breath and handed over his phone.

“Take a picture of something beau—” Dakarai began but stopped short. He shifted and wrung his fingers together. “You don’t mean that. People don’t look at me the way they look at you.”

“I don’t even want to hear it.” Elias folded his arms. “You don’t remember the girl from work who wanted a comic recommendation?

She took one look at you and left me with my book in my hand.

You really don’t think you’re good-looking?

If you don’t say yes then you’re a liar, and my mom warned me about boys like you. ”

“Fine, I do!” Dakarai said with a laugh. He took note of the new number, 5 , then opened the next task.

Random Act of Love

Find a heart and take a picture of it.

This one would probably be easy. The city felt like walking through the comic books that Dakarai loved so much.

The buildings were low and made of brick, with mazes of telephone wires above them.

The area was commercial, but there was artwork everywhere—everything from colorful murals and paintings to art installations to graffiti tags—gracing the sides of shops, schools, and even the sidewalks.

They kept walking, settling into a comfortable silence.

Dakarai studied every piece of art, down to the sticker slaps on the backs of stop signs.

Elias, however, kept his attention upward, thinking about what Dakarai had said earlier about the stars—how birth charts were a snapshot of the moment they were born and how the cosmos would never align that way again.

With Elias’s photographic memory, snapshots were something he knew well.

Yet, he’d never considered them with such poetry before.

Images from his entire life, starting with his earliest memories, were burned into his mind.

The bad ones resurfaced when he least wanted them to, usually as he tried to sleep. But sometimes so did the good.

“It’s a shame it’s so late, isn’t it?” Dakarai asked, pulling Elias out of his thoughts. Dakarai was several steps ahead, his eyes still scanning for a heart. “There are some really nice parks here and a rose garden. We should come back during the day and walk around them.”

The corners of Elias’s mouth lifted. “You’re making future plans with me. We’re real friends now, aren’t we?” He quickened his pace to close the distance between them. “Admit it.”

“We probably could be if you didn’t talk so much,” Dakarai said, rolling his eyes. A reluctant smile played on his lips.

Elias’s smile widened. Dakarai truly seemed incapable of seeing anything but beauty in everyone and everything.

As they continued searching the street art for any signs of a heart, they passed by portraits of influential figures who seemed to be watching over them. Elias’s favorite was a striking black-and-white mural of four legendary rappers painted on the side of a brick building next to a parking lot.

With his back to Kendrick Lamar, feeling the gritty coolness of the brick against his skin, Elias held up his phone and prepared to take a selfie. “Get in this with me.”

Dakarai slid between Elias and the phone so they were face-to-face, nearly chest-to-chest. Elias recoiled slightly, surprised Dakarai was willing to get this close to him.

Though the sudden proximity created an almost magnetic pull, and Elias felt himself drawn in by Dakarai’s gentle-yet-commanding presence.

The air grew thick, every breath and every heartbeat permeating the silence between them.

Lowering his phone, Elias mused, “Why aren’t you afraid of me like everyone else is?”

Dakarai gave a noncommittal shrug. “You’re not scary.”

“Do I need to remind you why I’m even in North Carolina in the first place?”

“I can’t see you getting into a fight, much less getting sent to a whole other state because of it.

I know I don’t know you well, but it doesn’t feel like that’s your character.

” Dakarai leaned in farther, and, for a moment, Elias thought Dakarai might kiss him.

Elias inhaled sharply. Instead, however, Dakarai leaned against the painted brick next to him, adding, “It seems I haven’t scared you off yet, either, by the way. That usually happens quickly.”

Elias met Dakarai’s eyes. “I’m afraid of the dark and you can’t tie your shoes. We’re not exactly two fish going in opposite directions, are we?”

They caught each other’s gaze and held it for a while before they both looked away at the same time.

“I can’t find a heart for this task, can you?” Elias asked.

A self-assured smirk flickered across Dakarai’s face.

He rested his palm on the left side of Elias’s chest, giving it a few light pats, leaving Elias desperate to hold on to the moment.

He closed the short distance between them, forming half a heart with his fingers, then beckoned Dakarai to complete the other side.

But instead, Dakarai slid his hand up Elias’s palm, opening it before intertwining their fingers.

Elias’s chest tightened, and he blinked hard trying to make sense of the gesture.

While Elias appreciated this particular piece of art, standing next to someone’s Buick Enclave was throwing him off his game. It made no sense for him to be so flustered by such a small thing.

“I meant like this,” Elias said, folding Dakarai’s hand into shape, delicately, like origami.

Dakarai scratched the back of his neck and smiled shyly. “I knew that.”

Elias snapped the picture of their heart quickly, giving Dakarai’s hand a reassuring squeeze before reluctantly letting go.

He made a mental note of the new number, 8 —the reward for finding the heart—then tapped the new task.

Random Act of Love

Tell someone you love that you love them.