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"Naomi? I know you're here!"
Ben circles the trunk of the old oak tree until he spots the familiar shape of a raven nestled high among the branches. "You can't hide up there forever!"
With an almost imperceptible whisper like fabric slipping over feathers, the raven is replaced by the more humanoid form of Naomi Grace. She perches on a branch just wide enough for a second gangly teenager to join her, and Ben takes the unspoken invitation to climb up and settle next to his best friend.
"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" He shoots Naomi a teasing grin. "You never take off like that after practice, especially now that you got moved up to the advanced class. Do we need to fill someone's bed with bugs again?"
The memory of that particular exploit startles a laugh out of Naomi and she relaxes slightly. "Nothing like that, it's honestly not important."
The look she receives from Ben is answer enough, and she sighs. "Yes, yes, I know, you care about me and want to hear what's bothering me regardless. We've had this conversation before. So apparently, my sparring partner has been spending the last few months blatantly flirting with me. Which I only found out because I heard some of the others speculating about why I would 'ignore the poor guy like that'." She runs her fingers over the patterns formed by the old oak's rough bark. "Now that I think of it, I'm not sure if I'm more annoyed because I missed it so far, or because now that I do know, I have to figure out how to deal with it."
Ben hums thoughtfully.
"I take it you don't like him back, then? Because you could simply ask him out, if that was your problem."
"I'd rather provoke the birch trees in the middle of the night." Naomi deadpans, and Ben blinks in surprise.
"Oh. That bad?" "Not him in particular, he seems nice enough for all I know. It's just- I feel like all of a sudden everyone is obsessed with romance and dating and I'm the only one who simply does. not. get it. Nobody can even give me a coherent answer to what romantic attraction is meant to feel like! If "Don't worry, you'll know" was in any way helpful, I would not be asking! But apparently everyone else magically understands how all of that is supposed to work, so I'm just gonna be left behind sad and lonely once everyone has found their one true love or, or whatever they're always going on about."
When she finally breaks off to catch her breath, Ben gives her a long look. "You know, I'm not itching for some grand romance either. I don't see the appeal, to be honest, not when I can just not bother and stick with friendship instead. So, at least you're not the only one?"
He's barely finished his sentence before Naomi is clinging to him in a fierce hug that almost topples the two of them off their branch.
"Oh." Ben cards a calming hand through his friend's long hair. "You've been worrying about this for a while, huh?"
"Maybe..." Naomi mumbles into his shoulder. "It's silly, but I kept thinking about what would happen if you got into a relationship. That you'd choose them over me and leave me all on my own."
"Oh Naomi. We're best friends, remember? I'm never leaving you behind."