Onyx
Click, click, click went my pen as we sat there staring at our unfruitful plans. It seemed we truly weren't cut out for this.
I pursed my lips and looked over at Abyss, who was petting Prism on the head like I had instructed.
"Birds have viewed petting their backs as wanting to mate and it messes with their hormones and frustrates them." I had told him this months ago, but surprisingly he remembered.
Abyss lifted his head and noticed I was rubbing my temples again. He slowly leaned forward and pressed his fingers to loosen the tension between them. There wasn't anything magickal imbued in this touch, he wasn't using his powers, yet it soothed me.
"How do you have such good control of your powers?" I asked, switching from the topic of this dead end. I could only wait and follow his lead for now.
"Hmmm, well it's not as hard for my kind. Magickal powers are our forte." He scratched his chin, moved his slightly shimmery hair out of the way, and continued. "You probably already know that though. We aren't a cursed species. We are like the witches of the sea or something. I still haven't discovered the full extent of my powers but I can hold them back just fine. They're not as extreme as yours..." His words trailed off as he made a sour expression, probably reminded of the unpleasant past.
I just nodded. "Do you think you could teach me anything?"
He sipped the floral tea made from the extras I had gathered from the gardens. He thought about it for a moment before saying, "Maybe. Sorry, perhaps Khun? I am unsure. We are not even the same species after all, albeit possessing many similarities."
"You don't need to speak so formally when it's just the two of us. Pixie is out playing."
He didn't have much to say to that and the subject drifted to silence once more. It seemed we had many things to say but often found ourselves ill equipped as to how to. It would lead to me rambling many days, but today I was quite sleepy. I suppose Abyss was right that a coma doesn't count as rest.
I wanted to get on the mission right away before I had time to question myself, yet I knew I had more pressing matters such as an extreme backlog of work from weeks of neglect.
I looked at the time, seeing it was dark out now. We'd been spending the last portion of the day piling over everything we could to no avail.
I figured maybe I was imagining it, but Abyss was acting strange in my eyes. He had a strange avoidance of me right now and kept averting his gaze. Just when I was going to ask, he'd return to normal.
I wasn't aware that I was already drifting off to sleep, my eyes heavy. I slumped a slight tidbit on the armchair. As I did so he said, "How about we go to bed for now?"
The mention of "we" as in us going to bed made me wake more. My chest pounded and skipped some beats. I thought we'd sleep in separate rooms, so I just shrugged it off and assumed it was a similar language slip that we occasionally shared. I also presumed that to still be the case when he helped me up and get to my room.
I was a bit nervous given I hadn't taken him into my inner private room like this before. It was nerve-racking as I quickly scanned my surroundings to ensure things hadn't gotten too messy. Thankfully, aside from a little dust, the room was mostly untouched. Only the satin rose beige bedsheets were left tousled from when I'd made my hurried exit out of the house to the water.
He looked around with curiosity. For octopi, new and stimulating things were all but irresistible. He was surely having a hard time suppressing it before. Without saying anything I went over to one of my desks, pulled out a Rubik's cube, and handed it to him to fiddle with. I then finally plopped myself down on the mattress.
I felt awkward and hesitated with what to say when he spoke up first. "I think I will ask Sarit for help in this. It's better we work with him and maybe Chada if he is able."
I looked over at him, biting my tongue to stop myself from asking intrusive questions and instead asked, "Sarit, I know he is a siren, but does he have experience with this? You two seem close."
He mused in agreement, "He definitely has more experience than I do. Yeah, we're close. To be honest, Sarit and I have known each other since we were young, maybe around the timeline I knew you, but he wasn't part of my tribe or in the abyss as often. He lost a lot back then." He let the room briefly quiet. "I was alone for a long time until I met him, who was also alone. At least we could be 'alone' together. As for Chada, he is just a normal human and not a hunter. However, I am sure you must have sensed somehow they're mates. So if they're together they'll probably be stronger. Sarit is really good at plotting."
"I love that I'm finally getting to know you properly," slipped from my lips as I looked at him. "It must have been hard. I'm glad you have each other as friends. I may not know everything but I definitely witnessed how much you loved each other every time at work."
After saying that, I was reminded, "So you never actually wanted to be a singer, huh?"
He just made a sheepish expression. "But I wasn't lying about wanting to get to know you." He leaned closer, slowly sitting on a chair across from me.
The chair was pulled right up to the bed, within the distance I could sit up and peck his lips. Slowly, my eyes drifted down from his eyes to his mouth then back up, seeking permission. "May I kiss you?" I whispered. I was scared and tentative of his response and fidgeted with the quilt.
He looked a bit taken aback, but then beamed the brightest shy smile. It lit up even the darkest corners of his eyes. The look of a sweet boy.
"Yes."