After Gabrielle got dressed, she left her room. Skyler was in the kitchen, looking into the fridge.
"What are you looking for?" she asked, smoothing out a wrinkle on her lilac dress.
"Eggs," he said bluntly, one arm shuffling things around inside.
"You aren't trying to make breakfast for yourself, are you?" she said, trying to put together what he was doing going through her food.
"No, don't be silly, it's for both of us. Did you think I'd just do it for myself and have you make your own?" he laughed, food thumping and shuffling around inside.
She tried to look over from where she was.
"Ah, there it is!" He cheered, sliding the carton of eggs out and bringing them up to the counter.
"What about your friend? Did you call him? You don't know where I live, so I'd have to tell you the address." She sat down next to the phone.
"I have a GPS tracker on me at all times, even bring it to bed with me, just in case things like what occurred today decide to happen. My friend already knows how to access it, so I didn't need you to tell him anything," he said matter-of-factly, going back in to find something else.
"Why would you have a GPS on all the time?" she asked, getting up and turning towards him in surprise and confusion.
"Sometimes I lose control of my powers and teleport to places I don't recognize. The GPS tracker is supposed to be able to tell me where I'm at when that happens. It's a modified one so it doesn't lose track of me just because I'm not on Earth, my friend had one of his friends do that for me. Ah, so you do have potatoes, good, I can work with this. Now, where's that bacon?" he said, pulling out a potato. He put it next to the eggs and went back into the fridge to find the next ingredient.
"Teleporting to some place other than Earth? What other places are there to teleport to?" She walked around the couch and towards the kitchen.
"Elega, for example. That and Lyserge, but you wouldn't know about that place. Ah, there it is, now it's a party," he said cheerfully as he dragged out a zipped up bag of bacon and added it to the row of other ingredients.
"Elega? Does it happen while you are awake too? It only happens to me when I go to sleep," she said and walked up to him.
"Yeah, but I can go to both anytime I want. I was born on Elega, it would be silly if I couldn't go from one place to the other if I felt like it. Lyserge may be a different story, but once you get the hang of using dimension jumping spells it's pretty easy." He walked over to the oven and pulled out the drawer under her oven, and started shuffling around inside.
"Did your battle trainer teach you how to do that as well?" she said, then leaned onto the kitchen counter.
"No, my aunt used to collect a lot of odd spellbooks, and I read a few, after asking politely of course." He picked up two pans and a splatter screen and placed them on the stove, then started cooking.
"I hope she'll be ok without me today," she said worriedly, thinking back to how bad Elaine's condition was.
"I'm sure Dr. Gage is working on a way to get her back to her old self again quickly, he's a miracle machine, I'm sure she'll be fine in his hands for today," he said as he put a splatter screen over the bacon.
"I do trust him, it's just… Taking a day off when someone's that ill, it seems a bit heartless for me, do you think I should have worked on my day off today?" she asked, feeling a bit selfish.
"I'm worried about her too." he said in a soft and serious tone. "But he gave you this day off knowing her condition. If it was as unmanageable as you think, he wouldn't have given you the day off." He looked at her and nodded reassuringly.
"Ok, I'll take your word for it. Anyways, I'm going to go freshen up. I'll be in the bathroom." she said meekly, then walked back into her room. She walked past her bed and to the sink, on the right side of the counter sat a small makeup bag.
She looked into the mirror, and though she knew she was fine without makeup, she wanted to impress Skyler. Her cheeks went red again and her heart beat fast in her chest. Opening the makeup bag, she took out her foundation, a lip gloss, and some mascara. She decided against using lip liner, eye liner and lipstick because it would be too noticeable to him.
She took out a makeup brush and applied the foundation, taking her time to make it look as perfect as possible, then put the lip gloss on. When she got to the mascara, she heard Skyler shout that breakfast was almost done.
She was embarrassed, she realized too late that she had taken too much time applying her foundation. She breathed in slowly through her nose and out through her mouth a few times to calm herself down. Applying mascara while anxious could cause her to poke her eye on accident, which she wanted to avoid. She twisted the mascara bottle loose, and pulled out the applicator. Bringing it above her eye, she hesitated for a second, then ran it through her eyelashes. She then did the same for her other eye, and put the mascara back into its tube.
While she put everything away, she heard Skyler shout that breakfast was done.
"Oh, good timing," she whispered to herself, and finished up.
She walked into the living room, and the smell of bacon had hit her about a second after she got there. Her mouth started to water from the smell, and her stomach growled.
"Your stomach seems to have woken up too," Skyler said with a smile, he picked up two plates, both of them with scrambled eggs, bacon, and lightly fried potatoes, and brought the right one closer to her.
She walked over and grabbed the plate that was outstretched towards her. Her heart stopped for a second as she felt her hands touch his, and she felt her whole body get hot. Skyler looked at her silently with desperate eyes that confused her. She shook the look he was giving her off and took the plate. She walked to the couch and sat down.
Skyler stood there holding his breakfast. "I'm wondering why you picked an apartment so small you can't even fit a dining table," he walked up and sat down next to her, straight faced and looking ahead.
"Are you feeling ok? You've been acting strange ever since I grabbed my plate," she asked after swallowing a mouthful. Her body was still hot and she felt like her heart was going to explode, she was so close to him now that she was almost touching him. She felt the tension in the room, and found it hard to eat with it being so palpable.
"I could ask you the same thing," he said and turned towards her, a caring look on his face.
"What do you mean?" she said and turned her head towards him.
Their eyes locked. As he leaned in, she reciprocated, turning the rest of her body in his direction. As she closed her eyes and lightly pursed her lips, his warm breath smoothly coasted across the skin of her lips and chin. Soft and warm lips met with hers, and her heart almost shot out of her body. His arms wrapped around her back and pushed her in closer, and she connected with his chest. His heartbeat was fast too, and his body was emanating heat just like hers was. She put her hands on his chest, and his warmth increased.
His lips parted slightly, and something hot and wet touched hers. It lightly prodded at her mouth, and she opened it slightly, letting his tongue slide inside. She took her tongue and slid it past his and out of her mouth, then slid it past his lips as well. Their tongues danced in each others mouths for a while, the taste of his spit was somehow sweet, like he ate candy before deciding to french kiss her. She wondered if her spit tasted too much like scrambled eggs, even though she hardly chewed it before swallowing, it was something she was worried about. She didn't want her first kiss, or french kiss for that matter, taste like scrambled eggs.
His body heat was extremely satisfying to her. She had always missed hugging him, he was the only one close enough to her to do such a thing. Her other friends were always fair weather friends, leaving her to fend for herself if a bully tried to cop a feel, and all the guys who asked her out only did it because she was pretty - not because of who she actually was. She was so sad when he said no when she asked him out, but she understood that he couldn't reciprocate when he was having a tough time with family.
This was all she ever wanted, she had waited most of her life for this moment, the only person she could really connect to on a romantic level actually returning the same feelings. After a while, they pulled back their heads.
Skyler wiped the spit from his chin. "You knew exactly what I meant," he said with a smile.
"Skyler I…" She was about to say it but the last word caught in her throat. Even after doing all that, she was still worried he would say no.
"Love you. Is that what you're trying to say?" He leaned in and kissed her.
She was so relieved, it was like the whole world was lifted from her shoulders.
"I love you too, Gabby. And I won't ever lose you again," He said.
"I.. Love you." she said hoarsely, tears rapidly building up in her eyes and cascading down her cheeks.
"It's alright, Gabby, don't cry." he said, holding her close.
There was a knock at the door.
"He can wait, I'm not going until you've calmed down," Skyler said, then ran his fingers through her hair.
"I'm… I'm alright." she said with a sniffle and pulled herself away. She was just so relieved that he felt the same way. She did her breathing exercises again as Skyler let go of her to go answer the door.
When he opened the door, there was a short young man with skin white as a sheet standing there, a duffel bag in his hand and Skyler's trench coat draped over his shoulder. The man ran his free hand over his medium length black spiky triangle styled hair, which spanned his entire head and firmly stood upwards, with a short amount of bangs on the right side of his forehead that was just gelled down in that one place, he then pulled his hand away and rubbed the residual hair gel onto his black pleather pants.
"Teleporting around as per usual I see," the man said jokingly, then pulled the coat off of his shoulder and handed it to Skyler.
"Thanks Pain, you're a real life saver, and no, it wasn't me this time," Skyler said and grabbed the coat from him.
"I can tell, I was just joking around. Here, see you later," Pain said and presented the duffel bag to Skyler.
Skyler took it and nodded. "Yeah, tell Drake I'm not going to be there, I've got other plans."
Pain waved as he walked away. "Yeah, I'll tell him. Good luck."
Skyler shut the door and locked it, then hung his coat on the coat rack nearby. He also put the duffel bag on the floor in front of the coat rack.
"I hope it didn't go cold," Gabrielle said with a giggle.
"There's always the microwave," Skyler said with a small grin as he walked back to his seat.
Gabrielle took another fork full of fried potato and tasted it. "It's still warm enough to eat."
"It wouldn't have mattered either way, you worry too much," he said as he sat down next to her.
"Are you leaving after you finish breakfast?" she asked after a few bites.
"Yes, but don't worry, I'll be there when you wake up at Elega. I need to prepare for tonight," he said, then finished a piece of bacon.
"What's going to happen tonight?" she said after eating everything but the bacon.
"Remember the ritual that Cara talked about? That's going to have to happen tonight or we won't be allowed to see each other," he said, then cleaned his plate.
"Is that because you're a Darkling and i'm the Light Maiden?" she said, then took a bite out of a piece of bacon.
"Yeah, it's forbidden for any human to fall in love with a Darkling, unless the Darkling undergoes the ritual, which is pretty ancient since Elega has existed for a long time. Most people have forgotten about it, thankfully I and others found this loophole. After it's all done, I can stay at the castle with you, though you aren't supposed to let me out of your sight," he said and picked up his plate.
"Why would I have to not let you out of my sight?" she said, she had already finished her plate and was going to take it to the sink.
"Either that or someone would have to be designated to watch me at all times, I may be allowed to stay there after the ritual but they still won't trust me enough to go anywhere on my own within their territory," he says as he gets up.
"But that shouldn't matter, right? It's supposed to make sure you don't do anything bad again, so that means that they are safe when you are around," she said as she got up with her plate and put it away.
"Not everyone is as trusting as you are," he said, putting his plate in the sink next to hers.
"Couldn't you just tell everyone that the Immaculate Veil is your grandmother? Isn't that enough to get people to trust you?" she asked, then grabbed his wrist while he was pulling his arm away from the sink.
"That won't be enough to erase thousands of years of fear, Gabby," he said and placed his free hand on hers.
"I know there's still this huge war, but I wish they would at least treat you like a person." She lowered her head.
"I have to go get ready now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. We'll get to spend plenty of time together because of all this," he said, and softly pulled his hand away. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
She looked back up at him with a small frown, he let out a chuff and smiled again.
"Just think of it like being able to go on extra long dates all the time. Even though we'll be at home," he said as he turned and went to the coat rack.
She blushed and turned around. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?" he said and picked up his coat and duffle bag.
"Earlier, on the couch, why did you decide to kiss me?" she said bashfully, raising her shoulders to hide her face in her hair.
"That mark on your finger doesn't just give you more magic," he said while he walked slow walk to her room.
"What do you mean?" she clasped her hands together and felt her body get hot again.
"How did you think I know that you were being attacked by those Darklings? Those markings allow me to sense your emotions. Trepidation, fear, desperation… Love." he said and turned to face her.
"You mean… You could sense my emotions this whole time?" she said, surprised and embarrassed.
She covered her face with her hands. She remembered all the times her feelings got the best of her when it came to him while he wasn't around. She also felt that it violated her privacy, and even though she was a little mad at him for using the mark to pick up on how she was feeling, she didn't wish that he had done differently. After all, she never would have gotten that far with him if he didn't know how she really felt.
"I only pay attention to the strongest ones, if that's any consolation. And I won't use it again unless it's an emergency, if that will make you feel any better," he said and continued to walk to her room.
"I'll trust you to keep your word, then," she said as she peeked through her hands.
"I know it'll be impossible for me to know if I'm using it or not, but I couldn't just ignore what I was sensing, I hope you'll forgive me for using it in such a selfish way," he said, then opened her bedroom door.
"It's ok, I forgive you, just don't use it like that again," she said, relieved, and took her hands off her face.
"That's a relief," he said and smiled again, he then looked in her room and then back to her. "You don't mind if I use your room to get dressed, do you?"
"It's fine, I'll be out here," she said and smiled back, then relaxed her shoulders and moved her hair out of her face.
"I'll in and out real quick, thanks," he said with a nod, and went inside, closing the door behind him.
She sat down and turned the television on. After she found a channel that was playing old rubber hose cartoons, she set down the remote. Feeling sentimental, she leaned on her elbow with an open hand, and thought about what just happened. Her hands still held the warmth of his chest, and the warmth of his lips still remained on hers. Phantom sensations of him holding her close still lingered on all the places he touched.
Her head then felt cloudy, like she was in a dream. She hoped that it wasn't - because it would have been cruel for her mind to imagine all the things she did with him only for it to disappear, leaving it an unanswered prayer. Even though she could hardly believe it was real, she was still riding high on the unexplainable feelings she got from that romantic encounter.
The door opened behind her, she snapped out of her trance and got up as she spun around.
"All done, sorry I stayed a bit longer than expected but, you know," he said and blushed, his cheeks turning gray.
"Where do you need to go? I wish you would stay longer," she said, gripping the top of the couch seat.
"Back to the hospital, I need to prepare for tonight," he said as he walked to the door.
"Hospital? Why would you need to go there? Is it really going to be that bad?" she said and got up from the couch.
"Using light magic on a Darkling isn't the most pleasant experience. I'm going to need some assistance if I'm going to go through it without it feeling worse than giving birth," he said while he rubbed the back of his neck.
"What do you mean by assistance?" she asked while she walked up to him.
"Enough painkillers to kill ten elephants probably. If I'm acting a bit funny when you go back to Elega, it might be because of that, just letting you know beforehand," he said as he looked back at her, his hand still on his neck.
"I won't do it if it's going to hurt you that much," she said as she grabbed his arm.
"You don't have much of a choice, you don't want me in the royal prison or dead, this is the next best thing," he retorted, took his hand of his neck and grabbed her free hand.
"I don't want any of that, is there really nothing else we can do?" she begged, turning her hand around in his and gripping it.
"I'm afraid not, and there wouldn't have been any options for us if the ritual was lost to history. I'm at least thankful for that," he said, then pulled his hand back and wrapped his hands around her, bringing her in for a hug.
"I just, I just don't want to hurt you," she said, then wrapped her arms around his neck.
"It'll only be the one time, think of it like giving me a tattoo, only it does more than just look pretty," he said, pulling away and putting his hands on her arms.
"Ok, I'll try," she said and nodded.
He quickly kissed her on the lips and spun around.
"Good, I'll see you tonight then." He opened the door and walked outside, then grabbed the door handle.
Before he closed the door, he looked back at her.
"Love you," he said and smiled back at her.
"I love you too," she said, her face turning beet red.
He exhaled, still grinning, and shut the door- Leaving her by herself.