Maven didn't remember anything that happened that night or anything that happened after that. Maybe some colors that danced around someone he was sharing a house, but nothing after that.
Instead, a week went by and neither of them choose to spoke on it. Instead, their focus was on the grove and their well being. Nothing but pure ordinary time spent together. Of course the nights were not ordinary, most of them where the music was softly in the background and some type of dinner was being cooked up with wine on the side.
Keeping there distance with one on the couch and one closer to the cast iron fireplace, they spent there nights going past 11, and sleeping on separate floors. Nothing but two roommates.
Every morning the days became more mundane and Maven was beginning to get antsy at the mornings feeling like drinking lukewarm water, keeping you alive, but not as satisfactory as a cold glass with ice.
Nina was leaving like normal and typically Maven would join, but she advised he stayed since a delivery is expected to come while she was gone. Most likely some fertilizer that she couldn't buy locally.
"Ok, I'm going out. If I'm longer than usual than I'm most likely picking up more food for dinner."
"Ok, have a nice walk." He said as he cleaned the ashes that fell out of the firestove.
Her smile left a touch on his cheek, almost if her lips touched his skin for a sweet goodbye. But without giving away any emotional signals, he turned away cleaning the rest of the grey speckles.
The door bounced once before finally closing and he was now alone, listening to Nina's shoes crunching the dirt ground and getting quitter and quieter until she was all the way gone.
After finally throwing away the ashes he didn't really know where to put himself in. There wasn't much to do with the house, with Maven's whole personality being perfection and Nina's justification that a clean house means less aggravation, the only dirty thing was the welcome matt.
So he sat down on the couch staring into the charcoal black fireplace. He imagened how much his fire ability changed, especailly since he had only used it for cooking and sometimes fun tricks Nina enjoyed.
It didn't bother him as much, he always was scared how much he relied on an ability that only does so much, more damage than good.
Maven noticed how quiet it was inside the house today. Early spring meant warmer suns with mid afternoon storms. But the rain did not come today, instead the greenery was brighter along with the buds coming that would soon the bloom.
He wondered what flowers would end up taking over the dirt ground near the storage garage. He wondered if he would have to work under the sun to pluck them out.
The sun was really warm when it hit the glass and refracted onto the wood. He walked over to touch the counter top, it was warm and made his hairs on his knuckles stand up.
Lifting it off, he ran his hand along the wood wall, splinting out and catching on his thick skin.
It ran along until he reached the room where Nina kept books, puzzles, and other stuff that could not be placed somewhere in the house. Opening the door, it creaked until it slammed on the wall. He cringed at the dent the knob may have left.
The closet was big, enough to put yourself in and stand in it, but it was dark and dirty. Looking at the books, they were tattered and dusty, most of the pages looked like they had water stains on them.
Pulling one out he noticed the writing was barely legible. Most of the pages too where smeared from water, it being more of a handwritten book that a typed copy. Pushing the book back into the shelve and pulling out another one, the same one was barley readable.
Again pushing one in and pulling one out, each one was like a written diary that was no longer readable, until one with a blue cover and a page full of dates on the back, had handwriting he could understand.
Stepping back, he sat down near the door of the closet and began flipping through the pages, his fingers gliding along the stiff paper.
The diary or book was written like a history book on a place outside of the continent. It was not about Norta, Lakelands, or any country in the area, but instead about a country near the northern eastern sea called Mother Valley, before the Calamities, Far Eastern District of Russia. A place of beauty.
Though most of it was written in Lakelander, which he had learn from Nina, most of the other stuff was written in a language he had seen before but never learned. The same type of writing that he saw on Nina night stand that looked liked the name Antionette written in a necklace.
Far beyond the page, it was still written in the language, different type of handwriting too. The first being more feminine while the other was harsh and sharp. Putting down the book, he went back to the closet, moving books on the bottom of the shelf and saw a wooden box. With chipped white paint that looked like flowers before the erosion.
Pulling it out, it looked liked it was meant to have a lock. The sides of the box was also burnt, like it had been in a fire.
Opening it, it was full of letters, also some toys a child would play with. The toys where mostly dolls, filled with dried grass, sewn together with cloth.
Maven pulled one out, the small boy with purple eyes and green cheeks fit in the palm of his hand, so small he could squeeze the head off.
Placing it down, he picked up more letter, again written in the same language. They were written before the Calamities as the dates were dated back almost 200 years.
There were ink painted pictures of people living in towns near what looked to be a volcano. Small and well kept but different from the ones that keep millions of people.
Turning each page, all he could look at was the pictures. Many with animals he had never seen and flowers he would never watch bloom. Like a child deciphering a book, he tried to put the pictures together and maybe find some words to connect.
It was until a truck pulled up near the house, the sound of the tires crunching down on the rocky dirt. Maven peered his head up while sitting down, it was just the mailman, handing out daily newspaper and coupons.
Before he reached out to see if Ninas package had come. He placed everything he grabbed back into there spot, shutting and leaving the closet dark again, but decided to sneak on letter into his pocket.
Ninas package didn't come but the newspaper was heavy than normal.
Maven sat down and read it for the first time. Normally like any newspaper, it would be filled with old people dying or new marriages, stuff a small town would have. But instead now, the front page had something about Norta and the Lakelands.
Scarlett Guard Takes Place in Adela.
Maven remebered the city of Adela, a place Nina hated because of the crowded population and awful food but also, it wasn't not far from here.
Most of it was something he could care less about reading, most stuff reminded him of how much of a failure he was.
But instead it was the picture that caught his eyes.
It was a picture of a general, giving information about the further plan to help Norta regain its loses but behind him was a blurry picture of a girl. A girl that made his stomach turn into a dark void. Her hair was shorter, the purple gone too. She looked distraught, the camera catching her off guard as she walked off somewhere.
"Sorry I'm back, I forgot my wallet. Oh did my package come?"
Maven stood up from the couch, watching as Nina went to grab her wallet on the kitchen table.
"Is everything alright?" Nina turned around looking at Maven, who looked sadly guilty.
"Yea, I-Im fine." He said tucking the paper behind him.
"No you're not." She leaned on the table, her palms digging into the wood.
"Truly, nothing, but."
"But what?"
"But, I think I need to go somewhere, by myself."
She walked over to him crossing her arms like a mom. He sat back down with the paper placed on the table. She looked down at the paper, reading the heading. Imminently she frowned, her teeth biting the side of her cheek.
I'd thought you would let go of that stuff by now.
He rubbed his temple.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to."
He stood up, finishing rubbing his head. "I have to go see someone from Adela, I need to."
She snatched the paper form the table. "You don't need to unless you want to die, they think your dead Maven."
"I know they think I'm dead, but I need to get something off my chest. But then I promise to come back."
"And if you don't."
She relized what she had said might have meant something she did not. She had lived without him before, why did it matter now?
"I will."
Maven began grabbing his coat before he felt Nina's hand reach for his. He turned around seeing her cheeks turning red. For a split second he watched her lips and felt his stomach turn. Her eyes were a beautiful greyish green, and he forgotten how soft her skin looked when the sun fell on it.
He watched as her lips moved closer.
"The... the last bus runs at ten. And keep your face hidden... please."
He almost frowned, "Thank you."