Her lips split and she leaned dangerously close to the hill of glass on the floor. "What? How is that possible? The Undying Race is like a God to us. The beginning, the sustaining and ending of life. You're saying that you, his very own son, have never even met him before?" Her fingers hooked onto his arm and she pulled herself nearer. She looked deeply into his face. "And who is your mother? Where is she?"
Iggy drew in his eyebrows and looked ahead of himself. "My mother?" he thought. "I don't have any idea who that is. I mean, I could say that Nansen is like my mother… and Baine is like my father and mother, now… but…" He met her confused stare again with his own. "I guess things are much more mixed up, now. All I know is Nansen, Baine, the house, and the lawn between the house and the walls. I read and watched videos to learn."
"You watched videos?!" she blurted back. "But you were blind!"
He hooked his hand around his neck. "Yeah… I haven't experienced much, really."
She propped herself up and leaned in even closer. Her palms rested on top of his sensitive kneecaps. The edges of her eyes waved, creating an expression of sympathy more than anything else. Iggy's breath was captured. Women must have a way of showing every little smidge of emotion that they feel. They're readable, which is certainly a tool worth handling.
"I'm sorry." Sincerely, she bowed her head. "Your life must have been very lonely… I wish I could change that for you and give you my amazing memories of picnics in the sun with my sister, and the wonderful family massage sessions." She lifted her chin, and came up onto her knees. Their faces aligned before she whispered, "even though we have different pasts, we can start our new life together and make many great memories. Will you do that with me?"
Staring into her hopeful selfless eyes, Iggy said, "I… guess… so?"
Then, her soft lips pressed against his in a kiss. And not just any kiss, but a real kiss. One between a man and a woman in a way much different than that between family members. Sure, Nansen had kissed him thousands of times on the forehead and cheeks, especially when he was ill. Even Baine might have kissed him once or twice in his whole life, but it was nothing similar to this.
Somehow, her touch seemed to be the most appropriate thing to happen at that time and what seemed to be the most important thing in that moment was that he submitted to her. It was a drive that had never pulled him before, not by anyone. He wanted to do what she told him to do. He wanted to be given opportunities to do good by her. He stared closeness in the face and allowed it to happen, willingly. He was changing into a person that he didn't know, which would be frightening for most, but it wasn't for him. As a matter of fact, he hated himself and the entire world right before this moment.
Her touch not only gave him interest, it gave him hope.
After a moment or two of connectedness, Nansen's jaw dropped when he realized that Iggy wasn't resisting her advances as he had expected. Startled, Nansen gripped Iggy's shoulders and tugged him back. "Get off of my brother, you whore," he cursed. She pulled her head away. It may have been a done kiss for her, but Iggy wasn't ready to let it end. He caught her by the back of the head and pulled her closer. He laid his wet lips back onto hers, and extended the kiss, again. She moaned into his mouth, and although he thought it was a moan of passion, Nansen pinched the back of his neck, and whispered, "let her go." Iggy jerked away, releasing her.
She retracted, touched her upper lip with her fingertips, and smiled. Almost out of breath, as Iggy was, too, she whispered, "I will wait for you downstairs. I think it's best to apologize to Baine for what happened." She glanced up at Nansen. "I was being very immature… but now I'll act ready to be my age."
"You'll act ready to be your age?" Nansen lifted a skeptical eyebrow. "Oh, so impressive."
She ignored him, and gathered herself up to standing. Iggy turned his head and watched her dance out of the room, merrily. Her long blonde hair was practically snowy gold, shimmering through any shadow. The door shut behind her, yet he couldn't help but sit and stare at it long after.
"How's that for making everything a little bit more complicated?" Nansen snided. "It looks like you have a real girlfriend, now. By the way, who taught you how to kiss? That was way too hard. You're going to end up becoming a sadist or something."
Iggy looked up into his golden eyes and tapped his index finger against his own forehead, right where he had been kissed last. "You did."
Nansen's smile crooked. "Exactly… A sadist."