Leaves danced in the middle of the sunkissed' surroundings, and while birds continued to sing their praises, floating in the soft misty air with yellow mists going in a caged room before the curtain walked, a grip tight as someone's lifeline crumpled a piece of letter dressed in a lavender scent.
A crest that lived from an old age reappeared sitting on top of my desk.
"If you want to see what kind of person he is, feel free to join a game of two nights. It's a bet you don't want to miss. When you win, you'll make a wish that will appear to come to life. – Oblivion."
A brief wind caressed my cheek and swayed the leftover strands of hair I had, hanging just above my right shoulder. When I closed my eyes, recalling for a moment, a headache disguised as crumpled paper appeared in a mirror just a few inches away from me.
Then I saw a young lady, whose lips curled like a leaf stuck in a wind's passing.
"This has never happened before," a whisper I could have heard if it was me in the past.
***
A gentle heat holding my cheeks was enough for a day of solace. A lightweight cup with a rippling orange-brown reflection created a mirror of waving emotions. A small sip from the oasis felt like a life I'd carved for myself.
Soft laughter echoed from the edgeless place after darkness invaded for a second. Like a laughing rare gem, I looked at a living doll I bought in my time.
The wind mingled with his radiant hair, blazing through the sun's image reflected in his pair of rare sights. His wine-covered lips danced through the walking leaves, and his hands barely kept themselves.
"It was always a pleasure to have tea with you in an afternoon's daze, My---Isabela," he chuckled, putting the cup of tea on his lips and taking a few sips while closing his eyes.
He had long eyelashes and sharp edges of his nose that defined his quality. The shredded clothes covered in gold on both sides of his shoulders walked after he put the cup of tea down. The shining red and blue color from his chest, with a golden circular badge hanging on his right side, heaved a few sighs, remaining uncrumpled.
The shadow of the table overlapped upon his crossed legs dressed in white pants, gripped in the middle of his waist by a brown leather with a big circular silver engraving of the household's crest.
Then I thought this clothing suited him.
"So are you only going to check up on me? Might as well I remind you I could melt like ice cream in your hawk's view," Adviel said. The edges of his lips sharpened, his right eyebrow stood, and the linings below his eyes smiled.
Then I saw my image in his golden gems, covered in a pinkish hue. I chuckled, dismissing off an aura that almost took my breath.
With differing thoughts crowding through the space in my mind, I closed my eyes as my lips touched a gentle, rippling, bitter, warm water.
Then a few touches of the breeze made my mind clear as I looked at the person whose eyes were now focused on me.
"If I said I was, what would you do?" I challenged.
Though I knew he would shrug his shoulders off like do and chuckle. But as I kept my view on him, as seconds thrown in deep water, I heard the birds singing accompanied by the leaves.
There was never a soft chuckle from the boy I was having tea with.
For a second, I felt like I could stare at him for eternity.
"You're free to do what you want to me, Isabela. You of all people know it," a voice that felt breathless mixed into the ruffling air, and as I rebutted my thought, my dress just above my thighs crumpled after gazing at my hands turning a shade of pink.
It felt like summer was already around the corner. It's hot.
***
A long, breathy wind escaped my lips after a few prisoning moments. A book that wasn't supposed to be talking floated in mid-air, glowed in the chrysalis of the wreath, and turned its pages covered in yellow mists, non-stop caressed by the wind like becoming one with the dancing leaves just outside the balcony.
"A young lady could change the flowers from withering to frozen. But a young boy may bury it with crimsonness."
Glowing to the end, until the last words, the glow continuously faded and sat on the bed as if giving me the message, draining its entire life. Every leaf of the book settled on the cover, fading its energy back to a deep slumber.
I'm sure Gabrielle wouldn't want to be disturbed at this hour.
"Come in," I said when someone knocked on my door. A dancing radiance of crimson took my view; the missing pair of the sun's glow and the curves of the young boy's edges reaching both of his ears caught my breath for nearly two and a half seconds—no, I mean minutes—an estimated I wasn't sure to be short.
"Why are you looking at me like you've just seen a ghost, Isabela? You know that's not very nice." A deep, soft tone echoed like music in my ears. His head moved like a dismayed soldier, but his shoulder shook briefly before covering his cherry-red lips with his hand.
A wave of blood rushed through my veins; when did I even find his chuckles so pretty, like a man born out of nobility? God, Isabela, get a grip on yourself!
"But if I assumed, you're looking at me as if you're planning to tie me up to your bed, and-----" for the goodness of my ears and the calming of my soul, I threw him a pillow. That serves him right for accusing an innocent young lady like me and saying inappropriate words!
But as expected, his hands move faster than his head, as if the pillow took my guilt and got caught in his hands.
I took his smile as a warning; even the clothing on my thighs continued to crumble.
"Don't get too cocky, Adviel, now let's go back to business, shall we?" I uncurled my hands from my dress and let out a few sighs, having to absorb the moment before looking at the young boy, who now has the same image as I do.
"Let's go to a place I've been invited to, so you better create a version of me, the version you know too well." I looked into his eyes and saw a hint of question. Eyebrows with high edges, eyes continued to thin, and crumpled edges of his lips. Every little detail he does while scratching the back of his neck makes me lift my straightened corners.
"And I know you'll never question why?"
"Didn't I say this before?" he asked, walking in my direction with hands locked in his pocket. Then appeared a grin I never saw on his face, mocking me in every way I could think to escape.
A second later, I blink at how close he was to me. The sharpness of his nose, brushing against my skin, his chuckles exuding a midsummer scent, a pair of his soul reflecting mine, and his lips devouring my breath away, almost felt too surreal.
"A young lady like you only has to sit while telling me what to do," he leaned, blowing to my ears with his right hand circling some locks on my hair.
I should be angry, slap him, stand, and walk away, but I can't feel my legs. Stuck in my position, I bit my lower lips, inhaling a few scents of him and directly looking into his eyes.
"Then stop!" With the courage to speak and shout to his face, I pushed him too hard, and the next thing I knew someone shouted at the entrance of my door.
A maid, perhaps about to clean my room, dropped her basket full of new bed sheets of my favorite pink hues, and after hearing her reactions, her hands went to her lips, eyes as wide as a person who had seen a beast run away.
Staring back at this young boy's soul wasn't enough to punish the devilish grin on his face when I knew it was my fault.
"If you're always doing this to me, then I can't help thinking you're seducing me, Isabela," a warm tone invaded my chest, and a soft tingling sensation caressed my cheeks as he removed some strands of my hair touching his face.
"What are you----" he cuts me off, flipping our positions.
I didn't even notice we'd switched; only after blinking did I become aware.
"You on top of me, with both of your hands on either side of my head, hair soft and smooth like this silky bedding you have, caressing my face non-stop, and a view of your young body to which I can't stop imaging when you've grown up and become a full-fledged adult, could you have a type of body that would suit any man's taste. All of these were just above me a few seconds before----"
I put both of my hands on his mouth as I bit my lips.
"Okay, stop, now. I know where this is all going, but you're mistaken. I didn't do it intentionally. I had my reasons," I say in between gulps.
Chuckling his way, after a few seconds, warmth left my skin replaced by the sound of slipping away from the cover of my bed.
Sighing with a few shakes of his head, combing his hair with his hands, and adjusting the buttons of his uniform, he gazed into my soul.
"So where should we start? Do you know where the place for that event is?"
Then I knew he was only teasing me.
The man he was in the past had the same emotions in his eyes in this present.
Even though summer was near, his sight reflected winter in the cold northern place.
Then I know, he's not kidding.
"Let's ask Gabrielle the shortcut first."