*Ana*
"Ah," I hiss, instantly feeling the icy chill run up as soon as I dip my big toe into the clear water. "It's cold." I whimper, turning back to only see Nicoli grin after me, clearly amused and pleased with himself.
"Didn't I tell you so?" Nicoli goes, swashing his feet back and forth, pushing the water to slightly tip over the basin and splash out to the surrounding rocks. "I said it'd be cold." He adds before lifting a foot, dripping water down, to wiggle his toes at me.
"But, hey." He urges, his tanned hand reaching to tug mine, before throwing his sapphire eyes up at me pleadingly. "Don't just stand there, " he gives another gentle tug.
"Nicoli, but I…" Don't want to, but feeling him give another tug, still looking up at me with, a smile waiting on his lips, just makes it harder to say no to him.
"I…very well," I sigh, giving in, just a little and just move to kick off the other shoe, before bunching up my skirt so it won't get wet, and take my seat next to him on the ledge of the fountain. The ledge is small, certainly not big enough for an adult to sit, but, we are tiny enough to sit together, side by side, comfortably.
"Ah," I shortly wince, again feeling a shiver as the cold comes up my legs, biting through my skin. But it's temporary, and I quickly find the cold change to something more comfortable, making me ease down onto the hard rock ledge, letting my shoulders drop, and giving out a soft relieved sigh.
"See?" Nicoli, meanwhile, goes, shifting to rest his hand over mine, between us.
"Feels nice, doesn't it?" Nicoli goes on with a soft laugh in his voice. "On hot nights like this, I always go out and dunk my feet in." He explains looking back to the water. "Helps me sleep."
"Yes it," Wait, what did he say? I snap my head up at that, shifting my gold chains with a clink as I look back at him, in disbelief.
"What do you mean you come out here at night?" I go on, my disbelief growing the more I realize. "You mean you've done this before?"
"Maybe," Nicoli shrugs as if that was a good enough answer. But it's not for me, and I can't help but push myself to frown at him.
"Nicoli that's bad-ah!" The splash of cold water hitting my skin makes me temporarily forget to be mad, too busy tensing up with a shiver from the sudden contact. But as soon as it does, it falls back, and I turn from my waist sharply to face him.
"Nicoli, why did you just splash- ah!" I cry again as Nicoli does it again. He cups up another handful of freezing water to slap my way, before breaking into a fit of giggles.
"Gotcha!" Nicoli laughs.
"Hey!" I cry, immediately finding this unfair, and without a second thought, quickly move to return the gesture right back.
"Ah!" Nicoli yelps in protest, moving up his hands as if that can save him, But it's too late, I got him right in the face and chest, drenching his curls to plate against his tan forehead, and soak his nightgown, making it sheer enough to almost be see-through around his shoulders.
"Ana!" Nicoli cries out, throwing a searing look after me but I shake my head back at him.
"No, deserves you right for…"The words hang on the tip of my tongue as I suddenly look back to notice the nightgown cling to his neck and collarbone, like a second skin. Tightly wrapped around, showing every bump and curve of his bone and muscle, his neck becoming the most prominent thing. I can't seem to drag my eyes away from it as I suddenly feel my fangs tingle and-
Calm down. I force my eyes to stare at the water, touching my chest, feeling my heart thump against my ribs, suddenly going abnormally fast.
This…is not the time to start acting like this, again. I know, and just try to steady my breathing, taking longer and longer strains of air, before slowly feeling my heart beat back to a normal rhythm.
Just…stay calm. I tell myself. Be calm. Don't get riled up or anything. I go again before looking up to find Nicoli already there, his blue eyes on me. Watching me with a quiet note on his face as if a little worried about something. But the worry melts away when I give him a small turn of my lips.
"I…just a little winded still." I excuse, and this seems to help him feel better, because he nods, looking back to the fountain.
"You're… still wearing this funny thing?" Nicoli prompts after a minute of watching the water sputter and drip to the basin, before moving to tug at the corner of my crinkled shawl, shifting the gold chains slightly.
"I…yes." I nod, but already move my hand, reflexively checking to make sure it's on, quickly feeling relief to find it is.
"It… was a gift," I explain after, slowly lowering my hand to touch the gold threading at the bottom of the hem.
"A gift, huh?" Nicoli asks, watching my fingers, before moving to join. His fingers trace over one of the deers tenderly, before nodding."Well, whoever gave it to you, must be pretty important. You seem to like wearing it."
"I-" But I catch myself before I can answer, suddenly feeling a prickle in my chest that threatens to be something worse. But no, I won't ruin this, and I won't think about it. So I take a breath instead, coming up with an easier answer.
"Yes," I say instead, nodding. "It… helps cover my hair."
"Your hair?" Nicoli blinks up, looking directly at the chains. "Why?" He goes, bobbing his head as if to see. "Bad hair day?" He laughs next, his chest up and down at the harmless joke.
I know it is, but despite it, I can't share in the laugh. My lips only lift into a thin smile before my fingers pinch at paw at the hem a little tighter.
"Ana, you…" Nicoli's laugh lessens before his smile trades for a look of concern as he catches my fingers, fiddling with the shawl's hem quietly.
"You…don't you like your hair?" Nicoli asks, slowly lifting his eyes back up, to look into mine, almost bewildered. "Why?"
"I…." My voice drops once more as I am not sure what to answer. The question is so simple, yet, I don't know. Do I? Could I?
Has there ever been a time that I did? I can't remember the amount of times I've seen others sneer or stare at me. The disgusted look on their faces before they turn away, leaving me alone, not wanting to touch it, or comb it, or braid, or….. I look after a loose strand, come falls over my shoulder, curling up into a perfect spiral of silver.
"Well," Nicoli's voice pulls me back up to see him staring at it too. "I like your hair." And he moves, as if to make a point, curling the piece around his finger, even lifting it up, to get a better look. "It's pretty."He declares with a nod. "Very pretty. Like the moon."
"Like the…?" The compliment feels so strange to hear that I just blink after him, not sure if he said it, or if I imagined it.
But Nicoli doesn't seem to notice, too focused on staring after the silver curl. His tan fingers lightly tugging on it again, before letting go to give a soft laugh, happy to see it spring back into a clean curl.
"Hey," Nicoli perks up. "I'm starving. Aren't you?" And he makes to touch his stomach as if suddenly feeling it growl, before turning back to me. "You wanna go to the kitchen?"
"The kitchen?" I ask dumbfoundedly, looking back at him and his eager face, his blue eyes bobbing as he nods a yes. But that just draws more confusion out of me, baffled.
"Nicoli," I point up to the dark sky. "It's the middle of the night,"
At least past midnight, clearly signifying that eating isn't possible.
But not to Nicoli. Apparently
"So?" Nicoli just shrugs, already losing his arm around my waist, before lifting his feet out of the water, and dripping over off the ledge as he swings around to stand up in the grass.
"Come on," Nicoli smiles, showing all his white teeth again, before shooting out his hand to help me up. "Oh! And I can show you my room." He goes on, making sure I'm on my feet, still slick from the water before he turns.
"Yeah, you haven't seen it in a while. It's changed." Nicoli carries on, pulling and lurching me forward, almost making me miss a step, because of the slick water.
"Nicoli," I barely catch my breath, clenching his hand tighter to get my balance back. "Slow down." I almost fell, just now. But he doesn't hear me over his talking as he just carries on.
"Mom's taken all my toys but don't worry; I've still managed to keep yours." Nicoli is talking on and on, quickly, moving from one idea to the next, his face bright and exhilarated, effortlessly guiding us through the maze without thought.
"Nicoli," I try again, but I'm not surprised he doesn't hear me this time, just focused on looking ahead as we turn another corner, leading into a new section, which I, vaguely, remember, maybe?
"I know!" Nicoli only stops when we reach the entrance, leading to the open space outside, before turning to look back over at me, eyes shining brightly with a new idea. "I'll have you sleep with me."
"Sleep?"I blink, trying to steal the moment to catch my breath and rub my legs, feeling them still burning with an ache from earlier, before I can pull back up to digest what he's saying as he seems to keep jumping from topic to topic.
"Yeah," Nicoli, meanwhile, goes on, growing more animated by the second. "That way, we can talk all night and catch up. And I'll show you my room and-" Nicoli makes to go on, as if ready to go into more detail before we both hear something cough.
Cough? I blink up, but it's not him. Nicoli's mouth is still open, lips about to form his next word, but they don't move, frozen in place before it happens again.
"Ahem," The cough goes again, deeply, not like phlegmy like a cold, but like trying to get someone's attention.
Someone…like us? My breath stops as I slowly shift my eyes the same time Nicoli does, to both see, a group of figures standing, waiting for us. As if they might have been there for a while.
We're...not alone? The realization hits me harder as my eyes scan over the group to find one in particular, his sapphire eyes crinkling up with a grin before he speaks.
"What a nice night for walking the gardens, don't you think?"