Lily of the Shadows

Chapter 6

Location-Earth

Vaskin slowly walked out of the school building after a long and confusing and difficult day. He was so unsure where to go, when the screech of tires greeted him at the curb. Khashmyr tipped down her sunglasses and Vaskin just rolled his eyes, reluctantly getting into the car.

"Where's Manx?" Khashmyr asked, unfazed by his lack of enthusiasm.

"She didn't exactly stay where I could see her." Vaskin replied.

"Very predictable for her." Khashmyr said in return.

Vaskin nodded, when suddenly he spotted her, slowly making her way past a crowd of onlookers. It was obvious that she was upset about something, but she didn't say a word when she sheepishly climbed into the car. On the way to Khashmyr's place, Manx sat still, watched the passing scenery, and didn't say a word. Vaskin was eager to know what was going on in her head, but since the little fight they had gotten into that morning he felt it would do more harm than good to ask her what was bothering her. Once they were inside, Manx snuck up the stairs to her room and shut the door behind her. Vaskin longed to talk to her, but he was unsure what to say that wouldn't force the two of them farther apart.

Meanwhile, deep in the depths of her closet, Manx sat curled up hugging her legs tightly to her chest. She yanked the amulet that hid her true form from her neck and cast it aside. She felt so alone, and she desperately wanted to be home, or at least in familiar territory. She never really had much of a home most of her life. She wished that there was some way that she could at least talk to her parents. The hours passed by with her there, sitting still as a stone, when finally she decided to come out of the closet. She slowly and quietly climbed down the stairs and found Vaskin sitting at the kitchen table, flicking a pencil away from himself, only for it to roll back and the process to begin again. As soon as he saw her, Vaskin stood up. He brushed his shaggy brown hair out of his eyes, and there the two of them stood, eyes locked.

"Is Khashmyr around?" Manx asked shyly.

Vaskin shook his head no and said "She said she was going to get some food. Hopefully something edible this time."

Manx nodded and then she just stood there with a blank expression.

"What's wrong?" Vaskin asked, hoping that this time she wouldn't get upset with him.

"I...I miss our world." Manx replied, her bottom lip beginning to quiver.

Vaskin took a step towards her and said, "Are you homesick?"

Manx nervously looked at the floor, whimpered a bit, and then she ran to him, burying her face in his shoulder and bursting into tears. At first Vaskin was shocked and surprised. Even on her best day she refused almost any sort of physical contact, and then here she was crying into his shoulder. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer. At first he felt her muscles tense, but then she relaxed in his comforting embrace. He felt the warmth of her body merging with his, and he could hardly help feeling so happy and satisfied. Here she was, in his arms, closer to him than she had ever been. He had longed for this for so long, he had waited patiently after time after time she turned him down and rejected his advances.

Manx leaned in to Vaskin's arms, finally after everything she had been through feeling safe and loved. She buried her face deep into his shoulder, her sobs slowly decreasing in length and volume. She had always been so afraid of physical contact because of how roughly she had been handled in the dungeon as she grew up. The last embrace she ever had was in her mother's arms at five years old before she was torn from her and forced into a dank dungeon cell because of her silver helix ability. And now she even wondered how long this hug would last and what awful force would tear her away from Vaskin. She leaned in closer and cautiously pulled her arms free and wrapped them around his waist, holding him tightly in fear that he would leave her, or that something would pull her from his arms. His body was warm, and he still carried a slight trace of the scent of the forests back in the Valdt that was comforting to her.