When Night Falls, Day Falls Too

Irmin chuckled—a soft, light sound that could so easily be snatched away by the wind. “That sounds perfect. See? We shan’t forget one another.” He moved his head a little, just enough to leave a peck on top of Adelor’s white-blond hair. He thought for a moment if he should say more—if he should reassure his friend that whatever happened they each carried a piece of one another, but there was something in the way Adelor held onto him that told Irmin that such words would only worry him. “And we have so many things to do before graduation, anyway. I have to make you soup,” he said, a tinge of amusement in his voice.

He smiled and listened intently to Adelor’s answer. He almost asked why, but remembered, that he had the power to change the weather itself, of course his energies would be more intense. He nodded “oh, okay”, he was a little disappointed, but he still got to spend a little bit of time with Lor doing this at least. Hiltwin’s heart sank at the reminder that he’d have to go home in a couple of months, go back to normality for two months, and when he came back, Adelor wouldn’t be here to show him to bronze. Hiltwin yawned and snuggled into Adelor a bit more"yeah" he said, his voice was tired, and sad.

Irmin chuckled at that and was nodding once again in agreement. “I never particularly liked her either,” he said, his lips curled into a soft, amused and fond smile. And the amusement bled away to make space for more fondness, more love, as he felt Adelor’s hold on him tighten, his face burying itself a little deeper in the crook of Irmin’s neck. “Oh, Civetta, I don’t think I could ever stop to miss you,” he said, in a honest whisper. “And I won’t let you disappear… I have so many more pebbles and stones and gems to gift to you. They’ll make sure to find their way to you.”

Irmin smiled at those words. “True, though not many see it that way.” And maybe it would be best if neither did he, or he would soon find his pockets far too full—but then semantics had never stopped him before. He nodded, agreeing with the comparison to a pair of glasses and to a spirit companion. “I guess, yes, I would be curious of the ‘why’s… I would probably be sad for awhile, but then I’d move on.. Sadness wouldn’t be ever present, but a sporadic wave of melancholy at the memory, accompanied by the questions of why if I never get an answer. But that’s simply how it is life. People and objects enter your life, they stay for awhile and then they leave… sometimes you know why, sometimes you don’t… but you are still all the more richer for having met them in the first place.”

Irmin grinned at the accusation spoke with such admiration and adoration. And he found himself huffing out this soft chuckle, this small, bubbly laugh, looking like that sixteen years-old who had, indeed, stolen a magic coat. “Yes,” he said, nodding. “Being in love with it ever since. At first, I told myself I was only borrowing it… but the more I wore it and more it felt like a piece of myself. It’s not just an object anymore. And if I were to lose it… I think it would mean that I’ve changed—outgrown it.”

Hiltwin looked around, “its a greeny, blue kind of colour, but in the sky it’s bluer, and on the ground is more green, but that might also just be the colours behind them.” He smiled up at his freind “you’re a deep pink, like almost red, i’m not really good with colours but yeah, that”. He assumed They must see different colours for Him to ask what he saw. Smiling bashfully, and scratching his head a little awkwardly “yeah i do, get what you mean.” He paused at Lor’s phrasing “how far does my, energies, go? Out of curiosity.” Win smiled and nodded, putting his hand through Lor’s energies, and trying to disturb them, although to little affect. “I get you, thats pretty cool, how do you control them then, are you going to teach me?”

irmin-von-sachs:

“A story, hmm…” Once again Irmin was humming, pensively, as he tried to choose a story to tell. He didn’t question the request, nor the demand, and his arms held his friend with certainty. His embrace was warm and firm, and his hands gently moved over Adelor’s shoulders and back in a soothing manner.

“It was a hot Summer day—and by that I mean really hot, even I could feel it.” Contrary to how, usually, he was never bothered by temperature—either cold or hot. “My clothes stuck to my skin and I felt like I had an additional layer of street dust on me. My hair was cut short—I know, unimaginable but true—and at least that kept it from stick to my face. Signora Amelia had sent me around to do those delivery too delicate to leave to the owls and the ravens to do, and to gather up ingredient and the likes. I didn’t mind too much, at first, because on a few of those I could use my broom—which meant flying, which meant fresh air…” He paused, a little sigh escaped him. Irmin missed flying—the reckless of it, or even the simple, boring feeling of being suspended into the air.

“But novelty started to wear off, especially when I was left to wait for half an hour in the heat. I was too hot, too dirty… I was hungry and bored. And I had just made a foul of myself in front of the girl I liked—but that’s another story.” His smile took on a mix of shyness, embarrassment and amusement. “You see, it’s a this low point that I saw it,” he said, a note of awe in his voice. “The most beautiful long coat I had ever seen. I didn’t even question how the man could wear a coat in that heat. It made sense—somehow it made perfect sense. I forgot all about waiting, and I started following the coat… I was like a moth drawn to a flame. I barely noticed how the day turned into evening which turned into night, and I had ended up on a ship in the harbour. I can’t even say if they were pirates or no—I had eyes only for the coat.” He paused. He knew he could go into details on how he had exactly acquired the coat. “At dawn, I was back into Signora Amelia’s kitchen. She was not happy with me and asked me for the thing I was supposed to bring back.” His smile turned mischievous now. “So, I put my hand in the pocket of my coat… found what she wanted. I still got punished for missing all night, but I got my coat and it has been with me ever since.”

Adelor listened to the story with great marvel, sitting in silence and letting Irmin’s words carry him far to the past. He could feel the heat on his skin, the wind against his hair, the freedom in his bone. His slightly parted lips curled into a smile, as he rested his head against Irmin’s shoulder, once again looking up at him not to really see him, but to make sure that he was there, still there, still here. 

“Ah.” Irmin nodded with understanding. “Hmm,” he hummed, pensively. “I guess it could be called that. Yes. Maybe. Not too many kisses allowed unless Lore really wants them—needs them.” He tilted his head a little. “Something like that.” He looked at him, cheeky smile still there. “As for your chances, depends. Want one, now?”

Irmin nodded in agreement. Rules when they hurt others had to be reconsidered, bend or even broken. And he wasn’t certainly someone to shy from all of that. “Because you are my friend, and I love you,” he said, as if he was explaining a simple, basic concept. “And if you are sad and a kiss from me can make you less sad then I’ll kiss you.” His shoulders moved into a light shrug. “It’s worth it.” He masked the sappiness of the moment with another of his cheeky smiles. “Why do you ask? Checking to see what are your chances of more kisses?”

“I am happy now,” Tyl said, giving into this warmth, this tightness. Underneath the covers, in the darkness of this room that wasn’t his. That he ought to fear, for all its lack of security, yet felt so safe in. “I’m happy with you. I’m happy when you’re happy. I’m happy with my friends, I’m happy studying, I’m happy - at home, with papa and my sister and mama, too, sometimes.” And it was beginning to sound like such an odd word, happy. But he was, and he smiled. “You make me so happy. I hope - I hope I make you happy, too.” Had he asked this before? Tyl had a vague memory of it, in this hazy, soft mixture of happiness and sleepiness, but it needed to be said. 

Tyl nodded. He was looking to be convinced, too. “All right,” he said. He could take anything, he supposed, as there was no dishonesty. He shut his eyes tight. He wondered if this was really true, if there were things that he would not be able to take, like for his trust to be broken - but it was not the sort of thing he wanted to think about, pressed next to Adelor. Adelor implored him to live in the moment, and so he would try. He almost opened his mouth to ask another question, one set in the future, and then shut it and stopped himself. He chuckled at these next words, sensing Adelor’s sleepiness, realising how sleepy he was, too. He kissed his lips, again gently. He was not afraid to fall asleep. Adelor would be there in the morning. “Good night.”

Adelor listened to all those ‘happy’s and the way they made his heart feel like. How they had it skip, beat stronger, beat as though invincible. He listened without interruption, not even letting his own thoughts interfere with being fully there, with what Tyl said. Only when silence came, Adelor leaned in, placing a gentle kiss to Tyl’s lips, thanking them for having so bravely spoken of that word. “I’m happy.” he nodded, and instead of countering all of Tyl’s beautiful words with words of his own, he took Tyl’s hand and let its palm rest against his chest, there, where his heart beat, letting it tell its own story.

Wide eyes—a clear amber colour—and a breath caught in his lungs before being release with the acceptance of that ‘thank you’. Lips smiling, stopping before there would be a seventh kiss. “Good,” he whispered back, and he sounded strangely breathless. He closed his eyes as he let himself be engulfed by Adelor’s embrace, as he hugged his friend back. “And there are always exceptions to the rules,” he added, as if to reassure him that kisses, or affection in general would be always available for Adelor. “It’s not rule-breaking, if the rule has an exception.”