#cykamu

    Giving his hand a soft squeeze, Corrin’s soft chortle filled the small field, one of delight. She too, could not believe how nothing had changed.

    The two had revisited the area where they would play around in during their childhood. A small field – one where they were able to escape their troubles, albeit small, and do nothing but roam, play, and enjoy their presences. It was a field nearby the fortress where Corrin spent a majority of her life growing up with her Nohr siblings. It filled with dewy grass and scattered daisies here and there, alongside the tall, pine trees that bordered near the fortress and expanded along into nothing but miles of forest. From their view, sometimes, held a gorgeous view of the sun setting.

    An area that was a secret to only the two.

    Both knew what consequences they faced whenever they took the risk of escaping from the fortress, and Silas did not mind, as long as it made her happy. Even as a child, he loved seeing her smiling face, the way she chased him as they played tag, the way they’d stare up at the sky – this, and many other activities that had a drastic change in her attitude when compared to being in the castle. She smiled more when she was out. Coloring inside the castle was nothing when compared to making flower crowns outside with Silas. Seeing the sun – whenever it appeared – from the window of her room was not the same as seeing it from their little spot. He only noticed that she was happier, livelier, whenever she was out of castle walls.

    That was back when they were nothing but children who didn’t have to worry about the future of kingdoms and the safety of their peers.

    It was so nostalgic. Silas found himself with the widest smile he thought he had made since he saw Corrin for the first time since their childhood. Pulling on her hand, the knight moved along toward a spot next to their old tree, grunting as he sat down. Softly, a hand moved along to brush at the much older bark, as if trying to feel for something.

    Knowing immediately what he was looking for, Corrin scooted herself and grabbed at the opposite side of the trunk. “Here, silly, you’re on the wrong side.”

    Red eyes watched the slim finger trace at the words carved onto the darkening bark, softening her gaze. In small, slanted, sloppy letters, read:

Corrin and Silas

Do not touch

    “Do not touch.” It took all of her efforts not to snort out in laughter at how silly they were. Cupping her mouth, she couldn’t help the laughter that had begun to escape her mouth. Long hair shook the more she laughed, and the stronger her laughter vibrated about. Soon, she erupted from her own amused cackles, eyes closed, and arms clutching her stomach.

    She didn’t notice when he moved, but now, he was at her side, arms suddenly snug around her hips. Gingerly, Silas yanked the laughing girl onto his lap, unable to mask the chuckles himself. “Hey, you said you wanted this tree,” he pointed out.

    “But…” Another chortle. “B-but you—Ahaha!” More laughter that rang like soothing bells.

    He merely sighed, hugging her on his lap as her laughter slowly began to die down. Once she merely had quiet giggles escape, the knight softly laced her hands with his much bigger ones, chin gently perching on the crown of her head. “I missed this place.”

    Watching the view of what was the sunset and hints of the old fortress within the distance, she drooped her eyelids a bit, basking in the faint memories of what was their childhood. “Me too…”

    A few steps out of the building, she softly places the headgear on, blinking. It’s a gorgeous day; the sun beams down beautifully after having a week of nothing but gloom and clouds, albeit there is also a crisp gust that blows the ends of her lavender summer dress. Corrin can’t help but shiver, thinking that she may be perhaps a bit under dressed for the weather. She debates on returning back to her apartment to change into some jeans, but one glance of her wristwatch tells her otherwise. Going back would mean missing the bus, and it would be too late for her to wait for the next one, so she decides to simply bear with it as she begins to walk away from her apartment complex. Humming, the young woman strolls her way towards the bus stop just around the corner, silver locks softly fluttering behind her back with the soft gusts of wind.

    It’s only about seven minutes when she arrives to the stop, and to her relief, it’s empty. She likes when it’s simply her waiting for the stop, since it gives her a much more advantage to gain a seat in the vehicle, as opposed to days when it’s crowded.

    A sudden squeak escapes her when a much stronger gust of wind blows about, knocking her hat off the crown of her head. “Ah, no!” Her hand swiftly swipes up to her head, watching the hat begin to flutter about, and she’s thinking if she should either let it go or wait for the bus that can be seen arriving from a short distance. Reluctantly, red eyes widen as she quickly begins to follow her hat, not wanting it to blow away when she had only received it a few days prior. She doesn’t focus on anything else, nor does she think twice when she reaches forward to try and grab it, barely missing.

    It falls down on the cement, just a few feet away, and she crouches down quickly before it can gain another chance to fly off. Corrin then stops short, hand aloft as she notes the foreign, much bigger hand that has grasped her hat. Her lips part, tilting her head upward to see a young man with green eyes, some blue jeans, and a gray flannel blinking down at her with a hint of a smile. Another breeze blows on by, and he clutches it so that it doesn’t fly off.

    “Is this yours?” The young man finally breaks the silence as they both stand up to their feet. He holds her hat in front of her as an offering, his smile widening, what she notes as a warm greeting. His voice is smooth, polite, and wary.

    “Ah,” Corrin breaks from her observing trance and finally cracks a smile to return his own. “Yes, it is.”

    As she reaches to grab it, she still eyes him curiously, a part of her wonders how she didn’t catch him approaching earlier, and only noticed him once he had grabbed her hat. Bringing the hat to her chest, Corrin can barely nod, before the bus finally snaps her attention. She quickly trots back over to the stop, where the bus door opens for her to enter.

    After digging through her satchel, she swipes her pass to board, and nothing but relief washes her body once she notes the emptiness of the interior. Quietly, she picks a seat towards the end, next to the window, and she darts her eyes around, only to be disappointed upon noting that the young man had disappeared. Corrin’s body sulks, sighing. Grasping the fact that she never thanked him brings a frown to her lips.

    Pressing her chin to her palm, she rests her elbow against the window, red eyes flickering as the bus starts to move. Ah…I never—

    Something catches her attention from the corner of her red eyes, and it makes her lift her head to the left, and to her surprise, he’s right there, in the seat across from her, settling himself comfortably. The young woman finds a grin replacing her frown just as their eyes meet once more, and his eyes soften. “Hey!” Corrin scoots herself away from the window towards him. “I… Thank you,” she says, “for catching my hat.”

    He only laughs. “You’re welcome, er…”

    “Corrin,” she interjects, giggling timidly.

    “Corrin.” The way he repeats her name sounds surprisingly satisfying. “Silas.” 

    Sitting in his cubicle, one young man frantically mashedonto the letters on his keyboard, red eyes fixated on the thin desktop monitor.Every few seconds, he would shift his glance a bit to his right, barelycatching the end of the earpiece on his right ear, as he busied himself with aclient that was not pleased. Corrintried his best to keep his professional tone, while still trying to explain thebasis of her situation at hand. “Ma’am, your policy clearly states that your coverage had been amended on the sixth ofJuly. There is no flash flood coverage for the flood that had unfortunately hityour area last week, I’m afraid.”

    “Ridiculous!” Thoughhe wore a headpiece, her voice could clearly be heard even without it next tohis ear. “I did not remove that coverage! What the hell am Ipaying you guys each damn month for?!”

    “Look, Ma’am, I’m going to have to ask you to please cooperate with me. I’m sure thatwe can be able to reach some sort of agreement,” he offered. He scrolled downonto his screen, eyeing a certain number. Pausing, Corrin began to contemplatehis options. She could call HumanResources to file a complaint…but that would mean another company loss…

    “Oh, sure,” thewoman sneered on the line, “And I supposeI’ll have to have my signature branded on more worthless paperwork! Ha! That’show you folk rob us who get punishedfor using your services!”

    He flinched in his seat at her clipped tone. Well, it wasn’tthe first time he had received such cold words from a customer… Corrin leanedback into his seat, blowing a strand of his hair away from his eyes. But on the other hand, I need to go get somelunch. Red eyes gazed around to observe his surroundings, before he loweredhis tone, and mumbled to her the number on his screen, explaining the processof filing a complaint through the main headquarters.

    When she hung up, Corrin groaned into his hands, shaking hishead. He wasn’t supposed to do that, but if it meant getting at least whatlittle he had left of his morning to relax, it was well worth it. After flickinghis eyes to the clock on the wall, the male exhaled. 11:57. Three minutes of his morning left. Perfect.

    Just as he was slowly stuffing some folders into hiscabinet, his ears picked up a staccato rhythm of footsteps approaching his wayfrom his front. And before Corrin could shoo them off, his voice spoke.

    “Good morning, Corrin!”

    Without realizing, a smile curved the man’s lips at thevoice. Raising his head up, his eyes met green, excited eyes. “Mornin’, Silas.”

    Silas’ arms hung over the short walls of Corrin’s cubicle,fingers absent-mindedly toying with the leaves of the plant that decorated thecorner. He offered Corrin the same smile he was always greeting him with.

    Corrin observed Silas. No matter what, even if he was upset, Silas did not ever showhim any disrespect, and he was always so kind and sweet to him. It was likeSilas was nothing but positivity, something that Corrin had been lacking a lot asof late. There wasn’t a day that the male didn’t stop by at least once duringthe day to greet him, and it honestly made his day much better, whether it’d bein the morning, or when he was about to leave in the evening from his cubicle.Corrin’s cupped his mouth a bit as soon as he slid the earpiece off his head.Silas’ smile was so…charming. It had his heart race in embarrassment, feelingit thump in glee.

    “It’s massive today, isn’t it.” Silas suddenly commented,shaking his head. “Already got four complaints over the line, but eh, they’reon hold.” He checked the clock on the wall, and turned to him, his falteringsmile now back in place. Corrin didn’t know if it was just him, but he swore hecould see a hint of red on Silas’ cheeks.

    Blowing the air out of his cheeks, he tried to keep himselfsteady by leaning against the cubicle, now a bit shy. Silas really liked Corrin– and he took whatever he could in order to try to get to know him better. Hewas cute – that much, was obvious, and it made Silas excited to try and make amove. “Hey, uh, it’s about time for lunch… I know this great café a few blocksdown, if you’re interested?” He paused, but then rushed out the last of hisinvitation. “My treat.”

    A pit of fear was bubbling in the pit of his stomach – what ifhe said no? Would he think this was creepy?

    But alas, all of his doubts faded like smoke once Corrinstood up, chuckling softly.