by TS Thornton
surrounded them as he spoke.
Only you could get away with that. More laughter filled the air and sea. Solin didn’t say anything more.
I will leave you to your swim. Then the presence was gone.
“Why am I glowing?”
“I don’t know, but I like it.” He had an idea from the sea’s cryptic question but he could not be sure. He didn’t even know if the two things could be related. Magic had its own set of rules, they watch and wait. Could it be from his water magic calling to its element inside her? Who knew? He didn’t for sure so why lead to more questions when he didn’t have the answers for his own.
He and Winter swam together before she burned so overwhelming bright the only thing he could see clearly were those green eyes. He stared into them while she watched herself light up the night. He cloaked them from the eyes of humans but not any other creature on this night. He couldn’t if he wanted to. This was magic pure and clean. It was for her and her alone. Soon she began to move in the water, a grace she didn’t have before this night. The presence of the sea had showed up again. Solin once again thought this had some meaning but what. He watched her dance alongside the sea trying to conceive what it could mean. The subtle changes in Winter the magic purging her body.
As Solin watched the beauty of the swim, he remembered his own with clarity. With every push and pull he watched Winter giggles often brightening herself every time. Solin knew a change would come but he didn’t know just what to expect.
Winter had never swan with such force or peacefulness before. She was afraid of not breathing at the right time or drowning. The sea had given her oxygen when she needed it, she didn’t even understand nor care how it was the best she had felt in years. No worries no pain no sorrow, no hurt. No heartache at all. Winter and the sea, the way it should be. She knew that the sea moved with her not her in it. She was pushed and pulled to flow her body easily followed.
The sea said its goodbye before taking its leave. Solin again was at a loss for words. He gathered her up using the water to force them to the shore. She looked exhausted from the night’s events. He used his glamour to make them look like a transient with a cart full of unknown goodies. There was no one out this quiet peaceful twilight. The magic lingered in her skin. She was light green and slowly pulsating. He felt the magic beaming from himself also. He was happy that he put up the glamour the two of them would wake the city as they pass through it. The ocean seemed to leave them with this gift of magic, but what about the magic essence within her already? He pushed the thought back. He can’t keep asking questions which he could not get the answers to. He would go nuts.
Before he got too far from the beach Winter has already fell asleep. He carried her all the way to her apartment. He couldn’t stop thinking about the sea and Winter. The sea was tricky so there had to be a reason for the dance. He thought. He shook his head. Another question beginning to form, there were so many he had one after the other. Solin knew something was going to happen, that much he felt.
Once inside the apartment building he changed the glamour, a moment they was a transient pushing a cart into an apartment building without complication. The next it was Solin carrying bags of groceries. He didn’t want them to this their situation odd, Solin bringing a passed out young girl home. Yes that would bring strange looks or worse the human authorities. He walked up the stair with an extra bust of speed.
Inside her apartment he took her to her bed and covered her with a blanket before magic to glamour her into her pj’s. After what felt like a moment that could have very well been an hour or more Solin left to sleep.
He went to press the power button on the television before sitting on the couch picking up the remote control. He smiled at a memory of Winter’s laugh, after he was more comfortable in his surroundings.
“Why do you always use the power button.”
“I would believe the manufactures put it there for a purpose.” He smiled wickedly at her, a giggle in return.
“There is a button on the remote control.”
“Yes, but it wore down a bit, I think the power button should get some use too, it’s not fair to give the remote all the action.” Full on laughter then, he smiled. It was a pointless dumb conversation just to see and hear that, worth it.
He was too amped from his swim to sleep. Thought’s and questions plagued him through the rest of dawn. With the sun rise so did Winter. He had tired of the television, needing to see her face he sat near her bedside. As her eyes open he put himself in her sights standing over her slightly. She was back to her normal color no glowing or pulsating power coming from her.
That morning when the glow faded she did wake.
“Good morning, beautiful green eyes.”
“Good morning to you too Tusk man.” She giggled.
“Would you like coffee?” Solin asked.
“Yes, please. Strong, I am worn out.” As he left the room she went into the bathroom. Solin made his way to her small kitchen. The two of them of cannot maneuver in the small space for long. As he was turning around to get the cream he caught sight of her schedule, she didn’t work today or tomorrow. He called out to her.
“Are you on-call tonight?” He understood the term she had explained quite a few things to him. He thought all their traditions and everyday life odd. His people didn’t live like the humans they were more in the more modern era of times.
“No tomorrow night maybe.” She was standing in front of him when she answered she was standing with jet black hair in front of him. Solin laughed, the scent slowly filling the air.
“Well my hair is like a dirty blond color that I absolutely dislike. So I like to experiment sometimes… all the time.”
“Okay, it doesn’t look so bad.” He began to smile as he was hit with the chemical scent. Solin almost fainted, he stepped back and opened the tiny window in the already too small kitchen. “That smells horrible. Wow, a warning would have been nice.” He was holding his head and part of his neck out of the window. He had enough sense to glamour himself. He did need reports of a walrus being held captive in a small apartment. The tusks a dead giveaway, he pulled his head back inside but not before taking a large dose of oxygen with his. He dodged around her as he escaped the small kitchen.
Once he was safely away from her and the smell she placed a mug of coffee on the bar that looked into her living area.
“How are you feeling today, you did some strong swimming last night?” He added to his question of concern. He didn’t want to alarm her.
“I feel great,” She winked at him. “How do you feel?” She repeated his question back to him.
“Great as well,” He responded with a smile. “Since this is a free day I was hoping to watch those movers you like so much.”
“Movies, and that’s a great idea.”
“Movies, okay.” He repeated the word. If he was going to be in the human world he needed to play the part.
“What did you have in mind?” She asked as she grabbed his mug walking over to the couch where he was seated. She handed him his and sat hers on the coffee table before heading to her DVD collection.
“Anything you would like to see. We have 24 hours in this day and about 15 are so before you fall asleep on me.”
She laughed to herself at her new friend. He was one of a kind and she would never meet another being like him.
“Anything Solin… human movies.” she smiled again exploring the difference in there upbringing and entire lives, Magical and Non-Magical persons. She picked out the Avengers series plus the single series of each hero. She went to rinse out her hair while Solin gathered blankets and drinks. She finished her hair put it in a twist braid and clipped a hair pin to the bun she made to keep it in place. Her mid-torso length hair was sometimes more than she could handle from time to time.
Inside the kitchen she cut up veggies and fruit with dips, chips and salsa along with a sub sandwich cut in to four parts. Chocolate covered nuts and an open bag
of Twizzlers. They wouldn’t have to move until they needed to. She would enjoy this day, a day unlike any other before it, with a best friend who saved her life and loves her for her.
“How did you enjoy the swim with the sea?” Solin asked as he helped he load up the coffee table. When she turned to answer him he saw only green eyes, her facial features a blur the only constant her olive green eyes. The moment she spoke it was gone.
“Beautiful, I don’t even have words to describe it.” She was beaming again magic singing from every pore. This worried him and added to his book of questions.
“She is kind and the dance. Oh it was so remarkable, the way she moved me. There is nothing else in the world like it. The best swim ever. Thank you.” He nodded his acceptance of her thank you. He knew what it was for and it wasn’t the swim. If he hadn’t saved her she wouldn’t have gotten to know that joy.”
“Do you feel different since you meet me?” Worry beginning to line her face. She pushed it aside and only let his concern for her willed her to answer. She thought his questions odd since he had been there with her since that night.
“Yes. I’m happy, whole, different, yes, but in a good way.” He simply nodded. “There is something else. I have always wanted this feeling of peace. You opened up everything by caring if I lived or died. There is something