Deep conversation at four a.m. and the darkness of the world surrounding them / sitting in their garden enclosed by the beautiful flowery smells / had become a constant in their day. At first, the conversation part was lacking, but neither of them could ever sleep, permanent dark circles under their eyes, and so the routine had unseemingly started. It was later, when one of them would dare to b r e a k the precious silence, that they would embark themselves into a journey of discovery. Both of each other and themselves. And while the wind blowed and sometimes even deafened them to the other’s words, Serah enjoyed the calm and embrace of the blackness. She couldn’t see that well, but she knew the garden in front of her was beautiful. In the day she could discern the flowers, and the pretty colors blurred in her eyes creating beautiful watercolors. In the night, like that one, the only thing she could see was light. The flickers of light reflected by the dark grass, the water droplets in the flowers seemed little moons, and Seph by her side like the S U N, bright in contrast to the dark.
Tonight she had not even bothered to go to sleep, the loneliness too much to face alone. She had sat out, in their usual spot, cold stone meeting warm flesh. It was summer, but chilly at night, and so she had also remembered to bring a soft blanket to cover herself with. Ready for a full night comtemplating the S T A R S she couldn’t truly see. She expected to be alone, when she had woken up there was no Seph in the kitchen, no Zeus coddling his legs, but it wasn’t long until the silver haired man occupied his place right by her side.
They had been getting closer, which is what someone would expect out of sharing space, but Serah knew they were both shut off. ( She had always been so open. Where was that now ? ) Nonetheless, every passing day she felt like she had learnt something new about her housemate. Things like he was as scarred as her, if not more. Things like he would protect her, and Zeus, to the death. And she was oh so grateful, seeing him as a saviour figure, someone that had changed in her eyes as much as her eyes had changed with time.
That’s why when the silence was broken for the first time that night, this time by the tall man sitting next to her, her head turned violently towards him. Why would he be scared ? There was nothing him could ever do so Serah would hate him, he had saved her after all. She knew he had SECRETS, things he had never told her, but they both kept so many to themselves.
“ Didn’t I shrink in fear the first time we met ? ” she joked, voice soft but eyes open in panic. Was this his way of saying goodbye, or was he warning her for something ? However, she kept her bubbly facade, a variable she was not willing to change, would the result change as well. “ No, but. . . There’s nothing you could say, Seph, that would make me be disgusted or afraid of you. ” her tone was sincere, she would never lie to him. She had no reason to.
One small and delicate hand slowly crawled over to his bigger one, not knowing if that gesture was to reassure him or herself. Pink strands of hair were framing her face, her big eyes still opened to the maximum and glazed over, trying to look at his eyes directly but looking right through him. A look that said everything she wanted to convey, albeit not finding his eyes exactly.
“ Why don’t you promise to never be afraid of me, and I will do the same ? Then we won’t have to worry about what we say, about our past. I KNOW you, Seph. I know T H I S you. I don’t care about anything else. ”