bright || open
What Alma presented was who he was. There were no façades, no hidden motives and there was something refreshing about his openness and blatant honesty. Sera noticed that not once had she divulged stories about her childhood with anybody other than Kanda for obvious reasons. Another reason, she thought, a bittersweet taste on her tongue, was that she never really had a childhood in the first place. At two, her body was already seven; at seven, she was already classified a young woman. Those years she spent mostly in isolation, dreaming of a blue sky.
There were altruistic reasons behind all the secrets from time to time; for another’s happiness, for another’s comfort, for another’s sake. But for now, she kept her lips pressed shut to not inconvenience them. Their souls carried enough without the extra baggage.
Not wanting to feed to the loneliness and ache within her heart; she focused on the boy as his voice grew more excited, word by word, the warmth began seeping back into her veins. Her smile did not falter, though there was a spark of concern found in soft grey eyes. She couldn’t help but feel the urge to protect him, want to wrap her arms tightly around him and shield him from anything that might ever want to hurt him.
To see and hear Alma wanting to know more caused a slight surprise. He burrowed his warm body beside hers so she could feel his voice vibrating into her when he spoke. She scooted closer to show the entirety of the book in her possession.
❝Of course I will, Alma. There are still certain words that confuse me as well but we’ll pull through together…❞ Her gaze settled on the pages for a long moment until eventually returning to him. ❝Um… I don’t know the answer to how many pictures it has, but the bookstore owner recommended it to me so it must have plenty and I’m sure the city houses some of the ones recorded here. If anything, my guardian has a wonderful garden filled with a huge variety that managed to withstand the frost of the winter. Maybe one day I could get permission to show you?❞
Her fingers curled to point an index at a flower that took the shape of a delicate cup of petals, ❝This one is pretty. It says it’s called the camellia. It comes in red, pink, and white but each variety has its own significance…❞
His eyes shift from the book to Sera for a moment, amazed that she knows such a person. He remembers winter as something that freezes everything regardless who or what they are-- a heartless thing, person, object? something. Remembering the chilled days during the time winter knocked on the door, Alma feels a shiver run up his spin. If a flower could survive that coldness, no matter what color composed it, it would truly be beautiful in his eyes. He feels a strange... relation to those flowers, an abstract image in his mind now, because he's survived things more painful than the cold.
He's glad Sera's warm.
With enthusiasm, he nods at her statement. If he makes a good enough impression to the guardian guy, he'd surely let him see! For now though, he shelves those possibilities in the back of his mind to focus on the object before him. His eyes once again focus on the book, dark eyes lit up with wonder.
"Camellia," he says softly, testing the new word on his tongue. "Camellia," he repeats with more confidence, "They're all so pretty!" His eyes scan the page intently in an attempt to copy the image into his memory. "I like them all, but I think I like the white ones the most. They look like a clean page in a book, or... or like mayonnaise! Well, mayonnaise is a little yellower because of the eggs and stuff, but it's still kinda white." His eyes shine brightly as he continues to speak in length.
"I wonder if there's mayonnaise colored flowers! I wonder if they taste as good. Flower mayo sounds like it would be nice, but I haven't really tasted flowers since they're too pretty to eat!
"Oh, oh, before we continue... Sera, what's your favorite food? Mines mayonnaise though it's more a dressing than anything, I guess. It's still super good and it has all the nutrients a person needs, so it's good for you too! But I wanna know my second friend's--your-- favorite food and I wanna know why." He pauses briefly to inhale, almost as if he's debating whether or not to continue speaking. "I talked to a lot of them, everyday, but they never woke up or said anything back. I did all the talking and I thought that was okay! But when I made my first friend, I had someone to respond to me, and that felt really nice. It felt like someone was actually listening to me!
"So I hope you keep talking with me more, about many things, especially yourself!"


















