Salice came in the door with a wicker basket of their laundry on her hip. She was going to hang it on the clothesline but had decided she was just going to do it tomorrow. It was due for a rain later in the afternoon. And she was just... too tired.
Thomas looked over his shoulder from the piano. He saw his wife carrying that heavy basket and quickly reached over to take it from her. She wasn't yet strong enough to be doing all these things, not after her curse had been reversed. The young woman could barely walk to town and back without having to rest for a little.
"What have I told you.. about all these chores? I said I'd help, my love."
Salice sighed, watching him take the basket from her and set it on the floor. She wanted to just... do normal things. She wanted to forget that stupid curse that had taken years of her life had never happened. And doing all those chores definitely helped her forget about the bad things she had found out when she went back home. She had thought she picked a healthier way to grieve, but it was destroying her all the same.
"I know.. I know... but it needed to be done. I can do laundry, can't I?"
Her partner looked at her with soft eyes, sympathetic eyes. Laundry was something she started doing as soon as they moved in together, since even before that. When she would visit Maeth from Vesuvia, she would wash all of Thomas' clothes as a courtesy, along with her own, before she left. And when she had the amnesia, and the curse was taking effect, laundry was one of the few things that didn't really have to change. The only thing different about doing laundry as an Iliochorís is that you have to wash everything in the twilight. She didn't mind it though. And now, after coming from Orasas, washing clothes and hanging them and putting them away was just something she thought she could do. They weren't married, not yet, but it's something that she would enjoy doing for him until they for old together. It was therapeutic and mundane and she liked sniffing all of her love's clothes. She's always liked it. She could do that, couldn't she? Well, the ache in her back and the slump in her shoulders said otherwise. Thomas was right. She wasn't strong enough yet to do much of anything.
She pouted at him, standing with her arms down by her sides. Defeated. Thomas knew that look. She was feeling inadequate, inept, and he never wanted her to feel like that. She was the most capable woman he had ever met... taking care of him changing his lifestyle for the better over all these years was certainly enough proof of that.
"Oh, baby. It's okay. You can, you can. It can wait till tomorrow. Then I'll help, okay?"
Salice puffed her cheeks and took a big breath, she let it out in a raspberry, a frustrated one. She nodded and turned to go to the sofa. She was upset, frustrated, insecure. She was in the process if storming off, but Thomas caught her by the wrist, looking up at her from where he had sit down again at the piano bench. She turned with a sad look in her eyes, and the gods know she was trying to keep herself together. She was a sentence away from crying over stupid laundry.
"Hey, answer me when I speak to you. Okay?"
He brought her so that she was standing between his legs. He slid his hands up and down her back, then down to her hips. He set his chin on her soft, soft body, looking up at her with intentional eyes. His tone wasnt hard, or intimidating. It was gentle but it was firm. Salice nodded, realizing the disrespect she had just shown him. She didn't mean to.
It had been tense with her for the two weeks they had been back. She didn't want to leave home, all she wanted to do was make herself busy. She was irritable, sad, angry a lot. She had just found that her sister passed away, and not only that but she gave her life to save her. Then after that, she found out that some of the traitors that had overthrown her father's order will still alive! How could the king and queen let that be? Those decrepit men were responsible for the murder of over half of their nation. Her whole family. How could they be left alive? And when she confronted them, she was deemed as the criminal. She was dragged away from their cells so that she wouldnt harm them. Like anything she could do to them would outweigh their own atrocities. It came to pass that the feeble old men had died just a few days later, of fear, or guilt, of something. It was peaceful, it was in their sleep. That didn't count, that didnt make up for their dastardly sins. So Salice had no closure.
Salice felt like she had been cheated. Given a horrible hand. And she didn't know who to blame. There was nobody left alive to blame. So she just, slowly ate away at herself. Laundry was the most mundane thing to be upset about right now.
She was upset, yes, but she shouldn't be upset at the person who was always going to help her.
"Yes. I'm sorry..." She let the tears well up as she wrapped her arms around her Thomas. "I'm sorry I've been like this. I just... don't know how to deal with it. That's no excuse." A drop of water from her eye fell onto his cheek. He reached up and wiped her face with his thumb, pressing a light kiss to the top of her breast. He never lost the eye contact with her.
"It's something we're working through... and I saw we because I mean it. I'm here to help, always. No matter what you need."
And that was true. Thomas has proven that he would do anything for his wife. How could she be so selfish to believe that she was really going through this alone? Everything she felt, he felt in half. They did share a heart.
Salice nodded and pressed her lips to his nose, then to his soft, pink mouth. He held her close, rubbing circles on her body soothingly. His hands felt so warm through the thin fabric of her little sundress. She never got old of the warm feeling of her man's hands.
"Mh.. come sit with me while I practice that song you like," he said patting his leg for her to sit on. "Right here."
They both turned toward the piano and Thomas put his arms around her when she came to sit on his lap. He began playing the tune she had heard so many times in the morning. He had learned it long before they had met, but it had become one of her favorite songs. He loved to play it for her.
"Thank you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck. She placed a kiss to his temple, and hugged him close while he played.
"Of course, my love. There's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
Salice tiptoes to the rotary phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen, rubbing her sleepy eyes. It was absolutely silent in the house, save for the dozen clocks scattered all over the place ticking in their dissonant way. The grandfather had tolled earlier, alerting her that it was 11 o’clock and her husband still wasn’t home.
It was so dark, she was basically walking blind. Mrs. Zieragh had almost missed where the phone hung. She wasn’t quite used to it yet, the shiny thing being wedged between the cabinets and the wash basin. It was actually quite new and she couldn’t get enough of it. Hardly anyone in Maeth had one, a telephone that is; It was her husband’s new invention. The hospital had one, the town square had one, and of course Thomas had outfitted his mother and siblings with phones of their own. He was in the process of publicizing the invention for everyone. It was a slow going process, but so absolutely marveling.
She gently picks it off its hook, putting the wooden piece to her ear and her other elbow in her hand. Her delicate fingers poked and drug the rotary in its mesmerizing way and she bit her lip as she picked her groggy brain for the hospital’s number.
While she waits for it to ring, she pads her feet on the freezing kitchen tile. Her thighs rubbed together as she did so, and her messy hair tousled down her shivering shoulders. She had been snuggled up in a blanket on the sofa not too long ago, warm and snug wearing nothing but her husband’s sweater. She was dozing. The sun had gone down on him today, and so she thought she would just call to make sure he was okay. She couldn’t sleep well knowing he wasn’t next to her.
Besides, she really liked using the new phone.
“Mh? Yes, hello? Mr. Zieragh, speaking-”
Salice nearly melted. Her husband sounded so absorbed in his work, so absentminded, so preoccupied... oh, his voice. She wanted to kiss him through the phone.
“Mmm...it’s me.” Salice murmurs, sleepily smiling to herself.
She could hear the mirth in her husband’s voice as he realized who’s sound it was on the other end of that line.
“Oh? Oh, hi my love. You sound gorgeous.”
Salice’s stomach filled with butterflies as she twisted the phone cord in her finger. He flatters her without trying, it should be illegal.
“Hehe, shush.” She was about to ask him her question when he interjected, like something sudden.
“Are you alright? Everything okay at home?” Behind the worry, she could hear faint traces of fatigue... oh, he was tired. She could hear it.
“Yes, Tom. I’m fine. I just...” She realized how needy she must’ve sounded. She wanted to tell him she missed him. She decided against it. “I just wanted to know when you’d be home?”
Thomas sighed. “I’m sorry, I’ve been late coming home this week. Tonight’s the worst-”
“No! It’s okay... You’re working and that’s important. I just wanted to see if you were alright. Did you need anything from me?”
Thomas’ sigh was deep on the phone, and it was almost as if the mechanism had brought her husband to her ear for real. The gesture was stressed and strained and breathy. How she wished it was a different sound, and his hands were on her hips and his lips were tickling her ear.
“Just a kiss when I get home.”
Salice couldn’t contain her grin. She cradled the phone like a young girl, giddy from the words of her new lover. He always made her feel like this.
She lowered her voice, gods forbid any of his apprentices hear her. “Well, I’ll have your kiss waiting.”
“Oh, yes thank you.”
“Along with a back rub maybe?”
“Mm, yes...” Thomas laughs shyly.
“And a shower... That’ll be for both of us, yes?”
“Yes, love. Y-yes. That sounds-” He starts to stammer. He knew where this was going. Oh, the ways of his wife.
“And when we finally get to bed... I’ll give you a little ri-”
“Ahem! Yes, that sounds...” he cut her off so he wouldn’t get flustered. There were two of his colleagues with him at the moment, and one of his apprentices. The phone was posted in the common area of their workspace. His face was already getting warm at her soothing and supple words. Salice smiled mischievously, hearing her husband flounder. She purred.
“How does that sound?” She bit her lip and held back her soft giggle. She knew what she was doing.
“T-that sounds, sounds lovely...” When he was sure she wouldn’t continue on with her seductive plans to pamper him, he relaxed. How he’d love to hear those words when they were alone, but now was not the time. He was sure his face was red by now. Luckily nobody was paying too close attention to him. He wife had given him a little rile. He was thankful for it. The work was getting to be droning, draining, quite exhausting. He thought of this.
“Salice... what would I do without you?”
Salice coos. “You’ll never be without me.” She looks at her nails in the moonlight. Thomas had chosen the pretty creme colour. She didn’t know what she’d do without him either. Good thing for her, he was here to stay.
“Oh, have you eaten?” She asks.
Thomas nodded, folding his arms and looking back at his coworkers. “Yes, yes. Elias bought dinner for us today, since we’re working so late. Thank you, my love.”
She shifted and shivered, the Maethisse winter seeming to creep into the house. “Okay, good. I’ll see you soon?”
“Yes, soon.”
“Wear your gloves,” she notes. It was quite cold, and the way home would be colder.
“I will,” he assures her.
“Okay. Rhadika-isna.”
She tells Thomas she loves him.
“Rhadika-isna, mi amor.”
Salice hangs up the phone and stretches, climbing back under the large knit blanket. She put her chin in her palm, prepared to dutifully wait until her husband returned home. Sofós slinked down from the top of the piano and onto the couch with her owner. Rocco was curled in the armchair, dead to the world. They would all be asleep in a matter of seconds, only to away when Thomas fits his key in the door.
Meanwhile, hangs up his line. His colleagues turn to him, the same curious glint in all of their eyes. The air conditioning and the wind outside drowned out Elias’ intrigued chuckle.
“How’s the wife? Is Salice okay?” He inquired. Everybody Thomas knew was in love with her, her sweet nature and her honeyed smile. They thought the two of them were an unlikely, but a perfect match. It also helped that she made treats for Thomas and his colleagues sometimes. Elias would hound Thomas for lemon bars at least twice a month. Sisi would have to start charging.
“Yes, she’s lovely as ever. Now, did you fit the screw like I said?”
Elias held up the prototype, showing Thomas where the issue was. He explained the complication. Thomas groaned. They needed him for this? This is why he’d never get home to his shower and back rub and his wife’s kisses.
“Rhadika-isna?” His apprentice asked, looking over Thomas’ shoulder. “Tom, what exactly does that mean, huh? You say it a lot, you know.”
While hassling with the prototype and its screw, Thomas shakes his head and smiles.
Mermaid Alternate Universe Between @iridescella‘s very own Thomas Zieragh and my original character Salice Roanan. Adapted from a role play between the beautifully talented @iridescella and myself!
Introduction Translated to Thomas’ native language, Maethel (Spanish) by @iridescella
Word Count: ~5k
En un maravilloso mundo en donde tanto los humanos como las sirenas existen, hay una historia... Una historia en donde dos mitades del mundo pueden apenas tocar sus manos, solo por un momento. Una dulce historia, una que los hace pensar que tal vez, podría cambiar el pensamiento del inventor y el corazón de una sirena.
In this wonderful world where both humans and merfolk exist, there’s a story…. A story where the two halves of the world would brush hands, for just a moment. A sweet story, a thoughtful one, one that might just change an inventor’s mind and a mermaid’s heart.
~~~
It had been night, a thunderstorm approaching. Salice had gone to her cove to watch the rains from the surface like she always had done. She has a collection of secret things in this cove, a place to be by herself and be at peace. It was a place only she knew, and a place only she would ever know.
As she was watching, a shadowy figure came into view. She scowled with disdain. It was a human boat, not a large one, but big enough to muck up her water. A few men were on it, and they were clearly caught unawares by the storm. She watched at lighting struck their mast and a few of them took dives to the sea. She watched and did nothing, as she always had done. Humans to her were vile creatures that didn’t deserve to be saved. Her own past had confirmed that.
Salice sat there, watching the few sailors fall into the water. Their weapons dropped ways away from their bodies, of no service to the sailors now. She cursed, she could hear them. Some called upon their gods... As if any god would rescue a cretin so wretched.
She did nothing but watch, the humans getting what she thought they deserved; but one figure seemed different somehow. He didn’t have a weapon, she noticed. He didn’t cry out for salvation... he didn’t curse the seas. He was unconscious... not saying a word. How could he?
Salice crossed her arms over her chest, squinting against the hard rains. A strange feeling overcame her; it was guilt. She didn’t know it was at the time but it was indeed guilt. She begun to itch, shifting, antsy in her seat on her mossy cove rock. He’s just a human. An evil human... who would lie in the bed his people had made for him, she thought.
She looked at his sinking form again. A twisting in her stomach compelled her to leap into the raging water after the mysterious human. She wished she’d understand why.
She urgently swam, shielding her eyes against the ship’s debris falling through the waters. She blinked in the dark, finally reaching to where the man was sinking. She skeptically watched him, an inner conflict coming over her. There were no bubbles coming from his mouth…
Salice neared him, gathering him in her arms. She carefully picked the glasses from his face, crooked and now broken. She placed them in her pouch for safe keeping. If he was going to make it to the surface, he needed air. She waved magic over his face, pumping out the water until she was confident that there wasn’t any left inside his lungs. She replaced it with a magical puff of air into his mouth from her own. His lips were soft, and unmoving when she pressed hers to them. She blinked, realizing what she was doing. She was saving a person; breaking her vow to herself.
Shaking her head, she hauled him to the surface.
Upon breaching the raging water, Salice moved the hair from her eyes and looked frantically toward the man in her arms. She listened for his breath, and faintly, she heard him sputter.
Why was she relieved?
There was a small, secluded beach nearby, so she’d take him there. Dragging him up on the dark sands wasn’t an easy task, but Salice had managed to do it. While the high tide lapped at their bottom halves, she fretted over him, making sure he was breathing. The mermaid drew the water from his nose once more with her magic, casting it away in the sand. There was more of it than she thought. Worriedly, she inched closer to his mouth. His shallow breaths resumed once more, making her heave in appeasement. She had managed to save him.
The mermaid had exhausted herself by her deed, her head starting to ache. While she rested, a close but comfortable distance away, she closely examined the sleeping human. His crooked nose, his simple pink lips, his long eyelashes that were unmoving with his closed eyes… he seemed to be an adult, not too old though. But definitely older than her.
She scanned the rest of him. His build was lean, his white linen shirt plastered to his firm stomach and chest. His legs were quite long, not as long as her tail, but close. His shoes….. they were brown. Made of leather.
With white laces.
Flat laces.
She had seen a few of these things before and they were neat to her. The dead bodied that washed up on shore normally had them. She was never as crude to take a dead man’s shoe laces, maybe his other land things, but never his shoe laces. Maybe she could have one of his… since he wasn’t dead.
She sat up, laying her body over his legs as she looked down at his long feet. She untied the knot and slipped the wet lace from its grommets. Pleased with the long piece of white string, she tied it around the base of her tail. She liked it… she admired it in the dark. It was his gift to her. A simple, but an encapsulating gift.
A shoelace.
Salice lay back down next to him, and after a careful examination of her surroundings, she decided she would rest as well. So she waited there for him to wake up, lying next to him in the darkness of the small hours of the morning. She couldn’t help but doze as well. So her eyes closed, feeling the warm sand under her belly. She had hoped she didn’t make a mistake.
***
"Ho-w-wh-what happened?"
Salice blinks from resting her eyes, and looks over at the human, who was sputtering in a raspy voice. She let him cough and recover before she came closer. It was about evening by now, almost a whole day passing by. He was beginning to worry her, not waking up for such a while. She lays her head on her arms and she stretches her tail, letting the sun warm it.
"You fell off your boat… into my water." She says.
“O-oh... I’m sorry.” He doesn’t know if he’s apologizing for almost drowning or something else.
Right now, she’s laying right next to him, their bodies almost touching. The human man realizes this but doesn’t shrink away yet. Instead he’s frozen, squinting at her like a mole. Maybe he’s afraid, Salice thought. He’s looking at her, but he seems to be a little lost. Or blind!
Salice remembers his glasses. She’s seen them before on people. She assumes that they help their eyes see things they might not be able to otherwise. Maybe that’s why he looked like a little salamander.
She digs them out of her bag and cleans then with her thin top, the fabric wicking away all the sand. He looks a little relieved. She hands them to him, and he takes them, fitting the chipped bifocals back on his comely face while he sits up. As his eyes adjust, they grow wide. He scoots back a little.
“D-did you save me?” He asks.
She flicks her tail, her gaze unblinking. She rests her cheek back on her folded arms, refusing to take her eyes off him. She’s intrigued but very wary. He doesn’t look like he would hurt her, but now that he’s awake, she's careful anyway. This could go very wrong, very quickly. Like last time.
"Yes….. I did.” She murmurs. “I hope that’s okay.”
She realizes that he’s got going to come into the sea with her and must need a way to get home. Salice pulls a map out of her pouch. It was drawn on magic seaweed paper with special ink that doesn’t fade when it gets wet. How else would mermaids write their stories?
Her voice was smooth, pretty, soft when she spoke. The human man listens intently.
"Don't worry... I've charted things around here. You won’t be lost if you have this. Maybe you can make your way home with it.” She hands it to him, carefully.
His hands are shaking a little as he reaches for the map.
“Why a-are you helping me?”
He’s not scared, just nervous. He doesn’t know if he’s ever interacted with one of her kind before… but he knows that they can erase memory. She would have every reason to, he rationalizes with himself. He’s seen her and touched her, and he could quite easily go tell the whole world about her. That would put her in danger... Not that he ever would.
“Are you going to...?” He doesn’t know how to put it into words to not offend her. He wanted to know if she’d wipe his mind clean.
Salice reads his face. She was amused by him, just slightly. She didn’t know what he was getting at. "Eat you?" She laughs a little bit, realizing that might not be what he meant. "No... I don’t think you’d taste very good.”
"Oh... Not eat me, I was thinking maybe... Make me forget." He straightens his glasses on his nose as he peers at the mermaid, her beautiful brown skin shimmering in the light. "I know how secretive your species is about... Well, themselves."
Salice mulls it over, biting the inside of her cheek. She could erase his memory, she was perfectly capable of doing so, but she doesn’t think she should. She’s already done it to someone she cared about and she swore she would never have to again. She also swore that she’d never talk to another human again either…. And here she was.
This one though, this one didn’t seem so bad. The fact he was making her question her convictions was enough to let her know he was worth a try.
"I’m deciding to trust you,” she says, giving him another once over. "You seem like a good man."
The man was taken aback by her. “T-thanks... Oh, wow... H-how can I show my gratitude?” She literally saved his life and she isn’t asking for anything in return? Is that how mer-laws work? he thought. He feels like he’s overstaying his welcome in her presence, but something makes him feel so drawn to her.
Salice thinks of his question, not really knowing the answer. She could ask for payment, but what good would human money do? She didn’t save him because she wanted a reward… she didn’t even know why she saved him. Maybe it was the sea god, telling her to put her quarrel with humans to rest.
She rolls over on her back extending her arms above her head. Her strong stomach stretched and curved and the sand on her front sifted like glittering snow.
“Hmm…” she pondered. "Would you considering coming to see me again?"
His mouth dropped.
"You want me to come see you again?"
Now he's confused but flattered. Why would a beautiful creature like her want to see him again? He fussed over his sand crusted shirt. He looked into Salice’s curious eyes… her interest in him give him a little bit of hope that maybe she wasn't just toying with him. That maybe this meant a little more to her than what he expected. She nodded at his question.
“Yes, I would like you to come see me again… is that something you’re able to do?”
The man continued to fidget and pick at anything nearby, just to hide his nervousness and bewilderment.
“Y-yes… I could come back… if you wanted me to. “ Though I don’t know why you would. He kept the last part to himself.
He glanced at her from the corner of his vision. She was gazing at him fully, squinting against the sun’s rays. She shaded her face with her elegant hand, a sheer webbing between her slender fingers. It was the same deep green as her tail.
She waits a beat before asking the next thing on her mind.
“What were doing on that ship? You… don’t exactly look like a sailor. Not as scruffy.” She appreciated his shaven face and his linear face, his smartness.
He cleared his throat, bashful against her inquisitive eyes. “Oh... I’m an inventor. I was calculating the force of the sea... To use it in my inventions, my machines..." He paused, realizing what he was admitting to. "Is that okay?"
Does he really have to ask? The man supposed he should. Maybe before this encounter he would have asked himself: Isn't the sea a free place? Now he understands it’s not. The ocean already had inhabitants, and she was one of them.
The mermaid chuckled at the man, thinking to herself. For a long time, she’s hated them, held mankind in such disdain. The nervous, tentative, quiet inventor had the subtle power of making an exception… though she wasn’t sure why. How polite he was, and how sweet.
"Oh... it's nice of you to ask. Normally I have a problem with the things men like to do… But I trust that you're not going to misuse my sea... You sound very intelligent."
She gets closer to him, laying her head on the sand near his shoulder. Her dark curls, which shone auburn in the sun, pressed against his arm. She continued talking to him, her voice nothing more than a soft murmur, barely heard above the waves.
"And yes, I’ve decided that’s what I want from you. I want you to come see me again. Since you’re working with my ocean… I should get to know you. Maybe I could even help you... with your research, I mean. And I'd like my map back eventually... if you don't mind."
Shivers go down his spine when she gets closer to him. Something about her feels so, silvery. But she’s warm, the way she touches him. He feels like his next words are even more difficult to speak; His stuttering is embarrassing sometimes.
"O-oh, y-yes. Your map..." He dusts off his pants and stands up in his fluster. The way she was getting close to him was… nice, but it made him shy. Salice is taken aback when he moves away from her, but she lets him. He looks down at her, scanning her entire body up and down, not intentionally but how could someone not do it? She is gorgeous.
"I’ll get it back to you.. and I promise you, I won't misus- Is that a… my shoelace?"
The blond man makes a connection between the neat little knot around her scales and the looseness in his oxford shoe, now swollen from his time in the water.
"Mh?" Salice looks down at her tail and moves it a little. The man watches her as she elegantly flicks it toward him. "This? I took it off your shoe when I saved you." She looks up at him. “You call it a shoelace too?”
She smirks, pleased with the way it looked on her. "It's nice, no? May I keep it?"
She drapes her heavy tail over the man’s shoes to show him. She wanted him to like the way it looked on her too.
"Y-yes, you can keep it. I have m-more at home." He watches her drape her tail over him and a new wave of shyness overcomes him.
Salice’s eyes light up. “You have more?” she asks. She’d really like another one, maybe a different color. Well, in any case... she wanted it to be from him.
“Yes… I have more. Would you like another?”
She nods vigorously, like an eager child. “Yes, yes I wou-“
She stops mid-sentence because she notices a flashing in the sun, a piece of metal hanging out of the man’s pocket. She quickly reaches up and grabs what had caught her eye, sitting up in the process. The man jumps at her suddenness. She was awfully comfortable with touching him.
"Oh?” He realizes what she was grabbing. It was his pocket watch. It was full of water now, but he’d repair it when he got home. He analyzes her pretty face, the way it softened when she looked at his trinket. It made him smile.
“You like that? It was my father's watch..."
“I do like it… it’s very nice.” The watch was shiny and beautiful, and she had one sort of like it that she found along time ago when she was kid. He realizes how excited she was to see it, and he figured...
…Maybe he didn't need to go just yet.
The man kneels on the sand close to her and grabs his watch to show it to her. It glinted gold in the warm evening light. He brushed a salty wave of hair from his face, the sea breeze coming to tickle the sand right out of it. He smoothed the watch over with his thumb. "It's the only thing left I have of him."
Salice’s heart sinks. She understands what it’s like to only have the memories of someone you love. She didn’t even have a trinket to remember them by. The man continued.
"He left a few years ago on a ship, and never came back."
She reaches out and touches his elbow sympathetically. "Oh… I see. Did he... do it protect you?" She asked this solemnly.
That's the only reason she could ever leave someone. That's why she left the only person she's ever abandoned. It broke her heart to do it, but she couldn’t see any other choice as a better one. So maybe that’s why she waited for this inventor to wake up, maybe that's why she stayed for him. Staying was somehow a better choice than abandoning someone yet again.
The man licked his lips and went on. "No... He just got tired of me, my family, our home..." He sighs deeply and tries to wave it off. "It's okay, now I have this pretty watch." He laughs and looks at her, her expression was a mix between concern and curiosity. "Do you have things like this where you live?"
Salice just stares at him deeply while he explains and asks his question. She gets lost into his sparkling hazel eyes. Oh, they were so beautiful.
"Why would anyone get tired of you...?"
She doesn’t wait for him to respond. She realizes she might’ve been asking a personal question. She would’ve been hesitant to answer if it had been reversed. She changes the course of conversation.
"Oh... but yes.. we have things sort of like that... but our jewelries are made of sea things,” she touches the watch. “This is a land thing.” She smiles to herself. “It's not so easy to smelt metal underwater."
"I..." He didn't know how to respond to what she said first so he was very glad when she changed the subject. Her words stirred up emotions in the pits of his stomach. How could she unravel him with a simple question?
“Oh I suppose that would be a little tricky, you’re right.” He had never thought about that before, smelting metal underwater.
While he talks to her, Salice zeros in on the man’s lips. They were dry, flaking a bit at the corners, no matter how much he licked them. It’s hard to think they had been soft the night before, with the way they looked right now. She had been so wrapped up in getting to know him, she didn’t properly care for him. Saving his life would be a useless gesture if he died of dehydration.
"Oh.. I did forget to ask you. Would you like something to drink? You were unconscious for a really long time."
The man is shocked by her offer, but very grateful. This mermaid was thoughtful, beyond the obvious gesture of saving his life.
"Something to drink? O-okay.” He thought about what she might give him. She didn’t look like she had much. “I can't drink salted water though... That would kill me." He didn't mean to explain the obvious but maybe she didn't know about land rules just like he didn't know anything about sea rules.
"Here, it's not salt water, don’t worry. It's called Nectar, juice from a special underwater fruit. I have a tree in my special place." She digs in her pouch and gives him a pretty glass bottle of it. It was a golden, slightly opaque, thin liquid.
"Oh... Let's see." He graciously grabs the crystal bottle from her cold hands and takes a sip. It didn’t taste like anything he was familiar with. It was light, watery, fresh, sweet. "Hey, that's actually pretty good,” he mentions. “So sweet." Sweet like her.
The sun was sinking down, beginning to disappear behind the calm ocean waves. It spilled like liquid amber across the water, sending brilliant gradients into the sky. The man noticed this and was stopped suddenly by its beauty. He hadn’t gotten the chance to appreciate a pretty ocean sunset.
"Oh, the sun is going down..." He speaks. "That's always pretty to watch."
Oh, but he wasn't watching the sunset.
He looks down at her, admiring the sunset herself. He was entranced by the soft weight of her middle, the squished line of her navel, her ample breasts. They were hugged by a thin shawl top, draped loosely over her pretty shoulders. Not many mermaids decided to wear clothes, but Salice always had. He was grateful for that, for if she hadn’t been wearing anything... he would have been stuttering a lot more.
The man averted his eyes respectfully, although they were the most beautiful shape he’d ever seen. She wasn’t looking at him quite yet, so he turned back to the sunset drinking another sip of that delicious juice.
"Yes.. I wish you could see a sunset from underwater. It's pretty. But I like the ones up here too. I don't get to see them as often..."
She glances up at him, sand from the beach coating her front.
When their eyes meet, he gives her the bottle back and settles in next to her. He wanted to take this time with her. Be close with her. She was a very pleasant person, he thought. He was grateful to her… but also for her.
"I’ve not saved many humans in my time… but I'm glad I saved you. You are worth saving. I think."
She touches the sleeve of his shirt faintly. He doesn’t shy away this time. Instead, he smiles.
"I'm glad you think I'm worth saving..."
She simpers. She never thought she'd think a man would be so... good. He seemed good. He hadn’t done a single thing to lead her to believe otherwise. She was glad this was the human she had met. He was the most wonderful exception to their terrible rule of hostility. She clears her throat.
"If you like the juice… I can bring you more. Bring me a shoelace next time… and then I’ll bring you more juice! There will be a next time, yes?"
The mermaid looks at the man with pleading eyes. There was an urgency in them, a wonder. She hoped he would say yes. She wished to see him again.
"Yes." He smiles at her, his hand getting close to hers as if he wants to grab it. He doesn't think it’s a good idea, so he takes it back to the sand. She notices this and takes her hand back as well, draping it over her tail as he speaks. "Besides, I have to give you back your map, don’t I?" Now his eyes are focused on the sand.
"I guess it's time for me to find my way home." He examines her closely. He felt a need to protect her… even though he knew full well that she didn’t need him for that.
"Will you be okay?"
She shyly bites her lip, keeping her blush to herself. He was asking about her… if she’d be okay. How chivalrous.
"Oh me? Ah, I'll be fine... I'm more worried about you…” She realizes that making his way home might prove difficult. She didn’t know how far he lived away from there.
“Here let me show you-"
She rolls out the map, pressing it into the white sand and she touches a place on the paper that marked a beach. “We're here, alright? And so, if you have any trouble finding your way... just come back. And we'll figure it out together, okay?"
He paid careful attention to her instructions, but his eyes were locked in her lovely features. "Yes, together..."
She looks up to meet his eyes and she gives him a sure nod. “Together.” Her curvy lips looked slippery, smooth, Her brown skin faintly glimmered with metallic spots of scales. The man thought she was so beautiful. She thought that way about him too.
“And… I never asked. What’s your name?” She looked at him expectantly. She wished to know his name… so that she could call him properly.
"Oh! Yes, how stupid of me... My name is Thomas. What's yours?"
"Thomas.... I really like that name,” she whispers, getting closer to him. She relinquishes the map to him, and their fingers lingered a moment on each other’s. Their hearts both skipped a beat.
“My name is Salice... And um... just... can you do something for me?" She thought about what would d happen if she were to let him go. How exactly would she talk to him before they met again?
"Anything. Tell me what you need." Oh, the way he was so eager to help her… she liked that.
"When you get home... fill a basin with water.. and put-" she plucks one of her scales off her tail. "Put this in water and rub it with her fingers... it'll let me know you made it." She blinks a few times. "So I know... that you're safe."
They touch for a moment, as he receives the iridescent evergreen scale. It was large, the size of a stone. He examined it. It felt so cold in his hands.
"Oh... Does that come from your... Mermaid magic?" He laughs but not at her, just at the situation that he never thought he would be in. Taking a mermaid scale from a beautiful mermaid who actually cared if he got home safely or not. She cocked her head to the side, curious about what “mermaid magic” could mean. Was the alliteration of it a joke? Or was he… serious? Thomas noticed her confusion and just waved it off. Stupid human, making a stupid joke, he thought.
Salice didn’t let it go. She sat for a moment, awkwardly pondering what he could mean. “Mermaid… oh! Oh, yes.” She’s smiling big now, finally feeling like she was let in on the joke. This human, Thomas, quite endearing. Very funny to her.
“Yes.. my mermaid magic. You’ll do it, won’t you?”
Thomas nods. "I'll… I’ll do it."
He gets up and looks down at Salice.
"Until we see each other again... Maybe, next week, same day? Your people do measure time in weeks, yes?"
Salice giggles. “Yes we do… Sunset? So we can watch it together..." A fluttering hits her hard in her stomach as she mentioned the sunset. It was a romantic and intimate time she used to reserve for herself. Now she found herself wanting to spend it with him.
Thomas smiles at the idea of watching the sunset with her. Maybe he could touch her hand next time… feel that webbing between her fingers. Those hands that had saved his life.
"It's a date."
Thomas suddenly realizes what he had said. "Uh... No. I'm sorry, I didn't- Sorry."
Salice grins. "It is a date... if you want it to be." She tucks a piece of hair behind her ear as she prepared herself to leave.
"Don't forget my shoelace, Thomas.”
Before Thomas could say anything else to her, she hurried off. With a wave of her hand, the tide came to retrieve her from the beach and she was gone in the white water reflecting the twilight. The last thing that could be seen was her large shimmering green fin as it hit the water. It created a splendid display of refracting rainbow rays. Thomas was entranced.
“Here...” Salice smiled with sad tears in her eyes. Two small pieces of gold shone in her hands against the candlelight. She held them out to her fiancé.
“Take them.”
The couple was sitting on the floor in their bookroom, the clutter slowly getting picked up. They had a lot of stuff shoved in here, for it acted like a storage space for a while. A lot of Salice’s Orasan things had found their way in here. She wasn’t quite sure where to put them yet, but she had them. And that’s all that mattered.
They had come back from Orasas maybe two weeks ago. It was in this time Salice had her curse lifted and became human once more. She was still recovering; Thomas wouldn’t let her do much since she’d fatigue quite easily. So she spent most of her days cleaning up the book room. In the evenings, Thomas would come get her and help her a bit, then convince her that the mess would be there tomorrow and that they should have dinner and take a bath and go to sleep. This evening hadn’t been that much different, but tonight she had a special request. After she had greeted him at the door, hugging and kissing him like always, she asked him a question.
“Thomas, my love. Can we... I want to do something.. in the bookroom?”
He had followed her in from the foyer, loosening his tie and setting his jacket on the back of the bookroom armchair. He admired the way her hips swayed as she tiptoed barefoot in her cute little dress and nothing else.
“What is it, mi amor? Did you need help moving something?”
She shook her head and took his hand, leading him to the old trunk she had brought from her home Vesuvia. Thomas took a deep breath, understanding the weight of this thing. Not the physical weight... but the emotional baggage that came with it. Salice was finally ready to share it with him?
She moved some clutter off the top of it, like an old Orasan sari she had mad when she was a teenager and a few books. She dusted off the peeling black leather, kneeling down beside it.
“I would like to open this with you? If you have time...”
Thomas quickly knelt beside her, putting a hand on hers. The other went to her hip, steadying her as she swung her legs out on the carpet. She smiled at his gentleness.
"Of course, I have time.”
Thomas nodded, looking down at the old trunk. All the scratches, all the wear... the places this thing has been. It’s known his wife longer than he had. He was so happy to finally understand its importance. There was a little luggage tag, he noticed, a slip of yellowing paper inside it. In scrawling cursive it wrote:
Dabney Bell Halloway
It belonged to the man that raised her.
She held such a melancholy tone in her heavy voice, tears threatening to leap from her throat. She murmured not much louder than a whisper, running her hands over it in appreciation.
“It... it was my father’s.”
Salice took the key from around her neck and jangled it in the padlock. Thomas remembered when she had spit up that key after her resurrection. It was a disturbing thing to watch, and he didn’t think the memory was very fond. That was was one of the lesser strange things that has happened to his wife. She’s had much more peculiar, much more unusual, much more the terrible things happen to her. He’d just been happy he could stay by her through a great deal of it.
The lock nearly fell apart, rust and buildup shedding off it like snow. Salice removed it carefully before taking a deep breath and looking at Thomas. She seemed to make a silent request. That he open it with her. So he fitted his fingers on the lid and pushed up with her. The thing was sticking at first, but eventually it budged.
The smell was... strangely familiar to Thomas. Meanwhile, it was nostalgic and heart wrenching for his fiancée. It’s aroma likened to aging paper, stiff fabric and stale vanilla, hard liquor and bergamot grass. Old candle wax. Salt. The stench was really strong, almost overwhelming. It wasn’t disgusting... just really powerful. The smell could be enough to cause her to fold, to shut the damn thing and lock it up again, never to look at it again.
He looked over to make sure she was okay.
Her eyelashes beat like Griffin wings, trying to keep the tears back as the emotions welled inside her. Her nose was curvy and cute in her regal profile; it twitched a little, Thomas noticed. It was red. She bit her brown lip, the top one, in apprehension. Her hands shook a little, as she held open the lid with him. He slid his hand over to cover it, to reassure her that it was going to be okay. She looked at him and smiled.
She’s had this trunk for years and it hasn’t moved form this spot since Thomas hauled it in... on that day she came to live with him. It’s stayed here, quiet and unmoving, collecting dust as well as wisdom. This trunk has been watching them grow as individuals and as a couple... Thomas realized then, just how significant it was to her.
It’d peek through the open door as Salice would come greet Thomas from work. It would seethe from this room when it heard them bicker. It would wish to comfort when the pair experienced a grief. It would smile when Sisi would chase her husband out the door when it was time to go dancing. It’s just been here, silently watching and taking it all in.
It’s like the spirit of her father was here all along... He thought. Watching her grow up.
His thoughts about this trunk were strange and unsettling... but Thomas thought it was endearing.
As if waiting for permission from it, she reached inside slowly. There was a drape on top of everything, an old curtain that Thomas would have never in his life seen anything the likes of. It was cream coloured, stained. It had silvery embossments. It shimmered as Salice gently took it in her hand, pulling it out and laying it on the floor gently. She took a deep breath, a shaky breath. Thomas was right there beside her.
“Oh... it’s all here.”
She said it like it was a surprise, a relief.. That she was going to open it and some of the things would’ve walked away from it in the years that it was closed. Thomas felt the tightness in her chest from where he sat next to her.
“Where... do I even start?” She asked, half to herself.
She grabbed a book, and it looked like it wasn’t bound by a professional. It looked like it was a breath from falling apart. She flipped open the sticking pages and laughed at what was inside. Her laugh broke Thomas’ heart.
“Look, my love... That’s... that’s my handwriting.”
Thomas peered over at what she was talking about. She was writing her Vesuvian alphabet in that book. Her little scribbles and doodles on the side of the paper made him smile too. A more expert hand was next to it, in a careful unfamiliar script. It was Dabney’s handwriting, drawing examples and notes for her.
“Quality penmanship,” he said supportively. He put his arm around her as she set it aside and picked up another one. He was happy to see her getting more confident, a little stronger.
“And this one,” she said, pulling out a more sturdy book. “My father and I wrote this on amputation... aboard the Guillemot.” She made wary mention of that pirate ship.
“We had since made later, more updated volumes which I used for surgery, but... this was the first one.”
She didn’t wait for him to say anything. There wasn’t much he could say to make her feel better. Just him being here was enough for her. She was so so thankful to him.
“Oh! This one... look at this one.”
She pulled out a wide book, a scrap book it looked like. It was heavy with an upholstered cover. She opened it up to the bookmarked page, revealing a pressed flower, a pink carnation, and a few arranged leaves next to it. Thomas recognized this as his fiancée’s favorite flower... and he supposed it had been that way for all this time. Their names were written in Dr. Halloway’s cursive.
Dianthus caryophyllus et Salix
Salice pointed at the page. She wanted to explain to Thomas, but she was on the verge of tears. She talked very very slowly, very quietly so she wouldn’t cry. She was like a gull’s feather, threatening to blow away in the bittersweet sea air.
“Fali, he made this... He made this book for me when I was a teenager. He knew how much I loved these pretty things. Those willow leaves... they’re my favorite trees. I’m named after them. Oh, and that’s my favorite flower...” She smiled and looked up at her man. “You already knew that though.” She shook her head and looked back inside the chest. Her shoulder slumped when she saw the glimpse of white.
“His clothes...”
She picked up an ancient linen shirt. How it was still cotton white, Thomas did not understand. She held it in her hands for a beat, then tentatively brought it to her nose, like she knew what would happen if she did. She inhaled the thing so closely. She closed her eyes and tears were squeezed out, leaping from her face to dapple the shirt.
It still smelled like her dad.
Salice shook her head remembering when she would iron his clothes. She would starch and iron them and hang them on his bedroom door in the morning before he’d get up. She didn’t know it at the time, but she’d be going the same things for her fiancé some decade later. That’s what she did if she loved somebody. She’d take care of them.
She sniffed it again, for good measure. Her stomach dropped again, like a forgotten necklace slipping through an ex lover’s fingers and falling through the sea.
It smelled just like her dad.
“I miss my dad,” she says bluntly. She looks up at Thomas with such a weak and watery eyes and she chokes back a sob. Her lips wavered, and she threatened to burst.
“I miss my dad.”
She’s never said these things out loud before. When bad things happened to her, she would tuck them away and never experience them again. She’d never have closure. She never talked about the genocide. She never talked about her servitude (enslavement rather). She never talked about her assault. She never talked about her dad. She never talked about the argument and the fallout between her and the person she thought she’d love forever. She was finally saying the words and they felt so... necessary.
She held the shirt to her face and begun to weep. Thomas promptly held her close to him petting her like how he always did when she was sad. She cried and cried for a long time, saying those words over and over and over.
“I miss my dad.”
“Oh, mi amor... I know. I know... it’s alright.”
The two sat on the floor in a heap, Thomas barely able to hold his love together. He felt so helpless, that he couldn’t do more for her. Salice would later come to tell him that he was everything she needed in that moment. Everything.
She sniffled, wiping her eyes with the backs over her knuckles.
“Oh, Thomas... thank you. I... don’t think I would’ve been able to open his things without you. I don’t think I would’ve ever done it... not without you.”
Thomas pinched Salice’s cheek, kissing the top of her head. He buried his face further in her curls and spoke against her scalp as they hugged.
“Oh, Salice. you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for... look at you. Look at all the amazing things you’ve done.”
She lets the shirt rest gently in her lap, wrapping her arms around Thomas’ lean body. She ran her hands over his back, smoothing his dress shirt. Her voice was so soft and feeble, so broken.
“But you’ve been here with me, the whole time. You’ve never abandoned me, you’ve always been here. Always...”
She put her head deep in his chest and took a deep breath there. She couldn’t have the hurtful smell of her father in her mind anymore. She wanted her future husband’s scent instead. The most comforting smell of all.
“Rhadika-isna,” she murmured in Orasan.
“Te amo, mi amor,” he whispers back.
His love was going through her father’s old things and she still found a way to appreciate him. He didn’t know what he had done to deserve such a wonderful woman.
“Oh... um.. there’s something else,” she stammered. “I just remembered.”
She reluctantly lets go of Thomas and goes in and takes up a little wooden box. She hums at it when she opens it. Thomas wondered what was inside.
She turns over the box and a couple of identical gold trinkets fall out into her palm. They were warm somehow, like someone had been holding them all this time. The candlelight in the room made the gold glint and reflect the most wonderful memories in the jade of Salice’s eyes like an old movie on a silver screen. She takes a deep breath and her lips curve up into a gentle smile.
“Here...” she says, holding them out to him. “I was thinking about these for a while... take them.”
“Are you su-” Thomas’s eyes goes wide. There wasn’t any way she was giving these to him! He didn’t feel like he was even worthy of-
“Go on. It’s okay. I won’t use them, and he’d want you to have them. I made up my mind about it a long time ago.” The tone of her voice had a reassuring and final quality to it. It made Thomas feel a little better.
The inventor cups his hands together and brings them to Salice’s. She set the precious items carefully on his palms. Thomas swallowed. They weighed more than any set of cufflinks he’s ever seen, like anchors of bedrock. He finally noticed here were microscopic green gems in them, hidden amongst the embellishments. Thomas was in literal awe.
“They’re Orasan gold... some of the finest in the world.” She was pleased that they could be worn once more. By someone who deserved to wear them.
“T-thank you, Salice. I don’t know what to say... Your father-”
She held her Thomas’ face in her hands, silencing him. She looked into his eyes and seemed to imbue him with a feeling that he couldn’t put words to. The silence of the dimly room was only broken by the cicadas and the locusts lulling outside. The last of the evening sun mixed with the candles, casting brilliant shadows over their space. Thomas looked at his future wife with a newfound admiration, a fresh reverence. He closed the gift in his hands, leaning into Salice’s touch. Her tears returned but they were different this time. They brimmed in her beautiful eyes and rolled down her cheeks like a Maethese brook in moonlight. Enchanting, hopeful, prophetic.
The sun shone through the windows, barely kissing Thomas’ eyelids. The numerous clocks in his shared bedroom ticked like they always did. The house smelled like candles, this time they were flowery. He opened his eyes slowly, the first thing he thought of was his wife.
“Mi amor?”
He waited a beat. His sleepy voice would’ve normally roused her, but Salice didn’t answer.
Thomas rolls over in bed, feeling around the silk sheets for his wife. Her familiar cold skin was comforting to him, so smooth, so soft...but then he realized:
Salice was no longer cursed. She had been that way for years, but they had gone to Orasas to fix that a long time ago. The two of them and his sister Ella. Salice was no longer an Iliochorís so...
Her skin should be warm.
Her skin should be warm, Thomas thought.
But it wasn’t.
Thomas’ stomach turned inside out.
“Mi amor?” Thomas was over her in a moment, blinking through his blurry eyes. He couldn’t quite make out her features, but he knew what she should look like. Her eyes should be glittery and bright, like the forest in the early evening. Her nose should be slightly red from her sniffling at night. Her lips should be parted slightly, swollen, plump. The top one should be brown. But he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t see. This was maddening.
Thomas was in a panic.
He put his ear to his wife’s mouth, expecting a warm breath to kiss his face. He waited for a long time for her breath to come out.
It didn’t.
“Sisi? Sisi, baby.”
He shook her a little, but there were no light sniffles. There was no thoughtful laughter. There was no naughty words that she’d say to him in her groggy morning voice. There was nothing. His baby wasn’t breathing.
“Salice!”
Without letting go of her, he floundered around in the bed for his glasses. He found them and shoved them on with one hand, readjusting to the thick lenses. The tears bubbling in his eyes had to be blinked away.
Salice looked so limp in his arm, like she was spilling onto the sheets. She looked so ghostly, her rich skin now pale. Thomas caressed her face, his tears filling the curve of his glasses, dropping onto her cheeks. He couldn’t stop saying her name.
“Salice... Salice baby, wake up. Mi amor, my love, please... I need you, I need you,” he was stumbling over his own words, not finding any meaning in them. There was nobody to hear. His wife wasn’t listening. There was no way this was real. No possible way. What could’ve happened? What could’ve went wrong? How on earth-
Her eyelashes shone like interlocking peacock feathers. They were iridescent, catching the early morning sun. Like the Orasan fans they used for the royalty in her home country. Thomas remembered when he saw them for the first time upon meeting the King and Queen of Orasas. The servants used them, waving them gently over their Highnesses. They were light feathers, gorgeous feathers, shimmering all the brilliant colors of the rainbow. Salice’s eyelashes looked just like that. But they didn’t flutter. They didn’t move. She was so still. Thomas was going insane.
“Salice!” Thomas held her close, her head falling back and her mouth slightly opening. The line of her neck was so long, the ridge of her collarbone was so strong. The curve of her breasts was full, and he watched them, waiting for them to move with her breath... He was waiting. Just waiting, looking at this body that belonged to his wife. There with the sunlight hitting her skin, Salice looked so...
She looked so, so dead.
“Thomas?”
Thomas blinked open his eyes and jerked upward in his bed. He sat up so fast, his head spun. He was breathing hard now. That voice, that voice it belonged to-
“You were talking in your sleep, darling... A nightmare?”
Without hesitation, Thomas tore through the sheets and grabbed her. Thomas grabbed his wife and buried his face into her. He couldn’t see well, but he could feel. She was real, and she was here, and she was talking to him. He felt her warm hands slide against his sweat slicked back, long nails skidding across his skin. He breathed in her comforting scent as he held her tight, the tears that jumped from his eyes getting lost in her messy and curly locks. Oh, she smelled of stale perfume and bath soap and olive oil and vanilla and everything his wife normally smelled like. He squeezed a nervous laugh out of her. She was worried now. What had her husband dreamt about? What could’ve scared him like this?
“It’s okay, Thomas. I’m here, mh? See?”
Still he didn’t let go, pressing his wife into the bed, engulfing himself in her. He shook his head, his voice cracking a bit.
“Oh, Salice.”
The Orasan girl was puzzled, but she didn’t quit hugging him. She couldn’t, not when he was like this. This scared her.
Salice’s voice seemed so lonely in the empty house. She tiptoed down the stairs, her husband’s dress shirt slipping off her shoulder, leaving it bare against the cold. She rubbed her eyes sleepily so she could see in dark in the house. It was thundering outside, roaring like angry Orasan lions. It had waken her, and when she realized Thomas wasn’t in the bed with her, she panicked.
Salice continued on, her bare feet silent on the wood as she hurried down the stairs. Sofós was sleeping in her and Rocco’s place, undisturbed... But Rocco wasn’t there. Salice’s heart sank. It was just her and Sofós... Alone.
Taking a shaky breath, she briskly walked past her skunk, past the piano, into the kitchen. There was a glass on the counter, her milk from bedtime... but that was the only thing. Salice frowned, growing worried and paranoid. She checked the other rooms in the house, finding nothing there. Thomas wasn’t anywhere. She went to the door. It was unlocked... so he had left?
Maybe he was in the warehouse.
There was no umbrella in the household this season. Rocco chewed the last one and it hadn’t rained all of last year so the married couple didn’t bother get another one. It hardly rained in Maeth.
Salice sighed, too impatient to find any shoes or to put on any more clothes. She wanted her husband.
Salice grabbed one of Thomas’ winter jackets from the coat rack and used it as a shield form the rain. It covered most of her hair, her head and shoulders, but nothing else. She urgently trotted along the gravelly walk, the slippery stones threatening to cut her feet. She scurried through the downpour, jumping at every crack of thunder. The rain soaked the shirt she was wearing, adhering it like wet paper to her naked body underneath.
She reached the warehouse, or Thomas’ workshop, in a minute or two. She took to rattling the door of it like a small child. It always stuck and Thomas was in the process of fixing it. With three good jangles, she pushed it open and flopped inside. She was grateful for the warm reprieve from the outside bite. She squinted her eyes through the drops of water from her bangs, getting into her eyes. The lights in the garage of the place were on. She wrapped the jacket around her to try and stop herself from shivering, meandering toward her husband’s work area. She relaxed when she saw a broad back clad in a sweater, hunched over the work desk. A lump of sure was snoring beside it.
The relief was inexplicable. He was still here.
“Darling?”
The diligent worker nearly jumped out of his skin, dropping a cog onto the concrete floor. It clattered loudly as he turned and looked at Salice in shock and surprise. Rocco clambered up and blinked back his surprise, looking to see what the problem could be.
“Oh! Fuck... Mi amor, you scared me...”
Thomas looked at his wife. She was soaking wet, water dripping off her creamy ochre skin in beads. She was wearing his clothes, since she had went to sleep naked and it was the closest thing she could find. It clung to her body, leaving nothing to the imagination. The only thing covering her budding nipples through the greedy white cloth was one of his jackets, tucked snugly around her shapely form. Her bare feet were covered in little gravel pieces, sticking to her toes, which curled over each other. She was shivering.
Thomas gets up out of his seat and goes over to her quickly. Guilt trapped him in his own small and selfish mind and he realized why she was fretting so. He envelopes her in his arms and presses his lips to the top of her head. She begins to whimper, holding onto him so tight.
“You weren’t in bed... and I was scared that you had gone.”
Thomas sighs, cuddling her to him. “No, no. Salice... I’d never...”
Salice puts her chin on his chest and looks up at Thomas. His blond hair was messy, falling into his face wildly; only his glasses were keeping it back. His dark circles were more noticeable tonight. Salice disapproved of them.
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
Her hands found the buttons to Thomas sweater and she played with them as she waited for his answer. “Are you... Are you thinking of something?”
‘Are you thinking of leaving me’ is what she really wanted to say.
Thomas kisses her forehead, sensing her uneasiness. He didn’t like where she was taking this. All the things she was worried about would never happen. He merely had just had some trouble staying asleep and wanted to come tinker in his workshop. He didn’t want to wake Salice, and he definitely didn’t intend to worry her. Didn’t she know he’d never go anywhere without her?
“Just thinking about getting back inside... warm and in our bed, mh?”
Salice let this calm her. She melted when Thomas’ hands slid down her wet body, arriving at her hips, pressing them close into his. Her flesh was so supple in his grasp. His hands felt so nice, so warm on her rump as Thomas tapped there lightly. He ushered her toward the door, noticing her bare feet on the concrete again. Rocco was close behind.
“You came out here barefoot. I should scold you.”
Salice shook her head as the two started walking back toward the house; she was tucked under Thomas’ arm. “Nothing bad will happen. I do everything barefoot.”
Her husband clicked his tongue as he turned out the warehouse light, preparing to go back into the downpour. “Come here,” he grunts as he lifts Salice up by her bum and holds her close to him. She wrapped her legs around him promptly, encircling her arms around his slender neck. Sisi rested her head on his shoulder, breathing in the musky scent of his neck.
“I won’t have you get sick or cut your feet, you understand?”
She nods, happy to be safe in her husband’s arms as he carried her back inside. “I understand.” She says this obediently.
He kisses her face as they brave the night again, rain slicking their cheeks. Thomas walked quickly so they wouldn’t get too wet before climbing back into their bed.
“Te amo, mi amor,” he says lovingly.
Salice feels her heart flutter, all her worries put to rest at his gentle and compassionate words.
She and Ella walk hand in hand from the entrance of town, to where her family lived. It was early in the morning, sleepy fog still hanging over the whole of the place. It was quiet there, nothing but the birds chattering quietly and a bell tolling every now and again. It was like the whole town, along with everyone in it, was holding its breath. Everything was green and lush and beautiful.
“Yeah. This is where I’m from!”
Salice took a deep breath of the air. It was saturated with magic, with energies. Her body manifested calmness and serenity as her skin soaked up these energies. “It’s really beautiful.”
The two of them approach the center of the town. No business and no school was quite open yet, since it was Sundas and all. Salice is busy looking from place to place, appreciating the gentle nature of it all.
Coming upon the centerpiece of the circle, a fountain in the middle of all the buildings, she is enraptured by its wonder. She stares wide-eyed at it, her jaw loose on its hinges. Its flowing water seemed to whisper, careful not to disturb the tranquility of the town. Salice was in awe.
“What’s this?”
Ella looked up at the fountain and smiled. She was happy that Salice was so interested in her home.
“That’s the Vivarium Fountain. It’s to honour everyone who’s ever given their lives in battle.”
Salice could feel the energy coming from it and nodded. She knew there was a great power in this fountain, in the monument. It obvious that it was very important to the town. Everything here was centered around it. She closed her eyes and quietly gave thanks to it.
“Oh, Salice. Over here!”
Ella showed Salice the tavern that belonged to her best friend’s family. It wasn’t open yet of course, but the two went and peered through the glass anyway.
“You know, I used to dance in taverns when I was bit younger,” Salice murmured wistfully, her breath fogging up the window. She vaguely remembers all the times she’d bound into Tern’s barefoot and twirl and step until she was glowing with sweat. She’d take all her tips and buy her father some liquor, then go home and put the rest in her savings box. She was so happy, so carefree then. Now all her time was occupied by work and grief.
Salice drug her hands down the glass, long nails ticking on it as she remembered. She remembered all the good times she had there, all the drinks she had, all friends she made… All the dances she used to dance.
She remembered her father. How she missed him.
Ella looked over at her friend with a sympathetic gaze. She didn’t quite know what Salice was so sad about, but hopefully she would forget about it during her time in Maeth. There was so many things Ella wanted to share with her. Ella grabbed her hand again.
“We can come dancing tonight if you’d like. We have a lot of fun here.”
“Really?” Salice turned quickly toward her friend. She couldn’t hide the edge of excitement in her usually calm and even voice. Ella admired the way Salice’s bright green eyes glittered at the idea. Her smile was more endearing than anything she’d seen, like a pet who couldn’t wait to go outside. Ella couldn’t wait to take her.
Isabella gave her a small and brief tour of the town circle before they moved onward, toward the edge of the habitable part of town. Large trees created a canopy over the walkway, like lovers interlocking fingers with one another. Said canopy kept whatever early morning sun that peeked through the fog away from the lightness of their skin.
“We’re coming up on my family’s home,” Ella announced. “Are you okay to meet them? Are you ready to?”
Salice chuckled a little. “Sure. I’d love you meet your family.”
With this, Ella led Salice to the front door of a small log house with a wooden roof. There was a splendid garden in the front of it, a swinging bench nestled between the flower beds. There were butterflies around the whole place, dancing happily as the two approached.
“My mother might not be awake yet, but we’ll see who’s home.”
Ella pulled a small key from her pocket and jangled it in the door. When it opened, Salice was overcome by an excitement. She was really looking forward to meeting Ella’s mother. What was a mother like? She could hardly remember.
As the two pushed inside the house, the smell of herbs and warm candle wax filled Salice’s nose. She treasured its kiss, a more comforting version of the smell of her own home.
They realized the quiet of the place was disrupted by more than just them. Someone was rattling their way through some cupboards or something. Ella gruffed.
“Who is making all this fucking racket. It’s so early.” She turned to her friend and held out her hand. “Hold on.”
Salice did as she was told.
Ella stomped in and turned the corner to the kitchen, a beautifully affectionate smile blessing her face suddenly. She disappeared from view and Salice was left quite confused, standing in the living room on a beautiful rug, chewing on her brown top lip.
“Ella! Oh, a surprise. Hey! I’m so glad to see you.”
A smooth voice sounded, light and jovial. There was a dip in it, leading Salice to picture an embrace between Ella and the new sound. It was a man’s voice. Her dad? Salice wasn’t sure. Ella hadn’t really talked about her family before. She continued listening to the two talk from the other room.
“It’s good to see you too! Why do you keep getting taller every time I see you, Gods. What are you eating,”
The voice snickers a little. “Never anything substantial.”
A slap on the arm or chest and a wince occurred. Ella was obviously comfortable enough with the person to hit him like that. Her brother maybe?
“Meals are important. When will you ever understand that?”
“Ow, Ella. Sure, I understand but-”
“Oh, fuck. I almost forgot. There’s someone I want you to meet.”
Salice realized this was her cue to straighten up, look presentable and impress. She waited for the stranger to come from out of the kitchen… but she wasn’t expecting what she saw.
The stranger towered over Ella, and that was the first thing Salice noticed. He had sandy blond hair; a bit messy but so charming. It fell in loose waves over a sun kissed forehead. He had a strong chin that she could tell had been slender once, and a blessed jawline that was sharp enough to cut through her composure. It gave way to a linear neck, so long and threaded with a prominent apple. His loose shirt was cut low in the front, revealing the beginnings of a pale and chiseled chest. He wasn’t a strongman, though. His sleeves were cuffed, revealing wiry forearms and slender wrists and hands, which wrung themselves together nervously. Salice could tell he worked with those hands and worked with them very well. There were ripples in his skin where scars could be seen. She let her eyes sink for only a moment, down below the brown leather belt that held up his dress pants… She blinked hard, recentering back to his face, where a pair of thick glasses made his eyes stand out to Salice. They were golden, hazel, brown? They were all the beautiful shades at once, since she couldn’t tell which ones to decide on seeing. They were so… encapsulating. Just like the rest of him.
On the other hand, this stranger had quite literally thought a goddess was standing in the living room of his mother’s home. The first thing he noticed about her was her striking green eyes. They were like a poem, two rocks of unrefined peridot holding his face in their warm, inviting hands. He noticed the way her nose curved up, so daintily. Her plump lips were parted in the most enchanting beginnings of a pleasured smile. And then further down… Her sharp collar bone gave way to beautifully poetic shoulders. Hair, brown like her gorgeous skin, cascaded down them, falling behind her back in elegance. Her chest was proud, sitting primly over the top of her corset. A golden coral pendant hung behind the ruffled neckline of her shirt, wedged between the blessed valley of her supple bre-
“Salice! This is my brother. Tommy, Salice. Salice, Tommy.”
They both blinked a little, snapping out of their trances. Salice was awestruck by his charm, his handsome features, but she was the first to recover. She smiled softly, coming forth to shake his hand with both of hers.
“Hello. Salice Halloway. It’s a pleasure.”
Thomas was in love with the way she graced his hand with all ten of her delicate fingers. Her voice was like a honeyed whisper, in an accent Thomas had never heard before. Oh, she sounded so pretty, prettier than he’d ever heard someone sound. He brought his other hand to even the gesture. He could barely speak.
“T-Thomas. My name is Thomas. But Tommy to family. Zieragh. U- ahem.”
He flustered but promptly took a deep breath to steady his flurrying mind. “My name is Thomas Zieragh. And the pleasure is surely mine… Salice.”
“Thomas,” Salice repeated on sweet lips. “Zieragh…”
Thomas could not handle the beauty in which is name was bestowed coming from her. His name sounded something like a magic spell coming from her gracious lips. He was quite nearly on the verge of fainting. Their hands were still together now, familiarizing themselves with their contrasting textures. Thomas was timid about his rough hands desecrating her soft ones. He was floundering about it, but Salice didn’t even notice.
The gorgeous young woman took a step closer, pulling his hands to her heart in a traditional Orasan greeting. Thomas sighed when his cold knuckles met the skin of her chest.
