Cyber, Freckles, & Honey
1308 Words
Birds chirped merrily in the prime hours of the morning. Not caring for the early rising humans who had the displeasure of laboring for a living.
Squinting his eyes, Tadashi peeks through the long strands of hair that fell over his forehead.
Serene beams of sunlight poured through the thin rectangle window beside where Hinata's fluffy hair stuck up from underneath the sheets.
He truly looked like a ripe orange fresh for picking which made Tadashi lightly snicker.
He gives Hinata a quick peck on the forehead. Groggily swinging his knees over the side of his bed, he stands up on barely awake legs.
He manages to walk along the floorboard to his bedroom door without making any obnoxious creaky sounds and grabs his work uniform hanging from the door handle.
He quietly shuts his door behind him. His drowsy gaze instinctively goes to the bouquet of colorful assorted flowers positioned in the center of the little blue table sitting in the corner of the kitchen.
He quickly darts to the sink and pours a mug full of water then slowly carries it over to his flower bouquet.
A nice gift he had received several days ago from the elderly lady that lived down the road.
Perched on top of a yellow Daisy sat one of Tadashi's favorite creatures.
Cyber, her shimmering golden butterfly wings stretched glamorously behind her tiny antennas.
The lustrous orbs of golden magic dust that fell from her wings landed softly around the top of the Daisy's petals.
Resulting in the Daisy's color to shortly fade from bright yellow to soft pink.
Tadashi smiled at his small companion being already so active this early in the day.
"Hello, Cyber."
At the sound of Tadashi's voice, Cyber's wings spring into action.
She cheerfully flies the short distance to his shoulder and claims her place in the crook of his neck where his Lily scented skin smelled the strongest.
"Where are the others?"
As if on cue, two more golden-winged butterflies flutter down from the wooden beam holding the ceiling in place.
Honey's larger wings flapped gracefully through the air, landing with a low thump next to Cyber on Tadashi's shoulder.
Along with Freckle, Tadashi's personal favorite butterfly.
The diversity of different flecks of darkened gold sprinkled around her wings twinkled beautifully as she landed right on Tadashi's hand which was busy watering his flowers.
"Hello to you as well, Freckle."
Tadashi gazes down at his little companion and sighs.
"Let's get this over with."
He drops the mug off back in the sink and rushes to put on his work attire.
His black slacks and white button-up top gave him a classy look that didn't at all contrast with his commoner identity.
Not even bothering to do anything with his hair which was very much in need of a trim, he simply ties it into a messy ponytail.
Glancing at the reflection that peered at him through the clean Kitchen counter, he slaps his hands over his freckled cheeks.
"We can do this."
He unintentionally slams the front door closed and leaps from the two steps leading up to his house.
The butterflies take cover underneath the seams of Tadashi's shirt while he starts sprinting down the pebbly path.
He passes by the many cottage-style brick homes that lined each side of the rugged road which was only made big enough for horses and their carriages to fit through.
Despite being small in size, and poor in elegance, the homes had character. Each and every one had their own mixture of quirky creatures residing within.
He passes by the Salvatore family's home.
One of the few non-human families that lived in Twyla.
Vampires, all of them.
A rare breed that never sleeps, never eats, and always drinks.
They were at the top of the food chain in this village.
One wrong move and-
"Yammy!"
Suddenly, a small pair of widespread arms stops Tadashi dead in his tracks.
"Rosa!"
A tiny brunette who seemingly appeared out of nowhere fondly wraps her powerful little arms around Tadashi's legs.
The appearance of the little Vampire girl made a warm smile appear on Tadashi's face.
He bends down to be at eye level with her vibrant violet eyes.
"Wow! You've gotten strong!"
"Yes!"
The little Vampire giggles and tightens her embrace around Tadashi's legs.
Despite Tadashi being 5'10 in height and fully grown. Little Rosa already had strength powerful enough to singlehandedly demolish a concrete wall.
She could snap his legs in half without even realizing it.
"Play?"
Tadashi feels a pang tug at his heart.
"I'm sorry love, but you know I can't."
The little Vampire sadly frowns and lessens her hold on the human's fragile legs.
"I promise I'll stop by later okay?"
Tadashi gives Rosa his fairest smile and ruffles her twirly locks.
"Kay..."
He feels terrible for leaving her like this but if he doesn't get to work on time his boss will give him an earful.
He stands up and smiles at her once more before sprinting away.
It's times like this when Tadashi is grateful for his strange gift, no matter how sweaty he gets, he never smells sour.
Finally, after several more blocks, he approaches Twyla's edge.
The lengthy bridge magically hovering over the deep freshwater river connected Twyla to the mainland.
Hugging the bridges sides were hundreds of little shops and stands.
From young to old, there was folk of all kinds readying their stores for the passerby's who walk across this way to reach Town Hemera.
As soon as Tadashi's feet touch the shiny see-through bridge, he places his hands on his knees to catch his breath.
His tired eyes dart around at the different stands until he spots the one he was looking for.
"Whitaker!"
At the sound of his name, a young lad with short choppy fawn-colored hair springs his head up.
Before he could identify who yelled his name, Tadashi is already at his stand.
He slams both of his hands on the badly put-together timber table and laughs at his friend's startled face.
"You gotta stop doin' that Yamaguchi I might turn bald!"
"Gomen Gomen."
"On yer way to Kissin'?"
"Unfortunately."
Whitaker disapprovingly shakes his head.
"Why don't ya just quit?"
"Believe me, I want to more than anything but I have to make enough money to take care of Hinata, and myself. Not to mention paying off the house taxes."
Tadashi stressfully runs a hand through his messy hair and bitterly chuckles.
"That damned greedy King, ever since he took over our average income has gone way down."
"Ha! Ain't that the truth, I can't remember a time when I could sell my berries for a price higher than Pixie dust. Oh! That reminds me-"
Whitaker bends down and uses all of his might to tug an enormous crate of freshly picked Strawberries out from beneath his stand.
"Oh, my Goddess..."
"I know right, best of the season so far, all I had to do was beg one of the Fruit Fairies to sprinkle a few magic shards onto some seeds. Next thing I know, I see berries the size of Dragon eggs growing through my window!"
Tadashi couldn't help but laugh at his friend getting so excited over a simple Strawberry.
"Alright, fine, ill buy some."
"I knew you couldn't resist!"
Tadashi lightly sighs and fishes around in his black slacks for spare coins.
Pulling out three, he slides them across the splinter-infused table and gratefully takes the two shiniest looking Strawberries from the crate.
"I seriously have to get going now."
"Alrighty! Make sure to come back later for more berries."
Tadashi jokingly rolls his eyes and turns on his heels.
This time slowing his steps so he can munch on his juicy Strawberry without risking getting any drops on his tidy button-up.
- Writer
