Crimson

Defying Gravity.

When I was younger and Mama and I travelled together , I would often seen children my age together or families that were larger than mine .

One day , I asked Mama why we did not have any friends or family .

" We only need ourselves , just me and you ".

Those were her exact words .

Friends , family and people in general gave you weaknesses she had said .

But , I had always been a needy child and an attention w***e .

Mama had hated that and tried to teach me the error of the way I was choosing .

I had not understood or learnt though .

She was convinced that one did not need another to survive yet she depended on me and I , her .

****

I stared at the mess that was supposed to be my hair .

I could see Vita through the mirror , he was also staring at it , a calculating expression on his face .

" You said you could braid hair and I trusted you ".

He looked away from my hair briefly to give me an exasperated look .

" I said try , I could try to braid your hair " .

I stood abruptly and began to pull the pins he had used to hold the hair .

I did not bother combing it , instead I walked to the kitchen , picked up the cups we had used from the table and to the sink .

When I was done rinsing , I turned to find a dry washcloth to dry the cups.

Vita stood behind me , he was holding a brush and was trying to brush my hair .

I kept avoiding his hands and the brush as I dried the cups .

He must have been frustrated because he suddenly shouted .

" Will you stop moving so much ?"

I stopped moving and let him brush down twice before I made my way out of the kitchen .

He followed , his eyes straying to my blade display again .

" Do you have a problem with my babies ?"

He turned back to me and shrugged , he was a really terrible actor .

I laughed as I fell on my bed .

" Oooohh , you like my babies then ? "

He stood awkwardly to the side of the bed .

I waited to see if he would climb on , telling him to would be too forward and if he refused , I would die of embarrassment .

So , I switched gears .

" It's really late ".

It definitely was not really late .

I expected some sort of negative response instead he nodded .

" It is ".

He took a step forward and sat on the bed.

Okay , positive responses .

He motioned for me to move closer , I blinked .

He gave me a look .

" What do you think of me , Juno ?"

He raised his hand , it held the brush .

I laughed , " Good one ".

He smiled and motioned again .

I got on my knees and crept forward , I was well on my way to losing all sense of confidence until I saw him gulp .

Aha , still got it .

I turned and gave him my back , he started out slowly and soon began to brush obsessively .

" You do know you are obsessed with brushing my hair perfectly , I'm fine , really ".

He did not reply , so , I pushed my elbow into his stomach .

" Not bad ".

Aha , I heard you exhale .

He kept brushing maniacally .

I could not take it anymore , so I moved away and turned to look at him .

" What's your problem ? "

He didn't miss the beat .

" I don't have one ".

" Yes , you do. You are obsessed with my hair ".

He sighed and finally put down the brush , I was not going to use that brush for a while .

" I just want to be able to take care of your hair ".

It did not make sense , so I took Ali's advice and thought about it for another few seconds .

It still did not make sense .

" Why would you want to do that ? "

I instinctively knew from the look he had on that he was not going to tell me the real reason .

" You have running water " , he suddenly announced .

There was no reason to try to get the answer out of him , but I was still angry .

" Is that a problem , Brigadier ?"

He was taken aback .

" No , not really ".

" Are you sure ? " , I was getting tired of his elusiveness .

He observed me for a while , I turned away from him to stare out the window .

Getting angry was never productive and I did not want him trying to think of why I could be angry .

He was not a fool .

" Are you angry ? "

I turned back to him , the moonlight from the window combined with the red glow of the lanterns danced in his face .

This too would pass , he would also leave. There was no point telling the truth , yet ...

" I am ".

" I'm sorry I changed the subject ".

I nodded , not what I wanted to hear but baby steps .

" Why did you change the subject ?"

" I know " , he announced .

I waited for him to continue but he didn't .

I stopped trying to vocally prompt him then and we just looked at each other .

" Do you like my house ? "

He looked around for a while then nodded .

" Yes ".

I nodded too , pretending to consider his reply .

" Do you like my blades ? "

" Yes " , he was smiling now , a ghost of a smile .

" And my shower box ?"

" Yes ".

I picked strands of my hair to play with , his eyes followed the movement .

" Do you like me , then ?"

" Yes , a lot ".

I looked up sharply , he was smiling fully now .

" Wait , did you expect me to fall for such a cheap trick ?"

I nodded , It had always worked for me .

" I am a brigadier , the captain of the seventh brigade ".

" I know . Why did you play along then if you knew ".

" It seemed like a great opportunity to tell you I liked you ".

I suddenly remembered that although my plan had failed , it had also worked beautifully .

He cleared his throat and I looked back to him .

He had an expectant expression .

" Why are you looking at me like that ?"

He blinked , then ,he realized I knew why he was staring at me that way .

" Don't you have any thing you might want to tell me ?"

I smiled as I shook my head .

" No thoughts to share ?"

I shook my head again and he climbed on the bed , crawling towards me .

" No announcements to make ?"

I began to laugh as he grabbed my feet , tickling me .

" That's too bad ".

He tickled me more and instinct took over , I kicked him .

He flew to the ground and I gasped .

This was what happened when children did not learn restrictions .

Mama had let me do whatever I wanted and she had thought me to throw a punch the moment I had been able to make a fist .

He groaned and I rushed to the edge of the bed and peered down , he was not on the floor .

Just as I moved to search for him , I was dragged down too .

I landed on his chest and exhaled .

" Are you trying to break me ? ".

He was silent .

I moved to find his face , his eyes were closed .

" Are you okay ?"

He groaned quietly .

I tried to sit up but his hands were around my back holding me to him .

" Don't move ".

I stopped moving , I had felt it .

I was smiling .

" Won't continuing to lay on you only worsen it ? "

He sighed , I laughed at the look on his face .

" I'll be quick ".

I whispered deliberately in his ear and because I could not hold back , I brought out my tongue and made a slow swipe around his lobe .

He opened his eyes then and I sat up , jumping on the bed immediately .

I waited for him to get back up , when he finally did , he had a smirk on .

" Didn't no one ever tell you it's bad manners to kick a man when he's low ?"

I laughed because I had actually heard something similar .

" I was told the best time to kick a man was when he was already low ."

He chuckled .

" Who would teach a kid that ?"

I remembered it very well , it had been a few weeks after Ali had saved me .

" It was Ali and I was not a kid ".

He was silent then .

He pushed himself unto the bed and sat .

" Do you not like Ali ?"

He looked at me .

" Do you ?"

I observed him for a while .

" Ali is my only family ".

He looked like he had more to say , so I waited , he was indeed a bad actor or was it just with me .

His curiosity won though .

" What kind of family is he ?"

His eyebrows were scrunched together , reminding me of the expression he had earlier today when he found Ali and I .

Well , well.

It seemed after our first meeting at The Haze , even though I had told him there was nothing between Ali and I , he had not believed .

" He is a daddy to me ".

The colour drained off Vita's face and I burst into laughter .

" Was this why you were mad this morning ?"

The colour returned at record time .

" You had a love bite ", he murmured but I caught it .

Ali must have seen it but he had said nothing about it and just avoided me through out the day .

I glared at Vita .

" You got drunk , gave me a love bite and then got mad and caused trouble for me . Your emotions are a wreck ".

He had gotten on his knees on the bed and was looking at me sheepishly .

" I didn't remember at that time ".

I was exhausted of today already ,I pulled my blankets closer around me .

" I'm going to sleep ".

I closed my eyes and tried to fall asleep .

He poked me and just kept at it when I continued to ignore him .

He finally stopped then and started talking .

" This is my first time and Juno , you are my first . The first person I would like in such a crazy manner .

I have no idea what to do to show you exactly how I feel and how to show you what I want to show you .

With you , I'm unsure of a lot of things except that just remembering you exist brings me an immense amount of happiness ".

I whimpered quietly , nothing I said could rival that .

So , I snored loudly and pulled the blankets over my head .