Crimson

Sad Silk

Juno had finished drying Vita's hair and was now oiling his hair .

" Do you ever oil your hair ?"

Vita looked like I had asked him for one of his balls .

I shook my head at him .

" You have such pretty features . Pretty hair , pretty nose , pretty eyes , pretty lips , pretty skin ...."

" Why are you glaring then ? ", he interrupted my loving rant .

" You do not take care of your pretty features !".

He flinched , I smiled at him through the mirror to reassure him , he flinched again .

When I was finally done oiling his hair , I picked out another lavender infuse for his skin and threw it at him .

I walked into the closet to find something that he could wear , I could have just opened the closet door wide but I wanted to give him privacy or at least a sense of privacy .

I picked out my only clothes that were not red or black .

I could hear faintly , the sound of skin slapping , he was still oiling his body .

When I no longer heard it , I stepped out .

I threw the clothes into his lap .

" I can just wear the ones I wore yesterday , I'll change when I get back ".

I had known he would say something of that nature .

" I put your clothes down in the wash basin to soak , except you want to wear wet clothes ".

He observed me for a while , probably to see if I was lying but I had not survived so long without a poker face .

He finally sighed and held up the clothes .

His fingers traced the feathery wasps of the material . It was beautiful silk but sadly , it was blue , royal blue .

He looked more and more surprised as he fingered the material .

" How did you get it ? "

He had a dreamy expression , like I had given him a dragon's egg .

Ali and I had once gone out of the city for a while .

A councilman's daughter had been sick and dying , they had needed herbs that only a particular Outsourced merchant carried .

But , he had not been seen for a while , rumour was that he was in the Outlands .

The Outlands was where hardened criminals were exiled to .

It contained the vast majority of the world that had collapsed upon itself and not only was it dangerous , the air was also poisonous , it was a death sentence .

So , Ali and I had gone to find him . The moral of the story has nothing to do with goodwill .

Her father had offered a huge serving of gold , that had motivated Ali , I was not exactly interested in going to the Outlands , I had seen enough of it with Mama .

Then , I had found out that the councilman was also in charge of the city's water work plans , I had been motivated then .

Gold and eternal hot water , how could I have refused ?

The trip had started hours before the sun came up , finding the merchant and getting the herb had been easy but coming back had been the difficult part .

That day had been a sort of merchant festival .

They had come together to drink and party and play games .

I had been satisfied with just watching regardless of much I liked participating in games .

But then , the grand prize for the final game had been the most beautifully carved dagger I had ever seen , it had belonged to some Khan pre - cleansing .

It had been an archery game .

I had lost and had to be dragged away , I was an extremely sore loser .

I had quit archery after that .

The blue silk had been the gift for the second position .

Since , I was still sore from losing , I could never wear them , no matter how beautiful they were .

When I finished my sad story , Vita was staring at me .

" Why are you looking at me that way ?"

He pointed at my face ," You are crying ".

I dabbed at my face with my sleeves , it was really wet .

" I told you , it was a sad story ".

He nodded .

" That explains how you have water when all the plans for water distribution are heavily monitored by The Conclave ".

" They are ?"

He nodded again .

Was the Conclave really that idle ?

Wait....

" Is that all you have to say about my sad story ?"

He threw the clothes back at me ,they landed on my head .

When I tried to get them off , they would not budge .

Suddenly I was being lifted and moving .

" Vitalis ?"

He did not reply .

I was in the air for a second and then on the bed .

I began to struggle with the clothes on my head , I realized then that the weight on my head was too much for silk clothes .

" Vitalis , are you holding the clothes over my head ?"

He hummed .

" Might I know why I am being blindfolded ?"

I burst into laughter then .

I should have never told him about my feet , he was tickling them again .

" W...a...wait , I will...will...do... anything ".

He did not stop and just continued , I could not utter any other words .

So I just laughed till he stopped .

The weight of the clothes finally disappeared , I removed them immediately .

He was sitting by my limp body , staring at me .

" What was that for ?"

He bent his head and in that moment , I wanted to be the only one in the past , present and future that Vita would ever be shy with .

" I was repaying all of the sadness for that measly cloth ".

I laughed at that , he smiled too .

" They are beautiful clothes " ,I suddenly announced .

No amount of hatred could make me lie about such lovely silk .

He tilted his head , imitating a very similar pose .

" Are they ?"

I nodded and his smile widened .

" Don't you have to go ?"

He stopped smiling then.

" I do have to go now ".

I pushed myself to roll off the bed but he stopped me , mid roll .

I looked at his hands , large and veiny .

He had calluses , some even unhealed . The hands of a swordsman .

He gave me a reproachful look and I sat up immediately , getting off the bed the normal way .

I was halfway to the closet when I realized I had just obeyed and followed his unspoken instructions .

I got out a black shirt and pants for him .

He changed in the closet and came out .

I gave him a coat , the temperature had not dropped further but , it was still very cold out .

When he was done dressing , I stood back to admire my handiwork , I smiled and went to the vanity .

I picked a ring and turned back to him , he had worn his boots already .

I grabbed a coat for myself and put my feet in a pair of boots .

" Come on , I'll walk you ".

We were silent as we walked to the gate .

When we got to the gate , he went ahead to open it ,as he pushed , I watched the muscles strain in his neck , hot potatoes.

When he finally had it open , he went through and stopped , turning back to me.

" Don't come further , it's too cold ".

I nodded and grabbed his hand .

He was not wearing gloves , still his hands were warm .

He cleared his throat and I looked back to his face , he had coloured again .

" I don't think I could ever see silk the same way ."

" What ? "

He suddenly had a panicked expression .

" I mean silk feels like it was made for you ".

I smiled .

" You did tell me that you had imagined me on silk sheets ".

It was his turn.

" What? When did I tell you that ?"

I let go of his hand .

" When you were drunk , it suits you ".

He looked so ashamed of himself.

" Having a low tolerance is not such a big deal " , I tried to sound reassuring .

He didn't look assured .

" Being drunk suits no one " , he declared .

I waited for him to enunciate , but he did not.

I narrowed my eyes ," What are you talking about ?"

He looked confused too .

" I meant the ring ".

I pointed at his fingers .

He brought up his hands to look at the ring .

" When did you ..."

I gave him a look , that shut him up .

" I love it ", he murmured .

" I ...." , he interrupted me .

" You are red all over and you have been shuffling your feet , you should go in ".

I watched perplexed as he went on to push the gate close and then begin to make shooing gestures .

What a strange man .

I moved away from the gate and began to walk backwards .

" You'll fall " , he cautioned again.

I stopped , winked at him and ran back to the door .

I turned when I could no longer feel his eyes , his hand was above his face , in the air and he was watching the sun glint off his ringed finger .

I smiled and entered , I had been worried that he might not like jewellery as a gift , next time an anklet would be perfect .

I removed the coat I had worn and the shirt and went inside my closet .

I came out in Vita's shirt , holding his jacket .

It seems that I had been mistaken when I had seen his clothes in the wash basin , an honest mistake that anyone could have made .

I went back to the bed and lay facing the sun , I put the jacket over my face , I was strangely exhausted from all the excitement .

Was it okay to be this excited about someone else ?

I could not even ask Ali , he was a noob when it came to issues like this .

I started whispering the first spell I had been taught , a sleeping spell .

I had been plagued with dreams of Mama since I could remember , I was always so tired and the moment I fell asleep , my dreams were filled with Mama , so , I woke up tired again .

It was a vicious circle that I had no idea how to break , I had been hoping that falling asleep surrounded by Vita's presence might change that .

The spell began to take effect .

As I drifted off , the memory of Vita tickling me made me smile .

I really hoped it would work .