Rise of Tempest Merlin

Chapter 15

Dark brows twitched in annoyance as snowflakes continued to sprinkle down from the fairly clear, night sky above. If its snowing there should be more clouds... Sajery hiked up his light beige coat, loosening the black scarf that was wrapped around his neck to ease his temper. Someone brushed past Sajery just as he was about to slide through a break in the crowd; it took everything not to scoop some snow in his hands and hurl it at the rude human.

Alas, that would mean he'd have to touch the damned cold flakes even more.

Winter was a season he'd never be used to, the temperature far from what he was used to at his home realm. He spared a second of gratitude that the winds had died down since earlier that morning as he walked to work. "Sable", the coffee shop, had such a wonderul aroma of coffee and baking that even now, a shiver of warmth ran through him. Shards of pure white brushed against his face and streams of music reached his ears, barely audible above the din of the general public. Dark brown eyes narrowing in curiosity, he followed the sounds. Crossing the street and walking down a fancy alley, Sajery did not expect to find a huge sheet of ice with people gliding everywhere. Piano combined with some tamborine-sounding instrument and a beat now played, sounding out into the wintery air.

It was a skating rink.

Sajery ventured closer to the metal handrail that skirted along the open ice, dark brown eyes gazing over those who were skating. A smirk began as he noted most of the humans weren't skilled or strong in the activity, but it faded when something caught his eye. Far in the distance, a human glided effortlessly over the shimmering surface. As it neared, Sajery noticed, to his surprise, that it was a young male who moved so gracefully, weaving between other skaters with great care. Black locks trailed behind the creature in a low ponytail, some bangs of varying length framing it's heart-shaped face. Embarrassment flitted over Sajery's face, the realization of him looking at a human for so long finally making contact with his mind that had drifted away somewhere as he watched the lithe figure sway on the edge of it's skates before bending back the other way in time to the music.

Suddenly, the human leapt off the ice and spiraled in the air, defying gravity for a single great second before landing again, one leg streched out behind him. And the creature was now drawing closer, gliding backwards from the momentum of the jump. Unconsiously, Sajery pressed his body against the cool metal bar, leaning over it in hopes to gain the human's attention as it passed. Some emotion surged through his chest when the young man did not notice him, the feeling sweeping through him, banishing the cold he felt from the snowflakes as they continued to fall from above.

There was a look of subdued exhilaration on the human's face as it made it's way around the rink, performing tricks and feats worthy of applause. An almost sombre song began, bells accompaning a string instrument. Each note was struck with a lingering, echoing that made his heart wrench, the music seeking memories to follow along the melody. White bangs fell untucked from behind a pierced ear as he leaned forward once more, gaze never leaving the young one. This time, he was ready when the human rose his arms before drawing within his body while balancing on one leg; Sajery's gloved hands gripped the metal railing as his breath caught.

Again, for a moment, the human left the ground in a spiralling jump, arms pressed to his chest. Locks licked the air like streaks of black fire, bangs dancing across the young one's face, tense with concentration. The loose, flowing shirt of dark blue rippled at the sudden movement, offering Sajery a fine presentation of how small a frame the human had. All of this he noticed in that moment, and just as quickly as it happened, the human fell back onto the ice before the shards of ice from his jump had time to settle. A smile, rather shy to appear, pulled at his black-painted lips before it disappeared. Glancing around, his sudden frown quickly faded when he caught sight of an empty bench to his right.

He didn't know how long he sat there simply admiring the skater. A few others preformed notable tricks but they lacked the passion the young human in the dark blue shirt seemed to have. There was a definite difference between that certain dark-haired human, and a blond that caught his gaze a few times. The fair-haired human too, did spirals and alternated between skating backwards and sweeping loops, his moves were not as seamless as the dark-haired one. Maybe he's a professional... Dark brown eyes followed every motion the young creature made and came down to the conclusion that, indeed, the human must be a pro, or one in the making at the very least. The song's volume now rose, gathering tension as words began, telling a story. More emotion and pain rose to the surface like champagne bubbles, the pain was just as sharp as the wine.

As the song reached a paticularly poignant section, the human rose his arms and let them sway with the rest of his motions as if he were truly before a panel of judges, offering everything he had in the presentation. Each movement seemed to have been on the spot with no sign of preparation or set order. It was... Beautiful.

Wait...The movements...Or the human?

Sajery stood quickly and left the creature behind. But the next day, he deviated from his path home, and almost hesitantly did he approach the outside rink once more. Dark eyes searched through the passing figures and found the young one with a ghost of a smile. Today, the human was wearing a snug turtleneck, cream-colored and soft-looking. His hair was unbound this time, ruffling behind him as he skimmed over the ice. The strands took to the air easily, hinting that the human took great care in the locks that fell to his waist on the rare moments he stopped his impromptu routine.

Since then, Sajery did his best to visit the rink after work. Every night the human was there and each time the surface demon saw the creature, his heart thawed little by little. Gradually, he noticed his temper had begun to fade; a few times, it had been snowing rather hard, but Sajery continued to pass by the rink in hopes to watch the human once more. The cold and snowflakes were both something he strongly disliked, but for some reason he found himself unconsiously journeying through both on those snowy days. And on those days, there were no curses towards the weather, or disappointed scowls when the snowflakes fell on his face, melting and cooling his skin, threatening to wash off his white face makeup.

It took a week to realize he was truly interested in the human, that he longed to speak to him, learn about him and perhaps start a friendship. It took another week to convince himself to do so, and far too many sleepless nights until he finally found the courage to reach out rather than wait on the edge and simply watch. He had done so for so long, and now to be the one that moved first...

After all that time, he learned that the closing time on this certain evening, Friday, was eight-thirty. Contrasting the human's apparently spur of the moment flawless motions, Sajery made a brief plan on what to do. Digging into his pockets, he pulled out a five dollar bill and hurried to the small shop booth beside the rink. The line was troublesome, a human woman at the front had a child who couldn't make up it's mind, it's whining high voice brought a faint grimace to his face. I really have kept my temper down...I'd probably be plotting to ram snow down the kid's jacket by now... A couple minutes passed and finally, he placed his order.

Grinning to himself, Percival stretched an arm aross his chest while skating towards the edge of the ice. It had been another wonderful night of practice, another step closer to perfecting his skills for the upcoming competition. His leg muscles were a little sore after all that work, but it wasn't enough to dampen his mood. Stepping off the ice, he carefully crossed over the snow-covered cement and sat himself in one of the benches. Breathing a sigh of relief, the young man bent down to untie his white skates, fingers nimbly plucking at the strings to loosen the skate shoes. Hmmm...I'll drop by a diner for supper, buy a nice warm mug of hot chocolate and head home...

It was now or never - Sajery waited until the human finished pulling his winter boots on, before making his move.

Unsually nervous, the surface demon slowly made his way towards the bench where the creature sat, butterflies rampant in his stomach. It seemed to take forever, but somehow, he stopped infront of the long-haired man. Gentle lapis eyes shyly flickered up, bright with mirth and polite confusion. A smile, brought on by embarrassment, threatened to break across Sajery's artifically masked face.

"Here." Voice unintentionally curt, Sajery saw the almost frightened blink the human gave at the tone he used. Silently cursing himself, he tried again, "It's hot chocolate, I thought, you might like some after your skating..." Any fear of rejection that most humans would give to a complete stranger, faded when the young man looked at the cup he offered, tilting his head to the side, the movement probably unintentionable yet rather cute.

"Thank you," The human took his gift into his slender hands, they touched for a moment. A shiver ran through his body when they met eyes, and he fought against it, drawing his beige coat closer to his body. It occured to the surface demon that this was the first time he had ever heard the young one's voice. The sound was clear and soft at the same time, shy and still outgoing to an extent. I hope his personality does not contradict his beautiful appeareance...

"That was kind of you...How much was this, sir, I-I'll pay you back." Those shy blue eyes ran over his face, still sparkling with gratefullness. Sajery looked away suddenly, causing his bangs to fall over his face,

"You don't have to pay me back, don't worry about it. What's your name?" Daring to glance at the young human, he saw a sudden smile cross over that smoothly featured face.

"It's Percival...What's yours?" There was true interest behind the soft question. The surface demon felt more at ease, quite sure now that his appearance did not intimidate the young creature.

"Sajery..." The tension he heard in his words vanished with a quiet laugh when the human repeated his name, looking more and more friendly. "D-do you want some company tonight?"

There was probably nothing worse to say. Well, there was, surely, but now, Sajery guessed, Percival would blink in disgust at the question. Such a phrase was probably used by w****s or "night companions", and if the younger thought that that was the reason of his interest...

"Hey, that'd be great!" The prospect of not having to walk home alone as well as some time with the man who bought him hot chocolate, both sounded great. Setting the beverage down momentarily, the young man gingerly placed his skates in his bag after wiping off the ice with his hand. Trying to keep his wet hand from zipping the bag closed, he rested it on his knees, keeping them steady.

"H-Here...I'll do that for you, Percival." The man's hands seemed to tremble before lifting his skate bag from his lap; for a second, Chay wanted to protest, the thought of another possibly running off with his most prized possession. One of the few posessions I have... But that single moment faded as he watched Sajery zip everything securely and wrapped the strap around his shoulder. Wide blue eyes faltered as they watched the man do so, then blinked in surprise. Gloved fingers offered him a hankerchief. Warmth spread across his cheeks at the kindness that was showering over him, and with a great desire to chuckle, he managed to take the offered cloth without doing so. He's so...Thoughtful...

He noticed the blush. The human's coyness was endearing already, every shy meeting of the eyes made him return each and every smile the young one gave him. It was absurd for him to seek a relationship of any kind to a human - was it allowed for a surface demon, any demon, to wish to make contact with one?

After Percival wiped his hands on the hankerchief, Sajery to the damp cloth back and then returned the skate bag, asking where they'd go. The young creature beamed at him, obviously happy at being asked where to go. It irked the surface demon at how lively this human was, but quickly put the wondering to rest when a suggestion was made. They shared a coffee and some muffins at a lounge shop a few blocks away. Percival was seventeen, four years younger, and was hoping to be a professional skater someday. More bits and pieces of information were exchanged and as time passed, their coffee, hot chocolate in Percival's case, began to cool. But their interest in each other didn't.

The human had asked if he could possibly be walked home, eyes not meeting his. The surprise at such a request did not last long; a smile, not as shy as before, grew on Sajery's face.

For some reason, the young one only wanted Sajery to accompany him up to the entrance to a building, not wanting the demon to go any further. Again, that wondering began, and persisting, Sajery gave a small laugh.

That was when he knew that he would mark this human as his own.