Our Mirrored World

Chapter Thirty Two - Picture

“Aren’t you going to sleep yet? It’s almost nine in the evening,” Luther claimed while floating around Zarina’s room.

She rolled her eyes, she couldn’t count how many times he asked that question already and it’s starting to annoy her.

“How many times do I have to answer you that I couldn’t sleep when I’m full or ate too much food?” She raised her voice that almost made Luther raise his hand.

“Sheesh! Why are you always so grumpy and cold?” Luther pouted while playing with his wand, “Did your mom conceive you from ice or something?” 

“No, I just easily get annoyed by people like you who can’t understand one simple answer, so shut up pervert,” She fumed.

“Oi! I told you that I’m not a pervert okay? I’m just a handsome wizard, who is the greatest of all time!” Luther exclaimed, so she just rolled her eyes.

Zarina didn’t say anything as she checked on her phone, there were a few messages from Kirstin asking if she was alright and had eaten yet.

She replied and stopped when she realized that her parents weren't even calling her to bug her if she was doing alright.

Zarina smiled at the thought of Kirstin didn’t tell her parents yet because she needed some rest, “What are you doing?”

She raised her head when she heard him close to her and almost gasped when she saw Luther floating above her to check what she was doing with her phone.

“L-Luther! Float away from me! You might fall and touch me!” She nervously exclaimed, so Luther tilted his head at her before chuckling.

“Of course I wouldn’t do something as careless like that,” Luther playfully winked at her, “So? What are you doing?”

Zarina was still nervous but she didn’t let him see it as she raised her phone at him, “I’m replying to text messages,”

Luther furrowed his eyebrows because he doesn’t know what a text was, but he knows what a message is, “What really? How? Don’t you use an envelope or paper for that?” 

Zarina chuckled at what he just said, it’s like she’s talking to someone from the 1900s, “We have a phone for that, we only use that for formal purposes, mostly at work,”

“We can just send replies here if we clicked this,” Zarina let him see how she replies as she clicked the button for sending.

“There, I sent my reply to her,” Zarina raised her phone at Luther and he looked highly confused at what she had just done.

“What? So you mean you sent a message and a letter will appear in their homes?” Luther raised his eyebrows, so she glared at him.

“No! They will receive it on their screen just like how I received this one from her,” Zarina pointed at the message that was white on the upper while she told him that the green one was the one that she sent.

“I don’t get it! Is this the magic of humans? Why are they so complicated!” Luther complained.

Zarina rolled her eyes at him, “This is not magic, like I said, this is science, technology, ever heard of it?”

“Whatever, it’s just so strange, how can you easily understand what was going on in our world while I couldn’t understand a thing here about your world?” Luther sounded troubled while floating away from Zarina.

Zarina gazed at him intently, she thought that he’s probably depressed for not getting strange things from her world.

“Humans like me may just be ordinary but our minds aren't, our minds are different to one another that one could create this type of technology,” Zarina raised her phone.

“Some people may not know it but we are the reason why our universe is evolving and why it is constantly changing, we find ways to make things more convenient for us to use,” 

“Our imaginations were so wide that we could imagine things or beings like you exist even if, in reality, we do not believe that you are, but of course, I’m probably the only human who knows you truly existed,” Zarina mumbled before meeting Luther's gaze.

“And if you truly want to find out more about humans, I could help you, but we might take a while, it’s just so broad,” She added, so Luther smiled since it was the first time Zarina looked serious about doing something for him.

“Thank you, Zarina, but I think I’m fine just getting to know you better,” He claimed, “Plus, I don’t have to know everything, just the basic things you mostly use like that cabinet that emits elements of ice,”

Zarina chuckled at what he just stated, “That’s called refrigerator dummy, we already talked about that jeez,” 

“Right, right, whatever, so I pushed some button a while ago and it created a noise, what does that mean?” Luther curiously asked so Zarina’s eyes widened.

“W-What button? Was it red or green?” She nervously asked, it might be the gas or the dishwasher, whatever he pushed is probably in big trouble.

“The green one, did I do something awful?” Luther bit his lower lip after he noticed Zarina’s troubled expression.

She sighed in relief before laying on her bed, “It’s just the dishwasher, it’ll be fine, I don’t put dishes there unless you put something in there?” Zarina raised her eyebrows, so Luther just shrugged.

“No, I didn’t put anything, I just pushed it and it created a sound,” He thoroughly explained, so she just nodded at him.

“So do you want to find out more about this thing? This is what we use to communicate with other humans, you probably have noticed it right?” Zarina asked, so Luther nodded.

He heard her numerous times speaking on that rectangular thing that is glowing, “Right, you were speaking to your friend or your parents there always,”

Zarina looked pleased with what he just said before nodding at him, “Yes, that was called a call, if we want to inform someone urgently we could use a call for a faster communication,” She explained.

Luther nodded at her as he took out some notes and books, “And we can also communicate with them using text messages just like what I let you witness a while ago,”

“I see, it’s a little bit confusing, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it, plus I read numerous books here in your apartment,” Luther claimed as Zarina continued explaining things that phones could do.

She told him that they could post something online where millions of people could see and watch it on UTube, post pictures and stories on Meta and Instagrammy.

Even if she doesn’t use it, she also told Luther about Tweety where people could rant about what they feel about everything, politics, love life, work, school, just anything.

“Also this phone can capture pictures, pictures are um, how do I explain this, they’re like memories that were frozen in that time, it’s something we capture to remember specific moments that we probably couldn’t repeat unless we plan to,” Zarina thoroughly explained before capturing Luther’s appearance on the other side.

She wanted to laugh because she captured that he was floating in the air with many books surrounding him.

“Look, this is what a picture looks like, though I’m pretty sure you saw one before because I let you see one of your pictures before that I captured from the mirror,” She claimed, so Luther’s eyes widened.

“Oh my wizards, I just look so good in that picture!” He exclaimed proudly, so Zarina just rolled her eyes.

“You said capturing moments huh? Can we take a picture now together?” Luther suddenly requested so she flinched before gazing at him.

No one has ever asked her that before, her parents were like stalkers that were taking numerous pictures of her without permission, so it’s entirely different.

“I can’t now, I look um, sick and ugly,” Zarina felt her ears heating up, so Luther shook his head and floated right beside her.

“Come on! Just one! Then we’ll take another one sooner if I visit here again and roam around your world,” Luther beamed.

“Plus you don’t have to fix yourself to be beautiful in the picture, you look fine as it is,” He playfully winked as Zarina averted her gaze at him.

“F-Fine, just be careful to not touch me,” Zarina firmly said, so Luther just nodded at her and clapped his hands.

“Stand up and I’ll float behind your back,” Luther suggested, so Zarina slowly stood up and raised her phone on her front.

Luther then slowly floated around her and stood up on the back, he noticed that her hands were shaking for some unknown reason.

“Oi! Calm down! It’s just a picture,” Luther chuckled just to ease the tension that was forming inside of Zarina’s mind.

“I-I am calm, i-it’s just the first time I’m taking a selfie with someone,” She whispered, so Luther wondered for a moment.

“Wait, is this your first picture with a friend?” Luther curiously asked, so she shyly nodded in front.

She feels embarrassed just by nodding at him, “Well then let’s make this memorable!” Luther beamed as he took out his wand and used his magic to change Zarina’s clothes.

“There! For us to look like we were cosplaying, I’ve read that in a magazine here in your apartment, humans do that to imitate some um, like virtual characters or mythological creatures for fun,” Luther claimed.

Zarina looks surprised at what just happened because a bright light appeared, she gazed at what she was wearing, it’s the witch clothing she wore when she visited Luther’s world.

“Well go on and take the picture!” Luther clapped his hands from her back, so she just shook her head before raising her phone.

She made sure that both of them were visible to the front camera, she also noticed that Luther was so tall that he could probably tower over her if he leaned.

Zarina brushed off those thoughts before coughing, “A-Alright, one, two, three, smile,” Zarina tapped the button and took their first-ever picture together.

“Can I see?!” Luther requested so she stepped away for a moment before looking for that photo in her gallery.

After she found it, she motioned it to Luther’s face, “Oh my wizards, we look so good together,” Luther mysteriously commented as he shook his head, “This rectangular thing is truly terrifying, it can do a lot of things!”

Zarina secretly chuckled at what Luther just stated before she decided to take one picture of Luther. She doesn’t know why she did it, but she did.

“Oi human! What did you do?” Luther swiftly floated beside her, she was surprised for a moment that she almost lost her balance when Luther instinctively grabbed her waist and pulled her closer to him.

Their faces and bodies were so close to each other as the only thing that Zarina could hear was the frantic beating of her heart.

Luther, on the other hand, was so surprised that he couldn’t take his eyes off her or even let her go after he touched her.

She just feels so small, soft, and fragile, the thought of holding her is making his mind dysfunctional.

He then remembered their accidental kiss, it wasn’t long but the softness and warmth of Zarina’s lips made him want to have a taste of it again.

Luther shook his head because of his absurd thoughts, just fantasizing about it is making him feel things that he shouldn’t feel just because of their closeness with each other right now. 

“I-I’m sorry Zarina, did I startle you?” Luther whispered before pulling her up, he took that opportunity to touch her forehead.

He smiled when he felt that her temperature was starting to drop back to normal, “You’ll probably be fine by tomorrow,”

Zarina couldn’t say anything as she noticed that Luther’s hands were glowing, it’s a sign that he’ll disappear sooner, “You’re going back,”

“Yep! I touched you,” He sighed dreadfully, he wanted to stay longer to watch her sleep or if she needed something until she gets better.

“I’ll be fine,” Luther flinched when he heard Zarina speak, he didn’t say anything but Zarina looked like she knew why he was sighing.

“I’ll be better and you should rest too,” She coldly stated before hugging herself, “Thank you again, for taking care of me,”

Zarina lowered her head since she was embarrassed by saying those words, Luther secretly chuckled before patting her head.

“Anything for you, Zarina,” After Luther said those words, he disappeared and was exchanged by a plant tree.

To be continued…