Merule

My Sun and Moon (Engel x Raafling)

At first it seemed as if there would be no reply, but then Ruby could hear some mumbled words as well as someone moving around in the other room. Here eyes widened a little as she realised she hadn't actually prepared herself for talking to someone, and she nervously ran her hands over her clothes to... to do what exactly? She was soaked though and it wasn't like she was going to get the creases out of these clothes by rubbing them. Why did she change? It was unbefitting of a Celestial to be seen like this, and with her hair down nonetheless. How was anyone going to take her seriously if she-

Ruby instinctively broke out in a serene smile the moment the door opened, though it took her a little more effort to keep it up once she saw who was on the other side. The first thing she noticed was the shock of white hair surrounding her face, the second thing was that the woman was pretty much her own age. She hadn't expected someone so young to suddenly be right up in her face, and neither had she been prepared for the thorough once-over she got from the stranger. She must look very strange indeed, because the words out of her mouth made no sense at all.

"Er... How do you mean 'dead'," she started before remembering the sign that had been on the door. Of course a medium would deal with dead people. "Oh, 'dead' like in... er, 'deceased'," she continued lamely, "I'm not here for that. I'm here for your child." That sounded bad. She didn't remember it being this difficult to talk to people. Of course usually she talked to huge crowds, and that was easy. For one, you didn't have to look at their faces.

"Er, that is to say, I'm here to ask whether you've had a child. Recently. Or perhaps know someone who..." she trailed off, unnerved by the way the woman was staring fixedly at a point just above her right ear. She knew some people had trouble with looking 'an avatar of the sun goddess' in the eye, but she hadn't even introduced herself. Besides, if she was somehow intimidated by her presence, surely she would make it look like she was actually listening. Her next words confirmed Ruby's suspicion that she hadn't been listening, and when the woman admitted to being less than sober it was her turn to be affronted.

"To watch the world with eyes clouded by intoxication is an offence to the work of the goddesses," she recounted automatically, the words drilled into her countless times by her tutors. Ah, that was probably kind of rude.

"Of course your house or, er, office is your own and I'm not here in any official capacity to tell you what not to do," she said quickly, smiling just a little too widely in the hope to smooth things over before they could get even more awkward.

"I'm just here to ask you a simple question in regard to the apartment complex you have recently vacated." There, this she could do. Forget about talking to normal people without looking like a fool, just ask the question, hand her the paper and get out before embarrassing herself further.

"We are following inquiries relating to a recent divination by the seers of the twelfth hour, and would like to ask you a simple question. Do you know anyone at your apartment complex who has recently given birth? Perhaps someone who moved away in the past month or so? Oh, and would you be so kind as to take a slip of paper from me?" She grabbed the case from her pocket and flipped it open as she held it out for the woman. It was an intricate little thing, silver and gold with a moon and sun respectively carved into the metal. Most people wouldn't recognise the significance, unless they'd gone through the bureaucracy of getting divine heritage acknowledged by the church at some point.

My Sun and Moon (Engel x Raafling)

The day was a total bust. Ruby could hear the priests arguing over the com as she watched the rain pounding against the tinted glass of the car window, a siren sounding in the distance as if to remind her even more that this place was nothing like the serenity of the Celestial Nile compound. It has been raining all day, but in the morning it hadn’t bothered her nearly as much as it did now. In the morning she’d stood up bright and early, eager and hopeful that this was the day they would find the moonchild. They’d driven for hours the day before, up and west from the fertile soils of the Nile Lake until they’d reached the small Celestial Church compound where they’d spent the night. They would need to be well-rested, so they had reasoned, in order to properly take on the sacred task of welcoming the moonchild into their proper life.

After a lifetime of being told there would be no one like her in this generation, Ruby had been overjoyed to hear of the divinations that had revealed the birth of another celestial child. The seers had of course been sceptical at first, but the directions had been so specific that they had to be true – or so Ruby kept telling herself. Truth be told, she was if possible even more invested in finding this child than the priests were. She’d never thought she would be able to meet anyone quite like her, but now that the possibility was there it was all she could think about.

The divinations hadn’t said anything about the gender of the child, but Ruby was privately hoping for a little sister. She would take care of her, and play with her and teach her everything she would need to know. She wouldn’t have to grow up being afraid all the time, because there would be someone there who was like her. Eventually she would grow up and together they would usher in a new age of balance, representing both goddesses on earth for the first time in generations.

Of course she knew it would never be that simple, but it was a fantasy she allowed herself to indulge in. In the end the was absolutely positive she would grow to love whoever this moonchild turned out to be. After all, they would be the one to free her from the weight of being the only Celestial in existence – the one who by all accounts should help people in the name of her mother wherever she goes. True, she wouldn’t be ready for her full set of responsibilities for a few years yet, but it was a daunting prospect to have to face it alone.

A daunting prospect she’d might have to confront after all, she thought with a heavy sigh. They’d made their way over to the apartment complex the seers had pinpointed that morning, Ruby dressed up in a layered silk robe in oranges and yellows that was far more comfortable- and less intimidating- than the ceremonial clothing she usually wore out in public. She’d pulled her dreads up into an intricate bun on top of her head, with a small golden sun pinned in as the only decoration apart from her customary septum piercing, sun earrings and necklaces adorned with rubies, garnets and sunstones. She’d even gone for a minimum of golden eyeliner rather than the traditional face paints she wore for public appearances. She had been all set to meet the moonchild as ‘Ruby the big sister’ rather than ‘Ruby Eleana, daughter of the sun’, who people knew from their televisions or as a golden speck in the distance when she addressed the people on behalf of the Celestial Church on the longest day of the year.

It had been all for nought, though, as they went through address after address, first in the apartment complex and then in the surrounding houses. While they were all honoured- and a little intimidated- by the attention of the priests, all Ruby could do was watch from a distance as no one was able to set the holy paper aflame. She was almost tempted to touch the stupid thing herself- to feel it react to the divine spark within her and burn away with a bright, yet cool flame- but they were very expensive to make and they hadn’t brought a lot of them. Besides, the light singe marks that were left by a few people that could boast divine ancestry in their lineage were proof enough that the papers worked. The problem was that they hadn’t found the child of the moon, whose touch should send the little scrap of inscribed paper up in flames.

In the end Ruby hadn’t gotten to even talk to anyone, only become increasingly impatient with every door the priests came scuttling back out of. She’d been doing breathing exercises to keep herself from doing something as embarrassing as singing the leather of the chairs all day, at first out of jittery excitement and later on to keep her mind of the hint of despair beginning at the back of her mind. Could it be that the seers really had been wrong? They had tried to warn her that divinations were not always what they appeared to be, but then they had gotten so excited with the details themselves… Could it be that the hope she’d felt was doomed to be extinguished even before it could blossom into something like happiness?

Whatever turned out to be the case, Ruby hadn’t been content to go back to the compound just yet. She might not be the boss of her own life, but her word still carried a lot of weight and when she told her entourage that she was going to check out the other address on file for the apartment that had been cleared out recently, they could do little but indulge her. She had to admit that she didn’t actually think they would still find the moonchild, but she wouldn’t rest until she’d at least talked to one person today. If nothing else, she might be able to give someone a good story to tell their grandchildren one day.

As they drove into the office area that was their final destination for the day, she took her hair down from its bun and carefully stowed away most of the jewellery (the septum piercing – sun shaped of course – stayed). She traced the delicate fabric of her robes for a moment, before taking them off in favour of a plain grey shirt and loose jeans. She loved those robes, she didn’t want to wear them when she undoubtedly found out the hope she felt for the last few days was all for nought. They were looking for a child, after all, and who in their right minds took a child to live with them in an office building?

It was still raining when she stepped out of the car, but Ruby turned the umbrella one of the priests handed her away. She would be soaked by the time she got to the entrance, but it wasn’t like she got cold.

“I’ll be right back,” she said, her tone of voice leaving no room for anyone to think she was going to let someone else come up with her. They could wait downstairs, with the janitor that had been called out of bed in order to open the door of the complex for them. It was not like she expected someone to even answer the door, and she just needed a moment for herself. Even if that moment was going to be in a darkened business complex. As an afterthought she took some holy paper, the gold and silver case tucked away haphazardly in her back pocket.

Her steps echoed as she walked up the empty stairs, dripping water as she passed. It felt kind of good, in a melodramatic way, that her miserable day was going to end in a miserable place – with her soaked and alone. She would normally be asleep for hours already, but it wasn’t like she was going to be able to get some sleep until she put this whole mess behind her. Checking the address on a slip of paper in her hand, she walked past offices until she got to the door marked with ‘detective medium’. Ruby gave a humourless snort at reading it. Since the seers apparently were a bust, perhaps the next step would be to ask this ‘Aizawa Tsuki’ for help tracking the moonchild. Without much hope for a reply, she rang the office bell.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

Even though he has a suspicion that there are layers beyond the surface conversation that he is missing, Autharyx is feeling pretty good about it all. Viltez has given no indication that he has been offended by something Autharyx has said, and now his host’s tail even makes his way around his arm again. It is weird how comforting the press of the appendage is, given that it is just about as novel to him as the rest of this venture into humanity, but as long as Viltez seems okay with it he’s not going to press his luck by questioning it too much. At least he knows not that trying to pet it will make Viltez pull away, so he just enjoys the contact as he waits for the beast man to speak.

When he does, the sense that he’s missing something grows, especially when Viltez starts blushing and stumbling over some of his words. Autharyx tilts his head a little as he listens and tries to project a polite sort of attention rather than the concentrated focus he’s currently applying. The bed thing seems to be a bit of a tender issue with his host, and Autharyx supposes he should treat it as such if he wants to come across as a well-adjusted human, instead of reveal that he actually really likes the idea of sharing the bed.

If he was in his natural form he would have preened at the thought. Back home he spent most of his time slumbering on top of his most precious possession, ranging from gold and gems to tapestries and gifts he’d gathered over the ages. It is probably… disrespectful to want to gather Viltez up for his treasure trove, though, so he does his best to banish the image from his mind and keep from looking too eager.

“That seems… very practical,” he finally says, careful not to fluster Viltez any further, even though there is a certain appeal to watching the spread of red across his face (and down his collar? Can all the skin on a human body blush like that or is it confined to the head?).

“I really like the idea of staying longer,” spending more time with you, “and I’d hate to think my presence would be cause for your discomfort. In fact, you being stiff and not well-rested would be far more distasteful for me than the idea of sleeping together. I was very fortunate indeed to happen upon so kind a host, and it would be terribly impolite for me to repay that favour by providing you with sleepless nights.”

He smiles in what he hopes is a reassuring manner, ignoring the thread of anticipation curling in his gut. It will be nothing like curling around Viltez in his natural form, of course, but that doesn’t stop him from looking forward to it. He continues with his meal as he observed Viltez to see if he handled this well. He feels he’s gotten better after startling him badly in the forest that afternoon, but he’s running blind here in regards to ‘normal’ human reactions so it’ll always be a bit of a gamble.

My Sun and Moon (Engel x Raafling)

Name: Ruby Eleana Solaris
Age: 24
Appearance:

larger image

Powers:
- Manipulation of heat and fire: Ruby can create heat or fire, but only in an extremely uncontrollable fashion. As such she hasn't so much learned to use this as to supress it. Anger and fear in particular make it harder for her to keep control, so she works hard on not becoming angry or frightened at all.
- Impervious to heat, and to a lesser degree, cold: Ruby is pretty much comfortable at whatever temperature, and she can handle hot things without hurting herself. This is the only part of her power that she makes use of in day-to-day life.

Who Will Break? ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

If Zach didn't know better, he would think the priest is doing this on purpose, he thinks wryly as he can't quite help himself from peering at the priest through the cracked-open door. Surely no once can be as oblivious as to stretch as they undress themselves, even wriggling their his a little as they shed the underwear, coyly turned away just enough so Zach has to keep guessing rahter than-

He stops his train of thought there and turns away with an effort, aware that none of this was helping his state of mind any. He should have been paying more attention the past weeks, should have visited some of the sexually repressed clergy in their dreams so he wouldn't have ended up hungry and sharing a room with his long-term mark. He can't afford to make any mistakes with this one- can't afford to push him too much too soon, so he's going to have to take it easy and stop projecting his preferred motives on Kiel.

By the time the priest calls for him to come in, he's back into his role, moving just slowly enough to hint at the posibility of discomfort that Kiel is reminded of the trust Zach is showing him right now. Trust is what he seems to crave, after all, and Zach needs him to be invested enough in the outcome ofthe night that he won't consider sneaking out to sleep on the floor after all.

"Outside please," he says with a smile, happy to know that sneaking out will be even more difficult for him like that. Plus, it's the choice that makes sense as the inside would leave him trapped against the wall. As Kiel was now, he deliberately does not dwell on, just as he dosn't dewll on the way the soft illumination brings out the priest's eyes and how well those eyes would be suited for a more heated look. He doesn not care that patience is a virtue, but he does care that it is a necessary tactic in his line of work.

'Let him take the lead,' he reminds himself once again as he waits for the other to slip into the bed before settling in himself. He's probably imagining most of the heat beaming off the body next to him, but he's defenitely not imagineing how there is no room for them to lie anything but pressed together. It takes him a bit of wriggling around to settle down, but eventually he ends up with his face turned to the side of the bed, the priest a warm presence against his back.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

It doesn't insult Autharyx to be compared to an animal, and it only occurs to him that he might need to act like it does when Viltez starts to backtrack on his own words, and by then it's too late to pretend.

"I think I would rather be likened to an animal than a kid," he says instead, a small smile on his face to show he's not being very serious. "Don't we all look at them and envy their abilities? The grace of the mountain lion, the flight of birds... Humans might be capable of many feats, but those are still beyond us." He hopes he is projecting and air of awe towards the natural world rather than disdain towards humans- which he was supposed to be a part of after all. He doesn't really hate humans of course, otherwise he wouldn't chose to spend time amongst them. But while they are able to make many a beautiful thing, they are also the creatures that have caused him the most trouble over the ages.

He should probably try to hide how much he's observing the beastman, but as he's being watched in return it might be okay after all. It's still difficult for him to read the quick succession of emotions over Viltez' face as he glances at his own tail, but it is fascinating to look at the man regardless. In his true form he'd found humans hard to keep apart - their little faces had all looked much the same to him and they kept changing clothes to look different from day to day.

It is different with Viltez - or perhaps it's different now that he's the same size. Whatever the cause, Viltez is very interesting to look at. Not just his tail, the appeal of which could be explained by its novelty, but even his face. For someone who until recently was hard pressed to keep males and females apart on looks alone, he's spent an awful lot of time just looking at the shape of his eyes, the curve of his jaw and the colour of his lips. Even without spending much time as a human, he can guess that staring at people's faces might be considered rude, so he tries to be at least a lttle subtle about it.

Trying so hard, in fact, that he is caught off-guard when Viltex mentions he's free to ' return any time'. His face falls as he catches the implication - he's supposed to leave soon? - but it quickly morphs into relief when the his host mentions he's free to stay as well. A relieved smile is on his face by the time he catches up with his own emotions and his cheeks colour slightly as he realises how much of his emotions are on display. He's supposed to be a traveler, isn't he, not some kind of ... lonely soul who gets to attached too easily. He can only hope Viltez will take it as a compliment that he doesn't want to leave, and not a reason to doubt his cover story.

"I would very much love to stay." he says without thinking, hiding a wince at the earnest warmth in his voice. " Er, that is to say, it would be kind of you to allow me to stay. I can... offer compensation for your troubles of course." It feels... wrong somehow to try and treat this thing as a transaction, but that is what humans did, right? Autharyx much rather wants to... he doesn't actually know. It's novel enough for him to actually care about hte opinion of an individual mortal that he hasn't had time to figure out much beyond that. Best if he just follows Viltez' lead rather than try something and mess is up, though, Viltez-proper, that is, not Viltez' tail. The man seems disturbed anough by the appendages' tendencies that Autharyx is fairly certain it will not be well-recieved if he starts draping himself all over the beastman.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

Autharyx feels his face break out in a grin before he makes the conscious decision to smile back, but he doesn’t mind. Everything seems to be so… simple with Viltez that he’s less worried about the reflexes his mortal form might or might not have than he’d originally expected. Although, perhals simple wasn’t the right word. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but sometimes he felt like there was something between them that he was missing- something either or both of them seemed to react to but without him knowing exactly what it was.

It had been like that during the dinner preparations as well, now that he thinks of it. Several times he could have sworn he felt a prickle of attention at the edge of his awareness, but when he turned to look Viltez had been focused on cooking. It’s probably just another thing that’s different about inhabiting a mortal body, but it still put him on edge a little. Not in a bad way, even though that would probably made sense. He just feels… restless in a way that he often did when thunderclouds were gathering just outside of his reach. As they settle down to eat he pushes it to the back of his mind like the insignificant thing it probably is.

The food tasted even better than yesterday, and he hums appreciatively at the sweetness of it. He hadn’t though he would like the taste of old and burnt meat, but the sweetness of it was even better than the sharp tang of blood in his mouth when he hunted in his true form. He couldn’t say anything like that, of course, so he just sticks to a generic compliment as he digs into the rest of his plate.

“It’s really good!” The story his host tells is also good, although he doesn’t so much care about the woes of mortals as he does about the obvious joy the other finds in the beauty of the forest. It’s something he can relate to: he is exceptionally proud of his lake and the surrounding woods after all. From what he has seen so far, Viltez has the right to be proud of his territory as well. He knows the half-breed can’t be as connected to it as Autharyx was (is?) to his own lake, but it still feels proper to pay his respects.

“I’ve had a lot of fun as well,” he says with a genuine smile. It feels really easy to relax around Viltez, even after only knowing him for such a short time. It’s almost sad that he hasn’t told him his proper name. It’s probably silly, but there is a part of him that wants to hear it from the mortal, in spite or perhaps because of the power there is in a name. It’s an insignificant urge, of course, and he discounts it as such. Besides, he doesn’t want to tell Viltez that he… misrepresented the truth a little.

“It’s been… nice,” he continues, slightly distracted by the way Viltez is deliberately not looking at him. The restlessness from before had come back full force when he had caught the half-breed’s eye over the last comment, buzzing under his skin as if there was something he ought to be doing. The tail is back as well, flicking just enough to catch his attention whenever he looks away from it. Or, so he’s probably imagining. It must be because he still has that inconvenient urge to drag his fingers through the soft fur every time it comes close, but he’s determined to be a good guest so he just keeps eating his food.

“You’re very light on your feet,” he says instead. Complimenting physical prowess is nearly as good as complimenting his territory after all, and he wants to make sure Viltez knows he is being respectful.

“Your tail too- it’s hard to believe you never let it out with how well you can use it.”

Who Will Break? ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

Zach can all but feel Kiel’s approval radiate from him as they get ready for dinner. It’s enough to make up for his slight lapse in control with the sketchbook earlier. He should have known to be more on guard: kids like Sarah are all too well-versed in picking up on the little things- they have to be to survive. Fortunately the girl does not seem interested in making a scene, but just enjoys the attention from the priest. She seems to like Zach well enough as well, and he shoots her an impish smile during Kiel’s prayer to improve her opinion of him even more.

When the priest has his eyes closed, he crosses his eyes and sticks out his tongue, expression melting back into an innocent smile before Kiel is done. Sarah has to bite her lip to keep from giggling, and when he shoots her a wink later on she has to dig into her food to keep her composure. There, now they share an insignificant little ‘secret’ that makes her laugh and paints him in a fun and approachable light. And if he feels a warm glow at the increased brightness of her smiles, he chalks it up to professional pride.

Kiel seems satisfied as well over dinner, and eating and cleaning up is an amicable affair. It wasn’t what he had in mind originally, but he supposes it’s good for the priest to see him act as an adult towards a smaller child. With Sarah in the house, perhaps he loses the ‘little one’ stamp at least for a little while.

The child has to go to sleep right after dinner, and when she’s sent into ‘his’ room, Zach has to hide a smile at the implications. The priest immediately confirms his hopes with an apologetic tone. While Zach knows this is better than he could have planned, he still keeps a serious look on his face as he nods. When the priest mentions sleeping on the floor, however, he allowed himself to roll his eyes and huff in indignation.

“Do you really think I’d sleep well knowing I put you out on the floor? If anyone’s used to sleeping on the floor, it would be me.” He makes sure to look Kiel in the eye. ’See, I trust you now. Are we not equals?’ Getting the priest to warm up to him was all good and well, but he would need his respect as well if the man was ever going go along with his intentions.

“The bed is plenty big. Believe me, I’ve slept in smaller.” He grins as he goes on, “Slept next to train stations too, so I don’t care if you snore or whatever.” He bumps his shoulder into the priest’s affectionately before making his way to the man’s bedroom. Kiel has shown he cares about his charges’ well-being more than ‘propriety’, so Zach is not worried he’s going to try and talk him out of it. Not when he’s dangling a show of trust in front of him like this.

“I don’t want to disturb Sarah to get pj’s, so I’m just going to borrow some of yours, ok?” He pulls the door closed just soft enough that it bounces open to a crack again rather than clicking shut, giving him just enough of a space to casually undress in to allow the priest a glance of his now-healed torso. He might be shorter than the other man, but there is no mistaking him for anything other than an adult now that the bruises have faded.

The pants he finds are too long, but the way they hang low on his hips make up for he has to roll up to sleeves at the bottom. The shirt that goes with it is both too tight across his shoulders and too long in the sleeves, so he just sticks with the shirt he wore for the day. That it just happens to leave a narrow strip of tan skin uncovered every time he moves is a happy coincidence.

When the Roar Falls ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

Autharyx nods along with the explanation as if he actually understands it. He’d been hesitant about bought meat the day before, but if this meal is anything like the food from yesterday, he’s sure he will enjoy it. Do all mortals cook their food like this, or is he just very lucky to have found one that does? He can’t remember the food humans sometimes brought into his cave as having been anything like this, but then he supposes it’s different when you don’t have a mortal body to appreciate it.

“It sounds good,” he says earnestly, breaking into a smile when the tail fastens around his wrist again. He doesn’t know why he feels so… flattered when it happens, but if it feels good it’s probably not a bad thing. Viltez doesn’t seem to mind it any more, not as much as he did at first. His explanation of why it was ‘inappropriate’ still doesn’t really make sense to him, but he’s fairly certain he managed to assure the half-breed that he didn’t mind. In fact, he finds himself looking forward to each instance where he’s able to touch it. He doesn’t know why, but he thinks it has something to do with the sounds his host had made when he’d touched it for the first time. The breathy gasps had been unlike anything he’d heard before, and he still doesn’t know what about it fascinates him so much.

He absent-mindedly runs his fingers over the soft fur a couple of times, before gently extracting himself so he can go set the table. Normally he would prefer being waited on, but it only feels natural to help out a little when Viltez is being so accommodating to him. It’s simple enough to stay out of Viltez’ way now that he is actually trying, and by the time the food is finished, Autharyx has plates set up, as well as some water to go with the food. He even helps carry the food to the table, after which he sits down at the same spot as yesterday. Now that he spent the last meal observing and copying table manners, he feels confident to try and keep a conversation going for this one.

“The forest here is beautiful,” he says after they’ve both filled their plates. The forest falls within Viltez’ territory after all, and it is indeed worth a compliment.

Who Will Break? ~ PopeAlessandros x Raafling

Zach stays focused on Sarah as Kiel gets up to get food. He can feel the man’s eyes on him, can practically hear the gears in his head turning as he processes this new side of Zach. It wasn’t how he was planning on spending this evening, that was for sure. Not only was he tired and hungry, but now he also needed to pay attention to an upset child and come up with some kind of backstory to explain how he’s good with children. Not what he’d been looking forward to at all.

He smiles at the priest to show he’s fine with him leaving, but it slowly melts off his face once the man is out of the door. Yes, not how he had planned to spend his evening. Still, the child is innocent in this, and it’s not like he’s a bad improviser.

“Well then Sarah, seems like we have to entertain ourselves for a while.” He makes sure to mask the disappointment on his face as he turns to her. He knows he could try and ask about what had happened, but it’s unlikely he’ll get anything out of her in the short time they have together. Best to use the age-old tactic of distraction to try and lighten her mood a little. Perhaps if she feels more comfortable with him, it’ll impress Kiel and the evening might not be a bust after all.

The girl seems in no hurry to talk just yet, though, but looks at him with big eyes from behind her glass of water. Pushing the matter will only make things worse, so Zach grabs his sketchbook from the bag and sits himself down on the floor so Sarah is able to peek over his shoulder if she leans in.

“We went to the aquarium today,” he chats airily, just filling the air up a little without pressuring Sarah to talk back. “I haven’t seen so many fish together in one place before in my life!” He goes on to describe some of the more interesting specimens, flipping through the pages to look at what he’d drawn. A smile creeps on his face when he can hear the girl shift around behind him to get a better look and he makes sure to hold the sketchbook so she can clearly see what he’s drawn.

When she seems absorbed by his stories, he manages to surprise a small giggle out of her by describing how someone got splashed in the petting pool, and after that she’s confident enough to ask questions here and there. Eventually he ends up sitting on the couch with Sarah tucked against his side as they flip through some of the older drawings at well. She’s mostly silent as they look at delicate drawings of flowers and little songbirds, but speaks up as they pass by a drawing Zach had forgotten was still in there.

“Hey, that’s Kiel,” she says, looking up at him for confirmation. Zach hesitated slightly before nodding, even though it’s impossible to deny the subject of the drawing. He’d indulged in drawing the priest, he knows, but the moment had been hard to resist. Kiel had been reading in the garden with him, for once not looking at him from the corner of his eye. The sun had cast shadows of his lashes on his cheeks, and Zach had carefully traced the contours of his face so that he would do his cheekbones justice. Kiel in the picture looked serene, as he had done in the moment, and there was more… emotion in the piece than he’d been willing to show the priest. What could he say, it was in his nature to appreciate the beauty in people- and Kiel was very beautiful to look at. He’d meant to throw it away, but apparently it slipped his mind.

“He’s very pretty,” Sarah shakes him from his thoughts and he doesn’t need to look at the child to know her eyes are on his face.

“Huh,” he says as casually as he could manage. “I didn’t notice. It’s just practice, you know, like with the fish? Fish are more pretty to look at any-“ his casual façade falls flat when he slams the sketchbook shut with a guilty expression at the sound of the front door opening. He puts it down on the arm of the couch and quickly stands up.

“That must be Kiel with the food, I’ll go set the table,” he says before doing just that.