Star Crossed: Finding the other - 8. A Small Light

Norian

When I wake, I am confused by the small weight on top of me.

I look down and see the covers over a lump with two ears poking out of the top.

I smile and carefully move my hand up to try and rub the fuzzy black ears.

Instantly the lump begins to start purring. I almost laugh out loud at that.

I lift the sheets a little to see Mekaias’ face.

He looks so vulnerable and soft.

God I want to kiss him!

Learning what the tattoos represent make me feel sad. I wish I could make them disappear.

I can’t help but hug him a little tighter.

He saw me in my living form and didn’t seem to care!

It was a small test for him, but it was a bigger test for me. I never show my living form to others. Not even Remy and Remelia!

Mekaias just took my hand and pulled me in as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

It made my chest feel all fuzzy and warm.

I keep rubbing the fuzzy ears for a bit.

The purring keeps getting louder, and then I cover him back up.

I lay there feeling him breathe against my chest.

Not wanting to wake him, I sit there until he natural opens those pretty eyes.

This plan had hopefully thought to last maybe a few minutes but he is still dead asleep!

I at least know he is alive since I feel his breathing, but it is pretty late. Almost nine in the morning!

I refuse to move.

I must wait for this perfect being to wake up first!

After about an hour and a text from Remy asking where I am, I gently nudge the sleeping beauty to try and wake him.

He groans, stretches his back and somehow curls tighter against me.

It is very sweet but man...he is one heavy sleeper.

I slowly and carefully lift him up and slide out from under him.

I set him back down and then rush to the bathroom to pee.

Holding it in all morning didn’t feel so good. Not to mention smaller me was getting pretty excited from being with our soulmate in bed.

I get back in my stronger form and tiptoe out the door.

Instantly I am in the face of Remelia.

She just giggles and walks to the kitchen.

“Breakfast was ready an hour ago," She calls. "You better have gone easy on that Cat.”

I feel heat rising up my neck and down my groin at the thought.

I practically ran to my room to shower and take care of the issue.

I come back out and eat breakfast for lunch.

It is twelve now.

Remy, Remelia, and George have gone to the Director to learn about Mekaias' past.

He is still not out the room.

I knock gently on his door in case he is awake.

No answer.

Knock a little harder.

Still no answer.

What is this monster? He just doesn’t wake up!

I open the door and peek in.

He literally hasn’t moved an inch since I left him.

“Mekaias?” I call from the door.

All I get is a flick of an ear.

I mentally take a breath and walk in and nudge his side, calling for him to wake up.

I even brought some food!

Sitting on the edge of the bed, I hold the plate near his nose.

I see him start sniffing and moving to get closer. I chuckle and massage his shoulder gently.

I should probably be more forceful but I can’t help but be gentle with him!

Remy and Remelia would give me hell for this since I practically pushed them off their beds till they got used to the morning schedule.

He yawns and starts to wake up.

I stand to give him space and he finally opens his eyes, still somehow looking sleepy and perfect at the same time.

“Goodmorning,” he says softly.

I mentally scream at how cute that is.

Man, I sound so stupid.

“It’s actually noon right now,” I smile and set his food on the side table. “I’ll leave you to eat and get ready. I am taking you to our training room!”

That was pretty much all I could come up with.

I can’t exactly take him on a date immediately, as much as I’d love to.

~~
~~

Mekaias

“This here is our training room,” Norian smiles as we walk past a door leading to a giant room.

One wall is fully made of glass that looks out to the city below.

It gives some not so splendid memories but at least this window has a nice view.

The room is split into three areas, all divided by glass walls.

What is with all the glass?

The left side is a large thing of water. A pool that has lights underneath that change the color of the water.

The middle is raised up higher than the rest and has various ropes hanging from the ceiling, various machines and other things used to workout. They even have a ring up there.

Norian tells me that the ring had been put in place while they were sent to pick me up.

Looks like Kane already knew I would be coming back.

The right side is wider than the rest.

In the middle of it, there is a giant blue mat that is used for sparring.

“What do you usually do?” He asks me.

“Nothing special,” I shrug. “All I did was fight training robots, run an obstacle course, stretch, and use my aerial ring.”

He scoffs at me. "'nothing special.'"

“Well I am going to lift some weights for a bit," He winks. "If you’d like, we can use the mat for combat training.”

I nod and he goes up some stairs into the middle area. I follow and go to a mat to stretch.

Once I feel that I am ready I then go to stand under the ring.

I jump on and begin my little routine.

Stretching my legs out, hanging from only one arm or leg, splits in the air or on the top of the ring.

Part of me was tempted to try and use magic like my Mother used to, but I don't know if I am ready for that yet.

After about an hour of different routines, I stop and see Norian watching me.

He is sweating through his shirt at the moment, which reveals everything quite nicely.

Can't exactly blame me for looking at his muscles! They are literally rock hard!

Well...not really. His chest and tummy were kind of soft last night.

“How do you not get dizzy?” He asks.

“You get used to it,” I smile. "Lots of practice over the years."

“You could probably fly an aircraft if you can handle spinning on that thing so fast.” He shakes his head and pulls out a water bottle. “I think I saw you performing. Well, at least your shadow.”

He starts to blush.

I grin and hop down.

“Well I wouldn’t mind giving a small performance,” I say.

His eyes go wide at that and he turns even redder.

“Not like that!” I laugh. “It’s the same performance I used when I was in the circus with Kane.”

“He was in a circus? Imagine that.” He snorts.

“Would you like to spar on the mat?” I ask. It is mostly to not speak about the past.

Lucky for me, Norian takes the bait pretty easily.

“Sure!” He perks up.

We walk over to the right after he grabs a towel to dry himself off.

“No weapons. Just for fun!” He says with a grin.

“Can I use some power to make my punches and kicks stronger?" I ask. "You are rather tough and big.”

I poke at his arm where rocks stick out for emphasis.

“Yeah go ahead," He smirks. "Just no weapons and don’t kill me please.”

He moves to stand across from me.

I get into a stance and then he calls to start.

For a good moment we are just circling around.

Every now and then I would strike out but he would dodge easily.

For such a big body, he sure does move fast.

He throws his fist out and I duck down and punch his side.

He stumbles back a little but attacks again, kicking his leg out high.

I roll under and behind him then use my hands to push myself into the air.

I land on his shoulders and use magic to help me pull him backwards to the ground.

He lands on his back and I wrap my legs around his neck.

He manages to pull my legs off and throws me to the other side of the mat.

I grunt from landing on my side but immediately get up and pounce back to him.

I punch out but he catches my arm and holds it in place. I try and punch with the other hand but he grabs that one too!

This is really hard to do without getting too forceful on him!

Next thing I know, I am being turned around and pinned onto the mat. I huff in frustration and try to push the weight off my back.

Norian takes a deep breath by my ear and then I feel something pushing against my butt.

Instantly, Norian freezes and rushes to get off me.

“I am so sorry! I swear I don’t get turned on from fighting!” He turns his back to me to hide his embarrassment.

“I believe that would be my fault,” I say but wince at the pain in my hip.

Must have landed wrong.

“It’s not your fault," He says with his back to me. "I swear I don't know what came over me!"

He refuses to look at me.

“I believe it is more along the lines of me burning off pheromones," I say as I push myself to my feet. "I knew it would be annoying somehow. I should have remembered my body does that.”

I walk over to him.

He peeks over his shoulder.

“It’s fine. I promise,” I smile and nudge his shoulder. “If it helps. You pretty much won that fight.”

“That explains why you aren’t sweating at all,” He breathes out a laugh. He seems to wait for a second and then says, “It explains the spice smell too. It is practically drowning the entire gym right now.”

“You can smell it?” I raise an eyebrow at that.

“Y-yeah. It's a um, Metonian thing.”

He seems very unsure of himself.

“Yeah we are great smellers!”

He sorta laughs at himself then excuses himself to the restroom.

I stand there a little confused and kind of fascinated.

I think I would like to research Metonians.

He is the first one I've met and that rock transformation is rather interesting.

~~
~~ 

Norian

That was possibly the most embarrassing thing ever! Meanwhile, little Nori thinks otherwise; practically grinding against Mekaias’ ass.

Kill me!

It was weird to learn he gives off pheromones.

Would have loved to learn about it a different way!

It was very interesting to learn it gives off the spice smell...that only I can smell.

I had to lie saying it was a Metonian thing. It is not a Metonian thing. Well, kind of not.

You can smell your soulmate in a large room but that's about it.

I can’t believe I left saying we are great smellers.

Who says that?

I sound so stupid!

After finally getting the stupid boner to die down, I walk back out and find Mekaias using a small towel with ice against his side.

Shit!

“Did I hurt you?” I rush over to help him sit down.

“No, no it’s fine.” He waves me off and presses the ice against his side, he hisses and gives a small smile. “Absolutely fine.”

I frown and sit next to him.

He starts to apologize about earlier but I stop him.

“I’d rather forget about all that. Just no more one on one for us," I smile and stand. “We should probably head back and shower before the squad gets here. Those siblings will probably try and question you.”

Not to mention the smell is getting to me again.

I help him stand and we begin our walk back to our rooms.

“Kane wants to talk to me," Mekaias says when we reach our home. "He said I should see them after everyone comes back here.”

“Well I’ll try and save some food for you," I say with a wink.

We head to our rooms and clean ourselves up.

After taking care of the boner and its memories of being pressed against Mekaias, I find that I was the first to finish the shower.

I sit in the living room and wait for him.

Eventually the squad comes back.

They don’t seem their happy, goofy selves now; not that I can blame them.

We don’t exactly talk. I imagine everyone is thinking about our new teammate and what he's gone through.

I am also wondering how he manages to look happy.

I think I should ask him tonight how he does it.

Mekaias comes out his room finally and sees us all sitting.

“Everyone okay?” He asks with a smile.

We all look over at him and without a word we surround him for a group hug.

I guess I am not the only one that will try and protect him now.

We are standing there in a silent hug for a good few seconds, then Mekaias whispers in my ear, “Is this a normal thing? I'm not sure I can handle it.”

We all laugh at that and let each other go.

~~
~~

Mekaias

“Pruaq, Kane.” I smile and slip into the chair in front of him.

“Pruaq, Mekaias.” He puts down his monitor. “How are you liking it here so far?”

“It’s very interesting. I like it so far, though from what happened earlier, I can guess you told them something.”

“Yes I told them what you have been through," He says. "Aileta wanted me to let them know. Said that they should be kind to you.”

I roll my eyes. “I am fine.”

He chuckles, “yeah I know you are. They still needed to know about your past.”

“You think I couldn’t have just told them myself?” I raise an eyebrow at him.

Pretty sure he should have asked me first at least.

“Would you have told them?” He asks.

Would I have? I honestly don’t know.

I can’t exactly hide from it. I have the tattoos on my face.

Honestly, I know I would have tried to put it off for as long as I could. However, I like talking to Norian.

Opening up to him seems easy. So maybe I would have told him at least.

When I would have told him is another question.

“I don’t know.” Is all I say.

“They are your new family now. They will open their arms to you gratefully.” He says.

“They already did.” I say with a smirk.

It was very awkward to me. All quiet and just hugging.

Still sweet nonetheless.

“Good. Well I want you to go on a small mission with them soon. It’s nothing big, but it should be good for you to bond more with the team. I trust you'll stick close to your leader?”

“Oh sure I will. It could be fun.” I smile at how things went today with Norian.

“There is one other thing I was hoping to talk about.”

The way he says that makes my smile go away instantly.

“Aileta has informed me of the man that killed Camiya.”

It feels like the room has gotten colder after hearing that.

“I want you to know that avenging your mother will not be such an easy task. He isn’t some random worker in Firelight. He is Firelight. He is in charge of everything they deal with. He recently was promoted to the head of Firelight due to his father’s passing. He is a very powerful man at the moment.”

I just sit there in silence. All plans on how to kill this man vanishing.

“His name is Tanner. Tanner Williams. We unfortunately do not know where he stays. I will try and find any information on where he could be. I want to help you. Believe me I do. You needed to know however, that it will take a great amount of time before we can plan for something right now. We have been trying to find his base of operations for years. I am terribly sorry if this information displeases you.”

He frowns and reaches out for my hand.

I nod and stand.

I give my thanks for the information and walk back to the squad building.

The squad is all watching something on a monitor in the living room.

Norian looks up at me instantly and smiles.

I give a small wave.

Seeing him smile helps lighten my mood a little, but not enough.

I keep walking to my room and close the door. I go to the restroom and turn on the shower.

Stand there in the hot water, I feel a familiar numbness inside.

I thought this would be easier than King Talemo. Learning that the one who killed my mother is practically a King of an ever greater kingdom brings a heavier weight on my shoulders.

I have been trying to numb the pain since year four of being in the glass cage.

The only thing I know that helps is actual physical pain.

I used to get excited when one of the masters would decide to bring blood play. It meant that pain would be involved. While it was always involved, it wasn’t the same as feeling a blade slice through my skin. It made the inner pain seem to go away for a small bit.

Obviously my old masters thought I was merely insatiable for their type of play.

Perhaps I was.

Sinking down to the ground, I let the shower continue to fall over me.

I summon a blade and hold it up in the air, examining the sharpness of the edge.

I take a small breath and bring it to my arm.

I never have a fear of hiding my arms. The evidence of this ever happening disappears as soon as I wake up. Even if I do have to be somewhere before it disappears, it already heals fast enough that I can say I messed up a few days earlier. As if it is nothing.

Nobody ever knows and I am fine with keeping it that way.

It helps with keeping the act that everything is okay.

I don’t want people to ask me over and over if everything is okay.

Everything is not okay.

Don’t be stupid enough to ask me that.

Norian almost saw evidence of it when he came the night before I left Utrio.

My cut had already begun to heal so he assumed it was from the fight before.

Drops of blood fall into the water between my legs, it swirls around and then disappears into the drain.

I will say that the victory of being freed and then killing my masters was a nice breath of life from the numbness, but that breath has passed now.

Everything is catching up to me again.

The darkness of being alone in a cage, of losing my family, of being used in ways that nobody should...it is eating at me once again.

The pain starts to flare up after more cuts are made. I added some to my thighs for good measure.

When blood stops flowing I get up and dry off. The sting of the towel against the cuts being welcomed.

Immediately, I see the scars already beginning to heal.

I sigh and walk out into my room, only to be greeted by Norian sitting on my bed.

He looks at me at first in embarrassment, but then there is shock.

“Please leave,” I whisper, not sure if I am more embarassed or angry at myself for getting caught so quickly!

I don’t want to deal with this right now. I can’t. I need to be alone! I don’t want to deal with explaining things to people.

Especially not Norian. Sweet Norian. Why he bothers being nice to me, I’ll never know. He almost makes the numbness go away but I don't want an almost. I want it all gone.

I grab a robe from my bag and put it on. It barely covers the scars at my thighs.

Damn you, Aileta and your weird clothes that you gave me.

I wait for Norian to do something.

Yell at me maybe? Scold me for being stupid?

To my surprised, he just holds a hand out to me.

I glare at his hand.

He isn’t in his rocky form right now. I guess that is his way of showing weakness? I don’t know. It makes me feel a little better honestly. Like I am not the only one put on the spot with my own weaknesses.

I sigh and place my hand on top of his.

He gently tugs me towards him and next thing I know, he has me sitting on his lap and is rubbing his hand along my back.

I don’t know if it is the fact he didn’t yell at me or scold me. Maybe it is the fact he is being as gentle as he possibly can in a universe that has forcefully taken things from me. It causes me to break down.

I bury my face into his chest and cry. Sobbing into his shirt and I am unable to stop.

He keeps being gentle and whispering words that I don’t even hear.

He uses his other hand to trace gently against the scars, barely even touching them.

I feel his body shaking and then I feel drops of moisture against the tips of my ear.

I look up and see he is crying too.

I reach up and pull his head down to rest my forehead against his.

I keep crying, letting the tears run because that is what I am supposed to do...right?

He wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer.

I don’t know how long we stayed like that. Maybe a few minutes, but it felt like an hour.

We finally move to lay on the bed. Side by side. Forehead to forehead.

I don’t know why I feel so attached to this man. I’ve barely met him but already he knows more about me than anyone else right now.

Alive that is.

Honestly, I would almost wish to be with him romantically but I wouldn’t want that for anyone.

I don't want to be in a relationship because I will outlive them. They would disappear like a ticking time bomb.

I don’t want to live through losing another person I love.

My mother said she wasn’t the same after my father died.

He had died as soon as I was born, trying to protect me and my mother from a thief.

That night had unlocked my mother’s powers.

Unfortunately, it was not unlocked in time to save my father.

I never got to meet him sadly.

Norian falls asleep before me.

He has one arm locked around me.

I reach up and rest my hand on his cheek. He leans into my hand even in his sleep.

Maybe I can give it a chance. A way to not be alone? He is awfully sweet and caring. A small light in a dark universe.

Would it be selfish to try and keep a small light for myself? Maybe it would be best for me to try and find someone like him. Or it could be him?

He sighs against my palm.

Yes, I think I have made up my mind.

I want that light.

Now all I need to do is try and get him to like me enough to be with me.

I am pretty sure he is somewhat attracted to me. He is in my bed again after all.

So maybe I can have this chance?