"How have you been?" Casey shifted. It was not hard to look into her eyes. Not as hard as he had thought it would be. They were brown, like he'd left them, he just had to get past those old dreams that looking into them would resurface. They were almost physically attached to her.
"Dear." Melissa handed him a beige cotton bag with Mays on it. And she left after he'd said, 'Thanks'.
Nadene stared quietly, but he could wait for that while. He needed closure.
"I'm alright. Hey, I'm glad you seem alright too." Her smile looked uncomfortable.
"Thank you. I just had to get through it, you know? But I'm good now."
Casey walked them over to a corner window. There was an over head AC unit blowing piles of cool air onto them, it made goosebumps on his arms. A pier was lit off on the shoreline. They could see it from the window.
"I never wanted us to end, Casey. I just felt like you weren't open enough. I'd call, but you could go hours without talking to me."
He felt that. He knew she was right. He had tried to play it cool because she meant a lot to him. Being too attached could hurt… and he'd lost her because… she wanted that attachment. It was painful irony.
"But… Nadene, you know you could've told me this, instead of getting with someone else. And only a month and a half after we'd broken up?" He probably would've begged a few days ago to be honest.
She shuffled her coat, and then shifted. Seemingly searching for comfort. He waited, and she bit her lips.
"I know that I was wrong… I'm sorry. Can you forgive me, Casey?"
She looked into his eyes. They were a little moist, and that felt wrong to him. He held her sight, this would probably be the last time that he would.
"I can. I just hope you're alright? And I hope everything works out for you too. I kind of have to leave now, I have church in the morning."
"It's okay, Casey. I'll see you later."
It felt like drinking water when you wanted something sweet, it could be more satisfying.
......…
Casey felt for the edge of the bed, and felt it. He tucked his arm and rolled to a sitting position.
Fully aware of last night, it just lingered too long on his mind is all.
He got up to fill his thoughts with something else, hopefully, something that made him better.
The light came in through thin brown curtains, the AC made them waver. The morning purple and brown made a mess of a glow in the room.
Casey got dressed in shorts and a singlet before he made his way to the backyard.
Outside felt much colder recently. He looked over the lawn, and any dead spots from the frost breath had healed over, and he'd be more thoughtful of that effect going forward for sure.
He moved to the back end of the pool and closed his eyes.
Mana felt like a liquid in his body.
Composite mana felt the best.
It was like drinking cold water when you were thirsty, or being able to sit down when you were tired. That's how it felt before he pulled in even more from outside.
It came in through his nodes, but it was slightly different. Maybe it was like earth or soil in the stream?
Casey let out some air and focused. Mana was tricky to control when it first entered the body. He could feel it there, but it was hard to will. He took careful breaths as he waited. Soon after the mana became purer, like the composite mana that any sorcerer would naturally carry in their body. Like a will had left it then.
Casey squinted.
Composite mana had an odd effect, it made controlling the body easier.
Casey contracted his muscles across his frame. This contracted his composite mana. The spiritual followed the physical. He felt that it wasn't enough and he drew in more mana; his muscles hugged his bones.
Twenty five minutes passed like that, and Casey had only gone up to about forty percent of his maximum mana capacity before stopping.
Along the way, he had taken off his shirt. A cold wind swept across his light brown frame, he shivered as cramps clamped his calves and then stomach, causing him to buckle.
He lay down on the floor groaning, and stayed there until the cramps allowed him to roll onto his back. He saw moving clouds over head and a purple sky over them. A beautiful sight. Casey had been into exercising for a while now, so he had cramps before, and now, he did his best not to over react; only groaning a little. That was actually the trick. To let it happen to you.
He wouldn't do a second set of course, though. Instead he checked to see if it had changed anything. He moved carefully, but he found nothing new. Other than there seemed to be less natural mana in his body now. Which was odd to him. He tilted his head. Maybe I did something wrong? Casey pumped his bicep and saw no difference at all, but he did feel pain.
He made his way back inside, and smelt eggs and something very sweet… which… was pancake syrup? His father had made breakfast and left already. Casey sat bare-backed at the table.
After breakfast, he started preparing for Kiana's party.
He chose burgundy. A solid colored shirt, black pants and burgundy boat-shoes. He smiled, as he looked in the vanity. It was a nice combination.
........
There were three mountains above his tower. They were to the west of Bimini, and they were covered in white-blue mist.
The sunrise added the blue; and he could imagine the green bushes shivering from heavy winds. The looming mountains always had winds.
Buildings ran along and away from mountains bases and they came from there to him, and went for miles in the opposite direction; and all of this was his.
Gavin Wiley stood before the massive window in his tower. The darkness of the tints stole the yellow of the sunlight and the remaining glow barely lit his office.
His office door, a dark stainless steel thing, ground a little as it opened. A lady stepped in. She was pale skinned. A beautiful rosy tint. Her hair was auburn and brown in spots. And she wore orange. An orange dress, with orange heels. The room seemed brighter now. She was beautiful.
Gavin's mouth curled in disgust, and if he were outside he would spit.
"Now, come on, sir. We work for our mistress. Don't we?"