Onyx
I felt the sunlight on my skin. The warm hue, the way it lit up the sky and shone on us. I found myself laying next to Pixie and Abyss. Pixie actually between us like a blanket weaving in between and on us.
I heard the subtle sounds of my classical music playing that I have set for everyday in the greenhouse. We'd moved indoors only somewhat, to one of those stargazing beds. Somewhere far enough from my aunt and her prying eyes but within my space.
I looked at Abyss sleeping there with that calm cozy gaze of his. His long hair cascading down and around him. I picked up a strand of it, twirling it in my fingers. I softly caressed Pixie's sweet sleeping face.
What a calm morning. I hadn't seen one in such a long time. Abyss started to stir, "Good morning" I said softly. He smiled at me with softening eyes. Rather than daggers, it was almost serene. He glanced over at Pixie and her dorky sleeping position and smiled.
He looked around and admired all the flowers, "oh how beautiful, you even keep snowdrops in thailand!" He exclaimed. "You know what snowdrops are?" I said surprised "most people in thailand aren't so familiar, let alone with the snow" I said.
He nodded "yes I read a lot about flowers, they're so colorful, yet I can't get them to grow where I live"
"Where you live sounds very drab indeed" I said to him.
I stepped forward now examining my flowers, letting Pixie sleep. Reaching my hand out towards the petals. "This one is Wisteria...did you know that flowers have all these different meanings? When I lived back with Myst, she tuaght me all about them" I said musing.
"Oh....is that your girlfriend?" He asked in response.
"Oh heavens no, she has a girlfriend of her own now, a close friend of mine that I lived close to" I said now pointing to Pixie "I believe she had a crush on my friends younger brother, so she takes the move hard. It's hard leaving a home behind after all"
Abyss nodded pensively, looking like he felt sympathy for her. He now turned to star at the sunlight passing through the trees, onto the leaves and foliage that had fallen to the ground.
He looked on with a sense of awe, I noted how much he seemed to love the sunlight. I felt that was a beautiful contrast to his deep features. "Komorebi" I said. He turned to me asking "hmm?"
"Komorebi. It is Japanese, it means the sunlight that goes through trees" I said with a warm smile. He seemed to puase for a moment, looking back at the sun. "Well that is a gorgeous name, breathtaking. I love how the light with the green adds a whole new hue"
I smiled softly "I do too"
We watched it peacefully for a while, before I said I needed to go wake up Pixie for school, I walked slowly and softly towards her at first, before pouncing on her. Abyss smiled at us watching from a distance as Pixie giggled.
"Papa, you like him don't you" she whispered in my ear cutely but impishly.
"What makes you think that now huh?" I said softly back. She said "well you've never invited employees out, especially not new ones, and never brought them home!"
I pinched her cheeks "ah you're getting to be a very smart girl now huh? You think you have it all figured out?" I said. She nodded fast over and over proudly. I patted her head "figure out your next math test and let us adults do adult things okay?" I said teasingly. "But pa!" She whined pouting.
I grabbed her and whirled her around and started racing her towards the door, sending her to go shower, before she left she stopped to pick a flower and hand it to Abyss "here! It's pretty, just like papa thinks you are!" Abyss accepted the flower blushing and glancing over at me shyly.
I turned to him, "you can come in, my aunt should have left to join her friends for some tea by now, I promise it would be no trouble at all"
Abyss tried to refuse, feeling he was already out stepping his bounds enough already. However I insisted "we have plenty extra rooms and clothes you can borrow" I said gesturing for him to come in.
Abyss walked in and seemed agape by the opulence, however, respectful. I had a butler show him the way to clean up and stayed nearby sipping tea, occasionally hearing exclaimations about how attentive my staff were. I came in after his bathing and he was in a robe with his long hair draping around him. He looked so ethereal like something of a god right then. Or an elven creature perhaps.
I had people bring him clothes to wear, better clothes, for now I have no excuse to throw out that god awful fitting wardrobe of his, but at the very least I can make his a bit better. A staff member took out a comb to brush his hair, but Abyss seemed to be uncomfortable with the touch. He flinched much of it. "Here, will you allow me?" I asked softly taking the brush. His shoulders seemed to relax a bit as he nodded. I started brushing his hair slowly, stopping to make eye contact in the mirror.
His face now flushed, I thought it looked nice. "You need to start from the bottom strands up" I said "or else it gets painfully tangled"
He glanced at me "how do you know that?" I smiled softly "I had to learn how to take care of Pixies hair, her hair is quite long! Grows like weeds really, when she first came to me.. she was a scared little thing. She'd flinch at everything. No one tuaght her how to brush her hair and she'd hate the staff. So I tried to learn it, as gently as possible. For some reason despite my face she trusted me the most" I said rambling softly a bit, my smile lingering.
"You're face is soft too" he whispered. I almost thought I imagined it as I looked at him again. He then softly said "you seem like a good parent to her. You should talk about these things more often so people from the company don't gossip too much" then he turned and flustered a bit "I'm sorry I overstepped didn't I"
I interjected "no, you're okay. You are free to speak your mind. I just don't talk to people in general much and I don't want everyone to know her complicated past, its easier if they just assume she's my child from some affair, as long as the blame is directed at me, as long as she's protected"
"I'm not everyone?" He asked softly. I turned to his now soft smooth ethereal hair, that I put a small braid woven into one side, tucking it behind his ear and letting it fall past the clip.
"No, you're not everyone"
I had arguably the most peaceful breakfast and morning in a while, where Pixie insisted on sitting on Abyss's lap. Now I didn't feel she burdened him so much, because he looked absolutely delighted in her presense.
He focused on her more than the meal or extravagance around him. It was like he fit right in, even my staff loved him. Treating him softly. "I'm Lily" said one girl buying her head to him bit. He waved her down "no no, it's okay you can speak to me casually! I'm just a guest"
Everyone smiled glancing at me, "we don't have many of those from him you see, so you're not just a guest" Lily said.
I turned to Lily and gently asked "can you help Pixie get her school bags" and she nodded to me like understanding I was asking for some alone time with him.
"Allow me to show you around a bit?" I said. He nodded nervously, sliding his slippers along cutely to catch up to me. We walked into a long large dining like room, maybe more of a ballroom, usually used for large banquets but left empty now.
He walked around slowly in awe. I too felt a sense of it looking at it myself. In the background now a soft but bright tune played. I felt a bit suffocated trying to keep my composure like this, giving him a smile similar to what Pixie would give. He raised his eyebrows at me smiling.
I kicked off my slippers and started sliding around the ballroom floor. "Come on, join me" I wasn't sure where my sudden gusto came from, or why I trusted him with this side of me. Right then though, I didn't want him to see me as a CEO or his boss, I wanted him to see me as I am.
He kicked off his shoes too, I pulled him in to the floor. We started slidding around in our socks like children, giggling and crashing into things. Accidentally bumping into each other and getting close before getting nervous. I stopped briefly to fix his hair back into place "you look gorgeous" I said smiling softly.
"I'm not used to all this, I don't care for my style much" he said
I responded "well you've always been gorgeous but now especially so." We smiled at each other before Pixie entered the room.
"Hey no leaving me out of the fun!" The three of us started playing, now the staff returned and they were watching us smiling and luaghing happily.
They tried to tell me I should conduct myself in decorum then they hushed when they saw I was having fun. Pixie came up to us and jumped on Abyss's back and pretended he was her servant and they played.
Looking at this sight, I felt as if I was blessed to see such. Glimmers of hope and tiny sparks of an imaginative future piqued my emotions interest in my heart and in my mind.
We stayed like that for a while, enjoying it. Before inevitably needing to depart because Pixie was definitely late.