A Surprising Spring

Chapter Nine

Nicholas was a growling, fuming mess.

He stomped about the clearing angrily, glared at the birds in the trees until the stopped singing and flapped away, and kicked rocks into the stream to try to stop it from bubbling so happily.

It had been three days since the kissing incident. He hadn't seen Zekiel since, and was left with an uneasily feeling in his stomach. Of course, he kept telling himself, it had just been a way to get Katy off of his back, a favour - albeit a strange one - from one... friend to another. It wasn't like Zekiel had actually meant anything by it...

Why then, he wondered, did he feel so guilty about it? Or more, about what he'd said afterwards. It was a good Katy avoidance technique... that's all. There had been one of those weird, uncomfortable moments that they seemed to keep having then, as they stood there, and Zekiel was hidden by shadows and his own damned emotionless being...

"No," Nicholas muttered out loud, "not emotionless, just hiding everything. From me." There was a funny feeling in his chest when he said that, and it made him even more angry. "How is he allowed to make me feel like this?" he raged at the sky. "What even is 'this'?"

With a loud groan, the Sprite grabbed his head between his hands and shook himself, his thoughts twirling rapidly about in his head.

Kicking at the ground, he murmured, "I need to get out of here."

It was mid-afternoon, and he hadn't eaten in three days. He wasn't hungry at all - his body had regulated itself - but he missed food. Sprites needed near nothing to survive - no water, no food, no warmth or shelter. They could even last without air for a long time. But there was something quite kitsch about eating, something quite comforting. And hell did Nicholas need comfort, even though he refused to think about why, or the fact that Zekiel could be feeling a lot worse than he did right then...

"I'm going for a walk," he announced to the sky. "A long one." He paused, as if expecting an answer. "I don't expect I'll be back before night." He walked towards his pile of things, realised he didn't need anything, and walked to the edge of the clearing, near the thick trees that he hadn't yet explored. "I might not even be back until tomorrow."

No one said a word.

~~~

Dawn found Nicholas laying under the shade of a huge tree, his hands beneath his head. The sunrise was beautiful, kissing the dew gold and pink. The sky was glowing slightly, pale blue mixed in with the yellow of the new day; the birds were calling the morning in; the undergrowth rustled softly with the movements of small beasts...

Nicholas watched it all with an uninterested eye.

Objectively, he could see the splendour that was the day breaking on the unspoilt world, but he had resolutely decided to stop feeling so much. He felt angry at everything, annoyed at everything, guilty, miserable, lost and confused. It was, he decided, getting a bit ridiculous, and so he had vowed to cease getting so caught up in his emotions. It was almost mortal.

The night had been spent in thought. He had realised that there were ways things were meant to be, and they were good ways, he was sure. He would follow them. He wouldn't let himself be so caught up in nothing but excess hormones.

The morning had truly broken and the sun was struggling valiantly to warm the earth. Nicholas lay in the shadow of the tree, dead still. He thought briefly about getting something to eat to start his morning, but decided against it. He didn't need food. It would only waste time.

In one swift movement, he stood up, straightening his jumper and brushing off the mud from his legs. As he began to walk back towards his clearing, the expression on his face couldn't quite be described as happiness, but rather as resolution.