Heirs of the Gods

Ch 41: Puzzles

Ella's mind was sleep-muddled. She was in that pleasant state of drowsiness that came upon just waking up, a state that wrapped the world in softness, blurring all the edges and granting everything a hazy, dream-like feel.

She basked in the sensation for a moment, slowly letting the reality of wakefulness take over. It was upon opening her bleary eyes that she became to be aware of her surroundings. Three things stood out.

One--she was very warm and very comfortable. A delightful scent surrounded her, accompanied by a steady heat, which she further pressed into, like a lazy cat stretching in front of the fire. That led her to the second realisation, the source of that wonderful scent and heat-- Aedion. She was very much sprawled over him, with her face all but pressed into his chest and an arm loosely wrapped around his torso. Aedion seemed too occupied to mind though, busy scrawling away on his black leather notebook. This was Ella's third discovery.

It wasn't actually a notebook, it was a sketchbook.

Ella blinked owlishly at the paper, taking in Aedion's agile hands, shading with a carbon pencil. The page seemed to come alive with an extraordinarily detailed drawing of Brineport--the quaint shops and markets, the bustling cobbled streets and lit up windows. Although it was clearly recognisable, it had a peculiarly distinctive style to it.

Broad strokes and swathes of thin ink lines melded together to craft fantastically detailed buildings. Buildings that warbled like distorted mirrors, with long and willowy lines. Gloomy windows with dramatically fluttering curtains and flower boxes filled with dark beauties, their shapes twisted as well. Even the shadows were elongated, made of those crisscrossed ink lines, densely drawn like spiderwebs to create depth and dimension.

It was an illustration of bold shadows and almost cartoonishly distorted shapes, the contrast between light and dark a prominent aspect of it, the details fine and painstaking. Whimsically dark, so beautiful it made her breath catch in her throat as she watched his pencil dance across the white, shading areas into smokey black. Unconsciously, she made a little noise of awe.

Immediately, Aedion startled and closed the journal.

"No, please, I was just peeking," Ella was still sleep-drowsy and awed enough to outright whine. She sat up, fixing him with what could only be described as a pout.

Aedion narrowed his eyes, a baleful scowl, "Nosy little thing, you were supposed to be asleep." A light flush dusted the tops of his sharp cheeks.

"Can I see?" Ella said softly. "Please?"

Aedion looked at her, quiet, hesitating before nodding faintly.

"But don't go flipping pages," he huffed, equally as low, "or I swear I'll grab every single book in here and tear out the last chapter." Despite his peevish expression, there was an endearing blush on his cheeks that made her heart loop stupidly. Ella had to fight against her sleepy brain to keep herself from poking his cheek.

Aedion opened the sketchbook back to the same page and Ella greedily drank in the sight, allowing herself to absorb every tiny detail. It was so beautifully dark and dramatic, there was a dream-like quality to its distorted lines and charming details.

It was, undoubtedly, Aedion. An extension of him--eccentric and surreal, wonderfully off-kilter and amusingly whimsical despite all the darkness. Beautiful.

Wonderstruck, her eyes glazed over as she took it all in. "You drew this by memory?"

Aedion only nodded. He seemed timid even. It was such a strange look on him, a deviation from his cheeky smirks and half grins. It made him look infinitely soft.