Kissing Danger ✔️

THIRTY

Word Count: 1505

~Aven

I'm wary as I step out of my room this morning.

My hair is done, brushed out and laid carefully over my neck to cover the reddish purple mark that stains my neck. I'm not excited to face Stace this morning and talk about what happened last night. I'm not even sure if I know what happened...All I know is that I lost my senses and allowed him to quite literally sweep me off my feet.

Keeping my head low, I wander out from the private rooms and into the common areas, eager for a drink of something...Anything to distract myself long enough to avoid needing to go visit Stace's room.

"Can I just get a coffee?" I ask, sitting down at a small bar area, nestling between two unfamiliar people.

The server nods, turning away from me, leaving me to lean against the counter, haunted by my thoughts of last night. To my left, a man sits reading, drinking from his own mug of coffee. I examine him from the corner of my eye, curious.

"I love that book," I comment, rousing him from his concentration.

He looks up at me, seeming wary for a moment, before he smiles tightly. "It was just laying around, I thought I would read it."

He's a foreign looking as Stace is, although I imagine he appears normal in this Territory. His hair is stark white, scruffy and a bit too long over his eyes, which may be purposeful, considering the indigo smudge around his right eye and check, clearly having taken a serious hit to the face.

"Are you okay by the way? Your eye is all bruised."

He drops his book onto the table, running a tattooed hand back through his uniquely coloured hair. "Was in a fight."

My eyes widen. "On this train?"

"I took this train to get away," he muses calmly. His voice is deep, a pretty accent that I'm getting used to on this train entwined into his voice. "After I killed them."

"What..."

The edge of his lip quirks up, in contrast to my near horrified expression. I get the feeling Stace and Eryk would be mortified if they knew I was talking to a dangerous stranger with a backstory I'm suddenly fascinated in.

"Shh, I'm not going to hurt you or anything," he assures me. Strangely, I believe him, deciding that he surely couldn't turn on me in front of all these people.

"Are you from this Territory?" I ask, taking my coffee from the server.

"I am." He turns to look out the window, even thought most of the few is blocked by a snow storm. His dark eyes are sad. "I'm heading to my home village."

"You don't sound so happy about that?"

"I haven't been there in years," he shrugs, clearing his throat, although he can't conceal his solemnness. Curiosity burns within me, but I reign it in, knowing he is a complete stranger who I have no business demanding information from. "There are people there that will expect answers to where I have been..."

"And I'm getting the impression you don't want to tell them?" I ask uneasily. I can't imagine how hard his past must be for him to not want to tell the people he was once close to about it. All I want is to go home, considering all the chaos that has been involved with travelling here.

Instead of replying, he holds his hands out to me. "I'm Acyn."

"Aven," I say, before I can think better of it. Now Eryk and Stace are truly going to kill me. "I probably shouldn't have told you my name."