It was a Saturday evening, the streets were crowded.
A man and a woman stood in front of a bookstore.
"Say, do you like fairy tales ?" She asked.
Her ocean-blue eyes shone for a moment as she met his. This had to be one of Emily's antics, thought Arye to himself as he stared back at her. He didn't need to answer her question, he knew her well enough to tell that much. She continued "There's this one about marbles. " Her face a bit flushed, it was an expression that had always made his chest tighten a bit.
Arye felt urged to ask "Marbles ?"
"Yes ! According to the story, if you roll a marble and wish really hard -"
"pfft."
He interrupted " what does 'wish really hard ' even mean ? !" He couldn't contain his laugher, the silliness of the idea caught him off guard, Emily pouted as she glared at him "Ugh let me finish ! !"
Arye regained his composure in an instant, he was never the hyper type, he rarely showed any emotion, but the idea of "wishing" along with Emily's excited tone tingled parts long forgotten within the depth of his mind.
"So ? what happens when you roll a marble ?" She beamed at his question and answered in a dramatically exaggerated voice "A breathtakingly beautiful fairy will appear and grant your wish !" Arye fell silent and just stared blankly at her. Her eyes were sparkling, whatever she was so excited about was beyond his understanding. That was the case every time she had something to fangirl about, and he never felt the need to understand nor relate, he would just listen as she rambled on happily, and somehow it soothed him. "Ah-uh, I see. You're creeping me out, you know."
They reached a walk-side of a park when he said "I mean, don't you think fairy tales tend to be very romanticized ? I'm sure if we track the origins of this story we will come across some obscure myth" Emily stared at him for a moment, she looked exasperated and her eyes glowed with an emotion he couldn't read, she sighed as she ran her hand through her wavy black hair "Why can't you just appreciate the dreamy part about it, it's just a story for children you know" Before he could come up with an objection, she shoved a cookie into his mouth and said " Ah, you're no fun, you freaking nerd" she smiled teasingly, but the look in her eyes was both pitying and comforting as if telling him to give himself a break.
The cookie was sweet, he thought, he looked in front of him, Emily was walking ahead, he said "Give me another one." His voice was barely above a whisper, but somehow she managed to hear him despite the noises coming from the crowds and the passing vehicles. "Oh ? Okay !" She handed him the paper bag she was carrying, she was covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes were shining, her eyes were always shining he thought, her shoulders shook a bit, she was obviously holding back her laugher. He pretended he didn't notice and just chomped on his cookies as he walked beside her, the glitter was still in her eyes when he glanced at her again.
He wanted to say something, but a figure caught his eye; a tall man in a black suit was coming from the opposite direction, the shadow cast by his hat hid most of his face, somehow the air around him felt eerie, Arye shuddered, he couldn't explain the sudden anxiety that overcame him and he didn't notice he was hardly breathing until he realized that Emily was clutching on his arm calling his name and looking worried, he exhaled, color returned to the world and he was finally aware of his surroundings, cookies were scattered on the ground at his feet, Emily was on the verge of tears, her hands holding both of his arms tightly almost hugging him, a few people stared as they walked by.
He tried to calm down, he couldn't remember when was the last time he had a panic attack, he thought he had it all finally under control. He closed his eyes, he suddenly felt so tired and just wanted to go home, his hands trembled slightly as he recalled the sight of those marble-colored eyes of the man who just passed by him. Warning alarms went off in his head, and he couldn't ignore the uneasiness that washed over him.
