Song Of Spring

Chapter 7

Spring isn't always a season. Spring may be what you feel inside when that special someone is near. Some people can bring spring in the coldest of the winters just by their presence - winter

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"Mi-hi-ka-aa," he groaned in his sleep. I jolted out of my sleepy state on hearing his name. I had dozed off on the chair with my head on the table somehow and my neck hurt from being cramped up in a weird posture. How long has it been? I looked at the fluorescent dial of the watch. Four hours. It was almost nine pm. The room was pitch dark. There was still a hint of light when I slept. I massaged my tense muscles and stood up silently, not meaning to wake him up if he was sleep talking. I was thrilled to think he might dream about me. A chair crashed to the floor when I stumbled on it.

"Mihika!" he exclaimed again, this time clearer.

"I'm fine," I assured before retrieving the matchbox, feeling around for a candle. I struck a match and lit the half-burned candle on the dining table. The room suddenly seemed a little less ghostly.

When I got around the table to the sofa, he was staring at me with bright brown eyes. He looked better. The ice packs had fallen off sometimes during the evening sleep, but his skin looked less pale.

'You're awake." Instinctively, I placed my palm on his forehead. It was warm, but that was his normal body temperature I had felt when holding his hand for the first time. He caught my hand before I could drag it away. "No fever."

"Thank you," he said again.

"I couldn't leave you to die and be charged for murder," I laughed. A smile broke out on his luscious lips. His eyes always scrunched up to thin slits when he smiled because of puffy lower eyelids.

"I'm sorry for that day," he said, still squishing my small hand in his big palm.

"Nah, I'm sorry. I over-reacted," I sighed. "You had every right to be suspicious. You hardly knew me."

"That was no excuse to accuse you, Mihika. And now you're going out of your way to help me in spite of everything. I feel guilty." He massaged my hand unmindfully. It felt good to be held, but his thumb running on my skin was really distracting, so I disconnected our hands gently.

"Aadi, you accusing me wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't trusted you back then. You imagine me, a lone girl with a naked stranger in the woods, someone who isn't even human," He winced at the 'not human' part, "I had every reason to not trust you. But I sat down with you and listened to you. It hurt to realise you didn't trust me in the same way."

"I understand." He pursed his lips. I paused, letting the words sink in. "Thank you for telling me," he said finally.

I gave a small smile. "I'll make something to eat," I said, getting up.

"Can we be friends, Mihika?"

The question startled me, so I took a moment to answer. "Yes," I said, scampering off fast. It was rude of me, but how could I explain to him that the thoughts I had for him weren't as innocent as friendship?

I yanked at the door of the refrigerator, and it refused to budge. I tugged again. "Bloody hell!" I cursed.

And he was up and on his feet, completely bare, walking towards me like the god of sex. He saw my hand on the handle and promptly brushed it aside. Then he gave a tug. The ice cracked somewhere inside and the door opened.

He peered at the vacant cans and back at me quizzically.

"There must be something." I shrugged.

He picked up the empty cans one by one and started throwing it as a heap on the floor. The entire fridge was barren within minutes. Only one can of frozen peas stared at us like a lonely survivor.

"You have noodles?" he asked, grabbing the peas.

"You eat human food?"

"I can produce human food, as you call it, from thin air, so yeah," he commented, waving his hands with a short burst of light, and a tomato was sitting on his palm. "But I am drained of energy. So I need to recharge." He handed over the tomato to me.

"Can you make a fire?" I asked, awed by the spectacular display.

"I'm a nature spirit. Fire is a human discovery." He sounded like a teacher scolding his favourite pupil. There was a hint of indulgence in his voice.

"Fire is a component of nature," I retorted. "Humans have just tamed it for their purpose, just like they've domesticated animals and plants."

"Even by that logic, I can't produce fire, Mihika. You have a lighter for that I hope."

I nodded slowly, placing the tomato on the marble top.

"At least give me some dry wood to light a fire," I whined.

"You haven't stacked up timber or food, even after I had warned you well in advance?" he raised his eyebrows. "You humans are impossible."

"I didn't think it would be this serious, and I got caught up with some things at work..."

"Work? Your job is more important than your life?" he cut me off.

"Hey, the people who were in better positions than me are currently having heat in their houses. They fired me because there was no need for a botanist. Now I have no money to pay for something as basic as warmth," I snapped. "So, you don't need to be rude."

"I didn't mean to be rude and I'm so sorry for what you've been through. I wish I could help but though I can make things, I need to recharge on sunlight. And sunlight hasn't been around for a long time so, I'm trying to conserve my energy for basic things like food. Warmth was never a necessity for me, so..."

"So, sunlight is your food?" I reached for the packet of noodles from the shelf. But he was faster, and he tore it open.

"My primary food, yes. And I can survive on fruits or vegetables that I gathered from the forest. Sometimes I'd make a fairy circle of mushrooms when I'm bored and later roast them when I was hungry. Didn't you ever wonder how they grow up in such neat formations?" he picked up the knife from the top drawer and proceeded to chop the tomato into small pieces. He produced one more absent-mindedly.

"I'm a botanist. I know the science." I rolled my eyes, moving to the kettle where I threw in the peas and grabbed the noodles. He gathered the tomato and put them inside the kettle together. Then I added a packet of instant ramen masala and some salt and set the kettle to simmer. It was astonishing how we worked as a team, without having to communicate over what we were doing.

"And I know the magic," he winked, turning towards me. He was really close, his bare chest smelling like freshly tilled earth. I got distracted by the dark outline of his nipples that stood out proudly in contrast to his skin.

"Oh, God!" I put my hands over my eyes. "Don't you know how distracting you are?" I peeked between my fingers.

"This distracts you?" he pointed to the centre of his chest.

"No, this does." I pointed at his right nipple. "All of this does." I hovered my hand in the air to show all of his gorgeously naked body, with just the right amount of fluff and muscles dotting the canvas. He couldn't be real. He looked like a painting.

"What distracts you more?" he smirked, purposefully taking a step closer.

"I'm going to find you something to wear," I mumbled, trying to brush past him. He grabbed my waist with one hand, dragging me back and put his other arm around me too, trapping me in place. My heart pounded in my chest. We were so close. There were at least three layers of my clothes between us, but being held by him, I felt naked and exposed.

"Answer me," he grinned, obviously enjoying the effect he was having on me.

"I haven't seen enough yet to discriminate," I replied with a straight face, "Show me more closely what they can do."

His eyes widened. It was my turn to smirk. He let the arms fall in shock at my brazenness and I broke free from his grip and hurried to the bedroom. "Two can play at this game, Aadi," I shouted from the bedroom, thankful that I didn't have to see his reaction.

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