MDCF

32

"You want some soup, too?" asked Siana, "it might be a little cold now, but it is still alright."

"You made all this while I was sleeping?" asked Alan.

"Yes," she said, "I thought you would wake up in the middle of the night and would be starving when everyone is sleeping. So, I prepared something simple."

Alan was moved and very grateful for her kind gesture. He smiled at her and thanked her. He then started eating so fast that in minutes the plate was nearly empty. I guess he was really very hungry, thought Siana. Alan took another piece of bread and spread the jam on it. Siana felt a desire to eat as well but she had brought enough for only one person and Alan needed it since he had skipped dinner.

"What do you want to do after you finish eating?" asked Siana.

"I don't really know," said Alan, "I can't sleep anymore. I already slept a lot." He lowered his plate and took a bite of the bread. He didn't really want to go to his office so early to work. He didn't feel like taking a walk either. He just wanted to be with Siana for now.

"What do you want to do?" asked Alan.

Siana felt herself blush. Alan noticed this. "Tell me, is there something on your mind?" he asked, "You can tell me. I will do whatever you want to do."

"What do you expect me to say?" she said.

"Maybe how much you love and trust me," said Alan and smirked.

"Wipe that smirk off your face," she said, "You are supposed to be sick."

He stroked her hair, twirled a brown strand between his fingers and looked at her fondly. And just like that, she was at his mercy. "The priest talked to me after you fell asleep," she said, "I want to talk about it with you."

She looked so embarassed that Alan felt curious. "Did he say something bad?" he asked.

"No," she said, "Nothing bad. You are alright. He just talked to me about ways to work through the curse."

Alan frowned. "I heard that the spread of the curse is slow."

"Yes," she said, "But he also told me that I am sacred. I have the magic."

'Okay," he said, "What else?"

"He... um...," Siana stammered. Siana really couldn't get the words out of her. It was too embarrassing to say aloud. She hesitated and decided to put it in another way. "He said we need to... um... be together..."

"Together?" said Alan, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah... in a way," she mumbled.

"But we are already doing that, aren't we?" he asked, "We are together now."

"Not in that way," she said, trying to put the right words together. "A different kind of..."

"Together in a different way?" he said, "Hm. Like how?"

Siana looked at him, thunderstruck. She couldn't utter the words, but Alan was always so sharp in understanding things. Did he really not understand or was he just pretending to not know about it?

"Really?" she asked, rolling her eyes, "You really don't know what I am talking about?"

"Yea," he said, "Just tell me what you– "

"You idiot, I am saying we need to have s*x," Siana blurted out, impatiently.

A few seconds later, the shock registered. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. "That came out very wrong," she said, hurriedly, "I didn't mean— I was just... your condition. It has to be like that... This is so awkward. Normally, you initiate these kinds of things... I...." Siana babbled everything that came into her mind without thinking. She was beyond that now. She felt so embarrassed that she just needed to fill the silence with words, but Alan was looking at her. His eyes were wide, and his mouth open. She trailed off and stopped babbling.