Bridging Destinies

Chapter 20: The Appearance of Things

As Felina sat before him, both of them at the edge of his bed, he studied her. She literally glowed in front of him, and her eyes that were already very light in color, had grown impossibly lighter, glowing with a silver sheen. He had never seen anything like it. She still resembled the image of the woman he had previously met, but more ethereal than before. In fact, she almost looked insubstantial, as if she was made of nothing but light and shadow and would suddenly vanish before him. She didn't look anything like a human. She didn't even feel human. She felt alien, but in her presence he felt more alive than he ever remembered feeling before. It amazed him.

They sat in silence for many moments, regarding each other. When he finally spoke up, he asked quietly, "Can I... ? Will you... ?"

She seemed to patiently wait for him to get the words out, ducking her head a little to regard him, with her chin tilting up in her customary posture as she appeared to determine his next words, but before he could get the words out, she nodded, "Yes. You may hug me." She told him simply.

Namjoon blinked a few times as he looked at her again and said at the edge of a frown, "Felina. Do you read minds, or something? This isn't the first time you have answered a question before I had a chance to say anything."

She smiled with a half laugh, her breath escaping her nostrils heavily as she did so, "It is a gift of my kind." She explained.

He began to speak again, then thought better of it, and took her hands in his again, pulling her towards him. He embraced her and said against her ear, "I have so many questions, but I just want to hug you now." She laughed again, returning his embrace.

In the next moment, Felina moved away from him and looked towards the door, "Jin will arrive soon. Your questions will have to wait." She announced. He looked at her, once again surprised. 'She always surprised him,' he thought, 'Always.' When the knock came on his door, and he heard Soekjin's voice, he gazed at Felina thoughtfully with a small smile, his dimples faintly showing in his cheeks.

"Hey, Joonie! Are you in there? Is Felina with you? What are you guys doing in there? Seokjin knocked again, asking if they were going to come out, but Namjoon ignored him for a space.

As he looked at Felina again he asked quietly, "So you can tell what people are going to do before they do it, too?"

She shrugged gracefully, "I can tell by the energy of movement, among other things. Thoughts are another. The internal human voice is loud. You do not guard your thoughts well, usually. It is easy to catch them." She explained.

Namjoon looked at her levelly for a brief moment before he stood up and unlocked the door, opening it. Seokjin looked into his eyes briefly, then craned his neck over Namjoon's shoulder to peer at Felina, "What are you guys doing?" Seokjin repeated, "Behaving?" He waggled his eyebrows at Felina, then glanced back at Namjoon with a big grin.

Felina stood and walked up to Namjoon, taking his arm in hers, "Yes, Jin. As you may see. We are behaving, as you say." Namjoon turned his head to look from Seokjin to Felina and saw that she was no longer glowing. She looked as she had before. She looked human, but somehow not and he stared at her, unable to take his eyes away.

Seokjin turned his eyes to watch Namjoon, who still watched Felina, then announced with a bemused tone, "You know, though. If you want to misbehave, I can leave."

Namjoon gradually pulled his eyes from Felina to Seokjin, then back at Felina when she announced, "It's not necessary. We will come back with you to the living room." She told him, her lips turned up a little at the corners. Namjoon frowned, but allowed himself to be led back to the living room, the warm, beautiful woman still holding onto him. 'But a woman?' He asked himself, glancing at her again. She laughed softly and Seokjin turned around briefly to watch them with a question on his face, before turning back as he walked in front of them to the other room.