Paper Hearts (Nozel x OC)

8. The calm before

It was another busy day at the hospital and Helena was quite tired, from all the running around. The only thing she wanted to do was to drink a hot cup of tea, take out her sketchbook and draw. So on her way to the library she stopped by the kitchen and asked the maids to bring her the hot beverage.

Helena was wearing her loose red shirt with open shoulders and a pair of white puffy pants. Her dark chocolate hair falling down in waves, not tied by anything. She had her sketchbook and pencils in hand.

Once she reached it, she gently pushed on the library door and went inside. She turned right, to grab a new candle and some matches. The last time when she was here it had burnt out.

Once Helena's hands were full she turned to walk further inside. She walked through a narrow passage between dark wooden bookshelves. There were some still evening sun rays sipping through the round window, that was high up on the wall.

She saw her favourite empty table, just waiting for her to reach it, but she hesitated. Helena wanted to check something first. She turned into another aisle. At the end of it by a wooden table exact to hers, sat Nozel. There was a lot of paperwork around him.

He wore his usual blue blouse and the white tunic over it. Usually his clothes were neatly pressed, but this time she noticed few folds. Nozel looked tired with delicate dark circles under his narrow eyes. His gaze stuck to the sheet of paper he was scribbling on, probably a some sort of a report. His braid with the Silva pendant hanging over it. After he finished his signature, Nozel put it on a pile on his right. Next to it stood a candle, but it was slowly burning out. He looked up and noticed her.

Helena did not realise that she was staring. Their eyes met and she smiled softly. She clumsily transferred her belongings to one hand so that the other would be free and made a small wave. His expression still quite blank, but not unwelcoming.

"Do you mind if I join you?" Helena asked quietly. He did not say anything, but moved some of his paper work, clearing her a spot at the table. She walked over and put her stuff there. "I noticed your candle is going off," she pointed at it. "I've got a new one right here."

Helena placed it further on the table, so it would be ready to be lit when needed. She sat down next to him and opened her sketchbook. She wanted to make some finishing touches to the portrait that she had made of her brother Gabriel. Helena lifted up her pencil and started scribbling. She wanted his hair to have more texture to it.

They both worked quietly. The silence was interrupted only by soft sounds of a pencil stroking her sketchbooks surface and rustling of papers. It was audible when Nozel had finished something or grabbed a new document from the bigger pile.

Helena was in her own world. At the moment she could only think about her art. She tried to breathe life into Gabriel's light eyes, but she accidentally pressed her pencil too hard. She sighed, now she needed to use her kneaded eraser to fix her mistake. She did it and then blew on the paper to get rid of fragments the rubber left behind.

"Who is that?" She heard a low voice. Nozel was looking at her drawing curiously. "Someone dear to you?"

"Yes, very," she answered smiling fondly. The sketch was nearly finished. Gabriel was proudly looking ahead, light eyes seemed to shine. The thick eyebrows made him look very serious and regal. His dark hair was tied low and a ponytail was falling over his shoulder. That was how she imagined her little brother, based on the last letter Helena received from her family. Gabriel had supposedly ended a quarrel between, two nobles that visited them for business purposes. She was very proud of him. "He came out quite handsome, didn't he?" She asked Nozel brightly.

He furrowed his brows and answered in a fussy tone.

"I didn't notice." Helena's pride was hurt.

"How could you not?" She asked much louder, clearly annoyed. "Gabriel is known to be the most handsome man around, where I come from, and my drawing resembles him so well."