Lethal Beauty

Lethal Beauty - Winter Wonderland Part Five

"Iris!"

At long last, he was awake!

Abel had never felt so grateful to find himself back in the bedroom they shared with his arms around Iris' shoulders. At that moment, Abel knew that he was HOME. But what had he discovered in that dream so far? The world could be a frightening place to live in but everything felt better when he found that one person waiting for him at the end of the journey, rooting for him to win even when the odds were against his favor.

"Okay, you're suffocating me now," Iris said in an extremely reasonable, almost amused tone of voice. "I'm quite intrigued to hear about that dream of yours."

Abel let go of his husband and sat down properly on the bed. "It was so...I don't know how to describe it."

Iris gazed softly at his pretty face, studying his features. "You don't need to tell me everything. Perhaps, tell me what you've felt. You give the impression of being terrified."

"I was? Well...I guess some parts of it were terrifying."

"Some parts?"

"Some parts were fun and heartwarming. I get to see my Nonna..." The mention of the woman put a sad smile on Abel's face and Iris held his hand. "I'm fine now. I think I've already passed that miserable stage in my life. I get to talk to her one last time..."

Iris answered him by kissing his hands. Abel went on, "I also met my old friend Sven. If he was still here with us, I bet he'd drop by tomorrow for the winter solstice."

"I'm sorry about your friend."

"Oh no," he reached out to pat Iris' cheek. "None of it is your fault."

"Everything in that dream sounds bittersweet. So, what terrifies you?"

As Abel recalled the scenes, his expression turned sour and he started pouting. "Lixue!"

Iris was bemused when Abel mentioned the name. Abel had never mentioned the name for a long while. Although his relationship with Lixue had improved a bit and Abel had put his complete trust in Iris, there were times that the mild irritation would be triggered by that 'incident' in the library a long time ago. He swallowed, "My love..."

"In my dream, she's still my rival! Not only that, she was set to marry you."

It took a few moments before the words registered in Iris' head and he started throwing his head back to laugh loudly. If there was one thing that Iris had discovered about Abel so far---it was his intelligence, his open-mindedness, and now his strength of character---all of these made him irresistible. From the first time he saw him in that dorm house, Iris' instincts had already singled him out. In that sudden moment of realization, he felt such elation and fear for facing a feeling that was so foreign to him. It would often leave him perplexed, for in the next, he would begin to mourn the inevitable loss.

Imagined his happiness when Abel replied to his confession and reciprocated his feelings...

Abel was still upset about the dream and how Lixue turned out to be the Queen who was engaged with the 'Prince' who was the leopard form of Iris. He listened as his beautiful yet agitated husband explained in a flurry of crazy and whacky scenes how he ended up playing a croquet match with flamingoes and hedgehogs. Iris continued to listen even though he couldn't understand any of it. He just wanted to adore Abel and the way he told the story.

"Are you listening?"

"I'm here, I'm listening," Iris smiled. "I'm guessing, you didn't win the game?"

"How could I? She was cheating," Abel murmured thoughtfully. "But it doesn't matter. In the end, you still chose me."

"Mmm," Iris hummed in response. "So, now all I have to do is find a way to lighten my husband's mood and override this...jealousy, am I correct?"