First Light

47 seahorses

Thursday 24th of February 2022 (the following week)

Faye:

One month together.

If reincarnation is real, I'm certain that I knew Marlo in another lifetime. I'm sure of it.

From the moment I met him it was like we were weirdly drawn together, a kind of familiarity that I can't really explain. A connection that was almost instant, something that made me feel almost completely comfortable with him, even when I barely knew him. And that's saying something, at least from me. It takes time for me to be comfortable with strangers.

It is grey and overcast today, something that is the complete opposite of my mood as I'm sitting in my room during my break between classes. It's 12.58 right now, just another 3 hours until I can see Marlo. He had come by in the morning quickly, before he had classes, to drop off a bouquet of flowers - beautiful little snowdrops, white like their name, that are now sitting in a vase on my desk.

Buried in the middle of them was a neatly wrapped package, containing two earrings in the shape and colour of little green luna moths. I immediately went to put them on, my hair now in a half-up, half-down style so they are visible.

My present for him is sitting beside the vase of snowdrops. He had asked me not to get him anything that I could buy with my money. He instead wanted me to paint him something.

"It could be anything, I don't mind," He had told me. "Even something boring like a piece of gum on a pavement. Just paint me something, Faye."

I'd laughed at this, my cheeks and the inside of my chest warm with the notion that he would love anything I decide to paint. Anything, as long as the painting was for him.

Of course it isn't boring, there's no way I wouldn't put effort into it. It's a landscape painting of the forest, stars and moon painted with the same glowing paint as the underside of his skateboard, and right in the middle are silhouettes of two figures standing together, hands joined. Midnight-blue and forest-green. Marlo and I.

+

The air outside is sharp and cold against my exposed skin, the pavement glistening wet from the earlier rain. I don't necessarily mind if it rains again, as we will be indoors, but I brought my umbrella just in case. I can already see Marlo's smile at this.

As if the very thought of him summons him into existence, he appears, waving, as gorgeous as ever. He's dressed in navy cargos that match with the beads in my hair, and with a smile, I can't help thinking that he's done it on purpose.

He pulls me in for a hug and holds me for a moment, his familiar cologne filling my lungs. I honestly could stay like this forever, just breathing him in with his arms around me and my face against his quickened heart-beat, but we have places to go.

+

The aquarium is a lot less packed than I expected. There's no kids, and it's peaceful, quiet but not silent, the adults here talking at a  just-right volume.

My hand is in Marlo's and we get smiles and approving looks from some of the elderly people. A kind of bless, look at the lovely, young couple. It embarrasses me, to be perceived, but this gives Marlo an opportunity to tease me.

He kisses me more times than necessary, forehead, nose and cheeks, while we stop to look at the different animals. One time, he ever so gently brushes back the curls framing my face and tilts my head up to properly kiss me, just for a second, which makes a group of four elderly women actually emit sighs of "awww", their hands clutched across their chests.

Marlo holds back his laugh at this, and I take the opportunity to swipe off the lipstick that's now transferred onto his lips, which earns another "awww".

"Well played," Marlo nods approvingly at me once the group of old ladies have moved past us. "I'll stop embarrassing you now, don't worry."

I pretend to be annoyed at him, but inside I feel full and glowing, my heart fast in my ribcage at his dark eyes on me and the warmth of where his lips touched my face.

We take our time walking through the aquarium, pointing out ugly and odd-looking creatures to each other followed by a "that looks like you" and laughter. I can't seem to focus on the fish as much as I have when I've gone beforehand, not with him here. Not when his skin is bathed in the soft dark-blue lighting, the colour that suits him so well. I wish I could stay in this moment forever.

We're looking at the seahorses when Marlo takes my wrist and pulls me over so I'm standing in front of him, squeezing me gently to his chest.

"That one would be you if you were a seahorse."

Goosebumps tickle my neck at his voice and I follow where his finger points, half-expecting it to be weird-looking. Instead I smile. It's a little green one, it's tail wrapped around some seaweed.

I look for which one he'd be. "There's no blue ones. Guess you're not destined to be an aquarium seahorse."

"Ah, see, that's where you're wrong," He takes my hand and uses it to point at another green one, who is actually swimming it's way over to the first seahorse. "I'd be that one."

"Because they're a seahorse couple?" I laugh.

He laughs, too. "Exactly."

"Well, you don't know that they're together," I say as we continue to watch the second seahorse swim towards the first. "They could be mortal enemies. He could be coming to kill her."

"True, but I'm telling you they're together. I know it."

I laugh, and there's a comfortable silence for a second.

I squeeze his hand, and he squeezes mine back. "Most seahorse species mate for life, you know."

"I know." He replies, and then he presses a kiss to the top of my hair.

As we move throughout the rest of the aquarium, we point out animals who are in twos, declaring "us" after each one. There's multiple times when one has moved away from the other after we speak, and Marlo has back-tracked, shaking his head profusely: "Nope, that's definitely not us, you're running away from me." By the time we finish, my face hurts from laughing so much.

In the gift shop we buy two matching keychains in the shape of seahorses.