Dark waters

14. Wishes

Tan glanced at Cole over the table for the tenth time during their dinner.
"What?"
Tan shrugged.
"Nothing. I was just wondering if you finished that poem."
"Of course I did. I was going to wait until we finished dinner."
Tan nodded.
Cole gave him a teasing smile. He put his fork down and got the piece of paper from under the map on the desk. They had just about finished the dinner by then any way.
He handed the folded paper to Tan.
"Read it when you want to."
Tan took it and eyed Cole for a moment before he opened the paper to take a look.
After just a second, he closed the paper again.
The gesture surprised Cole.
"That bad?"
Tan met his gaze. After shaking his head he got up from his seat and walked over to Cole.
"Can you read it to me?"
"You want me to read it?"
"Yeah. I want to hear it from you."
Cole took the paper and got up. It suddenly felt very personal and a bit embarrassing. Tan's intense look at his face didn't make it easier.
He cleared his throat and unfolded the paper.

"To look in to your eyes is to dive in to the depths of time, where waves of the universe make the world dance.
To love you is to dance through the sky, feeling perfectly safe, knowing your hands hold my heart.
To hold you is to hold the entire world in my arms, feeling your very soul embrace mine.
With you, I am safe, I am free, I am home."

Cole met Tan's gaze for a second before he got pulled in to a passionate kiss. He barely got the chance to put the note on the desk. The moment later, he was embraced.

"Will you write poems like that to me often?"
Cole smiled.
"Probably not. Quality and quantity doesn't really get along in that category. But I could make a habit of writing something now and then."
Tan leaned his chin against Cole's chest and looked up at him.
Cole enjoyed stretching his legs as much as he could before he was the one lying further down in bed.
"Maybe we should build a bigger bed?" he asked and met Tan's gaze again.
Tan smiled.
"Sure. Sounds like something we could let a carpenter do while we're in Dalrin."
"Do we need to turn my old cabin in to a nursery soon too, or...?"
Tan gave him a teasing smile.
"Not unless you want to."
"You can decide that?"
"Pretty much."
"How?"
Tan dragged his answer with another teasing smile.
"Mermaids don't have cycles or get in heat. They eat a particular seaweed to boost their hormones if they want a child. I think that's how my mom ended up with me. She wanted a child and ate that seaweed. Later, she got trapped in that puddle and was found by my dad. High on hormones, saved by a handsome man... I guess the fact that he was a Taur didn't seem that important. I've never asked about it, but when she explained the effect and use of the silkweed I pieced it together myself."
"Sounds convenient. Most people can't decide like that."
"Yeah... But back to your poem... I think that poem would be great as wedding vows."
"Sure. I don't mind reading it at the ceremony."
Tan smiled.
"I can make promises to not put bars on your window, but never let you go or something like that."
Cole chuckled.
"I think it would sound a bit weird, but I can help you write something similar to mine."
Tan's smile got wider.
"I'd like that."

Cole gazed at the moonlight shining in through the porthole for a while. When he looked at Tan, again he was met with his warm gaze. The light of the candle on the nightstand reflected in his eyes.
"What?" Tan asked softly.
Cole returned the smile and swept a few strands of hair from Tan's forehead.
"Would you like to know something?"
"Sure."
Cole sighed.
"Since I was about twelve, I started to make a wish whenever I could. The same wish, over and over. Sometimes I wished so hard it felt like my heart would crack and make a dark hole in my chest. Every falling star, every coin I dropped in a well, every time I blew the candles out, and I mean every candle, not just the once on my birthday cake... I wished over and over that I would find someone or some place that would make me feel at home. Someone who would take me away from my prison and let me see the world with them... I was a bit over twenty when I started to give up. It was still a habit to make that wish, but I had started to lose hope that the wish would ever come true... That is, until I met you."