Robin DeNoir

The Hat P.2

"What? Wh-why are you up here?" She thought she'd been safe up here.

"You," He took a step towards her, his footsteps as light as a whisper, gained from years of tracking animals in the forest. "Have something of mine." She stood up straighter, in defiance. Her soft raven hair cascaded around her face and tumbled down her back and over her chest.

"What could you possibly think I have?" Robin analyzed her carefully, in the full light of her room. Selene Merryweather, the last of the Moon Princess's, was by far the most intriguing and beautiful girl he had ever met. No, he couldn't afford to think like that. "You, princess have my hat."

She raised her eyebrows at him in amusement, and took a daring step towards the handsome, seemingly dangerous boy. "You came to me," She took another step. Robin realized that he had stopped walking. "In the dead of night," another step closer "A dreaded DeNoir... Who tried to kidnap me this morning," She was now less than a foot away from him. Selene could feel a blush rising rising, but she did her best to hold it off. Robin held off his own urge as well, the incredible urge to close the gap and run his hands through her dark hair. "Just for some silly hat?"

Robin growled, a noise so low she could barely hear it, but it seemed to vibrate in her. The flush became unbidden, and she cursed her emotions. "It's not just a silly hat, Selene." That was the first time the boy had said her name, her actual name, not princess. She shivered as it rolled off his tongue. "It's my hat, and it means ever so much to me." He too one full step closer, and Selene now had to tilt her head back slightly to look at his handsome face.

He shouldn't be this close to her, but Robin realized this a second to late. She was a city girl, those girls had strict boundaries. Her minty breath puffed up, and the DeNoir could smell her perfume again. Selene noticed that he inhaled slightly. Did something smell? She sniffed and was overwhelmed by Robin's musk of leather, fresh cut grass and the first. She briefly closed her eyes in enjoyment. Robin stared down at this young woman, his sworn enemy, yet she was so unafraid of him. She was standing here exposed, in a nightgown without any weapons, in the dark, with her eyes closed. Robin shook his head, curls bouncing without his hat to hold them down. What was with this Merryweather? He leaned down, still forcing himself to not touch her hair and whispered in her ear. "Could I have it back?" Selene's eyes flew open as she felt Robin's breath on her cheek, and her eyes widened. This was the closest she had ever been to a boy, there was a distance of maybe three centimeters between the two teenagers. She gulped and stepped back quickly.

"Yes." She nodded curtly, before spinning on her heel and disappearing into her room.

Robin stared after her dumbstruck. Why the rush? A slow grin appeared. She had been blushing beet red when she ran away to her room. Did she... was she attracted to him? He found himself going beyond all reason and hoping so. Robin chuckled and the decided to step into her room also, never once thinking that he would be trespassing, or invading the Moon Princess's privacy. She was kneeling on the ground across the room near an open trunk rummaging around, but what caught his eye was the room itself.

"Whoah." He breathed. Selene spun around, surprised that Robin had followed her into her room. She was about to yell at them to leave when she saw the look of wonder and awe on his face as he memorized every detail of her private chambers. She couldn't bear to take that happiness off of his face. It was simply beautiful. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. What would her sister say if she walked in right now and saw a young man in her chambers? Or worse, what would uncle say? But they weren't, for Selene locked her door before turning in, and they couldn't read her mind.

The ceiling, the ceiling wasn't the ceiling. Twas the night sky. It was the stars, and the planets and it was simply breathtaking. Robin found himself sitting down on a velvet chair, still looking up. This was magical, nothing like this existed back in the DeNoir territory. His hat had totally been forgotten, now in possession of Selene. Eventually his eyes travelled around the rest of the room, amazed at the level of detail that went into this place. The furniture, the landscapes painted onto the walls... even the carpet was soft underfoot. The Merryweathers had real carpet. The DeNoirs lived in a dank, dark castle. Nothing that Robin compared to this. His father and his ancestors and wanted to destroy this? To destroy her?