The Flood- Undergoing Some Editing And Stuff

You and Me Both

 “Why is this not good again?” I asked.

“My brother is a bit much, and there are reasons I’ll tell you about later for my caution around him. But first, I must greet him and figure out his reasons for coming. And you guys need to get ready to meet him too.”

She motioned, and we snuck back inside and Aster and I ran upstairs to lock ourselves in our room. Aster was instructed to shower and wear a nice t-shirt with khaki pants, and I was instructed to shower and wear one of the few summer dresses I had.

Aster went to shower first, so I had time to pick out a dress. There were four of them. One a strapless knee-length blue, like the deep sea on a nice day. The next a pretty magenta one that had a nice petal-y look to it that would come down to mid-thigh with two straps. The third a short sleeved sunny yellow that would go straight down to mid-calf. The last one called out to me. It was the color of the leaves midday, and had white embroidered vine patterns on the bottom, which went all the way to my feet. The straps were two fingers wide. I chose a pair of white gladiator sandals to go with it. I showered quickly and dressed.

I was fully ready. Physically, I mean. Not mentally. I had always been a bit bad with first impressions and socializing. Look at my first impression with Aster. I had brought out a weapon and demanded answers to my questions. Then look at Viola, I had been a little rude, then promptly passed out. I'm pretty sure this isn't going to go very well for me, considering the fact that even Viola is wary of us meeting him. Talking is easy with them now, but I highly doubted the events of tonight would lead to a favorable ending such as that.

The rapping at my door brought me out of my reverie. I walked over, a slight tremor racing along my arm as I pushed the handle down. Slowly pulling the door open, I saw Aster. He wore a light blue silky t-shirt and khaki cargo pants.

He smiled, seeing how nervous I was, then looked me in the eyes with his own vivid jade ones, "Time to present ourselves."

I walked down the stairs behind Aster, my hands shaking with nerves. We rounded the corner into the dining room where voices were coming from. One that rang with clarity and vibrance, Vi, the other a milk-chocolate tenor, which must be her brother.

We entered the dining room, seeing Viola sat down with a guy. This was no boy, this was a man. His hair was almost white, it was so blonde. He had dusky blond stubble on his chin, making him look even more appealing. His eyes were too far and dark to tell the color from this distance, his shoulders broad, waist narrow. Defined muscles all over, damn I was almost drooling. Thank the gods I had mastered the art of keeping all that internal.

"Ah," he said, his accent crisp like his sister's. "These must be the islanders you were talking about."

"That we are," Aster said as he took a seat, his tone politely cold. I followed example and sat next to him.

"Viola was just explaining how you arrived, and ended up as her little… project," he said, seeming much to energetic for this time of day. It was almost sundown.

"Was she now?" Aster inquired.

"Yes," Viola smiled, "I was telling him about how you left your island on a raft. You both arrived exhausted and slightly delusional from sun overexposure," she winked. I was fairly sure she knew that what we told her was slightly fabricated. 

"So," Aster continued the short, altered version of our story, "Viola graciously took us in. She is a great host, and a very generous lady."

"Why, thank you, Aster," Viola grinned.

"Oh, pardon me for not introducing myself," Viola's brother smirked, eyes cold, "I'm Prince Camphor,” he introduced hottily. “You may present yourselves now.”