A Cognate Thing-a sophitz story

thirty seven

Walking around Mysterium fingers laced together Sophie and Fitz were lost in their own little world. If they had looked around they would have noticed that everyone seemed to be watching them and heard the whispers.

“Is that a Vacker?”
“Is that the girl who lives with the Ruewen's?”
“Why are they here?”
“Shouldn't they be hanging out in a noble city?”
“They are really cute together.”

Mysterium was a working class city and at night the streets became alive. Shops started to close down and street vendors came out. There were little carts will all kinds of yummy foods and treats. Multicolored lights that had been draped across the streets from the buildings created a canopy that gave the illusion of a colorful night sky. There were even street musicians that came out and performed, people were dancing in the streets and the whole city felt like it was celebrating some grand event.

“Did you know it was going to be like this?” Sophie asked looking up at Fitz.

“Edaline said that it was a different experience at night but this was not what I had in mind.” He answered honestly kind of in shock at the scene that surrounded them.

They continued to make their way around trying out all different kinds of foods before noticing there was a row of vendors selling all kinds of artisan products. They made their way down the row before stopping at a small cart with a girl not much older than Fitz and Sophie. She was hard at work making custom bracelets right there in front of you. Her hands were so efficient and moved effortlessly as she wove different colors of small beads together. It was enchanting to watch and Fitz knew he wanted Sophie to have one.

“Select upto four colors of beads you want and I can have it done in about 30 minutes.” The girl said not even looking up from her work.

Fitz turned to Sophie, “what colors would you like?”

Sophie grinned and her eyebrows went up, “what if we make 2 matching ones, and pick out the colors together. Than we can each have one.”

“That is a great idea!” Fitz answered. “Gold for the twinkling in the beautiful eyes that I can't stop thinking about.”

“Teal, I think you know why.” Sophie answered back with a little blush.

“Red,” Fitz said selecting the next color. “You always look incredible in red.”

“Purple,” Sophie said after thinking for a minute. Fitz gave her a quizzical look. “It's the color of an Albertosaurus,” she added softly.

Fitz and Sophie shared a look, all the colors had meaning to the two of them. After paying the girl they continued to walk around while she made them, Fitz never letting go of Sophie's hand. They visited with other vendors and learned that Friday was the best night to come to Mysterium and that occasionally they would have games and rides set up as well. It sounded a lot like the time Sophie had visiting the San Diego Fair with the Fosters growing up and she got excited.

“Fitz we have to come back when they do that it would so much fun!” Sophie exclaimed, her free hand grabbing his arm and almost skipping along. Fitz could tell she was so happy. He liked seeing her happy, there wasn't any stress of school or chores or pressures of growing up in that moment. Now if only she would share her secret with him things would be perfect.They made their way back to pick up the bracelets.

“I hope you guys don't mind I tweaked the usual pattern to make them a little more personalized.” The girl said as she handed them the bracelets.

Upon examination they discovered a teal F and a red S woven in the beads.

“How did you know who we are?” Sophie asked the girl, she was positive they hadn't used their names around her.

“Umm, everyone knows who you guys are.” The girl said as she kept working.

Fitz and Sophie looked at each other and blushed a little bit but loving the personalized touch she had done for them. They grabbed one last treat from a street vendors before they decided it was probably time to head home. It was a school night afterall and the next 10 weeks with no breaks to see one another were going to be grueling. Reaching for her home crystal and letting the light pull them away they were back in the fields of Havenfield and quietly made their way to the front door.

Conversation always came easy but tonight each were caught up in their own thoughts replaying the day. It was only hours ago they had decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend, the implied actions that came with that decision hadn't really been discussed but Fitz had hinted at it. The silence between them almost had an energy around it, anticipation building of what could potentially happen when they said good night at the doorstep.

Sophie was lost in thought as they neared the door. She knew what Fitz’s lips felt like on her cheek, but looking up at his face at them made her wonder what it would feel like if they were on her own lips.

Did she want Fitz to kiss her?