Elven Love (SAA Book 1) ✔

Part Five

Oren quietly crooned to himself as he scooted just a little closer to the human. "You just.. seem a little ill-tempered." Clayton, in response, gave the snowy haired elf a wild stare, eyes crinkled at the corners as if he were offended.

At the human's deafening silence, Oren huffed out a breath, clearly embarrassed.

"I could have hurt you when you appeared on my bed this morning," he said, "but I didn't, because I knew you meant no harm. You looked too.. what's the word, fragile? Like if I said something the wrong way, you would crumple to the ground."

"I think we can both agree that, at this stage, I'm not as fragile as you think I am," snapped Oren, "considering I just slapped you."

Clayton bit his tongue and cast his gaze to the ground. "Okay, I get it. I'll start. I'm nineteen and going to college. I skipped a grade in elementary school." he explained with a creased brow. "I don't have siblings and my parents are obviously divorced. My favorite color is uhh... salmon I guess." Oren felt less frightened by the boy's chatter, but it wasn't enough to make him feel comfortable.

"I'm not very keen on my favorite food. I guess you can say I love Alfredo noodles, but it's not very popular." Clayton chuckled, to which Oren felt his lips raise slightly. "I enjoy drawing, a lot, so much so that I stay up 'til five in the morning finishing it." he waved a hand in the air with a lopsided grin pulling at his face. "But with my 20/70 vision, I doubt I'll be able to keep that up." Oren now wore a concerned expression, his mind leaving the fact that he felt suspicious a moment ago.

"Oh." was all Oren could process, mind racing and blood hot in his veins. He suddenly felt restless with a rapidly thumping heart that made his legs feel boneless. His head felt light and bubbly, like a diver underwater. In less than the human blink, his face held a raging emerald blush, roaring to life with the time he spent looking at the human. He felt conflicted, as if he were choosing between the angel and devil over his shoulders. His voice wavered, "Um, I'm sorry about that."

"I've learned to live with it."

Oren realized, belatedly, that he was holding his breath. The mood felt strangely sentient somehow, almost as if there was an underlying feeling bound to surface.

»»---------««

The night dawned sooner than the two ever would have expected. As if the inky darkness failed to come fast enough, the rolling grey disregarded the stars it concealed, and the air felt humid and thick with the sentimental summer.

The low sky imparted a claustrophobic tension and the only thing to do was sleep it all out. Once the sun set and promised the land to come back soon, Oren would not tear his eyes from the window of Clayton's bedroom.

As Clayton watched from his bed, Oren simply stood, silently. His upbeat yet jumpy presence washed away to reveal a more melancholy side of him. His eyes were almost hopeful as his brow lifted weightlessly. His palms rested against the window pane, the pads of his fingers feeling the cool, sleek texture of the glass that separated him from the rest of the world.

"Where do you want to sleep?" Clayton inquired, his tone nearly sly as he was well aware of his ruining of the peaceful moment. Oren turned to him with a soft scowl before sauntering strides away from the window. "We're obviously not gonna sleep in here. My bed won't be big enough for us if we don't get all physical." he smirked just as Oren gulped quietly.

"The sky. I want to sleep in that sky." Oren then paused, "just-- I feel like that place is familiar. It's blurry, but I can definitely feel like there's something there. Lodged deep in my memory.. Before I came here." Clayton raised an eyebrow, but said nothing in return. The silence began to tense as Oren shook his head quickly. "N-Never mind. I'm just rambling. Let's go to bed."

With that, Clayton began to search for a decent sleeping spot. He wanted them to be a fair distance apart; but something felt off about that. He noticed that he had a surfacing urge to protect the elf from danger, even though they just met.

It was probably because of how Oren's so skittish and high-strung. As he pondered, the final verdict was the brown couch downstairs in the living room. Clayton decided to take a recliner whilst Oren simply slept on two cushions next to him.

"Pillows and blankets are up there, above you." the human said, to which Oren looked up to see heavy fleece blankets draped over the back couch cushion. He reached up and pulled one of the blankets down, the cloth falling over his small body as he readjusted it to cover his toes.

"If you need anything just wake me up, 'kay?" Clayton looked his way and reached over, fingers brushing back strands of feathery white hair from his freckled face. Oren jumped and shrunk away from the hand with a shy whimper. Clayton laughed, "Don't be so nervous around me too. I'm just trying to help. Night."

"Goodnight."

The human spared him one last glance before turning onto his side and closing his eyes.

»»---------««

Just hours later, Ava returned home from work. Stressed and too tired to notice her son sleeping on the couch, she sauntered past the living room and dropped her purse onto the dining table. It was only when she turned back to the living room did she notice the two boys sleeping on the couch. Baffled, she silently stepped forward and eyed the top of Oren's head. His face was buried under the covers, along with the rest of his body other than his head of snowy white hair.

"Who.." she mumbled, approaching Oren as if she were a silent leopard stalking its prey. She paused, having gotten to the point where her knees pressed against the couch, and simply leaned over Oren with an incredulous expression. Curious, Ava gingerly pulled back the covers to reveal the sleeping face of the elf. Her eyes grew wide with shock as she took two large steps away from the couch.

The mood in the room had changed drastically, and as if sensing it, Oren stirred. Despite her surprise, the woman soon made her way up the stairs and resisted the urge to call the police.

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Thanks for reading Part Five!

Sorry it's short :(