Elven Love (SAA Book 1) ✔

Part Seven

-- Two Days Pass --

"I thought you went to college?" a voice interrupted, causing Clayton's fingers to pause over the keys of his keyboard. Clayton looked at Oren. Oren looked at the laptop, eyes flicking up to Clayton's to see if he was still looking. The human just adjusted the glasses on his face and continued to watch the video that played before him.

"Yeah. I do, this is just for studying on the weekends. Sometimes I skip going to the school but to make up for it, I do it here."

"Oh.." muttered Oren in a small voice. That was when Clayton finally looked over to the elf, only to see his emerald eyes to be downcast. The blond let out a quiet sigh as he wrapped an arm around Oren's waist, pulling him closer to get rid of that stupid look on his face.

Confused at first, Oren looked up to him with a raised eyebrow but soon grew comfortable with the feeling of being pressed against another warm body. Whilst Oren was enjoying the attention, Clayton felt too embarrassed to say anything. They simply stayed there as Clayton continued to watch a video on neurology.

 "Clayton," called Oren, to which the human hummed as he kept watching the educational clip. "I trust you now more than I did when we first met. Though, when we first met I thought you weren't as... moody, I guess?" His last sentence caused an elbow to press against his ribs. Oren laughed quietly. "sorry."

 Something had finally clicked inside Clayton's head. The sand. That's what caused Oren to come alive. "Shit!" he swore belligerently, shuffling and throwing the laptop aside. Remembering he sneaked the bag of  sand back home, Clayton stood from his bed and knelt down, reaching under the box springs to pull out the same bag. The sand inside was shimmering in the afternoon light, which only spurred him on further as he quickly fetched a pencil and his notebook nearby. He sketched out a nearly perfect upright oval, adding a stand on the bottom as if it were a full-body mirror.

 "Does this make everything I draw.. come to life?" he asked himself, not realizing that Oren had stood up in a hurry and followed him closely. "no fucking way."

  "What is that? A portal?" Oren asked, pointing to the paper as Clayton followed the angle of his finger. Wait... A portal.. That's a great idea.

  "Uh, b-- Y-YES!" he babbled with a flush rising to his cheeks. "yes, that's exactly what it is." he jotted down the words, "portal to random place out of this world" and looked over to Oren. "How are you so brilliant?" he gawked, his eyebrows raising in exhilaration. He hasn't been this eager in a long while, and the adrenaline he received from it was long-missed. Taking the bag of sand and opening it, Clayton pinched the sand between the pads of his fingers and sprinkled it over the page.

With this, Oren watched as it dissipated into the page. He stared at it with large, expectant eyes, and when the drawing did nothing, his shoulders slacked and head hung forward. Clayton guffawed, having noticed this child-like impatience. "What, did you expect it to do a flip?" he chortled. Oren shot him a glance but merely brushed him off as he continued to eye the worn notebook. Although the pages were frayed at the edges and the cardboard covers were stained, ripped and floppy, that didn't make it any less of a notebook.

'Just like humans,'  Oren thought, 'even if they have flaws, they don't deserve to be treated differently.'  With an irreconcilable look dawning on his face, Oren quietly held his lower lip between his teeth. He turned to Clayton and scooted closer, eyes briefly locking with the human's before he looked away. "Trust exercise?" he suggested, holding out his hand with a slightly tilted head. Clayton shrugged and scooted closer until they were knee-to-knee.

 Their hands brushed. Fingers interlaced. Thick silence. Oren's eyes flicked up to Clayton's.

 Heart in his throat, Oren gulped it back down and tried to focus on anything else but the intoxicating warmth between them. That's when they were broken up by the rumbling of a growl that echoed through the room. The loudest of the resonance came from the notebook that began to vibrate with an unnatural pulse. The pencil drawing began to wiggle and cipher, soon peeling off of the page and materializing into the air above the notebook. It thundered with vigor as the portal finally sprung to life, roaring with light and power.

The two boys looked on in shock, faces equally surprised and awestruck as the portal melted off of the page and slowly grew solid. The shining, almost ethereal bronze that rimmed it seemed to keep the portal's liquid inside. Ornate bulbs of gold were symmetrically placed on the outside of the rim, making it look almost Egyptian or royal. Oren scuttled backwards to get a better look, all the while Clayton was frozen in place.

  The elegant bronze had a strange patina of light that seemed to trace the curves and dip of the twisting yet solid frame. The three legs that it stood on were long and curled as they came into contact with the soft carpeted ground. Clayton stood and stared at himself, or at least a faintly visible, distorted image of himself.

   His eyes were strained by just looking at the flurry of vibrant salmons and golds. The scent of grass and dust oozed from the frame, causing Clayton to turn back to it. If one listened close enough, they could hear the soft croaking of frogs and roaring wind.

   "Should we go in?" Oren inquired in a hoarse whisper, cheeks now flushed with a familiar fuzzy green.

   "Yeah."

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Thank you for reading Part Seven!

I KNOW IT"S SHORT AAAAH I'M SO SORRY