Elven Love (SAA Book 1) ✔

Part Twelve

As Oren woke up, he felt a hand pressed to his cheek. His eyebrow twitched, and the hand jerked away from his face. He opened his eyes to see Clayton staring back at him with concern. "You're sweating," Clayton noted, glasses slipping on his nose, "are you okay?"

Oren flinched backwards, his fuzzy mind only able to make out their uncomfortable proximity. Clayton was laying in bed with the gaming controller in his hand, looking over to Oren as if he were distracted. The elf brought a hand to his face only to feel a layer of cold sweat building above his skin. He cringed.

"Oh.. I'm fine." he sat up and stretched his arms out mindlessly. Clayton had to duck to avoid being jabbed in the face. The human laughed and waved the arm away, eyes now on the TV.

He seemed to be playing first-person video game, in which the character is seen travelling between ice-glazed and rocky lands. As an enemy approaches, his character lets out a short yet deafening burst of raw voice, staggering the other. Oren watched in fascination as his character swung a quick sword from left to right. He must've been playing this game for a while.

"Wanna play too? I have an extra controller in that box over there." Clayton released his controller to point to a box that was stuffed next to his dresser. As Oren stood up, he grimaced. Abashed, the elf turned to Clayton and let out a shaky sigh.

"First, may I borrow a change of clothes? These are... uh, drenched in sweat." he lied. Clayton nodded as his eyes set on the TV screen as Oren hesitantly rummaged his drawers for a new shirt and pair of pants.

He crossed over to the second dresser and grabbed a pair of his own boxer briefs as he exited the bedroom. When he returned, he grabbed the controller from the box and connected it to the console. He sat down next to Clayton, shy but willing.

As he learned the mechanics, Clayton's expert character gave Oren's novice character a few health and stamina potions, an ebony shield and two enchanted bows to start with. Every time Oren took out an enemy, Clayton would compliment him. Occasionally, if the creature in-game was superior or higher in level, Clayton even rubbed Oren's shoulder as a token of pride.

Oren was motivated to get more kills.

»»---------««

It was around nine at night when Oren found that the game reminded him of the portal the traveled through a few nights ago. From travelling through space, arctic biomes and even the desert in-game, Oren was suddenly inspired to take another adventure. With a smile, Oren sat down the controller and looked over to Clayton.

"This gives me an idea," Oren told the other, to which the human quirked a brow, "what about.. an underwater world? You know, like that one ship-wrecked game you like to play." he explained further, pointing at a poster on Clayton's wall. It was a painting of a fish with a bright bulbous yellow eye, which was a mascot for one of the games he cherished dearly.

Clayton gasped, "Yeah, that'd be a good idea. Hold up, lemme' get my notebook." In a swift movement, Clayton hopped off the bed and shuffled to a drawer of his nightstand. Peering over the human's shoulder, Oren could see the bag of black sand, a pack of pencils and two notebooks that appeared equally worn.

The row of attached rings were bent at the ends and the paper was curled. The cardboard that made a poor excuse for a cover was stained by things Oren didn't want to know of. As Clayton flicked through used pages, Oren could briefly catch glimpses of art he's made in the past. Most of them were detailed pencil linings, one of a plant sitting on a table as sunlight filters over it, and another one looking to be a dramatic still-life sketch of a man.

"You're really good." Oren muttered, almost involuntarily as Clayton's hands paused. He turned to the elf and raised a sharp brow. Oren's eyes were fixed to the page he stopped on, mouth agape as he recognized the figure almost immediately. The drawing was of a boy, eyes only slightly open as he rested his head over his shoulder. He was shirtless, and over his freckled cheek grew a beautifully bloomed flower. The boy had elf ears.

The boy was Oren.

Clayton followed the elf's shocked gaze and quickly flipped the page before anything else could be seen. "I-I'm gonna look for a blank page to draw on." he said, flicking through more pages until he finally found one that was clean. He adjusted the pencil in his hand and quickly began to sketch an oval shape like the last one. Only this time, he sketched out a wavy frame for it, to resemble ocean waves.

With a gentle titter, Oren climbed off of the bed and placed his hands onto Clayton's shoulders, putting some weight onto it as he looked over the blond's head. The human seemed to enjoy the added pressure to his shoulder blades, especially after the day's been finished. He even leaned back into Oren's chest as he jotted down the words 'underwater, ocean? doesn't matter. we can breathe and talk underwater that'd be cool'

"I like how your carelessness drips through your writing too." Oren chuckled, watching as Clayton moved the pencil over the blank paper. Oren's ears twitched as he heard the gentle, yet almost inaudible laugh come from the human below him. The elf smiled cheerfully as his pointed ears only perked up in excitement.

"It's part of who I am." Clayton remarked, grinning as he set down his pencil.

»»---------««

When the portal erupted from the paper with a burst of azure light, the whole bedroom flooded with the scent of the beach. Salty, yet cool sea water drowned out the smell of Nutmeg's signature dusty smell, which was a letdown to Clayton. The only letdown for Oren, that is, was the fact that he couldn't smell Clayton anymore. Just the seashore and salty seaweed.

A dark navy frame rimmed the portal, the shine just barely there as the net between it looked like the surface of the waterline. It rippled in the clashing blue hues, disembodied sunlight filtering through it like glass. Clayton could barely see anything beyond the surface, so he pressed a hand to it and felt his hand tingle for moment before feeling water all around it. He quickly pulled back and gave Oren a nod.

"It's ready, that's for sure."

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Thanks for reading Part Twelve!

Sorry it's short (again oops)