Spirits

Chapter 12

The warm afternoon sun shone down, keeping the crisp air—which still held some part of winter—from being chilly. It also made the porch, with the wood warm and an excellent view of farmland, an ideal place to be.

The chains of the hanging bench seat creaked a bit as Caspar and Liana sat together, swinging softly. Interspersed were the sound of Grandma Yule's knitting needles clicking together as she worked a few feet away in her rocking chair, her yarn ball getting smaller as her patch of knit lengthened.

Caspar took a deep breath of the fresh air and savored it. Out here in the country the usual flavor of smog was gone, replaced with the scents of animals, flowers, and trees. When he was not in Gion with the job he'd gotten at the Capitol Library, he spent his time at the Central Street Gift shop or here, at the Yule farm.

He looked over at Liana, who had her eyes closed as she savored the warmth of the sun. He'd come to learn that the reason for her darker skin was her love of sunbathing. Caspar himself had to watch how much sun he got with her or he'd burn to a crisp.

"I forgot to mention how nice you look in that dress today, Miss Yule." Caspar said with a smile. "Yellow suits you very well."

Her face split into an embarrassed grin, her teeth showing. "Thank you..."

Caspar looked back out to the rolling hills and the green that was starting to grow on their sides. This is what I wanted. A chance to live a normal life. I wish Lady Mona were here to experience this too.

"Mr. Cunnings?" Liana asked softly. Her expression had changed, her brown now creased.

"Yes?"

"If you don't mind me asking...what is yellow like?"

Caspar blinked. Of course, he'd told her how yellow suited her and she probably had no grasp of such things as color.

"Mother has told me in her own way." Liana explained. "But I would like to hear...what you have to say."

"Well..." Caspar said, feeling rather stumped. How do I describe something so...basic? He thought about it for a while, and Liana waited patiently while he did so.

"Well if you relate the colors to say," he finally began. "The scale of heat and cold, I believe you'll have a way to understand it. Yellow is warm, like the sun on your face." Caspar reached out his hand in the sunlight, watching the light on his skin. "Nice and comforting."

Liana seemed to consider this for a moment. "What about the other colors? How do they relate?"

"Well, I would equate red to heat again, but even more so. Red is hot like a fire, but it's a good one. Kind of...like when you get into really hot bathwater. Orange is somewhere between red and yellow. Green..." Caspar paused again. "Green is a hard one...its cooler than yellow but it's the color of...grass and leaves and so...I suppose one could say it's room temperature? Purple is cooler than green, perhaps cool like a draft, and blue is cold, very cold, like ice. However the coldest color is black..." Caspar suddenly faltered off, remembering that he didn't have to explain what that color was, as she knew it well. He looked to her face, wondering if he'd offended her, but she surprised him by popping out with,

"What's white then?"

"White?"

"Yes...people are always commenting on your hair being white...what's that like on your scale?"

Caspar thought. "That's hard because it's sort of both things. It's either extremely hot or extremely cold. It's the opposite of black though, so maybe it's fiery hot—"

"If it's the opposite of black then it must be the most beautiful thing in the world." She blurted.

Caspar looked at her downcast expression and chewed his cheek, debating. "It is..." Caspar finally whispered. "It is quite beautiful...did you know your eyes are white, Liana? Pure and...quite lovely." With a slow movement that he hoped would go unnoticed by her grandmother, he reached over and clasped her hand. "Quite lovely indeed."

Liana's face flushed. "Caspar...I..."

Caspar laughed very slightly, nervous but savoring this moment all the same.

Then she pulled her hand from his. Caspar's eyes widened. Oh dear! I crossed a line; went to quick!

But her hand was suddenly reaching up, and Caspar froze as she reached towards him cautiously. She touched his shoulder first, her fingertips then sliding across his collar, to his neck, higher still, now grazing her fingers across his face, going up until she'd reached his hairline, where she paused. "Your hair must be quite lovely then..."

Caspar remained still, holding his breath as she worked her fingers into his hair. She'd never touched any of his face or hair before; they'd not even held hands until a moment before. His eyes quickly darted to her grandmother, who was still knitting. Either she hadn't seen this yet, or had and was choosing to ignore it. His heart was pounding, the sensation of her fingertips a bliss to him. He gazed into her white eyes, knowing if they were alone he surely would kiss her.

"You forgot pink." Liana said quietly, her hand coming to a rest at the back of his neck.

It was then that Caspar saw her grandmother look up and over at the pair.

"Pink?" Caspar managed. "Well I suppose that's the color of my cheeks right now."

"Oh! I've embarrassed you." Liana said, lowering her head while her hand retreated from him.

Her grandmother shook her head disapprovingly before going back to her work.

"It's quite alright, Liana..." Caspar whispered. "It's just your family I fear."

In the weeks he'd known them, he'd come to get along quite well with her family. At times he even helped Mr. Yule with some things around the farm. In fact, he was now able to look them in the eyes without fear of controlling them. However, when it came to Liana and his relationship with her, he sometimes still found himself quite out of sorts, besides the fact that he wished in no way to anger her family.

"I'm almost twenty." Liana said with a huff. "And Caspar...I love your voice but...I can't see your face or anything of you unless I touch you."

Caspar reached over and took her hand again. "We'll get there, dearest. We'll get there..."