The Glass Scientists micro-fanfictions

Innocent Fun

The sun was pooling its golden honey onto the forest floor, dappling the grasses with the soft sort of life that seemed to be perfect to sit and rest a while with a cup of tea as the afternoon sun rolled into evening. It was a sight that was quite foreign for the man who stood among the trees in a wide eyes wonder.
Sure, Henry would have seen such a sight a dozen dozens of times in the past, but the sight would have been wasted on him for he surely would not have taken the time to appreciate it, not in the same way Edward did.

The cheery babble of a nearby, yet hidden brook filtered through the air, snatching up his ever wandering attention, commanding and demanding his thoughts in a way that not even he could properly do. Caring not for any possible snake that would not hear him coming, he crept almost silently through the thicket of trees, his pace slower than his impatience wanted, having to duck and dodge haphazardous branches and weave through the maze of trunks that were certainly not making it easy to navigate.
But, struggle as he may, he did find the edge of the denser treeline and, as he practically leaped into the space, the horrible little man managed to somehow appear the most lovely creature that walked the face of the earth. Hair a crown of spun gold, seeming to somehow glow in the sunlight that so rarely shone upon him. Eyes free of the madman's gleam that glowed something unholy in the green, replaced by a warmth that seemed almost foreign in a man such as he. Lips that seemed to be stuck in a perpetual snarl were curled instead in the softest smile one could muster, the sort that seemed an impossibility on a monster's features.

Before he had even realised what it was that he was doing, Hyde had already kicked off one of his shoes, caring not if it would be left scuffed as a result. With a haste that was particularly common for him, the second was tossed to the side, as was his socks - which, he noted for the briefest moment of amusement, were very much odd socks - and he began to roll up the legs of his trousers. He'd gotten unusually good at rolling up trouser legs, but given that his alternative was tripping and falling over the longer legs of Jekyll's pants, which would have been horribly embarrassing if he happened to be seen, it was a necessary skill for him to develop.

With all the enthusiasm in the world, and still some to spare, he approached the river, glimmering enticingly in the lazy afternoon sun. Slowly he waded into water, letting out a hiss through his teeth, having not anticipated it to be quite as cold as it was. It was far from ice, but when compared to the lingering Spring warmth, the difference was more than a little jarring.
But that was exactly how he liked it.
The feeling of the cool water rushing and gurgling around him felt, in no exaggerated terms, right. It felt real, the sort of feeling that would leave one feeling nostalgic for the better times where they were free to enjoy the chattering babble of a brook or two.

In Edward's not so humble opinion, everyone should take the time to enjoy a good stream every now and again.

Bending over, he dipped a finger into the water, the smile already steady upon his face solidifying into something stronger than it had been. It swirled around his digit in a way that delighted him in a way that nothing else had managed to. Of course he had been delighted by all manner of other things, but there was something almost innocent in the delight that this particular moment was bestowing upon him that seemed different, and it was a different that he most certainly found himself enjoying.

Taking a curious few steps forward turned out to not be the smartest idea he had ever had, and that was saying something given that he rarely managed to have an idea that was less than utterly foolish, if not exasperatingly reckless in design.

All the rolled trouser legs in the entirety of London would have done him no good at all when he managed to tread on a particularly slimy river rock, which, as one can assume, send him slipping over in a far less than elegant or gentlemanly manner. For half a moment or so, his face had even managed to slip beneath the surface. The water had only managed to reach his knees when he was upright, but sitting there, recovering from his undignified display, a whole lot more of him managed to get wet.
Not that this bothered him. Far from it, for as his clothes, now even more ruffled than they had been, were being tugged at and played with by the curious water, he couldn't help but laugh a pure, cheerful laugh that would have managed to warm the heart and hurt the ear of anyone who happened to hear him. But there was nobody to hear him. He was alone, laughing with a lightness of soul he couldn't recall feeling in the past.

Rather than standing himself back up and going about the tedious task of drying himself off, as any sensible person might, he splashed his hands in the water with a childlike glee. Flinging himself back, he made sure to keep only his face above the surface. His hair floated about his head in the sort of blond waves that one might liken to a mermaid in a child's tale - real mermaids, as we all know, would not have hair in the same way that a human does - and it made him feel, well, wonderful.
Even as he sat up, wet chunks of hair clinging to his face and neck in not the most pleasant way, he could not shake away his magnificent happiness.

The sun had long since displayed its brilliant comings of night before he finally begun his pilgrimage back to the stuffy dryness he had escaped for the afternoon, soaked to the bone and grinning as pleasantly as a man like he could be permitted to smile.