Queen of the Ashes

Chapter Eight

Campanula:
gratefulness
∗·• ♔ ♥ ♔ •·∗

«C-campanula» Maze frowned at the blue and purple flowers Ethan shyly held out for her to take.

«Your obsession with flowers is starting to get pathetic" She rolled her eyes. But as she turned away from him she could feel her lips tug into a miniature smile. Ethan shrugged sheepishly. He was already well aware of that, but he just couldn't help it.

«I-It means-»

«Please don't turn this into a cliché. We fucked. That's it» Maze growled, but took the flowers anyways.

Ethan bit his lower lip as he nodded apologetically. «Yes, of course...s-sorry»

They sat in silence for a while, the library being its usual quiet self. Ethan for once wasn't reading, he found himself unable to focus on anything besides Maze. Her hair was loose and hung down her back like red curly curtains and he felt his hand twitch, feeling a sudden need to stroke his fingertips through it.

Maze knew he was staring but still kept her dark gaze on the page. Even as she found it annoying that he watched her, she still didn't stop him.

«S-so...h-how are you?»

Maze snorted, eyes still on the page.

«If you think your dick broke my ass, I think its more of the other way around»

Ethan laughed nervously, blush erupting in his cheeks. He found himself blushing a lot more and a lot easier around her than before. Maybe it was because they had shared an intimate moment and it felt like she had more against him now that she had seen him naked?

It had mortified Ethan when he woke up in her apartment, butt naked. Even as he wasn't tied down anymore, he found it hard to move as the embarrassment had been so damn paralyzing. Maze wasn't there when he woke up and he felt ashamed to know that he had occupied her bed and driven her out of her own home. Little did he know that the demon had actually watched him all night and just slipped out when he woke up.

«N-no no! T-that's not what I meant...» he swallowed hard and Maze crossed her legs under the table. She had found herself also reacting towards him more often than before, but she didn't blush like him. Not visibly that is.

«...I-I was j-just wondering... i-in general...» Ethan finished his rambling speech with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He seemed to be doing that a lot when he was nervous or unsure.

Maze ignored him, and Ethan grew more and more anxious by the silence. Was this normal? To just pretend like nothing had happen between them? Did she just want to forget it, was that why she suddenly acted so...cold? Or colder than usual?

Ethan ran his gaze over her form discreetly, a blush creeping up his neck. Was he really that bad? Why did he even care? It wasn't like it would ever happen again... Not after that wired reaction he had... He had passed out or something and drooled all over her sheets. He had tried to wash it off, and it worked a little, but he still felt a massive guilt weigh down on his shoulder.

He had used a lot of hours hiding under his own sheets to get over it. But every time he looked at her, he felt the embarrassment just bubble up his throat, affecting his voice, as a heavy desire boiled in his stomach as well. Would he ever be able to get over it?

He looked outside the window. Rain was pouring down and the grey whether created a white light that reflected in his eyes and made them sparkle in forest green and ocean blue. He placed a finger the glass and began to trace the drops racing down the see-through surface. He became too distant to notice Maze stealing glances of him.