Cipher

Chapter 22: Aura

Cipher struggled to stay calm for most of the day, hidden away in his room. It was irrational, he told himself, nothing was going to hurt him. But he couldn't seem to get his body to agree. He stayed there on the ground as far from the window as possible trying to contain the anxiety that the storm created. Mrs. Johnston had checked on him a few times, even offered to get him something to eat, but he was wound too tight to consider eating anything.

A soft knock came at the bedroom door.

"Yes?"

"Hey," Isaac pushed the door open a bit. "I'm back from school. How are you doing?"

"I am doing well," He watched as worry and exhaustion swirled together through Isaac's aura. "Really." Cipher tried to believe it himself.

"Sure, man." Isaac sighed. "You have a visitor." He stepped out of the way so Cipher could see the person standing behind him.

"Joslyn?" He noticed her hair looked damp as she gave him a small smile.

"Hey, Cipher."

"Hello," he felt a flush creep across his already dark marks as he realized that Joslyn was standing at his door while he was mostly hidden amongst his blankets. On the floor. Despite that, he couldn't bring himself to get up.

"Isaac said you've been having a hard time with the rain?" She inquired as Isaac stepped away.

Cipher inclined his head.

"Mind if I sit?"

"If you wish."

She made her way over to him and sat, leaning against the wall. "You know, you never explained the aura thing." she said simply.

It took Cipher a moment to realize what she was referring to. "About how auras work?"

"Or even what they are," she said. "That might be a good start."

Cipher sighed. How could he explain it? It was like telling a blind person about color.

"Well," he started. "It is something that is not uncommon among Aeolians, especially leading families. It is almost like another sense, I suppose, that allows us to read emotion, and sometimes intention or honesty. It is not an exact science. I have heard that others experience it differently, even when we are reading the same person." He told her, allowing himself to be distracted. "I suppose it is not actually an aura that I sense, but 'auras' is simply the closest available word we have found in English to describe it."

Joslyn seemed to take that in for a moment. "So what's my aura right now?"

"Honestly?"

She nodded.

His eyes seemed to unfocus slightly as he really let himself truly and fully look at her. "Mostly curiosity and disbelief." he paused. "But also worry and sadness." His gaze came back into focus as it met hers. Her eyes were slightly wide.

"And at the hospital...?"

"A lot of anxiety, sadness, and discomfort," he answered quietly.

She nodded almost numbly.

"However, what we sense does not tell us why the person feels that way."

Joslyn paused, as if debating something, before finally speaking. "It's about my brother."

"Jason?"

She nodded. "He was sick. And we spent a lot of time in the hospital with him... I spent a lot of time in the hospital with him."

Cipher saw the sadness overtake nearly everything else. "You do not speak about him very often."

"He's my big brother and one of my best friends," she looked down at her hands. "I miss him."

Cipher had had a sneaking suspicion for a while, he had seen the unique devastation in her eyes, one he had seen in the mirror. Now he knew it was right. "I am sorry for your loss."

"You know," she said, turning to him even as her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. "I've heard that from a lot of people, but it feels real coming from you."

"I..." Cipher started quietly. "It is not easy to lose someone you are close to." He shifted, emerging from the blankets slightly. "I have no siblings, but... I lost a friend, Amaya. She was like a younger sister to me."

Joslyn looked over with a sad smile and glistening eyes, "I'm sorry." She whispered, gently extending her hand toward him.

The blankets slipped to his shoulders as he shifted to sit against the wall next to her, an arm's length away, hands lightly clasped. They sat in a comfortable silence, acknowledging each other's pain and their own without a word, the simple connection bringing comfort.

Without thinking, his free hand lightly traced along the deep scar just over his right hip, hidden beneath his shirt, as he tried not to think too much about losing Amaya and the incident that caused it.