I know it's childish, but I hope Roan survives Praimfaya, too.
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Watching the thing we've been working tooth and nail on for weeks, sacrificing two of three meals to recover burn down in front of us is the type of surreal I'd never wanted to prepare for.
By the time the rain came, it was too late to save anything, smoke furling upwards as remaining sparks get exstinguished.
Jasper nor I had really moved, our eyes glued to the site. Thank God my iPod wasn't in there, I think, palming at the tiny piece of technology in my pocket, paired with the earbuds and charger. Jasper's goggles, slung lazily around his freckled neck, also bring me some relief.
"Well," he eventually begins, making me look over at him. He pulls me up with a mischevious smile. "It's not black rain."
Laughing a bit, I remember our escapade in the rain, dancing away to our heart's content in what could have very well been the cause of our deaths. Shaking my head, I peck his cheek, taking his hand as we walk over to Thelonius.
My boyfriend repeats his previous observation to our... friend, and Jaha shakes his head. "When it comes, it will be colourless."
"How are we going to know?" Jasper murmurs after a moment, seeming to actually be genuinely curious for the older man's input.
"Pain. Chaos. Death."
"Same old, same old," Jasper then chuckles bitterly, shaking his head. He shifts, releasing my hand to wrap a protective arm around me. Not really unusual, but he's been slightly more defensive after I'd nearly run into a blazing fire.
The three of us watch the various people coughing, and Jasper sighs heavily, hiding his face on my damp shoulder. I reach up, gently playing with his wet, curling hair.
"Any plans in that crazed mind of yours, Chancellor?" I question, using the title mockingly as per usual. It had almost become a joke between us.
"We'll find a way, Miss Blake."
I can't help but giggle when Jasper's breath tickles my neck. "If you never did, you should. These things are fun, and fun is good. Doctor Seuss."
Rolling my eyes at my boyfriend's dorky behaviour, I laugh as he pulls me away from Thelonius. He leads me through all of the mud to who knows where, the boy's mind a beautiful, unique enigma in and of itself.
The destination I'm brought to is little more than an echo of what once was. It's rather dark, the ground sogs beneath our feet, and yet, I can tell that the boy has a plan to make the space as exquisitely special as it had perhaps once been.
"Shall we dance the night away, my dear? Led, not by the beat of a song, but instead the beat of our hearts?"
"And what book would it be that you're reciting now, my love?" I coyly question, allowing him to begin to slowly waltz with me, despite the blatant absence of music.
"None other than the book of my soul."
Chuckling, I sigh. "It was good at first, but then you said that."
