Orinoco Flow

For regular people, they worked Monday through Friday and got the weekend off…Misha’s schedule was a bit opposite. It was on the weekend’s that she did things for the church and wore her habit on Sunday, but during the weekdays she found herself not having anything to do. It was hard to feel useless, at the convent she was always doing something but here, she found herself having too much free time. She filled much of that time reading, helping out professors in their classrooms and listening to music, but at times she felt she just needed to go out. If was these feelings of needing fresh air that had led her to come to the beach quite often the past couple of weeks. She had come to find the beach was at its emptiest on Wednesday afternoon’s, so today that is where she found herself, enjoying a beautiful cloudy day at the beach.

She had never been one of those people that liked collecting things, but she had also never been on the beach until she moved here to the university. The first day she had been on the beach, after she had finished being awed by the ocean, she discovered seashells. It started with one, then another, then another until she had collected twenty in that first day. Now every time she came she spent time going up and down the coast of the water with her beach bag over her shoulder, her eyes glued to the sand as she tried to find shells she had yet to discover. She tried to avoid getting wet, but that was rather hard when she was so close to the water and she couldn’t wear a bathing suit, but instead a long white linen skirt that was already wet at the bottom and dusted with sand and a white t-shirt. She had brought along her little poodle, Puddle, as well and it was just a good thing he avoided the water or he would easily get swept up in the waves.

So far, Misha wasn’t having any luck. The shells she kept seeing were one’s she already had, and after an hour she had only collected one shell. She sighed and started to think maybe today wasn’t her day, but didn’t mean she couldn’t enjoy the day. She looked up in front of her to watch Puddle as he tried to be brave and get near the water, only to run away in terror when the waves got anywhere near him. She smiled and giggled, shaking her head at his antics. It was while she was watching him that she caught a little glimmer of color that came up in the waves, something yellow. Excited she quickly moved forward over the sinking sand and came upon the item that caught her attention. It was a shell, and it was yellow! Not only did she not had a yellow shell, yellow was her favorite color. Maybe today wasn’t going to be such a bust after all.

As she picked the shell up and dusted off the sand, she heard singing being carried on the ocean breeze. She hadn’t seen many people around and she turned her head in the direction of the voice and looked around for the person singing. She spotted someone sitting in a lounge chair and after a few moments realized who it was, Professor D’artagnan. She smiled and went to call and wave to him, but hesitated. If he was here alone and he seemed so relaxed, he probably didn’t want to be disturbed, right? She quickly lowered the hand she had begun to raise and pursed her lips. No, she shouldn’t bother him, she’d probably end up annoying him and ruining his obvious period of relaxation. But as she was thinking all of this through her head, she didn’t notice a particularly large wave was coming right at her and in her quest for the yellow shell, she had gotten rather close to the water.

The wave came up and crashed up against her, soaking her almost entirely. She gasped then squealed loudly in surprise at the cold water and quickly ran away from the waves, though it was rather difficult in the thick sand. Puddle began barking madly and running around, though he wasn’t loyal enough to go to his owner’s side until she was far enough from the waves. Her jaw was dropped in the horror of being dripping wet now, but a grin was on her face regardless. The ends of her hair were wet as well and clung to her face and neck and she tried to move them away as she began laughing at herself. Well, so much for trying to stay dry.

She was still in a bit of a shock of being wet when D’artagnan approached her. She smiled at him sheepishly, quite embarrassed to have him see her looking like what must be a very scraggly wet animal in her opinion. “Hello, Mr. Lioncort” She murmured, laughter still in her voice from the whole experience. Puddle had stopped barking and now had settled on sitting perfectly on his owner’s foot, his little tail wagging in excitement as he looked up at D’artagnan, since the little dog assumed everyone was his friend quite like Misha did. “Here I was trying not to disturb you, and I still did…I’m sorry” Why did she not do anything right? She had wanted to leave him in peace, and now here the poor man was giving her his jacket.

She watched him as he placed the jacket on her shoulders, well really, she watched his eyes. He looked particularly handsome today, though in reality he did every day, she just didn’t allow herself to notice every day since she wasn’t supposed to be noticing. Butterflies erupted in her stomach and her heart raced in her chest, warming up the chill on her skin much faster. When he touched her it was a miracle she managed to not sigh at the feeling. What was wrong with her? She really needed to stop. She was going to refuse his jacket because she didn’t want to ruin it, but at this point with all the crazy things happening at once inside her and him so close all she managed was to blush and stammer “Thank you”

His question made her giggle in embarrassment “Oh well, I wasn’t exactly trying to go in the ocean you see…” Because one she couldn’t swim and two to go in the ocean required a swimming suit, which none so far she had ever found appropriate to wear. She raised her hand to show him the yellow shell she had managed to hold onto too even from the wave “I was getting this” His smirk sent wondrous chills through her and she quickly glanced down. She wasn’t going to explain further, but she realized she probably sounded like an idiot that she had gotten wet for a shell “I, um…I collect…shells…” She muttered and gently placed the shell in her beach bag with the sole other one she had “It’s uh, silly I know but…I like them…”

A delight? She blushed brightly and began to fiddle with the wet strands of her hair “Oh...you don’t have to say that…” She had been told before her presence was refreshing, but she always did wonder if people meant that as a positive or negative. During her school years she was pretty sure no one but her teachers ever found her close to being a delight and although she had felt right at home in the convent, here at the university it was like high school all over again. D’artagnan was the only person so far that she felt was a friend, he actually talked to her every time he saw her and didn’t ever act like she was annoying him. Sure he could be pretending because he pitied her, but a part of her didn’t care, just as long as she got to be around him.

She gave him a little look when he called her dog a fuz bucket, a smile on her lips “His name is Puddle. He is a very sweet dog” And he was, along with the yipping and other things that did come along with small dogs. She had thought once most people liked dogs above all, but it seemed here at the school the majority of people she had met preferred cats. Misha loved cats too, she loved all animals, but Puddle had a very special place in her heart. She blushed again as she took his arm, hoping he didn’t notice and if he did, she could pass it off as sunburn or something. As she walked with him to go sit Puddle followed at her heels, though the tiny thing kept tripping over the sand.

“Dean Varrow isn’t very keen on Puddle either. She likes cats but I just assumed it was a-“ She stopped herself before she finished her sentence a Vampire trait. She knew she wasn’t supposed to talk about the inhuman creatures at the school and although Evelyn had told her all Professors were aware of them, she still felt odd speaking about it and making a horrible mistake. She paused for a few moments awkwardly before just deciding to skip over the subject since she was not smooth enough to slip something else in at the end of that sentence. She smiled at his little set up and sat down, leaning down to pick up Puddle’s wiggly body and set him on her lap before pulling the jacket more around her body. Her eyes lit up when he mentioned the shells “Really?” She asked intrigued, but then quickly pursed her lips “Oh, no, I couldn’t take those from you”

She smiled warmly “Well, that is an extremely rare and admirable trait, Mr. Lioncort” Everything he said the truth? If he was telling the truth about that, it was incredible. Not even Misha always told the truth, but her lies were always very small and very white…like, if someone asked her if a certain professor made her feel lightheaded and floaty and her heart pound in her ears, she would say no. She ruffled the little dog’s curly hair some as he panted on her lap, and then she brought him up to give him a kiss on the head which he happily returned with one of his own to her nose “I found him in the rain back home and took him in. I was going to give him to a shelter but, he stole my heart”

When D’artagnan stared at her, the usual goose bumps and shivers went through her body. She should have been used to him doing this by now, since the moment she met him he seemed to never stop staring at her. The way he did it as well was…well, it did things to her and made her feel nervous and anxious in warm and tingly ways. She wanted to ask him why he did that but she thought that rude to ask, but then again people said it was rude to stare. So instead she looked down bashfully and played with Puddle’s ears to distract herself from him looking at her, but she could feel his gaze and suddenly she wasn’t cold at all anymore. “I look silly don’t I?” She finally said shyly “That’s why I always hated gym class in high school…never was one of those girls that still looked flawless while she was all wet and gross”

She looked up when he mentioned Vampires and looked sheepish “The whole, supernatural truth is still a bit jarring for me sometimes. You know, it feels…awkward, to speak about it. Takes some getting used too I guess” She shrugged a bit and tilted her head “Was it strange for you when you found out?” She asked innocently, then seemed to realize she was missing something and her brow furrowed “O-oh, unless you are…” She had never asked him and had never really even thought about the fact he might be inhuman himself. But he seemed human, very much human in her opinion. Was it insulting to him to possibly think he might not be human? Oh goodness, she had no idea how to approach these things “I-I mean, I’m not…I’m not saying you seem like you are, because you don’t I’m just asking...I mean…” She sighed and frowned at herself.

When he chuckled she gave him a curious smile but quickly brightened and looked very, very touched “Well, thank you. I would love that, truly. I have all kinds of shells all over my dresser, but just from this beach, I’ve never been to any other beach before in my life” She then nodded quickly “Oh, I would be very careful with them, I promise. I never even broke any toys of mine when I was a child” But she then stopped to give him a sympathetic look “I’m sorry you and your father don’t speak”

No one made her feel like she did now when his eyes were on her. Being stared at period had always made her self conscious and embarrassed, but the way he looked at her made her feel…well, like a woman. She wanted to gaze back at him but told herself she knew better then to do that, no matter how beautiful his eyes were. Why was she even thinking about his beautiful eyes! She shouldn’t be doing that, but goodness, did he spin her mind around in so many angles. She knew love in her family, with animals, God…loving a man? No, she had never experienced that love before. She had never even been kissed.

When he said she looked lovely she looked at him with bright red cheeks then quickly down. The tone of his voice didn’t help with the wild butterflies in her stomach “L-lovely?” She stammered, feeling her heart skip a beat. He thought she was lovely? Her? With dripping wet hair and wet clothes covered in sand? No, he had to be just saying that to be nice….but what if he was telling the truth? Why was she even over thinking this? “You-your…very, kind…to say that…” She couldn’t even create a coherent sentence at the moment so she pursed her lips and tried to steady her crazy heart. She just couldn’t help it, he made her feel like this even though she knew it was wrong.

When he avoided answering, well, that kind of gave her the answer regardless. If he was human, wouldn’t he just say that he was? The fact he avoided it made her ever so curious, but it was hardly a subject she was going to push, not like she was a pushy person to begin with. His laugh though made her smile and distract her for a few minutes about him avoiding the question. Would he ever answer it? She was still overwhelmed and a bit afraid about the inhuman world, but he seemed harmless, she didn’t think he could be frightening at all. So she just nodded and agreed to let the topic go and she hoped bring it up for another day, for her curiosity would not be satiated until she knew. When he invited her to his apartment, well, the proper thing for her being a nun would be to say no. If she had been back at the convent her aunt would have had a tissy fit about him even asking, but Misha? She thought the request was absolutely harmless.

She smiled and nodded, excited to see what the shells looked like. And spending time with him was never a bad thing...and she was actually a little intrigued what his apartment looked like to begin with. She just could not help it, she was a curious little creature though her aunt always tried to encourage her not to be “Why thank you, I would love that” She then frowned and looked down at herself them him "But I'm rather a mess. I wouldn't want to get sand in your apartment or have Puddle track in sand either"

She smiled bashfully when he offered his hand and she gently took it and stood, feeling her heart get extremely irregular when he had her take his arm. She was touching him…but it was harmless. Harmless, right? There was nothing wrong for her to have her arm linked with his to just walk. In her other arm she held Puddle, which bless him he was so good, he just easily stayed still in Misha’s grasp without even one slight little wiggle. Once they got off the sand she paused to take her flip-flops out of her bag and slip them on before resuming walking with him with a bright smile. She didn’t know why she felt so…bubbly to do such a simple little thing like this with him, but she did.

She was fascinated by all the things he showed her. She really hadn’t explored much of anything of Havelock, she always felt strange doing things alone, which is why she even took Puddle to the beach when she went so she wasn’t entirely “alone”. She was smiles the entire time, glancing up to him from time to time as he spoke though she’d realize she was watching him too much and focus on the shops and other things he was showing her. When he gave her the rose she blushed and felt the fluttery butterflies in her stomach tenfold. She had shyly told him thank you and smelled its wonderful scent and all the rest of the way she could not seem to shake the blush off her cheeks that pretty much matched the shade of the rose.

When they arrived to his home she looked around curiously, trying to be discreet but once she saw the full extent inside she was taken by how beautiful it was. Her room was so plain; she had always been rather plain about things, but not his home. The paintings drew her interest first and foremost, she loved art and examined each one for several minutes “Your home is so beautiful, Mr. Lioncort” She looked to him with a smile. Most men didn’t take care of the space they lived in but he obviously did a very, very good job. She glanced back at him as he removed the jacket and was just glad she had dried off from the walk, though she kept worrying her hair must look like a frizzy disaster. Why she even cared what she looked like she didn’t know, she never had, until him of course. She switched Puddle to her other arm but kept a hold of him and tucked her hair back behind her ears as her eyes gazed around.

“Thank you” She said brightly and very carefully sad down at the very edge of the chair. She was afraid she might still be damp and get his furniture wet or get sand all over it and she knew already how much a pain sand was to get rid of. She placed Puddle on her lap and leaned forward a bit to better admire the fireplace. She had always loved fireplaces; just something about them was so classic and homely. She leaned out a hand to gently touch it for a few moments before leaning back. As she sat there she kept fiddling with her hair, wishing she had a mirror to look at herself but she had never been one of those girls to carry a mirror. Or a cellphone. Or even lip-gloss. She had a wallet…and two seashells in her beach bag. That was it.

Her eyes kept roving around his apartment, taking in all the little details. Such a pretty home, she always wanted to live in such a nice home but she had always been taught things like this were frivolous and unnecessary…but still didn’t mean it wasn’t something she couldn’t fantasize about and admire. She looked to him when he came back and smiled, it just seemed to come without warning every time she saw him, it just popped on her lips and she could never stop it. “Oh these look wonderful, thank you” She hadn’t eaten since early in the morning so the sight of food was a wonderful. She picked one up and daintily took little bites as she watched him get the shells.

She looked at the bag “Oh, I am sure I will-“ She started as she opened it gently and looked inside and once she saw the shells well, she stopped mid-sentence. The shells she had were small ones, most of them chipped and although very pretty, not like the one’s she could see immediately in this bag. The one’s in the bag were one’s she had never, ever seen on the shore before…one’s she didn’t even think could have ever washed up on shore to begin with. She gasped and her eyes quickly brightened as she looked at them “Oh, Mr. Lioncort, these are absolutely stunning!” She very carefully took one out to admire it, running her fingertips softly over the shell “Are you certain you want to give me these? They are so beautiful” Why would he ever want to part with them? She wanted them badly but she felt bad to have them.

She could have hugged him for giving her these beautiful shells, but luckily the obstacle of Puddle on her lap gave her a few seconds of pause to remember that hugging him would not be appropriate, especially when they were alone like this. But it was safe to say she was very, very excited and the shells were more then she could have wished for. She took a few more out to look them over but then stopped herself before she spent the entire time gushing over them and accidently ignoring him, or even worse, boring him as shed ramble out all the knowledge she had acquired about seashells. So she put the ones she took out back and then opened her beach bag to put the sack inside “They are marvelous, absolutely beautiful. I thank you so much. I owe you” What she would give him in return…she had no idea, she had nothing, but she had to repay the favor somehow, it was so generous of him to give them to her like this.

She was beaming from ear to ear and it didn’t look like it was going anywhere. When he returned with the tea she thanked him again and poured some cream into hers, first taking a snack and giving it to Puddle who had been waiting ever so patiently on her lap for food. Just like his owner he took it gently and ate it like a little princess as she picked up her cup and sipped her tea “Mmmm” It tasted good, it had been quite a while since she had last had tea. “I was told my mother loved drinking tea. I must have gotten the taste for it from her” She commented, taking another sip before looking to his fireplace with admiration again “This must be wonderful in the winter. To sit here in front of the fire when it’s cold” She giggled “I always wanted to do like in the movies, you know? Get snuggled in a blanket with hot cocoa, maybe a book and just, sit in front of the fire on a cold winter’s night. But I’ve never had a fireplace. Well, my aunt every Christmas would get a cardboard one and put it up, but, it wasn’t the same but she tried” She laughed at the memory then realized she was rambling and quickly pursed her lips and kept drinking her tea sheepishly.

When he said his request out of nowhere she looked at him with a bit of confusion, blinking a few times and wondered if she had heard him right. But when he said please she sucked in a breath of surprise and gazed at him in wonder. He was…asking for her to have dinner with him? To normal people it was a simple request, to her it was a bit more difficult. Was he asking for her to have dinner with him now? As friends? Was he asking to go out to dinner with her? A date? But goodness no! He couldn’t be asking her for dinner intimately, he knew she was a nun. But it had come out so suddenly, she had to wonder…She shifted in her chair and glanced down, not knowing how she was supposed to approach this. No, no of course she knew how. She was a nun and she could not have dinner with him no matter the situation, it was not allowed. She rose her gaze to look at him and gazed into his exquisite eyes “Yes” She said a little breathlessly “I’d love too”

Oh goodness…why had she agreed to that? She shouldn’t have agreed to that. This was bad, she shouldn’t have done that, she would be in huge trouble if anyone found out. She could get disowned from the church, they wouldn’t let her be a nun or who knows, maybe they’d send her back to the convent. But she had agreed and even though she was panicking about it, she was also feeling fluttery and nervous, in a good way. She was going to go to dinner with him…but maybe she was over thinking it. Yes, yes, she had to be, he had to mean as friends, just a friendly dinner. Right. That was it…right? Why did he do this to her? Made her feel so…she couldn’t even find the right word.

When she heard another voice she looked extremely surprised, she hadn’t know someone else stayed here with him. She glanced over to where the voice was with a curious look…then did a double take before the little creature tripped on her and she screamed in shock. She quickly stood, almost forgetting Puddle was still on her lap for a moment but she managed to remember her and grasp him close as she stepped away from Wrinkle. What…what was it?! When the creature looked at her she gasped to see the full extent of him and her eyes widened “Goodness gracious” She whispered, staring at him then looking to D’artagnan. Did he know there was a little…whatever it was in his house?!

She gaped at D’artagnan as he spoke, slowly looking down to Wrinkle “F-forest…sprite?” She said the word slowly and wondered if she was supposed to know what that was, because she didn’t. She kept glancing to Wrinkle with a bizarre look, but then her eyes snapped to D’artagnan when he admitted he was a fae. Even though she had already assumed, it was still a bit of a load to hear “Oh” She said, nodding her head and she didn’t know why she was but she was. “But you don’t…I mean, you don’t look like…” To be honest she hadn’t met many fae, at least, she didn’t think she had so she wasn’t really sure what they were supposed to look like. She pursed her lips as she watched him “Well that’s…that’s, alright”

She didn’t want to judge, Misha hardly ever judged people and if she ever did she quickly corrected herself. And really she wasn’t exactly judging right now she was just…surprised that there was a little critter in his home, and that he was telling her he was a fae. She was just one of those people that got comfortable with a certain way and when that changed she had to take some time to adjust. But hearing it was a big deal enough…seeing It was a whole other ballpark and she did feel like fainting after she saw what he really had to show her.

She yelped when the smoke consumed him, her eyes so wide they threatened to pop out of her head. What she saw in place of him frightened her for a moment as her heart leapt into her throat and she took a step back until she realized the person standing in front of her was still D’artagnan….at least, she suppose it was meant to still be D’artagnan somehow. She looked him over in shock, her jaw still dropped and her hands trembling. Puddle was wiggling wildly in her arms and it was a miracle she had yet to drop the poor thing. A rush of breath left her as she tried to digest what was happening and she wasn’t doing all that well. She had never seen magic before, this was a lot to handle but seeing him like this...he was beautiful.

She stood still as he sat, her eyes glued to him still. Was it really him? Was this an illusion? Did he spike the tea? She took in a deep breath and glanced around as if she expected everything around her to magically change before she very hesitantly moved back to her seat and slowly sat back down. She tried to swallow but her mouth was dry so she forced herself to close her mouth and realized she was being rude gawking at him like this, but she couldn’t stop “So your…your…” What did he say he was? She couldn’t process real well at the moment. She kept looking him over then finally to his eyes and she found herself giving a little laugh “Well, maybe this is the best time to tell you, I’m a nun” She joked, smiling in awe at him. She rose a hand to fiddle with her hair as she stared at him then she gave him a soft look “I know that. I know you won’t hurt me. This is just…wow”

Wrinkle was still weirding her out a bit, she had never ever seen anything like him, but he was cute in his own way and he seemed rather harmless. ”It’s alright” She told him gently and gave him a smile, she had no hard feelings about him tripping over her, he hadn’t meant it she was sure. She even leaned down and picked up one or two of the books for him and handed them to him so he didn’t have to do it all by himself before she straightened and looked to D’artagnan as he spoke about him. “A…forest…sprite?” She hadn’t heard of them before but she automatically pitied the poor creature…and then she realized the little detail he had just mentioned.

She gawked at him “W-wait. Seventeen…seventeen hundreds?” She stammered in disbelief. Had she heard that right? He couldn’t be…well, she knew Vampires were immortal, but were fae, whatever he was, immortal too? If so, how old was he? As old as Evelyn? Older? She wasn’t sure why that mattered but, well, it was a bit intimidating and also quite a wonderment. This whole revelation was scary, not that she was scared of him but she was just….oh, the more she tried to analyze and wrap her head around it the more it seemed to spin out of control. He was a Fae, that’s all she needed to focus on right now. He was a Fae and he was still the same person.

When he laughed she felt even more relaxed “Well, it doesn’t bother me that you are a…” She pursed her lips and looked sheepish, lightly giggling “What did you say you were again?” When he took her hand her heart dropped in her stomach for a moment as her nerves hit her, the kind of wacky fluttery nerves she always got when he was close. Her heart then hammered so loud in her chest she could barely focus on him talking, less her own thoughts in her head. He was holding her hand, why was she freaking out so much because he was holding her hand? “You make me nervous” She said in a rush of breath…and then look mortified. Why had she just admitted that?! Why would she actually admit that to him like that?! Her cheeks burnt red and she looked away quickly.