A Strange State of Affairs Ch. 25

            A loud clap of thunder woke Fye from his slumber. 

            He peered sleepily around the darkened room.  “Wha’s goin’ on?” he mumbled, “Mus’ ‘ve been a power outage.   Ahhhh, but I’m so tired.”  He yawned hugely and trudged into the bathroom, exclaiming in surprise when he smacked into a wall.

            He languorously brushed his teeth and changed out of his jeans and into a pair of soft khaki cargo pants, the legs comfortable and bagging around feet.  He washed his face, tousled his brown hair with the damp towel, and slung it around his bare bronze chest before walking out.

            Whistling, Fye exited the bedroom.  He was just about to flop onto the bed again when a flash of lighting illuminated the surface of the bed…and its contents.  He yelped in shock.

            A woman lay curled up, fetal position, on the right side of the bed.  Her hair, black and tangled, covered her body, from head to mid-thigh, like a scanty blanket.  Fye realized with a shock that she didn’t have a scrap of cloth on her body.  Yet he was unable to look away from her peaceful face, so innocent, so worry-free, so unlike the last time he had seen it.

            Elevine awoke with a jolt.  She’d heard a yelp and then had been drawn out from her dreams by a monstrous flash of lightning that permeated through her closed lids. 

            She sat up and rubbed her eyes.  Where was Fye?  El looked around and saw him pressed against the opposite wall, a look of utmost shock upon his features.  She tore her eyes reluctantly from his bare chest and quizzically looked down.  “Oh, s**t!!”

            There was a mad scramble of lean limbs as she struggled to cover herself.  She tugged a fluffy pillow in front of herself, in the process falling off of the bed.  Fye moved to the opposing side and backed himself against the window. 

            Neither moved for a while; they merely settled for glaring at each other.

            Fye peered through the dim light at the woman.  His heart skipped a beat.  This was her!!  The girl that he’d seen when he’d come home the night after the Tellurim show!!  The one that had invaded his mind and swallowed his heart…

            He remembered that night and thought of how, after he’d switched on the light, she’d turned into…into Elala.  Into a cat.  That would mean that this…that this woman had been…his cat?! B-but that was impossible!!

            Elevine stared at him.  She slowly yanked a blanket from the bedspread and wrapped it around her lanky self. All the while, her eyes never left Fye’s face.

            This was the deciding moment, the moment she’d been praying for.  How would this play out?  Would Fye reject her?

            Or would he accept her and all that her story entailed.

            “F-Fye.”  Elevine stood up and wrapped the blanket tighter around her thin self.  It felt strange to speak; her lips felt numb after such a long period of furry meows. “Fye. I-I know that this…that this is going to sound crazy but you’ve got to believe me.”  She took a breath.  “I-”

            “I know.”  The artist stared at El.  “You…y-you were m- er, a cat.  I…”  He slid down the wall and sat on the ground.  “I need a moment.”

            “Oh.”  Elevine sat on the bed, heart pounding.

            A moment passed.  “Who exactly…are you?” the artist asked.

            El took a deep breath.  “My name…is Elevine Flourite.  I was born in the country of Rem, from across the seas.  My parents were from Kor.”

            “’Were’?” Fye quoted.

            Elevine clenched her teeth at the painful memory.  “They…they died.  In an accident not long ago.”

            Fye edged closer. “I’m sorry…Elevine.”

            El felt a shudder run up her spine when she heard him speak her name �" her real name.  Her heart started thudding in her chest.  “Mmmm.”

            “So how exactly did you get here?” Fye asked.

            Elevine smiled; Fye felt his face grow hot as he observed her.

            “I took a plane,” she replied, “And after that, I pretty much just wandered around until I ended up here.  I tried to go to my dad’s summer house, but it was already occupied.”  Her nose wrinkled.  “Their children were just abominable little monsters, no manners at all.  And then I was chased, hit by that truck, and picked up by you.”

            “Ah, yes.”  Fye grimaced.  “Reporters.  Never liked ‘em.  But I meant, how did you end up here.  Like, just now, I mean.”

            “Oh, that,” Elevine said, “…I don’t really know, actually.”  She looked down at Fye, who was now sitting on the floor, leaning against his side of the bed and looking upward at El.

            El peered at Fye from beneath her lashes.  “D…do you mind if I, um…if I stay? Here?  With you?”  She looked down at her hands, embarrassed.

            Fye gulped.  His heart began to pound even harder.  “Elevine.”  He crawled onto the bed and took her hand in his.

            El stared into his soft brown eyes.  Her mouth went dry; her palms started sweating.  “Yes?”

            Fye exhaled, face serious.  “I think you should stay here with me.  It’s…um…it’s a lot safer.  Yeah.  And the food is a lot better too.”

            Elevine stared at his face for a moment.  “Safer?”  She began to titter, then to laugh.

            Fye smiled and huffed.  He looked straight into El’s eyes.  “Elevine, please just stay here with me, alright?”

            El nodded.  Her eyes glowed, as did his.  Neither of them could stop smiling.

            Fye reached out and pulled her to him in a warm embrace.

            “Gah!!”  He jumped up suddenly.  “I still haven’t gotten you any clothes!!”