Setting Suns | A Coania Short Story

7 | Trails and Traces

Limerence

(n.) The state of being infatuated with another person.

The night brought a sense of calmness into his ever changing world. There was just something about watching the stars and feeling like a speck of dust in a universe that's continuously expanding that made him feel...special.

Because out of all of the dust particles that could be here in his place right now, it was him that got to enjoy this moment. The one who got to feel her presence.

A warm sensation spread through his body every time he would catch a glimpse of the stars. It was like a whole other world, waiting to be explored, calling him to come and see. There were times in his childhood where he would reach his hand out and imagine he could gather them all in his palm and store it in a glass jar so they could become his nightlight.

Unfortunately, he had to settle for fireflies.

But in their own little way, they were kind of like stars so he didn't complain. If he wanted to see them, all he had to do was look up from outside his house and stare.

"Have you ever wondered what mystery lies past those stars?" Vania's words made their way into his stream of thoughts and Cole responded with a hum, his eyes glued to the sky. "That maybe there's more to our world than we know it?"

"Maybe. But I like to think we don't have to understand everything in the universe. We're just supposed to sit back and admire it."

He heard shifting from beside him, the ruffle of clothes against the picnic blanket they laid on the ground. Cole took a deep breath in through his nose, inhaling the scent of nature. Freshly cut grass, wood from the trees, the freshwater from the lake that crashed beneath the hill.

It was a surprise that the rain hadn't appeared yet after it had been pouring for the past few days. But Cole refused to jinx it. He was enjoying this.

"That's true. But aren't you a little curious?" Vania pressed on and turned her head to face him, her hands fiddling with the fabric of her shirt.

Cole moved his whole body to the right, resting his head on the crook of his arm. His breath hitched when the familiar sparkle of her blue eyes shined against the darkness. It reminded him of the early afternoons when the sun was at its peak and the sky was brighter than ever.

Looking into her eyes brought him back to that exact moment every single time.

"Say you do find something," He started when he realized she was staring right back at him with a warm gaze. Cole blinked and forced himself to continue. "Then what? You'll just end up wanting to find more without taking the time to admire it for what it is."

There was a truth in his statement. Despite his curiosity to find something or someone that could even compare to the beauty of her eyes, he simply sighed and took in what was in front of him right now.

With little luck, she might understand where he was going with this.

Instead Vania's gaze turned into a roll of her eyes as she focused on the night sky once more, her face illuminated by the moonlight. "You take the joy out of everything!"

Cole mirrored her actions. "I prefer the term, bringing the realism into something."

And then there was that laugh. First Spinjitzu Master, how he loved hearing that laugh. If he could get drunk on it every single night he would. There was no getting sick of hearing that soft melody that escaped her lips without a fail.

God, she was beautiful. Beauty is not enough to describe her.

Cole blinked. What did you just say? His bushy eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to make sense of what he just thought. He couldn't have thought of such a thing, his mind wouldn't betray him like that least of all his heart.