Heartstone

A Mistake

The Dark Enchantress looked awkward for a moment, then grew miffed when he failed to mitigate his negative reaction. She hurriedly crunched the rest of her snack and swallowed. Then she glared at him and walked away, uninterested in further conversation.

Arwin silently slapped his head. Idiot! He had to get better control of his emotions. Or at least his physical reactions to them. He shouldn't let them show on his face like that. She had obviously enjoyed something and naturally thought to share it with Arwin. This was a good sign; it meant she was growing comfortable with him. Obviously, some would get upset when faced with such a negative reaction to their enjoyment.

Of course, if you thought about it rationally, there was nothing wrong with what she'd just done. It was no different than eating sushi, really. It was just different from his own typical behaviour. But being different wasn't wrong. Yet that was exactly how his reaction had made her feel. He needed to be more tolerant and open-minded.

"Enchantress!' Arwin called after her.

She ignored him, stalking off.

He tried again, following a bit desperately, "Enchantress."

"Leave me alone." She kept walking.

He pleaded, "Don't be angry. Orchid!"

She finally slowed to a stop and sullenly glared at him.

He caught up and tried to placate her. "I'm sorry. That was rude. I shouldn't have reacted that way."

"Whatever." She turned her back to him and started walking away again.

"Orchid, please!" He chased after her and laid a hand on her arm to stop her.

She whirled on him. "Everything I do is disgusting to you, isn't it? I'm so strange, so awful. What a creepy witch I am."

"That's not true."

"Isn't it? The fly soup? The fish? I'm just a monster to you, aren't I? You're just like everyone else, after all." She angrily shook his arm off.

"Hey, now. You're overreacting."

"Am I?" She grew even more upset. "I've seen the way you cringe at every spider, the way you look at every web. You don't think I've noticed how cautious you are around me?" She snarled. "You still think I'm evil. Just because I'm a little different."

"I don't know you well enough to tell if you're evil or not!"

Her lips pressed into a flat line.

Oops. That hadn't been the right thing to say. "I'm sorry."

But she was having none of it. She turned away again, this time looking hell-bent on leaving the room with her fists clenched.

He rushed after her. "Orchid, I'm sorry. You're not evil. Of course, I can see that."

Her voice had gone cold. "I'm done. We're done."

He ran in front of her and begged. "I'm an idiot."

She came to a halt, unable to stride right through him. "Yes, you are," she agreed, then made to move around him.

"We're different. There's a culture clash. It's ok. That's perfectly normal. We're from different worlds. We're still getting to know each other."

"Well, I don't want to get to know you anymore."

"But I want to get to know you better. I don't want to have reactions like I just did. You're beautiful and smart and playful. I like that. And I like that you're different. I do. I just need some time to get used to it."