Addie and Ciara: Forged in Light

Chapter 4: The Truth

Gold and cyan hues pierced through the crystal clear waters and softly began to fill the bedroom with a warm glow as the sun rose above Uthoria. Any minute now, Ciara's previously snoozed alarm would chime once more. Cornelius, who had been awake for a little while now but hadn't left his bed, finally managed to will himself awake, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. His hand patted around in search of his glasses, which neared the edge of the nightstand. With another gentle touch, he accidentally pushed his glasses off the edge, but before they met with the ground, a tan hand appeared around them, handing them back to him. Tired and confused, Cornelius thankfully took his glasses from the hand and put them on, his eyes met with familiar coal-black ones. His brow furrowed slightly at the sight of Seraphina kneeling on the floor after having caught his glasses.

"What are y-"

"Couldn't sleep,"

And just as quickly as the odd exchange began, Seraphina ended it, standing to her feet and walking over to the floor-to-ceiling window facing the ocean to peer out of it. Cornelius' gaze followed her as he scratched his head with an ever-deepening confusion, which immediately flickered to a curiosity. He quickly opened the nightstand drawer revealing his journal, which he took out and began quietly scribbling a few lines of messy text before quickly closing it again and putting it away. With a stretch, he yawned, then pushed his glasses up as he looked over to the bed next to him, containing a sleeping Ciara and an empty outline of Theodore. He must have woken up before the lot of them, as was expected. Cornelius calculatingly drew the covers from his legs, getting up and sitting near the sleeping Ciara, who was currently curled around Timmy Jr. in sweet slumber. A gentle smile crept across Cornelius' cheeks, accompanied by a soft rose hue. He nudged Ciara's arm, but it was a frankly poor attempt at trying to awaken her hibernation. He nudged her again, but nothing. In one last attempt, he nudged her so hard she ended up rolling over into Theodore's side of the bed, laying flat on her back, and dropping Timmy Jr. to the floor. Her snoozed alarm began chiming pleasantly once more, and her arm shot straight up as if it was an automatic reflex, feeling around for the alarm but failing to locate it, and was instead met with Cornelius' face. A confused chuckle escaped Cornelius as Ciara's hand explored his face, and the alarm began getting louder. As the volume increased, Ciara's unaware taps grew more aggressive, and she eventually straight-up slapped Cornelius across the face, sending his glasses flying back over to his own bed as his head shot back.

"OW!"

Ciara's half-asleep state shattered as she shot up in her bed, completely confused.

"What- what? Are you- are you okay?" Ciara blinked, trying to focus her eyes.

"Why did you slap me?" Cornelius asked, rubbing his slightly stinging cheek as he chuckled.

"I thought you were my alarm!" She admitted, covering her face with her hands and letting out a tired laugh, falling flat on her back again and trying to let out a sigh, but she couldn't stop laughing.

"Well- clearly I am not," Cornelius chuckled along with her, standing from the bed and feeling around for his glasses on the bed across from hers. He slipped his glasses back on and gently touched the alarm, turning it off.

"What is the point of having this alarm in the morning if you never actually wake up to it?"

Ciara's hands fell from her face as she rolled over to face Cornelius. She was silent for a moment, clearly in thought, "So that.....it wakes you up, and you can wake me up," She paused again, and laughed at her own comment.

Cornelius shook his head with a smile, "Oh I see how it is-" His smile turned into a smirk, sitting down next to Ciara on her bed, "I'm just here for you to use me," He teased.