Aestus; A. Zverev

00

Prologue

The first time they met, Aud's mood was six feet under the ground. Her plump, pink lips modelled into an annoyed frown; blue, big eyes pointed to her green flip-flops and her hands tightened around the chair's arms.

It was not that hard to figure out, to be honest: every person who passed by her could feel the halo of angriness that surrounded the brown-haired girl.

Aud took a lock of her hazel hair and started twirling it around her thin fingers; waiting. She hated waiting; she hated losing time like that and she hated it even more when the people you were awaiting were late.
So, tired of sitting in that uncomfortable plastic chair, she decided to get up and draw near the pool, sitting on the ledge of it with her legs plunged in the fresh water.

She didn't see him immediately; it took her a couple of minutes, but eventually she noticed those long, muscular arms shear through the air like blades and doing the same thing under water. They didn't seem to want to stop; one, two, three, five, ten laps without any interruption.
How couldn't the owner of those arms be tired? How could he still find the strength to go on?

At last, he did eventually stop, giving Aud the chance to spot the face of that curious stranger. The fact that she didn't seem to recognize him was even odder, because she knew every single person that swam in that swimming pool.

Intriguing; no other adjective was appropriate enough to describe him.
Perhaps beautiful – in a pure and singular way – fitted him good too, but from the distance, it was possible that her eyes were just fooling her.

That's why she decided to jump in the crispy water and find out the truth about that stranger, learn if he really was as beautiful as he looked and maybe even get to know something more about him.

It didn't take long for the brown-haired to get to him – her movements were quick and quiet. 

Her long arms circled the air like swift blades; not as fast or lean as his, but with a certain grace and composure which made them not as bedazzling but certainly as mesmerizing as his. 

She approached him silently - like a predator its prey, she thought, and a giggle escaped her lips, manifesting its presence as vivacious bubbles disrupting the water's stillness. Once aware of the fact that he'd noticed her, she smiled; a child looking at the glorious teddy bear exhibited behind the window shop. 

-Hallo? – he grumbled, a hint of bother in his deep voice. 

- Hallo, - she bubbled, half of her face still under the water's surface, smiling faintly; lost in the shadows of heavenly green inside his deep eyes.

God, he sure was very handsome, there was no doubt about that; not anymore.

-Do you need something or...? – he was growing annoyed, Aud noticed, more and more with every second. Her smile grew wider. 

-No, I mean yes, - she chuckled – I was just wondering why I've never seen you here; are you by any chance new? –

He remained silent for a couple of minutes, a bewildered look on his angelic face.
Their bodies were floating a few inches from one another; it should have felt weird, thought Aud, but she was feeling very comfortable staying this close to him. One could even say she enjoyed it. One could even say her enjoyment was so great to make her, slyly and silently, draw closer and closer. 

Her body seemed to covet that proximity; she felt radiant, as if glowing of his own reflected light.

-No offense, - he started, with a voice which meant everything but "no offense" – but why should I tell you? I don't even know your name. –

-Let's change that, then – she smiled, the most childish look on her sweet face. – I'm Aud, nice to meet you. – the brown-haired extended her hand to him, who shook it reluctantly.

- Sascha. – he mumbled.

Then she told him she liked how it sounded; something cold like Siberia's mountains but pleasant like sweet snow in your hands. An icy blade which felt warm and soft to the touch; that's what it was. 

He told her she was weird, and then - the ghost of a smile on his full, hud lips - confessed that it was not his real name: Sascha was only a nickname they used in Russia for people called Alexander.

That part of information thrilled her even more: she had no idea why, but it just seemed so perfect, it made him look even more perfect:  the missing piece of the puzzle, the bit which allowed her to see the full, mesmerizing image. 

And that's about it: nothing more, nothing less. They just kept staring at each other, even Sascha - who wasn't exactly the friendly type – found himself unable to take his eyes off her amused face. It wasn't her beauty – although he would eventually start seeing those hazel eyes in his dreams and memorising the way her lower lip would get trapped between her white teeth every time something worried her  – which drew him to her odd person, but more like the way she seemed to crave his attention; the way she seemed to rejoice at each syllable he addressed to her. 

It made him feel special, special in a way he hadn't felt in long; although he would never speak this weakness of his to her nor anyone else. Not that day, not the day after, not ever. 

He liked her – Sascha didn't precisely know what he meant by like, as it wasn't carnal pleasure he sought of her, nor platonic companionship, because her incessant questions were giving him a headache - but her presence there made him feel at ease. 

All he know was that there was a voice, inside his head, which kept whispering the same word endlessly, and that word happened to be 'like'. But then again, he'd never been good with words himself, so perhaps that wasn't the adequate term to describe that feeling surging in his chest.   

Aud, on the other hand, had been quite sure of her feelings for a few minutes now. She liked him; no if's or but's or maybe's. 

This feeling of theirs was to grow more and more – they both knew it, even if they weren't aware of it; just as they knew that swimming pool had just become the sanctuary of what had just risen between them. The sanctuary of what was going to be an intense, epic story of grief and friendship and loss and joy; but most importantly a story of love.

Their story of love. 

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Ik this is boring but I swear it's going to get better, muuuuch better ;)