The Time It Takes To Fall

At Long Last

USA, 2019 A.D.

A steaming mug of tea rested between Kai's hands— that wretched liquid that Americans called tea only because they were young and ignorant. But Kai did not care what it tasted like; he was reunited with Selene once more.

But no, she was Selene no longer. When he had called her by that name her lips had turned down and she'd explained that she may have still had pieces of Selene within her, she was no longer the girl from four hundred years before. She did not have to explain it to Kai— he, too, had changed over the past four centuries.

He took a sip of his tea and flinched at the burning sensation that raced along his tongue; it was like the feel of his brand dissipating, except on a much smaller scale. Kai rested his mug back upon the table, opening his mouth and breathing quickly as if his breath were fire.

Cinder laughed at him from across the table, her smile brighter than the sun itself. Kai couldn't help but grin as she laughed at him, despite the pain burning in his mouth.

"After many years divorcement from pain, I have forgotten her bitter sting," Kai said, sticking his tongue out at her. This only caused Cinder to laugh harder.

"I'm sorry," Cinder chuckled, reaching a hand out across the table to touch Kai's. "Sometimes I really just can't believe how idiotic you are."

Kai rolled his eyes, but couldn't manage to maintain a stern face for long. After years and years of searching for her and finding her and losing her, he almost couldn't believe that she was here and his forever. He would not have to watch her die again without the knowledge that he could follow her into the next life.

But Kai did not wish to contemplate either of their deaths now— Cinder had already died once that day, and Kai could not stand to imagine her soul departing from him once more. If he could make such a request, he would ask for his soul to abandon the earth before hers, but he knew that where matters of the soul were concerned, one could make no such requests.

So he enjoyed the moment of living. He watched Cinder as she laughed and blew on her own abominable tea. He memorized the frizzy way in which her hair dried, her bangs curling slightly away from her face. He celebrated every moment that was just the two of them reunited once more.

A soft ding sounded from somewhere that Kai could not see, but Cinder immediately stood and walked toward where the sound had come from. She returned holding Kai's jeans and red t-shirt in her hands, warm and fresh from the drier.

Kai took both items from her, sliding the jeans up over his boxers but placing the t-shirt upon the table. When they had returned to Cinder's from the train station, both had been too cold to think clearly but unwilling to part from one another. So Cinder had changed from her clothes and brought Kai his gray hoodie from her room, blushing all the while as she placed it upon the table. Kai had removed his soaking shirt and put on the jacket, grinning at Cinder's blush. Only moments later, Kai was the one who was hot in the face as Cinder insisted she toss his pants in the drier, leaving him wearing only a sweatshirt and his checkered boxers.

Once Kai had his pants on, Cinder grabbed his hands and led him to her bedroom, pulling him behind her as if he were a kite upon a string.

The room was varying shades of blue, like calming ocean waves. Cinder pulled him to the bed, dragging back the flower-patterned quilt that covered the twin and laying upon the worn green sheets. Kai laid himself down beside her, his head resting upon the same pillow as her, their faces only inches apart. He pulled the covers up over them, a cocoon from the outside world.

Kai's skin was still cold from his recent dousing in water and the knowledge of Cinder's death, but beneath the covers it was only warmth as the pair nestled against one another. Arms were around bodies and legs were tangled with one another and silent breaths were shared.