Two weeks. Just two weeks since I met Azuriah. It's a bit strange, honestly, that he tries so hard to be my friend. No one has ever tried so persistently to befriend me and strange though it was, it was also a bit of a nice change. It's still hard to be too close to him but I'm trying to get over it, I know he wouldn't hurt me, not on purpose, and yet… the feeling of insecurity remains.
I took out my iPod and started to put Thriving Ivory on shuffle, singing along quietly as Angels on the Moon came on first. On those particular days when I wanted to avoid going back to my foster home for as long as possible, I'd come sit at the park for a while instead.
I was sitting right at the edge of the little pond in the middle of Central Park when I pulled my backpack next to me, letting it rest against a small boulder on my right, and pulled out a little plastic bag full of breadcrumbs and filled my hands with some. I set the bag down on the ground and let it lean against my leg so the crumbs wouldn't spill all over the place.
I reached out towards the water; my hands cupped, and spread a couple around. Soon enough, there were some curious animals swimming towards me. I felt a small smile appear on my face when I watched the ripples of the surface as fish swam up to eat some of the crumbs, and one brave duckling of several swam up to me and ducked its head into my hands, where I had more breadcrumbs. That was when I heard the leaves rustle behind me.
Trying hard not to startle the little animal, I turned my head to see what was coming. Unsurprisingly, my gaze rested on Azuriah, who could have been standing near the trees for quite a while without my noticing due to the music. I gave him my best 'shut up and come see this' look and turned back around. A few silent moments later, he was crouched down on my left, a bit close for comfort but I couldn't shift away because I'd scare the duck that had now climbed into my hands.
Azuriah watched for a minute, amazed, before turning to me with a grin.
"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?" he asked in a hushed tone, looking quite honestly like a child would if you handed him a bag full of candy.
I responded with a quiet nod, looking down at my hands with a small smile.
"What's with the music?" he asked, still careful to be quiet.
I gave a small shrug. "They seem to like Thriving Ivory."
He smiled and looked out at the water, and it was a few minutes before I broke the silence.
"There are more breadcrumbs if you want to try," I said in an almost-whisper, giving a slight flick of my head, half to get my hair out of my eyes and half to indicate the little bag on my right.
He grinned at me excitedly and crossed his legs loosely so he could sit instead of crouching beside me. Leaning back casually, he watched the pond for a few moments more before shifting position and reaching his arm around me to grab the bag that couldn't have possibly been visible from his position.
When his arm pressed against my back, I knew if I tensed up I would scare the small animal that was still nestled in my hands, so I closed my eyes gently and took a quiet breath, trying my hardest to stay calm, but my hands shook, just slightly, as I tried to control myself.
Nearly loosing his balance, he thoughtlessly steadied himself by putting his left hand on my shoulder, as I was the only thing around him to hold on to if he wanted to keep his balance. I stiffened, and the duckling in my hand gave an indignant shake of its downy feathers before fluttering off to join the rest of them. As soon as it was gone, my hand shot out, throwing the crumbs to the water to grab his shoulder, unable to find my voice.
"What-" he began to ask, but the small jolt my sudden movement must've given him caused his fingers to brush against the edge of the bag. "Oh, I found it!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
His hand on my shoulder, his arm pressed against my back, and now his right hand brushing against my leg as he grabs for the bag, I tightened my grip on his shoulder and he looked at me curiously.
"Rowyn, what… OH," Azuriah said, finally understanding. He quickly moved away from me when my grip on his shoulder loosened, and I found myself unable to look up at him.
"I… sorry," I managed after a few moments.
"N-no, it's okay!" he hurried to try to make me feel better and, for his sake, I looked up at him with a timid smile that I hoped looked more real than it felt. To my relief he smiled back and lay down on the grass looking up at the sky. After a few moments trying to regain my composure, I spread the last of the breadcrumbs out over the water and lay down on the grass too, about a foot away from Azuriah, which, for me, was a big improvement. There we sat just watching the sky grow darker until we each had to go home.