"Hmmmm…" he mumbled before he disappeared again, as fast as he had made his appearance.
…..
Flare's discrete tap on the door was not enough to wake Lila from her deep slumber. Running away in the middle of the night till dawn had rendered the young white-haired girl quite exhausted. Flare continued in that pattern of knocking for two more minutes before she finally decided to actually go for it and give a stronger tap on the door.
"Hey… Wake up sleepy-head…" the mellow male voice echoed in Lila's subconscious as her sense were gradually becoming aware of the fact that she was out of the dream world and gave her brain the command to snap her eyes open. It was kind of an abrupt waking, especially given the fact that Genie did his best not to startle her. But it seemed he had rushed to make assumptions as the shiny blue orbs disappeared again behind heavy eyelids only a split second after they had appeared.
Genie took a dramatic pose and cupped his forehead.
Oh dear… I'll have to do this the hard way
Lila's skin shivered as she felt a soft, warm breeze over her ear.
"Wake up Princess; or whatever the heir of God is called.."
Genie mumbled a little louder than before. It was more than obvious he didn't really want to do this the hard way; be it because of her heritage, be it because she was actually strumming the soft chords of his heart –little as he wished to admit it- he had no intention of morphing into a trumpet and playing a war as he would have most certainly done, was it Ali that was comfortably laying on the king size bed before him.
The only answer he got, was the soft sound of fabric rubbing and crumpling, accompanied by the gentle movement of Lila's delicate little body inside her covers.
"Hmmmm….."
The beating of his heart made a couple of irregular transmissions at the sight and sound of that soft, beautiful creature surrendering to her fatigue and the sweet captivity of sleep.
That's… Indeed heartwarming
His eyes remained staring at the silver strings of her hair, covering the silk pillow and the similarly textured skin of her face. How could he bring himself to disturb this small every-day wonder he was looking at?
A more impatient knock on the door gave him the answer. He swiftly moved to the window and looked outside. The sun was moving towards the middle of the sky and it's position indicated that it was still far from noon but it was not too early for her to get out of bed. However her night-time endeavors had made it quite difficult for her to wake up in a regular hour.
But if she wants to avoid getting caught she has to…
Still, he had a hard time convincing himself to do what was most definitely in order.
Outside the door a quite patient but slightly confused and worried Flare was waiting to greet Lila and inform her of the activities that she had planned for today. This was the first day of her training and the beginning of Sophia's master plan about her, but little did she know what that was. All she knew was she had to play dress-up with Lila today. Not that she minded though, the girl seemed delightful and according to Solar she had quite the knack for adventure; that was likely to stir up things a little not only on that house –frankly Sophia was too grim to cope- but also in the world of the gods.
"Lila dear? Are you awake?" she called softly leaning a little closer to the door in another attempt to finally set the day off. If there was one thing Flare didn't lack, that was patience.
If anyone looked through the keyhole they'd see the ethereal blue smoke creature, angstily moving right and left over the girl, trying to find a way, or more likely the courage to wake her up. The image was indeed pretty amusing with him taking the form of alarm clocks, cowbells, church bells and several wind instruments, dismissing one idea after the other not only because they would probably wake her up in a rather ungraceful way but also because they would most probably alarm whoever was behind that door.
After several efforts, that were quite frankly an indication that he put too much thought of how to wake up a single sleeping girl, as if it was some crucial state matter, or a decision that would change the world, he let himself fall back on the chair defeated.
"Pffff… " he exclaimed frustrated before another knock accompanied by a deep female voice made him jump up again determined.
Ok that's it! I'm waking her up. And that's it!
He lifted himself ant levitated all the way above her. He gazed upon her sweet sleeping face for a moment before he softly leaned over her ear.
"Lila. Wake up. The cookies are ready~" his voice mellow but a mocking smirk on his face. The way he spoke was merely a whisper, maybe just a notch above it Lila winced and moved about a little before mumbling between her sleepy sighs.
"Hmmmm… Cookies…" it was a few seconds before her brain actually caught the information of the world around her and started giving the cue to the rest of her body to wake up. She tossed a bit around the covers before her eyelids started fluttering in a really really adorable way. Genie hardly believed his eyes. He had seen beauty before. All kinds of beauty. Women back where he came from were gorgeous. But the image of this completely fair-skinned skinned was causing his heart to flutter the same way her eyelids did.
Lila opened her blue eyes only to come face to face with a pair of black orbs staring right at her. Again the information of how close their faces were reached her brain a little later, due to her just-after-sleep state but when it did, her cheeks were immediately covered with a rose pink shadow, making her image more adorable in Genie's eyes.
"Ahh… Wha...What..?"
For a couple of seconds their looks lingered within each other's, until another knock on the door made them both immediately snap, Genie jumping backwards and Lila turning her head abruptly the other way to avert from his look.
"Lila? Is it ok if I come in?" The voice behind the door inquired. Flare had obviously caught Lila's little mumbling. She was a woman with very sharp reflexes and perception such as all the gods, or most of them at least, and it was only natural that she would.
Lila's eyes opened wide as she jolted from to a sitting position before she started literally fighting the covers in order to get out of bed.
"Hey hey… Calm down" Genie whispered making an attempt to move closer to her again only to be met by her much too baffled, still blushed - but probably not from awkwardness, but from terror-, face.
"Quickly! Hide!" she whispered in way that sounded like yelling but it was only a whisper. The Genie started getting himself sucked back inside his lamp after releasing a long disappointed sigh. Lila jumped off the bed pushing all the annoying covers aside and over the lamp that was still lying on the bed next to where she had been asleep.
The feeling of the cold floor under her toes made her blush a little as the first thought that came to mind was that someone had taken off her shoes the previous night and there was only one person In the room with her. That annoying Genie had taken off her shoes and tucked her into bed. That gave her a strange feeling. She couldn't quite put her finger on it. Why would she have such a reaction to something so, seemingly, meaningless. She shook her head and put her shoes back on before answering the call on the door.
"Co... Come in."
The door opened to reveal a very elegantly dressed Flare. With small, almost inaudible steps, as if walking in the air, the very aristocratic goddess entered the room. Her look, discrete as it was, was obviously somewhat investigative to the keen observer and most definitely to someone who had something to hide, like Lila did.
"Was Solar here?" Flare asked in a not at all inquiring, more casual tone, softly smiling at Lila, but obviously too alarmed to say the usual morning greeting. Flare's keen instincts had detected a second presence in the room, much like Solar had the previous night. Furthermore, she had heard her whispering to someone. However there didn't seem to be anyone else in the room.
"Uhmm… no, I'm all alone" Lila answered with a very frustrated, silly grin on her face. Flare smiled at the cuteness of the girl, but she kept looking around the room. They could never be too careful. This was the daughter of God and no matter how everything seemed to be in balanced in the divine world, Solar and Flare who were quite close to each other and rather intelligent and perceptive even compared to other deities, had come to realize that it was delicate. Not many could see it but there were always whispers about conspiracies. Lila's father had an important position among gods and there were many that would seize the opportunity to get to her to have leverage over him.
That was the real reason Flare and Solar had accepted this mission. Their positions were supposedly too important to be bodyguard and stylist to a divine child, and none of them particularly liked Sophia – much like most of the other deities-, however they had readily accepted the task. Solar and Flare were both very loyal and close friends to God so they seized the opportunity to be around his child and make sure Sophia wouldn't push her too hard.
"Ah I'm sorry for barging in Lila. Good morning." Flare finally said slightly bowing, after she had finished scanning the room. Lila blushed at the bow and got on her two feet, straightened herself and smiled softly.
"Good morning" she said imitating Flare's move and accompanying her greeting with a small bow. Flare smiled a small smile. The girl's image was indeed heartwarming.
"That's ok" Lila continued. "I overslept a little. This bed is way too soft" she chuckled.
If someone could take a peek inside the lamp they would see a very much worried Genie, sweating, only for the theatricals of course, and tapping his fingers nervously against each other. It was obvious that the person who entered Lila's room had taken notice of his presence just like that person last night. He really didn't know what those gods were capable of and if there was a punishment in order for hanging out with God's daughter –which he didn't really see us a punishable act and he hadn't really hung out with her that much, but whatever-, but he was pretty sure he didn't want to find out. However a small smirk crossed his face at her cute excuse for being late. Of course she wasn't going to say she snuck out in the middle of the night was she? Why on earth did that simple statement seem so cute to him?
There's something wrong with me… I'm starting to lose my touch, pay attention to unimportant things. Maybe this lamp's finally reaching its expiration date. I wonder if I can get a new one
Back outside Flare was being charmed by Lila's sweetness and simplicity. Her father's idea to grow up amongst human had had a great effect on her apparently.
"That's ok dear" she said softly. "I'm just here to make sure you have breakfast before we start your first day of training. Sophia's rules about time schedule are pretty strict so if you are not in the dining room within half an hour you don't get breakfast" she smiled. Genie had a question. Thankfully Lila beat him to it.
"So… uhm… deities they… we have to eat like humans?" she asked completely naturally. Flare smiled again, amused by the girls curiosity.
"Well, not exactly like humans. It's different kind of food but yes, gods need energy, the same way we need to sleep" she answered. Lila blinked.
What kind of food?… I wonder
Her curious mind itched her to find out as soon as possible.
"Well, I'll be right down.. Just need to change." Lila said smiling brightly again. Flare took another small bow.
"Very well. Just make sure you're not late. I will wait for you in the living room in order to begin" she said and turned to leave.
"Uhmm.. What will we be doing?" Lila asked. Again her curiosity got ahead of her. Flare half-smiled without turning back.
"I am responsible for you appearance. So today, we will be doing something I believe they would call a imakeover " she said still smiling as she closed the door behind her.
"A… makeover?" Lila repeated mechanically as she let herself fall back on the bed.
