THAT BOTHERSOME THING

Deviating from their lively routine for the past few days, the pair agreed to spend the rest of the afternoon under a large tree near the middle of the forest. A blanket was spread across the grass, and Agnarr was laying down with a book covering his head. Iduna was kneeling beside him, humming a soft tune, a couple of oranges by her lap, and one in her dexterous hands being pealed.

"How come the wind is always helping you out?" he suddenly asked, his tone carrying a rouge sense of being wronged.

The girl stopped the motion of her dagger and looked at him. She just shrugged, and answered him innocently, "No, it doesn't."

"Yes it does." he argued.

Iduna, probably remembering their countless games in the woods, didn't bother rebutting. "It probably just likes to tease you. The wind likes you, you know." she said, hoping it'd appease the prideful prince. Agnarr groaned, pouted, and then went back to his book.

Iduna continued humming, and Agnarr read on. The culture of the Northerdians fascinated him. The book that was lent to him was completely void of any discernible text, but he was actually learning so much with simple pictures of plants and insects, icons and scribbles and accurate polygonial directions.

Then his attention suddenly broke, and something aggravated his focus.

He looked up at the branches of the trees, filtering the beams of the sun, rustling with the breeze. He looked at his companion. Iduna was enjoying a mouthful of fruit. She caught him looking and smiled.

"Want one?"

Before he could answer, the girl had placed a crescent, fleshy piece by his lips. The boy took it in his mouth and ate, blushing but secretly please at being spoiled by her.

"Thanks," he said in a soft whisper, hiding his face behind his book.

"You're welcome." she answered, and then started humming again as she grabbed another orange to peal. The fruit tastes really sweet, thought Agnarr.

Another moment into his reading, and all the ideas were pouring in again. Each page of the book consistently gave insights on four perspectives - the perspective of the four spirits. The symbols kept pointing at harmony, and balance, and how each event rippled across all aspects of life, even from a single raindrop. Agnarr continued to absorbed the wordless lessons, not really grasping how he could possible comprehend all of it, only that he could.

But then another wave of silence blanketed the two, and the ideas were lost again somewhere, no longer reaching his noggin.

He looked to the side and faced the pretty girl kneeling beside him, her mouth about to take in another piece of orange. She saw his sudden gaze and then bit on the fruit hastily, blushing in embarrassment.

"You caught me with my mouth open." she said bashfully. "Sorry - am I being a bother?"

Agnarr shook his head. "It bothers me when I'm not hearing you."

"...Oh..." the girl smiled and turned her face towards the fruits on her lap, the signature lip-biting, small smile appearing on her features.

"How do you talk to the wind?" he asked suddenly, a specific section in the book particularly intriguing him and prompting the question.

Iduna looked at him, surprised at the sudden inquiry. "The same way you talk to someone special, I guess." she answered, "Sometimes, you just say it softly, you know, like its an important secret between just the two of you. Sometimes you sing to it and tell it how you feel."

"I bet you sing to the wind often." Agnarr stated, smiling at her.

"How can you tell?"

"The way you sing - it's lovely." the boy stated, "Must be why the wind likes you a lot."

The girl giggled, and nodded a wordless 'thank you'.

"Does the it ever answer back?"

"Most of the time."

"How?"

She knitted her eyebrow and wiggled her lips, trying to figure out the best way to answer him. It was nothing short of adorable and endearing to the lad. He placed the open book on his belly and watched and waited on her, thinking to himself that he can do so all day.

An idea seemed to have sparked, and her face lit up. Placing her dagger and the orange skins neatly to the side, Iduna began crawling slowly towards the waiting prince. She positioned herself above him until her arms are pillared on the sides of his head. Agnarr gulped, held his breath, and stared into her serious, ocean eyes. Strands of her hair that escaped the noble braid she religiously kept trailed past her cheeks, and brushed and tickled his face.

She then funneled her lips and blew a soft flow of hair on his face. Agnarr's eyes fluttered at the cool sensation that was accompanied by the scent of honey and oranges. It lasted barely a few seconds, but it was the best few seconds of breeze he ever felt on his face.

By the time she was done Agnarr was reduced to a young body of mass of contentment, eyes half-lid and with a smile that ran coast to coast of his face and seemed too sleazy to belong to a sweet and innocent prince.

"That's how the wind answers." Iduna remarked in a warm, soft voice.

"I see." Agnarr said lazily, "I guess the wind's not so bad after all."

The end.

That last part seemed a bit too kinky for their image, now that I got a read on it.

I adjusted the rating just to be safe.

Anyway, I hope you liked this batch. Might be a while before I update again.