Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC, anyone/anything else belongs to their respective owners and creators.
{A/N}: Thanks to BeautifulCataleya and canarycup for following and/or adding this to their favorites. /passes around muffins
Anti-Carly- kjdfkljsdf8whodk;lhwhu Your review was entirely too flattering, shug'. I really appreciate it!Made my day and all that happy goodness, so this got typed a lot faster due to that. Thanks again!~
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2. - You think I'm what…? -
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This time, Nuada approached her openly.
No hiding against trees, crouching beneath the cover of bushes, No marveling in small wonder at her eyes. She already knew he was there. He would demand to know what kind of game she was playing at; and whom she thought she was playing it with.
His strides were gracefully quick, silent, and his presence was completely unnoticed by the woman as she prepped her spot for another day of sketching. She turned when Nuada unintentionally stepped on her drawing pad, the faint chirr of the metal spirals holding the pages together drawing her attention.
Before she could even draw in a surprised breath, the blade of his spear was held firmly against the crook of her neck.
"Do not move…" Nuada ordered lowly, the dangerous undertone in his voice dampening slightly upon making eye contact with her, his pale skin getting gooseflesh. He had almost forgotten about her eyes, and the sensation they usually gave him was amplified. They were a brilliant violaceous color today, the aurous specks in them dancing in the sunlight. It took him a moment to noticed the small panic in them.
He blinked several times, choosing to focus on her furrowed brows as his distemper flared again.
"Listen, girl," The prince began, applying a sparse amount pressure with his spearhead to her neck, just enough to make it uncomfortable. She released a strained squeak. His eyes narrowed. "And answer me this; how long have you known that I've been here?"
To Nuada's astonishment, she actually responded calmly, despite the wild look in her eyes.
"…You're real?"
As a jolt ran through him abruptly, Nuada tilted his head, his confusion at her questioning reply written all over his tense face. That wasn't what he was expecting. At his sudden appearance, almost all the humans he'd encountered in this age had froze in a state of prostration; going deathly still in stupor, releasing shrill exclamations of surprise, etcetera, etcetera. But none whatsoever had ever so blandly question his existence as he stood right before them, spear posed and ready to take their life with just a single swipe.
Strange, strange human.
The confusion ran its course a moment longer before anger rushed through the elf's veins. The spear was pressed harder and crimson droplets tracked down café au lait colored skin, the owner of such whimpered faintly. Her eyes seemed to shine bright violet as the panic returned, along with hints of terror.
It was then that Nuada reminded himself again, for what seemed to be the hundredth time, that she was like any other human, the whole despicable lot of them. Her eyes be damned. He had felt his pride was stricken, having been detected by such a creature lacking his kind's heightened senses. A human (He struggled with and ignored the sensation screaming against that title.) And her going as far as to leave evidence that she knew he was watching and from exactly where had added to his frustration.
Was she taunting him? Or simply letting him know she knew of his visits? How long had she known? And since she knew, why didn't she just find another spot, did she not perceive him as a threat? It was these questions that frustrated him, ones of which he wouldn't been so bent musing over had it not been for the female human quivering before him and his narrowed, harsh gaze. Why did she puzzle him so?
"Do you not see me standing two feet in front of you, girl?" Nuada quipped almost crudely, an agitated smirk quirking his dark lips. "Do you not feel the sting of my spear against your flesh? Now, I asked you a question, and I will receive an answer." He dropped his smirk, scowling instead. "How long have you known?"
Again, he didn't receive an answer. But, instead, watched as her eyes lost their terror and a childlike excitement rose in them and she was suddenly smiling. Confused as ever now, Nuada took a cautious step back and gripped his spear even tighter, his scowl deepening.
Perhaps she was insane….?
In a heartbeat, her mouth was running faster than the swiftest of his father's most prized horses.
"You're REAL!" She practically gushed, immaturely clapping her hands together like a toddler would upon seeing a flashy toy. She even squealed like one. "I can't believe it, I seriously can't believe you're here! Oh!~" She poked him. Twice, disregarding his spear.
Nuada took two steps back now, glaring down at his chest. "….What are you going on about…?"
"You," She took a step forward, smiling widely at the elven prince. He remarkably found himself staring at the fullness of her bottom lip and quickly focused on her eyes. They were like shimmering lilacs and warm amber. "I thought….I-I thought I was imagining things again…That you were just another, yet oddly detailed, trick of the light. Ya know, living out here alone is nice and all, but coming from the city, it takes time getting use to all the quiet. Though I don't really miss hearing sirens all night long or people calling out to each other and whatnot like its so difficult to use a freakin' phone. I mean, it's just as eas-"
"Stop with your insistent rambling!"
At the woman's instant compliance, Nuada released an exasperated sigh, rubbing the palm of his hand against his temple, shutting his eyes tight in against a forming headache. All that non-related blabber…she had to be human. They never knew when to shut up.
"I-I'm sorry…I ramble when I'm excited.."
At her softened voice, Nuada glanced at her with an arched brow. She was staring at him intently now, a hand covering where his spear had been moments ago, smearing the blood there. She didn't even show any notions of discomfort or pain anymore. She shuffled nervously and chuckled when he told her it was very grating on the nerves, her rambling.
"Again, sorry…and to answer your question…five days. I've known for five days now."
Nuada was silent. He was slightly pleased that she finally answered him, but tense as well. He'd been watching her five days exactly, and she knew right from the beginning that he was there. But he had his answer didn't he? Well, one of them. Though, it would suffice. Nuada looked away from the strange and now silent human and contemplated his next move. Instantly, the idea of leaving reared as the best option. He had already wasted so much time on this odd and-now to his knowledge- vexatious human, acted abnormal by finding her interesting and watching her from the foliage.
He wouldn't even spare her his name, she'd know it soon, they all would. He should just leave and get back on focus with ridding the world of her kind.
But…he wanted to know a few more things before doing so.
"Why did you draw me?" He asked suddenly, his golden gaze solemn and hard as he swallowed a stubborn lump in his throat. "And why did you leave it for me to find?"
She blinked, as if snapping from a daze, and met his gaze. She removed her hand from her neck, the bleeding stopped, and wrung her hands together. She looked away from his gaze and Nuada saw faint traces of pink color the mocha of her cheeks. He vaguely thought it complimented her eyes.
"Well, I, erm, was just testing to see if you were real…if you were, which you are, you'd take it. I'm surprised it worked! What if you just de-"
Nuada made a noise of irritation. "Be quiet. You're doing it again, girl. I'm assuming that's why you drew it in the first place as well." She said nothing, and simply fiddled with a lock of her hair. So he added, quite abruptly, "Well, you'll no longer have to worry about me invading your backdrop. This is the last you'll see of me."
He only caught a glimpse of her questioning expression as he turned on his heel and began to take his leave. As swift and silent as he came.
"Y…You're not coming back?", She called out, a whine in her tone.
He didn't bother to turn around, rolling his eyes and continued on his way. "I do not plan to, no."
"…I-I…wait! You're not gonna tell me who you are or what yo-… Um, I think...I mean.. You're very pretty!"
The prince nearly ran into a tree, so incredibly thrown off guard by her outburst, he was. Slowly, he turned back to her, staring at her as if she'd grown horns and started spewing rainbows out her mouth.
"….What?"
"You're …pretty…beautiful? Oh geez, this is weird…Alright, the reason I drew you is because I thought you were, well, extremely amazing to look at. I've never seen anyone like you before. I was...really hoping you'd come back…and let me draw you again. Ya' know, only you won't be hiding in the bushes, though the greens match your skin nicely." She chuckled, her eyes gleaming with admiration that supported her words and compliments.
Nuada blinked and only stared at her incredulously. He swore, a list of the strange, different things about her was building. And to his extreme confliction, he found an urge building low in his gut. No…he would not even address it, it would make things unnecessarily complicated and more uncharacteristic behavior from him would ensue.
There was a drawn out awkward silence, in which Nuada used to regain his composure and worked to leave as quickly as possible, grumbling under his breath all the way.
The woman watched as he stormed off, her dejected expression and crossed fingers unseen by the prince.
