As midnight came, the two studious researchers worked strenuously. Since both were weary and tired, they had a mutual decision that both of them take a short break and nap. The room was quiet and still. The sound of the air-conditioner blew and the noise of the clock ticked. As Raziel was the first to wake up, he found himself staring and gazing at Elora. He admires her facial features and little beauty mark flaws. The moment was as if it was his first time seeing someone this close up. He remembered their first meeting and even then, he was bewildered by Elora's face close to his.
Raziel then noticed Elora's face twitching. She was bothered by a few strands of her hair. Her hair was tickling her face. He then proceeds to touch her hair, and move it away from her face. This simple motion had alarmed Elora. She wakes up surprised. She innocently looks at Raziel, and he had a surprised face.
"oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Raziel said softly and slowly pulling his hand back.
Elora brushed her hair up and sat properly, "Don't worry about it…" as she yawned and she covers her mouth. She also did a light stretch. While looking at Elora, Raziel tilted his head and yawned as well.
They quickly looked at each other. "Contagious yawning!" Both of them said at the same time and chuckled after.
Raziel further explained that he thought Elora's hair was irritating her. Elora didn't really mind, she had touched him before, nothing has happened so far. So she thought that it didn’t really matter if Raziel touched her hair too. Then, Elora was shocked after the next few words that Raziel said.
"Your hair… is pretty. It's soft and long" Raziel complimented Elora. He was looking straight at Elora's eyes, and he had a serious and genuine smile. For some reason, Raziel felt a sense of familiarity with Elora. Not only does he feel a bit close to her, but he also felt comfort in just being with Elora. For all those years of being alone, being with Elora felt different, he thought.
Elora
just thought that his brave honesty was enough to make her face have a little
tint of light red. Raziel on the other hand seemed unfazed. He also felt open
to Elora.
After he complimented Elora, he looked away and continued with his work. Elora saw a glimpse of Raziel's light rosy ears. Elora was surprised, and she didn't know how to respond. Elora felt that her heart might've skipped a beat. "it was just a small compliment" she thought.
"Th-thanks." Elora stuttered with a blush on her cheeks. She kind of avoided looking straight to Raziel's eyes.
She didn't have anyone who really complimented her for her appearance. This felt new to her. She would get people claiming her essay papers were good. Or also, she would receive flattery comments on her talent for researching. However, being complimented by her teachers and as well as her parents, felt different compared to the Raziel. She didn’t hate the words he had said. As she tried to concentrate on her research, an employee had interrupted them.
"Just to inform you, young lads, the library will be closing in 5 minutes" The employee warned them.
As Elora and Raziel thanked the employee, they cleaned and packed up their papers. When both of them stood up together, they looked at each other with still a little bit of awkwardness. For Elora, she didn't think that the awkwardness was a bad thing. She was just inherently shy. They had a fulfilling day. They have gotten to know a little much more about each other.
They walked together side by side, 2 arm's length apart. As they reached the exit of the library, Raziel asked Elora, "how are you getting home?"
"I'll just be walking home, how about you?" Elora said out of concern as well.
"I can walk you home-" Raziel said while clutching his neck.
Elora paused, she looked at Raziel and chuckled, "I asked how you're going home though!" Raziel also chuckled and felt a little embarrassed. Elora could tell that he was really concerned for her. Both of them feel a lot more acquainted than before, this was a huge thing for Elora since she never really had many close friends.
Elora thought, "Someone to listen and hear you out, or maybe even someone that can give you the feeling of warmness." She had hoped that Raziel also appreciated her company too.
Then, Elora stopped walking, looked at the ground, and smiled warmly at Raziel, "Thank you, I'd appreciate that."
They continued walking. She had talked about a lot of different topics regarding the university. She finds out that Raziel was interested in molecular engineering. This had meant that Raziel was interested in studies that concerned with how atomic molecules behave and interact. She was amazed that he too was also like her. They had similarities, that made Elora trust in Raziel's company. Well, Elora wasn't that surprising since they are both taking the same senior-level Biochemistry research methods class. Raziel, he felt like they both had a similar childhood learning experience. Throughout the whole time, they spoke comfortably. Trust was slowly building. As they were talking, Elora remembered a question that she had been meaning to ask Raziel. Now that they were alone, she grabs the opportunity. She paused walking, Raziel became curious, and said: "what's the matter?"
"Raziel… did perhaps anything weird happen to your body…ever since that day?" Elora said softly, she also looked at her surroundings to check if someone had been listening to them. She looked at Raziel's eyes with concern. Raziel looked at Elora and straightforwardly said,
"Honestly, Nothing."
Both of their hearts had beat faster than usual. They knew very little about the repercussions. Elora sighed heavily, she was relieved. At the same time, Raziel was a bit worried and asked,
"what about you? What is your current AU - health statistic?"
Elora could tell that Raziel was also a bit anxious. She realized both of them, were. Both of them felt fearful and afraid. They had done something punishable and was said to be dangerous.
Elora opens her watch and checks, "I'm currently at 6%, thankfully it went down."
Raziel did the same thing and said, "I'm at about 2%", Raziel continued to ask how was Elora feeling.
Raziel and Elora together sighed with relief. After the tense moment, they continued to walk.
"Isn't it weird, don't you think?" Elora spoke.
"What is?" Raziel replied.
"I mean, the government, the law, and the people said that we should always be maintaining distance and avoiding touch but then…" Elora wanted to rant out, she was very curious. Raziel understood what Elora meant. She wondered if other people had also experienced this. She pondered how many people know of this.
"I understand, I thought about the same thing. I didn't report because I wanted to see what could've happened." Raziel said with reassurance.
They continued talking about certain cases as to what could've happened. Both of them were scared as they don’t know the whole truth. The government had been claiming that the citizens get relocated but, they haven't met anyone that did.
Except for one, Elora's childhood friend. She didn't think, her friend's case was serious. Her childhood friend had moved away because of the parents' job relocation. She has not contacted her friend since then. No matter what, she had moved on but doesn’t mean that she wasn't curious. Elora and Raziel had reflected on a lot of matters. They even gave each other their contacts. One thing was for sure, they were on the same page and were on the same side of interest.
As they arrived at Elora's front gate, she thanked Raziel. As she opened her gate, she looked back at Raziel.
Raziel said his farewells, and when Elora had entered the premises. He smiled, waved, and left.
Elora kept smiling, she didn't notice that her parents were on the front door. "Who was that?" Senthya asked.
Both of her step-parents at the door and was worried, and Elora could tell that they were waiting for a long time.
"I'm sorry I forgot to message, he was just a group member" Elora explained.
Senthya and Bragos understood and warns Elora, once again to be careful around the opposite sex. They continued on with their family dinner. When they were done eating, Elora helped with some chores. After finishing, Elora went up to her room. As she prepared for bed, she once again checked her health statistics. Normal. So far, nothing had happened yet. When she lied down, she thought about the events that had happened today. She was relieved that she had slowly gained friends that she can trust. She brushed off the hair in her face, she touched it and combed it.
She had felt a little happiness, that small compliment had meant a lot for her. As she was about to sleep, she muttered with a small smile, "beautiful? it's just my hair…"
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