Chapter 19: Breakfast
Calista began feeling around the spot on the ground beside her with her hand since she was expecting the Forgotten One to have returned. However, she hated to admit it, but she felt a bit disappointed he wasn't lying next to her.
With her eyes still closed, she unconsciously called out, "Love, are you back yet?"
But once Calista realized what she had said she sat up and covered her face with both hands. She tried to conceal the fact that she was a flustered mess before crying out, "Ugh, wait, no, I didn't mean to say that! Why in the world did I call him that?"
But when she peeked through her fingers after burying her face within them, she realized that she was all alone, making her feel a little uneasy.
Why is he not back yet? What's taking him so long? It's probably because not much time has passed. Maybe I didn't drift off for as long as I thought. Calista tried to reassure herself while her stomach began to rumble from hunger.
Then doubt began to creep into her mind. What if The Forgotten One took off and left me stranded here and isn't planning on coming back? Calista shuddered.
"What's up with that paranoid look on your face? Didn't think I was coming back," The Forgotten One teased.
"Ahhh!" Caliata screamed. She was startled since she wasn't expecting to hear The Forgotten One call out to her.
"Sounds like you did miss me," he said playfully with a grin.
His words caused her to glance over at him. She hadn't been able to get a good look at him before since they were in the dark, so it was impossible to see what he looked like.
But with the morning light trickling in through the waterfall in front of the cavern, she realized at that moment how good-looking he was. Now she understood what the wind goddess was talking about.
He had a handsome face, auburn ruffled hair, striking golden eyes, and perfectly toned abs. He also had breathtaking wings with feathers that were a rich shade of chocolate brown.
She couldn't help but stare at him without blinking. Judging by the smirk that started forming on his face, he quickly noticed her doing so and loved every minute of it.
"Looks like I'm going to have to wipe up the puddle of drool leaking from your mouth just now by how much you're gawking at me. I'm taking it that you like what you see~?" The Forgotten One teased.
"You've been staring at me this whole time without blinking, without saying as much of a word," he said while a large grin formed on his face.
"What, you're mistaken; I was so not!" Calista cried out in embarrassment before turning her head away. She quickly closed her eyes and crossed her arms to hide how much her face had flushed bright red.
"How long have you been standing there?" Calista asked, pouting and awaiting his response. She then began wondering, in embarrassment, if he had heard her call him the nickname "Love."
"Just long enough to see you're finally awake; why do you ask?" he asked, his eyes flickering with curiosity as he smiled at her mischievously.
Calista let out a relieved sigh that he wasn't there to hear the nickname she had accidentally called him. She knew if he had heard. He wouldn't be able to stop teasing her about it.
"No reason, in particular. I was just... wondering when you came back. So what took you so long?!" she said.
"Sounds to me like you missed me a lot. But if you must know, I got up early because I was looking around tirelessly to find something for you to eat. After all, you need to regain your strength since we have a long, impossible journey to achieve," The Forgotten One teased as he looked over at her.
"I knew you would be starving after everything you'd been through. The surprise I was talking about earlier was finding breakfast for you. But, unfortunately, things didn't play out so well," The Forgotten One said, a bit defeated since he was confident in himself that he would've found something so much better.
He held out the palm of his hand to reveal a single ripe peach to her.
Calista's eyes widened in shock because she wasn't expecting him to do something like that. However, she looked a little sad over the fact that he could only find one piece of fruit and was clearly offering her the entire thing even after all the trouble it took him to find it.
"I wasn't thinking about you," Calista said, while one of her eyebrows twitched.
"Also, that's very kind of you, but nothing will be left for you if I eat the whole thing. Since there's plenty to go around and there's two of us, why don't we share it? Let's cut it exactly in half so we both have something to eat," Calista said with a warm smile before her stomach let out another loud growl.
The Forgotten One chuckled when he heard her stomach growl loudly, like an animal trapped in a cage. Calista didn't have to say it aloud; he knew she was starving but wouldn't admit it. He was surprised since, despite her hunger, she was more than willing to share the food with him.
He shook his head softly before stating, "That's sweet of you to offer, but you really need to eat, Dove. Besides, I brought this just for you to eat. How else do you expect to get better if you don't eat?"
"But don't worry since you care so much about me. Gods and goddesses in this world are immortal. So as a god, I won't die if I don't eat anything. Unlike humans, the gods and goddesses only eat for the pleasure of how food tastes but don't need to do so to survive," The Forgotten One explained with a grin.
He then took a slight pause before he directly looked into her eyes and said in a teasing tone, "But even if that wasn't the case, I still would have offered the entire peach to you and would have refused to take a single bite."
His statement caused her cheeks to flush like a pale dusty rose, and she turned her head away shyly to try to hide it. "You're flirting is getting quite exhausting."
A small, brief smile appeared on Calista's lips. "But if you insist, I'll eat it," she said with gratitude while cupping her hands, signaling to him to place the peach within them.
Just when he was about to hand the peach over to her, a feeling of sadness washed over him. He noticed that both of her hands were shaking and were riddled with scraps and cuts. He figured her injuries were a result of her trying to grab onto something in the cave to try and break her fall.
"That looks really painful," he said, glancing down at her hands.
"Here, I'll hold it for you while you eat since I don't want the juice from it to sting your wounds. After all, I wouldn't want you getting worse," The Forgotten One said while holding the peach close to her mouth so she could take a bite. A serious blush ended up forming on her cheeks.
She leaned over to take her first bite before she hesitated, the blush on her cheeks still present. "Sorry, it's just that it's hard for me to focus on eating with you staring at me with such intensity," Calista teased.
This caused him to let out a small burst of lighthearted laughter. He slowly averted his eyes and turned away before saying, "Who knew that my Dove would be so prickly? But the last thing that I would want is for you not to eat. Plus, I'll miss my feisty Dove if you're not at full strength."
As soon as she took her first bite of the fruit, her eyes sparkled with contentment over how good it was.
"This is actually really delicious," she said while savoring the delectable piece of fruit in her mouth before swallowing and taking a few more bites.
"I told you that I'm quite skilled with my instincts," he said conceitedly. He was relieved since he could tell Calista was already doing much better.
Once Calista finally had finished eating and felt contentment washing over her from having some food in her belly, she replied teasingly, "Okay, it's safe for you to look back now."
As soon as his eyes returned back to her face, he tried to hold in a laugh before saying, "You're quite the messy eater, Dove. Your face is literally covered in peach juice."
"What, no way! Where is it on my face!" Calista fretted while trying to wipe away the sticky mess with her hand. Never in her life had she been a messy eater. She imagined how ridiculous she must look.
The Forgotten one then chuckled before leaning closer to her, causing her face to begin to flush.
"Here, don't worry, I'll get it for you. You see, there's some here and there," he said while gently wiping away the peach juice that was on her right cheek with his thumb in a tender touch. He soon wiped off the peach juice from the corner of her mouth.
Calista felt breathless the moment his eyes met hers since she could feel a connection between them, or was that just her imagination? She couldn't understand why that was.
She then began to feel the warmth from his breath against her ear, whispering closely to it before softly chuckling. "You know, Dove. As of now, your face is beet red. Red suits you quite well, though, since it's such a sexy color~."
"Hey, cut it out. I knew you were up to something," Calista grumbled while her face grew redder in intensity. Suddenly, something caught her attention, causing her to hold his right hand in both of her hands to look closer at it.
"Did you get hurt while trying to find breakfast for me?" she asked with a tone filled with concern once she noticed a circular scar or burn with a copperish tint on the palm of his right hand.
Her words caused him to flinch and retract his hand back. "Oh, that, it's something that I got a long time ago; it nothing for you to be concerned over," he said while turning his head away from her as his eyes became downcast at a past memory.
All those horrible memories he would rather forget, but his inner demons would never leave him. They would follow him for eternity.
Comments (3)
See all