Strong  

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, twirling me around before I felt the ground underneath me. I could only stand there, a little bit confused as to what is happening at the moment.

What on earth? I thought, looking up at the man proudly smiling at me. Huh?

"I won," Altair said, patting me on the head while the same bright smile stayed on his face and I could not say a word as I just stared at him blankly, eyes blinking slowly.

The tree beside us had already bloomed and the orange flowers were falling down on us, many of the petals landing on Altair's hair, almost like a crown.

Subconsciously, I reached out and pulled out some of the petals from his hair, still unable to take my eyes off him.

"What's the matter?" Altair asked, looking right into my eyes with a sly smile on his face as he bent down to my height, stopping only inches from my face. "You look completely mesmerized by me."

"Could you blame me?" I asked, feeling his hand grab mine with the single flower petal still in my fingertips. "If someone who looks like you appears in front of me, the only thing you can do is stare at them."

"Oh~?" He purred, getting even closer to me, a lopsided grin coming on his face. "Describe someone like me. Have you met anyone else?"

I looked into his sparkling prism eyes reflecting in the sunlight, a smile coming on my face, "No."

"No?"

Just when I thought he could not get even closer, I was completely wrong. He got even closer, my breathing slowing down under the cloth as I could feel his warm breath on me.

"What does no mean?" He asked, stopping only an inch from my face.

He is teasing me. For sure he is teasing me. I don't like to be teased. In fact, I hate it. But … when he does it … what is this rush I feel? What is this … desire to be closer to him?

I don't know but … it is making me wish to behave irrationally and that is dangerous. Very, very dangerous.

Well, two can play that game.

Leaning down, I snuck away from him in the shadows, appearing behind him with my hands behind me and an innocent smile on my face.

"It simply means that I have never met someone like you before," I said, walking away. "Come on. In case you forgot, we were supposed to be working."

While walking down the small pathway, I did not dare to turn around. I don't know if he is following me or if he is just sitting there, watching me walk away and I didn't want to know.

My heart is behaving very oddly today and I worry that I might be catching feelings for this stranger that I met only two nights before.

This has never happened before. I never cared about these things before and yet, here we are. The one thing I prided myself in is that I do not fall easily. I don't think I have ever fallen for anyone.

I know the line that separated us from the rest of the … others. Again, I have no intention of becoming the person that person was. Not in this life.

"You seem to be out of this world again."

A voice startled me as I almost tripped but I managed to regain my footing, somehow.

"Really?" I said, thinking. "I fear that I am doing that more and more often these days."

"Well, I do not see a problem with it," Altair said, grinning brightly at me. "The way your eyes glistened whenever you go off to talk to the Deities of the other world is nothing short of fascinating."

"Does something happen to my eyes when I go off?" I asked, hand under my left eye. "I didn't realise."

"Of course, you would not." Altair chuckled, holding the boxes in his hand as carefully as he could. "You hardly notice your surroundings when you go there. I doubt you would notice your eye colour change."

"What colour does it change to?" I asked, as we finally reached the end of the pathway.

In front of us, I can already see the buildings scattered around the place with even more people gathered around there as compared to yesterday.

They all also look a lot sicker and even more injured than the ones yesterday. Today truly is going to be a task and I just pray that I am capable enough to deal with it.

"There it is again." Altair's voice brought me back again, making me look at him. "They don't entirely change colours but they become something like … like this."

He bent down and looked me right in the eyes as the colour of his changed into the grey-blue of mine before his pupils widened and the blue-grey colour of his eyes started to glitter.

Literally. Glitter.

"My eyes look like that?" I asked, cupping his face as I stared at his eyes, completely mesmerized. The moment my hand touched his face, the illusion on his eyes disappeared and it was back to the prism hue that I admired ever since I first saw him.

We were both frozen in place, almost as if moving even a little bit would cause something to break and this moment to be lost.

"H-how did you like how your eyes looked?" He asked, starting to grow flustered but he stubbornly refuses to look away.

"They are pretty," I answered, smiling at him. "Now I know why everyone knows when I am gone and why so many liked to stare."

"If you think that was pretty." He said, voice getting lower as he speaks like one in a dream; faint, almost ominous. "You should see them now."

"Really?" I asked, noticing some of the petals still on his hair as I reached out and pulled then away. "I think the one in front of me is the prettiest though."

Altair's eyes widened before he finally pulled away from me, a gentle smile coming on his face. "You … you were the first one to think my eyes are pretty."

"Really?" I asked, genuinely surprised. "How odd. Why does no one else think-"

"Orion! There you are!"

Startled, we both turned to the Priest walking to us very quickly. He did not even stop to catch his breath as he reached us and grabbed our hands, pulling us to the place.

"You both were taking quite some time so we thought something must have happened." He said, as I pulled my hand out of his grip and walked beside him. Altair did the same but he walked over to my side instead.

"I apologise, Sol. Is it very hectic there?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as I made sure Altair was keeping up with us.

From all those flustered expressions he was making, he went back to his stoic and almost expression. Well, maybe that his just his resting face.

I do not look like the most friendly person either when I am not smiling or talking to others.

"We are going to be very busy, Orion," Sol said, grabbing my attention from Altair immediately. "I do hope you have enough strength in you because today, you might have to continue until nightfall."

Nightfall?? Ugh … and I thought yesterday was rough.

"I don't mind," I said before I could drift off again as we reached the buildings. "Oh, I should introduce you both. Sol this is Altair. Altair, this is Sol."

"You came with the King Alpha, if I am not wrong," Sol said as we slowed down, smiling at the man.

As for Altair … he could not be bothered to even care about Sol or his question, which made the man burst out laughing.

"Well, I have heard of Enchanted Wolfs. They are not a very friendly folk." He said, patting me on the head. "Don't worry, I am sure you will be able to handle him."

"Handle?" I asked, looking from Sol to Altair. Then Altair to Sol. Me handle Altair? Really? He is not some kind of wild animal that needs to be-

"Your grace!" Cries of relief came from the people littered all around the front of the buildings where I was the night before. Every single one of them is injured or sick and I can smell that from where I stood.

"I will let you begin where you are ready," Sol said, walking away into another building.

They must be really busy for him to not insist on staying by my side. Or … is it because Altair is with me right now?

Hmmm.

A gentle hand came on my shoulder as I looked up to see Altair staring at the people in front of us. "Some of them are cursed. Please be careful."

"Cursed?" I asked, looking at the people waiting patiently for me to walk to them. "What do you mean?"

Altair only shook his head, "I will tell you when you get to them."

"O-Ok?" I said, furrowing my brows at the man in front of me. Well, he seems reliable at the very least. So … I guess that is fine.

Onto work, I suppose.