Mear
Shupple and I moved slowly and stepped carefully as we danced taking careful steps not to imbalance ourselves. After several of the songs that still managed to penetrate the house and resonate into the night air finished, we slowly stopped again and moved back carefully to our standing positions on the deck. Our right hands stayed together even then. However, both of us seemed inattentive of this matter.
Suddenly a star seemed to take from its position in the sky and flew down away leaving a trail of white dust in the sky. My eyes followed it carefully yet it moved too fast, and soon it was nothing but what I had seen. I closed my eyes and let out a breath somewhat sadly. There were indeed things that I would never be able to see in the ways I want to.
“Stars are tricky things aren’t they?” I asked half with a strange melodic laugh rising in my throat. “You can never really get close enough to see them. So they always stay just sparkles in the night pictures…”
Indeed it was not the exact wording that I was going for, and I would somewhat question myself later about my word choice. However, Shupple seemed to understand this statement for she looked at me with a questioning look and then her face shifted into an understanding. Whether the full meaning of what I meant was ever expressed is still up for debate in my mind for what was said next half heartedly confused me.
“Jirachi is said to be the wishmaker,” Shupple answered quietly as she looked back off into the dark night and the stars hovering out in space. “People make wishes on stars because of him….”
“True,” I answered unsure of what else to say and almost falling into silence again. However, just as thoughts register in one’s mind at odd moments, a thought seemed to come to me in that second. “Do you wish?” I asked already inferring that being a ghost pokemon, Shupple would answer no.
Shupple’s visage seemed to darken a bit as she leaned forwards over the railing. Her hair started to serve as a shield from my eyes, and I found myself looking away as if I had seen something I shouldn’t have. I couldn’t explain it, and yet….
“Who doesn’t wish?” Shupple answered back after a few seconds of complete silence. “We all have things we want or wish for… doesn’t mean they’re going to come true.” She leaned forwards even more, and in that moment, I realized that I might have overstepped something that I shouldn’t have. I fell silent trying to find a way to either back track what I had said or consol for it.
“But sometimes… they do,” I answered with the voice that had slowly made its way to my mind. It may have made me sound somewhat foolish or overly hopeful, and yet I couldn’t help but say it. It had… demanded to be said…
“Name one,” Shupple answered back, and in that second, a mild wind picked up and brushed Shupple’s hair forwards and then back reveling her face for a split second before shielding it again. I felt my eyes dart away again and out t the side of the mansion where several lights were glistening in windows and reflecting off of the ornaments and stream lights that danced and played in the night.
“I once wished for….” I said cutting off to try and understand exactly where I was going with the statement. Almost annoyingly, I found myself unable to come up with anything and was forced into silence. I felt my face grow red with embarrassment, and yet I knew that Shupple wouldn’t be able to see it not only because I was now somewhat turned away from her but because it was also dark out. “Friends,” I said after a moment more or less completing my sentence that had become more of a fragment than anything.
I could hear Shupple move off of the railing she had been leaning on and was looking at a mix between my profile and my back. I let out a breath slowly and found that I could see the white crystals of my own breath in the cold. In that moment, I started to feel cold. It was the first time that I had noticed the weather was shifting again and starting to chill rather than warm up.
“I… wished for something,” Shupple said. “A long time ago…” She broke off, and I could feel that she had averted her attention back to the outer rims of nothingness. I turned my head slightly to look at her and found that her hair had ceased to hide her visage and features. Even in the dim light cooked up by the lanterns and indoor light, I found that she had defined features. I wanted to remember the way she looked and draw it latter… for… one reason or another… I couldn’t quite…. Explain…. What was this feeling? Was it the cold I had just registered…. Or…
Before realizing it, I had stepped forwards and was now nearly shoulder to shoulder with Shupple. We both looked at each other in the cross sections of light that the objects around us provided. There was something in the way that Shupple looked at me that made me quiet. I had lost anything and everything to say. Almost involuntarily, I found my hand rising, and slowly I placed my hand on the side of Shupple’s face. She seemed startled at first as if she had not even registered my doing it but then relaxed after a moment and brought her own hand up as if to cancel the motion. However, she restricted the movement and bent her elbow up to rest her hand on top of mine.
“I wish I could grant your wish,” I said quietly feeling my face turn red. Again this feeling had worked its way around me and had rested quite comfortably in my throat. I dropped off realizing what I had said had probably been taken the wrong way in some way shape fashion or form… and yet… with the way that…. Shupple was looking at me….
I realized that neither of us was moving not but rather Shupple’s eyes had drifted over towards the side of her cheek where my hand rested. Her face was turning a slight red, and yet I found that the effects of the darkness were harboring my sight even with this. Her visage was relaxed and peaceful for a moment. Suddenly Shupple seemed to tense and then back up away from my hand. I felt my face turn even redder. My eyes darted away instantly.
“Hah… you’re not a wishmaker…” Shupple half laughed nervously, and once again there was somewhat of an invisible veil between us. I let out a quiet breath and then nodded a bit forcing a laugh as well.
“I… was just saying if I was…” I answered looking back at the sky again. The moon was shimmering full as if it had been waiting patiently for the Valentine’s Day ball to come into true light. I couldn’t help feeling a strange amount of something I could not describe….
“Sorry….” Shupple said quietly looking down. Through my peripheral vision, I saw this motion and wished I hadn’t for some reason. “I… didn’t mean it like that…”
“It’s fine,” I answered feeling the wind pick up again.
Suddenly the wind seemed to make a lunge and tried to pull my beret off my head. The white hat went flying out in the air, and my eyes enlarged for a movement. I reached out for it, but it was already out of my reach. Suddenly a shadow hand seemed to snag it in mid air. My eye moved over to the extension of the shadow, and I found it ended at Shupple who was staring out at it with a strange look. The shadow pulled back the hat until it set itself in Shupple’s hands. She looked at me and then turned her head to one side. I couldn’t help but feel a small smile run up my face.
“Thank you…” I said taking it as she handed it back to me.
“It was… nothing,” Shupple said suddenly moving her eyes away. Just as suddenly, a nerve triggered inside me, and I found myself looking off and away again. My pulse had quickened, and I found my fingers making my beret somewhat rung with wrinkles. Relaxing my hand, I took in a sharp breath and then set the beret back on my head.
“I wasn’t lying before…” I suddenly said. Shupple gave me somewhat of a confused and startled look, but I would finish it before anything else. “If there was some wish that you had… I wish I could grant it for you,” I said feeling my stomach twitch again.
It’s in those odd moments that one considers himself lucky to be away from the crowds. Although in that regard rather… I had managed to isolate myself rather well out of nature than anything else. If someone had heard what I had said other than the intended… I….
“You’re… a good friend, Shupple,” I half laughed unsure of anything else to continue with. “And…” I stopped unsure of anything else to say. “And… I… I…” I felt my stomach in knots, and I could no longer finish. Damn thee accursed nerves. I had lost the battle and silence followed. However, Shupple seemed to take this silence and then smiled a bit.
“You’re… a good friend too, Mear,” Shupple answered smiling lightly. “I wish I could have met you sooner.”
“Same…” I answered.
Before I knew it, my eyes had started to trace Shupple’s visage again outlining it, and various ways to shade her image came to mind. I wanted to draw her in the moonlight like that. It was… beautiful.
Like a bell toll, a door opened, and someone appeared to look out onto the porch. My head shot towards the door, yet I didn’t see anything more than a half movement. Music emitted loudly, but the door was suddenly closed again. I looked back and found that Shupple also giving me a confused look. Finally I shook off the strange notion and tried to smile.
“I… think we should head back inside for a bit,” I said feeling another nervous laugh run through me.
Shupple looked discouraged for a moment but then seemed to force a smile. I wished that I hadn’t said anything in that moment, but before I could make an excuse to stay outside a bit longer, Shupple concurred.
“Ya…. Just for a bit…” Shupple gave a nod.
Turning on one heel, Shupple seemed to make a sudden movement and had already clasped the door back inside. I was suddenly by her side, and both of us walked inside. Back inside, the music was loud, and Gijinka were dancing and moving around happily socializing with each other and such and such. I caught Shupple’s eye, and suddenly both of us looked away nervously. I let out a mix between a breath and a cough unsure of what else to do.
“Do you want something to eat?” I suggested.
“Um….. alright…” Shupple answered after a moment.
I turned and headed to the food table with a quick step. After another moment, I had come back with a chocolate short cake of some sort and some punch. We both moved to a table and sat down across from each other. For one reason or another, the seating arrangement at that moment in time seemed strange. I was sitting across from Shupple as I had before, and yet it didn’t seem quite right at that moment.
“How about… I move the chairs over a bit and maybe….” I said looking down realizing that this was probably a strange conversation to be starting. Indeed, one becomes increasingly aware that he says the wrong things when addressing others after so long of not bothering to even notice. “Um…” I continued faltering and becoming quiet.
“Hm?” Shupple asked looking at me in a confused way.
“Like… um… move the chairs around the table and sit side by side… that way… uh…” I said unsure if I should break of the entire conversation for the sake of my sanity or not. However, at that moment, Shupple seemed to understand and turned scarlet. I couldn’t even understand what I had said by then. I looked down and addressed the table instead. “You know like sit closer together… or… we can keep sitting like this… um…” Finally I decided to disregard everything and try to salvage the situation. “How about a game of cards?” I asked.
“Right now?” Shupple asked raining an eyebrow and seeming to look out at the dance floor where many Gijinka were dancing or just standing around at the wall.
“Um… uh… ya,” I answered.
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First off I'd like to say I'm sorry I haven't been around. I've been really busy =/ sorry. Anyways, I decided to make up for it with an uber somewhat long post.
Mear
KC
