promises

"Hah..." A curl played onto the princess' face. She glanced at her cloudy companion and sighed again, now at the warm amber sky. "I've seen this scene a hundred times," A gentle breeze washed over, tickling the tips of Virva's skin. "yet it never fails to draw my breath away. How could something so mundane be so beautiful, Zephyros?" 

Zephyros' eyes were over the horizon the whole time, but it turned onto Virva's the moment she called his name. "It's just the way it is, I suppose. The Gods' handiwork..." His sight returned onto the setting sun. "It"s truly beautiful." 

Virva pondered at his statement. Then, the smile returned onto her lips. "The Gods made you too, right?" She scooted closer. The gesture made Zephyros turn onto her, their eyes meeting. 

"No wonder you're so beautiful." 

The smile on the sea princess' lips grew as one too formed on the cloud monk's. Zephyros cocked his head aside. Apparently, that was his best attempt at fighting back a giggle. "So you're calling me mundane?" 

His hand reached for her cheek when he asked; she took it and nuzzled onto it. Zephyros' hand was rough and cold. Virva had always thought that living so close to the sun would've made one warmer, but the reality is far from her assumption. "No, you silly monk..." She mumbled, letting herself rest onto his palm. "I can stay just like this forever." 

At that statement Zephyros pulled her closer, making her sit across his lap. "C'mon," he said, prompting Virva to lean on him. And she did. So he locked his arms on her, cherishing her presence om him. The princess- no, his princess snuggled into his chest. I can stay just like this forever; that sentence really weighed down on Zephyros at that moment. The realization that indeed, their days were numbered, came back to him like a tidal wave, threatening to crash. How many more evenings can they spend like this, he had no idea. He didn't want to find out, either. He just knew that Virva had been meeting candidates and that his own elevation ceremony was coming up in a few months... 

So he blocked all of that from his mind and nuzzled into his princess' hair, filling his sense of smell with her existence. Virva smelled of fresh water, perhaps with a hint of salt somewhere in there. She smelled clean, but she also felt distinctly just like her usual self. Her hair continued to float gracefully as it dispersed bubbles into the air. 

Speaking of Virva's hair. Or 'hair'. 

Zephyros personally couldn't get over how alien her hair felt. It's incredibly liquidy, but there's not a single trace of wetness on his cheek and nose after he nuzzled her. If he had to describe it, it was if jellies acted like water. "Princess, your hair is so odd. I don't remember any other mermaids with hair similar to yours." He remarked. 

Virva lazily looked up to him. "It's magic, Zephyros. I'm actually quite bald." 

The monk soon-to-be furrowed his forehead. Really? That's news to him. He was about to ask her further when she interrupted him with a giggle. "I jest, Zephy. You're adorable." She snuggled back onto his chest, laying lazily on Zephyros' body. "My hair's been that way ever since I could form a coherent memory; you'll have to deal with it." 

"Well, I didn't say it's bad," Zephyros nuzzled her again. "it's just foreign." 

Silence washed over them. Zephyros stared off into the ocean as it softly crashed against each other. It's mesmerising; back in his childhood, he'd watch the stars float lazily until he could fall asleep. 

In his religion, he was taught that every single object, given enough time, would form a living spirit. So he loved staring up onto the skies where the grand ancient beings were watching. He'd send them small little prayers, each replied to with a light breeze. It was calming. He was assured that despite everything, he"d never be completely alone in this world. The breeze would lull the child him to sleep, feeling completely blessed to be under the guidance of the sky Gods.

And yet.

His pleas, as of late, were greeted with complete silence. Zephyros would meditate under the stars for as long as his body would allow him to, and no being was kind enough to answer him. He had begged, bargained; I will do anything just to be with her. But not even a whisper came upon him.

The joining of flesh had to be approved by the Gods above.

His clearly weren't.

Zephyros continued to stare off into the horizon as his thoughts crumbled. He was thinking so much that all of it had come into a halt and numbed his mind. He decided that he had to say something, anything; he was about to open his mouth when Virva suddenly spoke first. 

And the question she asked felt like a knife, plunging onto his chest. 

"Zephyros, we don't have a future together, do we?"