Private Tales Only For A Day

[Lyta]

Lyta watched over the rim of her cup as Mikko made them sandwiches and hid her smile by taking another sip of the warm drink. It was endearing and sweet. Something she was not used to when travelling with Brom, who would have handed her a stale bit of cheese and called it edible. Brom's strategy was always tough love, Mikko's... Mikko's she had not fully figured out yet.

Finishing the rest of her tea she too rid it of the dregs then handed back the cup and accepted his hand to mount the red elk, even though she did not need it. There was something sweet about the gesture that stopped her from refusing it. Once in her saddle she nibbled on the sandwich as Mikko talked.

"I always preferred a sunset," Lyta admitted with a shy smile. "It is not very often I get to see the sunrise. Usually the Dreamscape keeps me until noon, sometimes later."

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

Mikko raised his brows, sounding his surprise at her admittance. "Well, Lady Lyta, this is your first glimpse in so long. What do you think of it?"

Lyta looked beautiful in this soft light. Sunsets were always a golden warmth, but a sunrise was such as this had painted her in a soft glow. She looked like a living dream, and one he did not mind not waking from. He had to avert his gaze, afraid of staring and... remembering what it was he had said to her last night. Mikko had been very close to wanting to kiss her, but even he knew such a spell would be as sweet the moment they were both ready for it.

One day, he would do all of this right.

He was going to take the time to get to know her, court her, and introduce her to his family. And being on this trip with her is not the time for such courting. She was a Guardian on duty, and he was here in place of Brom, someone he really did not want to cross.

"How does this compare with your sunsets?" He grinned.

 

[Lyta]

Lyta turned her face towards the rising sun and closed her eyes to savour the feeling of warmth after the cold night. A soft smile creased her cheeks and when she opened her eyes they were full of quiet joy, though tinged with a hint of regret.

"It makes me realise I miss a lot of when Dreaming," the Guardian had said it so quietly it was not obvious whether she had intended to give voice to her thoughts. The tinge of regret was gone by the time she glanced to Mikko though.

"It is beautiful. Do you paint such things or do you prefer people?" She tilted her head curiously.

 

[Mikko Cendrillon]

"I like to capture images that remind me of my life. Things that made me happy in passing, or simply something so gorgeous, it begs to be made immortal." He looked to her a little longer than he'd like, and turning away gave Lyta the perfect view of his blushing cheek.

"You know, I haven't spoken about my artwork like this with anyone... not even my sister." But he enjoyed telling Lyta about it all. She was the muse he was now catching; her life as a Guardian, the idea of her travels, her very beauty... He found himself enraptured with her. "I don't feel like I am here as a Cendrillon of the Vanguard."

And as soon as he said those words, guilt weighed on his shoulders.