Golden Future (Prince Nuada fanfic) Hellboy 2

Nine; the beauty of touch

Longer at last :). The painting is La Partition de Piano by Marcel Rieder.

After everything smelt clean and nice and my hands were dry from the harsh soap, I felt a new sense of fulfilment. Deep breaths. My anger still felt justified, but it came from a place of hurt. It serves no purpose to linger with them. Time to open all doors in search of the Princess.

The first door I opened was opposite of the kitchen. It had a fireplace, had bookcases stacked with books on every wall and a leather chair – in which Nuada was reading, with his legs crossed. He looked much more relaxed now.

"Do you need anything?" he asked, without looking up. Still feeling tender emotionally, I closed the door without saying anything. The next few doors were no success either. The left one had a training room with equipment that looked modern, and the one beside that had a bath. The third one was my room. The one opposite was the one Nuala went to the day before. I knocked before entering.

"Princess Nuala, I was looking for you." I said. She sat by the vanity, brushing her long, blonde hair. Our eyes met via the mirror.

"Come in, have a seat."

"Are you alright?" I asked, feeling too awkward to bring up what was bothering me. I left the door on a crack and sat down on the bed. Her room had a window, but it overlooked the dark abyss outside. Her room was a furnished a little differently. It seemed more personal to her and it had a vanity unlike the one assigned to me.

Her gaze held a warning. Good. If I annoyed her enough, they'd have to send me home. "I am. You overheard our conversation?" It was not really a question.

"Part of it. Not much. Enough, I'd say."

"I feared so," she began, "my brother and I are very different, but since we are twins, we are connected in a... particular way. Emotionally, I mean."

I stayed silent, just leaned back on my hands and watched her from the bed.

"Do you know how it is to feel so connected with someone? I thought I never would," she revealed, still brushing her hair with gentle strokes. I had the sense she was no longer talking about Nuada, "but now that I have, I understand. It was such a beautiful moment when we first met..."

It felt as if I should not be there, she spoke slow and soft, deep in thought. She turned around.

"Come over here, let me brush your hair." Nuala patted the small stool next to her, dragging it in front of her.

Reluctantly, I got up and did as she said. Perhaps conversation is easier when I didn't have to meet her eyes.

"How did you meet them?" I dared ask. With soft strokes, with incredible patience, she worked through the knots my hair.

"He saved me, when Nuada first tried to find me, several weeks ago now. He gave me his hand so I could connect with him... and he read my mind too. I've never met anyone with my gift before. He was so beautiful, yet so strange. His name is Abraham."

I turned around, frowning. "Nuala, you can- you can read minds when you hold hands?"

She averted her eyes and jerked her hands away. "I can. It was not my intention to hide it from you, I'm sorry. You must not like me now."

"You've been reading my mind the entire time?"

She bit her lip and nodded. Her shoulders deflated and her gaze trained on the hands in her lap, still holding the brush. I pressed my palms to my eyes, willing the headache away.

With some hesitation, I reached out and took hold of her hand. "You have seen before, but you have never judged me for my imperfections, nor held it against me. I thank you for that."

After a much longer conversation on love and having my hair so gently brushed, I felt better. We had tea. Then more tea. She was able to provide me with a way to charge my phone after I asked, although it appeared as magic to me. It was a relief to finally answer a handful of messages from friends and classmates. They already knew I was a flaky texter, so no one worried for me. Sent the teacher an email about a 'sick family member' that I had to visit, asking for an extension. Called my parents, said I was alright, just 'taking a break from my studies'. It was the greatest relief to be able to check in again after what felt like an eternity. Perhaps I was more dependant on my phone than I'd like to think.

Time crept by with alarming speed. Noon came and passed. With hungry stomachs, Nuala and I went to the kitchen. We decided on making something to eat for us three, something with eggs, tomato and paprika. After getting her confession off her chest, Nuala was all smiles. Her laughter while we worked alongside on chopping veggies improved my mood. She chopped up onions as I prepared and washed the paprika. As a combined effort, we both cracked eggs to poach them in the sauce.

When Nuada emerged from the library, the food was already on the stove. The scent of spices filled the kitchen.

"I see you have found your way around the kitchen, are you starting to feel at home?" he asked me, when I put down plates on the small wooden table. I raised my eyebrows.

"At home? If you mean comfortable, yes I'm comfortable." I tried with a polite smile. I turned around quickly to gather forks and knifes from a drawer. He did not respond, instead complimenting Nuala on how nice the food smelled.

We exchanged only a few comments as we ate. Never have I eaten better shakshouka.