Obsidian Eyes and Crystal Wings

Chapter 14 Cafe date

Cora's POV

The cafe was absolutely covered in edible flowers. Mostly rose bushes grow around the pretty white fence of the half inside and half outside cafe. Imno offers me a seat at a table in a somewhat quiet corner.

"So... did I pick right?" He asks nervously. My head turns to him and I smile.
"Yes. It's beautiful." I say.
"Good but not as beautiful as you." He says with a small smirk. I elbow him and then sit down across from him.
"You are definitely a flirt when you want to be." I say slowly shaking my head.

Imno sits on the edge of the chair to accommodate for his wings. I look around at the small balcony we are on. Long pots line the fence like railings to grow bush like plants. Hanging pots slowly swing from the thick tree branch above us. Herbs grow from the smaller pots mostly.

"Cora... would you like to talk about you or me?" Imno asks. I give him a suspicious look.
"Will you not run away if I choose to talk about you?" I ask him.
"Well it would be rude to run on a first date but I do want to learn more about you." He says while sliding the menu to me. I pick up the single peace of paper. They mostly sell pancakes of almost every type and smoothies and I find a small corner with all the coffee options.

"They are only open till 2 and then they close but they do two very different main dishes. Smoothies and pancakes. Who would have thought that could go together." Imno says while half glancing at the menu in my hands.
"Ok so if you want to know about me, I grew up basically like a fairytale. Cursed princess locked away from the world despite being occasionally allowed to leave as long as the public didn't see me. I was to be nothing more than a folklore beast people spread rumors about."

He looks at me with his full attention. His pointed ears and no showing horns makes him almost look like a common elf. When he notices I stopped talking he then talks.
"I don't think you look cursed. You look normal compared to who I'm friends with. Anyway, I grew up my first 16ish years of life on a world nearing its death. Mom and dad locked me and my, at the time, five other siblings away in a cavern to protect us from the worst of it. I wanted to help fight but I guess out of rebellion and not wanting to be hidden away with my family for so long,.. I left when I wasn't supposed to and I joined them on the battlefield with no experience and very little training. They didn't know that the reason I never practiced was because I was studying magic. No idea why I hid my magic from them but I did. I guess I was a rebel when I was young and my mom says I still am sometimes." He stops to look at the menu options.
"Go on..."

"Long story short after that, I faked my death and ran away. I know mother and father mourned. That day on the battlefield was a event called ragnarök. My parents became gods that day and unlocked their powers. I could feel my own growing that day. I used a simple portal spell to jump from the old world to the place where my wife's people lived. I wasn't married yet but I knew she had a thing for me and I figured mom or dad would find me soon enough so why bother hiding when I could be the high-mage for the king and queen of a entire species. And yes I got the princess obviously. She was the king's sister so no one cared since he already had a kid too young for the throne." He finishes his story.

"So you basically ran from home to marry a princess?" I ask.
"That sums it up. Then for the next 200 years I basically lived as a scholar and a scientist for them. Been a scientist and a mage ever since." He slowly gets out of his chair. "Ready to order? They only have two employees so you have to go to them and they bring it out."
"Umm yes?..." I am not quite sure. Everything looks good. "I guess I'll have a blueberry mint smoothie with a chocolate pancake."
"Double chocolate or chocolate chips?" He asks.
"Double!" I have only heard of the rare dessert called chocolate but I like the idea of it.

Imno simply smiles at the childish tone in my answer and goes to order the food for me. I catch myself watching him too long. Those wings are just really really pretty. They aren't pretty in the sense that black and white wings are but they kind of remind me of light gray dove wings. They also look incredibly soft. I remember those few times I've ever touched them or tried to but he always snaps at me. They must be really sensitive or at least delicate for him to be so protective of them. I've heard that most winged folk are like that but I've never actually talked to a winged person before.