The Truth About The Many Worlds Of Printed Pages

°•○•°Sixteen°•○•°

"What's wrong, Siena? Why would you think it was pointless?" he asked, placing his cup on the table. The strange sadness she couldn't seem to shake off tugged at his heart.

He watched her put her cup on the table next to his, then took her hands in his, unable to resist. She laced her fingers through his, grateful for his nearness and understanding.

"Well, if we simply caused his world to branch off into another, where nothing changed, just like in the book... I looked, James," she added in a barely audible voice, her shiny, caramel eyes seeping into his. "The book is just the same..."

"We knew it wouldn't change," he said gently, finding it hard to search his mind for correct words with those eyes full of empathy, understanding, and love intent on him. "We also knew that... that we don't exactly know how this all works; our knowledge about the Society and our part in this mystery is patched together from theories. But we know that we saved one Little Prince. Maybe he was just one of several, but... one is better than none, don't you think? Our Little Prince returned safely to his asteroid, wiser and mature enough to appreciate the love of his Rose. We gave him the happily ever after he wished for."

James had nothing more to tell her, he hoped that this would suffice to make her feel better. Never breaking their eye contact, he reached behind one of the sofa cushions and wrapped a white blanket that had been stored there over her shoulders.

She smiled and closed her eyes when one of his hands brushed against her cheek accidentally, lingering there for a moment too long, and she leaned into it, taking pleasure in that unexpected, fleeting touch.

"Thank you, James, for everything," she whispered, not trusting her voice, taking another piece of chocolate while he poured out more coffee for both of them.

"We need to sleep. It will all look better and make more sense tomorrow, when we are not this tired," he promised, and Siena believed him. She was already feeling better, knowing that she could rely on his closeness, and understanding was wonderful.

"I don't want to go to sleep just yet. We need to talk about our next quest first," she said, smiling finally, nodding towards the book on his lap.

"Albert mentioned that he has the diving suit ready for me," James said carefully, not sure how she would react to this. They didn't know each other beyond this enchanted world of 'their' flat and the one quest into a fantastical world.

"He has diving suits for us, you mean," she said quickly, making him smile.

That was what he was expecting from her. She wouldn't be put into a safe corner, she cared about the lives of the inhabitants of the book worlds too much. And, maybe, she cared about him too, she wouldn't let him take more risks than she did. But this had to be done just like Albert had told him while he had helped him into his pilot uniform the other day. He hoped that Siena would understand.

"No, just for me. I'll need you to stay on the shore and pump the air for me." He smiled. "You'll hold my life in your hands."

"Oh." She breathed. "Really? Are they sending us in with a Victorian diving suit?"

"Anything else would look too anachronistic and suspicious, they believe," James said, grinning. He loved how the Society people reasoned; he admired their determination to disturb the book worlds as little as possible. And he was certain that she felt the same way.

Siena rolled her eyes. "Isn't it too dangerous? Have you ever dived, James?"

He adored the flicker of concern in her eyes as she said that. "Not in a Victorian diving suit, but yes, I can dive. I must explore the waters of my loch if I want to find Nessie."

"I'll believe in your Nessie when you'll introduce us." She giggled, laying down on the sofa, placing her head in his lap most naturally.

Her breath hitched, and blush flooded her cheeks when she realised what she had just done. Things weren't like this between them; they were only colleagues and friends. And where did this level of intimacy come from, anyway? She had never been this close with any man, apart from Alessandro, who had a boyfriend of ten years. Would it be too awkward, would she offend James if she removed herself to the distant corner of the sofa now, or better yet, to the armchair across the coffee table? Siena despaired.

It definitely would, she convinced herself, seeing that one of his hands came to rest upon her head, his fingers tangling into her hair even as she was thinking about how to escape without hurting his feelings. And it felt good... even though it shouldn't.

"Shall I read the tale to you?" James proposed, and she absolutely loved the hitch in his breathing, the emotions she was afraid to name making his voice tremble.

Why did he seem so perfect, why did he always know how to behave around her? It wasn't fair... The other men she had met before him, those who had formed her experience, only got emotional about the physical, the most fleeting, most superficial aspect of love. But she believed that love could run deeper than that, all the books she had read said so, and she had resolved, long ago, that she would not give up searching for a man who thought like she did. Did she find him finally in James? It was too early to say...

"Yes, please," she replied, relaxing at last, hushing her mind as she adjusted her head on his thigh while he pulled the blanket higher over her shoulder. His content, inviting closeness and the will to please and listen to her were charming and intoxicating. She hoped that he really felt the way he made her believe he did.

James' heart soared as he ran his fingers through her blonde strands, feeling her relax rather than bolt under his touch. She was wonderful. Unpredictable. So different from the women he had met before... And right now she was very tired, she needed to sleep. But there was one thing he had to make sure about before she fell asleep; there might be no time to talk tomorrow morning. Knowing Christopher, he would despatch Jake to fetch them before the appointed time.

"For the next quest, shall we do as we said before? Try to steal the anti-serum from the Sea Witch's cave and then move forward in the plot to the wedding night on the ship?"

"Yes, I suppose that's the best we can do," Siena said, barely suppressing a yawn. "But it will be better to check if there is a smaller copy of this book upstairs in the library, no Victorian handbag Alicia can produce will be large enough to hide this one."

"Of course. We can do that in the morning, Jake will be here around eleven."

Siena simply nodded to that, so James started reading, "Far out in the ocean, where the water is as blue as the prettiest cornflower, and as clear as crystal, it is very, very deep; so deep indeed, that..."

He had the perfect reading voice, Siena mused as she fell asleep, even before he reached the part where the Mermaid visited the Sea Witch.

Confusion clouded her mind the following morning when she woke up in her own bed, dressed as she had been the previous afternoon; she remembered clearly having fallen asleep next to James on the sofa... Had he carried her to bed without waking her up?