“There’s really nothing money can’t do. The audacity of those traitors.”
Sweat trickled, burned, and slid down the moist slope of the auburn haired man’s face. The scent of ambition, or the fire racking his veins. Hans only had one lone wish, and that certain wish was the only thing left to symbolize what was left of his vulnerability.
In the eyes of his father, or the twelve older brothers he had, he was just the underdog sitting around with false hopes to obtain even some of their pride, or recognition.
Hans wished, Hans begged, Hans tried and Hans failed.
Or will he? Or at least, can he allow himself to?
•••
This time, it was her face the sunlight kissed; and it revealed every little dot he connected with a lazy fingertip.
Every thread of her light hair almost looked golden as the heavy rays of the sun passed by every messy strand and her mumbling pink lips—her exact words couldn’t be identified, definitely an incoherent sweet nothing—but Aiden was at loss for his words as well. She was indescribably; was beautiful.
“Good morning there, pretty eyes,” a voice huskily greeted.
He averted his eyes as quickly as he could, pink painting his cheeks, though there was a noticeable command in those bleary blue orbs that his gaze shouldn’t stay far away and he was welcome to stare as much as he liked, at least her face. He smiled.
The first thing she noticed with his morning appearance was his dark locks of his own hair which were seemingly hanging like soft fringes, and one almost reached an emerald eye.
Elsa could trace her finger over his finely chiseled jaw, yet she resisted, since the burning tint in the apples of her cheeks were already proving her anticipation.
They have grown more affectionate and... Closer, with each other. Though intermittently they could still be very flustered.
But right now, the message was clear to both of them that they have to get rid of the irrelevant awkwardness. There were more mysteries to trace in each other, but they were both happy to take part in each curious question.
His smile was gentle, pressed against her skin, and she could feel it. “Do you want to get up?”
Her reply was a low hum of approval, her head tilting the slightest bit of a weak nod. A grin broke into her face. “Pull me up,” she invited, not actually too sluggish, she was just dying to feel his arms rising her to a nice angle to his chest.
And so he did, his other hand wrapping around hers and his other arm lifting her back, and way past the cotton of the thin shirt she wore she could feel his muscles teasing her spine.
She crashed sluggishly down on his body, black engulfing her vision in dizzy blinks. Warmth met her forehead, his kiss, and everything felt really nice now...
Buzz—Aiden sighed and picked his phone up from the nightstand, yet Elsa remained in his arms, very much contented staying there to her satisfaction.
She felt too guilty to look up to the screen Aiden typed on, whilst still holding her body in place on his, yet she trusted him more than enough so she curiously looked at the contact indicated above. Goodness, it was just his mother... What was the matter with her... She shook her head, and closed her eyes once more and curled up.
“I’ll get right back to you,” He spoke with a yawn, letting her roll to the other side of the bed.
He made his way to the folder he kept in the dresser, and my it was freezing in here—it was the guide designs the tailors had to follow in order to finish the given attire for the runway. Just simply looking at it made him queasy.
A pair of arms linked around his, and he looked at her in turn, shooting her a small sleepy smile and returning the crisp papers back in a drawer.
“Those are finished, aren’t they?”
“Mmh,” he nods.
“Any plans for today?”
“I don’t know. What about you?” he shyly questioned, and he had lots of things in mind, but he just wanted to hear her warm, velvety voice speaking out for him.
“There are so many things we can do,” She replies, “But I don’t feel like going out, but I also feel like we have to. I’m a messy person,” she wraps her arms around his neck, kissing the tiny mole she found in the spot tentatively, “I hope you can cope with that.”
“I can,” He picked up her wrist, pecking the milky softness of her hand, “I’m a very messy person too. After all, the world can adjust to our chaos.”
Elsa giggled, covering her face in embarrassment before moving away to recover from her unexpected chagrin, “Really? You had to mention a Clockmaster reference?” she guffawed in disbelief, flopping down on the edge of the mattress in a heap of laughter, “But you found your timing quite well. I am very, very impressed, pretty eyes.”
Aiden stood there, barking out a hearty laugh of his own—embarrassed, blushing, happy, in love, hands stuffed in the pockets of his sweatpants. His euphoria exposed the crinkles of his brilliant eyes, and they were just staring at her, only her. Admiring how wonderfully her smile reached her eyes too.
“We should really, uh,” Elsa cleared her throat all the while suppressing another resurfacing hysteric, “Do something, I guess,” she nervously spoke.
Aiden nodded affirmatively and moved closer so he could fix the tousled state of her hair to a much more presentable condition. Staying in place, she couldn’t move, she was waiting for what was he about to do herself; and she felt like an ant next to his six feet stature.
“I’ll take care of any food we want once we go around outside. No buts,” he gently combed back her hair with his tender fingers.
Elsa gave in eventually. “Breakfast is among our liberties alongside our booking, though. The chefs here serve international cuisine, so you can literally get anything you want in here.”
“Noted,” Aiden smiles, “So what should I get for signora Arendelle?”
“First of all, you dork, you need to work on your accent,” Elsa chuckled, “And, hm. Surprise me.”
“You’re not allergic to anything, right?” Aiden asked carefully.
The blonde shook her head in confirmation, “No, don’t worry. I’ll just go and get ready?” She motioned over to the lavish bathroom accommodated with towels and hygiene necessities. Kissing her cheek, he whispered to take care of everything before leaving her to her privacy.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
He was naturally a silent soul; but could also be the most outgoing one when the thrill of adventure spurs him on to keep on walking—something she learned as they explored every interesting corner they found in the sunny capital.
They’ve just left the hotel’s premises almost an hour ago, her laughter like the sunshine radiating from the sun behind him, since she found him adorable sinking his face behind the brown coat. It didn’t take long for him to smirk and cage her hand in his, cooing teasingly to stay with him or she’ll end up lost.
Elsa was clueless when he made them stop next to another colorful establishment, this time red. They’ve been prancing around the past few minutes and she could’ve sworn she saw a yellow building next to a smaller green one. Aiden wasted no time spreading the brochure open, optional tourist spots coming into her view.
“Close your eyes,” Aiden instructed.
Reluctantly, she did, shutting them tight. His skin brushed next to hers, and her clenched fist reopened after she felt him lead her index finger. “Move it around, and stop whenever you want to.”
Elsa nodded in affirmation, getting his motive. She did as she was told, the soft skin of her finger gliding around the smooth paper. She finally puts an end to her actions and flutters her eyes open, looking down to see what her hand has decided for their touring fate.
Lake Garda; Italy’s largest lake, the picturesque clear waters from afar accompanied by a foreground of pink flowers. “Nice,” Aiden grinned, all the while adjusting his camera lens he brought along with his satchel, “I wonder how long will it take to go from here?”
“Two hours with a taxi, no options with a bus,” Elsa frowned from where her nose was dipped in the travel brochure, “Let’s just get a private shuttle. I didn’t know it was that far.” “I suppose you are right, and that’s a safer choice so we won’t get lost. I kind of saved the front desk’s number, so we won’t have to go all the way back.”
•••
Sandwich Addict would like to FaceTime with you—tap—“Anna?”
The younger woman smiled ecstatically from the screen, “EL! Um... Bonjourno?”
“Hello there to you too,” Elsa laughed, giggling softly, not actually knowing the sweet sound made the heart of the person beside her skip a beat, “It’s one in the morning there, right? Why are you up so late?”
“Okay, okay, I’m sorry if I interrupted something, but I was just wondering...” Anna smirked, seeing the chin on top of her sister’s head, “... how are both of you doing?”
The older girl rolled her eyes, “We’re doing fine. Is Claire asl–”
“MAMA!”
“Oh my, Claire sweetie! What are you doing up?” Elsa shot her younger sister a stern glance, but she was smiling at the four year old climbing hurriedly to her aunt’s lap in desperation, “How are you baby?”
“Mama not happy to see me?” Claire sadly frowned.
“Oh, no love, I was just scolding your Auntie Anna,” Elsa shook her head, “Mama is very happy to see you. Are you doing okay?”
“I miss you very much.”
“I miss you too,” Elsa cooed, “But there’s only thirteen days more until I see you again. I’ll be back with presents, does that make you feel better love?”
Claire was still frowning. “No presents. I want mama.”
At the same time, Elsa’s heart viciously melted and broke. Claire was a very attached child to her mother, and that attachment has always been so strong since she has never had a father figure around to cling onto as well. Way past the screen’s boundaries, Elsa could see the moisture ready to prickle the little girl’s eyes.
“Don’t be like that now, sweetie, mama’s becoming sad now as well. But hey,” Elsa’s eyes twinkled, “Do you want to see Aiden?”
Claire seemed to glow.
“Hey princess,” Aiden waved, letting his girlfriend sink into his embrace as the camera wandered to him instead, “What’s with the face? Let’s get a pretty smile in there, no?”
“You and mama are not around.”
“We’ll be around soon,” Aiden comforted, “You can come along with Aunt Anna to pick us up, you’ll see us right away. Would you like that?”
“Yeah!”
“Now there’s the real Claire,” Aiden teased, “Hold on to that smile and I promise I’ll join you and Mister Carrots for a tea party once we’re home?”
“Three... No, five!”
“Deal!”
“Okay!” Claire enthusiastically chirped.
“Alright, I’m now going to hand the phone back to your mama now, little one,” Aiden smiled, “Hey, snowflake?”
“You shouldn’t stay up so late, Claire-bear. We’ll be home soon. Bye bye!”
“Bye bye!” Claire happily waved—
Elsa sighed softly.
The area around Lake Garda seemed less vibrant. Placid ripples of the clear water rode over to to kiss the stoney shores, no foul odor filling the couple’s nostrils unlike the other urbanized bodies of water back in the capital.
The briny breeze wafted around to sweep their coats, or their hair, or the pink flowers Elsa saw in the brochure.
A great number of other foreigners were scattered around equally taking pictures every opportunity or good angle they got, so aside from the squawking of the gulls, the air was filled with distinct sounds, a mixture of different languages.
The sight surrounding them lit up a formerly dull spark in the blonde gently rummaging through her pockets.
“Aiden,” she murmured, pulling his arm, and he turned to her right away, his eyes completely locked on hers in alarm until he heard a timely click.
Elsa smiled.
“I look bad in photos,” He complained as he backed away, flustered, surveying his awkward figure in the photo quietly beside her.
“No, you don’t,” she pressed her lips to his cheek, “If I may be so forward with you...” she whispered, “Have you ever seen your own smile?”
Or the dimples by your lips? Or the kissable tip of your nose? Or the crinkles by your eyes?
“Silly, of course I have. I just prefer feeling it, than seeing it, you know?”
His arms wrapped around her slowly, and his lips were only inches apart from hers. She could feel his breath thick against hers—a mixture of mint and expensive whiskey, the one she saw him take a shot of back at the luxury shuttle.
“I feel it often, especially when you’re around,” he moved away, leaving a longing itch on the blonde’s cool, breathless lips.
He was teasing her.
Blinking, Elsa gathered herself from her dumbfounded state, her face recovering from the hot flush the designer caused. Her fingers wandered to her lips blankly, while her companion devoted all of his attention taking a good picture of the scenery with his camera.
A grin broke into her face.
Aiden was... Growing out of his shell.
Elsa smiled from a short distance.
There’s so many things I love about you already, Mister Laurant. And I can’t wait to find out more.
To be continued
on the next chapter...