soft-bloomed (pt. 2)

In the moments between getting used to the new life and working, Idis takes his hand and shows him the garden, and it feels almost like a love confession, and it’s in the garden when they start teaching Winnow about the different herbs and plants, and it’s in the garden when they have little picnics together for lunch, and it’s in the garden where Winnow tells Idis about his family and how he was framed for a murder he didn’t comit, and how he misses his sister, and other secrets he has never told anyone before. And it is in the garden where they stay out all night under the dancing fairy lights when Asca is gone on a mission Winnow was not allowed to, when it becomes less talking and more pouring out feelings into each other like cups, and he feels like he is a bud that’s meeting the sun for the first time, and being pried open by the loveliness. 

They start with sharing worries, and it turns into sharing joys, and soon they are giggling, and then they are laughing so hard that they fall into each other from their half-upright positions, and then Winnow is pinned within Idis’ arms and framed by their hair strands that tickle his cheeks, and they are so beautiful, haloed by tiny lights and breathtaking, always breathtaking. It only comes naturally for Winnow to wind his arms around their waist and pull them closer, to tuck away the hair strand and ask if he can kiss them — to share the first kiss of his life with them. And Idis has the tiniest of smiles before nodding but still not leaning in, curious and waiting, so Winnow closes all of what’s left of their distance and kisses them softly. His bud opens fully, blossoms like it’s been waiting for spring all its life. Each kiss is soft as a petal falling, every point of contact tingles warmly, and he feels so moon-blessed to be in love. Amidst kisses and quiet laughs, they whisper questions and timid thoughts about their growing relationship, and what love can look like, and their hopes about the upcoming summer, naming each other anew.  

Idis and Winnow share a soft kind of love, a giggling, a dimpling, a genteling. Idis calms Winnow down like no one else, and in return Winnow makes them laugh and swoosh their tail in excitement. They read books to him, and he reads book to them, they write love letters to each other even though they live in the same house, and he brings them teas and trinkets from the city, and braids their strands of hair to show he loves them, and they love him enough to let him.

When one day Asca comes back from their mission with nothing but a wave of exhaustion radiating from them for a mile, they cuddle him up on each side, and that night breaks a new tradition of falling asleep all together like a wave. Dizzily, Asca mumbles something about them probably needing a bigger bed now, so that they all can fit, only for the three of them to actually do within the next week (Winnow is equal parts bashful and delighted, to learn the basics of woodworking only to sleep together comfortably). Although they have been technically living together all this time, Winnow moves in even more with them, and their lives are entangled, and their love for each other is big.