Chronicles of Eden - Act III (8 page)

“You’d better not, or else you forfeit your own turns with him.”

She looked back to her sleeping arrangements then quickly rushed over to the front of the cabin, peeking outside to seeing Daniel gazing up at the stars near Lucky.

“And you’d better remember that you can’t touch Daniel unless he touches you first,” Triska reminded with a narrowed glance at the nixie. Specca giggled and held a hand to her cheek.

“But if he does you can’t stop us from doing anything.”

Triska dropped her pillow down and looked to Specca with a raised eyebrow.

“What makes you think he will do something with you?”

“I can hope,” Specca said softly. The other girls watched her curiously as she stared at Daniel with a small smile on her face. “I can hope, hope that he’ll warm up to me more. All I can do, all any of us can do, is hope.”

The other girls glanced to each other from that remark then back to Specca as she watched Daniel with loving eyes. The nixie then jumped with a squeak and quickly scurried back towards the curtain, the other girls watching as she fidgeted her hands together in front of her before seeing Daniel climbing up onto the ride.

“Okay, Lucky’s sound asleep,” he said as he entered the ride. “How are we all doing in here?”

He stopped and looked around to seeing Triska, Alyssa, and Squeak watching him with small smiles while Specca was facing away still towards the black curtain.

“We’re all set for the night too,” Triska said with a shrug.

Daniel nodded slowly as the three girls just continued to stare at him then looked to seeing Specca still facing away from him.

“Specca? Are you alright?”

Specca nodded and glanced back to him with a timid expression, her tail swaying gently behind her as she tried to control her breathing.

“Yes, just… a little nervous.”

Daniel looked around at all the girls as Specca slowly turned to face him.

“Um, are you all sure this is how you want to settle this? You’re… all okay with this?”

“Y-Yes, I’m sure,” Specca quickly insisted. “I don’t mind that the others get their nights with you, just… as long as I get mine. I want us to have a chance with being together.”

Triska and Alyssa glanced to each other then back to Daniel.

“Unless you want to make your choice right now, then this is how it has to be,” Triska reasoned.

“Yeah, this is the only fair way of letting you spend quality time with each of us,” Alyssa added with a weak smile. Squeak nodded with a few squeaks while still curled up in her ball. Daniel looked around at them then to Specca, the nixie jumping a bit then glancing to the curtain.

“Do you… still want to sleep… with me, Daniel?”

Daniel glanced around at all the girls then smiled a bit at the nixie.

“Well, if you’re all okay with doing this, then I’ll give it a try as well.”

Specca nodded quickly with an eager smile while the other girls looked to each other, all of them trying to hold back their frowns. Daniel started making his way back towards Specca, with the nixie then pulling the curtain aside and moving back into the private area. As the boy got to the curtain Triska looked to him with a small smile.

“Daniel?” He stopped and looked back to seeing her lying down on her pillow with a gentle smile. “I love you, sleep well.”

Daniel looked at her with wonder then to Alyssa as the witch lay back on her pillow as well.

“I love you too, Daniel. Sweet dreams,” she said with a wink.

Daniel smiled and glanced to Squeak, the ant girl squeaking at him a few times with a timid smile. The boy looked around at the three girls, seeming to hesitate as he opened his mouth to say something.

“I know you can’t say it back, it’s okay,” Triska assured. “I just wanted to tell you. After all I’ve waited to say those words to you for so long.”

“I’ll be dreaming of you all night, just like I always do,” Alyssa said with a cute smile as she curled up in her blanket.

Squeak merely squeaked something as she peeked out from under her blanket, with one of her antennae poking out from under it as well.

Daniel smiled at the girls then looked down as he tried to think of what to say, with Specca waiting on the other side of the curtain and listening for his response carefully. After a moment Daniel nodded and looked around at the girls.

“Sleep well, all of you,” he said gently, then went behind the curtain. The other girls breathed out quietly then looked to each other with concern, none of them looking forward to playing the waiting game through Specca’s turn.

Behind the curtain Specca was smiling bashfully at Daniel, her tail swaying gently behind her as she held her hands together in front of her. Daniel smiled at the girl while rubbing the back of his neck, glancing down to their sleeping area then to her again while feeling his heart beating faster at the thought of her being so close to him during the night.

“So… should we… get ready to sleep?” Specca asked timidly.

Daniel looked to their sleeping blanket for a moment then shook his head at the nixie.

“Well, I’m not too tired yet, are you?” The girl looked at him curiously then slowly shook her head.

“Well, not quite. No.”

“Good,” Daniel said with a wink. “Then, there was something I thought we could do together that you might enjoy. Something that would let us get a lot closer with each other.”

Specca’s eyes went wide as she stared at Daniel with surprise, a faint gasp escaping her mouth as she questioned what she just heard him say and whether she merely imagined it. From the other side of the curtain a thump was heard followed by two more.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Triska whispered with disbelief.

Daniel chuckled and pulled the curtain back to see Triska, Alyssa, and Squeak lying on the floor while looking up at him with stunned expressions.

“First off, we can hear you,” Daniel said playfully. “I thought the rules were you couldn’t disturb us.” Triska stammered something while looking at him with disbelief before the boy shook his head with an amused smile at them.

“And also, were you all eavesdropping on us just now? I thought we were entitled to our privacy.”

The other girls opened their mouths to speak then just froze, with Specca looking to them questionably.

“What were you girls doing?” Specca inquired.

“Well…” Triska said nervously.

“We… just…” Alyssa stuttered with a weak smile.

Squeak smiled nervously and shrugged in response.

“You all wanted to do this, didn’t you?” Daniel reminded. “Well, then that means you have to give us our privacy tonight, right?”

The three girls nodded slowly while Specca crossed her arms with a raised eyebrow at them. Daniel nodded and looked to Triska with a calm smile.

“Goodnight, Triska,” he said expectantly. The girl slowly sat up and looked at him with worried eyes. The boy glanced to Alyssa and raised an eyebrow in question.

“Goodnight, Alyssa,” he said knowingly, with Alyssa glancing to Specca then back to him with concern. Daniel smiled and looked to Squeak as the three girls sat up on their knees.

“Goodnight, Squeak,” he said kindly. The ant girl squeaked a few times then looked to Triska and Alyssa, both girls watching Daniel with worried eyes.

“Daniel… I…” Triska said softly. Daniel reached over and unhooked the lantern from the roof, then smiled calmly at Triska.

“Goodnight,” he said before pulling back into his part of the cabin, the curtain dropping to show an orange glow on the other side from the lantern. Triska, Alyssa, and Squeak sat there in silence as their side of the cabin became dark, the three girls then slowly returning to their sleeping spots while wondering what Daniel was going to do with Specca.

Daniel hooked the lantern up next to the window in the back of the cabin then looked to Specca with a curious smile, the nixie watching him with a timid expression now.

“Um… what did you have in mind for us?” she asked, her mind racing of many possible things the boy might do with, or to, her.

Daniel chuckled then sat down on the sleeping blanket against the wall and motioned for Specca to come closer. The girl smiled bashfully and slowly came closer to him, getting down on her hands and knees to crawl over before sitting next to him, her tail sliding back along the wall behind Daniel as the boy watched her with an intrigued smile.

“Well, this is like a first date for us, in a way,” Daniel pointed out, with Specca nodding with a blush. “So I thought, what would I want to do with Specca on our first date?”

“I don’t know, what would you want to do with me?” Specca asked, growing even more excited for whatever the boy had planned.

Daniel paused for a moment then reached to the side and pulled his backpack over to them, opening the flap and then presenting it to Specca.

“First, I want you to pick out your favorite book from what I have here.”

Specca looked at him with wonder then to the books in his bag.

“Um, okay,” she said as she reached into the bag. She glanced over the titles then lifted a book out with a curious smile, wondering where Daniel was going with this. Daniel set his bag back over on the side of the cabin and looked at the book the girl had chosen.

“Ah, The Temptress’ Key. That’s a rather good one.”

“I’ve read it quite a few times back in Ashwood, I love the romance and action scenes so much. So, what now?”

Daniel then gently slid one of his arms around behind her, the girl watching with surprise as he lifted her legs up with his other arm then brought her over to sit on his lap, the girl trembling a bit with a blush on her face as the boy held her upright against his shoulder while his other hand rested on her legs.

“Daniel?” she asked under her breath, her heart feeling like it was going to leap out of her chest from him holding her like this. Daniel smiled at the girl then glanced to the book she was holding.

“For our first date, Specca, I’d like to read your favorite story with you.”

“What?”

“I like to read and so do you,” Daniel reasoned. “So I thought, the ideal first date for the cute girl I found hiding in the library would be a good book to read with her.”

Specca jumped with a small squeak and blushed further.

“C-Cute? M-Me?”

“Yes, you. Is this okay for a first date for you?”

Specca glanced down to her lap then looked at Daniel with surprise as she realized something.

“Daniel… I’m not… wearing… any…” she said softly, remembering that she was sitting on Daniel’s lap bare bottomed. The boy glanced down to her skirt then to her with a shrug.

“I know, I don’t mind,” he assured her. “You are how you are Specca, there’s nothing wrong with that.”

“Daniel,” Specca said softly as her tail slowly slid around his waist and held onto him, the girl using her reptilian appendage to keep him close. He smiled at her then glanced to the book in her hands, not minding the unique way of her holding him at all.

“Is this an okay idea?”

Specca nodded slowly as he looked into her eyes, the girl feeling her heart beating faster for him than before.

“Yes, it’s… it’s perfect,” she said with a tear forming in her eye.

“Glad to hear it. I’ll try to keep up with you on each page,” he said with a wink. The girl smiled lovingly at the boy then looked to the book in her hands.

“As will I with you,” she said, knowing that she may have trouble focusing on the story by reading it like this. Daniel nodded then kissed her cheek, the girl jumping with a small gasp as she looked to him with wonder.

“We’ll read it together until you fall asleep, then I’ll tuck you in for the night. Sound like a date?”

She slowly held a hand to her cheek as she blushed brightly then nodded with a warm smile.

“Sounds perfect to me, Daniel,” she said softly before looking to the book. She opened it to the first page and held the book so they could both read it, the girl resting her head on his shoulder as she cherished being with him like this. He held the nixie on his lap as he enjoyed their private night together, still unsure if he loved Specca or cared for her deeply as a friend, but was positive he was glad he had her in his life.

After several chapters Daniel noticed Specca sleeping peacefully against his shoulder, the nixie having a small smile on her face while she was breathing softly. The boy slowly set the book down on the floor and watched as the nixie slept in his arms. Her tail had loosened slightly from around his waist; however it still remained around his hips, as if even in her sleep the girl refused to let him go. Daniel admired the girl’s overall beauty, with her peaceful nature and deep mind being her defining points in his book.

“She really is something, that much is for certain,” he said quietly to himself. Gently he lifted the girl up in his arms and moved over to lay her down on the sleeping mat, carefully laying her down before removing her glasses and setting them on the floor above her pillow. Daniel put out the flame in the lantern then lied down next to the sleeping nixie, pulling the blanket over them while her tail slid out slightly to the side. The girl rolled over to face him while nuzzling her cheek against her pillow, her gentle smile remaining on her face as a few strands of her hair dropped down near her nose.

“Sleep well, Specca,” Daniel said before leaning in and kissing her gently on the lips. He leaned back and pulled his boots off, setting them down on the floor near them before he laid down, resting his head on his pillow while breathing out in content.

“I love you,” Specca said softly, with Daniel looking over to see the girl’s eyes opened slightly as she smiled at him. Daniel smiled in return, with Specca scooting over and holding onto him as she rested her head on his shoulder again.

“Sleep well, Daniel,” she said quietly before falling asleep again, with Daniel closing his eyes as he felt the nixie resting on him.

*****

Specca sighed softly as she recalled how her night with Daniel went. Even more to her joy, she apparently slept through Daniel’s snoring completely. She didn’t even remember hearing him snoring once during the night, even though the other girls told her that they woke up to him snoring like he usually did. Of course, what did wake Specca up were the girls yelling out her name when they found her clinging to Daniel in the morning still, with her tail having once again wrapped around the boy’s waist. After everybody had calmed down, with Daniel regaining his senses after waking up to all the girls shouting and arguing that come the morning the girls’ ‘quality time’ with Daniel was over, everybody had carried on as usual for the day. The other girls, although jealous of Specca’s turn, didn’t treat her badly because of it, since after all they were expecting the same thing for themselves very soon. But for Specca, her ‘date’ with Daniel was on her mind all that day, something that she loved every moment of and was again counting the seconds until her next night with him.