A Room With A View

[Olivia Skye]

“Just luck, I guess,” he shrugged. “I’m assuming you have some pretty unique skills of your own?”
Well, there was subtlety itself.
Olivia laughed, ducking her head. “Well, they’re not exactly unique, but yes, I do have those skills. What gave it away?”
Yes, she knew that it wasn’t a safe idea to conjure up things in the middle of the street. It was one of the first things you were informed of on your first day at Orchid Hill. But, in the case of healing, Olivia preferred to believe that she had an excuse. If someone was hurt, she wouldn’t stay back and do nothing in the interests of secrecy.
Besides, it had worked out. Reuben was clearly “skilled” too, so Olivia knew that there would be no cause for her to keep that covert.

[Olivia Skye]

“Well, it isn’t that difficult to disprove things when you’re skilled,” she said, delicately. “As long as you can use the skills properly. You managed to disprove medicine by crashing at 90 miles an hour completely unscathed,” Olivia added, with a sly smile. “Aside from the concussion. And, I do seem to remember you telling me that you can break the sound barrier, when you were trying to convince me to run away with you.”
Well, he had changed the subject, and Olivia felt the need to do the same. While it may be okay for her to discuss her ‘skills’ with him, usually, the conversation led onto when you discovered them, and how did you learn to control them. In this area, you had to be careful who knew you were an Orchid Hill student, because in the village, there was a lot of hostility towards those involved in the war – and she could see why. They were ruining the town with this conflict, and Olivia knew that the newly emerging peace movement was going to attract members very quickly.
Still, that was really only just a passing errant thought. Right now she didn’t want to think of that – especially not when there was something so nice to focus on sitting right in front of her. He was paying her the utmost attention, still with an enchanting smile on his face.
It was impossible not to smile back, and, as she studied his smile, committing it to memory, she knew that she wouldn’t be thinking of things like that for the rest of the night.

[Olivia Skye]

Olivia’s eyes followed him as he rose and went to the warmer at the side of the room, watching again the grace of his movement, and wondering if it was just that that set him apart so much.
Reuben leaned across her and laid a dish of something that smelt completely delicious in front of her, but her attention was taken away from it by his proximity to her: he didn’t even need to touch her to give her the same goosebumps that had occurred the last time they had met.
There was a little voice in her mind that decided to remind her how ridiculous this was, but another, much louder voice that Olivia definitely preferred decided that it didn’t really care much about it being ridiculous.
“This smells amazing,” she said, when he’d sat down, and hoping that he hadn’t cooked this. No one could look and be so amazing and cook like that as well, it wasn’t fair.

[Olivia Skye]

It shouldn’t have been so easy. Each of her responses to Reuben’s words followed straight away without any pause for thought, their sentences at times overlapping and chasing after the each other like little streams of water. It was like they had known each other all their lives; their conversation met no awkward pauses and she enjoyed it so much that on many occasions she forgot to eat the food in front of her (which tasted as wonderful as it smelt). They talked about so many things, somethings, nothings, everythings.
Well, almost everything.
She hadn’t realised how fast the time had flown by until Reuben disturbed the conversation by standing up and going to the window. “Olivia, can you, can you see that?” The candles were low, and it was even darker outside than it had been before.
Olivia frowned gently, rising and following him over to the wall of glass. The view was absolutely spectacular; she’d never seen anything like it. All of Cardsdale and its surroundings were laid out in front of her, the lights of the village glowing like fireflies. It was a clear night, and the diamond stars were twinkling in the black velvet. It was beautiful.
But something told her that that wasn’t what Reuben was talking about.
“See what?” she asked sweetly.
... then, a single firework burst into a shower of stars in the sky.
God, she didn't know when the last time she had seen a firework display had been. And she loved fireworks, so much - but that wasn't the point, really. The point was that Reuben had arranged to hold their date, in this room with such a wonderful widow on the night of a firework display. He'd planned it so that they could watch the fireworks.
... and God knew that few people could think up romance like that.
The shooting flames contined to explode, in a rainbow of colours and sparkles, all over the velvet sky as Reuben and Olivia watched from the window of the candlelit room.
She turned her head slightly, waves tossing about her face, and caught Reuben's eye with a smile. "What I said earlier? I take it back. It did get better - it can't be better than this."

[Olivia Skye]

His soft, cold touch caused an intake of breath on her part, whether because of his temperature or just the fact that he was touching her, she didn’t know.
“Remember what I said earlier, for someone like you, Olivia, there is always better,” Reuben said tenderly, in a tone as soft as feathers.
She didn’t think it was possible for someone to speak as softly as that. Then again, Reuben was disproving almost everything that she’d thought about before this night, this special night.
And for a moment, as those words sank in, her eyes met his charming brown ones again. They were so sincere as he said that, so sincere that the thought didn't even occur to her that that may have been just a line. Because, even the short time spent here with him had told her that he was far too genuine to use lines for the sake of it. He meant it.
God, he really meant that.
Then, he leaned forward and kissed her. Olivia had to admit it, for the first split nanosecond when his cold lips touched hers, the icy temperature of them shocked her, almost steeling her to pull away from him.
But, in spite of the chill, the kiss was soft and sweet, and undeniably warm. So soft, so sweet, so warm, and because it was Reuben, her other instincts drowned out that split second, and after another moment, shyly returned the kiss, because.
Because.
And outside of the window, one last, lone, brilliant white firework shot up into the sky.