Work Text:
Mal stepped through the line along with all of the other boys from his dormitory. He loaded up a single piece of toast onto both of the plates that were balanced precariously on his hand. He then stole an extra sausage and slipped it under the bread of the second one without a single person noticing. He ducked his head and hurried towards the other side of the table so that he could get a spoonful of eggs when he noticed one of the meaner boys heading towards him with a scowl.
Once both of the plates were full, he made his way towards the door. If he hadn’t already almost gotten caught by one of their bullies, he would have tried to bring out two cups of tea as well. The last time that he had tried that, he had spilled the near scalding liquid all the way down the front of his shirt and had spent an agonizing hour trying to wring it out before anyone noticed.
The door opened when he pried it open with the side of his foot and then closed, joining with the clatter of silverware and voices as the other children ate their breakfast. Mal was overwhelmed with the sounds and feelings of the outside, of finally being away from the stifling indoors that he spent most of his time in. He could hear the swaying of the grass in the breeze, the echoing of critters in the woods that surrounding the estate, and most of all he could feel the breath of life that came with the wilderness.
He walked carefully down the little stone path to the opening that led into the surrounding meadows and fields. The place that he was going to was just west of a cluster of aspen trees, before the creak and the willows with their long dancing branches. He saw Alina sitting with her back up against one of the massive trees, her head tilted up towards the massive sky that roofed them.
Mal felt like his breath had been stolen from his lungs when he got a good look at her. She was wearing the plain peasant dress that all of the girls wore, a white undertunic and a red overdress that she basically swam in. Her long black hair was loose down her back and cascading over her shoulders so that it tickled the tips of her hands where they were resting in her lap. For a brief moment, he thought that he saw a flash in her rich brown eyes so that they were burning white and her hair perfectly matched them in color and vibrancy, but he couldn’t imagine her face with any wrinkles.
He shook himself from his thoughts and then finished the last of the journey over to her. “Hey,” he greeted as he sat down next to her. He placed one of the plates onto his lap and then handed her the one that had a little bit of extra food.
“Thank you,” she gasped when she saw what he had done for her. She always acted like she was surprised when he brought her food or made sure that she had slept the night before, he didn’t quite understand it but was eager to accept it nonetheless.
They began to munch on their breakfasts as they watched the shifting and changing of the sky. It was edging towards winter, the air around them almost too cold for them to exist in but no snow had fallen yet. That meant that the sun rose after them and they were able to eat while they watched instead of returning back to the house so they could get their morning meal. A handful of toddlers had arrived at Keramzin the other day and Ana Kuya had her hands full with them. Mal and Alina were only ten, just barely too young to help with the rearing of the children but old enough that they were expected to do as they were told. They weren’t friends with any of the other orphans so they were allowed to wander about as they pleased.
“Why do you like the sunrise so much?” Mal asked as he set his cleaned plate off to the side. Alina had only eaten about half a piece of toast and the extra sausage patty that he had stolen for her. He wished that there was a way for him to find a solution to whatever plagued her so that he could cure all her ailments. For now, all he could do was sit with her.
“Just look at it,” Alina shrugged. She pointed up towards the horizon, which was striped with golds and pinks in a beautiful array. The searing bright yellow of the sun itself was only barely beginning to spike over the high treetops of the forest around them.
“Because it’s pretty?” Mal asked. He wanted to know everything that he could about Alina. He wanted to hold her secrets in his hands, meld their hearts into one. She had always been by his side and though he could still vaguely remember a time when she wasn’t, he never wanted to live like that again. Something, the same thing that let him procure animal markings out of the world that were invisible to others, told him that they would be together for a while longer at least.
“Just look,” she giggled. She didn’t let go of his hand, instead threading their fingers together before she snuck the rest of her toast onto his plate. He didn’t say anything about it, just stared at the sky while he chewed on the burned bread. He’d understand it eventually, he would do anything for her. He knew that he looked at Alina like she was the sunrise without being told that he did. He let himself look at her, worship the ways that the hues of the coming morning bounced off of her, because he knew that her attention was always tilted heavenward.