Cursed with immortality, Mars goes on a journey with his lifelong more-than-friends partner Astral, a painfully average future-seeing mage, to find the root of magic, in an effort to ease the side effects of Astral's visions - and to finish their th...
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Zeke and I got ready together. She said she had a surprise for me, and I was so stoked when it turned out to be make-up. I had always wanted to try but never had any access. She had blue paint that went on my eyelids in a fine line, ending in a wing by the corner of my eye, making my eyes look bigger. And more blue.
I wore the scarf, the new shirt and the velvet jacket as well, and in my head, I thought I looked like some sort of ice royal. I quite liked it. Blue was my colour, for sure.
Astral and Keefe were already down on the street, waiting for us under beautiful lanterns, hanging in criss-crossing designs between the houses.
Astral turned, the smile he had had on his face before, sliding off. His eyes widened and it looked as if he had seen a ghost. He took a step forward and stopped. I felt self-conscious. What if he hated it? I had never looked like this before.
Then he took another one and grabbed my shirt, pulling me to him.
"Do you hate it?" I asked with a shivering voice.
"Are you kidding?" he asked before he kissed me, his free hand landing on the back of my neck. He let go of my shirt and put his hand on the small of my back, pressing me to him. "You look beautiful."
My face got entirely too hot, and I didn't know what to say. Astral himself looked stunningly beautiful in his dress shirt and with the top part of his hair pulled back. The rest of his curls hung freely, framing his neck. I loved it when he did something with his hair. All of it looked good. He just looked good in general.
"Come, love," he said softly. "Let's go to the festival."
He took my hand in his, fitting his fingers in between mine.
It was happening in the middle of the town, a big lawn stretching over the square with bushes neatly cut in artistic shapes. Lanterns lit up the entire square, casting us in a golden glow. There were brilliant light balls hanging freely in the air, making it obvious, mages had helped with the decorations too.
Astral pulled me towards the food stalls, knowing I'd be starving by now. Luckily, the music from the band on the stage overshadowed the sound of my growling stomach.
We stopped by something that smelt divine and deep-fried. The woman in the stall smiled at us, taking our order, and handing us delicious meat baked with batter and beer and fried to a crisp. Keefe and Zeke opted for a meal including chicken and long golden pasta strands, then we could share and taste each other's meals.
Tables with benches were put up besides the booths, making an outdoor food court, where you could sit and enjoy your food. The whole market had the most pleasant atmosphere. The food was great too. Both of the dishes. We washed it all down with delicious plum wine.
Zeke decided she wanted to go dancing in front of the stage where several others had taken up the open space between the band and the tables. We watched her as she found a girl to dance with until a slower song came on.
