Chapter 13

Ariel made an omelette for Jade and then remembered she hadn't checked for him. "Jade?" Ariel called out as she entered her room and looked up the stairs to the study room. "Are you there?" She took a few steps up and peeked into the room. Guess he's not here. I shouldn't be surprised, since Conner showed up.

"I really shouldn't have cooked this yet; definitely going to be cold by the time he gets to it." Ariel set the plate down on her desk along with a guy's sweater she told Conner was for her and spotted the runes he had left there. Better not touch those. She poked at one, sliding her finger along the engraved symbol. It's probably not dangerous if he left them sitting here. I wonder how these work. Probably need a spell. She held the grey stone up in the air and wiggled it around, looking at the green sparkle in the engraving.

Wonder if I can find anything on these.

Ariel turned on her desktop computer. "Now, what did he call these?" Ariel searched on the internet for a while until she came across something that matched. "Runes? They're Norse?" She matched the symbols with the runes he left behind. How does this even work? Are they words or letters or magic stones? Maybe all of the above. Is this the language he used?

"He said puella, I think." Oh, that's not Norse. It's Latin? This is so confusing. Then again, he's not from Earth, so maybe this is all the same language in his world somehow. I can't really figure it out without him.

Despite Jade not being around, Ariel couldn't help herself and dove into the abyss of information on the internet, hoping to find something helpful in the twenty tabs she had opened.

Her head dipped, so she shook out her hands and head to try to wake herself.

Must keep searching...

Swish.

"Ha, he, hua."

Ariel awoke to the sound of someone in the backyard. When did I fall asleep? Wait! She sprung up out of Jade's bed from under his blanket. How did I end up in there? Wasn't I...?

The computer sat on with several websites still open from her research.

There's no way I got tired, wandered over to his bed, and climbed in, right? Oh! "Wait, where's the plate? Did he eat it? Better him than in my sleep."

"Ha, he." Swish.

Following the noise, she leaned over to look out the back window. Down below, in her backyard, Jade was swinging a broadsword around.

Where'd he get a sword? Ariel made her way downstairs and opened the door to the backyard.

Sweat dripped down Jade's forehead and bare, toned chest as he continued to practice.

Ariel leaned against the doorway as she watched, unable to tear her eyes away from him. His form. His elegant swings. The serious look on his face. Everything about him entranced her.

Jade took a deep breath, his shoulders heaving as he wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand and stabbed the sword into the ground. "Finally awake?" Jade turned to her.

"Hmm?" She jolted, standing straight as their eyes locked.

"You were asleep at the desk when I found you." He walked towards her.

"Oh, so you moved me? Sorry about that." She swallowed hard and averted her gaze as her cheeks burned. Seriously, where's his shirt? "I-I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"It wasn't a problem. You must've been tired if you fell asleep in such an awkward position." Jade grabbed a towel he brought from the bathroom and had set aside, and wiped off some of the sweat before downing a bottle of water. "Are you okay? Your face is red... and so are your ears."

"Umm, yeah, I'm fine. It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" He stepped towards her, and she stepped back into the house.

"Yup, I'm sure." Please, put your shirt on, and maybe I'll be able to look at you again. Who am I kidding? His image is burned into my mind. "I'm just gonna..." She haphazardly pointed over her shoulder. "Do something." She turned away, and he grabbed her wrist.

"I may not have the best people skills, but I can tell when someone is trying to run away as they give a vague excuse. Did I do something wrong? Was I being too loud? I find it hard to ignore my training, so I bought this sword at a store in the mall, and figured it would be okay to train here. I won't destroy anything, and there's some semblance of privacy here. Although, I guess the next-door neighbours can look over the fence if they wanted to through their windows."

"Uh, it's not that. We never use the space, and the neighbours can mind their own business, since you're not hurting anyone, so it's fine."

"Is this about the food? It tasted good, whatever it was. It's too bad I wasn't home early enough to have it warm. Unless that wasn't for me?"

"I made it for you."

"Then did you find something in your research on runes? I know I left them on the desk. I was hoping could find more or figure out a way to use what I had to get home."

"Put a shirt on, please," Ariel blurted out and clamped her free hand over her mouth. I can't believe I said that out loud! Kill me now.

"What? Oh! I'm sorry. I was feeling hot, and I often trained like this back home. I didn't think about how you'd feel finding me half-naked in your backyard." He kept his hold on her wrist. "The way this world is and with what he TV shows, I didn't think it'd bother you."

"Uh, well, that's on TV, not in person, and it's..." You're not some random person. Ariel bit her lip.

Jade leaned in close. "I can't help but wonder if it's because it's me," he whispered into her ear, and she squealed from the vibration and warmth.

"Don't tease me!" She pushed him away and ran upstairs.

Jade chuckled as he watched her flee. "Maybe Orsted had a point, but there is a time and a place for flirting." Jade froze while wiping his face with the towel again. "Should I be doing this? What if I have to leave? Ha... The one time I'd want to talk to you about this stuff, and we're not even on the same planet. What should I do?"

Jade could practically hear Orsted saying, 'If you like her, go for it. Figure out the rest later'.

He sighed and grabbed his shirt from off to the side. "What am I doing?"