Who Is He?

"Raymond, you can't just pull out your wings. People will see." Nala frantically drags Raymond into the house after she finds Raymond in a torn shirt when his wings come out forcefully in the middle of their yard. Nala sighs heavily, she doesn't see anyone around them.

Raymond's big wings were stuck behind him. Nala looked at Raymond with understanding and asked, "Why did you come out of the house and show me your wings? We talked about this, haven't we."

Raymond's eyes move away from Nala's sight. "Someone was looking at Nala's window constantly. So Ray came to see."

"And you pulled out your wings? Look, Raymond, you can't show it in public. People will be afraid and there will be a lot of trouble in the future."

Hearing Nala speaks Raymond slightly strained his head automatically ducking. He didn't respond to anything and closed his lips tightly. Nala sighs heavily and stares at Raymond as Raymond begins to open his lips for him to close again.

"The guy's probably just a neighbor," Nala said of Raymond's reasoning recently.

But Nala's eyes don't miss catching a little shake from Raymond. Nala's eyebrows are linked to the question. "So, who is that?"

Again Raymond shook a little.

"Look Nala, it's only been one week since he's been here and he's going to make a world of excitement about her intelligence." Cynical words are thrown from Daniel who suddenly comes into the living room approaching Nala and Raymond.

"Daniel!" Nala reprimands Daniel, glancing between her brother and Raymond.

Daniel rolled his eyes and he just walked away. Nala stares at Daniel's old back, her eyes dimming with memories breaking out.

"Star, tell him. I hate it so much. Very, hate more than I can do."

Nala remembers very well the words spoken from Daniel with strong hatred. How much do you hate Daniel with Raymond? But why?

Nala as if she had forgotten her anger at Raymond Nala leaving him and walking quickly to the room. Somehow in Nala's mind, she couldn't accept that anyone would hate Raymond, let alone that it came from Daniel. Even father and mother accepted, on the first day and Nala herself believed when she first saw Raymond her heart said Raymond was not a bad person.

Nala once again asks herself who Raymond is to Nala. She didn't even know how Raymond used to live his life until he was sent here. Don't know why it should be Nala, which is written on Raymond's chest. A half-human? A sign of ownership?

***

Nala thought so much that she didn't realize the sun had started to rise. She thought about how his days passed with Raymond without questioning what Raymond was doing.

Nala stepped away from the window stopping her daydreaming while standing staring out there. She grabs a cold door handle touching the surface of the skin and opens it to find Raymond sitting leaning behind Nala's door.

Raymond jerks and immediately stands up to Nala. His nose and eyes had been flushed with traces of tears on his cheeks. "Nala sorry. Sorry to make Nala angry, Ray promised not to repeat that." Raymond pleaded with a loud voice.

"What are you talking about?" asked Nala.

"Ray made Nala angry with the wing," he regrets.

Nala's eyebrows were raised. 'You don't have to keep crying. You were wrong, but I forgave him and again I'm not angry in the room."

Raymond wipes away the traces of tears with his front shirt and Nala only realizes he's still wearing a shirt with a wide torn back.

"Raymond?" calls Nala quietly.

Nala's breath is choked when the intense scent she forgets all day suddenly breaks into her sense of smell.

The fragrant melted chocolate in autumn and other scents that Nala can't describe in words, keep her glued to her burning cheeks. What's wrong with Raymond staring at him with his eyebrows drowned inside his random hair?

And what about her having the desire to drown her face in Raymond's field chest and breathe there? Nala thinks she might have gone crazy.

If Nala stays still breathing the air like she won't breathe anymore, Nala's smell may take over her to relieve her shame. "I'm sorry to Daniel about his words."

Nala sticks out wetting her lips that feel dry or she might just be nervous, Nala herself doesn't know. He was just waiting for Raymond to respond and was grateful the scent no longer pressed her.

"Daniel was right. Nala doesn't have to apologize, Ray is wrong," he ducked down to observe his long fingers that he stretched.

Nala closes her eyes briefly only to hear her heart rumble. "We're done with this conversation, I have to get a decent outfit for you."

When Nala stepped in to get into Raymond's room she still heard a murmur from Raymond. "Sorry."

***

"Nala, look!" Raymond almost screamed restrained, when he saw something outside his bedroom window.

Nala puts a black T-shirt on the nightstand and heads to Raymond's side focusing her eyes on what Raymond is pointing at. "What's wrong?"

"They're across the street. The same person looked into Nala's room all the time. And he's doing it now, Nala," Raymond said in a voice that Nala feared would be heard out.

Nala can see she's a tall man in a strange outfit, his hair is silver and Nala is very sure the man is staring at her. He was just standing in the sun and Nala saw something flashing in the man's hand.

Nala increasingly focuses her eyes on making sure that the object the man is holding is not what she thinks.

The man's moving hand is still staring, Nala's eyes widen when she can see clearly. She becomes stiff, it is a shiny sword with a smeared red liquid that is no longer mistaken for blood.

Not getting there, Nala freezes unknowingly clutching Raymond's wrist. She saw a large white wing stretched out behind the man's back, almost like Raymond's. His wings flapped and he flew off somewhere.

Thank you for reading