Page 77 of Legends and Librarians
She frowned at the cave’s entrance. “But now I’m curious. What’s in there?”
“Oh, just the most luxurious hot spring you’ll ever find,” I said, keeping my voice light and teasing. “But we should really go check on those dragons.”
Her eyes had lit up at the words hot spring. I told her she’d need a swimsuit for this outing, but I didn’t say what kind of water we’d be going in. She hovered at the entrance, gaze landing on a shimmering crystal flower that had almost managed to escape the cave.
“And that?” she asked curiously. “Is it some kind of magic?”
I grinned, knowing she was hooked now. “Those flowers were why I got called here a few years ago. A student had been experimenting with crystal magic and ended up creating living crystals that wouldn’t stop multiplying.” I leaned closer, whispering in her ear. “The whole cave’s full of them, but we should really get back and help Oren.”
“You’re terrible, you know that,” she said with a laugh as she tilted her head to look at me. Her lips almost brushed against mine, but she just smiled and tugged my hand. “Come show me this surprise of yours.”
I’d set light stones up around the cave, which turned on as we walked by, guiding us to the hot spring and shining off the crystals just enough to make them glitter. The soothing sound of water bubbling from the spring bounced off the crystals, creating the perfect natural background noise.
This was one of my favorite places to hide away from theworld, my own secret escape. I’d never told anyone about it before, preferring to have the place all to myself after difficult missions, but Nyssa was different. These feelings I had for her weren’t fleeting, they were growing stronger every day, and I wasso happy to share this secret with her.
“This place is beautiful,” she said, gazing at the shimmering flowers coating the walls and ceiling. “It’s crazy to think this was all some big accident.”
That look of wonder on her face made all the setup worth it. I pulled her close, hugging her from behind as she leaned her head back against my chest to study the ceiling. The crystal flowers were so concentrated there that they looked like a crystal chandelier, with light globes enhancing the effect.
Nyssa ran her hand along my arm. “Maybe somebody taking care of me isn’t so bad after all. Thank you, Roan.”
“I’m just glad you like it. My favorite cafe delivered dinner too. I figured we could eat and relax in the hot spring for a while, if you wanted to.”
“A cafe delivered here?” she asked, face scrunched up in disbelief. “How’d you convince them to do that? We’re so far away from everything.”
I shrugged. “I saved the place from a bunch of monsters once when they decided the cafe’s food was a bit too tasty to resist.”
“Seriously?” She turned to get a good look at me. When I nodded, she shook her head, smiling. “These adventures of yours would make an amazing story. You should really write them down one day.”
“I’m not really good at that.” I motioned for her to follow me to where the food was set up. “Maybe if a writer needed some inspiration, I could help, but I don’t think I’d do the stories justice.”
She glanced sideways at me. “I bet you’d do a better job than you think. I’m always interested when you talk about them.”
My face warmed, and not just from the humidity of the hot spring. “Maybe I’ll give it a try sometime. For you, I mean.”
Steam curled through the air, dampening her hair as she smiled at me. I felt myself reaching out to tuck a strand behind her ear, but paused when I almost ran into a metal bowl on the ground. It looked like one of the domes the cafe used to cover plates so the food stayed warm.
I glanced up at the table in horror, seeing the plates uncovered and food scattered everywhere. Two small golden brown cookie slimes with chocolate chips speckled throughout their bodies bounced on the table, their mouths open wide to gobble up the rest of our dinner.
“Hey!” I called out, groaning as the slimes gulped down another chocolate chip cookie, which was the cafe’s best seller and their favorite food. The slimes froze when they noticed me, jiggly bodies quivering as they avoided my gaze. The perfect guilty puppy act, but I knew they’d devour everything the moment I turned away. “Sorry, Nyssa. They must have stowed away with the delivery man.”
“So...you know these slimes?” Nyssa pressed her lips together as if she was trying not to laugh.
“They live at the cafe. It’s basically a slime sanctuary.” I shook my head at the cookie slimes. “You know you’re not supposed to go on deliveries, right?”
The slimes glanced at each other, bouncing slightly as if they were nodding. They hopped off the table with the saddest sighs I’d ever heard. No, I would not be swayed by that. Not even a little bit. One of the slimes looked back at me, golden eyes big and shimmering.
“It’s fine,” Nyssa said, smiling as she leaned down to reach her hand out to a slime. “You’re hungry, right? I’m sure we can share the meal.”
The cookie slime brushed up against her hand and then leaptinto her arms. She fell back, laughing as she cuddled it. The way her smile lit up the cave made my heart swell. I could watch her play with slimes all day and be a happy man. She seemed to make the best out of every situation, not letting things get her down. That must be hard to maintain though, which was why I’d wanted her to be able to relax and not worry about anything.
“I really wanted today to be perfect for you,” I said softly, kneeling to pet the other cookie slime. “You always work so hard. I wanted to do something nice for you.”
“You know, I think you’re the one who needs to relax,” she said, giving the slime one last pet before standing up and offering me her hand. “You brought me to a gorgeous cave with a hot spring, adorable slimes, and good food. What’s left of it anyway. The point is that you cared enough to plan this whole day for us and that means the world to me.”
I felt a big goofy grin stretching across my face as I followed her to the hot spring, my stomach fluttering as she removed the hoodie she was wearing over her swimsuit and stepped into the water. The light from the crystals glowed against her skin, reflecting off the water and teasing me into looking longer than I’d meant to.
She was beautiful and the fact that she was happy just being here with me, despite our ruined dinner, had my heart pounding in my chest. I wanted to keep making her happy for as long as I could.
