{ Kitty★Cat's Toybox }

She loved hearing the sound of his voice. The tone perched somewhere comfortably between a young boy becoming an adult. Julian continued off telling the story of their ‘past lives’ but this time going into detail of the rest of the story. Seyka’s eyelids hovered open weakly as she tried poorly to blink away the urge to fall asleep. If he found out that she wasn’t even paying any bit of attention to his story–goodness gracious–he was going to be quite upset. The greenette leaned her relaxed frame against the trunk of a tree attempting to at least appear like she was paying attention. She didn’t even know what part of the story he was telling. His voice was there, but the words weren’t processing. Wait, did any of that make sense?

“Hey…” Julian looked down at the grass-head. “Emeraldilocks, no sleeping, are you even listening?” He took the five to ten seconds of silence as his answer. One hand rose up before the wheat-tuft flicked her forehead. He received a much expected flinch reaction as Seyka’s eyes shot right up. Followed up by a sheepish smile gracing her lips. “Would you mind explaining to me why you’ve got me playing storyteller? Especially that same stupid story we made up back at the bakery?” he inquired.

“Because I love hearing your voice~ I could totally get high just listening to it.” she replied with all smiles. The conflicted expression painted across his face was absolutely priceless she couldn’t hold back her fits of giggles. That didn’t help any either. As soon as he heard her chortles he shot her a sharp look.

“Has anyone ever told you there comes a time when people need to grow up?” It doesn’t seem like it. Her parents forgot to give her the memo. She was eighteen going on twelve. The forest haired maiden sucked in a deep breath of air before exhaling it out slowly. Ok, it was time to calm down~ The poor boy wasn't known for his great patience.

“What are songs?” she asked directly.

“Is that a trick question?”

She shook her head softly. The dripping sarcasm went over her head. “Are they not just mere stories conveyed in music form?” Julian’s expression changed rather quickly as he saw where the validity of her question. Seyka continued the rest of her statement, “And with every good story, there’s a meaning behind those stories, something you want to share with the world. It’s through these stories in musical form that we call songs how we connect with our audience.” By the blonde male’s side was a brand new notebook. Blank pages staring up at the two with a mechanical pencil beside them as company.

“For example,” the greenette scooted closer to Julian. Her eager palm quickly grasping onto his hand. The sudden action took him by surprise but he suppressed any further enticements. “Holding hands. This feels pretty awkward, doesn’t it?”

“Just a little.” More like a lot.

“Holding hands doesn’t tell me anything. I want to know the feelings that comes from it~” She wriggled her slim fingers to lacing them in between his own. The warmth radiating from his nervous palms was endearing. “The rush of anxiety realizing you're holding a total stranger's hand. A hitch forms in the back of your throat looking up at them.” Long lashes fluttered up as her eyes stared up at a pair of perfect blue behind glasses. Feeling a little bolder, she leaned forward, insisting on further breaking the personal bubble borders. Her face barely even a couple inches apart from his. The nineteen year old guitarist was stuck frozen unable to think or feel what was coming next. A palpable drum kept beating loud in his head coming from inside his chest. “Wide eyes opening up doorways to things you haven't seen before. Your lips hanging agape~ The five seconds of suspense before...”

After hearing that, he woke up from his sudden daze, shaking his head furiously. His mouth closed up before he glared back down at the girl. “Alright, I’m done playing your games. I get what you’re saying so make with the space woman.” The moment those words slipped out of his mouth, the look at her face almost made him regret ever saying anything. Though as quick as it appeared, she placed a smile back onto her face. Laughter bubbling from her throat as she scooted back. Her hand releasing his.

“It’s ok to act like a child and use your imagination–like how Peter Pan needed only a happy little thought to fly off to Neverland. Because if it doesn’t come from here…” she pointed to the place where her heart resided, “Then it might as well be the same as the pages in your notebook: empty~” Just like how her hand felt after she let go of his hand. Julian pushed up his glasses against the bridge of his nose. Up to his feet, he gathered his belongings before turning back to Emeraldilocks, who was staring up at him. Stop that, damn it. That was weird. “Thanks for the pointers, I guess. Next time though, no holding hands. I don't want people getting the wrong impression about us.”

“What? Two friends awkwardly holding hands together to explain how to write songs?” she teased him. The next part was mumbled, “... And my first time actually holding a boy's hand~”

“What?”

“Nothing, nothing~ I'm playing around.”