Unexpected Encounter

"Oh come on, Lucca," Eyla laughed, drinking some of her coffee and tossing him a bagged warm butter croissant, "Stop waiting for Prince Charming to save you from this provincial life. Get up and find him. The poor idiot may be stuck in a tree." Lucca turned to the town witch with a laugh,

"Come on, Eyla, do you really think I'm going to find someone in a tree?" Eyla shrugged,

"You can choose to listen to me or ignore the chance. Go on outside." She winked, "Thank me later." Lucca rolled his eyes. She never kicked him out like this, so clearly, there was something she was goading him into seeing. With a shrug, he put the pastry in his small backpack and walked around, looking for anything abnormal in their small town.

Then he felt something fall on his head. Looking up, his eyes widened as his eyes met the confused ones of a young man around his age who he had never seen before. The stranger was clinging to a branch, and Lucca saw the thing which had been dropped was a hula hoop, which was then picked up by an unfamiliar child. And there were two more looking up at them. 

"Sorry!" The young man called down, and Lucca was taken aback by the stranger's British accent, "Just needed to get my cousin's hula hoop down." Lucca looked to the three children, before figuring the three were adopted since they looked nothing alike and had completely different ethnicities.

He thought back to what Eyla had said, grinning a little, "Need some help getting down?"

"No, thanks. I have an estimated two minutes until the branch breaks under my weight, so I think I can find a way to get down."

"Alright, suit yourself," he grinned, crossing his arms and deciding to see how this unfolded. The little girl, no older than six, looked up at the young man, 

"Aylin, I believe it would be wise to get help from someone who's lived here longer." Oh! This much be the new family who moved in yesterday. What was the name... Caelum?

"Excuse me, are you the Caelum family?" He asked, and the girl nodded,

"Yeah. Those two doofuses over there," she gestured to the two slightly older boys who were playing tug-a-war with the hula hoop, "Are my brothers, River and Noah. I'm Ember, and the stubborn one up there is Aylin." The blonde child looked in Ember's direction, 

"Hey, who are you calling a doofus?!"

"You, River. I am calling you one." Ember deadpanned, unbefitting her age. Lucca looked back up at Aylin, who was laughing while still clinging to the branch for dear life, not unlike a sloth.

He looked down to the ground below Aylin, then back up at the young man in question, dropping his backpack and walking to where he estimated Aylin would land, "Just let go. I'll catch you."

"No, thanks. Trust exercises aren't something I excel at." They heard a 'crack' noise as the branch started breaking, "Alright, alright!" Aylin let go and fell into Lucca's arms. The sudden weight was jolting and caused Lucca to stumble, nothing romantic like the movies, but it worked nonetheless.

Aylin laughed, and Lucca got a good look at him. He was pretty cute. Lucca's brow furrowed for a moment, seeing the other's ashy brown hair was wild and not in the small ponytail it had been in before. He looked around before finding the hair tie and handing it back to Aylin, "Here."

Aylin tied his hair again, "Thanks. Sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"That's probably because I was the one doing the catching," Lucca smiled playfully, "But I'm Lucca Delilah."

"Chief's son, right? I did some research before coming here."

"Yeah," He looked around. It was still morning, "Have you eaten yet?" Aylin shook his head, and Lucca handed him the croissant Eyla had given him, "I don't typically eat breakfast." Aylin took the pastry questioningly, before looking up with a raised eyebrow,

"Why are you giving this to me?" Lucca flushed, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away,

"I just—You said you hadn't eaten yet, so I figured you're probably hungry."

"I meant, why are you kind to someone you just met?" Lucca looked up, seeing Aylin was cocking his head curiously and waiting for an answer,

"Do you need a reason to be kind?"

"I've always thought so. Still, thank you." He took the pastry out of the bag and split it into fourths, giving one piece to each of the children, and then one for himself. "Um... I'm kinda new. Do you mind showing me around if you still have some of that kindness to spare?"

Lucca nodded, "Sure. How about you tell me a little about yourself as we walk."

"A little about myself?" he took note of Aylin's momentary pause and the split-second haunted look in his eyes. Then he plastered on a smile that would have been convincing if Lucca wasn't used to seeing that expression in the mirror. "There's not much to say. My grandmother wanted to change things up, and we moved to America."

"I've never left Kammont." He gestured to the town around them, and Aylin crossed his arms,

"Sounds tedious, being stuck in one place."

"It is. I'm surprised a city boy from England would have heard of this place, let alone live here." 

"It's off the map, which is something the family needs right now."

"I'm gonna head back," Noah said, "And tell Ms. Millie that you're going with a guy." River then moved to Aylin's side, momentarily stumbling over a tree root, before getting back up,

"I'm not letting some stranger be alone with Aylin! Come on, Em!" Ember followed, and Aylin's smile became strained and a little awkward,

"Kids, could you please let me spend some time with someone my age? Don't worry, I'll call you in fifteen minutes to let you know I'm okay." River pouted and was about to say something, but Ember nodded, grabbing his hand,

"Okay, Aylin," she dragged River away, and Aylin waved, before turning to Lucca,

"I hope you don't mind. The kids don't get out much, especially without me."

"Not at all. Actually, one of my classmates, Gavin, he's a babysitter just in case you ever need someone to watch the kids."

"I take it you're popular around here." Lucca's whole body tensed and he looked down at the grass, 

"In a sense. People like me because of my looks and who my father is, but I only have one person I can call a friend around here. I'm pretty sure she actually saw you in the tree and wanted me to come out and introduce myself." Aylin bit the tip of his thumb,

"To believe someone's physical appeal means anything in the grand scheme of things is a childish belief brought on by a society which pointlessly worships what is considered at the time to be beautiful. They remain blissfully unaware that they could be turning a blind eye to something darker hidden beneath the skin." 

"Looks like someone's seen Beauty and the Beast." To Lucca's surprise, Aylin shook his head,

"I haven't. I've never been able to focus on films unless as background noise. I have read La Belle et la Bête, the original tale." Alright, this was something Lucca knew he could work with, praying he didn't speak out of term,

"You know, I'm sure my sister has the DVD still. I could show you the movie as background noise, and you can tell me about the original tale." Aylin's expression became blank, and Lucca feared he had screwed up, but then Aylin's tone suggested otherwise, and there was still plenty of surprise present. Who was this person?

"I'd like that. Lead the way."