"What're you doing?" Keefe asked.

I looked up from my notes and smiled. "I'm doing my thesis. Would you like to join me?"

"I can't read," Keefe muttered. "Not your language anyways. Ours don't look like this." He gently ran his hands over the pages of one of the books that laid open in my mountain of books.

"You can write and read in... What's it called?" I cringed a little. I didn't even know what his language was called.

He smiled softly. "You wouldn't be able to pronounce it. In your language it's just called... Well, Elfish. Since we're elves."

"Elfish," I repeated.

He nodded and smiled.

"You never lived with humans who could teach you our written language?" I asked and put my pencil down.

"No. My dad taught me this spoken language, but I'm an elf, you know? I look like one, I blend in with them. I don't really fit into this world of yours." He scratched his big pointy ear and shrugged a little. "I like it here though. People are very friendly."

I smiled. "I'm glad. We're also very pleased you decided to stay with us."

He smiled back and nodded picking up a book. "Is it important to be able to read this language?"

"For Astral and me it is. Since we're writing our thesis. I could teach you if you want. If you teach me Elfish."

He nodded very enthusiastically. "Like Astral is teaching Zeke. I'll be your apprentice."

My heart melted with those words. It was so sweet he wanted to be my apprentice. "I'll teach you everything I know, then. About writing, reading, remedies. Everything."

"And I'll teach you my language. So, you'll be my apprentice too." He looked so proud of himself.

"That sounds good."

We, Keefe and I, studied outside while Zeke and Astral trained. Zeke was able to summon lightning now just as Astral, but she did not possess his control.

I looked up from my Elfish alphabet to find Zeke shooting a bolt of lightning at a tree, frying it completely.

"Poor tree," I muttered under my breath.

Keefe glanced at me before he rose and walked to the tree. He gently put his palm to it murmured something I couldn't hear and stepped back. The tree sprouted new buds through the blackened trunks.

"It'll be alright," he said as he returned to the bench.

"I didn't know you had powers like that," I said and smiled.

"I'm a wood-elf. I can speak to the trees and encourage them to heal, like I just did with that one. It's not magic like Astral's powers though. It can't be taught to humans."

"It's very fascinating. I never knew that elves had this kind of connection to the elements." I brought out my notebook. "Is it alright if I take some notes?"

"Sure," Keefe said with a big smile.

"So, it's not magic?" I asked and looked up from my notes.

"No, it's like another language. Ours is rooted to the elements. The trees speak to me all the time. Listen." He held his hand up and I waited, but the only thing I could hear was the wind rustling the leaves.

"I can't hear anything but the wind."

"That's something, isn't it?" He smirked a little. "That's the trees talking."

"What're they saying?"

"They're mostly complaining about Zeke and Astral shooting at them. They're not too amused by that. One is complaining about squirrels and termites."

I snorted. "So, they're just complaining?"

"Most of the time, yeah. They're old. The younger trees like talking about how nice the sun is, how rich the soil under their roots is. Stuff like that."

"There's a whole world out there, speaking, and I didn't even know."

"How could you?" He arched one of those well-trimmed brows at me. I had never noticed how nice his eyebrows were.

I snapped out of it and shrugged. He shrugged too.

"It is a fun way to speak. Body language."

"Huh?" 

He shrugged again. "Elves don't do that when we don't know what to answer. We touch our temple." He put two fingers to his temple. "That is our shrug."

I imitated the action and Keefe nodded.

"What about nodding?" I asked with a chuckle.

"We do it once. And upwards."

"That's like a greeting to us. And tipping your chin down is a greeting too."

"Very confusing," Keefe laughed wholeheartedly.

I couldn't do anything but agree.

I woke up to kisses on my cheek. Astral was sealed to my back, kissing me awake. Sun was coming in from between the curtains, casting the room in a golden hue, but it had to be early still. The room was still chilled which it'd be every morning and then it'd get a little warmer during the day.

"Good morning," I murmured, my voice gruff from sleep.

He made a soft sound running his hands under my nightshirt, softly caressing my chest.

It was nicest way to wake up. I always felt so loved when he did this first thing. It made my entire day.

I had been too busy focusing on what he was doing with his mouth, I hadn't even noticed he had gotten the oil out. And then his fingers were doing amazing things and I was moaning. He was so soft about it all. How he pulled my night shirt off and then my undergarments. Kissed my body, running his hands over it. I barely did anything to reciprocate but it seemed like Astral was plenty amused.

He groaned softly when he pushed himself inside of me. I replied with a sound of my own, grabbing his hand, threading my fingers in between his. He pressed our hands to my stomach, keeping me as close as possible.

I felt so warm. Not as in I was a sweaty mess, though I was. But warm in the way that he made me warm. Loved.

He ran his tongue over the side of my throat, and I made a loud sound. He jerked his hips a little harder almost forcing me to make more sounds for him. I had a feeling he really liked hearing me make those sounds.

My mind turned off completely and I didn't really register what was happening beyond that I was so deep in pleasure. It was all that mattered.

"Sun and stars," Astral moaned against my skin. "You're amazing, Mars."

I couldn't form words. I wanted to say something nice back, but then he let go of my hand and circled his fingers around me.

"I always want you," he whispered in my ear.

I was about to die. My head was in the sky, and I zeroed in on his voice and body. I was sure I was about to die, but in the best possible way. It was so hard to stay present. My head kept just drifting off, but I wanted to stay present, it was just such a losing battle.

"Every single hour of the day. Whenever I see you, think of you. Touch you." He clenched his hand a little.

I moaned loudly back.

"The taste of your skin is divine." He ran his tongue over my shoulder.

I reached back and grabbed his hair, keeping his mouth on my skin. He jerked his hips even harder, and I couldn't keep it together anymore. It was as if colours exploded behind my eyelids and my body went into a frenzy. My bones disappeared and I was liquid. There was nothing but softness and niceness and everything great.

Astral went nuts. He clenched his arm around me, pressing me to him and then he groaned loudly. I felt him finish.

I turned around slowly, and he slapped his arm around me, pulling me close. Then he laughed and kissed my forehead.

"That was great." He ran his hand down to my butt, clenching it. "As great as your ass."

I laughed and pressed my face to his chest. "You're being silly."

"No, I'm being profoundly serious. Poets will write sonnets in honour of your great behind."

I howled with laughter and pulled up, kissing him, and laughing at the same time. He pressed me to him again and kissed me, coaxing me to stop laughing and to kiss him back.

"Painters will wanna paint you to immortalise that magnificent piece of art."

I burst out laughing again. "You're mad."

"Mad with lust for you," he murmured and kissed me once again.

"That's an incredibly sleazy thing to say," I chuckled, taking his face in my hands. "I like it."

He smirked. "Yeah?"

I nodded slowly and moved in, kissing him softly this time. This wasn't going to stop anytime soon, and we'd be horrible all day. Horribly unproductive and flirty and finding excuses to stay in bed. We'd do that when we were back home at the college. Fake some kind of illness and stay in the room all day, talking about nothing. He'd kiss me and I'd kiss him back.

This time it was different though. We weren't exploring anymore. We weren't kids. We were fully grown and Astral had said I was never a friend to him. I was more important.

"I like your hair," I said softly and ran my fingers through his curls.

"Yeah?" He smiled wholeheartedly. "It's not too... Green?"

"Too green? No. It's the colour of the grass by the riverbanks in summer. Lush. It always reminds me of when we went swimming when we were younger."

"You're imagining me naked, aren't you?"

I snorted. "Maybe sometimes. I liked it when you didn't bother with a swimsuit."

"You little peeper."

"You knew I was looking," I whispered and got a better hold of his hair, sliding myself up and tipping his head with me. "You planned on making me look."

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't. You can't prove anything." He smiled up at me and tried to kiss me, but I pulled on his hair, keeping him in place.

"I don't have to prove anything. You'll tell me anything I wanna hear."

"Anything," he whispered, and I let him kiss me.