Tereza woke up from the scent of blueberry waffles coming from the kitchen. She got dressed and walked in the kitchen to see Raistin making blueberry waffles, turning a new waffle over in the waffle maker. His face lit up at her presence, making him look extra beautiful.

"Good morning, Tereza," Raistin said, placing the waffle on a plate with steaming hot waffles already on it. "I made breakfast. For the whole crew," he added a few moments later, trying not to make it seem like he had made those waffles specially for Tereza.

"You always seem to be up early," Tereza noticed, sitting at the kitchen table on a café-style chair.

"You're very observant," Raistin remarked. He carefully slid the waffle plate towards Tereza.

"My job requires me to be observant," Tereza said in response, grabbing some waffles.

Raistin finished making the rest of the waffles and sat across from Tereza, his own plate of waffles in front of him. He poured himself a glass of milk while Tereza had earl grey tea with bergamot. They had a quiet moment together before the others started coming in, enticed by the warm fresh scent of waffles.

"Waffles!" Rêver said happily, eagerly running up to a chair.

"Not just any waffles: blueberry waffles," Niquead elaborated, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. Blueberry waffles were his favorite breakfast food. "Many thanks, Raistin! You're awesome." Niquead stunned everyone by smiling as he took a seat beside Tereza, his eyes beaming and his face still smiling as he started happily digging into the waffles.

Tereza stared at Niquead, startled to see him smile for the first time in her entire career. She looked back at Raistin, who met her eyes with a telling smile. I guess blueberry waffles were the secret to making him smile, Tereza thought, feeling amazed.

"It appears that everybody's weakness has been established except for yours, Tereza," Raistin said in a playful tone. "Kael loves chocolate chip cookies to the point where he protects them from potential thieves. Rêver loves cake. Vis was seen munching on popcorn. I dote on ice cream and cake pops. Niquead has clearly expressed his love for blueberry waffles. What about you, Tereza? What's your weakness?" The questioning look in Raistin's eyes seemed to imply more than the basic question.

You, Tereza wanted to say. Every look, every smile, every move made her realize how hard she was falling for Raistin. Though she tried to shrug it off as a simple crush, deep inside Tereza knew it was more than just a simple crush. She couldn't even think of food, let alone her favorite dessert, simply because she was caught up in the way Raistin looked so cute and endearing in the way he tilted his head slightly in an inquiring gesture, patiently waiting for her answer, his hot attractive face complete with playful eyes and that wonderful slow, sexy smile....

"Scones," said Vis, ruining the moment. "Tereza loves scones, especially with tea. She enjoys England so much she became Iredescent-British, enjoying the finest of everything."

Raistin's smile curled up in delightment. "That so?" he said in a pleased tone. "We'll definitely have to add scones to the Iredescent menu." He moved back, straightening as he raised his cup and finished the rest of the milk. He placed the cup back on the table and left for his room, needing time to himself to dwell on things.

Tereza was unable to write that day. Each time she tried to write, thoughts of Raistin appeared in her mind, keeping her from forming any sort of proper word structure. After about thirty minutes of struggling, Tereza abruptly got up and told Niquead she was heading out. She donned the purple leather jacket Raistin gave her and left the base, needing to go on a walk.

Tereza walked through English countrysides and roads, stopping by to smile at some horses grazing in a field. Just the simple act of walking helped calm Tereza's mental state, her thoughts becoming clear and coherent. In explorer mode now, wanting to see more of the country she grew to love so much, Tereza turned invisible and took flight, stretching out her wings and lifting to the sky.

I love springtime, Tereza thought, enjoying the warm weather and cheerful breeze. I arrived on Earth at the right season.

She flew so far she didn't even realize she was crossing over into different countries, entering the countries of Belgium and the Netherlands. Tereza walked in Bruges, admiring the canals and thinking how peaceful everything looked. She enjoyed Belgium waffles and chocolate, taking a gold and white cloth bag with her to share them with her crew. The cloth bag had a zipper to hold all her nicely wrapped chocolates and waffles. She would soon add a bouquet of tulips, her favorite flowers.

This is paradise, Tereza thought as she stood in a tulip field in Holland. Rows of brightly colored tulip flowers provided a beautiful view. Windmills stood in admiration of the tulips, waving happily as the sun shone warmly over the flower beds.

Tereza dared to materialize her wings, seeing nobody around. She set her bag next to a windmill and walked along the tulips, breathing in its wonderful scent. She felt so happy and blissful she didn't even notice a little Dutch girl walking a distance away. The little Dutch girl gasped when she saw Tereza in full Iredescent glory, her light purple wings and light skin shimmer sparkling in the sunlight.

The little Dutch girl ran up to Tereza, her small footsteps alerting Tereza of her presence. Tereza froze in her reverie, her eyes wide in alarm as she looked down and saw the little Dutch girl. It was too late to hide her wings; the girl had already seen them.

The little Dutch girl stopped a few footsteps from Tereza, awe and amazement in her starstruck eyes. She was dressed in a cute long sleeve red dress with elegant white lace on top, with a white hairbow in her sunlit golden light brown hair. On her arm was a wicker basket full of pink and yellow tulips, as much as she can carry. "Wow! Your wings are very beautiful! Are you a fairy?" the little Dutch girl excitedly spoke in Dutch.

Tereza's rapid heartbeat slowed. She smiled at the little Dutch girl, crouching so the little Dutch girl could touch her wings. One wing feather fell, landing softly on the dirt ground. Tereza picked it up and handed it to the little Dutch girl.

"Keep this safe for me. Don't lose it, and don't show anyone. We wouldn't want your parents to worry," Tereza told her, also speaking in Dutch. Iredescents were naturally able to understand any language in the galaxy just from hearing the spoken language. Once they heard a certain language being spoken, they understood that language. The omnilingualist ability was something all Iredescents naturally had whether they were winged or finned.

The little Dutch girl gingerly held Tereza's wing feather as though it was treasure. "I promise," she said to Tereza, aware of the importance of Tereza's secret gift. The little Dutch girl hid the wing weather in the basket and gave Tereza some tulips from her basket. Tereza held the flowers up to her nose and smelled them, breathing deeply.

"Thank you very much. These are my favorite flowers," Tereza told her, greatly appreciating them. She retrieved her souvenir bag before she went over and hugged the little Dutch girl. Tereza stepped back and lifted her wings, allowing the little Dutch girl to watch her fly. The little Dutch girl watched in wonder, her face full of happiness at seeing 'a real-live fairy' in action.

Though it was very frowned upon for an alien outsider to show themselves to Earth humans, Tereza thought this was of no harm, since the little Dutch girl was innocent and already saw her in her true form. She decided to keep the encounter to herself, not wanting to tell anyone about it.

When she got back to the base, Tereza found the guys sitting in the living room, watching a movie. They all jumped up and crowded around Tereza in excitement as she showed them the souvenir bag's contents.

"Belgium waffles and chocolates," said Rêver, already enjoying a waffle. "Tereza, you truly are the best! Thank you for bringing these."

Raistin lifted the tulips just as Tereza found a vase for them and filled it with water. Raistin smiled as Tereza shyly took the tulips from him and placed them in the vase, putting it on the table near sunlight.

"I take it these are your favorite flowers?" Raistin asked Tereza, standing next to her as Tereza admired the flowers for a moment longer.

Tereza jumped slightly, turning to Raistin. "Uh, yes, they are. I love tulips," she said. "We have them on Iredescent as well."

"But you like the ones from Earth better," Raistin said, noticing Tereza's admiration for them.

"Yes," Tereza said softly as she remembered the little Dutch girl giving her the flowers. "The ones from Earth don't sparkle, but they hold more meaning for me than Iredescent tulips. They remind me of Earth's beauty, of kind human people, of all the good in the world."

"Japanese cherry blossoms are my favorite flowers," Raistin decided to share with Tereza. "In Japan, they're called sakura. Sakura are very special flowers in Japan. They are very beautiful. They only bloom for a short period of time in the spring. I always go there in springtime just to see them. Japan has a special place in my heart. The people, the culture, the land, the beauty, everything."

And so with each day, Tereza learned more about Raistin. In turn, Raistin became more infatuated with Tereza. Raistin missed Tereza whenever she went out on her ventures and looked forward to whenever she returned home. He longed to tell her how he felt, instead typing it out in his journal. He had no idea Tereza was struggling with those feelings herself, that beneath her serious front, she was wanting to uncover more about how she felt towards Raistin.

All would come to a pivotal moment when Tereza arrived late one night. She shook rainwater from her hair and hung her jacket on a coatrack, glad to be home. Everyone else were already in bed at the late hour, so Tereza was surprised when she noticed light coming from Raistin's partly open bedroom door. She cautiously peered in, surprised to see he wasn't in bed yet. You would think an early bird like him would be in bed by now, she thought, confounded.

"Hey, uh, why aren't you in bed yet? Don't you need sleep?" Tereza asked Raistin, confused why he didn't even look sleepy.

Raistin paused, setting the paperback book he was reading to the side. Time to uncover yet another dark truth about me, he thought, not relishing having to do so. Raistin looked up at Tereza, his gaze reluctant. "I don't sleep, he said, a hint of sadness in his voice.

Tereza's eyes widened in surprise. "Like, ever?"

"No," Raistin said quietly. "I don't sleep. Ever."

Silence hung in the air for a moment before Tereza said, "So you've been constantly awake since you were born?"

"Yes," Raistin answered, his tone stiff. He got up, standing at the side of his bed in graceful manner.

More silence followed before Tereza said, "And you don't have a mother or father?"

"No, Tereza, I don't," Raistin said more harshly than he intended. "You're lucky in more ways than you know. I suggest you quit asking questions and leave me alone." It was the first time he used a sharp tone with Tereza, aside from the brief almost-argument they had regarding his forever endless time in a curse called immortality.

"Fine," Tereza said coldly, her eyes flashing with a brief spark of anger. "I was going to wish you a good night, but you don't even sleep, so that was a total waste of time. Like it was a total waste of time to go in that California fire."

Without another word, Tereza left the room, well aware of the stinging impact her words had on Raistin. He froze, standing absolutely still, stunned she would say that. Raistin waited until Tereza had shut the door to her room before he seized his raincoat and quietly slipped outside. He left the base, chiding himself the entire time. What was I thinking? Why did I spend so much time with the Iredescents? Why did I bother coming into their base? My presence isn't needed here.

Raistin put on the black raincoat Kael had given him and continued walking, putting distance between himself and the base. The raincoat felt warm and comfortable. It reached down to Raistin's knees and had a hood he could wear over his head. The outside layer kept the rain off the inside layer, keeping the wearer warm. Raistin burned through the coat, thinking it was so stupid of him to bring it when he didn't even need a coat. I could walk naked out in the Antarctica cold and still be warm, Raistin thought, feeling the rain drench him.

Tereza kept appearing in his mind. Raistin focused on his footsteps as his black shoes stepped on the wet ground, his mind pushing away thoughts of the temporary he had become enamored with.

Raistin thought of all lifeforms as temporaries. Even immortals like vampires and machines were considered temporaries since they were able to be killed in some way, and an ending was possible for them. But for Raistin, whose life was an eternal constant without an ending, he felt cursed. He willfully lived a solitary life peppered with moments where he ventured out in attempts to converse and talk with other lifeforms, to break out of his ever-present loneliness. To know that there was life around him even when he felt less alive at times. If it weren't for his sudden interest in Tereza, Raistin would've remained in the forest, endlessly burning himself until he decided to burn somewhere else.

Why the sudden interest in her? Raistin wondered to himself. She's gonna die someday, whether it's old age or illness or an accident or something else. She's a temporary; I'm a constant. The only constant in the galaxy with infinite amount of temporaries, and yet....

Raisitn froze, feeling a conflict beat within his chest. He glanced back at the base, uncertain whether to return or leave it all behind. After all, what did it matter anyway? Raistin thought darkly. Iredescents are like humans, except they're sparkly and some have superhuman abilities. They're temporaries just like Tereza.

Tereza was the change in pace in his long life, the sudden jolt in the road after cruising down a long, endless road. Minutes passed before Raistin decided to head back to the base, back to the person who had unexpectedly changed his life, filling it with sparkle.

Raistin ran a hand through his slick wet hair, deciding to take a shower. He stood enjoying the hot water run over his slim attractive body, the glass shower walls steaming to the point where there was visible fog in the entire bathroom.

Raistin dried himself and put on a black bathrobe over his clothes, thinking how nice it was of the Iredescents to give him things. Though Raistin was able to materialize clothing on his body so he wouldn't be naked in his human like form, he didn't mind switching his attire once in a while, though the color always remained black.

Black for heat absorption and mourning.

Hours later, before the sliver of light at the window announced dawn, a light switched on in the hallway, disrupting Raistin's obscuration of light. He saw Tereza walk down the hallway in shimmering lavender purple pajamas, her hair slightly tousled.

Raistin rose and turned from the window at Tereza's presence. She really is beautiful, he thought, taking in the sight of her. Not drop-dead gorgeous kind of beautiful, but beautiful in her own natural way. Like a butterfly.

Tereza's skin shimmered lightly, just barely visible. Raistin could see it more at close proximity, but from afar it was hardly noticeable. In turn, Tereza's eyes ran over Raistin's smooth olive skin tone. It was perfect, the envy of beauty commercials. No blemishes, no scratches, no scars, no cuts, no bruises, nothing could ever penetrate his bulletproof body.

"I, uh, came to say I'm sorry," said Tereza, feeling awkward from earlier.

Raistin came closer, his face kind and gentle with no awkwardness at all.

"I came to say hello beautiful," said Raistin, smiling affectionately at Tereza. "Wanna watch a movie with me? I'm really fond of those."

"Uh, sure," Tereza said in response, glad to see Raistin wasn't as tense as she thought he would be after her outburst. I suppose he has a lot of patience, she thought, gingerly sitting on the couch.

Raistin leapt over the couch, landing smoothly beside her like a cat. He picked out a movie he wanted to see, aware of Tereza so close to him on the couch. He leaned back comfortably as the movie began, glad to see Tereza hadn't moved away from him.

When Vis came in the room a moment later, he saw Raistin's arm around Tereza as they continued watching a movie. He stepped back, smiling to himself as he allowed them to spend some time together. He shushed Rêver when he tried to go in the living room, assigning him kitchen duties to dissuade him from interrupting Raistin and Tereza.

When Tereza set out to explore more of England later in the day, hours after the movie ended, Raistin asked to come with her. She started to hesitate, but Vis encouraged her to allow Raistin to come with, even saying he could provide some insight, since he lived on Earth longer than anyone. They took Tereza's speeder ship and cruised around while in invisible mode.

Tereza hardly spoke, still feeling uncomfortable from her earlier outburst. Though she had apologized and Raistin cheerfully accepted her apology, Tereza felt bad for lashing out and saying things that undoubtedly hurt Raistin. In addition, she felt terrible upon learning he was the only one of his kind, that he was alone all this time, without a family or even the ability to sleep.

There's so much I learned, and still so much I don't know, Tereza thought as she ventured into Germany, flying over fields and cities. She glanced at Raistin, who was looking out the window in mild interest.

"I'm sorry if you've already seen every corner of the world," Tereza murmured. "I doubt this is much fun for you if you've already seen it a million times."

Raistin turned towards her. "On the contrary, Tereza, this is new to me," he said, his voice somber. "Yes, I have seen everything on this planet a million times and more, but this is the first time I'm seeing it with someone else."

"What difference does it make whether you see it alone or with someone else?" Tereza asked, thinking it wouldn't make much of a difference if the scenery remained the same, though the company didn't.

"It makes a difference, more than you know." Raistin continued looking out the window, saying no further on the matter.

Tereza said nothing further, keeping her thoughts to herself.

The litayu flew over a picturesque German forest, its passengers admiring the view. They continued flying at a steady speed, their eyes widening in surprise where they saw a strange sight: a tennis court in the middle of the government-owned section of the forest, far from civilization.

"Why would they build a tennis court in the middle of a forest?" Tereza mused, pausing the ship so they could look further.

"That's not a tennis court," Raistin said slowly as the tennis court opened from the center, allowing a silvery white ship to emerge from underneath. "That's a hidden base."

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Music:

"A Thousand Words"
by Dorian Marko

(really nice romantic piano music that just fits into this story with Raistin and Tereza)

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✨ Raistin's Blueberry
Pancake Recipe ✨

✨ Ingredients ✨

* 2 cups flour
* 1/4 cup granulated sugar
* 4 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1 3/4 cups milk (440ml)
* 1/4 cup melted butter, (60g | 2 oz)
* 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
* 2 teaspoons lemon juice
* 1 large egg
* 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries,
plus extra to serve

✨ Instructions ✨

1. Combine together the flour, sugar (or sweetener), baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large sized bowl. Add the milk, slightly cooled melted butter, vanilla, lemon juice and egg.

2. Use a wire whisk to whisk the wet ingredients together first before slowly folding them into the dry ingredients. Gently mix together until smooth (there may be a couple of lumps, but that's okay). Fold in blueberries.

3. Set the batter aside and allow to rest while heating up your pan or griddle.

4. Heat a nonstick pan or griddle over low-medium heat and wipe over with a little butter to lightly grease pan. Pour ¼ cup of batter onto the pan and spread out gently into a round shape with a spoon.

5. When the underside is golden and bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip with a spatula and cook until golden. Repeat with remaining batter.

Serve with honey, maple syrup, fruit, ice cream or frozen yogurt, or enjoy plain! 🥞🫐

✨ Notes ✨

I like to add cardamom to my blueberry pancakes, and of course vanilla. You can add other spices like cinnamon and ginger!

Technically, Raistin makes waffles instead of pancakes. But this is the recipe I use for blueberry pancakes/waffles. You can use a waffle maker like he did to make waffles instead of pancakes!

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