The night was cold. Alexei could see his breath, little puffs escaping his mouth with every exhale. Condensation. As a thermokinetic, he had to be familiar with these processes, as they were the processes where the fundamentals his abilities were built upon. He was breathing out water vapor, which quickly lost its heat to the environment condensing into tiny water droplets or ice crystals. It was a simple process, but the result was always amusing to see, like making fog from his own mouth.
The weather reminded him of the cold winter nights he spent in the streets, or alleys, or abandoned buildings. He remembered huddling with the other homeless children. He remembered cupping his hands over his mouth to regain the heat he lost from breathing, the heat his breath lost to turn into that pretty, white puff. He remembered the cold, and how it seemed to follow him everywhere he went. How it started with his fingers and toes and ears and nose and crept into his body, its icy grasp digging into his skin.
He shivered. The cold had been getting to him again.
It’s about time he got to doing what he was here for in the first place. After unzipping his bag, he turned it over, emptying its contents on the floor (well, the roof). It was a pile of junk. There were a few books in the pile, books that Alexei had finished not long ago and no longer had any use for. There were papers, some crumpled, some torn, some perfectly intact. The invitation letter from Starlight Academy was there. There were all sorts of little bits and baubles, all sharing just one purpose.
He crouched near the pile and pulled his lucky lighter from his pocket. He didn’t need a lighter to start a fire, but it really helped him. It reminded him of the times everything was so simple. When he was just a normal boy living in the Saint Petersburg streets. He held the flame close the the papers until they caught fire.
It was a beautiful sight. The icy blues of his eyes melted away, reflecting the dancing yellows and oranges of the flame. He watched as it steadily spread, until it encompassed the whole pile of flammables. In the warmth of the fire, everything seemed to melt away. All his sorrows were drowned out by the gentle crackling of the flame. For that moment, the whole world seemed to burn. Beautiful, gentle, warm, steady.
The weather reminded him of the cold winter nights he spent in the streets, or alleys, or abandoned buildings. He remembered huddling with the other homeless children. He remembered cupping his hands over his mouth to regain the heat he lost from breathing, the heat his breath lost to turn into that pretty, white puff. He remembered the cold, and how it seemed to follow him everywhere he went. How it started with his fingers and toes and ears and nose and crept into his body, its icy grasp digging into his skin.
He shivered. The cold had been getting to him again.
It’s about time he got to doing what he was here for in the first place. After unzipping his bag, he turned it over, emptying its contents on the floor (well, the roof). It was a pile of junk. There were a few books in the pile, books that Alexei had finished not long ago and no longer had any use for. There were papers, some crumpled, some torn, some perfectly intact. The invitation letter from Starlight Academy was there. There were all sorts of little bits and baubles, all sharing just one purpose.
He crouched near the pile and pulled his lucky lighter from his pocket. He didn’t need a lighter to start a fire, but it really helped him. It reminded him of the times everything was so simple. When he was just a normal boy living in the Saint Petersburg streets. He held the flame close the the papers until they caught fire.
It was a beautiful sight. The icy blues of his eyes melted away, reflecting the dancing yellows and oranges of the flame. He watched as it steadily spread, until it encompassed the whole pile of flammables. In the warmth of the fire, everything seemed to melt away. All his sorrows were drowned out by the gentle crackling of the flame. For that moment, the whole world seemed to burn. Beautiful, gentle, warm, steady.
