And of course, my body responds in kind.
Eyes squeezed shut, I press my other hand to his chest, feeling the strange contrast of warmth and coolness from the golden and silver lines. My fingers almost seem to turn translucent in the glow of the patterns beneath them.
"I’m so lonely," I whisper, my voice breaking. "No one else understands me. My brother, Moon… he saw fragments of the future, jagged visions that tore him apart. His difference made him feel alone and desperate. He turned to drugs, drifted down dangerous paths, and ended up as a mafia bride. Then… I hadto replace him. Sometimes I’m terrified I’ll collapse under my power the same way he did. And take a turn onto a dark path."
Snow watches me in silence, no judgment in his eyes, only attentiveness.
Now that I can speak freely, the words flow out of me with no resistance from the choking pain. It feels so good.
"You know, I grew up homeschooled, shut away so no one would discover my secret. I don’t know what dating feels like. I’ve never been to a movie theater. Or a restaurant. With a guy. I rarely even left the house." My words come out somewhat bitter. "I hate it. I hate not being normal. I want a boyfriend, a family, kids. Simple life. But instead, I can’t even let people close to me. I just want someone who understands. Someone who feels like me."
My voice falters, my breath catching. My fingers press harder against his chest painted with light, as if it were my lifeline through the fog.
"Snow… is that you?"
He raises his hand, brushing his fingers gently across my cheek. I shiver, but not with fear. His touch is different, making me alive, sparking across my skin like tiny embers. And indeed, there are tiny static flashes in the air.
My eyes flutter shut, waiting, hoping he’ll keep going, keep giving me more sparks. But instead, he speaks.
"I’ve felt that way my whole life, Summer. I don’t see the world the way other people do, so I never felt the urge to build deeper connections with them. Nobody would understand. Heck, even I didn’t understand what I could do. It took me a long time to figure it out."
"What do you mean, you see things differently? The synesthesia thing?"
"Do you want to see? I can share my gift for a moment."
"Yes!"
Snow’s hands gently cradle my face, and his eyes brighten, locking into mine.
And then… everything changes.
The world hums with a million melodies.
The forest stirs to life, trees shift their forms, and I see billions of pulses flowing through them like living rivers of energy. I see their true nature. Grass and flowers ripple with color, and sound takes on shades, while colors sing. Every sound has its own scent, every scent has its own sound, and it all floods me with so much stimulation that I groan, stunned by how vivid, vibrant, and alive the fabric of the universe really is. And it’s… heavy, intense!
So many things I had been blind to, but he… he sees it all. It’s overwhelming, yet breathtaking.
And then, suddenly, Snow pulls his hands back. Everything collapses again, flattening into two dull dimensions, lifeless as a sheet of dark paper. The only thing left shimmering is the dance of tiny butterflies around us.
"What was that?" I manage to whisper.
"Well, my synesthesia. My senses perceive the world in an extra way. That’s how I’ve lived since I was a child. My parents never understood why I barely spoke, but it felt like trying to scream over a band playing at full volume. Breaking through all that takes effort."
"Funny, it’s similar with this fog of amnesia inside me; it’s hard to break through to people. I feel cut off from the world, and talking is exhausting. It hurts."
His palms touch my cheeks again, but this time they don’t drown me in a flood of sounds and colors and scents. It’s a different touch: gentle, soothing, sweet… and sensual. I exhale sharply.
I want a kiss. And he seems to read it straight from my mind. He leans down—he has to lean a lot—and our lips brush.I moan into his mouth, my hands pulling him closer by his hard shoulders as hunger rises inside me.
His fingers slide down my back, tracing over my skin in a slow, thrilling way. The hardness in my pants becomes painful. My lower head starts to overrule the upper one, but then Snow suddenly pulls back. I gasp in disappointment.
"Maybe you’d like to go on a date with me, Summer? Since you’ve never been on one, would you let me take you?" He gives me a soft smile.
I snort as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world.
"Deal!"
"There’s a beautiful oceanarium in a coastal city, with glass tunnels under the sea. You can walk through coral hills and watch marine life in its natural environment."
