Chapter 6: Emre

"I believe I would go by the same words." Emre shared his views on his question as he grabbed his bottled water from his pack, unscrewed its cap and gulped down its content.

"Just to inquire --- did any of you two come across the headlines yesterday? Especially, the one concerning news from the Capital?" Yue asked, with an apple in her hand. Livingstone cocked his head in her direction whereas Emre tilted his, in her direction.

"I sure did," Emre answered.

Yue turned her head in Stone's direction. She was eager to hear his reply on her question.

"You know very well that I've no time to waste on petty headlines," he uttered, irritation laced his voice.

"It's fine. I'm sure Emre can tell us something about it, since I also fall in the category of civilians who hardly keep up with news updates," she blurted, brushing off the sudden change in his attitude. "You would update us on what you know, right, Emre?"

Emre nodded.

"Well regarding that, it's nothing related to the out-gone Combatants. Rather, it's related to a new invention on the part of infrastructure," he began. "Head of The Council, Vladimir Vince announced that an underwater civic center, alongside an aviary which would shelter the new breeds of birds, is set to be built on the beds of the ocean, Gadeux, in the Capital. According to him, this would form part of his upcoming projects in the years to come. Moreover, the layouts for both designs are complete, and ready to be set into motion."

Livingstone found the news a bit skeptical. This is exactly what The Council was good at. They wash and cover their bad deeds with an act of good deed, indirectly making a fool out of their citizens by letting them trail in the muds they leave behind, like true puppets.

"Isn't that amazing, Stone!" Yue gushed out excitedly with laughter. "A civic center and an aviary, all standing tall underwater. That would be like walking on the beds of the sea and breathing in oxygen without drowning," she said dreamily. Without a doubt, she was caught up in the wings of her wild imaginations.

Emre cleared his throat in order to gain their attention and said: "In my opinion, I think that this is a good initiative on the part of The Council."

"It certainly is," Yue agreed with glee. Gaining her composure; she switched back to her normal self. "Do you know that aside from Emre's love for anything artistic just like yourself; he's also into inventions? Call it an obsession, but you won't believe me if I told you that he's really good at it."

Well, at least that's safe for me to say that I don't believe you.

"And what are some of his notable inventions, if I may ask? A GT13 mega trioid, an android or let me guess...maybe a simple electronic appliance?" he questioned, sarcasm coated his words. He looked to his side to meet her gaze and forced a smile.

After siding with her conscience to not dismiss this unapologetic side of him, she gave his leg a brute kick from the side. He instantly felt the effect of the pain since she was sitting so close to him, and brought his hand down to soothe the pain. She peered at him and flashed him a sweet forced smile.

"I doubt it's necessary to share that now, since my current work isn't yet complete," Emre uttered. Realizing that he had received a message on his device, he stood up abruptly after reading it. "I've got to catch up with something at the moment. Guess, I would see you guys later. It was nice making an acquaintance with you, Livingstone."

He spared a brief look in Stone's direction, and he in turn, nodded in reply.

"You like him, don't you?" He turned to his side to face Yue, when he realized that Emre was out of earshot. He tilted his head to the left, and looked down to meet her eyes.

"Is it that obvious?" she asked instead, without a second thought. As if coming to her senses; she shrugged. "He looks like a good guy, that's all."

He noticed that her cheeks and neck were slowly gaining colour, contrasting wildly with her skin.

"Are you blushing?" he teased, pointing a finger at her neck region.

She gasped, then slapped his finger. Not knowing what else to do, she chuckled nervously. Livingstone chortled.

"This stays between us," she waved vaguely between them, with a not-so-threatening voice. "If Colai ever gets to hear about this, you're toast."

"I know. You don't always have to threaten me to stay quiet. It makes you sound more android than human," he joked.

"Thankfully, I'm human. I'm capable of feeling emotions and much more. That's the difference." She clasped her hands together on the table, and threw him a real smile.

He smiled back.

Later that day, Livingstone entered his home, after gaining access. He was careful with his steps. The last thing he wanted was to encounter his aunt. With feathery steps, he approached the stairs.

"Stone," Aunt Una chirped, causing him to halt on the sixth step.

He groaned inwardly, and pinched the bridge of my nose out of irritation, but went ahead to keep a forced smile on his face as he pivoted on his spot to face her. She stood with an apron around her waist and a dishcloth in her hand. The grin etched on her face made her look younger from afar. "I see you're back early,"

She walked up to him, and pulled me into a hug.

He froze, more like --- he wasn't expecting it. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her and patted her on the back, in an awkward manner. Her strong jasmine scent invaded his senses, as he succumbed to them.

She pulled away from the hug and peered into his eyes. In that moment, he wished for only one thing: to know what she was thinking. Her eyes crinkled at the expression on his face, and a smile played at the corners of her mouth as she took a step back to take in his height. "I didn't expect you to be home this early, but I'm glad you are."

"My schedule for today wasn't as tight as yesterday's schedule," he explained.

With that being said; she nodded with that same smile.

"Come, I made supper," she said, taking his hand in hers, in an effort to pull him behind her trail.

He stopped her by not moving an inch. She turned to face him as her brows knitted in confusion. Looking downward at his attire; he voiced, "I need to change first."

As if realizing his point, she cast a glance at his outfits and raised a thump up. "Make sure you come down in six minutes." She pointed a finger at him and strode in the direction of the kitchen.

Coming down shortly as anticipated, he made his way to the dining room and plopped down in his seat behind the triangular table. Aunt Una served him as soon as she regarded his presence. She sat adjacent to him, raised her hands in prayer and began to feast to her meal. They ate in thick silence until she became the first to break it.

"I was at the hospital today," she started. She dapped her mouth her with the napkin beside her plate, and raised a glass of water to her lips. "According to the doctor, I'm making progress,"

"I'm happy for you. Trust me, I truly am," He said honestly.

She was silent for a while as though she was pondering on another matter, then she spoke: "I know."

She stretched forth her hand across the table and took his right hand in hers. She surprised him by giving it a little squeezed, and then proceeded to continue eating. Stone looked down at their intertwined hands and reminisced all the memories he'd of her. Out of sheer love for this remarkable woman, he gave her hand a light squeeze and let go of it afterwards.

"So, care to share with your only aunt, how your day went?" she asked in a teasing tone.

He sighed not knowing where exactly to start from.

"It was pretty normal. I had lectures, proceeded to have lunch with Yue and then made an acquaintance."

She kept nodding as he spoke, digesting the breakdown of his day with interest.

"When you said, 'had lunch with Yue'-- were you referring to Yuei Suzuki, as in the daughter of Dr Zhang Suzuki. The same doctor who worked on your health twelve years ago?" she asked, her brows crinkled in thought.

"Yes. She's the same person I'm referring to," he replied. Her brows eased their muscles at his words.

"Knowing that you two gained admission into the same university is fascinating enough, if you ask me," she said, breaking eye contact to slice through her meat. "I always saw how attached and protective she felt towards you, since the very first day you two met. It's only normal that she would follow you to the same university you find yourself in. All the same, tell me --- are you two dating now?"

Livingstone was caught off guard by her last statement. He choked on the raw radish dipped in good butter and flaky salt in his mouth, and hastily grabbed the nearest glass of water beside his plate. Placing the empty glass down in content; he ran his hand through his hair.

"We are not dating. How can you even allow such a thought to cross your mind? Yue has always been like a sister to me, and she will remain that way. That is how I see her...like a sister," he grunted, his voice strained from the cough.

Her expression toward his words was truly a hard one to crack, as they went back to eating in silence. He looked up from his plate when he was done eating to meet her gaze on him. She studied his face intently and smiled, though he could tell that it didn't reach her eyes.

"Is there something on my face I should know about?" he asked concerned.

"No. It's just that you share a striking resemblance...with her. You look more and more like her each day," she murmured.

"Who?" he queried, confused.

"Iris," she said simply, meeting his eyes.

"Who is Iris?" he asked out of genuine curiosity.

"Your mother."