It was a warm, sunny afternoon on which the sun was casting a golden hue across the grass in the park that stretched out under an old oak tree.
There weren't many people in the park that day. A few children played on the swings, a couple walked past them with a dog tugging excitedly at its leash and in the corner of the park, there was an old man who was reading a newspaper under the shade of a tree.
But for Adrian and Delphini at that moment, it was as if the rest of the world barely existed.
They sat on a patch of soft grass near the edge of the park where the ground had a gentle slope and the wildflowers grew with less restraint than the rest of the park's carefully managed beds.
It was quieter here.
A bit more unkempt.
A bit more forgotten.
This was why they had chosen that place which was hidden away from the rest of the world to prevent prying eyes from seeing what they were doing.
Delphini was sitting cross-legged as her hands rested gently on her knees.
There was a small blue flower in front of her.
Its petals were curled as it hadn't bloomed while its stem swayed faintly in the breeze. She stared at it with her arms outstretched towards it as if her entire purpose in life lay in her making that flower bloom.
Adrian lay on his side nearby propped up by one arm as his eyes squinted slightly in the sun.
"Okay," he said softly, "Now, you're focusing too much on forcing it."
Delphini glanced at him and said in an irritated tone, "I'm trying not to."
"I know," Adrian replied sitting upright as he brushed a bit of grass off his sleeve.
"But remember what I said? You are not forcing what you want to happen. You are inviting it."
She looked at the flower again and replied, "Invite it to what?"
"To trust you."
Adrian said with a small grin, "To bloom because it wants to. Not because you're pulling it open."
Delphini didn't say anything for a moment as she tried to understand what his words meant, trying to decipher them in a way that allowed her to perform the action she wanted to do.
She nodded slowly at him and then closed her eyes.
She took a couple of deep breaths and then she reached out to the flower, not physically with her hand but with her will.
Adrian watched quietly as he didn't need to close his eyes to try and feel to see what she was doing.
Those shards were already there.
They always were.
Golden, glittering fragments floated in the air around her fingers. They pulsed gently around her hands as her focus settled and it danced around her hands.
But then, after a couple of seconds, the pattern had scattered.
Adrian shifted a little closer to her and said, "They're moving too wide."
He said with a voice calm and low, "Pull them towards the centre more. They are a bit too far away from the bud of the flower and remember when you bring it near the flower, make sure you have a clear intent on helping it grow.
He reached forward and passed his hand through the space just above hers.
To anyone else, it would have looked like he was gesturing at nothing.
But Delphini knew better.
She had learned to trust what Adrian could see, because every time he said something, it had always been right.
She adjusted her motions as Adrian directed her.
For Adrian, in his eyes, the air shimmered faintly and those shards curved around the flower.
Slowly.
Gently.
The flower twitched in its place.
Its stem straightened out as its leaves unfurled stretching just slightly towards the light.
And then, in a few seconds, the petals opened up.
Delphini stared at the flower as she couldn't believe her eyes.
It was the first time that she managed to control her powers as she intended.
She had been guided by Adrian through the entire process but it still made her heart shift a little.
She was proud of herself for the first time in her life.
Adrian beamed at her and said, "See? You invited it."
Delphini let out a breath and gave a small nod.
"It's still hard."
"I know," he said as he started lying back down again and folded his arms behind his head.
"But you're getting better."
Delphini looked at the flower again as its pale blue petals fluttered softly in the cool breeze.
She murmured in a low tone, "You always say that."
"Because it's always true," Adrian said simply.
She glanced at his face sneakily.
He wasn't looking at her. He was admiring the sky above him as he blinked at the patches of white clouds above.
She watched him for a few seconds longer than she thought she was going to.
His hair was a mess as usual, curling slightly at the ends. His sleeves were rolled up and the edge of his shirt was untucked. His eyes were half-lidded and relaxed.
Comfortable as if he belonged exactly where he was.
He didn't look like someone who saw things others couldn't. He didn't look like someone who had slowly, patiently, taught her how to control a part of herself she hadn't even known how to name.
She said after a while, "I still don't know how you see them."
Adrian shrugged and said, "I don't know either. I am somehow able to do that."
"You talk about those shards."
"Yeah."
"Are they always there?"
He nodded and said, "Not always. But whenever 'magic' happens, they appear to move in a pre-determined motion. Around people. Around things."
Delphini lowered her gaze to the grass as if trying to focus on the flower.
"I don't see anything."
"You don't have to," Adrian said softly. "You feel them. That's enough."
She went quiet at his reassurance.
The wind brushed past them again lifting the edge of her scarf.
Adrian shifted a little, sat up and brushed grass from his back as he looked at her.
"I was thinking," he said, "about what we've been doing."
Delphini raised an eyebrow.
"What have we been doing?"
"This," he said motioning around them. "The flower. The shards. All of it."
She tilted her head and whispered, "Magic."
"Exactly."
There was a pause and then he added, "I don't think there's another word for it."
Delphini looked at her hands.
These Hands that once scared children, made objects fall. It made people whisper many things behind her back. She tried to keep up her emotionless pretence to prevent something like that from happening again.
And now, those same hands had bloomed that flower.
She said softly, "I used to think something was wrong with me."
Adrian didn't interrupt.
Delphini continued and said, "At the orphanage after that lamp fell. The way they looked at me was like I was something dangerous and creepy."
"You're not."
She glanced at him and said, "I know. Now. But then, I didn't. And even after I thought maybe it was just something broken in my head."
He was quiet for a moment and then said in a reassuring tone, "It's not broken. It's different."
Delphini gave a faint smile and said mockingly, "Same thing to most people."
Adrian looked at her thoughtfully and then asked her in a quiet tone, "Do you ever want to tell someone?"
She paused and contemplated a bit on the consequences of revealing what they can do and then shook her head as she said, "No."
He agreed with her and said, "Me neither."
"I don't think they'd understand."
"They'd probably think we're making it up."
"Or dangerous."
"Or crazy."
Delphini looked down at the flower between them.
It was still open and still glowing faintly at the edges like the magic hadn't quite left.
"We're not," she whispered.
"I know."
They sat in silence again.
A silence that didn't demand anything.
They had both gotten better at controlling their powers with time and patience.
They had learned to focus their intent, how to shape it and to use it in the world without fear.
Adrian had learned faster which was undeniable.
Sometimes Delphini watched the way Adrian did magic in seconds with a flick of his fingers. It felt as if he was sure of his intent and it's ability that he could perform magic without any hesitation.
The way his thoughts seemed to align with the magic like they were speaking the same language.
He didn't brag to her at all. Maybe, he didn't even seem to realise how naturally it came to him.
However, she noticed and marvelled at him for it.
"Do you think there are others?" she asked suddenly.
Adrian looked up as the thought of those two men in the hospital came to him and he replied, "Definitely."
She stared at him as she was surprised at his quick answer.
The thought of something like that happening was both comforting and frightening.
She didn't know which it was more.
The sun had started to dip slightly in the sky casting longer shadows across the field.
Adrian laid beside her as he folded his hands over his chest.
Delphini leaned back beside him sitting shoulder to shoulder as her legs were stretched out over the grass.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
They didn't need to.
It felt as if time had slowed just for them and the world had stepped away for a moment.
Adrian glanced at her for a second.
He saw a trace of something in her expression, calmness.
He smiled at her.
And when she looked at him smiling at her, a small smile adorned her face as well.
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