❒ courtyard

@ᴇɴᴢᴏ ᴄᴀʟʜᴏᴜɴᵐᵘᵗᵃⁿᵗ in the buoyant voice that hollowed out the dead of night, xiaowei could not help but to leap in surprise and fear. her eyes trudge over to the figure whose deep rumble resounded into the courtyard. fingers clutching at her flimsy nightgown, she responds in a tone inferior to the one with which he greeted her, “you surprised me! i don’t do well with surprises, and your loud voice will give us away, shh!!”

even as she said this, xiaowei is too familiar with how the wind is jostling the petals of the flowerbed. the light poles don both their figures a quiet silver as if their bodies have been carved into the twilight. it is certainly a gloomy evening, but xiaowei has quite a hunch that this man might just turn the night upside down.

she glances at the silence around her, not noticing any strange movement except for the quiet rustle of the bushes here and there as well as the night wind carrying with it the smell of flowers. xiaowei could identify roses amongst them, and as she looks to, a question has budded into the tip of her tongue.

“what’s your name again?”

she is certain she has seen him multiple times before, especially in between the long files of the hallway, bodies squeezing past each other. his eyes are a pair of blue which have imprinted its outline into her brain, like the glint of the ocean as the shine catches onto.

“i’m also so sorry for acting so rudely, but you deserve it! i wanted to check in on the plants, and yet you’re here bothering me. keep quiet before people even start noticing we’re both out of our quarters!” she sneers despite the hint of a smile chasing down into her whispered voice.

@ᴅᴜᴀɴ xɪᴀᴏᴡᴇɪᶠᵃᵉ enzo took quite the liking to the season of spring. it was neither too hot, nor was it too cold which was something the young cryokinetic could take to accommodating with as terms of some sort of seasonal compromise. so long as it did not deter with his well-being and ultimately getting the most out of his days and nights? then all the better. however, speaking of nights. the darker the skies, then the stronger his flow of power accelerated.

it was the utmost perfect timing for enzo to feel at ease, not inhibited by much, especially the anguish of heat amongst other restrictions brought about with the institute. for him, it was all the more just as easy to make most of the campus vicinity his personal playground. light as ever on his feet, enzo glided with ease across the ground beneath his feet with bursts of ice following his each and every step as support, replicating his own rendition of ice skating at best.

usually, there was not a place in particular that would be set as a destination for enzo and his ever so prominent wanderlust. tonight too, would also seem to reward him for his unending curiosity to explore as his eyes of pristine cerulean blue are soon zooming in to a rather familiar figure ahead. now, he does remember crossing paths upon this area at least a couple of times. however, to say that he came across the female in particular would be a lie.

and so, such mystery only called for a gleam of potential adventure, and a good enough reason for enzo to cheekily chime in with a grin as he’s stopping a couple of safe spaces behind her. “weiwei, what you got goin’ there? got something worth hiding again?”

@ᴇɴᴢᴏ ᴄᴀʟʜᴏᴜɴᵐᵘᵗᵃⁿᵗ spring breeze coming in.

xiaowei has had no difficulty identifying which flowers have bloomed throughout the day. they do so in different colors like fresh bruises appearing on pale skin, the scents of which loosely carried so by the wind as droplets of spring dew. and it isn't as if these flowers call out to her with her name spelled out in varying degrees of the english alphabet — no, flowers map out these changes in details, arousing her attention to wake despite what hour of the day it may be.

xiaowei quirks up in full attention, sensing that another round of flowers have blossomed under the dreary moonlight peeking through the square of her apartment window. 'oh yes, yes yes! yes!' she chants in her mind like an incantation waiting to be answered because it has been. these flowers that she's been tending to the past week are ones which have almost withered. these are venus flytraps, and someone! someone has been giving them tap water to feed (which by the way is too alkaline).

and so, even if it may present a problem, xiaowei neglects the injured tome of her book and instead rouses herself to walk through a few steps into the courtyard, closing ever so gently the apartment door so that she may not leave any traces of her presence in the hallway.

she knows exactly that the courtyard is off limits during this time of night (it's 10pm for god's sake!), but she leaves no heed to the massive sign propped up next to the pillared entrance. in a fit of red, gigantic letters, it renders, "no students allowed!"

the edges of which pockmarked and frayed, evident of the fact that it's been used years before and has seen better days. xiaowei does not care; she merely continues through the entrance down to where the venus flytraps could be located all the while humming to herself.