13 The Polaroid

She wasn't prepared for an answer like that. Her heart had already been racing from the moment he walked into the room earlier. It always did this when she was near him, even though their history was complicated. Her body wanted to be near him, and her heart wanted to know that he wanted her too. 

It was a strange ache in her body that she knew was bad for her, but she needed to feel it. 

Staying here was a bad idea, and the room suddenly felt too loud.

She cleared her throat. "Listen... Sky... Right now– It's just not a good time."

He gave her a half-smile. "I know," he said. "I'm a sentimental idiot. But I'm confident I can clear up my name pretty quickly. Do you have any other questions?"

"Uh... no, I'm good. I think I've asked all the pressing questions I had for now." She just wanted to clear the air.

"Okay, good," he said simply. The Sky God turned to the criminal investigation board and removed his photo from the wall. "We won't be needing this here then. I look horrible in this miniature– urr... polaris."

"Polaroid," she corrected him, looking at the camera in her hands. Something in her head begged her to lighten the thick atmosphere, as her beating heart was still running wild in her chest. "Look, I uh– I'm sorry about the bad polaroid. Let me take a better one of you." She really wanted to change the subject.

He knew what Moon was trying to do. Her face had softened as her eyebrows arched hopefully. She was reaching out an olive branch for now.

"I'll make you look good...?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. She even gave a small smile. She looked beautiful.

He couldn't say no to her even if he had wanted to. "Alright then," he said. "What do you want me to do?"

Moon thanked the constellations that Sky was giving in. She reached out and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him away from the wall and positioning him in front of the grand window. She couldn't keep her fingers on his arms for long, as a warm tingling sensation was left behind on her hands where she had touched him. It had been centuries since she had last touched him.

Ahhhh... Don't think about it, she thought. Do think about it. No. Just don't. Her brain was working against her.

"Erm, just stand here. There's better lighting. It will make your polaroid look better." She barely squeaked that out.

Feeling the remnants of where she had touched him on his arm, and fighting the urge to pull her to him, he took a step closer to the window. "Here, is this better?"

"Uh-yes! Much better. Now stand still and give me one of your award-winning smiles." She pulled the polaroid up to her face to look through the lens, and fiddled with it until it framed the deity in view.

Sky felt a bit awkward. For a moment, he wondered if he had even combed his hair when he climbed out of bed this morning. He just shook his head and flashed her a smile, uncertain how all of this was supposed to work.

He heard a click, and Moon yelled excitedly, "Perfect!" The contraption she was holding made a whirring noise, and something began to slide out from the front of the Polaroid camera. The goddess held onto the Polaroid and shook it for a bit as she waited for the photo to appear.

Sky came up to her side, peering over her shoulder at the Polaroid in her hand.

"What is it doing?" he asked curiously.

"I think it's 'processing,'" she answered. "At least that's how Eureka described it. Ahhh! Look, it's ready!"

Both deities stared at the polaroid cradled in her hand.

Well, he certainly understood the assignment, she thought with a smile. The Sky God looked immaculately handsome in the small photo. His piercing green eyes stared back at her from the polaroid, and his roguish smile beckoned her to him. He looked relaxed and incredibly amused in the photo. Moon loved it. It was him.

Sky wasn't sure how he felt about it. It was unnerving to see his likeness looking back at him. This contraption produced it so quickly. Did it capture a part of his soul perhaps? Was it a mirror that captured a frozen moment?

"Do you like it?" Moon asked, curious at his thoughts.

He looked conflicted. "I admit. I'm not used to this. It will take me a while to understand this," he gestured at the photo and camera.

She nodded understandingly. The inventions by the God of Innovations can be a bit too much sometimes. "Do you want to keep the polaroid?"

He paused thoughtfully for a moment. "I'm good," he said. "You can keep it for your lonely nights." Then, his expression turned devilish. His voice turned husky. "But can I have one of you? For my lonely nights?"

She groaned loudly, shaking her head in disbelief but unable to stop herself from chuckling. "You are such a hopeless flirt!" she said with a playful smile.

He grinned mischievously at her, then reached out and gently pulled her into his arms. "You know you love it," he said, his voice full of teasing.

If Moon was having a hard time controlling her heart before, it was now about to leap out of her chest. She could feel the flush from her face as she stared up at him. His roguish smile was still planted there on his lips, inviting her in with a dare.

He was right. It really had been a long time. She couldn't control the heat emanating between their two bodies at all. It would be so easy to lean up and plant a simple kiss on his lips. She knew the kiss would be soft too. But there lies the problem: It wouldn't just be a simple kiss. It couldn't be.

He was slowly leaning in now. Her eyes started to close accepting the inevitable. She couldn't hear anything but her heart beating. She didn't want to think about the ramifications of this at all. The heat coming from him was literally going to melt her.

Then came the loud knocking on the door. Both Gods froze, their bodies tensing up, their face centimeters apart from one another.

Another knock on the door.

Moon's eyes flew open as reality crashed back in. She hastily pushed herself out of his arms as she stepped away from him. She vaguely heard Sky cursing under his breath.

"Who is it?!" he growled, raking his hand through his hair in irritation.

"My Lord, it's me." It was Atlas's voice from the other side of the door. "The Creator sent over a messenger. He is at The Goddess's home and is asking for your presence there. He is requesting for the Lady Goddess to be there too, if possible."

"Understood. We will be there," Sky replied with a frown.

The soldier's steps could be heard stepping away from the door and down the hall.

Moon had managed to calm herself down during the short exchange, and got her body temperature to lower significantly.

The Sky God sent a hopeful look her way. "A raincheck for later?"

"Nope," she said with an emphasis on the 'p' as she walked past him to open the door. "Definitely nope."

He cursed again. She chuckled and walked out the door.