The two sat there in a comfortable silence for what must've been at least half an hour as they shared the candy between themselves.

But eventually, as Rene's fingers tapped the tin, he noticed it was empty. "Oh damn... Guess we're all out."

He was a bit disappointed; he didn't expect he would be lacking the sweets so soon, but he was glad he didn't eat them all by himself.

"Oh? That's unfortunate... Mind if I keep the tin? I really liked these; I want to ask my sister if she could get some more for me..." Marina said as she extended her palm to Rene.

Rene put the thin metal tin in her palm and stopped to think for a second, "Why your sister?"

Marina looked at him, her face displaying a deep suppressed frustration, her tone being no different. "Well... You know, I can't go into the market alone... Way too many people willing to rob the disadvantaged today."

She looked down at the dark gray blanket that covered her legs, her gaze seeming dejected.

"Oh... I see." A sense of shame crept up his spine as he realized how stupid the nature of his question was.

"I... I can take you to the market; besides... I missed some things I needed to get," Rene said as he shook the woven basket he had used to carry the things he bought from the market. He was lying about forgetting to purchase something, but he didn't want to sound like he was doing it out of some sense of pity.

Marina thought the invitation over in her mind; Rene was strange but not off-putting.

In her eyes he truly did mean well, even if his questions were slightly hurtful at times.

Marina nodded and reached her hands out. "Well then, shall we go? I'll carry the basket; you push me."

He obliged to her request happily and put the basket on her lap. He got behind her and put his hands on the handles of the wheelchair. "So do I just... push?"

Rene said as he turned his head to look at her, Marina nodded and chuckled to herself, "Yes, yes... Just try to not slam me into anything... or anyone for that matter."

She covered her mouth as she continued chuckling at her own joke; Rene let out a short chuckle too.

"Alright, alright. I promise I won't," he said as he slowly started pushing her forward and away from the bench, along the brick path that led back into the city.

The journey back into the market was peaceful and uneventful as the morning slowly turned to noon; most of the market stalls were closing up shop for the day.

A sense of disappointment ran through the both of them as they came to the stall, seeing the sellers were gone now. "Oh... That's a shame."

She bowed her head in disappointment and sighed; she should've guessed the market would be closing soon and that they couldn't possibly get there fast enough.

"Yeah... a shame." Rene sighed too as he looked around; his eyes fell upon a small and unoccupied-looking cafe in the distance.

Suddenly he started guiding Marina towards it, "Ah, Rene? Where are we going?"

Marina turned back to look at him as he pushed her towards it. "Well, the idea was finding more sweets; I'm assuming cafes here have them... Right ?"

Rene slowed down slightly as he awaited her confirmation; Marina nodded slowly and looked back at the shop with a keen eye, "Yeah... They do, most of them at least."

With her confirmation, he continued pushing at his regular pace. She was surprised to say the least; Marina had fully expected their paths to part as soon as they got out of the market.

She wasn't sure about his intentions, but she didn't mind the company either.

He paused as they arrived at one of the tables, seemingly in deep contemplation.

In silence, Rene let go of the wheelchair's handles and walked over to the table. Pulling one of the chairs out and placing it closer to the other chair, he approached Marina to push her closer, but she put her hand up, "I can do it myself, thanks."

She said as she rolled closer to the table, putting Rene's basket under it.

Rene pulled out a chair for himself and sat down across from her; they both sat there in silence waiting for a waiter to approach. "They sure are taking their time..."

Marina said as she leaned her head on her hand, and almost like clockwork, she saw a waiter walk up to them.

"Good evening, madam; good evening, monsieur." The waiter spoke as he looked at them, "What will it be?"

Marina waited for Rene to order, but Rene was waiting for her to order. She sighed as she picked up on it: "Cafe au lait and two eclairs for me."

She said as she turned her head towards Rene, he shook his head and stammered as he looked at the menu, "Ah... Café au lait and one pain au chocolat."

Rene sounded unsure of himself as he ordered; it was clear he didn't know how to order coffee. "Good choice; it will be ready soon."

The waiter nodded as he walked back into the cafe; Marina snickered as she shook her head, "Why are you so shy all of a sudden?"

She asked before tilting her head to the side slightly, "You don't see this as a date? Right..."

Marina sounded slightly worried behind her facade of humor.

At the mention of the word, Rene turned red and started shaking his head, "No, no! Of course not... I simply never ordered coffee before, so I don' exactly know what to order."

He started laughing as his blush subsided.

"I'm sorry I seem so eager. You're just the first person I've met in a long time who seems to be glad with my company. And doesn't just give me grief."

Rene scratched the back of his head, unsure of why he was being this honest with someone he had just met; maybe he was simply afraid of pushing her away by making her think he had ulterior motives.

"Oh, that makes sense..." Marina sighed in relief, but her face slowly shifted from relief to confusion. "How come you've never ordered coffee before? I mean, I assume you've lived here for some time. Do you just not like coffee or...?"

She seemed genuinely confused. How can someone live in France for so long and not know how to order coffee? "And here I thought the French were serious about their coffee."

Marina said before Rene could even think of a response, "Oh, you're not French?"

The topic suddenly switched as it finally clicked in Rene's head that she indeed wasn't French: "No... I'm Italian."

Now it all made sense to him; the tan and the hair now seemed fitting as she confirmed his previous guess, "You got a problem with it?"

Suddenly, Marina's tone turned angry, but Rene saw right through her and knew she was simply guarded.

"No, I've simply never met someone from Italy before." Rene put his elbow on the table and leaned his head on his hand. "How is it down there? Heard it's very warm.

He spoke with a curious tone; this unexpected question surprised Marina, and she took a second to compose herself again, sighing before she spoke, "Sorry... Some people here still hold a grudge because of the war."

Marina sighed again, this time in relief, "How is it? It's... It's nice, very warm, yes. Haven't been there in a while, though."

She sounded dejected once more as their drinks and desserts arrived. "Here you go; enjoy," the waiter said as he put their order down on the table from his circular tray.

The two thanked the man as he walked back into the cafe with a practiced step. Rene looked down at the two small plates and saw the cup of coffee, which had a frothy white foam on top of it, and the brown, flaky pastry, which stood on their respective plates in front of him.

"As you people would say it, bon appétit." Marina chuckled as she raised the cup up to her lips and took a measured sip.

Rene followed suit and took a sip too; he swished the warm liquid in his mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. Despite the milk, the coffee was a bit more bitter than he'd like, but it wasn't bitter enough to ruin the taste.

He took another larger sip this time, savoring the taste.

Marina took a bite of one of the eclairs she ordered; the smooth, buttery sweetness of the dough and cream was nicely contrasted by the bitterness of the chocolate frosting on top. She wiped the deep brown frosting from her lips with the side of her thumb and looked up at Rene, a somewhat pensive look on her face. "Hey, uh... Rene, I want to ask you something... It's kind of dumb, though."

Rene tilted his head slightly, preparing himself for the question, "Hm? Feel free to."

He steeled himself as he looked straight into her eyes.

Marin breathed in, trying to find the right words. "Why do you... Why do you dress that way?"

It was a question Rene expected; he even thought it was strange that she didn't ask it before.

He sighed deeply as he prepared himself to speak, "Bear with me here..."

Rene paused again, never breaking eye contact with Marina. "Remember when I said I used magic to make the blood go away?"

Marina blinked rapidly and nodded as she remembered, "Yeah... I thought you were joking."

He shook his head from side to side slowly. "Yeah, how do I say this... I'm a witch."

Marina started to laugh, but as soon as she saw Rene's deathly serious face and even slightly worried face, she stopped, "Oh... Wait, really?"

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Marina sounded confused yet highly intrigued; she leaned in closer towards him. "I thought witches were supposed to be girls. Unless you are a girl... You are a boy, right?"

Rene laughed uncontrollably at her last statement; he had been caught off guard hard.

He took a second to compose himself before he spoke again, "Oh... Yes, I get that one a lot, even from other witches. And yes, I am a boy."

She chuckled along with him, "You truly are an intriguing one. But that doesn't answer my question: Why do you dress like that?"

Marina tilted her head once more; Rene was confused but relieved at the fact Marina simply brushed off the fact he's a witch.

There was no fear, disgust, or revulsion in her tone or face; there was only a burning curiosity.

"Well, witches have a sort of... dress code." He racked his brain trying to find the right words to explain himself, "Which I'm breaking anyways..."

Rene shook his head before speaking again, "But anyways, to answer your question. It's just how I dress. Nothing more to it."

Marina seemed slightly confused as she took another sip of her coffee. "So... dresses? You don't find wearing such clothes uncomfortable or embarrassing?"

He sighed deeply, slightly embarrassed as he had to explain his point of view to her, "Well, I grew up around people dressed like this; I was raised by a woman who dressed like this. This is my normal; this is just... how I dress."

She nodded in understanding and took a short moment to take a bite out of her eclair. "That makes sense. But didn't you see other men around you and how they dress differently than you and such?

She wiped her mouth of the dark frosting once more. Rene took another bite of his pastry before speaking. "Well... When I was younger, the only person I knew was my mother."

His words surprised her; his strange unawareness of the world now made slightly more sense to her. She thought Rene was just naive or maybe even slightly dense. "Really? Speaking of, you really do seem kind of sheltered..."

Rene chuckled silently; he shook his head and took a sip of coffee before he spoke. "Sheltered? Yeah, I guess I was."

He closed his eyes and exhaled, reminiscing about his childhood and how he spent most of his life in that single clearing, "But I can't blame her. The way people treat witches, the way they treat what they can't understand... It's all so cruel."

Rene racked his brain trying to justify his mother's way of raising him; he turned his gaze towards Marina once again. "I mean... Those boys, they treated you like that because you're different from them. People fear and mock what they don't understand."

He noticed how sorrowful Marina suddenly looked; she lowered her head dejectedly and let out a short breath, not being able to find the words or will to add to it.

"Can I ask something else?" Marina said as she raised her head up again, "Your hair... Is it dyed?"

She pointed her finger at his hair, which was flowing over his shoulders. "No, no... This is my natural hair color. Even my mother isn't exactly sure why it is such an odd color."

Rene ran his fingers through a strand of his long, pale, fuchsia-tinted hair. "Mind if I ask a question of my own?"

He pulled his fingers from his hair and turned his eyes towards Marina once more. "Well. I owe you a few.

She chuckled as a sense of self-awareness washed over her, realizing how many questions she asked, "How does it feel... Your legs, how do they feel?

Rene tried to ask as carefully as possible as he tried to drink faster before his coffee grew cold, "They don't."

Marina said coldly and straight to the point, taking a moment to figure out how she could explain her condition to him, "You see, a part of my spine doesn't work how it should. And I can only loosely feel anything below my hips. If it isn't obvious, I can't use my legs to walk anymore, though."

The pain in her voice was palpable as she spoke; even if she had to explain it a million times over, it never got easier.

Rene looked at her compassionately, trying to pick out the right words before he spoke. He took a final bite of his pastry before nodding his head and speaking in a soft tone, "I take it you've had to explain this before."

Marina sighed and simply nodded in confirmation, "You wouldn't know the extent of it... Everyone is always so damn curious; it's as if I'm a completely different species. Not just a person with a damn condition."

She ranted, venting out her inner frustrations to Rene, who was all too eager to listen, "I'm sorry for asking..."

He took one last sip of his coffee before putting the cup down, looking at the inky black sediment at the bottom.

"Don't apologize... At least you don't look at me with pity; you don't treat me like a damn child either... Which already puts you ahead of most of the people I've met."

Marina let out a final exasperated sigh before looking at Rene, a weak, almost appreciative smile spreading across her face, "Thanks, Rene... It's really been long since I've been able to spend the day with someone like this."

Rene looked up from his cup with a wide smile on his face; he was glad too, glad that he could enjoy his time with someone other than himself or his mother. "I greatly enjoyed our time today too."

Up until today, actually spending the day with a friend was a foreign concept to Rene; between his sheltered childhood and his even stricter studies, he never had the time to try and meet people.

And even the rare occasions when he attempted it, they would prove futile as he was far too different from them.

His mere existence seemed so queer to his peers, to the degree they could never properly connect with him.

Even if Marina didn't know he felt like that, she related to his unspoken words.

Her condition had made her feel so alienated from everyone else; being treated like a child constantly didn't help that feeling.

But here he sat across from her, a peculiar boy who saw her as what she truly was.

A person.

Rene turned his head towards the monolithic clock tower; it was already half past two. "Time does fly."

He whistled before turning his head towards Marina; she seemed somewhat worried and looked around before speaking, not being able to catch a good view of the clock, "Wait, what time is it?"

She said as she continued trying to stretch and catch a glimpse of the obscured tower.

"It's nearly twenty-five to three; I can't seem to get a good view... The sun is too strong."

He said as he squinted, trying to get a better view, he wasn't able to get a good view of the actual time, but he could approximate it.

The color seemed to drain slightly from Marina's face as she realized what time it is. "Oh... Oh gosh, I'll be late for lunch. My mother will be furious..."

Rene frowned at her words; he knew it wasn't wise to invoke the wrath of one's own mother. He waved the waiter over to their table and handed him the amount they owed.

Marina looked down at her one remaining eclair and then looked back at Rene; Rene noticed and stuck out his hand, silently telling her to have it for herself.

But Marina didn't oblige; she took the dessert and tore it into two halves, raising one up to Rene as she took the other half and bit into it.

Rene chuckled as he put the eclair into his mouth and quickly ate it, not using the proper time to savor it as he got up from his chair. "It will be faster if I push you, no?"

Rene pushed his chair forward to the table as he walked over to and behind Marina, offering to help her get home. Marina sighed in relief and picked up the basket of groceries from under the table. "Oh thank God... I thought I'd have to push myself over these bumpy roads... This was designed for horses, not wheels!"

Marina groaned in frustration, and Rene chuckled as he pulled her from the table and waited for her directions. "Yeah... Quite literally."

She looked around for the street's name, trying to orient herself. She squinted her eyes and mumbled to herself in a language Rene couldn't understand, "Turn left, then forward till... There, then I'll tell you where to turn, alright?"

Rene nodded and began pushing her just as she instructed; Marina mumbled again as she once again oriented herself based on the landmarks, shops, and street names. For someone who apparently doesn't go into the town much, she knew her way around it better than Rene. "Alright, alright... Now turn right and continue forward..."

He followed her lead, focusing on pushing her while at the same time taking in the many sights of the city; he was mesmerized, as he had never seen so deep into it.

The most Rene ever saw before today was the area in and around the market, back when Carmen used to take him with her to run errands.

The memories, although clouded and hazy, still brought him a deep sense of joy; the mere remembrance of his childhood brought the feelings back to him.

"What are you smiling about?" Marina chuckled as she turned her head to look at him; Rene snapped out of his reminiscing and shook his head. "Oh, nothing... I just remembered something from when I was a little boy."

Rene looked around the nearly empty streets as he heard Marina giggle, "Well... Where to?"

"We're at the destination." Marina said as she turned her head towards a medium-sized house with a black glimmering gated fence, the house was two stories tall, and the brick walls were painted a calming blue color.

"Oh? Quite a nice home you have." He said as he pushed her closer towards the gate, Marina pulled out a key from somewhere under the blanket that covered her legs and unlocked it with a soft click.

Rene pushed the gate open before returning to Marina, pushing her into her yard.

Before she reached in for her other key, she turned to look back at him, "Hey Rene... Would you maybe want to meet again someday?"

She waited hopefully for his answer, hoping she would see him again in the near future. "Oh yes, of course."

He nodded as a smile spread across his face; he was glad he finally had someone who wished to spend time with him. "Now you know where to find me. Feel free to come any time."

Marina smiled as she pushed herself up the ramp that led to the front door. She unlocked the door and pushed it open, but instead of going in instantly, Marina turned her head towards Rene again. "Hey, if you do visit... and my family says anything about your... your appearance... Please just ignore them."

Rene's smile faded slightly; his voice tone was one of understanding, if not one of self-consciousness.

"Yeah... Don't worry, I've heard it all before." He said as the smile returned to his face, the two waved each other goodbye as Marina pushed herself back towards the door, closing it behind her.

Rene stood at the gate for a moment, looking over at the house again before walking out and closing the gate behind him. He felt someone watching him and promptly snapped his head back towards the feeling.

Through the window, Rene saw Marina looking at him as he was preparing to walk away; she meekly waved back to him, her face showing her surprise at the fact he noticed her watching.

Rene smiled and waved back before finally walking away; he tried to orient himself back towards the market and back towards the forest.