Do you feel cold and lost in desperation You build up hope but failure’s all you’ve known Remember all the sadness and frustration Iridescent by Linkin Park Mhakula Tea House Fall 69, 512 AV Mhakula Tea House… From Surya Plaza she had noticed the nice color and pretty ornaments, but she had never had an opportunity to check out the interior and what it offered. Until that night. Chance had thrown her holiday together with her friend’s, so Albireo was sitting inside and waiting. The cushions soothed her more than expected, a relief from too many wooden chairs at work, and the yellow walls reminded her of Syna’s neverending light. An elderly man had come to serve, suggested green tea as the house’s current specialty and served her a few minutes later. The cup was sitting in front of her on the low table, but she felt it impolite to drink before her friend arrived. As always, talking to Him meant peace of body and mind. My Lord, she is about to change. Part of me is afraid, part of me welcomes it, yet I cannot say what for. I pray for enlightenment. However, her visions weren’t of bright daylight, but of the dim and pale shine that reigned sky and earth in that bell. And then the door opened. Candlelight fell outside and lit the incoming silhouette: scrawny, blonde, pretty in an unkempt way, moving in a chaotic manner. Quite unlikely to forget her, it was. Albireo rose when Carnelian spotted her and they fell into each other’s arms. Physical contrast became naught between these two: Neither in height was it noticed nor between otherworldly and earthly beauty. “How’ve you been?” the pretty human doll said in a slur of not so pretty words while sitting down and touching the cushion, the table wood. The Ethaefal, magnificent as ever with pale gold hair and horns a shade of butter, still avoided wasting words. “Where have you been?” Obviously no physical place. Having lived and traveled together, they shared threads of deep red understanding. “Here and there, mostly drifting”, Carnelian explained. Private joke of near-meaninglessness. “Found me some work.” The slightest of nods: Continue, it whispered. “The beginning was hard, but I got some sort of routine now. Can breathe again. Easy to guess what I thought of first, yes?” A faint quirk of lips indicated just that. Although a being of the flesh, Carnelian lusted for immaterial pleasure, ecstasy. “Morphing. I want to do it, get into it again. I’ve a favor to ask of you.” “I’m all ears.” A weak metaphor for one such as her, but Carnelian reduced her to nothing in the eye of worldly pleasure. Having played that role in red light for a lifetime, her young friend reeked of it as if it was perfume, an especially exquisite flavor. Not that an Ethaefal knew anything, but Lhavitian women liked to smell good. Even on their way to the market. “You know I’m terrible with letters, yeah? So, I need information on an animal I want to practice with. It’s called a bighorn sheep, native to Lhavit. A colleague told me. You still work at the library, I hear?” “Your tidings are right”, Albireo said, yet puzzled at the way Carnelian leaked information. Never had she visited and the reason was easy to imagine. “Asking the librarian to do research for you, aren’t you?” A raised brow indicated many things, question, dislike, more… Carnelian pouted. The innocent girl had always been her favorite role. “You know, I’m not even allowed inside! They need a contribution, right? How by Nikali should I get a contribution to a library?” “The one who seeks shall find”, Albireo pointed out, but her words were all but lost to her friend. She knew it too. So with a sigh came defeat or what couldn’t even be called defeat. “You are my friend. I will do it.” And the light of pleasure spread over that pretty face. Raising her cup, Carnelian smiled. “Thanks, man! We’ll get to meet more often too!” They clinked cups, more or less, and the tea soothed temperaments and doubts. Whatever it was that made Albireo hesitate, there were no words, so it fell apart at first touch. No, her friend needed her skills and she needed practice. Bharani Library was her empire and for Carnelian she held the key to these mysteries. Working for someone else would distract her thoughts and longings too. |