The mist is usually gentle, stroking his skin with cool touches. This time it was wet, slobbering all over him with icy tongues. Rain splashed upon his skin from overhead.
Christopher: The sky is crying. This is supposed to be a good sign in the scribbler’s world. Her people need the rain. Don’t they?
Something thunders above in a dark cloud. The rain begins to pour, drenching Christopher.
There’s a light at the window of a cottage in the murky gloom, revealing the shapes of other cottages. They appear and reappear, as if uncertain if they’re part of the landscape or not.
A doorway opens. The other cottages disappear. There’s is only one, the source of the light beaming out from a home. It shines upon the tousled golden waves of the boy in the doorway, beckoning to Christopher.
Danyel: Quick, come in!
Christopher stumbled forward, not as quick as he’d like to be, but he makes it to the waiting doorway and crosses the threshold. Danyel closes the door behind him.
He’s in a kitchen. Another boy sits at a table, one identical to Danyel in appearance.
Christopher: Hello, Tayel. Thank you for inviting me in, Danyel.
Tayel: Hell followed by an o. How appropriate. (His voice is softer than his words as are his eyes, inspecting Christopher.)
Danyel: Shut up, Tayel. I was about to make us some tea.
The boy hurries to the kettle humming over the hearth, grabbing a quilted potholder, and lifts the kettle.
Christopher: (shivering) That’s very kind of you, but will any of us be able to drink that? Even though the fire is very welcome. Holding something warm would be welcome as well.
Tayel: Getting out of your wet clothes would be equally welcome.
Christopher: You’re losing some of your enigma, Tayel. That wasn’t much of a riddle. (He pulls off his black tunic, hesitates before revealing bare skin.)
Tayel: There’s is little to be revealed and nothing to be ashamed of.
Danyel: (his cheeks color as he pours water into a waiting teapot) It’s only polite to look away. Or turn your back, Tayel.
Tayel: (rolling his eyes) Awkwardness will only flourish in such shyness. (He still turns his back, a matching blush to Danyel’s in his cheeks.)
Christopher strips off his shirt and his pants, removes his boots. There’s a waiting blanket on one of the chairs.
Christopher: You were expecting me.
Danyel: Aren’t we always?
Tayel: Whether we’re ready or not.
Christopher: The feeling is mutual, but not unwelcome. (He covers himself with the blanket, leaving his arms free.)
Danyel brings over a couple of cups. Tayel turns around.
Danyel: You’ll be able to drink this. Some of it at least. It’s made from pixie tears, a flower which grows where Doors appear.
Tayel: Born between dream and reality much as we are. Able to consume us and be consumed.
Danyel: Hopefully we’ll be doing the consuming. (He goes to fetch a third cup for himself.)
Christopher: (raising his and breathing in its aroma; a perfume of roses, apples, and the air on an afternoon under a changing sky with Damian nearby) Where did you find this flower?
Danyel: Map grows it. We harvest it.
Christopher: So this is Map’s kitchen, her home.
He looks around, sees an archway leading into a cozy room filled with a bookshelves, a few chairs, and cushions scattered across the floor. There’s a space on that floor where a golden circle is painted.
The circle is exactly like the one in the Navel.
Danyel: (sitting down at the table with his own cup, near Christopher, across from Tayel) It’s magic, that circle. The little bit of magic Map allows.
Tayel shifts in his seat, looking a bit uncomfortable.
Christopher: You stand in the center and it transports you to another part of the cottage. A part that’s hidden from most, a secret sanctuary.
Danyel: (gazing at him with wide eyes) You make it sound far more magical than it is. This leads to Leiwell’s room. Only he gave it to us.
Tayel: Revealing too much may be neither welcome nor wise.
Christopher: Perhaps not, but I appreciate the revelation. (He picks up his cup, sips it.) This is very good.
Danyel smiles, blushing all the more. Tayel smiles, too, but it’s a tiny guarded smile.
Christopher: Since you revealed something to me, I’ll reveal something to you. I have a similar circle in my former home. It takes me from a shop up to where my bedroom was.
Tayel: The Navel. Where people coming looking things they didn’t know they were looking for. The center of all things bizarre.
Christopher: (nods, not entirely surprised Tayel knows this) According to my mother, yes.
Danyel: You said it was your former home. Don’t you live at the Navel anymore?
Tayel: Too many question open the Door to answers. (He gives an oddly protective glance at Christopher.) Answers hurt.
Christophr: Yes, they do, but I don’t mind answering. (He does his best to smile. It’s easier than he thought it would be.) I made a choice to leave my home behind.
Danyel: Why?
Tayel: Danyel.
Christopher: It’s all right. I needed to go on a journey, a quest to find something. To find someone. To do it, I had to leave my home behind.
Danyel: You can’t return home? (He leans forward, worry prickling his smooth brow.) Once you find what…who…you’re looking for?
Tayel sits very still in his seat, hands around his cup. He gazes at Christopher from under lowered eyelashes, something gleaming beneath them.
Christopher: I don’t know. I hope so, but perhaps I’ll change too much. I may not be able to go back.
Danyel: Is that a good thing? Or a bad thing?
Christopher: I don’t know. (It’s harder to smile a second time.) I’ll let you know when I find out.
Danyel: Promise?
Tayel lets out a sound between a sigh or a hiss. It’s unclear whether it’s directed at Danyel for asking for a promise or a warning to Christopher not to make one. Perhaps it’s both. Perhaps he’s right to be wary of promises which may be impossible to keep.
Christopher doesn’t want to be wary. Not with these two.
Christopher: I promise.
Danyel’s bright smile is reward enough for promising.
Here’s hoping neither of them end up regretting it.
inspirationcauldron 