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. . . . » First Contact

Akram elbowed the door open and ushered his miniature camel into his new apartment, crossing his arms as the four-foot, one-humped creature stepped somewhat cautiously from the dingy-carpeted floor and onto the linoleum of the entry space. The beast of burden was laden with small, carefully wrapped packages which Akram started to unload onto the room's well-worn sofa after he had surveyed the room. The camel, desiring to be rid of the luggage, happily shrugged off the bags and stood up as soon as he was rid of them. Then the animal stepped slowly towards the back of the apartment, wanting to poke into the few side-rooms the place offered.

The new arrival knew that the camel would not be able to stay in the room, but if his new roommate was there already, Akram was not about to pass up the amusing opportunity to introduce the roommate to his pet and luggage-bearer. Once all the bags were sorted on the sofa, Akram brushed his hands over his sleeveless green coat and plopped down beside them. He crosses his arms again over his white-robed chest, then uncrossed them to fix the burgundy-colored cloth wrapped around his black hair.

He would wait to see if the camel located his roommate. If there had been no screaming or freak-outs of any kind at seeing a camel in the fifth-floor apartment, then Akram would know that he either had first-choice of bedroom, or at least an iron-willed roommate. Either would be welcome. But for now, after traveling so long to get here and away from his crazy grandmother, he wanted to sit and rest for a few long minutes.

Already well on his way to settling in, Crispin sat down on the twin bed in his room--it was considerably smaller than what he was used to, but he was pretty pleased with the apartment. Finally, although his parents were still providing a monthly stipend for him to live on, he was somewhat independent. He'd piled his suitcases in the corner, next to the closet, but hadn't yet gotten motivated to unpack everything quite yet.

Laying back, he closed his eyes for a minute, wondering idly just when his roommate would be arriving--they'd been paired up through the University, so all he knew was that his roommate was male, and that they went to the same school. Truthfully, he was a bit nervous to see just what he'd be like.

Opening his eyes, Crispin almost had a heart attack on the spot. Inches from his face, a...camel was staring at him.

Scrambling backwards until his back hit the wall, he eyed the creature suspiciously--where had it come from? It was one of those rare occasions that his parents strict insistence that he always be in control, at least outwardly, came in handy. Breathing in and out, he composed himself, and slowly got off the bed, making his way out into the main living area of the apartment.

Surely his new roommate hadn't brought such an odd pet with him?

Akram looked up as he heard someone else coming into the front room. Tired as he was, he rose to his feet to be polite when he caught sight of the other young man who was presumably his new roommate.

"Hello," he said in greeting, forcing a small tired smile. "I'm Akram Mercier. Hopefully the name on the roommate form you were given, because I'm not moving my stuff again today if this is the wrong room."

He was not particularly tall, but Akram had broad shoulders and a sturdy-looking build for his height, especially standing as he was with his arms crossed. After a moment, he extended a hand to the other young man, and rested his other hand on his brightly-colored silk sash in an attempt to look a bit more casual. Akram looked like the sort who spent a lot of time out in the sun, as his skin was a deep bronze color, and was already starting to look a bit weathered in his face and his palms even at his age. His hair was black, though it was difficult to say how long all of it was, as all but Akram's long bangs were wrapped up in a deep red cloth hat or turban of sorts.

Hesitating almost imperceptibly in the doorway, Crispin approached the other young man, proffering his hand politely. "Crispin Micheal Ashford, and yes, that's the name that was on the form." he flashed a courteous smile of his own, taking in the other's appearance.

Akram was a man who stood out in a crowd, he'd wager. Crispin was, himself, dressed in a pair of slim jeans, and a neat, button-down shirt, although the shirt in question was half-unbuttoned at the moment, since he hadn't really been expecting his roommate to arrive today.

"Is the camel, by any chance...with you?" He couldn't help it, he -had- to ask.

Akram nodded, and glanced towards the opening to the short hallway back to the bedrooms. He clapped his hands twice, and within a few moments, the miniature camel reappeared, giving Crispin a long-lashed glance before rejoining his master. The young man rubbed the camel under the chin, then crossed his arms again.

"He is mine. And don't worry, he will be staying elsewhere. This place does not allow pets, unfortunately." He frowned at the door, as though doing so would direct his displeasure all the way down five flights of stairs to the landlord's offices. "He can rest here for a few hours, though, no? We have come a long way today, and he did most of the heavy lifting."

"Of...course, I don't see why not." Fortunately, for all that he'd been frightened nearly to death by the camel's sudden appearance...it hadn't spat at him, or tried to crap on the floors, so he supposed its continued presence, at least for a short while, couldn't hurt.

"Where will he be staying, since there is a no-pet policy here, though?" His expression was one of polite interest--he genuinely had to wonder where one would house a camel...even a miniature one.

Akram shrugged and glanced away. "An old friend of the family lives near here. I was just going to leave him there. Until I get a shop or someplace of my own where I can set my own rules. Then he'll stay there, I guess."

Snapping his fingers as he remembered something, the young man turned back to his roommate. "That reminds me, I'll be getting some shipments starting early next week, I think, assuming the merchants I deal with got the message about my change of address. You won't mind me keeping some bolts of silk around here, will you? It would only be for a few days at a time about once every two weeks or so."

He paused a moment to wait for a response, then decided that maybe he should explain a little, first. "Oh, I, uh, dealt in silks back home. Was expected to pick up the family business. But apparently our name isn't enough to get people to consider us fully qualified, though." Akram sighed, rolling his eyes a little. "So that's why I'm here to get this advanced business degree. Although I'll eat my hat if they know anything about the trade and barter back home.... Still, I want to keep things running so I have some income while I'm pouring what's left of the family fortune into this school. I hope you won't mind. At least you won't have to worry about my half of the rent."

Nodding, Crispin eyed the creature again. It really wasn't that bad looking--and, surprisingly, it didn't seem to possess a foul odor. "Bolts of silk? Unless they block the entryway, I don't see why that should be a problem."

Perhaps he should be concerned--just how much silk was the other going to be storing in the apartment, anyway? A mental image of bolts of silk, stacked up to the ceiling, entered his mind. Hopefully it wouldn't be anything like that.

Shrugging at the mention of rent, Crispin's expression went bland. "I'm not overly concerned about the rent, so if it ever becomes problematic..." he trailed off, deciding to leave it at that. Truthfully, money was one of the few things that he never had issues with.

"There probably won't be that many," Akram replied. He walked over to the nearest window and brushed the curtains aside, letting more light into the room. The sunlight from outside shining onto his face made a curious set of markings stand out more from his bronzed skin - nearly golden-yellow trails like tears from his eyes down his cheeks, to his jaw and down his neck as well, where they presumably continued at least a little further beneath the neckline of his shirt. Whatever they were, Akram made no effort to hide them as he turned back to face Crispin again.

"... You in business, too?" he asked, his tone perhaps a bit blunt as though he was not used to making small-talk in this sort of situation. "And I'm curious, are you from around here? Do you know your way around the city?"

Nodding, Crispin blinked in surprise as the light caught on Akram's skin-the marks, while visible, hadn't appeared nearly so prominent at first glance. However, aside from that, his politely impassive expression didn't waver.

"Not exactly." he replied, sticking a hand in one of his pants pockets. "And no--my family's from elsewhere...I only just arrived earlier today--have you had a chance to find your way around, yet?" Contrastingly, Crispin's tone was fluid--if anything, the measured tone of his voice might have come across as a bit rehearsed.

"Just what all is between the train station and here," he said, leaning back against the window sill and crossing his arms again. "It looks like we have a grocery close enough, as well as some decent restaurants. I don't know if this place has an open market, though. I'd rather just sell at one of those, rather than renting a storefront."

Akram shrugged a little and stood up straight again, then walked over to the refrigerator. "Do you have a business yet? I guess if you have something you sell, then I'd be willing to split the rental of a storefront. Otherwise, I'll just keep on hoping for a market."

"Refrigerator is on already, right?" the older man asked, then tugged the door open. "Hopefully it works, since it came with the place." After studying the interior for a moment, he glanced back at Crispin. "Do you have food for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow? I have stuff to last me. But do we want to go shopping now, or tomorrow?" He hesitated a moment, then grinned a little and added, "And by 'we', I mean 'you', because I should probably unpack my belongings so they are not all over the living room, and so I have a place to sleep."

Crispin raised an eyebrow, shaking his head. "No, I've never really thought about starting my own business--however, if you find a place, and need someone to split the rent with, I'm sure we could work something out." Money was of little import, to him--after all, it was never something he'd had to do without--and it wasn't as though his parents would object, either.

Thinking about the other's question a moment--he hadn't, actually, even thought to pack enough food with him to make it through the evening, and then the next morning--he shook his head. "I haven't had to use the refrigerator yet, so your guess is as good as mine...and I suppose I can do that tonight, then--is there anything you'd like me to pick up, in that case?"

He hoped that the other man at least mentioned a few things, as he really had no idea whatsoever just what he'd need to buy--both at home, and at the one boarding school he'd spent a year at, he'd never had to really concern himself with what he'd need for day-to-day use...and while he was far from stupid, he had a feeling that he was going to overlook something obvious, if left to his own devices.

"I guess just a few boxes of macaroni will hold me until I can go myself," Akram told him, striding across the room back to the piles of his belongings. He knelt down and started untying one of the bundles. "And maybe some dried dates. Other than that, get whatever you want. If you forget anything, I'll go to the store in a few days and pick up whatever else you might need."

He fiddled with the cord on a second bundle for a moment before giving up on untying it and just drew a curved knife from his boot and cut it. "Oh, you don't mind if I put out one of my rugs here in the front room, do you? I can do that while you are gone. I should be able to move all the furniture away and back myself."

Nodding his head to indicate that he'd understood, Crispin headed back into his bedroom to grab a light jacket and his wallet, reappearing a moment later.

"That should be fine--if there's anything that's too heavy, I can help you move it around when I get back." he offered, his easy, social smile firmly in place. While outwardly he seemed perfectly at ease around his new roommate, Crispin couldn't help but wonder just how things were going to work out--what would happen if the two of them didn't get along? Or, worse yet, if his parents turned out to be right, and he failed to live up to expectations while here at school?

Giving himself a mental shake, Crispin turned, heading for the front door. "Good luck!"

Akram returned the smile with a flat stare and a small shrug. "Thanks. I'm used to moving things around for my crazy grandmother back home, though, so I should be able to handle this foreign furniture okay." Then, realizing he might be giving the wrong impression about how he felt regarding his new roommate's offer, the older man forced a small smile. "If I turn out to have any extra rugs after I fill my room, I can lend one to you for the year, if you want. The rooms here are probably smaller than the rooms I'm used to."

He dearly hoped that Crispin would be a decent roommate as well. While Akram did plan on learning something about the culture and customs in this part of Gaia, he was hoping to be able to keep some of his own traditions and such when he was in his own private spaces. Which included his apartment. Hopefully Crispin would not object.

"And thank you. I'll see you later."

. . . . » Market Value

The first Saturday market came before the first real shipment of Akram's goods did, but he still had a few things to sell. He had just barely gotten his registration for a table in on time, and people were already shopping as he set out the bolts of cloth and satchels of spices that had come with him when he moved. Bringing Dagan the miniature camel along with him proved to be a good way of attracting attention, though - between Akram's style of dress and the little four-foot camel watching the people walk by, the man had gathered a bit of a crowd by the time he was ready to open shop.

Akram had to divide his spices up into pretty tiny portions before anyone would buy them, and quite a few people praised his silks and then did not buy any. He tried not to feel too out of place in the strange market, filled primarily with people selling nice handmade goods like jewelry and clothing, but not terribly many necessities. The booth immediately beside his own was filled with racks of tie-dyed shirts and blankets that fluttered in the breeze in a distracting mess of color. The people on the other side sold stained glass. Between the two of them, the oriental rug draped over the table and the red and gold tack on Dagan looked almost painfully drab.

He was also surprised to see that people paid the prices he asked for, no questions asked. A huge part of his learning to be a business man back home had been learning to barter and haggle, and it was that part of dealing goods that was the most interesting for Akram. He made more money than he expected to, but by the third or fourth customer who just shrugged and handed him the money, he was on the verge of encouraging them to challenge his prices. It bored him, and it all felt too easy.

People definitely came to see the cabbage, though. Akram had displayed it prominently on the oriental rug-draped table, beside the silks. A few people asked if they could pick it up to see the weight, and were promptly impressed by its size. Others felt at the outer leaves, or just studied it in awe. It seemed like everyone who came through at least spared the thing a glance. Akram awkwardly diverted several questions about how the thing had been grown, claiming a family secret since he knew nothing at all about growing cabbage. No one seemed quite interested in buying it, though, usually citing the same reasons Akram and his roommate had come to - the thing was just too big.

By the time the market drew to a close far too early in the day - Akram had been prepared to spend the day there, just about - he had made a fair amount of money, but was bored out of his mind. Few people seemed interested in conversation, except to ask him questions about the camel or the cabbage. He packed up what had not sold - all of the silks, and several ounces of various spices, and, of course, the cabbage - and loaded it all back up on Dagan's back.

At least he and Crispin could talk over a nice dinner about what to do with the cabbage now.

. . . . » But what is it FOR?!

. . . . » You have one new message:

Akram held Lily's hand as he walked through the airport, infinitely thankful at the girl's patience as he passed another woman scolding a fussing child. The kirin girl had tolerated the long flight surprisingly well, sleeping through the brunt of it, and spending the remainder peering either out the window or at the tiny television screen embedded in the seat in front of her. Just Akram's luck there had been no decent movies for the six or so hours in the air, but Lily, at least, had appeared sufficiently entertained just watching the moving pictures.

He yawned a little and tried to work some stiffness out of his shoulder with the opposite hand, adjusting the weight of the duffel he carried as he did so. Lily packed surprisingly light, and so he only had one suitcase to fetch off of the carousel before he could meet his family and head home to the Mercier estate for ... what would hopefully be a relaxing ten days of vacation.

The girl was still not entirely sure where she was going, but the overwhelming number of new sights and sounds were enough to keep her interested. She had just had to sit still in the same chair for a long time, which had been immensely boring, but now she was up and moving again.

Her guardian had talked to her about the trip, or so she assumed, but Lily was still a bit slow at understanding what all of his humanwords meant. The concept of family made sense, at least, but ... she had always thought Crispin was family and that was it. They all lived in the same house, right? Why did there have to be another one?

Family also meant Ayse, though, and Lily was not so sure about leaving her. She missed her twin already; the girl slowed her walking and summoned a few tears tears to express this.

"I feel like crying, too," Akram admitted as he picked the girl up, pink backpack full of coloring books and all, and held her in one arm as he walked the rest of the way down the hallway to the luggage carousel.

He had not been so fortunate in the napping department, and had only snatched perhaps an hour or two of fitful uncomfortable rest between the miniature meal and movie on the flight. The man badly wanted a nap, but the time difference between Gaia and Isur also meant that it was about noon now, so he was looking at a family lunch at least between him and his soft bed back home.

When the luggage started coming up, he sighed and set Lily down, and left his duffel beside her.

"Hold onto this and don't let go, okay?" he instructed the girl, placing the shoulder strap into her little hands. "And just stand right here until I come back, okay?"

Lily sniffled, and held the strap with one hand as she wiped her nose using the other, then wrapped her fingers around it and nodded.

Whatever he said. Nothing interesting to look at anyway, except inside and grey and white. And no Ayse.

She watched Akram walk over to the moving belt where suitcases were appearing, then looked around at the rest of the people nearby. Some of them had cloth hats like her guardian, and some looked like people in Gaia with hair in strange colors, or ears like animals.

Akram glanced back over his shoulder to make sure Lily was still there every minute or so, hoping he had done the right thing in leaving her back there for now; he did not want her getting in the way up by the luggage belt, but he was also quite familiar with how she liked to wander off.

Fortunately, his large battered suitcase with wheels appeared after a few minutes, and he hauled it up and onto the floor with a grunt. Then he wheeled it back to where he had left the little girl with his duffel bag.

... He hoped his folks would react favorably to the little one coming with him. Akram had already explained to his astonished mother that Lily was not his blood child, just an adopted girl ... and that it had been a bit of a forced situation. He left out the part about the cabbage since that still stood out in his mind as just too darned weird, but that did not cover for the fact that Lily had horns and hooves and a tail.

"Okay, come on," he told her, taking a deep breath and picking up the duffel by the handles, leading the girl carefully alongside while she still clung to the shoulder strap as instructed.

Among the others waiting for arrivals at the International Airport was a group of seven people - perhaps the largest bunch for any one passenger. A tall and slightly chubby young woman with a pale gold mark across her right cheek and eye stood behind an older man in a wheelchair; the man was missing both legs below the knee and a few fingers from one hand. A pair of middle-aged women stood with one on either side of him, their features distinctly different from each other, but with matching mannerisms, like each was a reflection of the other. Two teenage girls stood nearby, one talking on a cell phone while the other braided her sister's hair, and a boy younger than the both of them stood in front of his uncle's wheelchair holding a sign printed with Akram's name on it in the script of Isur.

The boy spotted his elder brother first, and patted his uncle's leg to get his attention before pointing at Akram.

"Like I need a sign to find you," the patriarch called out in his native language, raising his chin a little in acknowledgment as a grin spread across his features.

Lily gave the small crowd of Merciers a wary glance as she and Akram approached, and when she and her guardian joined the rest of Akram's family, she tried to hide herself behind the duffel.

... There were more of them than there were in the little apartment back in Gaia....

"Back from Gaia to visit all of us uncool folks back home, finally," one of the women said, grasping Akram's shoulders and leaning forward to kiss him on both cheeks.

"You've gotten fatter over there," the other woman said with a laugh, prodding at Akram's side. Then she shouted over to the two girls, "Your brother is here, if you will put that stupid phone down for one minute to talk to him."

The younger girl ran over to wrap her arms around Akram's waist while the other one shot her mother an annoyed look and hurriedly finished her call.

"Glad to see you still care about me, at least, Yumi," Akram commented as he hugged her briefly. Then he crouched down and indicated Lily. "This is the little one I told you about, Lily," he told his sister. "Sort of quiet and shy, but very sweet. You and Noora can help take care of her this week, hopefully. Show her girl things and all that."

Lily regarded Yumi with a vaguely worried look, and finally let go of the duffel strap to cling instead to Akram's leg. When Yumi's sister joined them, the kirin moved around behind her guardian and peered around his legs at both of the girls.

No one was speaking the language from Gaia that she was just beginning to pick up, and all the people were overwhelming. Like with everything else, Lily was curious about them, of course, but there were just so many.

-- Then Akram picked her up, and she squealed a little and tried to bury her face into her hands to hide. Ayse would be so much braver about all of this! gonk

"Goodness, she is a tiny little thing," Akram's mother cooed. Then she glanced back at the young woman behind the wheelchair and pointed at Lily. "Look at her, Batya, isn't she precious?"

"So cute!" Batya chimed, laughing deeply as she reached out with one finger to play with the girl's tufted tail a little.

"Lily," the younger boy repeated, grinning up at the girl and trying to maneuver himself so he could see her face past her pink-scaled hands. "My name's Iskendar. Nice to meet you!" Then he looked up at Akram. "I can play with her sometimes, too, right?"

"Yeah, we'll be here a little over a week, so I'm sure everyone will get a turn." He adjusted his hold on the girl and hugged her awkwardly, hoping she would not be too traumatized by all of this attention at once.

Then, hoping to get everyone moving along again, he asked, "Have you had lunch yet? I just had a little tray of stuff on the plane, so I'm a little hungry."

"Your uncle Damash insisted that we should wait for you to eat, so no, we haven't yet. Want to stop at that place on the way home?" Akram's half-mother rested a hand on the shoulder of the man in the wheelchair.

Damash then spoke up for the first time, laughing softly. "All the ladies wanted to eat without you but I reminded them we should wait for our patriarch."

"God, I just wanted a snack," Noora huffed, tossing her head a little. "Made us leave so early, I'm starving."

"Oh, settle down, we're going to eat now," Akram's half-mother insisted. "In fact, why don't you help out and take your brother's suitcase or something."

Akram offered her the handle of the large rolling suitcase, then set Lily down on her hooves again as he bent to pick up his duffle again. He thanked Noora, who rolled her eyes at him but smiled, and then he ushered everyone outside.

Once everyone started moving along, Lily relaxed a little, but still stuck close to Akram as she followed him outside. Her guardian mentioned to her when they got outside that they were getting food, which reassured the girl for the moment ... and then she promptly forgot that and the worry of meeting Akram's entire family all at once as she examined the airport's surroundings.

So few trees! And it was so flat! And it was hot out, too - it had been hot when they left in Gaia, but not quite like this. And when she looked up, Lily did not see any clouds at all, just a white round sun hanging in a perfectly blue sky. Where were they...?

This was going to be a strange vacation.

(( reservedforkumo 3 ))