Welcome to Gaia! ::

Although the lane that Xiu had chosen was smaller, the lane was a respectable and well kept lane in its own right. What little customers that thronged the lane seemed to be centered on a small stall set out before a bakery. A rather pleasant smell of baking bread waffled through the lane to reach the raevans and like Lazarus, Xiu’s curiousity was suitably triggered. Nearing the stall, Xiu was surprised to find an array of delicate little pastries arranged neatly on tiered platters lining the stall’s table top. The effect of these delicate little delicacies arranged so artfully upon the platter served only to enhance the overall appeal of the wares on sale. Apparently the other customers thought so too as the cakes were disappearing as fast as hotcakes. However, there was no fear of shortage as as soon as one batch was sold, another took its place.

The person in charge seemed like a jolly old human enough and Xiu was all prepared to return the person’s smile when…

"Why hello there, gentleman and... miss "

Miss?

MISS?

Suitably affronted, Xiu flared his wings wide and glared at the jolly old man “Why, of all the nerve…! I am in no manner a ‘Miss’! I’ll have to insist on an apology this minute, sir. I simply must!”

Of all the things he had been called being called a ‘Miss’ was implying that he, Xiu, was of the weaker sex! He’d have none of it! True, he was probably not as masculine as Rivener or Lazarus but then again he was quite, quite sure that he wasn’t that feminine either.

Folding his arms across his chest, Xiu shook his head at Lazarus’ offer, mind fully focused on extracting an apology from the human before him.

This little incident had of course drawn the ever curious crowd and whispers and snickers were heard as the crowd watched the spectacle with interest.

The expression on the chef’s face when he had realized his mistake was gratifying and the white frei was appeased. However, what the man next did was unexpected. Bending low, the chef apologized fervently, making the white frei uncomfortable. Had he really been that terrifying? All the white frei had expected was an apology, not this…body bending spectacle.

And though that was not enough, the man had offered him half a dozen tartlets; hastily shoving them into a paper bag and thrusting it forward. Perhaps it was because the chef did not want to cause a fuss or it could be that the publicity was attracting a rather curious crowd; one would never know. Either way, the chef was successful in getting rid of those two whatchamacalit and drawing a crowd of potential customers to his stall. It really could not get any better than this.

Meanwhile, Xiu was finding himself led by Lazarus at a jogging pace away from the stall and in the direction of the park. The white Frei did not argue. The event of the pastry stall was still rather fresh in his mind and Xiu was half glad that Lazarus had the sense to pull the both of them out of it. It saved Xiu from looking guilty and being at a lost for words.

"What was that all about?"

Xiu found himself looking rather ashamedly at Lazarus. He had let his emotion get the better of him that was what. Folding his stone grey wings tightly against his back, Xiu tried not to stare into the Sigel’s questioning gaze.

“Sorry, Lazarus,” murmured Xiu in a small voice. “I-I simply lost my head back there… I guess… I’m rather touchy about being mistaken for a girl…,”

Xiu nodded glumly. He knew Lazarus was trying to comfort him but the way he had reacted earlier…That still showed that he was not in control of himself. He should have stayed calm; he should not have caused such a scene.

Regrettably, feeling bad about it now was not going to help anyone now. Xiu knew that well enough. Sometimes it was best to just write it off and shelve it somewhere; preferably somewhere where people would soon forget about it.

Just then, a gust of warm sea breeze blew past and Xiu inhaled the salty air deeply. It was refreshing to be out in an open space after the crowded area of Market Street and the bakery. Xiu nodded at Lazarus’ suggestion. “Sure, it seems like a good idea,” the white frei said quietly as he followed the fiery Sigel. After all, Xiu was still rather subdued over losing his temper like that.

As they crossed the park towards the ocean, Xiu could feel his worry ebbing away slowly. Today was a great day. Nothing was going to change that. The weather was pleasant, the sun was not too hot, there were happy people about and best of all; he was spending the day with another Raevan. Turning to face Lazarus, Xiu chuckled. “Have you ever tried flying as high as those seagulls? I haven’t but I’ve never found a reason to fly…,” said the white raevan a little wistfully.

“But besides that,” said the white frei changing the subject lest he started sounding like an old man again. “The sea, it’s beautiful.”

And Xiu meant it too. The sea, with its gentle waves lapping against the rocks down below was a picturesque sight indeed. Turquoise and as clear as crystal near the beach, the sea gradually shifted into a deeper, darker blue the further it went until it gradually disappeared into the horizon. Despite it being a pleasant day today, there was not much activity in the water. There were no speedboats or yachts in sight; just mile after mile of calm blue waters with the occasional fishing vessel going by. Perhaps today being a working day had something to do with the absence of any recreational activities. Xiu certainly had no complains. The sea, as it was, was perfect.

“What do I think about it? Lazarus, this place is simply amazing,” said Xiu turning to face Lazarus with a soft chuckle. “It’s really calming and one can never get tired of staring out into the ocean. May I use this as a reason to be envious of you, Lazarus?” teased Xiu as he too flared his wings slightly to catch the breeze.

The silence between the two raevans was broken when Lazarus remembered that he still held the bag of fruit tartlets given to him by the baker. Xiu coloured a little when the Sigel chuckled at the memory of the baker offering Xiu those tartlets as an apology for assuming that he was a girl. Guess it was going to take longer than just a few minutes to have that memory forgotten.

“I don’t know… Lazarus,” said Xiu doubtfully as she stared at the raised paper bag. “ I’ve tried human food before and they…do not taste good,” said Xiu recalling the time he had tried eating an oatmeal cookie when he was starving. The rough texture of the cookie was simply terrible and Xiu had thrown the cookie away in disgust.

But that had been just a common cookie. What Lazarus held in that paper bag was a sort of…apology offering....

…

Now that sounded conceited. Pursing his lips a little, Xiu glanced in the direction of the benches indicated by Lazarus. He was not particularly tired but he had no objection if the Sigel wanted a rest. Nodding, Xiu followed Lazarus to where the benches were located and ‘sat’ down beside the Sigel.

The benches, Xiu was glad to notice, were clean and well kept like the rest of the park. Xiu was impressed. He had seen some wonderful parks before and this park was definitely one of the better ones. Leaning back against the bench, Xiu watched as Lazarus opened the paper bag to reveal six delicate looking fruit tartlets inside. “They do look pretty,” said Xiu with a smile. “Which are you going to have?”

“I guess you are right,” conceded Xiu as he watched the Sigel picking up a tartlet with a piece of green kiwi on it. Perhaps Lazarus was right. He should be more open about trying human food. After all, he had found out that blood tastes different from innocence hadn’t he?

Nevertheless, Xiu could not help but notice Lazarus’ hesitancy in biting into the pastry. Perhaps the Sigel had some bad experiences with food before. And yet, that had certainly not deterred him from taking a small bite of the tartlet. Xiu watched Lazarus’ expression attentively as one would at a person eating something rather like a raw piece of eyeball…or something.

The tart seemed to agree with Lazarus for as soon as the first bite was taken, a second and third bite followed successively before the tartlet was completely gone. Lazarus had then asked if he could have another and this made the white frei laugh. “ Of course, Lazarus,” said Xiu with a nod. “Although…you really needn’t ask me you know…,” said the white frei looking a little flustered.

Nevertheless, the white frei gave the remaining tartlets a thoughtful glance and choose the strawberry tartlet; the red of the strawberry giving the tartlet a rather nice contrast to it’s yellow filling. Before he could take a bite however, Xiu noticed that the Sigel had got some of the tartlet’s filling on his upper lip.

“Hey, Lazarus,” said Xiu pointing to the smeared filling. “You have got some cream on your lips”

The slightly surprised look of the Sigel when he realized this was amusing and Xiu shook his head after several failed attempts on the Sigel’s part to get the cream off. “Here, let me help,” offered the white frei as he leaned forward. Placing a hand gently against the Sigel’s cheek (as he had seen people do on television as well as mothers onto their babies), Xiu quickly rubbed the smeared filling off. “There,” said Xiu lifting his hand. “It’s gone now,”

Hmmm… Perhaps he should not have touched Lazarus on the cheek like that thought Xiu as he withdrew his hand. Lazarus seemed stunned. Perhaps that was not the right thing to do after all…

Keeping that in mind for the future, the white frei was about to apologize when his eyes met Lazarus’. They were simply…intense! Why was the Sigel looking at him like that? Was Lazarus angry perhaps?

“Lazarus, is something wron-…,”said Xiu worriedly when his words were cut short and his hand went slack. This was odd…something like this had never happened before… And those eyes! He could not stand it! He could feel himself being drawn into the Sigel’s hypnotic gaze. This could not be happening! Why was his heart beating so fast and yet his body felt drained of its energy? Flaring his wings, the white frei tried looking away but it was no use. Xiu could feel his consciousness slowly slipping away the longer the Sigel held him in his gaze. What’s…happening…? thought Xiu blearily when the command came…


"Can you touch my face again?"

Xiu’s mind went blank. Dull blue eyes stared back at the Sigel as the white frei extended his hand and slowly caressed the other’s cheek gently; thumb slowly running across the Sigel’s warm lips in the act of rubbing away a speck of cream that wasn’t there.

Throughout the whole incident, Xiu’s mind was kept in a deliciously blissful state of emptiness. There were no thoughts, no emotions, no uncertainty; merely the need to follow a single command and that command was to keep his hand on the Sigel’s face.

The white frei stared blankly at the the fiery Sigel as Lazarus gave a contented sigh, not even aware of the other’s hand enclosing his. True, there was some resistance to his hand movements when Lazarus had held his hand in his but given the circumstances, Xiu was not one to argue. Glazed blue eyes watched with indifference as his hand was caressed by the Sigel; the only indication of him feeling the other’s touch was the slight jerk of the thumb as Lazarus’ lips brushed against the skin of his palm but that was more of a reflex action than an action committed from conscious thought.

To Xiu, it was as though he was a casual observer of a scene that was happening to another person in another time and place.

The Sigel had by this time, an expression of utter contentment as he held the white frei’s hand against his warm skin and in his moment of bliss, the Sigel had closed his eyes.

And then it was gone.

Like a splash of ice cold water against his skin, Xiu woke up with a start and stared with a kind of silent horror as he watched Lazarus leaning into his palm; the Sigel oblivious to the world. If Lazarus had felt as though time had slowed down for him, Xiu was positively sure that time had just simply…stopped.

With every one of his senses threatening to jump into overdrive, Xiu was painfully aware of every single touch and caress the Sigel was administering to his palm. Blushing furiously but unable to pull away, Xiu watched with ever widening eyes as the Sigel gently lifted his hand and with a soft sigh, planted a tender kiss against it. The touch of the Sigel’s warm lips against his palm was simply too much to bear and with a gasp; every neurons and reflexes and synapses fired into action.

Jerking his hand out of the Sigel’s hold, Xiu flared his wings and stared at the Sigel with a mixture of horror and embarrassment. W-What was happening? What had happened? Why ?

The white frei watched as the Sigel stumbled over his words, heart thudding loudly. Lazarus seemed almost as confused as he was and that was not good. Not good at all…

If Lazarus had been aggressive and violent like he had in the past, Xiu could retaliate with a punch in the face or something to bring the Sigel to his senses but what stood before him now was not that of a hot blooded, lust filled raevan but a rather that of an insecure being. The drooping wings, the pained expression, the hurried backing away…it all did not add up! How was one to react to such a situation?

Xiu found his own wings drooping at the predicament he was in. H-He needed to know what to do! Lazarus, in all his might and majesty was now reduced to something like a terrified child caught breaking an antique vase and like a child, he had attempted to reach out to Xiu, to seek support… but the frei was ashamed to say that he’d backed away from the Sigel; his own mind whirling in a flurry of fear, anger, embarrassment….

And pity…

And tenderness…

No! What was he thinking? These thoughts! They were not natural! Shaking his head, Xiu stared at Lazarus as though expecting the answer to materialize upon the other’s face.
“L-Lazarus…I…,” said Xiu finding himself stuttering over his words as well.

“N-No…I was not hurt….,” said Xiu glad to find something to reply to while his mind tried making sense of the whole situation. Perhaps it was all this heat. He had heard news about a heat wave hitting certain parts of Gaia recently and…heat made people mad right? T-This had to be it!! It must!

Like a desperate man clinging to a drifting branch in the middle of the ocean, Xiu held on to that belief until it had almost seemed…plausible because…the other option was just too…bizarre…

No, it was best not to think about the other option…

“P-Perhaps we should head back to the Lab…,” said Xiu nervously glancing at the Sigel but making sure that there was no eye contact between them. Xiu remembered how exhilarating it had been to lose himself in the Sigel’s intense gaze and shuddered at the thought of what might have happened had the contact not been broken.