Welcome to Gaia! ::

Lithian fidgeted.

He plucked at his vest, tugged at its hem, ran his fingers over its stitching and played with his hair, coiling the loose ends of one braid around his index finger repeatedly before huffing and letting it drop. Silliness. He didn’t even understand his current anxiety well enough to validate it to himself, let alone enough so to try to enunciate an explanation for someone else when they asked. Yet, throughout the day, it had been all he’d received from anyone who knew him in the slightest — his siblings, his parents. Even a passing stranger had asked once on the ship ride over:

“Are you alright?” — “Excited about something, Lithian?” — “Do you feel well?” — “Is something wrong?” — “You look anxious. Did you sleep at all last night?”

Of course, he wasn’t completely ignorant. He did know in part what was making him so simultaneously giddy and anxious, but he couldn’t precisely explain it to any of his family members.

“Oh, yes, you remember when I told you I’d been attacked by dragons and rescued by a hybrid and his oblivionite father? Well, I didn’t tell you the full story. I actually went back to see that boy again, and again, and again, and I gave him a means to find me. I’m anxious to meet back up with him and haven’t been able to think about another thing for the past two weeks.”

No.

Shoving the thought away and pursing his lips at how strange it was to keep something so simple — and yet so not — away from his entire family. He’d never had much experience, or reason for that matter, to lie to them, and while he wasn’t precisely lying in this case, it still felt…strange. To deceive them. And, currently, to sneak off at the earliest opportunity.

As soon as they’d made it to port and acquired lodgings, Lithian had made a quick excuse about going into the market to explore before the day reached its peak, and instead immediately hurried off down the cobbled streets towards Jheavanna’s bookstore: Between Three Worlds. The place he had told Casseth to go should he ever want to see him again. His only remaining link with the hybrid boy other than a handful of memories from already far too long ago.

It had been nearly six months. Five months and three weeks, not that Lithian had been counting, and every time he’d managed to steal a trip down to Eowyn again with his sister or brother, he had been greeted with disappointment. Jhea had kept him informed, though, told him when Casseth had last been through, what he’d been up to, and promised to keep Cas up to date also on their comings and goings.

This time, though, was different. Last time he’d been through, Casseth had specifically left word on when he next expected to be in the area, and if he was on time, this time, finally, they ought to be able to see each other again.

It was strange to Lith that he’d managed to maintain such a steady interest in making that reunion. The back and forth that they had with Jhea as their go between helped, certainly, but six months felt like an eternity in his young mind, and he prayed to his god that this time things would follow through. These thoughts in mind, he hesitantly pushed in through the bookshop’s front door, the bell above it tinkering a high, sweet note and the familiar, well-loved smell of books, wood, and light incense greeting him immediately.

Some of Lithian’s tension left him as quickly as that, and a smile edged up on the corner of his lips.

“Jhea?” he called softly, pulling the door shut behind him with a click as he entered.

The warm orange-yellow light of late morning seeped readily through the paned windows at the front of the shop, spilling over onto the shelves within and lighting up the dust motes like silent grey fairies gliding lazily through the air. Other than one young girl readily absorbed in one of the books on the shelves, however, he appeared to be alone at first glance. Then—

“You’re in luck, bouken.”

Lithian hopped around, startled, and breathed a relieved sigh out as his eyes fixed on Jhea’s smiling, full-figured form, the crinkles under her eyes only seeming to accentuate her natural cheer.

“He was just through here yesterday evening.”

Lithian’s pulse, having just started to calm back down after his startle, picked back up again with a new kind of excitement. “Casseth? He was here? Where is he? Has he left already? Did he say when he—”

“Tch, tch, shhhhhhh,” the older woman soothed, laughing softly and then reaching out, shaking one of his horns gently. “One breath at a time, mm? You’ll run out of air to speak with. Wait here a moment, I know I scribbled down the address he mentioned somewhere…”

Lithian watched her intently, working very hard to contain his now vivid excitement as she moved behind her front desk, humming a skipping, off-key tune as she fingered through a seemingly endless sheaf of papers. Then, finally, she drew out a small worn clip that looked to have been ripped from a larger sheet.

“Here we are, I think…” She squinted at it as Lithian forcibly curbed the urge to fidget. “Yes.” She smiled, and then glanced to him, smile broadening even further. “Where did you find this boy? You look like you’ll pop out of your skin if you don’t put that energy to good use soon.”

Lithian’s cheeks burned. No matter how many times he opened his mouth, however, nothing seemed to come out, and eventually, she simply laughed gently, handing over the slip.

“Here you are, little bouken. Do watch yourself, hm?”

“Yes, ma’am, thank you, ma’am.”

Jhea’s eyebrows rose, but then Lithian was grinning and gone, out the door, eyes darting over the text on the paper she’d given him. Not far, good. Also fortunate was that Lithian had learned the streets of this port town far better by now than when he’d first walked them, and most of the local lodgings were familiar to him. Granted, this one was not as large or well-maintained as those his family usually stayed at, but at least he knew the way.

He weaved through the streets, hurrying along and darting between passerby, down the allies and back until he arrived. Only once there did he feel the true upswings of nervous energy. What if Casseth wasn’t there? What if he was? What if he didn’t want to see him? What if he’d changed his mind? Was it possible he’d forgotten what Lithian looked like? What if he didn’t even recognize him? Or if things were terribly stiff and awkward between them? After all this waiting?

Lithian began fingering his hair again without thinking about it, wringing his mind with a plethora of different negative possibilities, his imagination rampant with thoughts of a thousand ways he could mess things up. Minutes after arriving, Lithian had yet to attempt so much as to walk into the inn itself.

Lithian’s fingers froze, stuck half-coiled around one of the loose ends of his braids. That voice. He knew that voice, and his head was already darting around before his mind could finish thinking it. A sweeping, uninhibited smile took over his face in moments, his pulse climbing into his throat at the same rate and cheeks warming with it.

“Casseth.”

His first instinct, pre-thought, was to dash forward, catching his long-waited-for friend in a tight and unabashed hug. Then, his brain reminded him this boy was not family, hadn’t seen him for quite some time, and such a display might not be as welcome as he anticipated it to be. This in mind, he jerked back, cheeks burning all the brighter.

“I, erm, that is…ah…” His fingers darted up habitually, tracing the ridges of his horns as he dipped his head, eyeing Cas from beneath his lashes. “I’m glad I caught you. I was worried I might not. Jhea said you were still around, and that you’d be at this address, but I didn’t want to catch you off guard. I thought I’d miss you, though, if I didn’t hurry—I mean I did miss you…while we were apart, that is—what I’m meaning to say is, I—”

He swallowed hard, biting back a wince at his own awkwardness and tossing Cas a sheepish glance.

“Hello. Have you…been well?”

Lithian flushed all the brighter when Casseth mirrored his initial embrace, but despite his abashment, some of his tension seeped out with it, body relaxing a fraction from its previously highly wound up and concerned state. Fears about whether or not Casseth would even enjoy his company anymore flit away like forgotten pages on an outdated calendar, and his smile softened, warming at the edges.

“I’ve been well,” Lithian answered, eyes flicking over Casseth and taking him in as he spoke. “Mostly dull on the Plane, nothing so interesting as what goes on down here. Classes and studying…” His eyes lingered, catching on the warm brown glow in Cas’ right eye socket, light, though still several shades darker than his hair — but a distinct difference from the vibrant violet it’d been last they’d met. And his smile spread into a pleased grin. “Make any important decisions since we last met by any chance?”

Lithian blinked, opening his mouth to answer the, ‘How did you know?’ query, but wound up biting his lip around a smile instead as Cas continued on before he could explain. Then they were off, Casseth brazenly leading him along with nary a blink, and Lithian almost laughed as he let himself be guided along, chest warm and full to the bursting point with happiness and relief that little, if anything, seemed to have changed since their last encounter. It seemed some small miracle to him that picking back up where they’d left off came so easily.

When they made it away from the port town’s crowds and Casseth released his wrist, Lithian watched, ever curious, as his friend dug into his pocket, drawing out three smooth rocks. He felt the pulse of Casseth’s magic after he threw them upwards — earthy, raw, stable and supportive as it latched onto the three small objects, stilling their fall, twisting them into a spin and then curling them around him.

As they spun, Lithian grinned, eyes dancing as they followed the show. “You’ve got it,” he said, laughing. “When did you choose? Have you been practicing long? How much earth can you lift?”

Lithian’s eyes flicked wide at the size of the hunk of earth Casseth brought up, and immediately tried to recall what sized earth and stones Accucius had worked with when he was this age. Had they been that large? Granted, they had seemed large at the time, but he’d only been ten or so himself and everything seemed massive in comparison to himself.

Lithian took a swift, startled step sidelong when the earth swept past him, and his cheeks warmed anew, genuinely impressed when his eyes flicked back to Casseth. “That’s fantastic,” he said. “I don’t even know if my brother could lift much more when he was your age, and he chose his clan when he was barely past his tenth name day. Much longer to practice than you’ve had.”

One glance to the sweat beading up on Casseth’s brow, and Lithian unstoppered one of the flasks at his waist without hardly thinking on it, drawing out a glimmering ribbon of clear, clean water.

“How did your parents react your choice?” he asked. “And has your sister chosen her clan as well?” Lithian splayed his fingers and then pinched, turning the ribbon into several hundred beaded droplets, approximately the size of raindrops, as he guided the small bundle over Casseth’s head. With a single, loose flick of his fingers, he sent them all pattering down on his friend. “And your class?”

Lithian laughed at the last comment. “Somehow, I feel I should have known,” he answered, smile warm.

Then, something occurring to him, the nature of his smile turned more playful, almost mischievous, and he curved his hands, gripped up the water he’d dumped on Cas with his magic, and then gave it quick flick and swish, sending almost all of Casseth’s whetted, thick mass of hair back sleekly from his forehead like a wet mop. He grinned.

“Better?”

Lithian gave a brief yip as the ground beneath him twitched, and his hand shot out, clutching to the front of Casseth’s shirt even as Cas moved to steady him. His cheeks warmed, flush with embarrassment — more at his own reaction than anything else — but fortunately, Cas didn’t seem bothered in the least, and Lithian huffed even as his smile returned.

“Fair enough,” he conceded and plucked with his magic, drawing the liquid out of Casseth’s hair, clothes, and the ground and gathering it up into a small, undulating orb in front of him as he nodded. “We can, though…I’d like to see you again tomorrow?”

He concentrated on the water as he spoke, following a half-step behind Casseth as they started back towards town, and between his palms, the dirtied liquid began to glow. An ethereal, white-blue light so pale it was almost impossible to see in the bright of day, but Lithian could feel it, and he ran it through the water, passing the cleansing magic back and forth through the orb several times to purify it thoroughly and rid it of any excess particles before he tucked it back away in the flask at his hip.

“Perhaps we can find something in town to do together, or explore the surrounding area if you prefer…”

They conversed casually the full way back, resolving to meet up again as soon as time permitted the following day, depending on what their respective guardians wanted of them. After parting ways, Lithian took a quick stroll through the market as he’d originally told his mother he planned to do all along, figuring that to make his story plausible he ought to return home with at least something to show for himself.

He made it back to their waterfront inn with a single wooden flute, and spent the remainder of the evening failing to learn how to play it and making an irritating cacophony of squeaks, off-key toots and whistles — much to the neighboring inn-residents’ chagrin.