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One, two, three... Shai added another chocolate to the pile, nudging it carefully into place. The half finished pyramid sat next to a river of grapes...fruits plucked from the bunch and nestled in succulent pairs.

Six, seven, eight... He hadn't intended on making the snacks into a scene...they were just easier to count with when organized! The shards of the Tzohar lifted helpfully as Shai leaned forward, brightening to fill the dim kitchen with rosy light. The enraptured young Fa'e hadn't noticed how quiet and dark the headquarters was at night...perhaps because his glow filled the kitchen and pushed through the windows, like a firefly in a matchbox.

The truffle pyramid was almost complete. Shai held the last piece up between his fingers, sending reflections of pink and chocolate brown over his kaleidoscope robes. "Eleven!" The Tzohar chimed in agreement, shards fanned proudly on the ends of their golden tethers.

Still holding the last truffle, Shai glanced up at the call. Colorless hair feathered over his forehead, just long enough for the edges to be backlit by luminous eyes. The voice was unfamiliar, but that was no real shock. The shards of the Tzohar strained against their golden tethers, cast outward like the eyes of a peacock tail to drive the shadows back.

"Hello!" Shai repeated, twisting to glance towards the doorway. The brilliant young Fa'e was simply glad it was a word he knew. It had been a while since his last lessons, but he remembered most of what he learned.

Lifting one hand against his own glare, Shai squinted...glowing gaze narrowed to twin radiant slits as he peered into the dark. The light of the Tzohar, gentle as it was, spoiled any semblance of night vision. "You art...where?" His accent was sweet, warming the words with careful pronunciation as he squinted hopefully across the kitchen.

"Hello! I..." As his eyes adjusted, Shai finally caught sight of Sati, and his voice trailed off abruptly. There were several things that he simply hadn't been expecting...but the most startling was the sheer roundness of her gravid belly. Rising slowly to his feet, dusting his bright robes into place, Shai tried the introduction again.

"I am Shai Adi. Are you...Fa'e?" The slightly halting way he spaced his words, and the warm heavy accent made it clear that his speech was hampered by language, not by learning. His smile, however, was slower than usual. This woman (and there was NO doubt that she was woman, indeed!) was more than simply unusual...and Shai felt the bonds around his neck contract slightly, as though the Tzohar wished to reaffirm its hold upon him. With any luck, she was a Fa'e, for if she was not...

Shai was relatively certain that she would have to be a demon.

Demon or not, one did not leave a heavily pregnant woman on her feet. "Ah...a seat? I was...counting." Pulling out his chair with both hands, he offered it to Sati...nodding to the pyramid of truffles and rows of grapes upon the table. He seemed younger as he blushed, nodding once to his unexpected companion.

Thankful not only for her calm manner, but also for her simple words, Shai relaxed with a more genuine smile. Surely a demon would have shied, and bright teeth against dark skin (though, not THAT dark!) was a common and comforting sight. Shai himself would have been several tones richer, were it not for the light he contained.

"Alone! Yes, Sah~ti." He said her name carefully, as though trying it out. Finally, he nodded, and helped scoot in her chair almost absently. "Beautiful!"

As he made his way around to the side of the table, back to his original seat, Shai's bright gaze slid across her belly. In truth, one could almost see it happen...his luminous eyes and lowered lids combined for a sweep of glow. When he finally sat, he inclined his head with a single, softly spoken word. It was the word for congratulations, in his language, but he'd never heard it spoken here. The tone was the same, either way. Obviously he was touched by the sight of her.

"Why is...Sah~ti alone?" The question was innocently asked, and he pushed the small plate of remaining truffles and grapes her way, in case she wished to share. Shouldn't she have her attendants with her?

At the mention of his guardian, Shai twisted...pointing out the window towards the garden. "Aki! She is....praying." It took him a moment to find the right word, but he motioned up to the fat moon resting in the dark sky. While he personally didn't see the sense in praying to the moon, it seemed to bring Aki peace, and that was the important part.

Letting his arm fall, Shai turned back to his companion and gracefully slid the offered munchies away. While he didn't sense Sati's sadness, the offhanded statement furrowed his pale brows in its own right. "Well..." His accent was rich and round as he tried to choose his words, obviously still struggling with a new language. "I am one, and you are one. Two! Two is...not alone."

Shaking the hair back out of his face, Shai smiled with what would be pride on anyone else. On him, however, it was the simple pleasure of achievement. His lessons had paid off!

Shai watched the motion of her extra arms with unabashed curiosity, bright eyes following to where they met with Sati's body. He took the compliment gracefully, but something else she said seemed to pique his interest.

"Luck-ee?" Shai pronounced the word very carefully, as though he'd never spoken it aloud. "Is it good?" His confusion was slight...since she was speaking kindly, he expected 'lucky' to be a kind word.

Grow, however, was a word he knew. His smile returned, and his eyes dropped again to her almost perfectly round belly. "Lots of grow, then..." Counting once more on his fingers, Shai showed one more than last time. "Three!"

The idea of Sati's impending motherhood certainly seemed to sit well with Shai. "Baby has...onetwothree...four arms? Yes?" He held up his hands in a peaceable gesture, sleeves of his generous robe sliding back to reveal that Shai himself had only been graced with two arms.

"Six?!" The apples of Shai's cheeks gleamed as his eyes widened, light brightening his features. Now there was a thought! Shaking his head with a smile as he remembered what a wink meant, Shai chuckled and tried the gesture for himself...winking back at Sati. He didn't mind being teased, especially not about something so new. Many armed babies were definitely something new.

At the mention of the food, Shai fished a grape out of the 'river' and munched on it after a moments consideration. He knew Sati did not want any, but it was hard to fight the urge to offer anyway. She seemed kind, especially for a woman! Many of the women he'd met so far had been rather...opinionated. "Sati has many friends? Many...favorite?"

The shards raised a bit higher, tugging against their tethers as they spread, to add more light to the generous kitchen. The gentle harmonics of the crystals was almost undetectable, like the ringing in the air one only notices when its perfectly silent. He popped another grape into his mouth and glanced at the other Fa'e sidelong, curious about her life outside of the pregnancy.

Shai chewed slower as Sati began to speak, recounting her memories of days past. Soon, he was listening raptly...watching her lovely face as sadness warred with nostalgia. He could almost see it, as she described...people laughing and cooking, or playing games by the fire. A far away smile settled upon his lips as he imagined it, vanishing only when she startled him out of his reverie with a question.

"New friend?" For a moment, his bright eyes were blank. He didn't mean to be dense, but the language was still new to him. Moments later, it dawned on him what she meant.

"Oh! Yes! Many honors, Sati!" Without asking, he took her nearest hand in both of his for just a moment, giving it a warm and gentle squeeze. "All times you like!" The shards chimed in concordant harmony, a gentle lifting sound. He was fond of Sati already...she was very easy to talk with, and her lovely dark skin reminded him pleasantly of home. Of course, he'd never seen anyone with quite the complexion she possessed, but it was a welcome sight nonetheless.

"I hope for many friends, here. I hope for Airi, yes, too." He spoke with a quiet tone as he mentioned the pale girl, and the Tzohar hummed with positive resonance. Taking a slow glance out the window, Shai sighed in contentment, and realized Aki would be waiting by now.

color=tan]"It was very nice to meet Sati." Rising from the table, Shai offered a slight bow, favoring his new friend with a tiny, easy smile. "See you here again, with hope."

After they'd said their goodbyes, Shai cleaned up his chocolate and grape mess with some quiet, efficient tidying before making his way to the door. He paused once more to wave good bye, eyes bright over his smile, before ducking out of the HQ.

It was going to be a beautiful evening!