One thing I will say for the Spriggan sibs is that there’s only ever one trip back from the car. They may be small, at least, most of the time, but they’re super-strong and they’ll carry everything. Somehow, and I figure it’s some kind of use of a talent, we never meet anyone in the parking lot. I don’t know how they manage to veil themselves from nosy people looking past the blinds, but who knows, maybe it’s a complete package.<\/p>\n
I was able to unlock the door using one hand, propping up my boxes of stuff against the wall while I did it. I didn’t know what their etiquette rules were regarding opening doors, because sometimes it seemed okay, and sometimes it seemed verboten. I’m sure if I paid attention I’d figure out the pattern, but I just went with the flow. It could be a bodyguard thing, and not just some freaky fey formality. Not everything was about magic, right?<\/p>\n
I was looking forward to seeing the new layout again. \u00a0It had made my whole place feel a little different, fresh and new. I’m glad my bedroom was off-limits, so I still had a familiar area, like a pillow fort I could return to if I needed. I didn’t feel I really had a lot of anxiety, but everyone has their lair, right? \u00a0Just because mine was lined in comics and paperbacks was just like laying on piles of gold. \u00a0Or fish. \u00a0Whatever floats your horde. \u00a0That doesn’t sound like the right metaphor. Whatever gathers your horde?<\/p>\n
I rushed to the kitchen with the groceries, not really looking. Once I got things settled on the counter, I leaned against the stove and glanced at the living room.<\/p>\n
…and kept on looking.<\/p>\n
“What did you do?” I asked. \u00a0I don’t know how it came out. I was shocked and appalled and in awe at the same time.<\/p>\n
First was the lighting. I have (I had to count) three lights for the living room. \u00a0One hanging one over the table, one on my desk next to the computer, and the kitchen LED (the management company replaced the fluorescents a few years ago) that was usually left on unless we were leaving. \u00a0The kitchen was still on, and it still looked white with that slight blue tint, but I could see little blue lights glowing and shifting in…the distance?<\/p>\n
Something about the use of light and shadow made my living room look like a grotto. \u00a0The couch was there, but it looked sunken, somehow more a part of the book cases, which loomed like those huge trees in the swamp. \u00a0There was a fountain somewhere in the other corner, water barely running, just sliding and leaving a bit of chill to the atmosphere. It was quiet, not that rush of water that every apartment dweller feared. \u00a0It was pleasant. \u00a0I recalled the fountain as something I’d picked up from a garage sale and never had put together. I wondered what else Nen had found in my storage.<\/p>\n
Everything smelled so nice, I just spent time breathing it in. \u00a0I could hear Rayya and Nen setting things up in the kitchen. \u00a0There was the moving of plates, quiet sounds. \u00a0I sat down on the couch, stretching out my legs. \u00a0I closed my eyes, and leaned back for a few minutes.<\/p>\n
I hadn’t meant to fall asleep. \u00a0I woke up with a growling in my stomach, and my nostrils full of the spices and all the\u00a0Maillard Reaction goodness of baking something that smelled amazing.<\/p>\n
“You looked peaceful,” Rayya said. \u00a0She was wearing something different. \u00a0I tried to put it together, and I remembered. The babies breath. \u00a0She had used it to make a kind of lace overlay, and she smelled like the faint scent of the flower. \u00a0There were different silver rings on each of her fingers, all shiny. \u00a0She’d done something faintly to her eyes, make-up I would guess. \u00a0Some kind of faint line to them that changed their shape. \u00a0I was quick to notice only because I’d gotten in trouble so many times for not knowing. \u00a0It bugged me that she wore the headscarf so I couldn’t compliment her for something she might have done with her hair.<\/p>\n
“Not a bad dream or even,” I stretched it out, “a crick in my neck. You look nice. Is that why you wanted the flowers?”<\/p>\n
She smiled, and maybe I even detected a bit of pleasure in her expression. \u00a0“In part,” she said. “I am glad you appreciate.” \u00a0That was better than my approval, I decided. \u00a0Even this old dog could learn some new tricks.<\/p>\n
I glanced in to the kitchen. \u00a0Nen looked as he did this morning. “Should I dress up?” I asked. I had meant to do a little, but if she was looking nice I needed a bit more time. \u00a0I glanced at my watch. \u00a0Plenty of time. \u00a0For a guy; for Maggie I would need to travel four or five hours in the past, or cheat.<\/p>\n
Funny that I didn’t consider the sibs using their glamour as cheating. It was what they were, less who they were, which it was with Maggie. \u00a0I thought of magic as being special, and she thought it was a tool to be used for whatever nail she could hammer. I guess that’s being a little judgmental; she had other tools in her toolbox, of course. \u00a0I was just being the bitter ex- for a moment.<\/p>\n
“It is up to you,” Rayya responded.<\/p>\n
“I know what that means. \u00a0It means yes or you’ll be secretly disappointed and judge me all evening.” \u00a0That wasn’t quite fair, either; I knew them to be true to their word, and if she said it was up to me, it probably was. I was reacting to her as if she was a woman.<\/p>\n
That was weird. \u00a0I didn’t think of Rayya as a, I mean, yeah, I was aware she was female. \u00a0She was just on the ‘no’ list so I didn’t really count on it.<\/p>\n
I couldn’t read the expression, but she followed it up with a shrug. \u00a0“It is up to you,” she repeated. \u00a0She moved back to the kitchen, dismissing me and my neuroses.<\/p>\n
I guess I could at least put on a shirt that buttoned up… I got up to look at my wardrobe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
You shouldn’t get your feet wet in your own living room.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1001002,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chapter-10-opener"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1001002"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1722\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3-2-1-boom.com\/doctor-e\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}