V
Vinyl
Guest
Inkie felt more than saw Rai's go-ahead and dove into the box. He wasn't sure where the stuff should go, so most of it ended up in organized piles on the guy's bed. Hopefully Rai wouldn't mind.
With the two of them unpacking, the job at hand would be done in moments. Inkie felt himself calm, and his shoulders slacken a little. Something about loading and unloading, menial little tasks - sweeping, fixing pipes - always brought him peace of mind. Made him feel closer to the sky, nearer to the stars. A faraway mist shadowed over the young empath's eyes; the room around him seemed to dim - and for the moment he was back on The Rollick. He remembered how the ship would rock gently in the breeze. How the morning sun would kiss his skin as he rose at dawn and swept the deck, or the afternoons when he'd finally finish, stretch, and just nap right there in the middle of the floor. The light on his features, and Myriad by his side, all draped over his stomach, snoozing and purring by his ear.
And the library...
Even miles off of the ground, he hadn't had to abandon his love of words, of emotions written on the page. The books, he felt, had been able to understand him. And he understood them. He remembered his silent conversations with the stars. With the pages. With...
"Ah-"
Suddenly, a soft whimper bubbled from behind his scarf - the first sound he'd made since he'd entered the room. Still kind of muffled though, as if he'd moaned with his mouth closed. A throbbing, biting warmth prickled at his finger. Paper cut. Inkie blinked at the deep shimmering red as it rolled down his finger and looked absolutely like he was about to be sick. His cheeks flushed right before his face went pale, and then green, and he suddenly seemed to be as flimsy as a sheet of parchment.
In an effort to appear less squeamish, he shot a weak look at Rai and then peered into the box to see what had cut hi-
A small but well thickened book there read: "Legends of the Oriental Waterdragons and their Subspecies".
DRAGONS.
Pain and blood suddenly forggotten, Inkie practically leapt towards the book, pulled it out with care, and waved it excitedly at Rai. Dragons! And Waterdragons! He loved Dragons! He remembered watching dragons from the side of the ship that time he'd leaned so far over the railing that he'd fallen. And feeding one fish, and...and...
Dragons were just love and life, that was all.
Did Rai love dragons too? They were going to be best friends forever as long as Rai let him read the book.
His eyes laughed and shrilled like those of an overexcited schoolgirl, so much so that he didn't seem to notice the announcement.