Skyfire Stories (1/2)
Skyfire Chapters: Xiao Lai
The breeze flitted uninhibited across the mountain top Broken bits of a symphony wafted on the wind, born fro was, in a word, spectacular The venue was blanketed in muslin and saht, cool enough to accommodate the scores of people in three piece suits and heavy elegant gowns It was like sorand balls froht in school civics
People ed in conversation, so desperately to blend in to a crowd they had absolutely no business being seen in The last was the case for at least one gentlemen, who tried his very best to look nonchalant as he leaned against the open bar set near the reflecting pool
Floral arrangements abound of jasmine, lily and baby’s breath that set the man in his dark suit in stark contrast He stood with one elbow atop the white bar, brown eyes looking hither and non around the area – and looking quickly ahen soaze He wore a fine Arh it had never been worn The lapels were finely pressed and shi+old buttons Tailored pants fell to recently polished black dress shoes Beneath he wore a coal-black vest of silk eons A white shi+rt served as the canvas for the straight black tie tucked in to the coat His bulging gut threatened to burst the entire enses
He absently ran a hand through his thinning brown hair, briefly revealing the cheap knock-off Oently held the stelass, the dark red liquid within sloshi+ng dangerously A straithin
A blast of air ruffled his co to hide the fact and still retaining so any attention, and all eyes were on the sizable verti-car landing in the driveway On it’s sides were painted two hearts – one red and one blue
Cheeeeeeese, thehis eyes But even the voice in his head sounded bitter He looked on as the extravagant car landed, and two frightening-looking bodyguards issued forth His lass while his eyes remained locked on the scene before him
“You look like a coentleoer, clad in a suests while hissing through the side of his ht and weight, but where his was evenly distributed the ht in his belly It looked, in essence, like a conversation between a pear and an apple in suits
“I was pretty sure you were under strict instructions not to act like a narc” The grey-clad reet the Prime Minister of the Western Alliance “The whole reason you caet of that da ith a straw like you ate paint chips when you were a kid”
“What,” Xiao Lai responded with a scowl “Do you have any idea how et wine on it they wont take it back to straw and he took a long slurpy sip,honest, though, he did mostly to mess with him
Xiao Lai wasn’t anyone special He wasn’t a dignitary, no political elite He was nobody, but his friend wasn’t His friend, JP, was a governet Lai out of the house for ages, to go le Xiao Lai, in retaliation, chose instead to grow out a patchy and hideous beard
Pudgy fingers scratched at the scraggly face-forest as he continued “I’m a teacher dude What am I supposed to say? ‘Oh! hello Mister Governor of the Outer Territories and his twenty year old ate some verbs with me?’”
JP slapped his hand dohere it was drawing dangerously close to picking his nose “Stop! And drink like a human, do you even knohat kind of wine that is?”
Xiao Lai adopted his best hoity-toity expression “Oh well hed in an oaken barrel – I’M A TEACHER WHO MAKES SLAVE WAGES MAN! All that wine-tasting malarkey is nonsense anyway Like seriously, people buy the nice stuff to show off to their friends”
His friend scowled piteously, slapping a hand on his shoulder and staring in to his eyes to get his attention “You’re a sad little man Get away fro Victoria Secret catalogue and pray she doesn’t et lucky”
He let his ar in to conversation with a regal looking couple nearby Xiao Lai, meanwhile, took a particularly audible slurp of his wine
But he knew his friend was correct, and he should le With herculean effort he pushed himself from the bar and headed towards the music
The band had been set up near the podiu cereh the various seats and instrue indicated the others were on break or otherwise indisposed The four reanized like a Foruitar, a keyboard and vocals As Xiao Lai drew closer he was able to spy their ht
bellbottom pants, cream jackets and baby blue shi+rts unbuttoned to littered with the odd bit of gold jewelry
As he arrived they struck up another tune, the immediate area vibrant with the sound of synthetic keyboard and vocals several octaves higher than any ht to produce
“My baby ht on to the dawn”
It was like a cold hand gripped his spine, and Xiao Lai’s face stiffened to suffer what his friends liked to call Forrest Whitaker eye – a Former Era affliction where half your face paralyzes from sheer stupidity or emotional distress In this case the cause was clear
“Disco,” he growled
He ht a flash of red in the corner of his eye A wo wistfully in to theout of a Victoria Secret ca-
Xiao Lai shook his head to free himself from his friend’s voice, which had – for sohts This vision of loveliness was alone, beautiful and lonely What sort of gentle about that? What, though?
“What you doin’ on your back Aahhhhh What you doin on your back Aaahhh You should be daaaancin, yeeaahhh!”