Chapter 1678 (1/2)

“This is faaaanncy,” Todd observed, twisting in his seat to look around at the surrounding restaurant. They sat in a low lit, cushy Italian ristorante, where the gawking of Todd drew the eyes of the well-to-do patrons in their dark suits. Aside from an ornate crystal chandelier outside of the elevator, all of the decor was done in dark hard-woods and wine red table clothes. Even to Randidly’s relatively insensitive taste, the exquisite dress of the hostess and the thick leather linings of the menu spoke of money.

Wonder how Neveah found out about a place like this… Randidly gazed around casually. The top-floor restaurant was relatively intimate; there were only eight tables set. There was a balcony area with a table Neveah had reserved, but Randidly knew that the moss spirits would draw attention to him if he sat outside, so he requested to be seated inside. Some other couple was only too happy to switch for the glorious view of Kharon and the gleaming lights of its sky-islands.

Todd spoke between bites of his third thoroughly-buttered slice of pumpernickel bread. ”Never been invited to a posh place like this- they have a few of ‘em in the rich quarter of Kharon Academy, but mostly they are only for professors and kids in their final two years of attendance. But man- I'm gonna start studying harder in order to end up at places like this... who is this person we are meeting anyway?”

Randidly grinned to see Todd's rather blithe behavior, even when the three demerits clattered on his wrist. The kid's mood seemed to be improving in proportion to the amount of bread and honey butter he consumed. ”She's... family. My sister.”

”Treasure your family,” Todd said philosophically, with bits of bread sticking to the corner of his mouth. Randidly could only suppress his smile and nod solemnly at his sensei's teachings. He casually chose a bottle of wine from the list to share with Neveah.

With this new body, I wonder how many bottles I would need to drink before I really feel something… Randidly wondered idly. But then his eyes turned sharp.

Some of the other patrons of the restaurant were beginning to notice the reckless abandon with which Todd wielded his knife to apply butter. Even Randidly had to admit that the process was messier than he cared to be near. But when, always sensitive to the feeling of the room, Randidly began to feel a vague feeling of judgment and disgust from the present population, his eyes narrowed and he pressed his lips together. You fuckers. Who do you think owns this whole restaurant?

Luckily, Neveah arrived at that time, pausing briefly at the hostess station before proceed across the wooden floor toward their table. Todd muttered under his breath 'rich, fancy older sister...' and Randidly could only agree. Since Neveah had visited the Nexus, she had altered her look. She had aged herself, allowing most of the influence of Lyra to fade from her features, although there was still some sharpness present in her chin and the corners of her eyes. But her face bore thin lines that stood out when Neveah smiled, as she did now when her eyes alighted on Randidly. Her hair hung down around her face to her jaw, framing her face perfectly.

Randidly couldn't resist sending her a message. Did you copy my new hairstyle on purpose? Oh, and I've told Todd you are my sister.

I think Helen actually modeled you after me, Neveah responded cheerily. They met and hugged, Randidly's flesh and metal arm wrapping around her body and buzzing through the human illusion that Neveah constantly maintained, to feel the heavy bones of her true form. And with Neveah, Randidly didn’t need to hold back. He squeezed with all the relish he felt to be reunited with her under peaceful circumstances.

They parted and Neveah turned seriously to Todd. ”Nice to meet you, Mr. Todd. I hear you've been teaching my little brother all about Scrawl... truly how can I thank you?”

”Well... no thanks is necessary...” Todd's mouth said, but his eyes betrayed him by flicking to the empty breadbasket. Neveah laughed aloud and gestured for a waiter to come over so they could order another.

Neveah clicked her tongue as she poured herself a glass of the red wine Randidly had ordered and then looked at the bottle. “I assume you ordered it without reading it?”

She flashed Randidly the label: Greyman Vinyards.

Randidly blinked. “Greyman… like Theodora-”

“Yup, the very same. Owns a whole skyisland. Wine’s pretty good too, even if sometimes her bottles taste a little… bitter.” Neveah’s face darkened briefly. She gave Randidly a sidelong glance. “I think it’s your influence. I can taste people, just barely. Like each intelligent life form is a bit like a stew that people slow cooked. And everything you add to your own stew affects the flavor. But the downside is… some ingredients are so overpowering you can never escape them. They shape your significance forever, no matter how hard you try to run from them.”

Into the resulting silence, Todd spoke. “Huh. I wonder what I taste like…”

Neveah chuckled, her morose expression vanishing almost immediately. “Probably honey-butter.”

On cue, the waiter arrived and took their initial orders.

Randidly found the meal to be remarkably... domestic. Neveah and Todd quickly became fast friends, with him boasting shamelessly of his own accomplishments and the things he would soon accomplish, while Neveah made admiring noises at the right times. Then when the appetizers arrived and Todd's mouth was busy dealing with those, Neveah and Randidly began talking.

Neveah chatted happily about her continued relationship with her pen-pal, about how she worked as a consultant for Engraving based security companies, and how she lived with Sydney and helped take care of the almost-recuperated Drake. Then she seemed to wilt as she talked about racial tensions arising from the growing presence of ogres and frog people on Expira, with new races arriving from uncovered and exploited Danger Zones.

”Most of the real shit comes from Zones 1, 7, and 11,” Neveah shook her head. ”The Great Sea Zone can't be bothered to care; they are perfectly willing to trade no matter the species. And obviously, Zone 32 is very accepting, considering that most of the commercial connections are concentrated there and in the Orchard. But... it's just sad. Sometimes I think that these people wished all the foreign species of died, leaving the planets for use to exploit...”

”I like ogres and frog people,” Todd offered. ”They have cool Skills that most humans don't learn. If you want an edge, you gotta gather unique Skills.”

”A very intelligent way to approach the issue,” Neveah chuckled.

However, the wonderfully intimate feeling of the meal began to fray as the attention that Todd brought to the table with his crass manners began to catch upon Randidly. As they sat there, he sensed the recognition in the surrounding faces and felt the way their gazes became increasingly intense.