<blockquote><p>(OOC Note: I apologise for the pun. Also, aside from Binail this will eventually feature his dad, Rihaldur - hope that's okay.)</p></blockquote> <p><em>Bzzt. Bzzt. Bzzt. Beep.</em></p> <p>"Hello? Binail Hachuan here."<br /><em>"Hi son."</em><br />"Hey dad."<br /><em>"How's life?"</em><br />"Life is... life-ish."<br /><em>"As always. Now, I've almost finished work for today. Would you like to meet up somewhere for caffeine?"</em><br />"Hey, why not? You got anywhere in mind in particular?"<br /><em>"How about the local Emshadjyomp?"</em><br />"Sounds good. See you in...?"<br /><em>"Half a fues. Around that."</em><br />"Okay. See you then, dad."<br /><em>"See ya'."</em></p> <p>--</p> <p>It had almost been a year since Fromina was thrown out of balance, and Ramath-lehi had been forced to change and adapt. Ajitians had been hit particularly hard; after the earthquakes and their home almost falling into the ocean, many had been forced to leave. And magicka-users were arguably worse off - because magic had become even more unpredictable, magicka use had been banned.</p> <p>The Rauamaak, a Feydragon clan that worshipped Aidlt, had suffered because of both of these problems. It was why the Hachuan family, after years of staying in their beloved homeland, had moved to a rented place in Watani.</p> <p>Their older son, one Binail, was currently in the local Emshadjyomp - a café which was part of a franchise and had possibly the silliest name a café could have. At this time of day, many of the customers were a mix of ages; some were young and obviously students, and some were older and probably <em>not</em> students. It contributed to the rather nice atmosphere the place had. There were the scents of various caffeinated drinks and sweets, the sounds of chatter, and music being played from a radio hidden somewhere.</p> <p>Bin was ignoring that last one in favour of wearing headphones hooked to his rather large ears and connected to a portable music player. Rock music played relatively softly as he idly munched a biscuit. He was in his usual casual gear, including a necklace made of wooden beads around his neck, and several bracelets on each wrist. From a distance he might have looked like a child, but that came with being a fey, honestly.</p> <p>He held up the music player and pushed a button, allowing it to display the time. <em>Dad, you're a few mosas late... typical.</em> He sighed and put it back on the table, noting that he'd probably have to sit opposite an empty chair for a while longer.</p>
<p>It didn't matter how long Valekesi spent on the planet's surface; the ground always felt foreign and wrong to her. Vale had been off-planet serving exclusively in the USR's Tguka division for nearly an entire decade. Simply being here made her feel like an alien. She didn't belong. Of course, she didn't have much of a choice. When Ramath-lehi had fallen – quite literally – into turmoil, her squadron was just one of the many that had been recalled from their stationed posts in order to lend assistance. Even now, a year later, it didn't look like they were going to be leaving any time soon. As a certified medic, well, there had been no shortage of work for the Lukuo.</p> <p>Dressed casually and out of her usual uniform, Valekesi was trying her best to blend in and take advantage of the time she had off. It seemed that every time she was on Ramath-lehi, something terrible was happening, or about to happen. The Fronima unstability now, and before that it was the Council of Thirteen's inauguration that had gone awry, before that there had been some ridiculous intervention staged by someone who she thought was a friend... Everything about Ramath-lehi brought a bad taste to both her mouth and mind. Fortunately there were a few things about the place that she still liked. Any place that served caffeine was alright in her books.</p> <p>As Valekesi stood in line to order, she pushed her thick grey hood off of her head so that she could get a better look at the other patrons of the café. Being in Swaraj made her a little nervous at times. A long, long time ago she had called this place home. The fear of running into someone that knew her from back then was highly distasteful. She didn't want any sort of confrontations. All she wanted to do was live her life quietly. When her glance around the establishment finished, Valekesi relaxed a little.</p> <p><strong>“Thanks,”</strong> Valekesi murmured after she had recieved her order: a steaming cup of something so dark that it looked like it would first paint and then corrode her insides. Now standing off to the side of the register, Valekesi gave her drink a small tentative sip. It burned her tongue just like she thought it would. Everyone else in the café seemed busy with one thing or another – either consumed by some sort of personal electronic, or chatting animatedly with friends. Vale had no such distractions. Normally she would have just taken a seat at one of the single booths or one of the benches, however they all seemed occupied. She didn't remember the Emshadjyomp being so popular when she had been younger, but a lot of things had changed since then.</p>
<p>Pushing another few buttons on his music player, Bin skipped to another song. If anyone who knew him had been watching, they wouldn't have been surprised by his new choice: it was by Chaos Theory, a rock band he was a fan of. (The fact that its lineup consisted entirely of Feydragons had <em>nothing</em> to do with this. Honest.) As a familiar bass riff began to play, he picked up a cup of coffee and took a sip.</p> <p>It was after he'd set his drink back down that something occurred to him. It took a while for him to head to this café from where he'd been, so he hadn't been here for long. He'd assumed that dad would arrive shortly after he did, except of course that was wrong. Dad was going to be late; this wasn't too unusual, given his line of work, but only now had Bin realised that there was a slight issue.</p> <p><em>...I don't have anything to do.</em> He grumbled. <em>Should've brought my homework or something.</em></p> <p>So how would he occupy himself while waiting? The tan-coloured Fey leaned back in his chair with a sigh, looking around the establishment. He didn't see anything too out of the ordinary. A couple were talking about something - he heard something about lousy parents. An arden was cradling a hatchling in his arm. Another arden, this one a Feydragon himself (what were the odds?), was reading a book which looked rather like a pet care guide, specifically about cessi.</p> <p>And then there was a thill with a cup, looking around as if trying to find an empty seat.</p> <p>...except the only one he could see at that moment was, in fact, at the same table he was, right opposite him; where dad would sit when/if he showed up.</p> <p>And she certainly wasn't an ugly thill, either. But he'd kept that seat for dad. But she didn't have anywhere to sit.</p> <p><em>...oh Fronna. I'll just get another chair for dad soon as one's vacant.</em></p> <p>Bin pulled his headphones off and let them rest around his neck, moved dad's cup to his own side of the table, then lifted his hand. "'scuse me, ma'am," he called, hoping she'd recognise he was addressing her (hey, mishaps happened sometimes). "There's an empty chair here. You can have that if you want."</p>
<p>Valekesi blew gently on the open-lidded coffee cup that she was holding in an impatient attempt to cool it down faster. It was noisy here, but it wasn't making her uncomfortable. In fact, the buzzing of multiple conversations and random boughts of laughter were somewhat soothing. Of course, bring any Ramathian to a place of food and drink and they'd almost always brighten in disposition instantly. Even the most diciplined warrior was driven by the needs of his stomach.</p> <p>Despite the warmth of the café, Valekesi was considering venturing back outside when someone caught her attention. At first glance, the thill assumed that it was a little nioti. Upon focusing her attention though, she realized that he was actually some sort of lop-eared Feydragon. Despite considering herself to be fairly well-travelled, Valekesi hadn't had many dealings with the Fey. For some reason or another, they weren't all that keen on becoming members of the USR. Maybe it had something to do with their religion. She could only really speculate. It was a shame, specially when given that the race had so many innate abilities in regards to Fronima.</p> <p>She pointed at herself and raised her eyebrows to ask silently if this – let's say, kindly gentleman – was actually addressing her. When it was clear that he was, she sauntered over with a casual air that suggested that she hung out with complete strangers all the time.</p> <p><strong>“You sure?”</strong> She asked as she rested her left hand on the back of the chair.<strong> “It looks suspiciously as if you were saving it for someone else.” </strong>Her eyes rested briefly on the second cup that had been moved next to the Feydragon's own. <strong>“Unless of course you're double fisting. Then Mr. Arden, I'm not sure if I wanna get between you and your caffeine. Chair or not.”</strong></p>
<p>Well, on one hand, she had worked out that Bin had been addressing her. It probably would have been obvious, but you never could be too careful. He'd noticed that some other customers had looked at him when he called out. Now the thill had come over to his table, and commented that it looked like he'd been saving the empty seat for someone else. <em>Well</em> that <em>was obvious, wasn't it. Good work thinking ahead, Bin.</em> Although... double fisting? Okay. Definitely time to get some things cleared up.</p> <p>"You got me," the Feydragon said with a slight laugh. If there were still any questions about whether he was an arden, here was the answer; his voice gave it away completely. "Yeah, I was saving that chair for someone - way I see it, as soon as another one's available you or he could just grab it. 'He' being that someone, 'course."</p> <p><em>Though he still might chew me out for it,</em> he thought. He picked up his biscuit once again.</p> <p>"I was hoping to meet up with him here, see. Trouble is, he's late." Bin shrugged. "So I guess you could get away with using that chair for a while. As long as no-one touches his drink we should all be fine, yeah?" He pointed at his father's designated cup. It was almost a pity he couldn't put a sign that said '<em>Do not touch; nothing gets between High Lord Hachuan'ba and his precious caffeinated beverages</em>' on it.</p>
<p>Valekesi smiled brightly as she pulled out the chair and smartly deposited herself into it. She then scooted it closer toward the table, eyeing the extra cup once more before looking the arden over. There was something about this arden's appearance that greatly amused her. Maybe it was simply his large floppy ears – there weren't too many of those in her own family – in combination with him being a Fey. Or maybe it was the way that he styled his hair... or the tattoos. Valekesi had always been a little partial to the colour green. That was probably it.</p> <p>She pulled her hair out of the collar of her hoodie where it had previously been stuck and let it fall. A blue strand of it fell menacely in front of her right eye which she then swooped off to the side with a hand. Valekesi had been ready to head back outside and into the great unknown before this seat had been kindly offered up. Unfortunately for the arden, she was now curious about the owner of the second cup.</p> <p><strong>“Him?”</strong> She queried as she sat her own cup of coffee down on the table. <strong>“Your boyfriend? By Fronna, if that's the case, just let me know when you see him coming and I'll jump ship. I can't tell you how many times now I've gotten myself into sticky-bad situations like that. You think you really know a 'dragon, then they get that fiery bit o' green jealousy in their gut and go off like a gaukh. So yeah, you just say the word.”</strong></p>
