Welcome to Gaia! ::

With a single drop of blood, the ink began to melt off the card. It pooled in rapid, heavy drops, spilling to the ground and puddling as if a faucet had been turning on. The ink stretched thin, moving with an unnatural energy. It bubbled. It sparked.

It grew upright, defying all logic, all laws of nature.

Thin and oily, it twisted like water being wrung from a towel and dripping in the wrong direction–until it took form.

From the oily blackness, a hand emerged, pushing aside the black slick as if drawing back curtains.

Almadel stood before her inquisitive, already smoothing his outfit out as if he had arrived with something distasteful.

He saw her and smiled politely.

Mischievously.

“Do you think about me in the shower often or is today a special day?”

As she bowed, Almadel did the same–as much for manners as it was for fun, but his eyes were roaming the location as soon as he was upright again. She invited the examination, of course. He was eager to compare what it was now to what it was in his memory.

Almadel was probably not as much of an open book as he presented, but he had no reason to behave as if he weren’t delighted to be here. There was a bounce in his step, and he walked with his hands behind him like a schoolkid who had been reminded to look, not touch.

“Tea, coffee, it’s all the same. I, a gracious guest, will accept whatever my hostess offers. Your Wonder is lovely.” She should have been impressed at how quick his eyes could dart around without making himself dizzy.

“Your teasing, just the same.” He ducked lower, obligingly, but the low ceiling didn’t seem like it would have caught him by surprise, anyway. “Don’t keep me guessing. You’ve found something interesting? I want to see, of course.”

Almadel settled in as easily as Nis had, with the confidence of someone who was not here on his first visit. He accepted the coffee and might have sampled the additives had he not immediately been more interested in the box. He downed the coffee in a single sip, swallowing it all at once before setting the empty cup down.

His tail twitched with interest he made no effort to hide.

Holding the box with as much care as she had, he turned it in his hands a few times over. “Hand carved is good, but I wouldn’t expect mass produced. No maker’s mark, sad. Not a bad thing if the intention was obscurity, of course.”

Almadel took note of a few more details, though nothing was important enough to note. Yet.

Especially considering what was inside.

He opened the box with deft fingers, mindful of every careful touch. His eyes, eagerly fixed on the scroll, lit up. “Tell me more. You didn’t set off any traps, didn’t have any divine insight? Was the room well fortified? –Do you find things like this? Cosmos Wonders are treasure troves, you know. I’ve found many with hoards from all across the universe. It’s always a surprise,” he said excitedly.

He hadn’t even made it to the content of the scroll; he was too busy examining the lining of the box and the texture of the paper.

Almadel nodded approvingly, almost the entire time she recounted her adventure.

He’d taken the key and examined that too, and hadn’t yet passed it back.

“Well, let us hope that ‘past you’ left maps,” he hummed. “You’re a very good storyteller, you know. I’d like to hear more about your memories. When you have them.” An invitation for invitations, but Almadel was glad to have a free pass to visit anywhere. Especially somewhere as interesting as here.

“This scroll is interesting,” he said, but he’d only just laid eyes on its contents. “It’s an old dialect. I don’t recognize some of these words. Of course, if you let me borrow it, I’m sure I could translate it back at my museum. I’ve got plenty of books.”

He paused, lowered the paper to look at her, ‘hmm’ed, and then returned to the scroll.

“Of course, I’d understand if you wanted to barter something. Maybe,” he shrugged, and turned to face her. “Maybe I loan you something, and you loan me something, hm? I bet I could come up with something to make it worth your while.” He looked around the room. “You’ve got plenty of space here. I’d make it something good, of course.”

His eyes returned to the paper, alight with interest. If he’d cared about a poker face, he could have pulled it off masterfully. He wasn’t even trying right now. His tail twitched and he moved his leg over it absentmindedly, as if to pin it in place, while he smiled sweetly at Nis.

Shameless, yes. Almadel laughed richly. "I dread the day I overstay my welcome, but if you insist I'm welcome," he smiled, somehow more sweet than devious, "I'll have to visit more often."

He stretched out his legs and contemplated--deeply, judging by his very long, very melodious hmm.

"It would be rude of me to make an offer and renege," he mused. "Not a courteous gesture in the face of your goodwill. So then, let us trade gifts. As is customary of friends."

He left the scroll and box with her but rose, taking long strides across the room. He formed a square with his hands and closed one eye while framing different parts of the room with his fingers. Then, he took several steps, and seemed to be mentally calculating something, before he turned to her and grinned.

"Some furniture, I think. To liven this place up. Let me bring you a mirror. You'll love it, I guarantee. It's beautiful, like you. Close your eyes," he said, and when she humored him, he hummed for a few seconds before announcing she could look.

He stood, quite proudly, next to a stunning full length mirror. The silver frame had inlaid pastel, and was adorned with iridescent crystals. It looked uniquely Cosmos--and uniquely expensive.

"Come, come take a look," he insisted, gesturing for her to join him.

“A magic mirror,” Almadel answered gleefully, in that tone of his that said he was having too much fun but trying to stay professional. He watched her closely, wearing an expression that said more than he chose to speak.

“Didn’t I say? Oh, well. Let’s just call it part of the surprise. Shall I bring you another…? I mean, if you don’t like this one…”

No, he knew she did. He had a penchant for such things, and he rarely chose wrong.

He was teasing her, and enjoying it, judging by the way his tail enthusiastically danced behind him.

“I have a great deal of treasures unlike anything you’ll find on Earth. Maybe one day you can come exploring with me? In the old days, Cosmos Knights actually used to get into a lot of trouble. Not all of them, but.”

When he stood before the mirror, his reflection was his own, but he seemed more interested in looking at hers than his.

“Enough of them. I got along with some of them very well, you know. Some of them liked to give me a hard time.” At this, he laughed. “I never thought I’d miss it. But the universe is so big, and so lonely.”

He clapped her on the back gently, “All the more reasons to see my friends treated well.”