Portrait of a Yaksha

2

The old Wangshu Inn was very... Dusty. That's what Aether thought of it, at least. Dusty, full of old things, and very creaky. It felt like it might collapse in the next gust of strong lake wind. He had been sitting on the floor near the entryway for ages now, as Albedo flitted around scribbling notes and making impressed hums and ha's. That notebook seemed to have at least three pages dedicated to just this first area, at least one dedicated just to the unworking elevator, and they hadn't even begun up the stairs yet. Aether was pretty sure the ground level was only like the lobby, except with no desk, so sitting areas. There were tons of crates and old chairs here, and the only thing Aether had done so far was move some of those. Inside was primarily building materials, so the property owner of Wangshu had at least given enough forethought to ensure a quick start, but the way things were going with Alby, Aether even wondered if they'd be able to eat, much less get to go sightseeing. Maybe tomorrow, he sighed, picking at the hem of his crop top. One of the crates held primarily camping supplies, like lamps, batteries, and such. Eventually, Albedo needed one of the lamps to continue his survey.

Somewhere around 8 o'clock, Aether hopped off the crate and grabbed his satchel. If Albedo didn't want to eat, that was fine, but Aether himself was starved.

"I'll be back soon!" He called, wondering if Albedo even heard him. All he got in reply was a distracted nod and hum of acknowledgement, much to Aether's irritation. "I'm taking the car, you won't need it, right?" Another mumble, which could be interpreted as a "Sure, uh-huh", so Aether grumbled again. The town was certainly close enough, they didn't even need the car, but Aether did like to drive, and planned on getting a decent amount of grocery food for the two. Plus, since it was more likely they'd sleep in the car tonight, he wanted a bit of revenge.

Finding a supermarket wasn't hard, and since they wouldn't have anything to cook with for a bit, Aether couldn't buy anything refrigerated anyway. After that trip to the car, it also wasn't necessarily hard to follow his nose to a shop with a little bear mascot on the window, run by a perky girl with blue braids at the open kitchen and a flustered waitress with her hair tied up into what resembled cat-eared twintails. Plenty of other people were in the restaurant too; a strikingly sharp-dressed woman with a gold fan talking to a laughing eyepatched lady, someone with a bonnet and a walking stick sitting with the most punkish looking woman Aether had seen yet, and a white-haired gentleman with a red streak in his hair who looked rather interested in his book sitting at the counter in front of the kitchen. Seeing as he was a party of one at the moment, Aether took the liberty of sitting at the counter instead of one of the tables.

"Good evening! What can I get for you?" The waitress- her name tag read Keching- asked, setting a cup of tea next to the ponytailed gent. She seemed to radiate energy, even if her expressions didn't show it. Her eyes held like a coiled spring; still for now but ready for action at any moment.

"I don't know what you have here, actually, but that tea smells delicious. Would you mind?" Aether grinned. Actually, something else smelled marvelous too, but he couldn't pinpoint which dish she had that was creating that aroma, so he simply had to see if he could guess next time she came about. Keching nodded, turning with a nod and very nearly teleporting to a teapot on the stove. Those two seemed to work fast, and very well with one another. As soon as the braided chef finished something, Keching was right there to bring it out, and neither seemed to miss a beat. It was a very entracing dance...

"I take it you like maple tea as well?" the stranger beside him spoke, lowering his book a bit. The stranger had a bandaged hand, a red and white sweater, and a very kind smile. His necklace had a sword and a cat charm, which suited him nicely. "I haven't seen your face in Xiangling's before. The smell tempt you?"

"Oh- uh- I- Eheheh-" Goddamnit Aether. "Yeah, I just followed my nose, since I was so hungry. And I've never had maple tea, but it just smelled really good. If it tastes half as sweet as it smells, I'll be in Celestia." Aether flashed his grin again, leaning his elbow on the counter. "I just got here today. Me and my friend Albedo are fixing up the old Wangshu Inn together, but he's so stuck in his note-taking and surveying, I left him to it to get food. I'll bring some back with me, of course, but I was really starting to starve." He defended himself with a pout. The stranger simply nodded and took a sip of his tea.

"It certainly seems like you've picked the right time to arrive. There are festivals to the Yaksha who protects Wangshu, did you know? And my name is Kazuha. Yours?" His expressions were very subtle, like a gentle spring breeze, but not unclear or stoic like Albedo's. His voice was very pleasant, almost poetic, like he counted his verses. "It seems almost unfair to know your friend's name before yours."

"Oh! I'm Aether!" He thumped a hand on his chest, hitting his amber necklace against the zipper of his coat. "It's nice to meet you, Kazuha. I don't know where my manners went," Aether laughed, and he agreed with Kazuha about the names. Keching zipped by, leaving a teacup in her wake, and greeted a blond man with a star-covered mask. The maple tea was indeed perfectly sweet. Not by sugar, but by that lovely maple flavour. Aether had to take a moment to savour the taste, it was just blissful. Keching had only taken a drink order, and she was back to Aether.

"Do either of you want anything to eat?" She asked, full of that coiled energy.

"I think I'd like some dry-braised salted fish and a bowl of rice, if that's alright?" Kazuha smiled politely, finally closing his book.

"Whatever just came off the stove there looks amazing!" Aether watched as the braided chef put what looked like rolled meat into a pan.

"Alrighty, they'll be up soon!" And like that, Keching was gone.

"Just salted fish for you, huh?" Aether turned to question Kazuha's food choices.

"What can I say? It's an All-Weather beauty. It is as they say; rainy days are wonderful, sunny days are pleasant." Kazuha placed his book on his lap and took another sip of his tea. He seemed so particular, and yet, very lax and care-free. That gentle smile returned, and Aether couldn't help but smile back.

As the night went on, it became obvious that Kazuha cared for conversation, but not so much small-talk. In that aspect, he was similar to Albedo, but his words were much more flowery. Instead of avoiding small, meaningless conversations, he made it into a deeper one with his observations. Even something like "The weather is very nice, not too hot or cold tonight" became "Ahh, the weather is never too hot or cold for itself. Weather simply is as it does, it is the people who are too hot or cold." and Aether found himself trying to match that as the night went on. This Kazuha just felt right to talk too, like an old friend he'd only just met. Once the meal was done and some boxed up for Albedo, it was time to say good nights.

"Should you ever need me, I work as a bookkeeper and poet at Yae's Publishing And Booksellers. You should be able to find me most days of the week," Kazuha wrote down an address on a napkin and labeled it, along with a short haiku on the bottom. "Please, don't hesitate to bring this Albedo of yours along. I think we could have many an insightful conversation together."

"You got it, Kazuha. I'll be at- Well, it's kinda easy to find the old Wangshu Inn, it's so tall. You know where I'll be staying," Aether nodded and took the meal, and the forgotten car of groceries, home. Luckily, it was getting to be the middle of spring, so the mild night was one of the first few so far. It would be warming up very soon, meaning Aether had plenty of sweaty days ahead.

Albedo had been working by lamplight for hours now, and he only looked up again when he saw headlights. Immediately, a scowl crawled across his face and he shut his notebook on his pencil. Aether got out with the still-hot Xiangling Speciality meal, the spicy chili chicken, and approached cautiously.

"..." Albedo simply kept frowning, his eyes flickering from food to Aether and back. "I was under the assumption we would eat together? I take it I was too absorbed in what I was doing, and thus did not hear you leave?"

"Oh, good, you did realise it. I thought you were mad at me for a second," Aether smiled, handing it over to Albedo. Obviously, Albedo hadn't eaten, so he prioritised eating before chugging some water.

"I apologise, I was not frustrated with you. Moreso, frustrated with myself. Thank you, Aether, for this." Albedo cleared his throat, but avoided eye contact. "I was initially frustrated with you, but thinking clearly, it is obvious I was at fault. Unfortunately, I have yet to secure a place to sleep, so-"

"I already figured we'd been sleeping out of the car, so I made sure I only got room-temperature food and cleaned the backseat. We can go sight-seeing and go up the stairs tomorrow, okay?" Aether smiled again, putting a hand on Albedo's head.

Albedo nodded, sending a look upstairs. On the balcony railing, he could swear he saw two glowing golden eyes, but once he blinked, they were gone. Simply must have been tricks of the stars, he assumed, closing his tired eyes again. That was the most logical answer, at least.

-

That night, Albedo dreamt of a dark green mist with two piercing golden eyes watching him. It was only for a moment though, and he woke up lying in the backseat, Aether asleep in the pushed-back driver's seat. Albedo curled up tighter to try falling back asleep. Now was not the time to be losing sleep over a silly dream.