He didn’t say there was a dress code, nor that snakes weren’t allowed. So far, so good. Theo followed him down the hall and into the gardens. Once again they had to look around and take everything in, it was so picturesque and beautiful. As they approached the pavilion and the queens though, Theo started to mentally close up.
“A pleasure to make your acquaintance,” he said stiffly, offering a polite nod to each queen. He followed them and sat down near or next to Kuno.
.jpg)
"Oh, there's no need to be so formal, qle!" Lainei exclaimed, sitting down across from Kuno. Elia laughed gently and sat down as well.
"How are you liking your job, Theo? I hope everything is going okay. I know jiee can be a little distant sometimes. I hope he hasn't been too off-putting for you." Elia gave Kuno a familiar pat on the arm.
"Elia, that's not true." Kuno gave her a slightly betrayed look.
"Juna, don't embarrass him. I'm sure he's been fine."
"I have." Kuno sighed. He hoped that the queens would stop talking about him and start talking about literally anything else. The feeling of being with family, however, was what he needed. Elia calling him 'jiee'– a sort of affectionate name for family members– had caused a flood of warmth to wash through his heart. Still, them acting like a family when Theo had no one would surely not sit right with them. He didn't want to cause them any pain. "We should eat, yes? Before it gets cold," He prompted them, gesturing at the assortment of plates on the table.
Theo rubbed the back of his neck nervously. He was so used to acting formally around people that he wasn’t sure how else to act. They really only acted informally around reptiles and… Isla.
“Alright, I’m just not used to… I haven’t been to an- an event like this in…” they stuttered, trailing off. “I like the job, and Kuno’s alright.” He answered the queen’s question, voice softer now. He felt very uncomfortable and out of place, he was surprised no one had found him out just by looking at him. They weren’t even sure they would be able to eat, now feeling rather robbed of their appetite.
Ko flickered her tongue at him, seemingly amused. They rolled their eyes in return.
"It's alright, qle." Elia gave Theo a soft look. "This hasn't happened in forever. I'm sure we're all feeling a little weird right now, right?" She glanced around the table at the rest of them for confirmation.
"Yeah." Lainei agreed, pressing her lips together. "But it's a good weird for me. I've missed this so much! And tonight is going to be so much fun!" Kuno nodded absently, reaching for a plate of cinnamon cakes. That night would be fun. He glanced over at Theo. Hopefully, they would enjoy it too.
"I'm glad you're enjoying it. If you ever need anything, just tell us." Elia grabbed a jug of juice and poured two glasses of it. She kept one for herself and handed the other one to her wife.
"Just alright?" Lainei laughed. "Don't worry, he'll get better the more you know him."
"Lainei!" Kuno groaned and took a bite of the cake. It wasn't a good breakfast, but it was taveni-jolu. The entire day would be full of questionable food-based decisions.
Theo grabbed a cinnamon cake as well and set it in front of him. It seemed more to his liking than the other foods he’d tried, but something kept them from taking a bite. Glancing up, he saw a bowl of the fruits he’d eaten the previous morning, so he grabbed one and set it beside the cake on his plate.
If you ever need anything… Could they use the queens to perhaps reduce the chance they’ll be accused of Kuno’s murder? It was certainly an idea. But how?
His head snapped in Kuno’s direction in alarm. “Ah- I didn’t mean to say that in the wrong way– my apologies, um–“ he coughed to cover up his stutters. “I mean to say that he- he uh, suits his position…”
What was he even saying? He trailed off and stopped talking, just in time to hear Ko hiss with laughter. They lowered their gaze, taking their fruit in their hands and trying to hide behind it.
"Oh, don't worry. It was just a joke." Lainei quickly said, seeming slightly alarmed that she had startled Theo so much.
"Lainei, do you want some cake?" Elia asked, shoving a plate into Lainei's face. "Enough with the teasing."
"Sorry about her," Kuno muttered to Theo, giving him an apologetic smile. Lainei could be a lot sometimes, and even he could get overwhelmed by her sometimes, even though he'd been with her for years. He glanced at the queens, then started eating. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to bring Theo… though they would have been all alone then. A little awkwardness was probably better than being alone on taveni-jolu. It was a celebration for family and friends, for company. No one should have to spend it alone. "Are you doing alright?"
Theo just nodded absently, trying to get a hold of himself. Glancing over at Kuno, they found his smile to be oddly comforting. He quickly looked away and took a bite of the fruit. Then he realized how hungry he was and consumed the rest in about two seconds.
“I’m fine,” they insisted, but quietly added, “Just very unused to social events in general.”
So far, taveni-jolu was nothing like Jiyo. In Indri, summer was also the the start of the rainy season, so Jiyo was held to celebrate both. Theo never had any special meals like this during the holiday that they could remember, instead starting the day with marveling at the downpour of rain outside before running out to dance in it. Though that was far back in the days of blissful childhood.
"Oh. Sorry." Kuno winced slightly. "I just thought that you wouldn't want to spend taveni-jolu by yourself. If you want to leave, you're free to." He glanced over at Theo, a memory wiggling itself into his head in spite of himself. The last taveni-jolu he'd spent. It had been lonely. Cold. He had been in pain, lots of it. Maybe the worst part had been the king and queen… Kuno shook his head. He couldn't think about that now. He couldn't.
"Kuno? Sa jeia ilah?" Elia asked, peering at him with worry in her eyes.
"Mn. Loume ilah." Kuno tugged a necklace from under his shirt and held it gently in his hands, taking a few deep breaths. He was fine, he was fine, he was fine. Sol was protecting him. The canyu were gone. They couldn't hurt him or any of the Gealei ever again. He couldn't make Elia or Lainei worry, especially today. They deserved to relax and have fun. Kuno let the necklace fall from his hands and gave the queens a very fake but believable smile.
They shrugged. “I can stay. Might as well learn how to socialize again.”
Taking a nibble of the cake, he glanced at Kuno, saw something glimmer in his eye. He might’ve stared for a bit too long if not for Ko speaking up.
Theo, Theo, can I taste that thing you’re holding? She had slithered around his shoulder, her tail slightly curling around his neck.
“Um, no,” he said quietly so the others wouldn’t overhear.
She flicked her tongue at him. Why?
“Because if you taste it, you will most likely get sick and die,” they replied flatly.
The snake seemed to give them a look. Meanie.
Theo rolled their eyes, glancing back at Kuno just in time to see the necklace fall from his hands. Wait, did something happen? What did they miss? He raised an eyebrow at Kuno’s smile, seeing right through it. They’d worn it themselves on occasion. Unsure how to ask the other man about it though, he went back to nibbling the cake.
The queens stared at him for a second but seemed to believe his smile. Good. He turned his attention to his food, eating slowly. With each bite, he pushed the past farther into the back of his mind. The queens didn't say anything else for a while. Lainei was the one who broke the silence, which was expected. She was always the more vocal one.
"How has your, uh, magic thing going?" She asked, looking at Kuno expectantly. "Are you finding all the books you need?"
"Oh, yes." Kuno nodded. "Learning magic isn't too difficult. If you wanted, you could probably learn it too. I have some pretty good notes if you want to borrow them."
"Thanks, but no thanks. I'm good with just my sword. That's too much." She shook her head. "Though I might learn the beju one. It would be a nice alternative to candles." Lainei shrugged, then turned to Theo. "Do you know any magic?"
Theo looked up a little nervously when he was addressed. “O-oh, me? Not particularly. Magic has always confused me.” He paused for a moment, then added, letting Ko curl around their hand, “Well, I’ve been told that being able to communicate with my friend here is magic, but it’s never felt that way to me. It just happened over time, I didn’t have to learn anything from a book. If- if that answers your question.”
They looked away, unable to make eye contact. Suddenly a memory came to them, quite unwelcome. Thinking about Jiyo and talking to snakes made him think of Isla again, and he tried not to show it. She had nearly gotten bitten by cottonmouth one year, and Theo managed to convince the snake that she wasn’t a threat and to not bite her. Isla then asked many questions about how they could do that what it was like, much of which they found it hard to answer. She’d always been a curious, enthusiastic soul…
Ko hissed, flicking her tongue at his nose. Theo, talking to me is the only magical thing you’re gonna experience, okay? And nothing less.
Theo gave a light, sarcastic chuckle. “Sure it is, Ko.”
"Huh." Lainei stared at the snake as if she was just noticing it for the first time.
"Talking to snakes is a sort of magic. And not all magic is learned." Kuno added, setting his fork down. "The magic I'm practicing is simply the common form Sol made for everyone. I expect they would bless someone with something special now and then." He shrugged. Speaking of blessings… it was probably time to give everyone their flowers. Kuno pulled the bouquets of flowers out. He first gave Elia and Lainei theirs, since they were the closest to him.
"Ah, selija jiee! These are beautiful." Elia smiled warmly at him. Lainei accepted the flowers with a huge grin and an excited exclamation. Kuno's lips curved up slightly at their reactions, then turned towards Theo.
"Here." He held out a small bunch of blue and white flowers. They were different from what he'd gotten Lainei and Elia, simply because he'd made sure to get them their favorite flowers. He didn't know what Theo's favorite flowers were, but he'd thought these ones looked really nice together.
“Really? Interesting.” The idea that a foreign god would bless him with his gift was enough to make Theo raise an eyebrow at it. They pushed the half-eaten cake away from them, not very inclined to eat anymore yet hoping he wasn’t being rude.
Glancing over, he blushed slightly with surprise at the bundle of flowers. This kind of thing has never happened to them before, so they weren’t quite sure how to take it. He simply accepted the flowers with a small stutter of gratitude. Exchanges like this were quite uncommon during Jiyo, the holiday was never celebrated with flowers, rather water and dancing. Additionally, it was about the non-physical, the unseen, so gift exchanges and anything of material value were uncommon in general. As such, Theo wasn’t sure what to make of the flowers. Maybe he should start comparing taveni-jolu to Hyshenti instead, despite it being celebrated in late autumn, during the dry season.
Still, the flowers were beautiful and pleasing to look upon. Theo glanced at Kuno. “But I have nothing for you,” they murmured. It seemed only natural to them that they should give something in return.
"Ah, that's alright." Kuno gave Theo a small smile. "I'll probably have too many to carry by the end of the night. And you could always give me some later if you feel bad about it. I'm sure you'll get a lot tonight." The flowers weren't things to be kept, but things to be shared. People usually got flowers in the morning, during breakfast with their family, and then exchanged them during the night. The more hands a flower passed through, the more love it contained. People gave them to their friends, family, people they admired, even strangers. Multiple people had asked if Kuno was going to bring a basket to the night celebration, which made him nervous. Most people regarded him as the saya of Opria. Oh, he was probably going to get so many. At least that meant he could probably give flowers to everyone he saw. That would be nice.
"Ah, Kuno! Don't think we forgot you, jiee!" Lainei suddenly exclaimed, breaking him out of his thoughts. She waved a flower that looked like it was fresh from the garden in his face. Elia gave him the exact same flower with a smile. They had definitely just picked those out of the patch behind them. Still, it was nice to receive flowers from them. Both the queens turned on Theo with big smiles.
"Here you go, qle. Thank you for helping our jiee." Elia held out a flower to them. "Yea taveni-jolu." Lainei held out a flower to him as well.
It was here that Theo was reminded of how beloved Kuno must be by the Opreian people. He felt a spark of annoyance and suddenly didn’t want to give him anything anymore. Why did they want to give him anything in the first place?
“Me?” They tilted their head. “I doubt it.”
Who in this place would ever give him flowers? Though that question was quickly answered. When Theo caught sight of the queens’ big smiles, they couldn’t deny that a twinge of fear tightened his chest.
“U-um, of course,” he said, taking the flowers. His expression was painfully deadpanned. Then an idea came to him. They put one flower in their hair, and one on top of Ko’s head. The snake flicked her tongue in delight.
Pretty flower! It makes me look fabulous, she seemed to say. Theo chuckled. “Fabulous indeed.”
"Aww." Lainei clapped her hands together, staring at the snake. "That's so cute." Kuno spared the snake a glance but was mostly focused on Theo. They didn't look like they were having so much fun. Though he cheered up a little putting the flower on his snake. It was pretty cute, he had to admit it. And it looked nice tucked behind their ear.
"Well, we're sorry to leave you, but we still have things to get ready. Remember, be there at midday, Kuno." Elia stood, gathering a couple of plates as she did. "You can arrive whenever, Theo," She added, glancing at them. "But we are having a little remembrance ceremony before the actual celebrations start. If you want to join it, it starts at noon." She gave them both a small nod and started out of the gardens.
"See you soon, jiee." Lainei gathered up her plates, gave Kuno a big smile, and followed her wife out.
"Solunei." Kuno watched them go, then turned to Theo. "Sorry. I hope that wasn't too terrible." He glanced at the plates still on the table. "You can go if you want. I can take care of this. And you don't have to come to the thing late today either." Theo hadn't seemed like he enjoyed much of anything that was happening, and Kuno wanted to make sure he knew he didn't have to participate in anything else that day.
(Going on vacation, fyi)
(Sorry for the delay!)
He could see the queens leaving in the periphery of his vision, but he was mostly focused on Ko. They could feel Kuno’s eyes on him too, and they were determined not to look back at him. He only looked at the queens when they said his name, and they nodded in acknowledgment before turning back to the snake and stroking her scales.
“No need to apologize,” they said. “It wasn’t so bad.” Though the way he spoke implied that it was.
He sighed, glancing at the plates. Despite how strange and nerve wrecking this morning had been, the idea of the remembrance ceremony intrigued him.
“Well, if there’s nothing else for me to do, I’ll go. Though I may just watch instead of participating in anything, if that’s alright.”
(You're good!)
Kuno pressed his lips together and stood. "Alright. And of course you don't have to participate. Just do whatever makes you comfortable." He started collecting dishes, stacking them into manageable piles before waving at the pile. "Zetai con yujie." The piles rose into the air. A bit wobbly, but that was fine. They wouldn't fall. "I'll see you at the square at noon, then." He turned quickly and started towards the kitchen. Kuno was a little upset that Theo was upset, but the idea of the remembrance ceremony quickly took over his mind. It… it would probably be hard. And he had to be there, at the center. The front of attention. He was the one. Everyone thought of him as the one. He couldn't turn them down. They had already lost enough. He couldn't make their symbol of hope, their saya, disappear.
Theo bit his lip as he watched the plates and cutlery rise. Even now they were uncomfortable, and wished they could say something so the atmosphere of this exchange would relax. But nothing came to mind.
Perhaps fitting into Opreian society would be much more difficult than he anticipated. Nobody currently suspected them, but it may not stay that way if he continues to not follow the crowd. And yet, every time he believed he had done something to offend, no one paid them any mind. Perhaps this could only be done in a case by case basis, where they could observe everyone else’s behavior and decide from there. That seemed to be the best thing he could do for now.
They rose to their feet, allowing Ko to slither around his neck, and made his way back to his room. And idea began forming in their brain. Maybe there was something he had to do, at least before noon.
Kuno brought the dishes to the kitchen as quickly as he could. And as quietly. He didn't feel like talking to anyone, and thankfully no one seemed to want to talk with him. Noon wasn't for another few hours, and since he didn't have anything else to do, he could probably finish the drawing of the lily pond he'd started. Yes, that would be a nice distraction. Kuno started walking towards his room at a leisurely pace. He wasn't in a hurry. It was a beautiful day out, too. It would be nice to be able to do something peaceful. Something that wasn't organizing books and getting mad at them.
(That moment when you realize you’re too socially awkward and emotionally repressed to go undercover for the assassination you’re planning-)
When Theo arrived at his room, he was greeted by another serpentine friend. The gray noodle was curled up on the windowsill, her dark eyes just peeking out of the coils of her body. Theo’s mood lifted considerably.
“Vivi!” They exclaimed, dashing over to her and stroking her scales. “Fancy seeing you here, my lady.”
The snake flickered a black forked tongue. Greetings, my prince. I thought I’d grace you with my presence.
“Ah, you don’t need to call me that,” they said, “I’m no prince here. Just a librarian’s assistant.”
That was when Ko started hissing dangerously at his collarbone. Though both snakes were good friends of his, they rarely got along with each other. Theo never really asked about it, but there seemed to be a sense of rivalry between them. Or rather, Ko felt threatened by Vivi, seeing as how the former was much smaller in size than the latter.
“Hey, Ko?” He said. “Why don’t you explore the grounds some more?” He let her slither from his neck onto the ground, then opened the door for her. He heard some hissing of, Why is she here? and How dare she…! as he watched her slither away. The flower she had been wearing had fallen off, and Theo picked it up before turning back to the other snake and setting in on her head.
“Don’t tell Ko I put it on you,” they said amusedly. “It’s good seeing you again, Vivi.”
She tasted the air with her tongue. Pretty blossom… it smells nice. And same to you you, prince.
(Ha, yeah… :)
Kuno quickly gathered the materials he needed and wandered back to the gardens. He didn't even need to think about the path. His feet knew the way. Although there was a place to sit there, Kuno opted to sink into the grass next to the water. For the time being, he set his painting things to the side. He reached forward, running his fingers over the surface of the water. He'd grown up surrounded by water and forests. There had always been water to splash through, to cool down in on an especially hot day. On the worst days, everyone would take a break from the work and sit down by the lake, singing songs to each other. Sol, he missed those days.
"The sun is rising… our fates twine together…" The Opreian verses were soft and slow and far too rough. But they were part of his parent's favorite song. Even as he sang them, he could imagine them standing behind him. They were singing with him. He'd always thought his father's voice was the most beautiful one in the village. "At the first breath of light, we smile shyly, seeing each other for the first time." Kuno let his head fall forward, his chin resting against his chest. "Running through the fields together, hands clasped, fingers intertwined." He reached up slowly, cupping his pendent gently. "Even if clouds cover the sun, we will shine bright for each other."
Theo sighed, setting the flowers Kuno had given them on the desk beside his bed, then going back to the windowsill and holding out his hand. Vivi slithered onto and around it, her long body eventually curling around his sleeve.
“What have you been up to, my lady?” He asked. They were willing to set aside the plans they had to catch up with his friend.
She flicked out her tongue. I had eggs to lay.
His eyebrows rose in surprise. “Really? How many?”
Six, I believe.
“Well, I hope they hatch into healthy young snakes.”
If snakes had eyelids, Theo imagined she would’ve merely blinked with indifference. Thank you, I suppose. Now, tell me what you have been up to.
So they did, describing why they were a librarian’s assistant, among other things.
I could always bite him if you wished, my prince. Perhaps it would save you trouble, the snake suggested when he was done.
Theo frowned, thinking for a moment. “Do you insist on calling me prince? And yes, perhaps, but perhaps not. They already know my connection with snakes, and you don’t usually bite humans unprovoked. If you did use your potent venom on him, the queens and perhaps some others would easily trace it back to me. I would prefer that didn’t happen.”
She seemed to tilt her head, as if confused, but hissed, Alright then. And yes, I don’t want to call you anything other than prince. It is how I think of you, the human prince.
They chuckled. “Fine. I suppose… I suppose that’s what I am.”