***************
Ali
15:12: Heading home. Saw max hospital guy at work. Told me he actually doesn’t have a phone. Heard us talking when leaving the park! Awkward
Tash
15:30: ok so good news that he wasnt lying, if you believe him. How did he know where you work?
Ali
15:32: coincidence. He was doing some work andstopped for coffee. Tom served him, I came out to clear tables and he had been there for a while. Spoke to him for a bit, nice guy actually, not a creep. Hate to admit it, but good hair.
Tash
15:35: nice guy that lives in the stone age. How does he do anything without a phone? Does he talk to his friends with smoke signals?
Ali
15:40: very funny. I’ll come get Shadow. Is he still at yours?
Tash
15:41: sleeping like a baby on the sofa. See you in a bit xo
7
Themes
Rionansat in his hotel suite, reflecting on his earlier conversation.
I’m not myself at the moment. I feel lost, like, I’m not sure quite what direction I’m heading in.
Why did he tell her this?
There was, of course, nothing he could be identified by in what he had told her. The likelihood of anyone from Xanthia tracking him to the human realm was next to none. Even less so by using the name Max West. But it felt so…personal. Yet, he barely hesitated before sharing this with her.
Since leaving the café – and speaking with Alianna for much longer than he had intended to – he had not discovered much else about Porthan. He learnt that it was busier in the summer months (the current months) than it was in the winter. Many of its shops only traded during the tourist season. That, despite how busy it got at this time of year, Alianna missed the crisp autumn weather. She enjoyed the sunshine, but she would like a little spat of rain to clear some of the humidity.
Rionan sighed and slumped in his armchair, wine glass in hand. He had removed his shirt since he had arrived back, discarding it on to the end of his bed. He had managed to procure a small collection of reasonably nice shirts from one of the nearby shops, in his usual colours of white, grey, navy blue, and an interesting silver shirt made from fine silk. With a gentle smile and an effortless push of his power in her direction, the assistant in the shop packaged up his items without question, batting her eyelashes at him. She had even pointed out that he should probably purchase some nice new trousers and a belt to go with these shirts. She blushed while he thanked her for her useful observation, and had added these to his bag without question when he returned to the checkout fifteen minutes later.
A shower. A shower would help him think straight, come up with a plan.
He threw the remainder of his wine back into his mouth, placing his glass upon the countertop as he strode to the bathroom. Rionan undid his belt, letting his trousers and underwear fall to the floor. He switched on the shower, and within minutes, the room had filled with steam.
Stepping into the shower, Rionan blinked and shifted back into his Xanthian form. He felt his canine teeth lengthen slightly, his ears elongate into their usual pointed ends, and he held his hands in front of him. His skin was no longer the golden, olive shade that it had become, but now it’s usual silver-grey, Xanthian hue. Almost in answer to the physical shift he had made, he felt his power throbbing inside of him, seeking a release that he wasn’t able to give it here. Not in the way it needed.
“I can’t,” he sighed, speaking inwardly to himself. “We can’t go back yet. We need to stay. We are here for a reason.”
Porthan. Porthan. Porthan.
“Fuck,”he huffed through gritted teeth, slamming his fist into a wall. “Yes, Porthan. What now? What else do I do here? I have no knowledge of this place, no prior memories of being here. I don’t recall anyone in Xanthia even speaking about a place called Porthan, let alone in the human realm.”
Porthan.
Home.
Porthan.
