Chapter III
Life Between Worlds Index
She stands, surrounded by her guards, before the hatch as it slowly opens, letting the warm light of the sun in. She calms her fluttering stomach as the ramp slowly extends. Gracefully, she steps out into the sunlight and makes her way to the ground.
Before her stand twelve people. She’s awestruck at the variety of hair and eye colors.
The Queen and the tallest of the men both have silver hair, while four of the people have various shades of blond, the princess among them. Only two have the generic black hair she’s so used to seeing, and one of the girls has blue hair while two people have red hair.
I’ll be damned, here I thought I was the only one with the weird red hair.
The deep-red haired man catches her gaze with his cobalt blue eyes before she turns to the Queen.
“HLM-san,” the pale-blue eyed woman starts warmly, “we are honored to be the first world to have one of your race visit us. We welcome you with open arms.
The young Pharaoh is careful to keep her posture calm and formal, not wanting to come across as a frightened young girl. “I am honored to have this opportunity to see this wonderful place. Thank you,” she manages to say confidently.
Her gaze is drawn to the dark-haired man, apparently the Prince, judging from his attire, when he speaks up. “One of my guardians, Nephrite,” he gestures towards the man who had initially captured her attention, “would like to be your guide and protector for the duration of your stay here.” He pauses, uncomfortable under her gaze. “Uh…will that be acceptable?”
She turns and looks into her guards’ eyes.
“I think I’ll be safe here, my friends,” she telepaths.
“Are you certain?” Rik asks.
“Yes, I am. Go on back to the ship and relax for a day or so when you get back home. Worry not, I will be fine.”
Her guards nod, and with one last mental farewell shared, they go back into the ship.
She then turns and catches Neph’s eyes. She nods once. “I believe that will be acceptable,” she answers in a respectfully formal voice. Even as she says this, there’s an odd buzzing in the back of her mind.
What the…?
Serenity rests a gentle hand on one of HLM’s slender shoulders. “We will leave you to get accustomed to your new surroundings,” she says kindly.
“Thank you for all of your kindness and hospitality,” HLM replies, smiling into the Silver Queen’s eyes.
To her credit, Serenity smiles back and asks, “I trust we will see you at the ball tonight?”
“I plan on being there, your majesty.”
“Good, then we’ll leave you to rest. Again, on behalf of the Moon and Earth Kingdoms, we welcome you.”
“Thank you again.” At this, the Queen and the rest turn to leave.
“Ah…Nephrite is it?” The young newcomer asks with a hint of charming shyness.
“Hai, HLM-san?” Neph asks, turning to meet her eyes with his own.
“Can you stay a bit longer so I can have a word with you?”
“Of course.”
As Neph leads her to her new quarters, the buzzing starts up again.
Is there a telepathic conversation going on near here? That’s what it feels like…
Once they are in her new quarters, which are decorated in black and silver, Neph asks, “What did you wish to speak of, HLM-san?”
“I just have a few questions about your culture,” she says as she takes in her surroundings.
Wow, this reminds me of home. They must have done some research.
“I will do my best to answer,” the handsome man replies with a smile.
“Would you mind if I took my hair down? I hate having it piled on the top of my head like this,” she inquires in a more casual voice, “but you know, custom, custom, custom.”
Neph chuckles softly. “Are you asking me as a person, or as a culture?”
She can’t help giggling and blushing a little. “You as a person, since we’re one on one at the moment.”
“I don’t mind in the least, then,” he replies with a smile.
As she smiles and takes out a few strategically placed pins and lets her hair curl down around her shoulders he watches, taking note that the only red in her hair really just frames her face.
“Do you mind if I tell you something?” he asks as he feels a shiver go down his back at watching her run her fingers through her lovely hair.
“Not at all,” she answers, as she gracefully sits down. “Would you like to sit?”
“Hai, doomo arigato gozaimas,” he answers, sitting across from her.
“What did you wish to tell me?” As she asks this, she admires his exotic, flowing hair, fascinating eyes and powerful body hinted at under his uniform.
It’s a shame it’s looked down upon to have a heir by
alien blood. Wow…
“M-chan, ah…may I call you that?”
At her nod, he continues, “M-chan, I find you very attractive. Pardon my directness, but do you feel the same towards me?”
She blinks.
Did he read my mind?
She pauses a moment in thoughtful surprise.
“Well…yes…I do,” she replies softly. “Ah…are your people always so direct?”
He can’t help chuckling in relief. “Iie…no…most often not. I just felt I should let you know this. Don’t get me wrong; that’s not why I wanted to be your guardian and guide for your stay.”
Her eyes seem to literally sparkle as she smiles warmly at him. “I’m glad you don’t make decisions on looks alone.”
He laughs a little at that. “I may be considered a fool by some, but to judge on appearance alone would be among the acts of a true fool. That I do not do.”
When she laughs, Neph thinks he can hear a note of wind chimes in her voice. He gives her a genuine smile.
“Now, I believe you had a few questions for me?”
“Oh, yes, that I do.” She smiles again. “I momentarily forgot about them, but I remember now.”
I wonder why he has such a strong affect on me. No one has ever made me feel this way before.
“Oh? Well, ask away,” he says with a smile, spreading his hands.
“First off…I noticed that when I first arrived, you and a few of the others were having a telepathic conversation. Is it custom for you to telepath back and forth when you have guests?”
His dumbstruck expression causes her to tilt her head.
“Neph? Is there something wrong?”
“Um…iie…how did you know we were telepathing a conversation? Did you know what it was about? And iie, it’s not usually our custom, but here, most can’t tell when others are having a conversation telepathically, much less actually have telepathy and know how to use it.”
“Ah…as for your questions, I’m able to sense when there’s a telepathic conversation going on, but I can’t sense what they’re about,” she grins a bit, “and, to my knowledge, am the only one of my kind to have it.”
The cobalt eyed man breaths a sigh of relief, glad not to have offended her.
“What was the conversation about?”
“Ah…they were just teasing me is all.” He smiles at her.
HLM giggles softly, still feeling sort of like a school girl around him.
“You, those other men and that red-haired woman look like you’re all very close.”
“Hai, that we are.”
She gazes at him, feeling a little shy at asking her next question, as it brings up a few feelings she’d rather not think about at the moment.
Finally, she asks, after thinking about it a little, “Can you tell me about them? We were never introduced.”
“Ah, of course! Where would you like me to start?”
Stars…how do I ask this without sounding like I’m coming on to him?
“Hmmm,” she says, thinking to herself, I’ll ‘beat around the bus’, as I believe the Earthers say. “How about the red-haired woman and her lover?”
Neph blinks. “How did you know Diana and Jae are lovers?”
HLM raises a brow.
Doesn’t he know how to read body-language?
“Well, I watched how they moved and held themselves. They seem to stay pretty close together when they were walking, and, when they stood together, they seemed to lean towards each other a little; just like the copper haired man and the platinum haired man did.”
“Ah…you’re very observant, M-Chan. Jadeite and Diana are lovers, as are Zoisite and Kunzite.”
“And you?”
“And I what?” he asks, puzzled.
“Do you have a lover?”
Chapter I
Chapter III
Life Between Worlds Index