The door swung open. A squat man in black robes looked up at Richard from beneath a head of unkempt curly hair. A few braids sprouted from the birdsnest of curls, set with blue beads - the mark of a man announcing himself as native born. One lesson Richard had learned when he’d immigrated was that, for centuries the natives distinguished themselves from non-natives with braids - blue for men, green for women.
“Reverend Rake,” Richard used his best jolly-friendly-barowner voice, “I figured I’d see how everyone was doing!”
“Fine, ah, fine,” Rake’s voice was like an elastic band combined with a bass drum. “thanks, ah, for the room. It’s, ah, nice to have the gang together.”
“It avoids prying eyes until some other event gets people’s attention.” Richard smiled. “Everyone here?”
“Most.”
Richard looked into the room. Rake and some of his cronies had gathered at his bar for years, but their involvement in the Historian mess had made it easier to give them a back room for free for awhile. They were good folks, but he didn’t want them to find or bring any trouble to their meeting-place.
The proprietor of the Nax ticked off the population of the room in memory. Rake, of course. HuanJen and Jade, the mystic and his assistant, in one corner. Garnet and Slate in another. Lorne Thompson, the Gendarme, and … what’s-his-name, his apparent boyfriend. Brandon Thylar the technologist, a short man with a seductive smile and a head of blue braids, was talking to a female Historian, wearing her traditional brown robes - Riakka, that was her name. Someone else tied up in the recent mess; nice girl, rather quiet.
“Where’s everyone else?” Richard asked the minister, both curious and suspicious. He liked things orderly, it reduced stress.
“Rake shrugged sadly. “Ah, Clairice had to work. Brownmiller and Zero have their jobs, but, ah, I think Brownmiller’s wife, ah, wants him to work on the basement.”
Richard nodded. “Well, take care, just seeing if you’re doing fine.”
“Ah, perfectly, and, ah, God bless.”
Rake shut the door. Richard was an excellent host and a good businessman, but he needed to relax more. He hadn’t been the same since his bar had suffered hauntings and a rather eventful exorcism.
They really needed to do something nice for him sometime.
” … teach HuanJen to drive.”
Rake’s ears perked up. HuanJen and “drive” did not intersect in his experiences. HuanJen and “walk” or HuanJen and “public transportation” did. HuanJen wasn’t a technophobe nor a Luddite, there were merely some places his life and technology didn’t seem to coincide.
“Ah, beg pardon?” Rake asked. The room looked at him.
“Apparently, Jade decided that HuanJen needs to learn to drive,” Brandon smiled, crossing his arms, eyes twinkling like sapphires.
“For God’s sake, ah, why?” Rake found himself asking. “I, ah, barely use my motorcycle.”
Jade looked over at a rather uncomfortable HuanJen, patting her lover on the shoulder. “We had to commandeer a car to get to Shard tower, remember?”
“You could have driven, love,” HuanJen pointed out calmly.
“You know the city,” Jade retorted, “I just figure it’s time.”
“She has a clear point,” Slate said thoughtfully, “it is useful. It would not be a bad development.”
“I have enough concerns,” the exorcist sounded defensive, not a condition people saw him in often. “Guild Medical has debated altering my work with them, and …”
“Huan?” Lorne chimed in. “It looks very bad to say ‘let’s go save the day, does anyone have trolley fare?’”
Riakka let out a giggle, then shrugged. “Go for it, HuanJen. It’s more dignified.”
The mystic thought for a moment. He knew he had no reason to argue. “I defer to your judgments. I suppose I could borrow Green’s car from Kevin …”
“The compensation-mobile?” Garnet queried, raising an eyebrow. “Sure that’s your speed?”
“He can get it for free, and it’s not like it get used,” Jade answered for her lover. She’d taken on most of the accounting duties in their odd relationship, and knew when to speak about saving money.
“So, which of you shall teach me?”
There was a moment of profound silence. HuanJen’s dark eyes played over the room, glittering playfully, giving the impression of a friendly spider in a comfortable web.
“You do it,” Xianfu gave Lorne a playful shove, “You said they’re giving you enough time off as of late, and you know the city as well as any of us.”
Lorne bated at Xianfu’s long-fingered hands with his own, huge digits. “What, and I can arrest him for reckless driving early?”
“Protect and serve, big guy.”
“Why not, Lorne?” HuanJen asked.
“Ah …” Lorne looked around, then shook his head. “Fine, I’m in. You bring the car and pay the charging fees. I’ll bring myself.”
“Any blessings, ah, you need?” Rake said archily. “Huan and I can provide double divine protection?”
“No, no,” Lorne nodded, “I’ll pray to Lainkaiser for protection.”
“God of vengeance?” Jade asked curiously. Lainkaiser was one of the demigods of the world, a man elevated to godhood by the native shamans. He was not noted for his good manners, but was noted for having shot several of his fellow Gendarmes who had tried to get their Guild to take sides in a conflict decades ago.
“You’ve never driven in this city …” Lorne asked with only a modicum of humor.
June 27, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar.
Clairice Bell was a Nurse of Guild Medical, an employee of Metris General Hospital, and due to her schedule, close to being a patient as well. Stress, her constant companion of the less few months, had slowly taken its toll. Even her decreased hours didn’t seem to help.
Fortunately, her shift was over, and she was experiencing some quality time with Jade. In this case, quality time defined as “no one screaming or bleeding or demanding things.”
She had a rather streamlined definition of quality time. As the city’s political and social conflicts had increased, the definition had broadened consierably.
“Tea?”
Jade’s face swam into view. The entire apartment Jade shared with HuanJen came into focus. Clairice was sitting at the table in the kitchen, right next to the living room.
“Oh, yeah,” Clairice ran a hand through her short, dark hair. Jade was being unexpectedly domestic, almost disturbingly so. There was tea, there was even a plate of cookies, though those were obviously HuanJen’s doing.
“Glad to finally get to see you,” Jade poured the tea, then set the pot down. Dragon patterns on it. Another of HuanJen’s marks.
… everything got touched by him. At the same time, try to grasp his marks, his signs, and they vanished.
The teapot.
The Lakkom, the weapon Jade usually wore on her back, hanging innocently on the coatrack like a black-and-green serpent.
Jade, calm and collected, or at least relatively moreso than when she’s come to Xai over a year ago.
Marks without tracks.
HuanJen was something everyone in their little extended family experienced, some more than others, herself included. He touched everything. At least in Jade’s case it had a good result, though sometimes it was unsettling.
The nurse reigned in her thoughts. Exhaustion made her temper and her paranoia lance out in strange directions. She’d had enough issues with Jade - and she’d had to deal with Lorne’s lonliness, and her job, and everything else. Better to enjoy the calm.
Clairice smiled. “Yeah. I think we’re going to get saner, but … well you heard about that Trolley mess.”
“Oh, gods.” Jade took her seat. “I heard. At least no one was killed.”
“Right after all the crap starts settling down.” Clairice bit into a cookie. “I heard about HuanJen. Congratulations. I always thought it was stupid he didn’t know
how to drive.”
She grimaced for a second. Temper. Sleep was needed soon.
“Doing my part.” Jade shrugged. “I’m glad you dropped by, you know … we just don’t see each other as much. After … Lorne and then everything else, I …”
Clairice waved a hand, as if to dispel Jade’s concern like smoke. That’s all she needed was Jade in a low mood as well. “Over. If everything gets settled with the Guild Council, I’ll have a normal life. The Gendarmes pulled back their patrols because their public, but us, us they keep on alert a bit longer. Hell, the blackout got people scared.”
Jade rolled her eyes. “Tell me about it. Guild Esoteric’s hotline is still going and … apparently some people got ahold of our phone number.”
“Oh, shit?” Clairice felt herself wake up. “The second line?”
“Bingo.”
The nurse closed her eyes for a moment. HuanJen’s second phone line. The business line. The line he used for his non Zone-Cleric duties. Few people made a living as a full-time Zone Cleric; HuanJen supplemented his income with exorcism, marriages, and …
Clairice bit her lip, thinking. “Er, what about the work he does with Guild Medical? The whole traditional medicines thing the Guild stuck him with? He and I really don’t talk shop …”
“Besides still hating the suit?” Jade smirked. “A bit. Unwanted attention isn’t … well this isn’t his style. We’ll survive, we’ll stabilize.”
“You know …” Clairice began, “We were talking about it at the Orchard awhile ago. I never figured him out. You did. You’ve come a hell of a way, Jade. I mean, I’d think all the crap would have you climbing the walls. Or tearing them down.”
Clairice felt something lift off of her shoulders. It was nice to look at the good things. Yes, she was working hard, yes, Lorne was occasionally asking odd questions about relationships. Jade, Jade was a reminder life could go well and get better.
Jade blushed under her fur, the color only visible in the insides of her pointed ears. “I … he’s a good teacher. And all this stuff … I understand, Clairice. The Guilds, all of it, they never got it. Everything comes together, all one thing, and nothing is without reaction … and why are you looking at me like that.”
“You sound like HuanJen. You sound more and more like him over time.” Clairice shrugged mentally. Maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. Different strokes for different folks after all.
“He talks a lot, I pick it up. I am different, I guess. I feel calm, centered, even with the dumb stuff. Hell, the dumb stuff reminds me why I’m at that Center.”
Clairice drained her tea. “So now what?”
Jade looked at the glass patio doors. Beyond them was Metris, buildings and people, and roads, and more. Much more.
“We go on. We learn. And … well, HuanJen and I will see what happens.”
“You’re not sure?” There was an odd curiosity in the nurse’s voice.
Jade eyed Clairice. Clairice didn’t pry much into people’s lives. “We’ll survive. He’s thoughtful, a lot, with the wedding and Solomon Dell got him thinking, for some reason.”
“Dell?” Clairice felt her brain try to fuse some discordant thoughts. Solomon Dell was Head of the Rancelmen. HuanJen was an odd Zone Cleric. Seeing the two acquainted didn’t work.
“It all started when Dell was recruiting, and … well they meet now and then. Dell’s married, I think, and …”
Clairice nodded. “I know. Makes you wonder?”
“Sometime. You?”
“Happily single. Hey. Think of all this going on as a chance to learn.”
Jade gave her friend an odd look. “Hey, the smarmy quotes about life are my territory. Well, HuanJen’s, but …”
Clairice Bell was, despite occasional moments of well-meaning butting-in, a live-and-let-live person. She’d been a nurse for some six years, and found that keeping things live-and-let-live was very good when your job could involve people dying.
For instance, Jade. She knew Jade would have to work out her issues herself, and that she could help when asked. You didn’t interfere with Jade anyway, because it was like interfering with a nuclear explosion - painful and usually useless, and only done when absolutely necessary.
If Clairice had a blind spot to her friends it was that many of them were interferers, even HuanJen, who had been raised in a religion that taught doing-by not-doing, and could thus interfere with amazing efficiency.
Her friends consisted of two clerics, a policeman, and engineer, a security technologist, a future housewife, a few assorted unusual people, and some of her fellow Guild Medical members. Most of them interfered with people’s lives for a living.
It was thus lost on her that, if Jade was asking questions, she was likely to do something bout it.
It was also lost on Clairice, sadly, that if an interferer like Jade was asking questions, some of her friends may be doing the same because they were like her.
August 3, 2000 AD, Xaian Standard Calendar
The Warehouse district of Metris had developed over the years, and thus its location was not as convenient as people would have liked. It wasn’t as close to the Portal Alpha Trade Zone for some proprietor’s presence and it nearer some suburbs than some homeowners would like. It was testimony to the fact that on Xai the words “Zoning Laws” weren’t always meaningful. Some of Metris’ laws were suggestions.
“You’d be amazed what we find here,” said Solomon Dell.
Solomon Dell stood on the roof of one of the warehouses, staring into the distance. He should have cut an impressive figure; dark armor with several weapons, long blond hair in a ponytail and two native braids framing his handsome angular face. Unfortunately, he was only slightly over five feet tall which didn’t lend to an impressive effect no matter how he looked.
He had had several girlfriends tell him he was cute. At the time, it had seemed charming. It hadn’t been so charming later in his career, and downright annoying when he’d become Head of the Rancelmen. People didn’t obey cute.
“I think I would not be surprised.”
HuanJen stood next to the Head Rancelman. He appeared relaxed, but to Solomon Dell he always seemed relaxed. It was annoying at times.
Even despite their … relationship. Whatever it was. Along the way, months ago, HuanJen had gone from an annoying recalcitrant potential recruit to a kind of counselor. Or something.
“No, you probably wouldn’t be.” Dell stood back from the ledge of the roof, then sat next to his companion. “I hear Guild Esoteric has a few safe places here.”
“I’m sure you do.” HuanJen said, his voice carrying nothing but the words.
” … and I knew you’d respond like that,” Dell retaliated verbally, though with a friendly tone.
“I’m sure you did.”
“New Communicant proposal before the Council. Control like Traveler’s with some special limits. Give the members more freedom though.”
HuanJen nodded. “With what happened to their leaders, I suspect it will be accepted. I heard the Messenger’s Guild is going to be adsorbed as well, considering how bad they looked.”
“Yes. I wish the Mercantile Alliance would be more helpful, you’d be amazed at how much smuggling … no you wouldn’t.”
“No,” HuanJen answered simply.
Dell nodded, and stared down at the roof. A few deliberations later, he spoke. “My wife and I are better. She knows about Miriam and I. We’re talking it out.”
“I’m glad,” HuanJen’s voice was sadly sincere. “Friends of mine are getting married.”
“Really? Are you .. . you do wedding ceremonies, right? I forgot what your file said on that.”
“I’d like to think that file is gone. And yes, I am. A lot of changes coming up. Hopefully less than recently.”
“People still bothering you?” Dell asked cautiously. He knew it was a sensitive issue with HuanJen.
“Yes. Just when I feel it will end, I get a call, or a request, or someone interrupt
s me like yesterday at the office.”
“At the Galenica?” Dell asked incredulously. The Galenica was a Guildhall, and even Guild Medical wasn’t noted for approving of people prying in their affairs, especially at their base of operations. Being representatives of the medical community of the Crossworld was stressful enough as it was.
“Yes. First the suit, then this.”
“They still make you wear that thing?”
HuanJen nodded. “I find it to be inappropriate. The Guild, I feel, worries their partnership with Esoteric will somehow alter people’s images of them poorly. Too much of their own Board is non-native.”
“… I don’t want to even hear about native and non-native stuff. I get enough of that at work.”
Silence. Dell looked over at HuanJen. The mystic regarded him curiously.
“Why do we do this?” Dell asked with a kind of dark wistfulness.
“Because you needed to talk,” the answer came back quickly. “You called me your counselor. You were alone, Dell.”
“Yes.” Dell nodded. “Yes. I … how are you? I mean really, how are you?”
“Busy. Rather wishing for more peace and quiet. Thinking of things.”
“I rather imagine.”
“I know how you feel,” HuanJen said firmly, “when one’s life changes, one can lose themselves. Forgetting that one is leading one’s life.”
Dell’s mouth twisted into a contemplative grimace. He nodded. “Yes. This isn’t a lesson, is it?”
“No. Confirmation.” HuanJen flashed a smile. “I am called for a job or for a suspicion or for an Outriding expedition because of a few seconds in the spotlight. It is not me people talk to or about.”
“I didn’t act myself at times,” Dell admitted.
“I am myself. There are no debates,” HuanJen confirmed. “I wish people would respect that.”
“You’re a bit naive, HuanJen.”
“I never said I wasn’t. I will live on. You listen well, Solomon.”
“I …” Dell trailed off. “I am learning. So what are your plans for the day? After our usual meeting?”
“Learning to drive,” HuanJen said, eliciting a surprised look from Dell, “then one my friends and I, Riakka, are going out to dinner. She’s been isolated and busy as of late.”
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