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Quick and dirty layout:

Characters: Taka, Adam, Kalila, and a newcomer that will be introduced... along with any old characters or new ones. Basically everybody from Yuin and War of Gods is invited to visit, although it's mainly a [Slinky]/[kay-chan] thing.

Setting: A year or so after War of Gods ended. The village Taka runs has grown exponentially, her fame as a huge help. As the place is well-run, it's also a good place to live... Although running it by herself is getting harder for Taka as time goes on, and she's too reluctant to hire workers to help her. There are rumors that it could be declared a city--a huge deal in Yuin culture. To be declared in charge of a city is a great honor, and a great responsibility. Thus, as of late, Taka has gotten more and more tense and, strangely, has been cleaning her house more often.

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Taka eyes the new contraption suspiciously. It looked like a large box with a flat, black front. A few wires stuck out of it into a separate box, and strange textured boxes stood next to it. Nothing Taka had ever seen before. "So what does it do?" she asks the elf installing it, wishing Adam was home from that errand she had sent him on. This was from Nik; Adam might know what it was all about.

"I was just given instructions," he said helplessly. He connected a few more wires and stepped back, satisfied. "There. It should turn on in--"

The front black part suddenly turned gray, causing Taka to jump back in shock. The elf, one of Nik's assistants, a little more used to this, only twitched slightly.

The gray color disappeared and Nik's face replaced it. "Oh, hey Taka!" he said, delighted.

Taka stood there, uncomfortable.

"You can talk; I can hear and see you," Nik added with a sigh. "Where's Adam?"

"Out," Taka said. "Nik, what...?"

"A communication device through the cities," Nik said. Taka tensed at the mention, and Nik hurried to add an amendment. "Well, you're not a city yet, but your population is large enough and... well, we have history. I wanted to be able to get in contact with you. Just in case." He smiled at Taka and she eased up. "Well, I'm the only one who can get the system working right now, so I have to stay here. If you ever need to get in hold of me, press... the black little circle on the front of... the box. Call it a television. Anyway, I gotta go and try and fix this bug; talk to you later!" The front turned gray, then black once more.

The elf assistant bowed and left the room, leaving Taka massaging her temples with a renewed headache. She still had loads of work to do before tonight. As amusing as this was, it was also a waste of time. She sat down at her desk and started working.

There is a knock at the door. Kalila peeks her head in. "Hello?" she calls. Kalila has continued with her government job, but since Qwin's power was restored, the job has been much less exciting. Her job still makes her travel around Yuin a lot, but she tries to stop by Taka's village whenever she gets a chance. She sees Taka's face and purses her lips. "Are you alright?"

Taka looks up at Kalila. Her face brightens, although not by as much as it would have earlier that day. "Y-yeah," Taka says, rubbing at her eyes. "Just a busy day." She motions at the paperwork vaguely, smiling lightly at Kalila, greeting her in Yuinnish.

Kalila smiles and comes the rest of the way in. "Well, that's what I'm here for!" She goes around the desk and puts her hands on Taka's shoulders and begins rubbing them. "Let's talk about something that's not work. How's Adam?"

"Good," Taka replies, unable to stifle a sigh as she leaned into the shoulder rub. "I sent him out on an errand, but I don't know when he'll be back..." She leaned her head back and smiled up at Kalila. "But I'm glad to see you. He isn't really into the whole 'talking' thing, not much. So I'm definitely appreciative of having a girl here..."

Adam opens the door and comes into the room. Kalila instinctively pulls her hands away from Taka, and looks at her feet. Adam smiles. "Kalila! I didn't know you were gonna be here today! What's up?"

Kalila comes out from behind the desk to greet Adam. He returns the greeting in horribly botched Yuinnish. Adam gives her a hug, and the two linger in the hug for a little longer than is appropriate. Adam turns to Taka. "Um, so the governor wants to move the meeting to tomorrow instead of next week. Some kind of problem with the ambassador..."

Taka buried her face in her hands and groaned. "The governor can't... Oh by Qwin, I knew the ambassador would..." She rubbed at her eyes, staring bleakly at the paperwork that suddenly had to be put off as she had to prepare for a meeting a week early. "I'm going to go make me some juy'uk," she said, standing up to head off and make the Yuinnish form of tea. "Please entertain Kalila for today... I've got some work to do." She rushed from the room to get her caffeine.

Kalila smiles shyly at Adam. "So, um, how have you been?"

"I'm good. Uh, Taka's been keeping me busy. Of course, she's busy too, with the whole-"

"Yeah, I heard about it." Kalila looks out the window. "Must be tough maintaining a relationship like that. I mean, not that you guys... um."

"Oh we're not... uh. We're not married or anything. Neither of us are ready for that."

"Marry... oh, yes, you told me about that. So you are still just her girlfriend?"

"Boyfriend. I'm her boyfriend, she's my girlfriend."

Kalila furrows her brow, the way she usually does when Adam explains the courtship rituals of his world to her.

Suddenly, the screen of the box flashes on again, and Nik's face appears. He looks around and sees Kalila and Adam. "Oh, hey you guys," he says. "Is Taka there?" He wears a look of deep concern, like something bad had happened.

"Sick! When did we get the TV?" Adam asks, touching the screen in disbelief.

Kalila blinks, having never seen a television before. "Um... Taka is just getting some coffee... I'll go get her." She goes to fetch Taka from the other room.

"New installation," Nik said. "Actually, totally new invention. Could you just tell her... I just heard that there's a Li'Keil coming? That would be... great..."

Kalila returns with Taka, holding a teacup.

"Taka, Nik says there's a La Kell or something," Adam says unhelpfully.

"A La--<Oh my goddess,>" Taka whispers, her usual deciphering of Adam's botchings of the Yuinnish language leading her down an unexpected path. Her face pales and she drops her teacup. "A Li'Keil?"

Nik hesitates. "Y-eah," he says, eyeing the broken pottery. "They just now told me. Guess they thought you already knew."

"When?" Taka says, her voice still barely above a whisper.

"Um... the Li'Keil left here about three days ago," Nik mutters, looking away. "So they should be there..."

"Any minute," Taka murmurs, her eyes staring off into space, her face a new level of worried it had never gotten to before. "Oh. <Oh my goddess.>"

Kalila's eyes go wide. "Oh, wow, this is exciting!" she says, spilling a bit of her own tea. "Taka, we need to get you changed into something more... leaderish, I guess. Let's go!"

"What the hell is a La Kell?" Adam asks, clueless once again about the customs of this world.

"An official who could turn my village into a city--I'm not ready, Kalila, what if the Li'Keil hates me?" Taka worries, biting her lower lip so hard it turns white. She rushes out of the room ahead of Kalila to her own, rummaging through her clothes and stripping, clothes flying haphazardly about as she tried to find something clean that was much more professional.

Kalila looks at Adam. "You know, you should probably be wearing something a bit more professional too. I mean, you and Taka may not be marry or whatever, but you are sort of an established couple. If you look bad, so does she."

Adam looks down at what he's wearing. A tank top and jeans. "What's wrong with how I look?"

Kalila giggles and grabs his arm, leading him toward his and Taka's place to get new clothes.

Taka had just barely slipped into something a little more presentable when Kalila dragged in Adam. "Oh, good," she said, holding up more traditional clothes for him. "Get into this--"

"Taka, you have someone at the door," an elf said, one of Taka's friends, who had run to the room to tell her. "Looks rather important. Should I tell...?"

"Oh by Qwin I'll be there in a second, Adam get dressed, you can follow me out--"

"No need," a voice said from behind Taka's friend. The friend jumped, then moved out of the doorway to reveal who was standing there.

She was lithe, with thin black hair pulled into a ponytail that fell to her waist. She was beautiful; no doubt about that. A baggy, ornately designed shirt fell loosely to her mid-thigh; they were worn over a pair of white leather pants. Her dark eyes squinted in secret pleasure as she looked at Adam's clothing, her gaze lingering on his body. "His clothes look practical enough, if a bit odd. No need to change."

"Li'Keil!" Taka exclaimed. For the first time in her life, she looked totally unsure of what to do right now.

"Taka, I presume?" the Li'Keil said, her eyes scanning Taka in much the same way they had Adam. Taka just mutely nodded.

Kalila elbows Adam. He doesn't know why, but he figures he needs to say something right now, at least to make Taka not look so bad. He extends his hand in greeting to this new woman. "Hey, I'm Adam. You may have heard of me, I'm one of the aliens that helped save the world, uh, twice now." He grins with the confidence of a complete idiot.

"Mmm," the Li'Keil said with complete uninterest, staring at his hand as if unsure of what to do. "Taka, it was quite difficult to find you. I was expecting a separate place for your professional activities."

"I have an office... right down the hall," Taka said. "I can show it to--"

"It has been an awfully long day," the Li'Keil interjected with a wave of her hand. "I presume you have a spare bedroom I can occupy? I must rest. In the meantime, you can begin the paperwork to apply for a position as a city."

Kalila looks at Adam and Taka. When she was in town, she usually stayed at their place, but if the Li'Keil was here, she'd probably have to find somewhere else to go.

Adam looks at Taka. "Wait, does that mean you got it? No inspection or anything? Sweet."

"No," the Li'Keil said, gesturing dismissively. "It is merely an application and a way for me to further understand the circumstances here before making a decision."

Taka bit her lip, nodding. She wanted to scream: more paperwork with no guarantee. When the Li'Keil spoke again, she almost did scream. "You will have the leisure of filling it out over several days. I'm sure you will use the time wisely." So it's a lot of paperwork.

"Do you have any bags? Adam can take them up..." Taka said. The Li'Keil nodded, motioning to the quickly darkening outside. "Adam, you go get the Li'Keil's bags; I will show the Li'Keil to the spare room." She looked at Kalila then turned to her friend. "Juntin, you still have the empty room since Ty left on that trip, right? Would you house Kalila?" Juntin nodded. "Li'Keil, if you haven't eaten, I can also bring you something. Let me show you around." She escorted the woman from the room carefully. It was obvious she was mentally rearranging her schedule for the next few days.

Adam goes to get the bags, and Kalila follows him. "I can help, if you like," she says, reaching to pick up one of the bags.

Adam scoffs at the offer. "I got it. Why don't you go to that Juntin's place. It's getting dark."

"I was hoping to maybe get some dinner tonight with you and Taka. If we're eating with the Li'Keil, I would make an even foursome."

"Heh, foursome." Adam is clearly fantasizing about something that Taka would not approve of. "I think Taka would be okay with that. You tend to make her a lot more relaxed."

Kalila blushes.

Taka is in the spare room with the Li'Keil when Adam arrived with the bags, being peppered with questions in Yuinnish. She almost looked relieved with Adam arrived. "Should we go eat dinner?" she asked hurriedly in the more formal Qwinnish.

"Yes, please send someone to inform your cook that I am quite famished. Something quick will be just fine; I do not need to have the elaborate meals these city governors are always trying to foist on me," the Li'Keil said.

Taka nodded, then bit her lip. "Actually, I make the meals with Adam's help, mostly," she said.

The Li'Keil frowns. "You do not have a cook? I also noticed a disparaging lack of servants. Have you hired so many officials that you cannot afford servants?"

"Er, not exactly..." Taka started, weakly.

"Taka is very independent," Kalila jumps in. "Like all of the people in her village. It's a very do-it-yourself kind of place. Besides, how best to ensure that you get exactly what you want done than to do it yourself?"

Adam nudges Taka. "We coulda had servants?" he says under his breath.

The Li'Keil shoots a disapproving look at Kalila. "Oh? And how have you been holding up under the responsibility?" she asks Taka coldly.

Taka juts out her chin, fully agreeing with Kalila but flushing under the obvious critique. "I'm doing quite well," Taka says, her voice struggling to remain polite. The Li'Keil's eyes darkened, but she simply stood there, waiting to be shown to the dining room.

Now Adam takes a turn to try and soften the situation. "I don't know about you ladies, but it's been a long day for me, and the idea of being served tonight sounds awesome. Let's go out to eat, and show the La Kell chick some of the sweet spots in this village. And then we can get KRUNK."

Kalila doesn't breathe for a moment, waiting for the Li'Keil's response to... Adam.

Taka just looks horrified beyond repair.

Li'Keil looks at Adam for a long time before speaking, her calm face showing no measure of surprise or shock. "I have heard the rumors that you came to this land about the time of the First Upheaval. I have no doubt that you are the same war hero and thus a foreigner. However, it seems as though you are as of yet ignorant about Yuin customs and tradition. How long have you been here? Five years? And yet I still hear that people speak around you in Qwinnish because you have failed to become fluent in our native language. I would suggest learning the traditions, customs, and master some basic manners before expecting the world to simply revolve around yourself."

"Li'Keil, he just--" Taka begins, trying to make an excuse for Adam.

"I am suddenly put off my appetite. I would appreciate a small repast sent up to my room, but for now, I must retire." The Li'Keil, with a gesture at Taka that excused herself, walked down the hallway and into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Taka whirled on Adam, too outraged to speak. She finally spit out a string of Yuinnish curses and stomped off to the kitchen to make dinner.

"Hey, I know what some of those words mean!" Adam calls after her. Kalila hits him. "Hey, what? How the hell was I supposed to know that the La Kell was some sort of angry bitch?"

Kalila rolls her eyes. "Look, you're not helping anything right now. I think you'd better go. Go out and get... whatever that word you used was... by yourself. Come back late, and hopefully Taka will be asleep and not beat the <shit> out of you."

Adam opens his mouth to defend his actions, but Kalila gives him a look that makes him shut it immediately. "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to stay here and help Taka cook, and try calming her down a bit. Now get out of here and try not to get into any trouble for a few hours."

Adam puts on a jacket and leaves, slamming the door behind him.

Kalila goes to the kitchen, where Taka is. "What can I do to help?"

Taka just banged pots and pans for a minute angrily, then spun on Kalila. However, her face wasn't pissed. Rather, it was just... depressed looking. "<H-how did I let it get this bad?>" she stammers, switching to her native Yuinnish. "<I... I mean, I knew he wasn't born here, but he... 5 years and he can still barely pronounce... The Li'Keil was right. I failed him.>" Taka slowly turns back to the stove, continuing at a much quieter pace, her face hidden by her hair.

Kalila wrinkles her nose. "<I think the Li'Keil was a little hard on him about that. I mean, if you've noticed, it's not like he even really speaks Qwinnish that well. He uses weird words like 'hella' and 'homie'. And besides, what's wrong with him keeping his culture alive? It would be wrong to ask him to completely assimilate...>"

"<Why not? It's not like he's going back,>" Taka pointed out, then winced a second later. "<That was stupid of me to say. You're right; I don't even want him to lose all of that. His horrible slang is, at the very least, interesting. I just want him to be more comfortable here and not need me to be around in order to keep him from accidentally offending people.>" Taka bit her lip as she internally added, Not that it would stop him.

Kalila laughs, thinking much the same thing. "<I'm not sure it's possible to prevent him from offending people. Besides, he's doing fine here. You worry too much.>" She pulls down a cookbook and opens it. "<What are we making, anyways?>"

"<Tiyuk,>" Taka says, the name of a simple peasant stew that takes very little time to prepare, already filling a water in a pot and sprinkling a powder in the water that made it boil. "<The Li'Keil said that the Li'Keil desired something quickly, and that's what the Li'Keil gets. Besides, I need to find Adam before he starts a brawl or something and try to clue him in on what's going to be happening over the next week.>"

"<Taka,>" Kalila touches her friend on the shoulder. "<Serving food is your first chance to impress the Li'Keil. And you've got me here to help, so we can make something good and quickly. Adam will be back in an hour or two, and I'm sure he'll be fine. Just relax.>" She goes to a shelf and finds a bottle of Yuinnish wine. She pours a glass for herself and Taka, and hands one to her friend.

Taka pauses, looking at the boiling water, then sighs and accepts the wine. "<Alright,>" she said, taking a sip and looking off into the distance, composing her thoughts. "<What do you suggest?>"

Kalila flips through the cookbook. "<Since you've already got the water boiling, how about we try a Laev.>" She is referring to a richly flavored pasta dish. "<And the Li'Keil probably wouldn't mind sharing some of this wine with us either.>" She smiles and begins pulling down spices from the spice rack.

"<Mmkay,>" Taka accepts, going to a cupboard and pulling down some long strips of pasta wrapped in protective leaves, beginning to make them into smaller strips and put them into the water.

"<So how are things with you and Adam?" Kalila asks pleasently, trying to make conversation.

"<Alright,>" Taka replied, looking at the recipe and adding some salt. "<I've been keeping us both pretty busy, but I try to make sure that we still spend time together...>" Her cheeks turned a little pink. "<I mean... you know.>" She ducked her head again and tried to find a particular spice.

Kalila smiles. "<That's good. So... are you guys exclusive still? Thinking about starting a family?>"

Taka had been taking a sip of wine and tries to breath it. She coughs, trying to clear her lungs. "<Ah... Well. I suppose we're technically exclusive... I'm just not ready for... Well, a family's kinda a huge step. Plus, I'd have to push a baby out of my> vagingo," Taka finishes, using a slang word that this time she had heard from Qwin.

Kalila snorts at the foreign word. "<Understandable. But what do you mean, technically exclusive? Are you seeing anyone else?>" The last question is asked with slight hesitation, and she's clearly thinking of something in particular.

Taka hesitates, too. "<Well... I mean, I guess it's not a closed relationship... We're just not seeing anybody else right now...>" Her face scrunches up just a bit, visibly derailing her train of thought. "<This> 'girlfriend' <thing is way complicated, though. I mean, where you see each other exclusively but you can break it off? And then you can have multiple> girlfriends <but not at the same time, and...>" Taka shrugs. "<He tried to explain it to me but I just don't get it.>"

"<I remember him trying to explain it to me once,>" Kalila agrees. "<It was strange. I'm not sure he was very excited about it either.>" She is suddenly very concerned with the spices she's mixing, and tries her best to continue this discussion casually. "<Perhaps you need a break from Adam for a while... you know, explore your other options.>"

"<You're not the only one to suggest this,>" Taka admitted. "<I just don't usually even have enough time for Adam nowadays, and it's not like anyone has ever shown interest.>" She looked a little disgruntled. "<It's not that important, but the only people to flirt with me nowadays are people who want something since I'm the chief leader.>" She takes out another pan and begins to work on the sauce to mix with the noodles.

Kalila clenches her jaw, becoming slightly frustrated as Taka continues to not get the hints she's sending. "<Well... you could always, you know, be with someone who isn't from your village. Maybe someone who just visits frequently and doesn't live here, so can't really gain anything by having a relationship with you? I know you know people like that.>" Her mixing becomes a little slower as she becomes more involved in the conversation than the task at hand.

Taka looks at Kalila, confused at her jump from who flirts with her to who she should date, and suddenly... "<Someone not from my village, meaning you?>" she asks bluntly.

"YES!" Kalila explodes in Qwinnish. She awkwardly tries to regain her composure, but she knows that now there's pretty much no going back. She can't meet Taka's eyes, and just waits for her to respond to the idea or change the subject.

There was a long pause. Taka just stared at Kalila for a while, openly shocked, but that look slowly fell from her face. Her first thought was, But what would Adam think? And the fact that she thought that disturbed her, mostly because she could't answer. Would he really be that protective of her? Would... he even care? And what about her Yuin traditions? Open love wasn't that strange; nobody was rarely jealous if their partner fooled around outside of the family, not if they shared. One married because of true love, and they were rarely wrong. If it wasn't true, then there were ways to break it off, but with nearly 500 years to test the waters, it was usually a good bet.

And what about her situation? Not to be rude to Adam, but he was basically the only guy Taka had ever dated. One of the only people, actually; her parents had wanted an heir and discouraged female lovers. The point of the open relationship was to explore her options, and now that she was no longer allergic to men... She loved Adam, but dating around was a good idea; either to find someone better or realize that one person was the best choice. And maybe it was the best thing for Adam to do, as well. She wanted both of them to be happy, not so... stuck.

Taka took the spice bowl from Kalila slowly, stirring it into the pasta and watching it mix, still thinking. "You know," she said, putting the finishing touches in the food. "I haven't gotten three hours of sleep together in the past few days, had to deal with the stress of a Li'Keil, not to mention the numerous other things I still have to look at later... Tonight was just about the worst time ever to bring this up."

"But," she started again, spooning some of the noodles into a bowl for the Li'Keil, putting it on a tray, along with some warm tea and utensils. "You might be onto something." She picks up the tray and turns in one fluid motion, walking up to Kalila and kissing the girl chastely on the corner of her mouth. Taka opens her eyes and looks Kalila straight on. "You might have to wait for my full answer, though." She walked past Kalila into the hallway, amazed at how smooth that seemed when she was just about ready to die from embarrassment and exhaustion.

Kalila lets out the breath she'd been holding. She could see why Adam was frequently tense around Taka. The woman sent out so many signals, there was no way to know what she was thinking! She heads out of the kitchen and grabs her things, heading out to the house she would be staying at during her visit.

---

Taka hesitantly knocks on the Li'Keil's room. A greeting is called out from inside the room and Taka swings the door open.

The Li'Keil is sitting on the bed, her black hair down and spread out on the sheets around her. She puts down the book she was reading to look up at Taka, who walks over and puts the tray on the Li'Keil's side-table. The Li'Keil smiles up in thanks, and Taka lets out her own breath. "Would you like anything else?"

"Just to apologize," the Li'Keil says demurely. Taka looks surprised at that, and the Li'Keil laughs a little. "I realize I was a little harsh to your friend a bit ago, and I might have simply spoken out of exhaustion."

"Oh, no, it's okay, Adam's always a little--" Taka begins, but the Li'Keil gets up a little in the bed and presses a finger against Taka's lips, smiling slightly.

"It will take me a while to make a better judgment, but I have probably exaggerated his personality in any case," the Li'Keil murmurs. All Taka can thinks at this point is that the Li'Keil has beautiful eyes. "So just accept my apology graciously." The Li'Keil frowns. "And go get some sleep. You are pretty, but right now you look worse than I feel. Put off the paperwork until tomorrow. You will need the rest."

Taka takes a step back involuntarily from the Li'Keil, who watches her nod, bow and then turn to leave (this part with greater interest) with heavily-lidded eyes and a self-content smile, then turned to her meal as the door closed.

Outside, Taka waited until she was almost to her room to slouch against the door. Was that how the Li'Keil always acted? Or... Well, Taka wasn't the kind of girl willing to do anything to stay in power. Taka gritted her teeth and walked into her bedroom to get ready to sleep. She'd just have to prove herself a capable leader, that's all.

Taka collapsed on the bed without disrobing, vaguely thinking that she hadn't eaten any of the remaining noodles for her own dinner before she fell unconscious.

---

Adam is still a little miffed about the night before. He came in late, and decided to sleep on the couch rather than face Taka's wrath. Unfortunately, this meant that he woke up from light shining through the window and on his face, rather than because he was fully rested. He sits up and reaches for his shirt, stretching as he does so.

"Hm," a voice said from his side. The Li'Keil stood at the doorway of the kitchen, having silently snuck into the room, and was now regarding him with a wry smirk.

Adam looks up to see the Li'Keil, and holds in a groan as best he can. He's not ready to deal with this bitch so early in the morning. Wait, what time is it? "How did you sleep?" he asks, hoping the question isn't offensive for her royal bitchness.

"Alright, and yourself?" the Li'Keil replied, meeting his gaze pleasantly.

"I've had better," Adam admits, standing up and stretching out his back. It briefly occurs to him that he should maybe attempt speaking Yuinnish to the Li'Keil, as she had suggested last night. But isn't Qwinnish formal? Isn't it more appropriate to speak formally to the Li'Keil? He's been in this world for so many years, and still doesn't understand many of its customs. Maybe the Li'Keil was right, he needs to assimilate more. Letting his mind drift in this way, he manages to forget that the Li'Keil is even there, and begins to go about his typical morning business without speaking to her.

The Li'Keil returns to the kitchen at the silence, finishing placing her dishes from the last night away. She begins to take out food for a small breakfast meal, putting it together with deft movements. It was enough for several people. "If you like, there is food here," the Li'Keil calls to Adam. "I shall be back shortly, if Taka wakes. She looked tired, but to sleep too long is bad, as well." The Li'Keil picked up her coat against the morning chill and headed to the door.

Adam blinks. He wasn't prepared for the Li'Keil to be so... cool. "Uh, thanks," he manages to get out before she leaves. He goes to the kitchen and makes himself a plate of the breakfast. It's delicious. Maybe I should make Taka a plate... like a peace offering. He makes a plate for Taka, and also poured a glass of milk for her. He takes a breath and goes to the door of their bedroom and lightly knocks. "Taka?"

There is a slight sound inside of someone stirring. "Yes?" Taka calls out, her voice muffled by sleep.

"Taka, I... uh... I brought you breakfast that... well, the La... Li'Kell made for us, and, um..." he slowly turns to the door handle and pushes the door in.

Taka was sitting up in bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Aw, thank you, honey," she said, smiling in her half-awake state. "Did you..." She looked next to her at the undisturbed sheets and her face fell slightly.

"I got home late, everyone was asleep." He brings the food to her and joins her on the bed. "How did the meal go last night? Was she impressed with your cooking?"

"I don't think she ate any," Taka said, assuming he was talking about Kalila. "I fell asleep before I knew. I think she just left for the house she's staying at." Her stomach rumbled. "Ergh, I didn't eat any, either," she grumbled, digging in ravenously. "I hope the Li'Keil liked the meal." She briefly remembered what had happened during cooking the night before, feeling a twinge of guilt before squashing it. Taka then paused. "Oh... wow, this is really good!" she said, looking down at it.

She devoured the rest, and then looked at Adam. "Hey, I was going to teach you the protocol for being around the Li'Keil," Taka said. "If... if you wanted to learn it, that is."

"Oh, uh, yeah." Adam is slightly thrown by the confusion with who he was talking about. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, you know... to fit in better, or something."

"Well, less to fit in and more to try and not mess up my chances," Taka said. "Or the schedule. The Li'Keil is here for a week starting today. Today and maybe tomorrow, I'll be spending my time filling out the paperwork. The rest of tomorrow the Li'Keil reviews it, then for three days the Li'Keil will... uh... be my shadow," Taka says, unsure of the translation into English. "The Li'Keil is going to follow me and ask questions and review my performance, and what goes on in the village... Making sure it's not a secret crime ring or anything. The sixth day is a conference between this Li'Keil and the others using magic. The seventh day is when..." Taka trailed off, biting her lip. "When the Li'Keil announces the final decision." Taka stopped talking, looking at Adam. "That's just the schedule. Am I going too fast for you?"

"No, I got it," Adam says sincerely. He's not entirely sure why he needs to know the schedule, but if it's important to Taka... "So, what does she do while you're doing paperwork today and tomorrow?"

Taka didn't answer for a while, the same look of confusion playing across her face. Suddenly, she looked enlightened. "Adam, only refer to the Li'Keil as the Li'Keil," Taka said. "Not he or she. It's considered rude." Taka continued on without waiting for Adam to ask for clarification. "Well, today, there is nothing for the Li'Keil to do except be around to possibly answer questions about the paperwork, so... I need you and Kalila to entertain the Li'Keil. Just... do whatever the Li'Keil wants. I give you and the rest of the village permission to do whatever it takes short of a live sacrifice because I swear to Qwin I want this to go over smoothly." Taka's heartrate had increased quite a bit, knowing what happens to chieftains who get refused. It is assumed that the village will increase its population growth, so new leadership must be assumed... Possibly forcibly. And with almost certain exile if things go horribly wrong.

"Uh..." Adam now looks worried. He doesn't wanna fuck this up for Taka. "Where is Kalila now? Does she know that we have to take care of the Li'Keel?"

"Well, I just thought to ask today," Taka mentions sheepishly. "If you find her in the village soon could you--"

The Li'Keil knocks lightly on the open door, having just arrived. "I brought in the box and left it on your desk, in your office," she murmurs, looking at Taka with her hair mussed, still wearing the clothes she wore the night before, although more rumpled.  Her eyes briefly traveled to Adam and she smiled slightly at the two. "I will be exploring your village, now."

"Uh... okay," Adam says. He looks at Taka. "I guess we'll go get Kalila and then we can take her- uh, the Li'Keyl on a tour."

"That's nice of you to offer, but I really think I could handle myself," the Li'Keil demurred.

"No, really, we insist," Taka said, her voice suggesting that she was expecting that answer. Another weird Yuin politeness thing. "Thank you, <sweety>," Taka whispered to Adam, using a Yuinnish term of endearment and keeping her voice hopefully too low for the Li'Keil to hear. "Remember, anything the Li'Keil wants. And, uh... Well, when you guys come back, I want to... Can we talk? Not a bad talk, or anything, just..." She trailed off, looking at Adam and trying her best to ignore the fact that the Li'Keil was still there, watching them both.

"Um, yeah, sure," Adam replies, not really listening and equally unnerved by the Li'Keil's presence. "Okay, let's go." As he passes the Li'Keil, he pauses, not sure if it would be polite to offer to escort her with his arm, or if it would be considered rude to touch her. He looks back at Taka, wishing she could somehow give him all the advice he would need for the afternoon. "Kalila is staying just a few houses down from here," he offers.

"Alright," the Li'Keil says, threading an arm through his. "Kalila is the other girl from yesterday? Lead the way." Taka flashes Adam the thumbs-up and then gets up, closing the door behind the two and rushing to get ready so she could start filling out forms.

"I know Taka's making you do this, but I appreciate it," the Li'Keil said to Adam once they were out of earshot of Taka, looking up at Adam through her eyelashes. "It is much easier to initially assess the city when you have a guide."

"Uh, no prob," Adam manages to get out. Why is she being so nice to him now? He leads the way to where Kalila is staying.

Kalila comes out of the house and makes a ceremonial bow to the Li'Keil. She has clearly put more effort into her appearance today, and is dressed more formally than before. This does not escape Adam's notice, and he makes a mental note to tell her she's hot later. "Where should we go first?" Kalila asks.

The Li'Keil briefly has a similar look to Adam as she looks Kalila up and down, then returned a less deep but still formal bow. "Actually, I would love to see your library," the Li'Keil says. "I don't know if you've been told, but this village's high literacy levels are a wonder to some of the older cities."

"Perfect," Kalila says. "The library is downtown, so we'll be able to see a lot of the small businesses and community centered areas." She takes the Li'Keil's arm and leads the way, smiling and being all kinds of charming.

Adam sighs. He's glad that he doesn't have Taka's boring job, but this tour guide thing isn't much better. "Um... Li'Kiil?" He asks hesitatingly. "You wouldn't also be interested in the nightclubs and bars in the area, right?"

The Li'Keil hesitated for a long time, her shoulders tensing up with the suggestion. "Ah... maybe," she replied, vaguely. "Later. I have my duties just like Taka; business comes first." There was something strained in her voice as she spoke.

They reach downtown suddenly. In the middle of the day, it is quite busy, which means more people to stop and stare at the arrival, as if they already knew just by looking at her what she was. The Li'Keil walked nonchalantly but couldn't avoid the attention, so she merely smiled politely at the crowd.

"A Li... Li'Keil?" a woman asked, her voice hesitant. "You are a Li'Keil, right?"

The Li'Keil paused, looking at her. "Yes," she replied, not unkind.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something, since you are so wise," the woman said, her voice low. "I... I think I am ready for my lover and I to be <coupled> but I don't know how to ask him this and..."

"My dear, that is a question only you can answer," the Li'Keil answered.

"Then answer this, what am I to do about my crop this year?" a man called from his stall. "The rains are late! I..."

He was drowned out by several people asking questions of the Li'Keil, or just wanting to talk about what was happening in the government, or why she was there. It took a lot of smiling and non-committed answers for the group to finally get to the library.

"Shit," Adam says, summing up his opinion of the situation.

"Yeah," Kalila replies, having now become used to this means of shorthand. "The Li'Keils are known for their wisdom. It isn't surprising these people would want to ask advice of a Li'Keil, as there's no guarantee you'll ever see one in your lifetime."

"So she's probably used to this then," Adam concludes. Kalila looks uncomfortable and coughs, but doesn't correct his slip up in front of the Li'Keil.

The Li'Keil had the good grace to ignore his mistake. Instead, she slipped from Kalila's escort and began to walk around the library, silently observing the activities and studies within as she moved. Her eyes darted around, hawk-like, and she seemed to miss nothing.

Adam finds a chair and slumps into it. "Booooooooooooring."

Kalila hits him lightly. "<Shut up>. This is important for Taka. Be a little supportive."

"But this is lame. I mean, all the good spots in the area are only open after 10 pm. We can't even wreak some havok in the local businesses."

"The Li'Keil will probably look into the clubs and such later tonight. But the village has more to offer than entertainment for you. Taka has put a lot of work into making all aspects of this place impressive and worthy of a better standing."

"I know," he groans. "And she hasn't been putting a lot of work into anything else, either."

"If you fail to find this entertaining, you are certainly welcome to leave," the Li'Keil said, her sharp ears picking up their conversation from her position not too far away. "I would not hold it against you; I could see how this would fail to be interesting. However, it is vital to my judgment that I see all the publicly important aspects of the city." The Li'Keil rolled her shoulder as she walked up over to another corner to look at the organization system, still sore from the trip there.

Adam sighs. Great, even when he does what Taka wants it's still not good enough.

Kalila notices the Li'Keil's discomfort. She gives Adam a death look that she hopes lets him know to behave. Then she catches up to the Li'Keil. "Um, when we've finished here, there is a very good massage therapist that has a practice about a block from here."

"No need," the Li'Keil replied. "But if we could move on to the local businesses and community centers." She had caught Adam's sigh, just barely, and was wondering if he would truly leave. She failed to care either way; so far, the boy had proved superfluous to her tour, and she had business to do.

Kalila nods, and turns to Adam, signaling to him that they're leaving. He gets up and approaches the two women, extending his arm for the Li'Keil. He leads the ladies outside.

Kalila points out various places of interest to the Li'Keil, and Adam interjects when he can, but his comments (along the lines of "they make good food that kinda tastes like pizza but classier") are not very helpful. They come to the bath house. "And finally, here is the bath house. It's not very exciting, but one of the cleaner bath houses in the area."

Adam looks antsy. He knows this is the end of the tour, and he's ready to go home and do something more interesting. The Li'Keil wouldn't be interested in touring the bath house, right? "Yeah, so Taka should be done with her paperwork pretty soon, and we can all go out for some dinner or something..."

However, the Li'Keil was looking at the bathhouse with interest. "I am actually in need of cleansing," she said. "I have not for several days, and I would like to before it becomes a problem." She looked for the door and turned to bid Kalila goodbye. "If I could get directions back to Taka's place, I could make my way back after I am done, so as to not inconvenience you."

"All right," Adam says, relieved to be finally done with this part of the day. "We'll meet you back at Taka's office in, say, two hours? Then the four of us can go out for drinks, and we can show you how kick-ass this place really is!"

Kalila rolls her eyes. "I'm gonna go back to the place I'm staying to change for the evening then. See you both tonight." She bows to the Li'Keil and leaves.

Adam awkwardly bows to the Li'Keil as well and heads toward Taka's office.

Taka looked up as Adam entered. She had a stack of papers as high as her hand length to her right; to her left seemed to be the remaining paperwork. "Hey," she greeted with Adam's usual phrasing. She looked tired, but not as frazzled as before. "What's up? ...where's the Li'Keil?"

"She wanted to take a bath at the bath house," he replies. "She'll be back here with Kalila in about two hours, and then we're going out for dinner and drinks and such."

"The Li'Keil," Taka corrected. "Not she. And... the Li'Keil was okay with this?" she added. "The drinking and dinner? That's... interesting." Taka stretched a little. "I could use a break, though."

"Yeah," Adam says, eyeing the stack of papers. "I was thinking of going to that one place that kinda has Thai food... Bwon Fo" one of the few Yuinnish words he can pronounce correctly. "Cuz it's right next to that nightclub that serves that glowy purple drink that Kalila likes so much. Sound good?"

"So good," Taka almost moans, not having eaten all day. "...how long did you say it would take again?"

Adam checks a nearby clock. "Probably closer to an hour and a half now. I guess you'll want to get dressed up or whatever," he says with a half groan. "As long as I don't have to wear that itchy sweater your parents gave me."

Taka looked confused. She didn't get that joke. She had no idea what a sweater was, and her parents were dead. "Aaaalright," she said, just writing it off as a horrible joke. "I'll finish up here; you can go change into whatever. I'll be up in a minute." She began flipping through recently-read pages, trying to organize them quickly.

About an hour and a half later, Kalila enters the office. "Hello?" she calls.

Adam comes to greet her, and is again astounded by her appearance. She's now dressed for going out, wearing a skirt that comes just above the knee, and a tight backless top. "Shit," he says.

"You don't look so bad yourself." She smiles and kisses him on the cheek. She lingers with the kiss a bit longer than she probably should, but pulls away quickly. "Is Taka ready?"

"Yeah!" Taka calls out, running from the room. She's wearing a deep-green skirt and shirt combination that compliments her hair, ending about at the knee with small slits up the side, and matching shoes with straps winding halfway up her calf. She had put up her long hair into a quick spin-bun, letting the rest fall to her mid-back; there was even some makeup on her face. "Where's the--"

"I came in nearly a half-hour ago," the Li'Keil said, entering the hallway as well. She was dressed up quite differently: a simple brown robe concealed any sort of more-expensive clothing the Li'Keil might have been wearing, and a hood was pulled up over her head, concealing her face from anybody not looking closely enough. She was at least wearing nice shoes. "Are you far enough along with the paperwork to allow this?"

"Y-yes," Taka said nervously. "I believe I can be done mid-afternoon tomorrow at the latest." The Li'Keil almost looked a little disgruntled at the news, like she had hoped for a different answer, but she didn't say anything.

"Alright," Adam cuts in. "Let's get this party started!" He extends his arm for Taka to take.

Kalila likewise offers her arm to the Li'Keil.

Taka and the Li'Keil both take the person's arm. The Li'Keil is a little more apprehensive about the whole evening. "Where are we going?" Taka asked Adam cheerfully.

"You'll love it," Adam replies, more to the Li'Keil than to Taka. They reach the restaurant-club quickly, and of course, are seated immediately, with both the Li'Keil and Taka in their party. Adam pulls out chairs for all the girls. He sits between Taka and the Li'Keil, across from Kalila.

Kalila orders her favorite drink. The glowy one Adam mentioned. She smiles when it arrives.

The Li'Keil ordered something that sounded... complicated. When it came back, it looked like a clear liquid with ice in it and a slice of some sort of fruit floating in it. The Li'Keil looked pleased, both at that and the fact that nobody besides the person seating them had noticed that she was the Li'Keil. It definitely calmed her down a little.

Taka just ordered a straight-up mixed drink that was one of the specialties of the bar, a pretty blue color. She also ordered a starter for them all. "Drinking on an empty stomach is bad," she said, frowning all mother-like until it came, and the waiter with their menu's. Taka smiled almost too happily; this was the first chance for relaxation she had gotten... in a long time.

Adam orders a beer. Cuz he's a man. Or something. He turns to the Li'Keil. "So, how do you like our little slice of Yuin?"

"Like most little slices of Yuin," the Li'Keil said, sipping her drink and glancing over the menu. "Nothing too bad, although better than most because of its unusual... circumstances."

"Are you enjoying yourself right now?" Taka asked nervously. "Or is this too much? Because-"

"Don't worry about it," the Li'Keil said. "So far, nobody has recognized me. I would otherwise dread a night out..." She looked at her cup before taking another gulp. "Servant of the people, et cetera," she finished.

"Yeah," Taka said, knowing full well her complaint.

Kalila smiles and pats Taka on the knee under the table. "It's nice to be out like this," she says. "I've been travelling so much for the government recently. It's hard to enjoy the sights while you're working."

Adam drinks his beer and looks around the club. Currently there's only a moderate amount of people around, but more are sure to come later in the evening, when the dancing is the main attraction. Adam doesn't like dancing, and rolls his eyes knowing Taka or Kalila will probably make him.

Taka finishes her drink just as her food is arriving, as they've ordered. She feels a bit light-headed as she begins to eat and wonders if she might have drank it a little too fast. No matter; there's another one that she can drink even more slowly now.

The Li'Keil finishes her drink a little more slowly than Taka. She doesn't seem to be showing too many signs of inebriation as her food arrives, but another drink is placed near her without her even asking, and when she picks it up it is with slow, deliberate movements.

Kalila attempts to make more polite conversation. "So... what do you do when you're not, you know, being the Li'Keil?" she asks, genuinly interested.

The Li'Keil paused, as if having to think of an answer. Honestly, it was probably the first time somebody had asked. "Read," she replied, looking into her cup. It was already half-empty again. "I know that sounds boring, but it's usually what I'm able to do."

Suddenly the band started playing a new song, and Taka jumped up, her food just half-eaten. "I love this song," she said, a little dizzy from the sudden movement. "Somebody dance with me."

Adam rolls his eyes, but Kalila stands before he can move. He looks at her, the obvious question on his face. "Don't worry," she says, "I've got her. You two have fun." She smiles to Taka and takes her by the arm out to the dance floor.

Adam sits back in his chair. "Oh, uh, do you like dancing?" he asks the Li'Keil, hoping the answer is a big fat no.

"Not really," the Li'Keil replied. "I can never get that much into the music. You?"

Taka was already into the music, almost before they had gotten to the dance floor. "They never play this song anymore!" Taka says, her voice inaudible over the music.

Kalila nods, moving her hips to the beat and shaking her head, her hair flying around her face.

Adam shakes his head. "Taka loves it," he says. He gulps down the last of his beer, and waves down a waitress to get him more. He taps the table, unsure what to say now to keep filling the awkward gap in conversation.

"So how did you and Taka end up together?" the Li'Keil asked, bluntly. She knew how to make polite conversation, but the drinks were convincing her she didn't have to. Plus, the waitress kept winking at her as she set down another. Damn... the second one was gone, too.

Taka moved a closer to Kalila, thinking it was a good idea as her drink settled further. After all, this was dancing. Dancing close was the point. In any case, this was how she danced. With anybody, probably, but she had only really danced with Adam lately.

Kalila hasn't danced with anyone since... well, longer than she'd care to remember. She is the only one in the party to have not had anything to drink, but being close to Taka still seems like a good idea to her. Taka's hair smells good.

Adam is slightly taken aback by the question. No one had ever reaally asked him how he and Taka became a couple. "Well, we met when the ship I came on crash landed. She roped me and a few others into saving Yuin... twice... and one thing led to another..." He doesn't fill in the details because, as he starts thinking about it, he realizes he doesn't know why Taka is with him. He chugs down his second beer. "What about you? Do you ever have time for a relationship or dating or anything?"

"No," the Li'Keil said. "I either don't have time or people cannot approach me in that way. They're too shy or..." The Li'Keil shrugs. "So... I've heard odd rumors about you and Taka, but you make it sound as though you and she are... <exclusive>?" The word she used was a Yuinnish word, used to designate a coupled pair, the kind together for life.

A lot of dancers around Taka were moving quickly, actually. The floor was getting a lot more crowded while the music started up, and Taka found herself dancing inches from Kalila as floor space became limited. Not even inches. She had moved the rest of the way without knowing it, their bodies making more than casual contact.

Dancing so close without actually dancing together is more awkward than anything else, so Kalila sets her hands on Taka's waist, but tries not to make their dancing too sexual.

A few of the other dancers notice the two girls, and some are eyeing them like vultures. None have approached yet, but a few are inching their way closer.

"Well, I mean, we're not married or anything, we're just... I mean she's my girlfriend and..." he pauses, remembering the confusion this conversation brought when he had it with Kalila before. "Uh... it's complicated." he says finally, with a sigh.

Taka giggled, somehow finding the situation amusing, and began dancing with Kalila... except she wasn't trying to stay out of her friend's personal limitations.

Then there were dancers at the girl's backs, being way too close for comfort. Taka gritted her teeth and elbowed her's, trying to get them off, glaring at Kalila's.

"Have you tried a more traditional Yuin relationship?" the Li'Keil suggested to Adam. "It would be less, as you say, complicated." She then paused, and sighed. "Sorry. I really should not be giving advice, but... Giving advice is my automatic reaction. Nonetheless, I apologize."

Adam cocks his head. "You know, no one has ever really explained what a traditionally Yuin relationship is to me. I mean, other than the whole 'mate for life' thing."

Kalila moves closer to Taka, her way of getting away from her pursuers.

The Li'Keil pauses for a moment, trying to figure out a way to explain something she's always taken for granted. "Well, we live for a very long time, and we'd like to ensure that our mate is most suitable for us. The coupling is an agreement to have children, and most parents want their children to learn about love positively, so they do not want to break up. Also, it is beneficial to know who the father is, when it comes to questioning lineage. So... It is an... open relationship before coupling?" The Li'Keil frowns, thinking of words. "We... date many people as a way of getting to know them, both mentally and physically. And we are not... exclusive?" The Li'Keil smiles.

Taka glowers harder at the guy behind Kalila, who was getting a little too into it. Taka finally just grabs Kalila and spins her around, pressing Kalila into her and glaring at the guy as she grabs her friend possessively, one arm snaking around Kalila's middle, the fingers reflexively rubbing Kalila's side. The guy backs off, looking once more at the scene with envy. Taka rests her chin on Kalila's shoulder as she watches the guy leave, still dancing.

Kalila lets herself feel the curves of Taka's body pressed into her back, and she unconsciously moves her hand to her friend's thigh.

Adam sighs. The concept is still a little complicated for him. "Well, I mean, I'd have to talk to Taka about that, I guess." He looks out into the dance floor for the girls, but doesn't see them immediately.

The Li'Keil automatically follows his look and spies the girls. She averts her gaze at their closeness, seeing Taka run a hand down Kalila's side and along the back of Kalila's thigh, also seeing a flash of Kalila's hand on Taka's thigh. She opens her mouth to make a comment to Adam, but decided that he might not be able to see. The most diplomatic thing she could do was keep her mouth shut. His ears were obviously not as strong as her's; maybe his sight was the same. The two girls were surrounded by people...

Adam gives up looking for them, and turns back to the Li'Keil. He finishes off his beer and gets his third. They haven't eaten yet, so he's starting to feel the alcohol. "So is our village gonna be a city?" he asks.

The Li'Keil is also starting to get affected, halfway done with her own third drink. "I don't know yet," she said, honestly. "I have to reserve my opinion until I have seen all the facts." She took a long sip. "Although it seems a clean enough place. I just have to make sure it has what it needs to continue growing well. It usually takes such places hundreds of years to grow so big... Such swift changes could be hiding an inevitable crash, leading to poverty and riots." She leaned back against the chair, brushing some silky hair from her slightly flushed face. "My presence is like... a really important physical."

"Physical," Adam repeats, looking the Li'Keil up and down. He wonders what her legs look like. It's hard to tell under the robe she's wearing. She has soft skin though, he can see that pretty clearly. He wants to reach over and touch her face, but stops himself and instead waves down a waitress for another drink.

"Aren't you drinking a bit much?" the Li'Keil said, smiling slightly as she leaned forward, resting her face on one hand and regarding him with half-closed eyes. With one finger, she orders a beer for herself, as well.

Behind Kalila, Taka felt bold. A small, still-sober portion of her brain reminded her that talking to Adam was still probably a good idea... But she found herself brushing her lips against Kalila's bare shoulder anyway, breathing in the smell of her. The mere thought that this wasn't Adam, that this was another person who had shown interest in her in longer than she could remember, was enough to overcome that stupid little voice that still repeated Adam's name in the corner of her mind.

Kalila feels the lips on her shoulder, and it occurs to her that this is Taka. One of the most responsible people she's ever met. Surely she talked to Adam about this, and no doubt he was fine with it. She decides it's time to take some initiative. Kalila spins around and wraps her arms around Taka. She pulls in her friend for a kiss on her delicate lips.

Adam cocks an eyebrow at the Li'Keil. "You're one to talk," he says, eyeing her beer. "I could drink you under the table, girl." As he says the the gendered word, he remember Taka warning him against it. But it's already out there now. Maybe he can change the subject. "Hey, do you... have a name? Like, besides the whole Li'Keil title?"

The Li'Keil raises an eyebrow at the word, but after an uncomfortable pause, lets it slide. "My given name is Tekela'ine," she replies. "Of course, the shortened was Teke until I assumed the title of Li'Keil. I'm rarely called by anything besides; I've become part of the Entity of Li'Keil." She laughs wryly. "And I accept your challenge." She grins, the first signs of the looseness that surrounded Taka, although they were obviously about the same age. Then she tilted back her head and chugged her beer. She slams her empty glass down a few seconds later. "From what I heard about your aging process, I got about three hundred years of experience on you, boy."

Taka froze under Kalila's kiss. Her brain flashed to Adam and she acknowledged that this would probably backfire in the worst way, but... Right now, even she felt frustrated with herself. She kept wanting things and yet was always hesitant to just... grab them. Taka wasn't ever really worried about the consequences, just the unknown. She kind of knew now how Adam must feel.

And she wasn't going to let this pass her by, either.

Taka relaxed, leaning into Kalila, practically holding onto her friend as her knees buckled with a combination of alcohol and swoon.

Kalila finally releases her friend. First kiss shouldn't last too long. She touches her nose to Taka's, smiling.

"Teke," Adam says with a defiant smile. "It cool if I call you that? So much cooler than Li'Keil." He downs his next beer and slams it next to hers.

"Only for tonight," the Li'Keil said, ordering another round. "I haven't heard that name since I was 13. Even my father calls me the Li'Keil." She smiled, rubbing her hands together as the next round came to their table. "First one to pass out... Is probably you, so I'll be nice and not set conditions." She tilted her head back and half of her beer was gone.

Taka giggled, holding onto Kalila, ignoring the people around her and the fact that the two were no longer dancing. She rested her forehead against Kalila's, enjoying the closeness but... honestly, wondering what to do next. Adam hadn't really paused like this the first time they had kissed, and Taka was nervous about the whole process. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Kalila had been the one to break off the kiss, so Taka just circled her arms around Kalila's waist and looked into the woman's eyes, waiting for her next move.

Kalila smiles at Taka, and feeling no resistance from the girl, goes in for another kiss, this one more passionate.

Adam downs his next beer and stares more openly at the Li'Keil. "That's stoopid," he says. "You have a nice name. Teke. It's nice. You're nice." He tries to see her boobs through the robe, but fails.

The Li'Keil leans forward, but her robe still covered too much for Adam to see any sort of detail. "You, sir," her voice loud and slightly deeper than it was before, thick with drink. "Are drunk." She laughed, a hand wobbly covering her mouth politely. "Blind drunk. I knew I could out-drink you. Not as tough as you look, huh?" She pokes a muscled arm as if to prove a point, having to move her chair closer to do so. She finishes her own beer and laughs.

Taka opens her mouth to the kiss urgently. She feels somebody bump against her accidentally, and seeing an opening behind Kalila, gently moves the both of them from the crowd, breaking the kiss only momentarily to see that she had pushed Kalila up against a wall. Not caring much at this point, Taka slides her hands around to the small of Kalila's back, sliding her body up against her friend's as she lost herself in the contact.

Kalila's hands run through Taka's soft hair, and she pulls her closer, as if she can't get enough. In her ferocity, she bites Taka's lower lip gently.

Adam leans over, his arm now touching the Li'Keil's. "I'm not drunk," he says. "I am drunk. And you... you," he concludes. His head hits the table, and he smiles, enjoying the cold feel of the table on his warm face.

The Li'Keil giggled, ruffling his hair playfully. "You're an adorable drunk," she said. "Very, very funny. You're funny." She forgot to remove her hand, just let it rest on his head as she once again rested her chin on her hand, her elbow sliding off the table twice before she steadied herself, her eyes focusing on the empty glasses in front of them. Her hood slipped a little and she took her hand off of him to put it back into place before the waitress got too good a look at her face. Briefly, she wondered why she was so intoxicated, only to dredge up the memory that she really hadn't gone drinking in quite a while. She also wondered where Taka and Kalila had gone... While glancing over the dance floor, she couldn't see them. Maybe if the damn room stopped moving so much.

Taka's hands roam lower, and without knowing it she was cupping Kalila's ass. It was much less muscular than Adam's. Maybe that's why she liked it so much.

Kalila's whole body tenses up as Taka touches her. She lightly draws her hands over Taka's neck, feeling her smooth skin. It occurs to her that she hasn't had this sort of contact with another person in a LONG time, which is probably why it feels so good now.

Adam turns his head to face the Li'Keil. "You have a beautiful smile." Not his smoothest line ever, but one of the few honest ones.

The Li'Keil smiled again, her face coloring. She placed her hands on the table and rested her chin on them, looking at him not unkindly. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were hitting on me," she said, a look on her face that almost bordered on coy.

Just as Taka moved her hand to slip it under Kalila's dress, a person catcalled the two of them. Taka turned bright red, more so than before, and broke off the kiss to look and nervously see who had done that. She was developing a panicked look as she realized that the two of them were very much still in public.

Kalila wasn't ready to break off the kiss, and is confused when it ends. She thinks it must be that Taka has changed her mind. "I'm... uh. I'm so sorry, I didn't..."

Adam pokes the Li'Keil on her nose and snorts.

"No, I just... uh, it's..." Taka looks around, noting that while they weren't the center of attention yet, there was the possibility of it quickly turning out that way. She was the leader of the village, making out with a person that wasn't Adam... and their unique relationship wasn't exactly secret. "Um. I think we're being watched."

The Li'Keil continues to smile and reaches out a hand to cup Adam's cheek and lift his head slightly off the table. She only has to lean forward a little for their lips to connect in a soft caress.

Adam's tongue gently brushes against her lips, and Taka is no where on his mind.

Kalila looks down. She doesn't quite understand why being seen is an issue, but she doesn't want to argue. "Um, so what should we..."

"I'm sorry, it's just..." Taka looked down, feeling totally self-conscious. It was an intimate moment, and she didn't feel like she could continue if people were staring. Suddenly her face got a determined look to it, and she took Kalila's hand, slipping along the wall, away from the crowd, until they came to an unlocked door. Taka opened it and slipped inside to an empty hallway, with dim lights... but they could see.

"It's an emergency escape route," Taka explained, still having to talk over the music--the door wasn't that thick. "So main exit doesn't get clogged... I helped design it." She hadn't foreseen it as a makeout point, but she could take whatever she could get at this point. Taka cupped Kalila's cheek, feeling uncomfortably hot as she probed her face with a questioning look, suddenly serious in the solitude. Then Taka went in for another kiss.

The Li'Keil continues to draw him deeper into the kiss, then releases him, lingering for a second as she breathes in his scent. "That was nice," she murmurs, her hand trailing down his face and along his neck, softly touching his skin.

"Yeah, that's something I'm good at," Adam replies. "Wanna see again?" He grabs her face and kisses her again.

Kalila meanwhile is more than willing to get back into the making out. Now she throws Taka up against the wall, and runs her hand up Taka's thigh- and under her skirt.

Taka tensed at the intimate contact, arching her back as she gripped Kalila's hair. Taka raises her thigh to rub against Kalila's side, hooking a leg around Kalila's to draw her closer. Taka drew a hand down Kalila's leg and bunched up the dress, pulling it up and slipping a hand in to rest against Kalila's upper thigh, moving restlessly as Taka became more passionate.

The Li'Keil starts at his forwardness, but decides that yes, the human was quite good at this. She drew herself closer around the table, briefly thinking of Taka and deciding that, from what she saw of the girl and her friend, she had nothing to complain about. Her hand went to the back of Adam's neck, pulling them both up into a deep kiss, moving around the table closer to him.

Adam wraps his arm around the Li'Keil's waist, becoming more excited as he actually comes in physical contact with the woman. He pulls her body even closer to his, wanting more and more to touch her.

Kalila lets out a little moan at Taka's touch. She presses her body even closer, wanting more- more of the touch, more kissing, and more Taka. Maybe with less clothes, though. She starts to lift Taka's shirt off of her body.

Taka lifts her arms without complaint and helps to tug her shirt off, dropping it to the ground beside them, gasping just a bit as her breasts were released into the cold. She then leans in and moves along Kalila's neck and shoulder with her mouth, gently working at the spots that Kalila reacted to, while her hands started working at Kalila's backless dress.

Kalila's arms slip easily out of her dress, allowing the top to come off, revealing her bare breasts as well. She slides her hands along Taka's body, which is much curvier than her own, and softer to the touch.

Taka continued to slide down Kalila's dress, stretching it over the slimmer girl's hips and letting it fall to the floor. Taka began playing with her fingertips over Kalila's skin hesitantly before moving lower, lightly touching and teasing around and over the light fabric still covering Kalila. Her other hand went to Kalila's breast, stroking lightly as Taka met Kalila's lips with her own.

"Mmmm," Kalila lets the noise pass her lips. She moves hers to Taka's neck, kissing along the collar bone and using her hands to slide down Taka's skirt.

Arching her back, Taka leaned her head back, still savoring the feel of Kalila along her. A gasp escaped her mouth and made her grow bold, slipping a hand under the thin fabric, a delicate finger sliding along Kalila.

Kalila gasps at the touch of her most sacred of places. With an even greater sense of urgency, she moves her kissing lower, to Taka's breasts. She circles around the nipple-age, until finally brushing her lips against it, and using a free hand to caress the other.

Taka bit her lip as a keening moan escaped her mouth, feeling teased and frustrated. She slipped into Kalila, feeling the warm abyss, desperately wanting to taste this woman but frozen in place.

Kalila lets out another moan, this one louder than before. Her inner muscles tense around Taka's fingers, pulsating as if to ask for more. Kalila licks all around Taka's areolo, and then breaths hot, moist breath onto the wetness that she's created.

Taka lets out a low breathe, realizing that she had forgotten to breath, and began entering Kalila, building up a rhythm as she slipped along and inside her friend, her other hand grabbing a handful of Kalila's hair as her back arched, regretting not taking off her skirt as soon as she could, the cloth annoying her. Taka licked her lips, closing her eyes as her breathing got harder with just the feel of Kalila under and around her fingertips.

Kalila whimpers, aching with pleasure. Her breathing becomes more erratic. She pulls off the rest of her skirt, and reaches around to grab Taka's soft posterior. She continues kissing Taka's breasts, sometimes drawing her tongue softly over her nipples, and sometimes even scraping her teeth against Taka's soft flesh.

After a few more moments of building frustration, Taka suddenly withdraws her fingers, bringing them to her mouth curiously, then assessing the floor and deciding that it was good enough for what she needed to do. "Down," she commanded, guiding Kalila to the soft floor, then spreading her legs and kissing along her hips and thighs. She could see Kalila's arousal and knew her own had soaked through the little clothing she was still wearing. Without warning, Taka eased herself into Kalila, licking and sucking as her fingers worked inside, paying special attention to what make Kalila react.

Kalila is entirely turned on by being commanded to do something. She always found Taka's position of power to be an attractive quality. She writhes as Taka's tongue traces along her intimate parts. A red flush begins to form over her face, ears, and breasts.

Taka glances up at Kalila through her eyelashes, building up her pace, becoming more insistent as she got more familiar. She felt a familiar spot with in her and worked on that as she sucked gently on Kalila's love button.

Kalila reaches down, searching for something to grab onto, but finding nothing to grip on the cold concrete floor. She feels like she's on a ride at one of the annual fairs and hasn't fastened in her restraint belt. Her hips wiggle around as Taka continually finds her sweet spots, unrelenting. She feels the intensity building and concentrating in her love button area. It is clear from her moaning that she is about to explode.

Taka knew this and just increased her attentions, wanting Kalila's release as badly as Kalila herself did.

Kalila climaxes.

Taka doesn't let up, not decreasing her attentions for a moment, until Kalila stops clamping around her fingers hard enough to hurt. She rides Kalila and brings her to climax a few more times, enjoying trying to control something that had obviously gotten away from her. When Kalila finally comes down, Taka looks up at Kalila, licking the wetness from her lips with a sultry, devilish look in her eye from what she had just done to Kalila. She had no idea it would feel so good.

Kalila pulls Taka close to her, and kisses her deeply on her now wet lips. It is strange to taste herself, but wonderful.

Putting her hands to the side of Kalila's face, Taka opens her mouth to the girl, her body excited with rubbing against the whole of Kalila, her head still swimming with the affects of the alcohol, although the buzz was quite reduced. She adjusted herself to straddle Kalila and one hand meandered to the girl's breast, tracing lazy circles around the soft skin.

Kalila leans her head on Taka, enjoying the closeness of her friend. She lets out a heavy, contented sigh.

---

Adam takes a break from the make out fest for a moment. "You're pretty good at kissing too," he says, his head moving as he talks. He feels heavy, but he doesn't know why. And at the same time, kissing the Li'Keil makes him feel light. He reaches under the table and puts a hand on her knee. He rubs it, hoping to find an opening where he'll be able to touch some skin.

While he was searching, the Li'Keil slipped a hand up his shirt, her fingertips roaming across his chest and feeling his muscles, then going lower, tracing along the waistline of his pants with a mischievous look on her face.

A lucid thought comes to Adam: alcohol... is not an aphrodisiac. He looks down at where the Li'Keil's hand is headed, and notices the bulge that is supposed to be there. Good, he thinks. The equipment is ready to go. He looks back at her and smiles an equally devilish grin, daring her to go for it.

The Li'Keil leaned in for another kiss, her lips trailing to his neck as her hand worked at his pants in an almost bored fashion. They hesitated at his zipper; Yuin didn't have many things like it. However, she figured it out in record time and had soon slipped a hand inside, warm fingers wrapping around the base of his shaft, gripping it firmly as she eased it out.

Covertly, the Li'Keil looked around to see if anybody had noticed what they were doing. However, there weren't even any looks to see if they were still making out; their booth was isolated enough and in the shadows as to make it hard to notice what they were doing, unless they were having full sex on the table. The Li'Keil licked her lips.

Maybe later.

The Li'Keil leaned back a little, moving her hand along Adam as she visually took it in, hiding an impressed gaze as well as she could, her thumb brushing over the tip as she once again licked her lips, giving it a considerate glance, enjoying teasing the guy.

Adam's whole body tenses up. Am I about to get a hand-job from the Li'Keil? He too looked around to see if anyone had noticed, but was sort of disappointed to see that no one did. His hands move to his sides, and he grips the edge of his seat.

The Li'Keil glances about just one more time. A thought crosses her mind that is about the same as 'what the hell, it's just for fun.' Then, brushing back her hood, she bent down, paused for just the briefest of moments, and then drew her tongue along his shaft, all the way from the base to the tip.

"Oh shit," Adam says aloud, though not loud enough for anyone else to hear it. He's received fellatio in public places before, but usually from women of much lower character. The fuckin' Li'Keil is giving me a blow job! He grips his seat even tighter, not sure what to do.

The Li'Keil sighed, a breath of air brushing against him. She straightened up halfway, looking at Adam through her eyelashes. "Just relax," she said in a hushed voice still thick with alcohol. "Don't think into it. Unless..." She gripped his knees and faced him, spreading her legs just a little. The Li'Keil's back was arched as her thumbs rubbed along his knees. "Unless... You don't want it?"

"No!" Adam blurts out. "Uh... I mean... Yes, I want it. Um, I mean... if you want to... uh... Taka said that I have to do whatever you want to do." He's very nervous that this is blowing his chances of, well, getting blown.

"Yeah, she did," the Li'Keil said. "And now, I'm telling you to relax." She leaned down again, spreading his legs a bit so she could reach more easily and running her tongue around the tip before closing her mouth around it, sucking lightly.

"Oh Qwin," Adam says, using the slang he's picked up from Taka. He closes his eyes and leans back, the alcohol making him dizzy, and the sucking not helping his balance any. He reaches down and puts a hand on the Li'Keil, stroking her hair and fighting the urge to force her head down further on him.

The Li'Keil leaned further down, taking in more of Adam, her tongue swirling around his tip and then working down as she drew him into her mouth. She stopped a few inches later, going back up only to go down, a bit further, going back and forth as she felt him throb between her lips and her hand as she rubbed his base in time with her movement. The Li'Keil grinned, her teeth lightly scraping against the side of his shaft as she picked up her pace, getting closer to engulfing him entirely.

Adam closes his eyes and tries to concentrate and not get too engulfed in the pleasure. If he cums too soon, it would look bad. But this feels so good. He tries not to moan as her teeth scrape against his shaft. Moaning isn't very manly. 

With one hand on his base, the Li'Keil let her other hand wander to his testicles, feeling the soft skin there between her fingers as she massaged them lightly. One free finger trailed along the sensitive skin just beneath the pleasures in her hand. Her mouth went another inch down, although it was getting harder to fit all of that in her mouth. The Li'Keil didn't want to admit it out loud, but she was rather impressed with it all. She looked up at him, judging his reaction. He was suppressing a lot, but other than that, he seemed to be enjoying it. The Li'Keil increased the speed almost imperceptibly and began humming a light tune, enjoying herself as well.

Adam's eyes bulge open when she begins humming. He's not sure anyone's ever done that to him before. His manhood begins to flex in her mouth, completely enjoying all of this attention.

The Li'Keil tries to swallow the last few inches, once again blessing Qwin for her control over her gag reflex and nearly entirely sheathing Adam within her mouth, sucking lightly at first, then less gently, drawing it out of her mouth only halfway before quickly going back down, still humming as she became more urgent in her actions.

Adam is still trying not to moan, but now a little noise does escape from his lips. She's pretty much devoured all of his precum, and now all that's left is the real thing. He grips her hair tightly, pulling it gently as his need for release becomes more urgent.

The Li'Keil slowed down just a tad, drawing out his build-up as long as she could. When she finally sped up again and clamped down even more firmly, she was practically moaning herself. His excitement was getting her worked up and she was just waiting for him to explode.

Adam begins breathing harder and harder. He lets a gasp explode out of him as he reaches his peak. His member throbs a few times, indicating that he's reaching climax. "I'm... I'm about to..." he says, giving the Li'Keil fair warning.

"Mm," the Li'Keil mumbles in agreement, her mouth still firmly clasped around his member.

Adam convulses, and he releases a dribble of his love juice into the Li'Keil's mouth. Another and another follow, less intense than the first. His eyes roll to the back of his head and his toes curl up. Finally, his whole body relaxes as he sinks into a post-orgasm stupor.

The Li'Keil feels his release at the back of her throat, swallowing it all so as to not make a mess. She grins as she pulls away, licking lightly for the same reason, cleaning him off gently, knowing that he was quite sensitive at this point. She finally straightens up, licking her lips as she reaches for what was left of her beer. "That was fun," she demurs, replacing her hood with a wicked smile. "Don't you agree?" She leans back, keen eyes scanning the club. Obviously, nobody had noticed a single thing.

Adam doesn't respond. He's glowing. No girl has ever deep throated him before. It was nice... to say the least. He brushes away some drool that has formed at the corner of his mouth.

The Li'Keil practically purrs, leaning up against Adam as she sips her beer, her alcoholic buzz not quite worn off yet. She couldn't help but admit to herself she's glad he liked it. It was part of the reason she liked giving oral so much; giving other people pleasure in a purely physical sense was a nice change from her usual life. "Glad you agree," she finally says, crossing her legs and enjoying even the feel of his shoulder against hers through their clothing.

Adam puts an arm around her, actually enjoying a bit of cuddling. The Li'Keil smells good. He leans his head close to hers, trying to smell more of her. Finally, he speaks. "Is it my turn to return the favor?"

The Li'Keil actually laughs aloud, so shocked at his bluntness. "I... if you'd like," the Li'Keil said, tilting her head so she could nip at the soft skin directly under his ear.

Adam shivers, his skin still sensitive. He puts a hand on her thigh, squeezing it and guiding it away from the other. He reaches down to the bottom of her robe, and slides his hand under it, slowly feeling up her legs.

The Li'Keil bites her lip, her back arching just a little at his touch as a blush forms on her cheeks. She parts her legs to give him more easy access, her eyes on his face as he gets closer to the top of her legs. She could feel herself growing more aroused at his touch and suddenly understood his need to grip the side of his chair.

Adam kisses her neck, running his tongue along her collar bone, as he continues to climb her legs. That is, until-

"What the..." Something does not feel right. He pulls up the robe, revealing his hand, which is now directly on the Li'Keil's penis.

"FUCK!" he yells, jumping to his feet and nearly knocking over the table.

The Li'Keil also jumps back, knocking over the chair she was sitting on as Adam practically scares her out of her skin. "What?!" she asked, panicked at his reaction, which was an erection-killer if she ever saw one. A few people glanced in their direction and she drew the hood over her face further.

"You have a... a..." he can't even bring himself to say it, though he doesn't lower his voice any. "Shit, and I touched it. Bleah!" He wipes his hand vigorously on his pant leg.

"I... uh, yeah," the Li'Keil said, her voice instantly almost pissed off. "Duh. I mean..." She looked around at the spectacle they were creating. "I mean... By Qwin, of course I do. I'm a..." She glanced at the people around them again; none of them were very interested, but there were quite a few curious glances at Adam and subsequently at the Li'Keil. "Could you please keep it down? You're overreacting as is. What the fuck were you expecting, exactly?"

"A fuckin' pussy!" Adam replies, forgetting to use slang the Li'Keil might be familiar with. "Shit, this is so fucked up..."

The Li'Keil frowns, crossing her arms. "I obviously have no idea what is the matter," she states, trying to calm him down before her identity is revealed to the whole club. "Just... calm down. We can sit and you can explain." She didn't really care about his explanation, but at least getting him to sit would be a start. She picked up her chair and put it at the table at a point furthest from Adam's, sitting in it pointedly and gesturing at the other chair with an air of command cultivated over many centuries.

Adam doesn't sit, but stands behind the chair. "You're a dude!" he accuses. "You're a guy! And you're a fucking faggot!"

The Li'Keil stands up at this, barely controlling her temper. She doesn't know the slang Adam uses, but his tone suggests a severe insult, and a person of her standing doesn't have to take it. "Yes. My body is that of a guy. I am a Li'Keil, and none of that should be so... so fucking shocking!" She almost snarls at him, gripping the table furiously. "I was at least pretty sure you weren't so... stupid!" She still doesn't quite see what the problem is, and why he's so angry. Of course her body was that of a guy; the Li'Keil's were ambiguous in that regard, but... Does that really matter to him? She would have stopped to mull it over is she wasn't so angry.

"I think I'm gonna puke," Adam says, and physically, he does look like he's about to vomit. He runs to the mens restroom. Once inside, he splashes some water on his face. It makes him feel a little better, but the alcohol is definitely not helping anything at this point. He spies a window and tries to exit through it.

"You're being a <cunt>," the Li'Keil says from the doorway of the bathroom, watching him attempt to escape. Her usual distant air had returned, along with a look of absolute disgust. It was obvious she was regretting her even more intimate action with a similar amount of disdain as Adam. "You can leave through the door. I should stop you from making a bigger fool of yourself than you already have." She looks like she would say something more, then decides that this whole scenario is not worth the effort and leaves, turning to go back to her table. She would order something strong and hope it was enough to kill off whatever taste remained in her mouth, along with any memory left, so she could get the growing feeling of sickness out of her system.

Adam gets the rest of the way out the window. It's late enough that there aren't a lot of people outside to see him, and those that do don't think much of it. He's certainly not the first person to ever escape a date out a bathroom window. He heads back to his place. It occurs to him that the Li'Keil is staying at his place, and will eventually find her - um, his? - way back. He decides to let Future Adam deal with it then. Upon reaching the place, he vomits in the toilet for a while.

---

Kalila runs her fingers through her hair, trying to fix it a little before she and Taka return to the public. "I'm sort of thirsty. Maybe we should get some water and rejoin Adam and the Li'Keil. I hope they're getting along now."

Taka, with her much longer hair, was having a harder time. However, she decided that a few mostly discrete tangles wouldn't hurt. Her face was still flushed and she almost couldn't open her eyes all the way, due to the afterglow and the alcohol. "Me, too," she admitted, opening the door after quickly straightening her skirt and shirt with a few hasty tugs. She walked into the club and saw the Li'Keil all alone, obviously angry, and probably drunk. "Oh by Qwin what did he do," Taka breathed, frozen in place with fear.

Kalila steps up to the doorway, and notices the situation Taka is referring to. She sighs. "One way to find out." She makes her way across the dance floor and to the Li'Keil. "What happened?" she asks nervously.

The Li'Keil eyed Kalila while taking another drink. "Your boy Adam overreacted a bit when he found out I was physically male," she said, her tone icy. "In fact, I believed he escaped out of the bathroom window."

Taka paled, imagining that the whole scenario was much worse than the Li'Keil had mentioned... which was saying much. Then she colored. "How did he find out you...?" she started to ask, trailing off.

The Li'Keil's eyes flitted from Taka to Kalila, then back. "The same way you probably found out Kalila wasn't lying about her sex," she mentioned loftily. It was a guess in the dark but she knew enough to realize that she probably wasn't wrong.

Taka colored further, confirming her theory. "I'm going to go talk to him," she muttered, backing up and then running out of the club as well as she was able in those heels.

Kalila realizes this is a terrible situation. She knows that Adam could have potentially ruined Taka's chances at becoming the leader of a city. She knows that Adam and Taka might not remain together after this. But the idea of Adam freaking out over something so small, she can't help but laugh at. She takes a seat at the table with the Li'Keil. "<I am so sorry,>" she says sincerely between giggles. "<I guess this is another one of Adam's weird foreign things...>"

"<'Things'? He practically threw up on the floor and leapt out of the bathroom window to get away from me,> the Li'Keil said. "<He wouldn't listen to reason and quite frankly, I don't know what his problem was to begin with. How do you reason with somebody that insane?>" She took another swig of her drink, barely tasting it at this point. "<I have to question Taka's choice of mates.>"

Taka slams the door coming home. "Adam!" she yells out, not knowing where he's hiding but heading to their room anyway. "You KNOW we need to talk."

Adam is brushing his teeth in the bathroom that is connected to their room. He spits into the sink when he hears Taka walk in. He rolls his eyes and wipes his mouth on a hand towel. "It's not my fault," is the first thing he says, knowing that is usually the issue at hand.

Kalila stops laughing at that, and closes her mouth. It takes her a moment to figure out what she's going to say. Finally, she speaks. "<Adam is just... he's a very passionate guy. If he really believes in something, he puts his whole being into it. I know that sounds really corny, but you should've seen him after the fight with Maska. It was beautiful. So if he really freaked out because of your sex, it was probably because we - Taka and I- failed to explain to him all of the details about Li'Keils. I mean, we explained to him what the position means and how revered and important it is to the people of Yuin...>" She hopes this little speech doesn't end up getting Taka into more trouble.

"<I figured as much, not knowing about the Li'Keil,>" the Li'Keil replied. "<However, does my sex really...>" She trailed off, a hand going lightly to her mouth. "<Is he... only attracted to one sex?>" The Li'Keil almost looked put-off. "<I've never met one of those before. Well... none who would admit it.>"

"I don't even know what happened," Taka answered, walking into the bathroom. She sniffed once and looked concerned. "Oh by Qwin, Adam, are you all right?" She grabbed his hand gently and led him from the bathroom. "Tell me what happened, okay? I just got an image of you crawling out the bathroom window after..." Taka colored slightly, not really having enough information to finish the sentence aloud.

Adam's head is spinning, but no longer from alcohol. When Taka asks him what happened, it suddenly occurs to him that he may have been cheating on her. Technically. "She's a dude, and it freaked me out. I've never met ... one of those before..."

Kalila thinks about it. "<You know, I'd never really noticed, but yeah... he does tend to only go after females. And for that matter, he tends to use the word for same-sex relationships to describe things he doesn't like. I always thought it was just a weird mistranslation thing from his society, but maybe the feeling is mutual for all of his kind.>" She pauses, remembering something. She checks a clock and frowns. "<Nik would be able to tell us. He's from Adam's world. But it's a bit late to be calling him...>"

"<Maybe he's just never tried males,>" the Li'Keil mused. She was still wasted. "<I've met Nik. He's too far away for us to call.>" Obviously, she had yet to hear about the new technology Nik had been installing in the cities.

"Yeah, I know, you've never met a Li'Keil before," Taka said. "I'm... I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I didn't really think it'd be an issue, but..." Taka went deep into thought. "The Li'Keils are physically ambiguous," Taka started to explain, slowly. "They have surpassed the limitations of their bodies in this way. This Li'Keil is physically male but mentally female. Some are physically neither, or both." Taka bit her lip. "Their minds have said to have wandered before birth, only to come back and find their body was switched. It is both a curse and a blessing. With this, they are granted wisdom, but they are also doomed to be stuck in the wrong bodies." Taka looked hesitant. "Um... is any of this making sense?"

Adam makes a face of utter disgust. "It doesn't make sense. That's just... wrong, on so many levels. Uck." He is clearly uncomfortable with the whole situation.

Kalila blinks, realizing the Li'Keil's confusion. She smiles, realizing this may be an opportunity to redeem the city in the eyes of such an important person. "<Actually, there is a way to call him...>" she explains about Nik's communicators, indicating the advantages of having them.

A light of understanding went off in the Li'Keil's eyes. "Oh, I might know what you are talking about, but... I thought those only went to the cities," she murmured. "I'm not quite sure how one works. Might I see it?"

Taka's face fell in disappointment. "Well, it's my culture, so learn to like it," she snapped, turning her back on him. She wheeled around a moment later. "And you know what else? I might have an open mind about your... condition, but others won't, so you might want to tone down your outspokenness against normal relationships or people will make fun of you for being chigainte." Taka colored at the use of her word and seemed immediately chagrined, looking at the floor like she was waiting for him to yell at her.

Adam has no idea what the word she used means, but he can tell it's meant to be insulting. "Normal relationships?" he asks incredulously. "Taka, you should be the LAST person in the world to lecture me about a normal relationship. I mean, take us for example... what the fuck are we? Your culture," he says the word in a voice imitating and mocking her own, "doesn't have a concept for boyfriend and girlfriend, which is the closest thing to what we actually are. But if it doesn't exist on Yuin, then it doesn't exist at all, right? People already make fun of me for that, Taka, and you, for being in an exclusive relationship but unmarried. And in case you haven't noticed, I DON'T GIVE A FUCK. You are the one who cares so much about all of it..." He trails off, not wanting to bring all of this to what seems to be its inevitable conclusion. His eyes are now glazed over, but he hasn't let a tear fall.

"<There's one at Taka's office,>" Kalila says cheerily. "<It's closed up now, but I'm sure they'd let you in if you want to see it now. Or we could wait for tomorrow...>"

Taka looked down at her hands. "I'm sorry, Adam, but I can't abandon my upbringing," she said, her voice low. "It's too much a part of me and a part of the people I protect." She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I agree that odd circumstances led to our relationship. It really hadn't bothered me up until this point. I mean... Well..." Taka took another deep breath, like she was gulping air in. "You were the first real relationship I've ever had. Ever." She looked at him, then looked away. Her own eyes were starting to glaze over, but she was just as stubborn. "Three hundred years of not being able to even touch guys for fear of dying. So you mean a lot to me."

There was another long pause.

"But maybe we should pursue a more traditional Yuinnish relationship. Open. Right now, I need to get my professional life in order before I have the time to spend with you or really with anybody else. And you shouldn't be stuck with me all the time." Taka gave a weak, sad laugh. "Maybe I'm not good for you right now."

The Li'Keil paused. She really would prefer now, but a sober piece of her brain suggested that maybe right now wasn't such a good time. Plus, Adam's back at that place. She just wants to sneak into her room and begin sleeping off the eventual hangover now. "<No,>" she sighed, putting down her drink. "<Tomorrow morning is good enough.>"

Kalila nods, anticipating this answer. "<Shall I walk you back to Taka's place?>" She waves down a waiter for the check.

Adam's eyes narrow. Taka was his first real relationship too. He'd never cared about anyone as much as he cared about her, and it was definitely hard to get used to only being with one person. But the fact of the matter was, he was used to it, and comfortable with it, even. And now Taka wanted them to go back to, essentially, just dating? The idea angered him more than anything. He punches a wall, hard, leaving a dent. His knuckles are bleeding, but he doesn't care. "Whatever," he says, unable to express any of his emotions in a non-physical way at this point. He heads for the door, muttering something about getting his stuff tomorrow, when she's at the office.

Taka watched him leave, wanting with everything she had to just grab him and bring him back, forget everything she had been thinking lately. But she couldn't. Taka could just wait until he was out of sight to close the bathroom door behind him, slowly sinking to the floor. The pit of her stomach felt tight and uncomfortable as hot tears welled up in her eyes. Taka closed the door before she allowed herself to cry, trying to keep it silent. She was always strong; no need to stop now, right?

A few minutes after receiving the check, the Li'Keil stands up. "<Ready to go, my dear?>" she says, the trace of a wry smile on her lips.

Kalila nods and stands, going around to offer her arm for the Li'Keil. She leads the graceful woman out into the cold night. Kalila shivers, having not brought something to cover herself with at the end of the evening, and the warmth from her drink having worn off a while ago.

The Li'Keil, being perceptive even drunk, swung her cloak from her shoulders to Kalila's. It was thin fabric, but it was something. Taking off the cloak also revealed the long-sleeved shirt, complete with a high neck, and the full-length, flowing skirt the Li'Keil sported. Without the baggy clothes of earlier that day, she was revealed to have too broad of shoulders to match her thin waist and flat chest. The Li'Keil again takes Kalila's arm, actually needing the support as they rounded on Taka's house.

"Thank you," Kalila says, back in the formal Qwinnish. When they reach Taka's house, the door has been left unlocked. Kalila sees the Li'Keil to the door and whispers "good night," not sure if Adam and Taka are asleep or not.

"Night," the Li'Keil said, entering the house and closing the door behind her. She brushed a few stray hairs from her face and headed towards her room, thinking to grab some water on the way from the kitchen. The Li'Keil takes a cup from the shelf and goes to fill it, pursing her lips at how difficult it was.

---

The Li'Keil rubbed her eyes, stretching just a bit. Sunlight streamed through a window and she realized that it must at least be late morning. Her head hurt, but not as much as she was expecting. Expecting what, exactly?

The memories of the night before came flooding back and she groaned. Obviously, she had been acting a bit out of character, but the sad thing was, it wasn't entirely unlike herself to suck off some random guy she had just met the night before. Of course, it was usually followed by a lot of praise and a bunch of crap about how it was "such an honor..." She certainly didn't appreciate what she thought was an exaggeration of a perfectly normal physical urge. However, the Li'Keil had hardly been expecting Adam's response.

And she was still miffed.

She got out of bed, however, suddenly hungry, as she hadn't eaten much the night before.

Taka was already downstairs, cooking. "Are you alright?" she nervously asked the Li'Keil.

"Yes, thank you," the Li'Keil responded. "Are you?" Taka nodded, once, then went back to cooking the meal, hiding the fact that her eyes were red.

Kalila leaves the place she's staying early to get some breakfast. It's not that her host can't provide anything, she just likes the quiet of the morning in the village. Something darts out of the corner of her eye, under a bridge. She goes to investigate, of course, not even considering it could be something dangerous.

She spies Adam in probably the least flattering state she's ever seen him in- passed out, soaking wet, and drooling a little bit. She approaches him slowly, unsure that it's even her friend. "...Adam?"

His eyes blink a few times and finally open, settling on her. "Kalila..." he tries moving his head, but feels the splitting of a hangover coming on. He groans.

Kalila laughs. "Let me take you to <breakfast>."

Taka sat down with the Li'Keil after a bit, having two plates of food. "Sorry if I have to eat and run," she said, laughing quietly. "I have to get the paperwork done, and then later... Well, just some straightening up of things around here and the town, really."

The Li'Keil began eating. Taka's food was good enough, for a girl used to servants or eating in the woods. "I hope to review your paperwork in good time," the Li'Keil said.

There was an uncomfortable stretch, and Taka found herself leaning towards the Li'Keil. "I... I'm sorry about last night," she said, hurriedly. "I just... he's not... always like this..."

"Oh, I have to apologize myself," the Li'Keil said. "If I had known he'd react like that, well..." She huffed a little. "It wasn't the usual response." Taka flushed and stared at her place, turning bright red as she almost imagined what the two of them must have been doing.

Adam and Kalila find a little cafe that is open and order food, finding a table to sit at on the patio. Adam drinks a lot of water, cursing at himself for not sobering up last night. Kalila tries not to giggle, but he is kind of cute when he's hungover. "Last night didn't go too well, I heard," she says.

Adam stares at his water, and doesn't answer.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Taka isn't too..." she trails off, recalling that Adam lives with Taka, and if things had gone well the night before, he probably wouldn't have been under the bridge this morning. "Um, how is Taka?"

"We're not... it's over," he says. In truth, Taka had suggested not so much ending their relationship, but making it an open one. Adam didn't like the suggestion.

"Oh," Kalila says dumbly. "I... Are you sure? I mean, last night was pretty crazy, and even Taka and I-"

"Would you help me get my things from her place?" He looks up at her face, and she notices his eyes are red. "I want to leave before she gets home."

"L-last night was... Can we just... forget it happened?" Taka said. "Start over?"

The Li'Keil paused. "I suppose," she said, slowly. "But these things are never really just kept hidden."

Taka nodded. "I know I can't just ignore the past, but we should put it behind ourselves long enough to get this process completed," Taka said, her voice getting quieter as she stared at her food. She hadn't eaten much of it. "I have to forget about it for now."

The Li'Keil looked almost a little worried. "What happened after you left, Taka?" she asked, now noticing how red Taka's eyes were.

Taka shook her head, just once, slowly. "I'll go finish up my paperwork in my office," she said. "Call me if you need anything." She exited the room and left the Li'Keil to finish her breakfast alone.

"Where will you go?" Kalila asks.

Adam stares at the food that has now been served. He apparently hadn't thought that far ahead yet. "I'll be fine." He pokes some of the food on his plate, but his appetite isn't what is usually is.

Kalila raises an eyebrow. "Why don't you just get get a room at the inn? That way you'll still be in the village in case things work out between-"

"I'll be fine," he repeats.

"You're stubborn," her words are now harsher. "Both of you are. It'd be a lot easier to pity you if you did something to try to save your own relationship."

Taka opened the door to her office and slid in, eyeing the remaining paperwork. She sat down and began her thing, writing away frantically. It soon tapered off to a slow scratching and she stopped, her mind elsewhere. He is better off without me right now... right? she asked herself, staring at her page. I mean, he practically leaped into the arms of someone who... disgusted him. She shook off those cruel thoughts and saw that the page was only half-finished. "Gah!" she said aloud, slapping herself lightly on the cheek. "I... I need to focus." Take went back to work, ignoring the strange stiffness in her chest that was making it hard to breath, and the fact that she couldn't quite rid her mind of Adam long enough to get this done.

The Li'Keil went back to her room in the meantime and got ready, changing out of the clothes she had worn the previous night. She frowned as she noticed herself choosing out especially baggy clothing and sat on the bed, self-conscious and angry.

Adam and Kalila finish their meals and walk together back to Adam and Taka's place. Adam pauses before entering. "Um, could you make sure that Taka and the Li'Keil aren't in there right now?"

Kalila gives him a look that tells him he's an idiot. "<Grow up.>" She pushes him inside and calls out, "Hello!"

The Li'Keil heard the voice, just barely, and stood, recognizing it as Kalila's. She walked from her room, calling out, "<Coming!>" as she puts on an even larger jacket over the one she's got on.

Adam winces at the voice. He was hoping no one would be home. He tries to make his way to his room without looking at the Li'Keil, but nearly walks into her as she comes out.

Kalila pauses where she is, intrigued by how their interaction will go.

The Li'Keil's eyes widen for just a second as she sees him. Then she looks down her nose (although only a few inches shorter than him, it is still a feat) and gives him a look that would make ice shiver. "Taka is busy," she said, her voice expertly pitched to be as subzero as her gaze.

"Good," he mutters, shuffling past her. He's actually relieved that she's acting like a bitch again, making the situation less awkward. "I'll only be a minute." He goes into the bedroom.

Kalila approaches the Li'Keil more confidentially. "...<How is Taka doing?>"

The Li'Keil frowned. "<This morning, she was acting pretty odd, and her eyes were red,>" she said. "<She did not open up, however. Something happen?>" The Li'Keil almost imperceptibly brightened. "<Is the boy leaving?>"

"<Sort of,>" Kalila sighs, keeping her voice low enough that Adam won't hear, even if he doesn't speak the language. "<He has no where to go...>"

Adam finishes putting his clothing in a bag, and heads down the hall to the bathroom. His only possessions there are a razor and toothbrush. He moves on to the kitchen, but finds nothing there that belongs to him.

"<Well, that's oddly depressing,>" the Li'Keil said, sighing in the same manner as Kalila but for a different reason. "<Did Taka kick him out? As far as I know, it wasn't that big of a fight.>" She glanced back towards the kitchen, where she could hear him moving around. "<If he is leaving without her knowing, that could cause... complications.>"

"<I don't know,>" Kalila responds. "<He didn't say either way, just that he needed to do it while she was gone. So either she doesn't know about it, or he was just hoping to avoid any awkwardness about it.>"

Adam re-enters the living room, holding a duffel bag of all of his possessions. "I'm ready to go," he says, his voice a little weak.

The Li'Keil regards him for a moment, her face still a mask of dislike. She took a deep breath, like she was about to do something distasteful, and spoke. "If you are leaving without at least saying goodbye to her, you will regret it for the rest of your life," she said.

Adam looks at her, glowering. "We said goodbye last night," he says coldly. But he's hesitating, wondering if the Li'Keil is right. 

Kalila whistles, aware of the awkwardness of the situation, but not sure what to do about it.

The Li'Keil fixes her glare on him. She's stared down politicians in the height of their power; no way some smart-ass jerk is going to win a staring contest with her. "Somehow, I doubt she knows that," she said, her voice even. "I just hope you realize what a huge mistake you're making. It could cost you more than you can pay."

Adam doesn't like the stare. It makes him want to look away, but he doesn't. Instead, he says nothing and stubbornly stomps out the door.

Kalila rolls her eyes. "<He'll probably come back tonight, pretending he forgot something. Who knows, they could be back together by tomorrow...>"

"<Hopefully,>" the Li'Keil says, admitting that Adam was probably the type to do just that. "<Taka shouldn't be too distracted throughout the application process. She'll be stressed out as is.>" The Li'Keil glances out the window. It was heading into noon. "<Speaking of which, I need to go check up on her. She needs to be finishing the paperwork soon so I can begin reviewing it.>"

Kalila glances outside. "<I think he's waiting for me. I'll set him up at the inn, at least for tonight. Then I'll come by to visit Taka. Anything you need me to do for you?>"

"<I'm fine, but thank you,>" the Li'Keil replied. She bowed slightly, dismissing Kalila, and headed upstairs to Taka's office.

Taka whipped up her head as the Li'Keil entered. "Almost done!" she announced, sounding relieved, showing off the few papers left over. The Li'Keil raised an eyebrow, impressed, and nodded.

Kalila and Adam walk to the inn and set up a room for Adam. Since he is, as far as the people there know, associated with Taka, there is no problem with him having an indefinite stay there. Kalila sees him to his room, and explains that she's going to check on Taka. "Don't drink too much," she warns as Adam eyes the liquor cabinet.

He frowns and lies down on the bed. It is much softer than the area under the bridge.

Taka cracked her neck as she passed the stack to the Li'Keil. "<We shall meet early next morning,>" the Li'Keil said. "<I shall have finished reviewing this by then.>" Taka nodded, and the Li'Keil left to her room, leaving Taka alone. She rolled her shoulder, working out kinks. If she got her way, today was going to be busy.

Kalila enters Taka's office. "<Need any help?>" she offers casually. While she wants to ask her friend about Adam and tell her where he is, she thinks it might be better to start with a different, easier subject.

Taka looked up, her face not revealing the fact that she was disappointed. When she heard someone enter her office she... wasn't expecting Kalila. "<I don't think so,>" Taka said, shuffling her papers. "<I'm going to do a few errands while the Li'Keil is busy. Y'know... keep myself occupied.>" Taka bit her lip and looked down, looking worried for just a moment as she remembered that Adam hadn't returned that night. "<I'll be right back!>" she added hurriedly as she slid past Kalila, papers in hand, towards the front door.

"Uhh..." Kalila tries to speak as Taka goes passed her. She wasn't sure what kind of menial job Taka would have her do, but she kinda expected to be given something. Now she stands stoopidly in the middle of Taka's office, wondering what to do. Finally, she takes a seat in the chair, hoping Taka is good on her word that she will return shortly.

About a half-hour later, Taka reappears in her office, looking like she just ran all over the place, but seems smugly pleased with herself. "<I think I can afford to take the afternoon off,>" she informed Kalila. "<The ambassador still wants to meet with me, but he's not going anywhere. Besides, he's heard about what's going on and is more than willing to give a possible mayor of a city her space.>" She smiled slightly at Kalila. "<This is crazy, huh?>" Taka asked her friend, her voice turning quiet as the half-hearted smile disappeared, referring to more than the evaluation.

"<Yeah,>" Kalila says, picking up the tone. "<Um... I saw Adam this morning... How have you been?>"

"<...alright. Where's Adam?>" Taka asked, bluntly.

Kalila blinks, not quite prepared for the bluntness. "<He's at the inn. I guess he's been trying to move out to his own place, but since he really has no where to go... Did you guys really end it all? Over something so stoopid?>"

Taka paused for a second, then her face fell into confusion. "<No. What? When...?>" She gripped Kalila's arm. "<What is he saying?>" she insisted, suddenly gripped in terror.

Kalila's eyes widen. "<Um, as much as I love the two of you, I did not sign up to be the go-between. I can give you his room number if you want to go talk to him yourself, or you can wait until he inevitably comes running back to you.>"

"<See, uh, I had no idea he had run away,>" Taka said. "<I'm a little... shocked.>" She stared numbly at the wall, letting go of Kalila. "<...should I go talk to him?>" She wasn't as sure as Kalila that Adam would come back. Her stomach was sinking in fear and she was panicking a little.

"<Uh...>" Kalila sees that she pretty much has no choice but to become involved. Odds are, if Adam and Taka actually reunite, it will probably be for good... meaning what had happened the night before... "<I don't know. I mean, if you're gonna go talk to him, I think you should calm down first. You're really shaking, come sit down.>" She guides Taka to the chair at the desk. "<And if you do go talk to him, you should think about what you're going to say...>"

Taka sank into her chair, ignorant at Kalila's reluctance to get in the middle of this. She just needed a friend right now, and somebody to talk to. "<I don't even know what's going on,>" Taka mumbled. "<I just...>" Taka squeezed her eyes tightly closed. "<This is a lot harder than negotiating intervillage relations with hostile chiefs. At least they're consistent. I mean, if Adam didn't want an open relationship... Him and the Li'Keil...> Argh!" Taka shook her head.

Kalila's eyes widen. "Is that what you were fighting about? The open relationship thing? Oh Qwin, does he know..." she's obviously referring to her and Taka's little incident the night before.

"I don't think so, but if he's this against it..." Taka grimaced. "<I guess now would be a bad time, huh,>" she muttered. "M... maybe I should try to understand his culture more, instead of just stupidly assuming he understands mine," Taka added, her voice hesitant and sounding angry with herself.

Kalila crosses her arm, a nervous habit. She didn't necessarily want Adam to know about her and Taka, but she at least thought he was okay with the open relationship. Now it seems like she's sort of betrayed him. "Adam has tried to explain his culture to us, but he is just terrible with expressing ideas," she points out. "Maybe it would be better to talk to a different <alien> about it... oh, and speaking of which, the Li'Keil wanted to see a demonstration of Nik's newest gadget, the... teevee, I think it was called?"

Taka rubbed her neck absentmindedly. "<I suppose,>" she said. "<Nik seems a lot like Adam sometimes... He'd probably know what's bothering him.>" She stood up from the chair, still feeling tense. "<But I don't want to involve the Li'Keil further than we already have. We can give the Li'Keil a demonstration during the tour.>"

Kalila considers for a moment. "<The Li'Keil might be interested in the cultural differences between us and Adam... and learning about them might make the Li'Keil more... forgiving? But of course it's up to you...>"

"<And I don't really want to expose my personal life to a business acquaintance,>" Taka replied like a true politician. "<The Li'Keil has already said that the Li'Keil would not hold a grudge, and I plan to hold the Li'Keil to their word, so being forgiving should not be a problem. And-->"

"Actually, I would be interested in a demonstration," the Li'Keil said from above Taka, resting in the stairwell. "I had no had time to see the one being installed in the city where I reside normally. And don't worry about exposing your personal life to me. It doesn't matter as long as it doesn't interfere with how you run your village." She held up the few sheets of paper. "And then you can answer a few questions."

Kalila snorts. As much as she feels for Taka's embarrassing interruption, it was kinda funny. She bows in greeting to the Li'Keil.

The Li'Keil responded in term and Taka sighs, leading them both to her office. She frowned at the machine once they are there. "I can't quite remember... What..." She reached out and brushed her fingers against one of the buttons.

The screen flicked on, and they could see an empty chair. From off-screen, there were small murmurs of two people sounding quite happy with themselves, and one of them was a woman.

"Er... Nik?" Taka asked, looking awkward.

There was a sudden pause in sound and then Nik was at the screen, pulling on a shirt. "Er, yeah?" he asked, his hair tussled, giggles coming from off-screen.

Kalila can't hold in her laugh this time. "Oh Qwin, Nik's fuck!" she blurts, using Adam's slang without quite understanding the subtle implications of the word. I've got to tell Adam about this later.

"Yes, my fuck," Nik said, a twinge of annoyance appearing on the edge of his words. "And I'd really like to get back to it, so what's up?" He ran a hand through his hair, which didn't help that much.

"Hey, Nik," Taka said, talking a bit too loud. "We were actually wanting to ask about... Adam. Such as... specific things in his culture regarding... Y'know. Sexuality." Involuntarily, her eyes flicked to the Li'Keil.

Nik's eyes gleamed mischievously. He wasn't that slow. "Oh man, Adam found out about Li'Keil's," he said, excited. "Was it the easy way or the hard way? No, fuck that, knowing him, it was the hard way." He slapped his hands together and did a good impression of a mad scientist. "Man, I wish he had been here for this, but I can't wait. I was going through the old spaceship's records and I totally found this and I couldn't wait to use it." He reached off-screen and suddenly, the whole machine was blasting music.

"That, that...
Dude looks like a lad-ay!
That, that...
DUDE LOOKS LIKE A LAD-AY!"

There was a guitar solo and Nik began rocking out via air guitar as three very confused elves looked on, not knowing what was going on.

Taka put up with about two more seconds and knocked on the screen. "Nik! By Qwin, <shut the fuck up!>"

Nik turned down the music, knowing what she was saying in Yuinnish, having downloaded the whole language before even the rebellion was completed. "<Yeah, yeah, gimme a break,>" he replied snarkily, the words "never judge a book by its cover" crooning quietly. "Anyway, as you can tell, back on our home turf, the norm was people who were attracted to just the opposite sex. I mean, in theory, 80% of the population was <bisexual> like here, but cultural and historical circumstances led to people who were attracted to the same sex being shunned just as much as... Well, what you call chigainte here." Taka flushed, remembering what she had called Adam before. "Plus, Adam's a homophobic douche bag. So it probably didn't help the situation." He leaned forward, interested. "So, what's his punishment for pissing off the Li'Keil? I'm guessing that's what he did. I mean, he doesn't have the sort of charm to pull off a graceful exit."

"His graceful exit was through a bathroom window," the Li'Keil said, enjoying the surprised look and the whistle that echoed from Nik. "And I don't believe I shall punish him. It's not my style."

"And quite a style it is, Honorable Li'Keil," Nik said with a jaunty tip of an imaginary hat.

Kalila smiles, glad that Nik is able to make such an awkward situation so humorous. "I think I know what douche bag is, but what is homophobic? Is he allergic to men like Taka once was?"

"Eh, no," Nik replied, grimacing just a bit. Obviously, he didn't share in Adam's tendencies. "Not so much allergies. It's a word used to describe... well, an intense aversion to... the thought of same-sex relationships." Nik finished slowly, obviously not having thought of the word in years. "Not so much a clinical thing, but definitely probably due to his upbringing. Now, my mom was awesome, and I think my sis had <bisexual> tendencies, so don't project his issues onto me," he added hurriedly, in a warning tone. "I kind of like the whole overarching sexuality dealio you guys got here."

Taka hesitated again. She liked talking with Nik, but this was still personal. "And what about... Well. The 'open relationship' dealio we also have here?"

Nik frowned, leaning back. "It's a bit different than our's," he admitted. "But... I mean, we have 'dating,' and then we have an exclusive relationship, and then we have marriage, what you guys call 'coupling.' You guys jump right from 'dating' to 'marriage.' I mean, it's alright, but I understand if he's having issues with that. I'd like to just see one girl for a week or two without people asking me when the ceremony is going to be." He shuddered. "Kinda creepy."

Kalila nods. "I've had that sort of problem before," she admits. "It must be very strange for Adam too, considering his lifespan. Taka and I are close to the coupling age, but Adam... isn't he only 21 years old? It's so strange that he doesn't look as young..."

"Well..." Nik started again, still hesitant. "We really didn't live that long on Earth. At 24, he's not that far off from the marrying age." He leaned forward a little, concerned at this point. "What exactly happened?"

Taka hesitantly filled Nik in on Adam's reluctance for the open relationship. Nik listened carefully, then looked thoughtful for a moment. "Sounds like you wanted to go from an exclusive relationship back down to just dating," he said. "I mean, that's sort of a brush off in our culture. Like, 'I love you, but I just need my space.' Hey Taka, did you use the line 'It's not you, it's me'? That's a classic."

Taka flushed. She had been thinking it, at least. "I gotta go," she said, her voice slightly strangled. Taka didn't want the all-or-nothing thing, but quite frankly, she was more than willing to choose 'all.'

---

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