A World Away

3. Dinner parties

 "They seem alright," Mor said as they sat in the living room of the townhouse.

"It still seems a bit unbelievable, Velaris of all places," Cassian said, running a hand through his bun. He had poured himself a glass of wine as soon as they had entered the townhouse. "For now, we let them be but keep close watch," Amren said, looking mostly at Azriel's shadows who hid under her intense stare. Az nodded.

"It's almost lunch, we could go and ask them about their world and make small talk. Get to know them a bit better," Mor suggested and the others agreed.

They entered to see the two cuddling on of the big couch, sound asleep. Az was a bit irritated; it was noon for Cauldron's sake! Who sleeps during the day? He coughed loudly, earning looks from everyone but it did its work. Eve woke up with a start and after seeing them, hit Mike soundly on his shoulder.

"Five minutes," he groaned, eyes still shut. "Get up or I will hog all your data and finish the rest of the sour patch even though I don't like it as much as you do," she said and Mike was instantly awake. "Oh, hey," Mike said, rubbing his eyes when he saw the 4 figures. Each wore a different expression. Amren was unamused, Az stood expressionless, Cassian looked a bit amused while Morrigan was grinning.

"Lunch," Amren said and walked out. Eve and Mike hastily followed after an "already?!" from Eve.

"Sour patch?" Mor asked Eve. Az being full of curiosity listened in. Also, it was his job to know things. "Oh," Eve laughed, "they are these soft candies that begin as sour but then tastes sweet. It is so unhealthy."

"And yet, so delicious," Mike added. "Actually, I had some on me when you know, we sky dived. Do you know where it is? Also, our phones too if you please," he said. he already missed jamming to songs with Eve.

"Here," Azriel said as one of his shadows handed him Sour Patch packet. "Try it," Eve said, not extending her hand to take it. Az shifted on his feet with all the attention that was now on him. He took a small bite and was surprised by that fact that he liked the candy. "Not bad," he said and Mor immediately went to take one. "Did you make it?" she asked after eating hers. They laughed, "no, its industry-made," Eve said. She then went on explaining trade and industries, amazon and Ikea, etc. in basics. "Damn," Cass muttered after she was done explaining what motion pictures were.

"Speaking of which, our phones please, I promise its not a bomb," Eve batted her eyelashes at him. Grumbling, Az told his shadows to retrieve them. "Bomb?" he asked to fill the time. Eve made an explosive sound while Mike said, "you know.... Stuff that blows things up... very deadly." 

"Huh." Cass's eyes sparked. "Tell me more," and so this time Mike explained while Eve studied each of them. She didn't trust them as far as she could throw them no matter how kind they were. "That is fucked up," Morrigan said as Mike finished explaining the Hiroshima Nagasaki blast.

Azriel, in the time, handed the phone a bit cautiously to Eve while simultaneously listening to the ongoing conversation. This world of theirs seems interesting to say the least, he thought. Eve silently took and pocketed it, now wearing the Night Court attire. Az studied her for a minute before turning back to his food. The rest of the lunch was quite with a few remarks now and then. He was quite surprised when Eve asked if there was more chili as the food seemed a bit bland while Az felt like if even one teaspoon more spice was added, he would start coughing.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, see you tomorrow?" Mor asked. They all knew that the question was fake courtesy.

"Oh Morrigan, you don't need to ask us when you can waltz in here anytime you want," Eve said, while laughing a bit. The undertone of bitterness was not missed by anyone. Mor just gave her a pointed smile and left. Closely followed by Amren and Cass.

"You can't blame her," he said in a still voice. Eve looked straight at him, agitating him a bit more. She simply scoffed after a minute of stare competition and left. Mike sighed and after sparing an apologetic glance towards a now fuming Az, left.

*****

"You know ... that was a bit rude," Mike said as they entered their joint room. "Whatever," Eve shrugged, "pop or country?" she asked Mike as she scrolled through her phone (which thank god was 80% charged unlike Mike's which was only 30%). "Country... we need some serendipity," Eve couldn't agree more. She put on hoax by Swift and leaned on Mike's shoulder. It was only afternoon yet she felt as if she had been awake since eternity.

*****

"That was a lot, like a lot," Mor said as she made herself comfortable as she sat down for dinner. Each of them had gone their separate ways, each marveling the world they had been described. Mor had found no lies further solidifying Amren's theory. Velaris was still safe and hidden much to everyone's relief.

"Need some wine Mor?" Cassian asked, not actually waiting for her answer while pouring Mor one. "Eve is ... something," Az said appearing near the doorway. Mor laughed, "she is alright, just because she called me out at the end doesn't mean she is all that bad. I think we might become good friends in the near future," Mor said. Although what the girl had said hurt, it was true. Eve just had the guts to say it out loud.

"What are we going to do with them?" Azriel asked, leaning against the doorway.

"I currently do not have the information I would need to send them back and we cannot send them outside Velaris for one, it is very unsafe and two, Velaris is a secret," Amren said from the couch.

"So, they stay with us?" Cass asked. "They do," Amren confirmed and left.

For the next few months, the Inner Circle slowly started trusting the two humans. 

Morrigan (who was now Mor for the two) had instantly hit it with Mike after he explained the fashion styles through the era's and shown Mor some of his favorite designs. 

Amren had let go of her suspicions, if they were trouble she would have already known and killed them. 

Cassian at first seemed hesitant but them warmed up just as quickly as Mor. He liked Eve more though. After a few weeks of boredom, she had joined him while he trained although, she had lasted two hours while he lasted four before going to perform his daily duties. Mike had joined after a week- only to keep his body flexible though. The two had challenged Cassian in yoga to see whose flexibility was the best... Mike had won. Cassian had lost ten gold marks to the duo that day. 

Az was yet to warm up to either of them. He did small talk with Eve though- ranging from the weather to feeding Eve's curiosity now and then. Az did not mind the two, it was just that he was used to his own space, although with Eve he sometimes let himself loose a bit.

Eve and Mike had still had some hope that theywould return back to their world someday. Although, her months spent in Velariswere not wasted. Her mornings were spent training with Cass, afternoons withMike writing new songs. Evenings were spent with the whole of Inner Circle whohad warmed up to her and Mike by now. The nights were spent with Eve and Mikesleeping on the roof being vulnerable only when they were alone with the starsas their witness. They missed the bustling streets, their family, their socialgroups and what not. After all this time, they had managed to come in termswith this new world although, they never let the hope of returning to see theirfamilies die. 

Happy reading!

XOXO, 

the amazing author who has exams coming up in less than 2 days