Triton's Destiny

Part Eight

The inside of the lighthouse was beyond anything Maki had imagined. For some reason, he'd expected a cavernous, austere interior, filled with nautical artifacts and not much personality. What he found upon stepping inside Tristan's home, though, was a cozy, warm space that made use of every curved wall and alcove to create a sense of peaceful respite from the outside world.

They stepped into a tiled entryway, where Tristan promptly removed his boots and stepped into a pair of slippers waiting right by the door. When Maki tilted his head in question, Tristan's cheeks colored. "Keeps things cleaner," he said by way of explanation.

Maki nodded and slipped his boots off too, setting them next to Tristan's on the tile.

"Hang on." Tristan went to a nearby closet and came back a second later with another pair of slippers in his hand. "Here you go."

"Thank you." Maki smiled and put them on, wiggling his toes against the soft, fuzzy lining and enjoying the sensation very much. "You're very kind."

Tristan shrugged but his cheeks pinked again. "It's nothing."

Stepping farther into the small but comfortable sitting room, Maki was amazed by how welcoming it felt. The chairs and sofa were worn but not shabby, with blankets and pillows scattered around to encourage lingering. Oil lamps flickered gently on the small side tables, and there was a fireplace blazing at the back of the room. Mismatched rugs covered the stone floor and sheer drapes filtered the incoming sunlight. Maki felt as content here as he did in his own cavern.

One whole side of the room was dominated by the spiral staircase which led upstairs, and that was where Tristan guided Maki with a generous sweep of his hand. "The kitchen's on the next floor," he explained.

Maki's eyes widened. His kitchen was certainly nothing to brag about, and even the large common food preparation areas in Njora weren't very elaborate. Some steam vents, storage spaces, and tables were about all tritons needed to make food. Their ingredients were quite limited, after all. Maki was excited to see what a human kitchen was like.

When they stepped into the room, Maki's jaw fell open. There was a little table with chairs, and another window with drapes, along with cabinets and countertops, but the rest of the things were unfamiliar to him. He couldn't let on that he didn't know what he was looking at, though. Tristan would think that strange and Maki was doing everything he could to seem like a normal human being.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that you could leave your hat on one of the hooks downstairs." Tristan opened the tall cabinet by the door and pulled out a couple of thick cups with handles, setting them on the counter.

Touching the brim of his hat self-consciously, Maki chewed on his lip for a moment. "Thanks, but... I'd like to keep it on, if that's all right." If Tristan thought Maki's eyes looked familiar, then the sight of his blue hair would probably not bode well for protecting Maki's true identity.

Tristan stepped back to peer around the door of the tall metal box he was rummaging around in, quirking an inquisitive eyebrow at Maki. But he didn't question him, simply shrugging it off instead. "Whatever makes you comfortable." He set several containers down on the counter, grabbed a pot off the wall rack, and set it down on what Maki assumed was the device humans used to cook things. "So..." He turned to look over his shoulder with a hand propped on his hip. "How chocolatey do you like your hot chocolate?"

Maki had no idea how to answer that question. He didn't even know what hot chocolate was beyond something that humans drank. And he only knew that because Tristan indicated as much. "I..." Oh gods. How did he ever think he'd be able to pass as human? "I'm not picky," he finally said, sidestepping the question entirely. "I'll take it however you like it." Yeah. That would work. For now.