Kiros

Chapter 9: Aramella's Home

After a surprisingly enjoyable lunch, we walked back to Aramella's house. To say I was dreading the moment we walked through the door is an understatement. Staying with Aramella was going to kill me.

If she was as... opinionated all the time, I was going to go crazy.

We stopped in front of the house and I tried not to look like I wanted to throw myself off of the roof as we walked in.

The house was surprisingly nice, with sleek silver walls and furniture. In the front entrance, there was a small table with a vase of white star-shaped flowers. I looked up and saw that there was a large chandelier hanging precariously above my head. Down the hallway, I could see a few doors. None of them were open, but (for some reason) they all had labels. Probably for me.

I was about to say, "nice place," but then I remembered it was Aramella's. I didn't want to inflate her already Morta-sized ego.

Aramella was nowhere to be seen, and for a moment, I let myself savour the moment of peace. The boys took off their shoes, and Leni shed his cloak of furs, hanging it on a hook to my left. I saw that he was wearing a dark gray t-shirt and what appeared to be a silver chain necklace.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, and I snapped out of my trance. 

"Huh? Oh, uh, nothing." I scratched the back of my neck. "So... Where am I staying?"

"Away from me," I heard a prissy brat say as she came down the stairs. 

I sighed and pivoted to face her. "That will not be a problem."

"Are you still wearing those ridiculous clothes?" Aramella sniffed. "Girl, I don't know how you survive. I mean, it's basically a hundred degrees out there!"

I scoffed. "As if. It's just warm."

Essen cleared his throat. "Girls, play nice. I'm sure Kiran will only be here for a little while, and I don't want to make her life a living hell while she stays with you, okay, Aramella?"

I groaned. "Is my name so hard to remember? Kiros. Kee-roas," I sounded out. "It's not that hard."

"Lee-nigh," Leni replied. When I gave him a dirty look he shrugged. "I can do it too."

I rolled my eyes. "So, is there somewhere I can crash?" When I realized the pun, I groaned. "Is there a place I can sleep?" I corrected myself. 

Aramella sniffed. "Yeah. Follow me." She turned around and started back up the stairs. I reluctantly followed her up, looking around. Decorating the wall to my right were pictures of what looked like a younger Essen playing with a baby Aramella. He looked to only be three or four-years-old.

"Come on, slow-poke," Aramella called, already at the top. "You'll have plenty of time to gawk at how adorable I was when I was a baby later." She whipped her blue hair and started down a hallway to her left. 

I tried not to glare at her back as I followed her into a room that was painted a stark, sterile white. There was a small bed in the far right corner with a thin mattress and white cotton sheets. There was a blue blanket draped over it, tucked under white pillows.

Beside the bed was a small bedside table with a holographic clock and a lamp. Other than that, there was a desk and a dresser in the room. 

It was very simple and wasn't decorated with anything besides a blue stripe along the center of the walls.

I loved it.

It reminded me of my room on Vixen. Simple, yet elegant. The thought of Vixen made my heart tug. I wasn't sure how she'd fare in the acid rain. I knew her exterior was built to withstand hurricanes of lava, but, for some reason, I was still scared. 

Vixen... She was everything to me. If I were to lose her...

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Aramella's face appeared in front of me. "Gosh. You'd think you were deaf the way you don't listen..." she muttered. 

"Sorry," I apologized. "I was thinking."

She gestured around the room. "Well, have fun. This is my only guest room. Sorry if it doesn't appease you."

I shook my head. "No! No, it's perfect. Thank you."

Aramella stared at me for a few moments before shaking her head. "You are one strange character. One minute, you're yelling at me, and the next you're all nice and grateful."

I crossed my arms. "I wouldn't have yelled at you if you were just a little bit respectful of people. I mean, do you always judge people based on their appearances?"

"People do it to me, so why shouldn't I do it to them?" she retorted.

Rolling my eyes, I sat down in a chair in front of the desk. "Because it's wrong?"

"If it's so wrong then why do they do it to me?"

"I don't know! Don't be looking at me! I've only been on this planet for, what, two hours?" I exclaimed in protest. 

She sniffed disdainfully. "Whatever. I hope you're satisfied."

I didn't know what was up with this girl. She accused me of turning on an emotional dime, but oh my goodness... A picture of that girl would be in the dictionary right next to the word "indecisive". She didn't seem to know if she wanted to be the bad guy, or the good--sorry,--not-so-bad guy.

She flounced out of the room, her blue hair swaying slightly. I rolled my eyes. It was like she was showing off, even though the boys weren't even there.

I placed my bundle of wires on the desk and lay down on the bed. It was surprisingly comfortable. How was I going to be able to get through all of this?

The stress of not knowing where I was.

The pressures of not knowing the customs and culture.

The terrible knowledge that Vixen might not survive. She ran straight into a tree, and even though I didn't get a great look at the outer damage (running from a giant monster, remember?), I just knew that it would take a very, very long time for me to fix her and get on my way. 

Hopefully, in a few days, I would be able to establish contact between myself and Marilio, and figure out where I was so I could finally get home.

Wherever home was...

__________________________________________________________

Dear readers,

Why do you think Vixen is so sentimental to Kiros?

-flygirl1