The Live-ins: A Glimpse Beyond The Vacationers

The Writer

The night after that day, Christian and Quvarranna closed up shop. They earned quite a lot for the day, around 5 thousand yen, which Benedict put in his savings.

That night, Christian decided to visit the penthouse room. He saw Damien eating some instant noodles on the dining table, while on his side were books of poetry and literary folios.

"Hi Damien!" Christian said.

"Oh hi, Christian!" Damien replied, "What brings you here?"

"Just visiting your room," Christian replied, "It looks very clean and smells fragrant. Did you buy scented candles?"

"We did, using our own money," Damien replied, "There's a nearby grocery store just three blocks away from here, and we decided to spruce up our room with these three candles on the table. The green one is mint, the yellow lemon, and the red apple."

"Oh,"Christian replied, "Nice combo!"

"Thank you!" Damien replied, flapping his wings and stretching his six legs a little. He continued reading his book, which was entitled Small World We're Having by Daria Danielle.

"That's her book?" Christian asked.

"Yes," Dardanelle replied, "One of the many literary folios I have that contain random stuff I write." She just came out from showering in the bathroom, and headed to the wardrobe to wear a cyan pajama blouse.

"You write?" Christian asked, "Where did you have it published?"

"Yes, I write," Dardanelle replied, "It's the only break I get from studying way too much. I had all my works published in Depths. It's the official literary publication of Leddaria Univ."

"The official literary publication in my univ is called Heights," Christian replied, "I used to apply there lots of times, but I failed."

"Well, the best you can do is submit your works," Damien replied.

"Only one out of 20+ has ever reached the folio," Christian replied, "and very few have read that issue of the folio."

"It's ayt," Dardanelle replied, "There's still the Dimensions."

"Dimensions?" Christian asked.

"It's the interplanetary joint project of Heights, Depths, and Breadths which, by the way, is the official literary publication of Pentavia univ," Dardanelle replied, "I was once EIC of both Depths and Dimensions during my stay in Leddaria."

"Oh," Christian replied and nodded, "May I read?"

"Go ahead," Damien and Dardanelle replied in unison.

Christian took the book entitled Spaces. Volume 23, Issue 9 and began to read. He read different poems, some of which are just a few lines long; short stories, some of which are short but sweet; and essays, some of which were rather boring but had some insight which he gained. But the one which caught his attention was the one written by Dardanelle entitled Leaving. It began with:

The doors open with a hiss as I step inside the carriage.
I look around, blurry images everywhere.
Muffled noises reach my ears as I try to listen
But all I could yearn for is them again...

The poem turned more emotional with every line as it spoke of missed families, broken relationships, things the speaker wanted to leave behind, and things the speaker would miss doing. It also spoke of fear of the unknown as she goes to the city, but it ended on a light note, saying that

...in the end, these places are all just the same.

After the poem, Christian was touched and began reading the other texts, each one more feelsy than the last.

...

"How were they?" Dardanelle asked as Christian put down the book.

"You're a virtuoso with words!" he exclaimed, bowing prostrate in front of the breeder.

Dardanelle was touched, and whispered a soft thank you in reply.

"Where do you get your inspiration?" Christian then asked.

"Everywhere actually," the author replied.

"I see," Christian replied, "You know, that poem reminded me. Quvarranna said that she has to go back home tomorrow morning to oversee affairs of the Natura, and pass on her position politically and traditionally to Dandelion."

"Quvarranna's a Natura?" Damien asked, "That's rare for someone like that to go out for this long."

"Rules and traditions change, even if the change is very slow," Christian replied, "but we were just here for a few weeks! She can't leave now... but I guess I'll have to respect her." He sighed.

"Do you have something with her?" Damien suddenly asked. Christian's cheeks turned red as he replied, "Yes."

"Then you have to respect her," Damien replied, "We're still fine. Even without her for a while."

"Okay then," Christian replied, and headed for the doorway, "Good night, you two."

"Good night!" Damien replied.