Eldarya: Imagine

Ezarel | Ridiculous [2]

The moment you step into your flat you notice a look of wonder on the man's face as his eyes (pretty discreetly – you must admit) roam the much too messy for your current tastes living room. You now are painfully reminded of how your parents often told you that you should keep your place clean in case any surprise guest came.

"Uh, sorry for the mess" you mutter as you quickly snatch up the T-shirt and stack of papers littering your couch, leaving all the books and notes scattered on the table, window still and shelves because trying to gather them all up quickly would be pointless, and it's not like you have place in your bedroom for them anyway.

You quickly stack the papers and the cloth in your bedroom which you close with a kick immediately after.

"Tea?" you propose breathlessly as you turn back to the man, and he blinks down at you before nodding, probably deciding it's best to accept your hospitality and so you disappear in your kitchen, where you switch on the kettle and dig out your stock of different teas and pick up green tea to give yourself more energy to stay awake and talk. Two minutes later you walk out with two cups that you place on the coffee table in the only not occupied by books and notes place, before you make a move to remove them.

"Sorry if you prefer it sweet. I don't use sugar and never have guests, so I don't have it" you murmur, as you manage to somehow clean up the table before gesturing for your guest to take a seat on the couch. As he does and picks one of the cups you sit down on the actually clean armchair and take the other one, which you immediately sip. It's hot and burns your tongue which makes you more alert than before.

"So what world did you come from? If you don't mind sharing it..?" you ask and from him hardening his grip on the cup and a little surprised glance you get you read he's rather not expected this kind of a question from you.

"Are you asking this seriously or just want to go with it?"

"Well... from your reaction downstairs I concluded you're either truly lost or a great actor, so I can as well try to believe whatever you say and maybe help you return..? it's not like it'd be easy to trick someone to believe you materialized before them on an empty street if it weren't true" you explain with a shrug and this gains you a lift of a brow.

"That's an interesting way to put it."

You smile, before returning to the topic "So..? I am not going to hand you into government or tell anyone about this. I'm quite positive none of my friends would believe me anyway."

After a longer pause of thought he tells you he came from a world alternative to this that has been created as a mean to hide magic from humans after a great war between them and magical beings. Since it's still too early to go anywhere and the weather is still awful you ask about who he is and how he got here of all places while you're aware it has not been his intention. You learn he's an elf and an alchemist that fell in a portal while searching for one of the rarest ingredients while deep in the woods. You sense there's more to it than he tells you but it seems like he's not lying either so now you only have to know if he's aware of any way back to where he came from. As you ask him this, he traces the cup's curve with his fingers, lips pursued in a thin line and a frown marring his face.

"I know the recipe but I need the ingredients and from what I know it's close to... if not impossible to find those in this world." He tells you and you can feel a great surge of sympathy for the man emerging in you. You may have no idea how it is to land in an alien world without any way back but you know how it feels to lose something precious and he undoubtedly lost a lot today.

The two of you finish the tea in silence, him no more grimacing at its bitter taste, but you still tell yourself you need to go and buy some sugar when the shop is open.

"What time was it in your world when you got sucked in the portal..?" you ask when Ezarel puts his cup on the table.

"Around two hours before dawn. And it's called Eldarya."

"If you.... if you haven't had much sleep, you can try to rest on the couch..?" you propose, before scratching your neck "Though, I don't think the tea will let you fall asleep. When it's fresh it works much better than coffee at keeping someone up."

"It's alright, I don't think I'd be able to fall asleep now anyway."

You let out a sigh and turn your head towards the window. The rain is lighter now but it's still gloomy outside and a glance at the clock tells you it's still yet too early to go to a shop to stack on food and some sugar. Good thing you have a free day today or you'd be met with a problem of leaving a stranger alone in your apartment while you go to work.

Nevertheless, you cannot just sit around like this for three hours straight. "Guess I can clean up a little..." you mutter while getting up.

Ezarel sends you a questioning glance and you shrug.

"Make yourself at home, I think..?" you propose before quickly adding "Just don't touch my notes"