Love At First Sight (Sci Fi)
Title: Love At First Sight
Genre: Original. Scifi. Het.
Summary: On a scale of null to really really powerful, the Beshan people are not especially psychic. They experience a burst of power once in a lifetime, and its called love at first sight.
Lara Laney pulled her hand away from her older brother Logan and twisted away when he tried to recapture it. Continuing to duck away from him, Lara yanked the bow out of her hair and tugged forcefully on the matching ones on her dress. Logan caught her before she could do any damage to the frilly pink dress. With a sigh he did his best to smooth out the braid she'd mussed while pulling out the bow. She grumbled and tried again to twist away from him. Logan stopped, sighing audibly and Lara avoided his gaze when she realized he was staring at her feet.
"Lara..."
She shuffled her feet and arranged her dress to hide her scuffed grey converse shoes. "What?"
"What happened to the fancy shoes mom gave you?"
Lara crossed her arms, "I didn't want to wear them. They're stupid and they pinched my feet."
Shaking his head, Logan offered her his hand again. "I don't want to hold your hand," Lara told him with the stubborn insistence of an overly independent eight year old.
Logan sighed again and put his hands on his hips, the very image of a suffering older brother. "Fine, but don't wander off. I don't want to spend the entire party searching for you."
The moment Logan turned his back; his attention caught by a plate of still warm cookies, Lara took advantage of his distraction and disappeared into a crowd of adults. She caught sight of William Branner and paused by him long enough to wish him happy birthday and confide that he would definitely like her present best. A solemn girl with blue-black hair, freckles and slightly pointed ears paused to wish
William a happy birthday before fading back into the crowd.
"Who was that?"
"Valerie. Some people call her Lady Red."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I heard my mom say she's going to be the next mouthpiece for the Oracle of Envaria."
Lara made a face and wandered away. For a boy, William was nice but he did sometimes talk like grownup and after a while that got super boring. In the corner of the room half hiding behind a potted plant that Lara suspected likely to spring to live at any moment and attack, there was a boy standing and staring with something that was a cross between despair and anxiety at his shoes. Catching a sneak at his shoes, Lara noticed that they were exactly as they ought to be and couldn't figure out why he might be staring at them.
"Hi!" Startled, the boy looked up, his brown eyes wide and didn't reply to her greeting. "Oh." He was a witch. Well, he wasn't really a witch but Lara couldn't remember the proper word. Most people just called them witches cause everything they did looked like magic. She'd seen adults with the tattoos on their faces and arms, indicating they were witches, but never children. He seemed to deflate and inched further behind the potted plant, avoiding her gaze. "I'm Lara."
"Hi, Lara," he whispered.
"Well, what's your name?" she demanded when he didn't immediately offer one. "Witches always have cool names. I once met a witch and her name was Magdelena! She had to teach me to stay it cause it’s hard. Is your name hard to say?"
"No, not really," he met her gaze briefly, "It's Atticus."
Deep in thought, Lara scrunched her face for a moment before quoting, "Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what and...um... something...." Lara shrugged, "I forget the next bit."
"You rarely win, but sometimes you do," Atticus finished, smiling a little. "Good memory. You like old Earth literature?"
"Some of it," Lara replied. "My brother read that book to me. It made me sad, but it was a good sad."
"Me too."
Lara was quiet for a moment before something outside caught her attention and she grinned. A duck pond! Perfect. "Want to go play outside?"
"Oh," Atticus had that faintly surprised look on his face, just like when she'd first spoken to him. "Yes, I think so. I-"
"Atticus."
Startled, Lara whirled around and found herself staring up at a much older and taller witch. Briefly intimidated, Lara barely managed to return the smile he offered and said nothing when he explained he needed to borrow Atticus for a few minutes. "Find me later!" Lara called to Atticus as he followed the older witch.
Once Atticus was gone, Lara caught sight of a group of girls, some of whom she knew, lingering by the punch bowl. Lara didn't particularly like them, but she saw Logan coming and decided to hide amongst them until Atticus came back.
"Hi!"
Alice crossed her arms and sneered, her gaze briefly lingering on the exposed toe of Lara's shoes. Lara didn't really like Alice, but their parents worked together so she saw more of the other girl than she wished to. "I saw you talking to that witch boy."
"Atticus is cool. He's my friend."
"Well, you can't hang out with us. We're playing a game."
"I'll play too!"
"Okay," Alice offered a nasty smile, "You have to go and kiss five boys. And we have to see you do it."
"How is that fun?" Lara demanded, hands on her hips. Kissing boys? Who invented that dumb game? It would be way more fun to pretend to be pirates, or pretend the plant in the corner had come alive and was trying to eat everyone with blue eyes, or really do anything else except that.
"We all did it," Alice insisted. "So you have to. Or are you scared?"
"I am not scared!" Lara insisted, nearly forgetting to use her inside voice. Turning on her heel, Lara stomped over to the first boys she saw,
William and his older brother Cody. Neither objected to the kiss she bestowed on each of their cheeks. Cody seemed faintly amused and
William looked at her like she was crazy, which wasn't that unusual. Logan caught her just as she was kissing Cody.
"Lara, what...?"
"Nothing!" She insisted quickly. Standing on her tiptoes, she managed to be tall enough to kiss his cheek before returning to Alice and the other girls.
"That was only three and one was your brother," Alice immediately objected.
"Come on!" Lara whined.
"Two more," Alice insisted. "Them."
Lara glanced at the two boys Alice pointed at. They looked a little older than her, but younger than Logan. Though they were dressed in suits, the pattern of freckles around their eyes gave them away as Beshan.
"I thought Beshan's didn't like to be touched by people who aren't family or something."
"Don't be so stupid," Alice commanded, "Do it or you can't hang out with us."
She remained unsure that the boy Beshan boys were good candidates for the game. Hadn't she heard her parents talking about some of the Beshan's they worked with? Weren't they shy or something? But Alice was sneering and it made Lara made so she crossed the room to stand before the two Beshan boys.
"Hello."
"Um, hey," Lara returned the greeting of the taller boy uncomfortably before darting forward and kissing his cheek. Faintly puzzled, he touched the spot on his cheek she had kissed but offered no reaction except to shrug. His friend, a boy who was marginally shorter with bright green eyes, looked slightly apprehensive but didn't move away when Lara kissed his cheek. Eyes wide, he stared at her for a moment like she had done something particularly amazing before taking hold of either side of her face and putting his lips against hers.
"Wow," his friend commented, "That’s...unexpected."
"Why did you do that?" Lara demanded, "You kissed me!"
"You kissed us first."
"On the cheek!"
"I kiss you..." the boy who'd kissed her managed hesitantly, speaking for the first time, "I like you? Now we will be married when the future comes?"
"WHAT?"
His friend laughed a little and said something that Lara couldn't understand before turning his attention back to her. "He's Farear. I'm Kedarr.
What's your name?"
"I'm Lara."
"Lara," Farear repeated.
"Um, hey," Lara managed, avoiding his gaze.
"Please. You look at me?"
Lara glanced at Kedarr, by far the least strange of the pair, and when he smiled and nodded she looked at Farear. Lara met his gaze and-
"Oh."
From the edges of her vision, everything melted away. She was vaguely aware of the noise and people in the background. Kedarr was still standing beside her and Farear. But compared to Farear, everything else was dull and muted. It was unappealing.
"Hi," Lara whispered.
Farear smiled and Lara felt like someone was tickling her. It was hard not to laugh. "Try not to blink. Don't look away yet."
"Okay. Will you hold my hand?" Their hands met in the space between them and intertwined. Lara returned his smile and squeezed his hand gently. "I want to kiss you again."
Laughing a little, Farear leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was like a spell abruptly ended, the noise and activity bled back into existence. But Farear was still more interesting than all of it.
"What happened?"
"We fell in love, yes?"
"Yes," Lara confirmed. It was strange and abruptly, but it was there. Love was usually icky and mushy and for grown ups. But this was nice. It was like having a best best friend. Someone you trusted beyond everyone else about absolutely everything and wanted to hug all of the time. It was like a warm fluttery feeling in her stomach. Or like eating her favorite desert for breakfast. It was better than anything else ever. "But why? How?"
"Its just our way," Kedarr interjected. "We're Beshan. We see the person, we kiss and its love."
"So is it because of the kiss?"
"No," Kedarr elaborated, "The kiss just shows us what is already there. You're Earth human?"
"Yes."
"You know how people fall in love at first sight and have the kiss of true love in the fairy tales?"
"Am I in a fairy tail?" Lara asked.
Kedarr laughed, "Well not exactly, but sort of." Farear frowned a little and nudged Kedarr, who obligingly translated what he and Lara had discussed. "Farear only speaks a little English, but he wants to ask you something."
Lara took his hand again, "Its okay. You can ask me. I won't laugh or anything. Promise."
Farear took a deep breath, "marry me?"
"Yeah, okay. I'll marry you."
Farear grinned, "Earth human girls expect ring?"
"I don't need a ring."
"Lara, what are you doing?" Logan asked, suddenly standing at her elbow.
Lara silently cursed at his ability to show up at the absolute worst time. Couldn't he have waited another ten minutes before finding her? Didn't he have anything more interesting to do than spoil her fun? "This is my brother Logan. These are my friends Kedarr and Farear. Farear is my fiance."
Logan shook his head, "What kind of game are you playing now?"
"Its not a game."
"Lara," he shook his head and for a moment it seemed like he would argue the point, but he decided it wasn't worth it. "Come on. Mom and dad want to know where you are."
"Just tell them I'm with Farear."
Seeing the utter lack of mirth on her face, Logan paused. Whenever she was playing around, she was always laughing and fidgeting. The little girl who stood before him was quiet and serious. "Okay. What's going on?"
"We're engaged."
"Lara. Come on."
"I'm telling the truth," a hint of a scowl tugged at the edge of Lara's mouth.
"You can't be engaged. You're only eight!"
Farear frowned, "Age matter why?"
Logan sighed yet again, "Lara, this isn't funny. He isn't human. He doesn't get that you aren't just playing some kind of made up game."
"But I'm not playing," Lara insisted again, "I'm really not!"
Another figure joined them and Lara recognized her from when William said her name was Valerie and there was something important about
her mouth. "Problem, friends?"
"Lady Red," Kedarr spoke as he and Farear both briefly lowered their eyes.
"Kedarr, Farear," she smiled a little, "who are your friends?"
"Logan and Lara. This is Valerie Red, Servant of Envaria."
"Lady Red," Logan briefly lowered his eyes.
"Hi," Lara chirped.
"Lara is to be wed to Farear," Kedarr said, "They have just now found each other."
"Now wait just a minute," Logan began.
Valerie held up her hand to cut off Logan and spoke briefly to Farear. He nodded and replied with a soft smile, barely able to take his eyes
away from Lara.
"I see. This may become complicated."
"Lady Red, this is just a child's game," Logan said quickly, "Surely you don't take it seriously."
Valerie ignored him, "Lara Laney?"
"Yes?"
"There will be some opposition if you agree to wed Farear. I give you this chance to change your mind."
"Why would I change my mind? I said I would and I will. I want to."
Valerie turned to Logan, "They want each other. Do you still object?"
"Of course I object! Lara is my baby sister. She's just a kid. She can't agree to marry someone. Our parents would never permit it."
"Lara and Farear, you are now getting just a taste of the great opposition you will face. If you wish it, I will ask the Oracle to render judgment.
No matter what judgment is decided, it must be obeyed. If the Oracle finds in your favor, it may gain you allies and offer you some protection. If
it does not then you will have to face this alone. Do you understand and agree?"
"Um, okay?" Lara frowned a little. Maybe Valerie was going to be this special mouth thing because she used big words and talked a lot with out making any sense.
"Farear?" Valerie asked.
"I agree," he said, edging closer to Lara and linking their arms.
Valerie covered her eyes with her right hand and extended the palm of her left hand towards Farear and Lara, revealing a tattoo of an eye. The eye blinked and Lara barely bit back a shriek, plastering herself against Farear's side. A quick glance at his face showed that he was equally concerned, though Lara couldn't tell if he was just worried about Valerie or because he too had seen her tattoo blink. Abruptly, Lara realized that the entire room had gone quiet and everyone was starting at them, their expressions ranging from shock and awe to horror. Her parents in particular looked especially displeased. Valerie dropped the hand covering her eyes, revealing that her eyes had gone complete white. Lara was silently stuck between if that was creepier than her tattoo when she spoke, her voice empty and hollow and far scratchier than before.
"We offer our congratulations and blessings for this auspicious betrothal. It pleases us greatly."
Valerie lowered her left hand and blinked, her eyes returning to their normal color. "The Oracle has spoken. The matter is decided."
Unperturbed by the silence and stillness, she turned and caught sight of William Branner. "Ah, William. I require strawberries." She linked her arm with his, "do you know if there are any left?"
"Oh, um, I think so-" William managed as Valerie pulled him away.
"What the hell?" Logan whispered.
"Hey, future husband," Lara whispered to Farear, "I'm hungry too. Want to go find some cookies?"
His face reddened a little, but he seemed pleased. "Cookies?"
"Haven't you ever had cookies before?" Shaking her head, Lara unlinked their arms so she could hold his hand. "You have to try them. Come on! Hey, Kedarr, you come too."
Amused, Kedarr followed Lara and Farear. Passing by a gob smacked Alice and the other girls, Lara paused briefly. "Thanks anyway, but I don't want to play your game. Farear's never had cookies before and I'm pretty sure I can get him and Kedarr to play pirates or ninjas. I don't want to kiss any more boys. I only like Farear." Deftly avoiding her parents, Lara dragged Farear and Kedarr outside and in the direction of the duck pond.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
"Forgot what?" Farear asked. Having run around the entire backyard and played pirates, ninjas and then pirates versus ninjas, they were sitting by the duck pond for a short break before beginning whatever game Lara next spontaneously invented. Kedarr and just returned inside, though Farear promise to play outside with her for as long as she wanted.
"When we get married, I want puppies. Five puppies."
"You require five puppies when we marry?"
"Yep. You have to get me some puppies. Five of them,"
Farear tilted his head a little, "This is Earth human tradition? Is it requirement?"
"Oh, absolutely. Most important one. It can't be forgotten. So don't forget, okay? Five puppies."
"Five puppies," Farear repeated, "I remember this. You have my promise."
Genre: Original. Scifi. Het.
Summary: On a scale of null to really really powerful, the Beshan people are not especially psychic. They experience a burst of power once in a lifetime, and its called love at first sight.
Lara Laney pulled her hand away from her older brother Logan and twisted away when he tried to recapture it. Continuing to duck away from him, Lara yanked the bow out of her hair and tugged forcefully on the matching ones on her dress. Logan caught her before she could do any damage to the frilly pink dress. With a sigh he did his best to smooth out the braid she'd mussed while pulling out the bow. She grumbled and tried again to twist away from him. Logan stopped, sighing audibly and Lara avoided his gaze when she realized he was staring at her feet.
"Lara..."
She shuffled her feet and arranged her dress to hide her scuffed grey converse shoes. "What?"
"What happened to the fancy shoes mom gave you?"
Lara crossed her arms, "I didn't want to wear them. They're stupid and they pinched my feet."
Shaking his head, Logan offered her his hand again. "I don't want to hold your hand," Lara told him with the stubborn insistence of an overly independent eight year old.
Logan sighed again and put his hands on his hips, the very image of a suffering older brother. "Fine, but don't wander off. I don't want to spend the entire party searching for you."
The moment Logan turned his back; his attention caught by a plate of still warm cookies, Lara took advantage of his distraction and disappeared into a crowd of adults. She caught sight of William Branner and paused by him long enough to wish him happy birthday and confide that he would definitely like her present best. A solemn girl with blue-black hair, freckles and slightly pointed ears paused to wish
William a happy birthday before fading back into the crowd.
"Who was that?"
"Valerie. Some people call her Lady Red."
"Why?"
"I don't know. I heard my mom say she's going to be the next mouthpiece for the Oracle of Envaria."
Lara made a face and wandered away. For a boy, William was nice but he did sometimes talk like grownup and after a while that got super boring. In the corner of the room half hiding behind a potted plant that Lara suspected likely to spring to live at any moment and attack, there was a boy standing and staring with something that was a cross between despair and anxiety at his shoes. Catching a sneak at his shoes, Lara noticed that they were exactly as they ought to be and couldn't figure out why he might be staring at them.
"Hi!" Startled, the boy looked up, his brown eyes wide and didn't reply to her greeting. "Oh." He was a witch. Well, he wasn't really a witch but Lara couldn't remember the proper word. Most people just called them witches cause everything they did looked like magic. She'd seen adults with the tattoos on their faces and arms, indicating they were witches, but never children. He seemed to deflate and inched further behind the potted plant, avoiding her gaze. "I'm Lara."
"Hi, Lara," he whispered.
"Well, what's your name?" she demanded when he didn't immediately offer one. "Witches always have cool names. I once met a witch and her name was Magdelena! She had to teach me to stay it cause it’s hard. Is your name hard to say?"
"No, not really," he met her gaze briefly, "It's Atticus."
Deep in thought, Lara scrunched her face for a moment before quoting, "Courage is not a man with a gun in his hand. It's knowing you're licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what and...um... something...." Lara shrugged, "I forget the next bit."
"You rarely win, but sometimes you do," Atticus finished, smiling a little. "Good memory. You like old Earth literature?"
"Some of it," Lara replied. "My brother read that book to me. It made me sad, but it was a good sad."
"Me too."
Lara was quiet for a moment before something outside caught her attention and she grinned. A duck pond! Perfect. "Want to go play outside?"
"Oh," Atticus had that faintly surprised look on his face, just like when she'd first spoken to him. "Yes, I think so. I-"
"Atticus."
Startled, Lara whirled around and found herself staring up at a much older and taller witch. Briefly intimidated, Lara barely managed to return the smile he offered and said nothing when he explained he needed to borrow Atticus for a few minutes. "Find me later!" Lara called to Atticus as he followed the older witch.
Once Atticus was gone, Lara caught sight of a group of girls, some of whom she knew, lingering by the punch bowl. Lara didn't particularly like them, but she saw Logan coming and decided to hide amongst them until Atticus came back.
"Hi!"
Alice crossed her arms and sneered, her gaze briefly lingering on the exposed toe of Lara's shoes. Lara didn't really like Alice, but their parents worked together so she saw more of the other girl than she wished to. "I saw you talking to that witch boy."
"Atticus is cool. He's my friend."
"Well, you can't hang out with us. We're playing a game."
"I'll play too!"
"Okay," Alice offered a nasty smile, "You have to go and kiss five boys. And we have to see you do it."
"How is that fun?" Lara demanded, hands on her hips. Kissing boys? Who invented that dumb game? It would be way more fun to pretend to be pirates, or pretend the plant in the corner had come alive and was trying to eat everyone with blue eyes, or really do anything else except that.
"We all did it," Alice insisted. "So you have to. Or are you scared?"
"I am not scared!" Lara insisted, nearly forgetting to use her inside voice. Turning on her heel, Lara stomped over to the first boys she saw,
William and his older brother Cody. Neither objected to the kiss she bestowed on each of their cheeks. Cody seemed faintly amused and
William looked at her like she was crazy, which wasn't that unusual. Logan caught her just as she was kissing Cody.
"Lara, what...?"
"Nothing!" She insisted quickly. Standing on her tiptoes, she managed to be tall enough to kiss his cheek before returning to Alice and the other girls.
"That was only three and one was your brother," Alice immediately objected.
"Come on!" Lara whined.
"Two more," Alice insisted. "Them."
Lara glanced at the two boys Alice pointed at. They looked a little older than her, but younger than Logan. Though they were dressed in suits, the pattern of freckles around their eyes gave them away as Beshan.
"I thought Beshan's didn't like to be touched by people who aren't family or something."
"Don't be so stupid," Alice commanded, "Do it or you can't hang out with us."
She remained unsure that the boy Beshan boys were good candidates for the game. Hadn't she heard her parents talking about some of the Beshan's they worked with? Weren't they shy or something? But Alice was sneering and it made Lara made so she crossed the room to stand before the two Beshan boys.
"Hello."
"Um, hey," Lara returned the greeting of the taller boy uncomfortably before darting forward and kissing his cheek. Faintly puzzled, he touched the spot on his cheek she had kissed but offered no reaction except to shrug. His friend, a boy who was marginally shorter with bright green eyes, looked slightly apprehensive but didn't move away when Lara kissed his cheek. Eyes wide, he stared at her for a moment like she had done something particularly amazing before taking hold of either side of her face and putting his lips against hers.
"Wow," his friend commented, "That’s...unexpected."
"Why did you do that?" Lara demanded, "You kissed me!"
"You kissed us first."
"On the cheek!"
"I kiss you..." the boy who'd kissed her managed hesitantly, speaking for the first time, "I like you? Now we will be married when the future comes?"
"WHAT?"
His friend laughed a little and said something that Lara couldn't understand before turning his attention back to her. "He's Farear. I'm Kedarr.
What's your name?"
"I'm Lara."
"Lara," Farear repeated.
"Um, hey," Lara managed, avoiding his gaze.
"Please. You look at me?"
Lara glanced at Kedarr, by far the least strange of the pair, and when he smiled and nodded she looked at Farear. Lara met his gaze and-
"Oh."
From the edges of her vision, everything melted away. She was vaguely aware of the noise and people in the background. Kedarr was still standing beside her and Farear. But compared to Farear, everything else was dull and muted. It was unappealing.
"Hi," Lara whispered.
Farear smiled and Lara felt like someone was tickling her. It was hard not to laugh. "Try not to blink. Don't look away yet."
"Okay. Will you hold my hand?" Their hands met in the space between them and intertwined. Lara returned his smile and squeezed his hand gently. "I want to kiss you again."
Laughing a little, Farear leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her forehead. It was like a spell abruptly ended, the noise and activity bled back into existence. But Farear was still more interesting than all of it.
"What happened?"
"We fell in love, yes?"
"Yes," Lara confirmed. It was strange and abruptly, but it was there. Love was usually icky and mushy and for grown ups. But this was nice. It was like having a best best friend. Someone you trusted beyond everyone else about absolutely everything and wanted to hug all of the time. It was like a warm fluttery feeling in her stomach. Or like eating her favorite desert for breakfast. It was better than anything else ever. "But why? How?"
"Its just our way," Kedarr interjected. "We're Beshan. We see the person, we kiss and its love."
"So is it because of the kiss?"
"No," Kedarr elaborated, "The kiss just shows us what is already there. You're Earth human?"
"Yes."
"You know how people fall in love at first sight and have the kiss of true love in the fairy tales?"
"Am I in a fairy tail?" Lara asked.
Kedarr laughed, "Well not exactly, but sort of." Farear frowned a little and nudged Kedarr, who obligingly translated what he and Lara had discussed. "Farear only speaks a little English, but he wants to ask you something."
Lara took his hand again, "Its okay. You can ask me. I won't laugh or anything. Promise."
Farear took a deep breath, "marry me?"
"Yeah, okay. I'll marry you."
Farear grinned, "Earth human girls expect ring?"
"I don't need a ring."
"Lara, what are you doing?" Logan asked, suddenly standing at her elbow.
Lara silently cursed at his ability to show up at the absolute worst time. Couldn't he have waited another ten minutes before finding her? Didn't he have anything more interesting to do than spoil her fun? "This is my brother Logan. These are my friends Kedarr and Farear. Farear is my fiance."
Logan shook his head, "What kind of game are you playing now?"
"Its not a game."
"Lara," he shook his head and for a moment it seemed like he would argue the point, but he decided it wasn't worth it. "Come on. Mom and dad want to know where you are."
"Just tell them I'm with Farear."
Seeing the utter lack of mirth on her face, Logan paused. Whenever she was playing around, she was always laughing and fidgeting. The little girl who stood before him was quiet and serious. "Okay. What's going on?"
"We're engaged."
"Lara. Come on."
"I'm telling the truth," a hint of a scowl tugged at the edge of Lara's mouth.
"You can't be engaged. You're only eight!"
Farear frowned, "Age matter why?"
Logan sighed yet again, "Lara, this isn't funny. He isn't human. He doesn't get that you aren't just playing some kind of made up game."
"But I'm not playing," Lara insisted again, "I'm really not!"
Another figure joined them and Lara recognized her from when William said her name was Valerie and there was something important about
her mouth. "Problem, friends?"
"Lady Red," Kedarr spoke as he and Farear both briefly lowered their eyes.
"Kedarr, Farear," she smiled a little, "who are your friends?"
"Logan and Lara. This is Valerie Red, Servant of Envaria."
"Lady Red," Logan briefly lowered his eyes.
"Hi," Lara chirped.
"Lara is to be wed to Farear," Kedarr said, "They have just now found each other."
"Now wait just a minute," Logan began.
Valerie held up her hand to cut off Logan and spoke briefly to Farear. He nodded and replied with a soft smile, barely able to take his eyes
away from Lara.
"I see. This may become complicated."
"Lady Red, this is just a child's game," Logan said quickly, "Surely you don't take it seriously."
Valerie ignored him, "Lara Laney?"
"Yes?"
"There will be some opposition if you agree to wed Farear. I give you this chance to change your mind."
"Why would I change my mind? I said I would and I will. I want to."
Valerie turned to Logan, "They want each other. Do you still object?"
"Of course I object! Lara is my baby sister. She's just a kid. She can't agree to marry someone. Our parents would never permit it."
"Lara and Farear, you are now getting just a taste of the great opposition you will face. If you wish it, I will ask the Oracle to render judgment.
No matter what judgment is decided, it must be obeyed. If the Oracle finds in your favor, it may gain you allies and offer you some protection. If
it does not then you will have to face this alone. Do you understand and agree?"
"Um, okay?" Lara frowned a little. Maybe Valerie was going to be this special mouth thing because she used big words and talked a lot with out making any sense.
"Farear?" Valerie asked.
"I agree," he said, edging closer to Lara and linking their arms.
Valerie covered her eyes with her right hand and extended the palm of her left hand towards Farear and Lara, revealing a tattoo of an eye. The eye blinked and Lara barely bit back a shriek, plastering herself against Farear's side. A quick glance at his face showed that he was equally concerned, though Lara couldn't tell if he was just worried about Valerie or because he too had seen her tattoo blink. Abruptly, Lara realized that the entire room had gone quiet and everyone was starting at them, their expressions ranging from shock and awe to horror. Her parents in particular looked especially displeased. Valerie dropped the hand covering her eyes, revealing that her eyes had gone complete white. Lara was silently stuck between if that was creepier than her tattoo when she spoke, her voice empty and hollow and far scratchier than before.
"We offer our congratulations and blessings for this auspicious betrothal. It pleases us greatly."
Valerie lowered her left hand and blinked, her eyes returning to their normal color. "The Oracle has spoken. The matter is decided."
Unperturbed by the silence and stillness, she turned and caught sight of William Branner. "Ah, William. I require strawberries." She linked her arm with his, "do you know if there are any left?"
"Oh, um, I think so-" William managed as Valerie pulled him away.
"What the hell?" Logan whispered.
"Hey, future husband," Lara whispered to Farear, "I'm hungry too. Want to go find some cookies?"
His face reddened a little, but he seemed pleased. "Cookies?"
"Haven't you ever had cookies before?" Shaking her head, Lara unlinked their arms so she could hold his hand. "You have to try them. Come on! Hey, Kedarr, you come too."
Amused, Kedarr followed Lara and Farear. Passing by a gob smacked Alice and the other girls, Lara paused briefly. "Thanks anyway, but I don't want to play your game. Farear's never had cookies before and I'm pretty sure I can get him and Kedarr to play pirates or ninjas. I don't want to kiss any more boys. I only like Farear." Deftly avoiding her parents, Lara dragged Farear and Kedarr outside and in the direction of the duck pond.
"Oh, I almost forgot."
"Forgot what?" Farear asked. Having run around the entire backyard and played pirates, ninjas and then pirates versus ninjas, they were sitting by the duck pond for a short break before beginning whatever game Lara next spontaneously invented. Kedarr and just returned inside, though Farear promise to play outside with her for as long as she wanted.
"When we get married, I want puppies. Five puppies."
"You require five puppies when we marry?"
"Yep. You have to get me some puppies. Five of them,"
Farear tilted his head a little, "This is Earth human tradition? Is it requirement?"
"Oh, absolutely. Most important one. It can't be forgotten. So don't forget, okay? Five puppies."
"Five puppies," Farear repeated, "I remember this. You have my promise."