“You have twigs in your hair.” Ifre knocked several unruly bits of nature out of Twaer’s curls.
“I wonder if that is because we have been sitting here for days.” Twaer mocked him and shook her fingers through her bouncy locks. “Are you actually worried? Or do you just want to see that girl again?”
“Are you jealous?” Ifre teased.
“No.” Twaer picked up a few of the fallen twigs and poked at his face. “This is just not how I envisioned our freedom.”
“I took a risk to save the vampire.” Ifre pulled her close and hugged her. “Let me see it through and get some answers about this full potential we’re supposed to achieve.”
“I say we let it go Ifre.” Twaer wiggled her toes and smiled up at the sky. “Look around, would you? We have what we wanted. We should go and enjoy it.”
“Going seems like an excellent idea.” Talon stood behind them casually and smiled as they both leaned back to look at him with the grins of guilty children. “Lucifer assures me your presence is harmless. But your presence seems so familiar and the two of you just seem like trouble.”
“We aren’t.” Twaer jumped to her feet and faced the Watcher confidently. She remembered him from Eden, though he would have no way of knowing them. They were formless then. Only the Six were even aware of them as more than a concept. Twaer looked at him now and realized how much the Watchers had grown. He was a stunning creature despite his efforts to appear otherwise. His casual dress and poise only added to his underlying grace. His silver gray hair fell so deliberately in varying lengths around his face and shoulders that it was perfect in its imperfection. Even the way it hid the beginning of the two long braids that travelled down the back of his tall slender form to his knees. He was imposing as he was charming and as most Watchers did, he had a very commanding presence. Twaer was impressed with this one. “Lucifer is right. We’re just here to check on our new friends.”
“Then prove your intentions.” Talon gestured aside inviting them to walk with him as he continued. “I can not keep wandering about to check on you as I have personal matters to attend to. If you insist on waiting for my Third to wake, I request you do so where I can rest easier.”
“Where is that?” Ifre held Twaer’s hand as they walked. A gesture of comfort and protection as much as friendship. As they had learned by watching the world for so long.
“Inside the Circle building.” Talon suggested via explanation. “The Circle is protected there. I can make certain you are comfortable while you wait and that my colleagues and my city are out of harm’s way.”
“You want to lock us up?” Ifre stopped and pulled Twaer back with him.
“Not at all.” Talon laughed. “You misunderstand. I’m asking a favor of you. If you don’t mean any trouble, stop hiding. I don’t much care for wasting my time but I’m obligated to look after Drifa. I will extend my trust to you, come and go as you please. Just don’t make me regret it. Or I will make youregret it.”
“Aside from peace of mind…” Ifre looked the Watcher over carefully. “What do you get out of this.”
“If you feel so inclined you can repay my hospitality with answers.” Talon turned toward the door and smiled. He stood at the open threshold to invite them inside. “I am slightly curious about what happened in Eden, more curious however about the two of you.”
“I don’t mind story time.” Twaer jumped onto Ifre’s back and squeezed his shoulders to urge him along. “It is going to cost you thought. There are so many things I want to try eating.”
Tsuriai 