Death and Tide

[VisAnastasis]

" You are patient and lovely. I'm sure you'll do great... " Tide whispered, holding him gently, as if trying to shyly offer him support, knowing it must be hard to do something like this, but still appearing grateful for Death's decision. Slowly, he glided in the direction of the island and stepped upon the shore. The whole island seemed at first glance normal, but at a closer look, all the plants were a touch different than their common counterparts, growing stronger and better, their leaves a touch greener despite a lot of sunlight. There was not one ill tree, not one faint blade of grass - all seemed well looked after, and there was some kind of potion-like mix in the air, of the mixed smell of strawberries and dirt after a rain. Tide breathed in deeply, with pleasure - and then, he walked on.

[Mirach]

Death withdrew a little as well, hiding under Tide's hair as they approached the island, having mixed feelings about visiting a spirit who has been hurt by his deomn hunters.

[VisAnastasis]

Tide seemed a little concerned if all would go well, but still, he couldn't help but be hopeful, as he had a good gut feeling about this, and Death hiding in his hair for comfort seemed to make his day.

They walked for a little while, through the forest of trees, to the centre of the island. There, there was a lovely orchard and a  garden full of fruit and vegetables. There was a stone path along with it, and it was leading to something that appeared to be a house by the outside looks but was built into the cave, front of it covering the entrance. Death could feel miles and miles of tunnels deep underground, both natural and dug into. On the inside, a thin sound of grinding could be heard, as if someone was cutting something at a table in one of the rooms. Tide knocked on the little yellow door, and he stepped back two meters, waiting for a response.

[Mirach]

Death peeked out a bit, so that the spirit will be aware or him from the beginning, instead of startling him.

[VisAnastasis]

Tide also put the Xia out of his shirt, so Spirit would be able to see her.
The sounds of grinding stopped, and there was a silence for a moment. Then, slow, careful steps could be heard. The door cracked, as they opened, very lightly, head of one timid, frightful little creature peeking barely from it, squirting in the strong light as its eyes needed a moment to adjust. It was wearing a pair of glasses, the same kind from Janus that Hans got for the nearly blind costume maker, as he seemed to be having some issues with sight. Even behind the reflective glass, though, it could be seen his name suits him - for his eyes were of the familiar colour of the gem he was named after, and his hair was likewise, green, only of very dark shade, bound in a long ponytail. He was rather pale and appeared sickly, though, and tense. By the deeper sight of him, though, there was a certain worrying glassiness of his expression. It was anxious and frightful, but also empty as if there was no ability in its gaze to articulate any happy feelings, withdrawn deep under the surface. It was not like looking unrestrained wast ocean of Tide's joyful essence - it was like watching at the barren empty dessert that barely holds itself together between couple drops of rain that come every century or so.

When he recognized Tide, he slowly managed to pull out a little faint smile that spread across its face, and it opened up its mouth, moving them as if saying a greeting and words were supposed to come out, but they decidedly did not. The door opened a little bit more - but then, he sow the unfamiliar cat and snake, and his lip trembled, and the door closed up a little again, as he observed the strangers suspiciously, inspecting them with his look.

[Mirach]

Death did not make any movements to not startle the spirit. He did not even watch him in the eye, just somewhere at the chest level.

[VisAnastasis]

The creature seemed to need a little time, working out things more slowly due to its startlement. He looked between Tide and animals a time or two before he opened his mouth lightly again, but no words came out. He snorted a little faintly as it realized it didn't say anything, and he licked its lips, and cleared his throat, trying again slowly - it seemed true that he struggled as if it took his physical strain and discomfort to form words.
" New pets... Or... guests? " it stuttered on Spirit language, and Tide took over gracefully.
" Guests," he whispered gently, in a low reassuring voice, as Malachite senses did not seem even sharp enough to recognize those differences on sight. " Kitten is a young demon, a child, that is helping me out with travelling in the last few days. The snake is an injured Spirit. "
" Is... Is it corrupted? "
" No, not yet. But it's dancing a little bit on the border recently...  Its soul is hurt badly and one of its layers are missing, and it is in a lot of pain, so I'm looking out for it while it's bad."
Malachite nodded slowly, needing a moment to digest the words and take them in. He looked up at snake then, with a little less anxiety, and a little more interest, narrowing eyes lightly so he could see it better. He opened the door a little bit more again, and he tried to speak up again, and took a moment, gesturing at Death's neck, as if trying to remember how to form the word he wanted, before he finally asked thinly.
" Can... talk? "

[Mirach]

"Yes, I can," Death said, a bit unsure if the spitit asks about his ability to talk or if he wants to talk to him, but answering both questions at once.

[VisAnastasis]

Spirit nodded slowly. He cleared his throat and seemed to focus on Death, trying to figure out how to ask him what he wanted in the fewer words possible.
" Long way... Must hurt. Should rest. " he whispered, gulping, before adding. " House nice, but... the sun is good today. Maybe... better outside? " he hoped creature understood, as it seemed he knew snakes like warmth and wanted to figure out if it would rather it treats them guests in the garden, pointing at three chairs beneath the tree - and it probably asked Death as, being cold-blooded creature, he thought it should choose preference, as it made more difference for it than to the rest of the group.

[Mirach]

"Yes, it's nice outside," Death said. "We could stay here."

[VisAnastasis]

Spirit nodded.
"  Alright... Be at home. Will come in moment..." He whispered vaguelly, and gestured for them to go to the chairs, before closing the door again.
Tide caressed the snake's head lightly, before turning and walking toward the sitting area. The chairs seemed old, but preserved, as if not used much. Tide stood a few meters aside, though, as he wanted to wait for Malachite to join them so he can be given permission to sit.

[Mirach]

"Is this a safe place where we can stay as Semai for a while?" Death whispered to him.

[VisAnastasis]

" Yes. The island is protected couple of layers further, from all sides. Everyone knows Malachite is withdrawn and easily traumatized, so everyone is mindful, avoiding this place. It's as safe a place can be, besides in Heart of the sea and in my own home. " he whispered. " We should just first see to reassure Malachite about it and be best guests we can be. He's trying to be good host, bless his heart, but... um... He's not too good at it. He'll probably want to sit us down and make us something to eat... Are you thirsty? If you are, we should look out for a chance to tactfully ask for water, in case he forgets. "

[Mirach]

"Alright," Death agreed. "But maybe he won't forget."

[VisAnastasis]

" He has good and bad days, so you can't really know, but yes, we'll see. " Tide agreed.
They waited for a moment before the door opened again. They could see the Spirit probably got dressed again, in more presentable clothing, that covered his body fully - strong thick gloves, high boots, and collar up to his neck, all dark green, simply tailored, but well made.
He was carrying a bag on his bag, and in his hands, he slowly carried a nice little table, decorated with colourful gems at the top side, and glass over it - clearly his fanciest table, for guests. Upon it, were three bowls full of cold fruit salad, of various strange fruits cut to tiny little pieces, easy to eat for little animals.
He avoided getting too close to them while doing it, but when he put the table at the place that seemed right to him, he nodded to himself. Then, appearing lost in his intentions, he stared a second or two before himself, as if trying to put together what was the next thing he meant to do. He remembered when he felt the weight on his back, and he lowered the backpack he brought and began to search something through it, his hands trembling a little nervously as if he was anxious to not waste more time, feeling self-aware that his quests were waiting enough for him already.

[Mirach]

Death remain quiet, mindful that he should only speak when asked.

[VisAnastasis]

The creature took out three chair pillows - they seemed like new, probably only used when guests would come. He placed the two smaller ones on two smaller chairs. The third chair was the biggest one, and it was probably made specifically for Tide, his most frequent visitor, who was so tall and to whom most of the common chairs were small. But this time, it didn't seem he meant the big chair for Tide. He placed the biggest, softest chair pillow on it, but he pointed at snake instead, and then back at the chair, marking it for him.
" Injured," he repeated Tide's previous word quietly. " Good Sun," he whispered, and he placed the wide bowl full of fruit from the table he meant for the snake on the pillow, leaning it aside so when snake sits it can eat without spilling.

[Mirach]

"Thank you," Death said quietly and let Tide lay him on the pillow where he could stretch in the sun.

[VisAnastasis]

The pillow was really soft and nice and being made for Tide, it was huge and Death had a lot of space to get comfortable. The creature nodded lightly at the sight as if it was clearing out things from its list, like a man that never cooks tries to carefully place the ingredients in the recipe right, checking the list twice.
He pointed to Tide to sit down on one of the remaining chairs with the kitten, and then, he took out three mugs and placed them on the table, and last, he took out a little wider platter, and he also placed it on the table, but he gestured that it is for the snake, although it would have been too much for him to bright himself to come closer to it now that it was already lying on the chair.

Instead, he pointed at mugs, and then at the house, and took a backpack and walked back to it, presumably to bring something to fill the mugs with - Tide, huge demon sitting idly on a comically tiny chair in comparison, was looking at him as he walked away, appearing proud that the Spirit remembered to think of the drinks.

[Mirach]

Death watched after him for a while as well, and then stretched in the sun, as the soft pillow felt very comfortable indeed.

[VisAnastasis]

Tide was quiet while they waited, caressing Xia in his lap gently, and seeming to enjoy seeing Death relax and feel more comfortable, unlike in the inn where they all were tense about being discovered.

Here, it was calm, and there was no presence they could fear, only the three of them, their host, the beautiful garden and the sun above. It was nice.

Their host returned after a moment. He brought a kettle of tea. Carefully, with slow moves, steadying his hands, he filled the cups, for three of them, and for the snake. He stepped back to the side and gestured for Tide to hand mugs to his friends, as he didn't want to come too close. After demon brought the platter to Death, and took mugs for himself and Xia, their host slowly inched toward the table and took his mug, and slowly, he sat down on his chair that was a little further from them.
The fruit bowl was nice. It was evident care was put into it... But it did seem creature had trouble keeping its focus, which was evident in the drink. It didn't forget to add leaves, it was a tea, and it seemed by the structure of it that it was a rather healthy one, rather soothing for the nerves. However, it was terribly bitter and sour, as it seemed that Spirit forgot to add any sugar or sweetener to it. It was possibly one of the worst tasting teas Death ever tried, and Tide also grimaced a little bit at first sip, but he swallowed and kept drinking with as big smile as he could muster. Spirit did not seem to realize something was wrong. He was quiet and he appeared as if watching through the mug he held in his hands. He would occasionally take a polite sip or two, but it was apparent he didn't perceive its bitterness - as if he wasn't able to perceive difference of flavours at all.

[Mirach]

Death found the taste actually much to his liking: it was strong and rich and unusual. He sipped the tea with pleasure.

[VisAnastasis]

Tide noticed that with surprise, watching Death for a moment longer, to make sure he's seeing it right. He waved to Malachite to gently get his attention without speaking, and when Spirit looked up to him, he only then spoke up.
" Thank you for the tea, dear... My snake friend likes it very much, so would it be alright if you'd give me a recipe so I could make it for him sometimes? "
The creature didn't seem too used to receive compliments on its cooking skills, as it knew it wasn't too good at it, at least by common standards. For the first time, its empty withdrawn look got rekindled with some more interest. He turned to look at the snake, fixing his glasses to see it better.
" Good for the mind... Soothes t-thoughts when they feel too m-much," he whispered, clearing his throat, trying to form an as clear sentence as he could this time. " Do you... Really like it? Can... Give recipe l-later. Can make more now, if y-you wish. "

[Mirach]

"It's very good, thank you," Death said, waiting for being asked to speak.

[VisAnastasis]

Creature nodded. While it still shows away from coming any closer, it stood up and slowly took the kettle, and, with a little lighter step, went to make more.