While Zenis was in the bathroom cleaning up, Gavin turned the meat into a compromised but still good tasting, thick and hearty beef stew, along with cabbage, carrots, celery, some pieces of squash, corn, green beans, peas, and lima beans. He had also thrown wide egg noodles into the stew, allowing them to cook with the vegetables and meat and absorb the flavors.

It was a good while before Zenis returned. He wore no shirt and was sliding the button through its hole on his green cargo pants. His blond hair was pushed back and still damp. Steam lifted off of him. He stood at the threshold of the kitchen, facing Gavin, his head tilted one direction.
"Have any wine?" His question was not at all offending, just curious.

His skin was so pale that it looked cold like the flesh of some underwater dweller. When he adjusted, it was obvious that some pattern was inked into his shoulders....

"No, only soda, orange juice, milk, and cheap beer," he replied, cutting two thick pieces of bread and putting them in the oven to toast up.

"Okay." Zenis whistled quietly. A blue and brown orb came whizzing into the kitchen. "Er...Embryr, wake up," Zenis muttered. The red sphere rolled along the floor over to Zenis's feet. "Ah...Avalon...." A grey orb appeared in Zenis's hand. He took the brown orb and then crushed it in his hand, a pile of sand forming on the floor. Then he sat down, gathered the sand together and set the red sphere on the ground. It levitated and then burst into a hovering flame.

Zenis poured the sand into the fire slowly. The grey orb whirred beneath the fire and molten sand poured into its vortex. When the sand was gone, the brown and red orbs returned to normal, as did the gray, only a long, glass bottle was left where they were. Then Zenis took the blue orb and cracked it like an egg against the ground. He duped the contents into the bottle and then stared at it for a bit.

"Zepharot," he called. The green sphere materialized in his hand and he cracked that one against the floor also, pouring liquid into the bottle. He now shooed all of the orbs away and flicked the neck of the bottle a few times. And the liquid inside turned into a dark burgundy color.

"For you," he said, grabbing tha bottle and standing up. "Dunno if you're a real fan of wine, but...this stuff is pretty good in my opinion and I hate liquor." He held out his hand and a stemless glass appeared. He filled it up and then offered it to Gavon before pouring another one for himself.

"I'm more of a cheap beer person myself," he said, giving Zenis a small, awkward smile before pulling the thick toast out of the oven and putting a piece into the bottom of two deep bowls. He turned the flame off under the stew and used a large ladle to fill the bowls with the stew.

"Hence why that's the only liquor I have. Strong enough taste of yeast, but a low alcohol content. I drink to relax and to enjoy the taste, not to get drunk."

He put a large spoon in each bowl, then handed one to Zenis.

"This is Mearcolian," Zenis attempted to entice him. "It's not like Earth liquors. It's gentle and rich." He took to the bowl from Gavin and stared down into it. "But regardless, your tangible gifts are more valuable and heartfelt than any illusion. Thank you so much." He turned, heading a few steps in the opposite directions.

A great tattoo was inked over his entire back. One empty circle at the back of his neck, pointing off to two slightly smaller circles, one like the sun, the other like the moon. The sun connected to four more circles, as did the moon, and these were smaller still. They all had colors: brown, gray, blue and black from the moon, green, red, yellow and violet from the sun. Where there weren't circles or connecting lines, there were what looked like words. miniscule inscriptions arabesqued all over his flesh. The ink glowed gold when it was slanted in the light.

He got himself a glass bottle of root beer from the fridge, then headed out of the kitchen. "I'll be in my room. If you don't see the remote for the television, look under the couch. Tiki likes to hide it sometimes."

"Thanks," Zenis said softly. He wandered to where the couch was set up for him and sat down on it, eating quietly. The food was good. Better than anything he'd had on Earth. He didn't eat food prepared by Earth dwellers after all....

In his room, Gavin sat down at his desk and pulled a couple books closer to him, as well as an open notebook that already had writing on its pages. Taking a couple bites of food, he read a few lines from one of the textbooks and took off writing where he had left off; the only light in the room from his desk lamp and the city lights that made their way in through the window.

Zenis finished his food and then set the empty bowl on the floor. He settled down on the couch and covered himself up, closing his eyes. The orbs fell into the bend of his legs beneath the blankets and remained still. However, the violet orb came to rest by his face and the black one tucked itself against his chest. Zenis sighed and fell asleep almost instantly.

The next morning, around dawn, an alarm went off in Gavin's room, causing him to sit up straight. He had lost track of time and wound stayed up all night writing. Hurrying up from his chair, he shut off the alarm and hurried into the bathroom to wash his face, cover the scars around his right eye with makeup, and then darted back into the bedroom to get dressed.

His bag on his shoulder, he grabbed his jacket from one of the open closest and put on his boots that were by the door. Now dressed, he scrambled out the apartment door to go to work.

"Good morning."

Zenis was standing out in the hallway, green, red and blue spheres whirling in a vertical circle about six inches from his shoulder. "Did you sleep well? Thank you for the food, it was the most amazing thing I've ever eaten on Earth. How's your cat? Are you cold? I have a jacket if you want it."

His talking stopped and his blinked his yellow eyes softly and his head tilted to one side. "Um...you're in a rush, I apologize. Work hard." He waved, a smile trying to force its way up to his lips but failing and falling on its face.

Gavin didn't return to the apartment until around eight in the evening. The sun had already set and he was rather tired, carrying a paper bag of groceries to the door to his apartment and putting his key in the lock.

"You gonna come inside?" he asked in a sort of mutter, stepping inside.

"If you invite me, I will," Zenis said plainly. The brown sphere tumbled from his pocket and rolled over to Gavin's foot, knocking against it a couple times.

"That was an invitation," came another mutter as he vanished into the apartment, leaving the door open for Zenis should he choose to come inside. In the kitchen, he put away his groceries and pulled out what was left of the stew from the night before, putting it on the stove and turning the flame on under it to reheat it. He didn't feel up to cooking.

Zenis cocked his head to one side and then stood up, stooping over to grab the Hangeo Manifest off the floor before he walked inside and shut the door behind him. "Um, I got this for you," he said quietly, following Gavin into the kitchen. He held out a small glass bottle. And inside of it was sort of silvery green gaseous body. "It's that bit of your soul the Voice took. I got it back."