He Comes in Peace

Kartayon's last words, spoken with the air of a gypsy, seemed to spread something magical, and altogether amazing, into Skye Cedona's bedroom.

No sooner than when he finished speaking had Skye fallen asleep. As she fell into an eerie and unusual dream, she could not help but think that her friend had an uncanny knack for story-telling.

-x-

As her dream ended, her alarm clock rang shrilly and loudly in the little nook, conveniently fastened to her bed's headboard. Above that Skye had tacked numerous little art projects she did at home. Collages, sketches, watercolors and one portrait she had done when she was three of their family: Karen Cedona, herself and her father, Brent Cedona.

Skye silently cursed the neon green numbers of her clock, and clambered groggily out of bed. She stepped down onto the ground, (or so she thought) and was immediately thrown backwards, onto the bed once more. She hit the wall with her back, and shouted.

"What the frick was that!" she yelled, wincing.

Kartayon's head came into view, and he looked annoyed, alarmed, and incredulous.

"I believe you stepped on me, Skye," he said smartly.

"That doesn't mean you fling me back onto my bed! I hit the wall pretty hard!" she retorted.

"Yes, but you also stepped on my more extensionally sensitive, private body part 'pretty hard'."

At this, Skye turned red again. About to accuse him of wrongly accusing her, she saw that he had both hands shielding himself, as if he expected Skye to take a flying kick at him.

"I..Don't think I-Um, I mean...I didn't mean to-Er...Sorry," she stuttered.

Having relaxed, Kartayon stood up and offered Skye his hand. "And I also apologize for reacting rashly. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm good. I've had worse." She accepted his help and he pulled her back onto her feet. He fastened his hands around her middle and lifted her up, before setting her back down onto the ground.

Skye turned red again. "You didn't have to do that. I could've gotten down on my own."

"I realize that. But as proper manners would call for assistance, I relieved you of climbing down yourself. And regarding your words about having worse happen to you, what do you mean?"

Skye padded over to her wardrobe. "I mean, there was that one time I completely..." She stopped abruptly. "Um, never mind. It's kind of embarrassing."

Kartayon frowned and in an instant, was at her side. "But if you have had worse than what I unintentionally inflicted upon you, surely you are not in the right state of mind?"

"What? No! They're just accidents, that's all. Really, it's not a huge deal-Get away from me!"

Kartayon had moved forward, placing his hands so they cupped her face. Before he could attempt to pull her towards him, Skye had jerked herself away.

"You tell me you have manners! You don't go doing that randomly to me! It's...It's disrespectful to my personal space!" Skye said, flustered.

"You are absolutely correct."

Much to Skye's utter mortification, he sunk into what could no doubt be a bow.

"No! Don't do that!" Skye hastened to tug him into a standing position again. "You are so not a teenager. I'm serious! The bowing, the manners, the politeness! Just forget about it, okay?"

Tay stood awkwardly in the same spot, eyes fixated upon Skye. He almost shuffled his feet on the ground. "It was how I was raised. Manners are manners, regardless of where you were raised; even on our planet, it is common courtesy to apologize, and in serious conditions, bow."

Skye nodded slowly, and waved her hand in the air. "All right...If you don't mind, I'd like to change, now."

Completely ignoring her statement, Kartayon extended a hand carefully. "Would you like to see what our planet was like, Skye? I promise I shall leave you to change your clothing afterwards."

A small prick of curiosity stole across Skye's mind, and she smiled, taking his hand. "I'd love to see."

Kartayon stepped forward and rested his forehead against hers. Again, the tingling, shocking feeling of mental electricity spread through Skye's mind. She couldn't help but shudder.

Can you hear me, Skye?

"Yes."

I would like it if you responded likewise; by likewise, I mean with your mind, of course.

I hear you.

Kartayon smiled at her, then opened his mind wider to her. This time, not only his voice could be heard inside her head, but also images, fleeting, and oddly distorted, as if being at through a very large fish-eye camera. The colours of the scenes were inverted in some parts, and normal in others. Black and white patches even showed here and there.

There, on the right hand side. Those Quettles over there are my brothers and sisters.

Skye had no idea how to focus on another spot. It wasn't like she had just transferred into Kartayon's brain. It was more like they had met right in the middle, in no one's head at all.

How do I focus on your brothers and sisters? How am I seeing these things? I'm not using my eyes, am I?

No, you are not. Here. Let me help you.

The image stretched and zoomed so suddenly that Skye felt a part of her brain buzz and ache. She raised a hand and pressed it against her temple irritably.

Is this better? Kartayon asked.

The image was, indeed, clearer. They had just zoomed in on a regularly coloured image, and it wasn't as stretched as before. The picture seemed to have lodged inside her head, though she had no way to look at the parts of it without Kartayon's help.

The group of Quettles was huge. Though it was impossible to tell the true colours of their scales and fins, it was clear that they looked very much alike. Their faces were slightly altered, too pointed and angular to be considered fully human. This was what they looked like naturally.

Skye remembered to answer Tay. Yeah. Where are you?

There. Would you like me to highlight it for you? he asked politely.

Yes please.

A figure standing near the center of the group gleamed bright yellow, though Skye was absolutely sure that alien or not, Kartayon did not look like a scaled and spiked highlighter.

Oh. You look...Um. You look nice.

The image faltered slightly, like a camera that had just taken a severe blow and dropped to the ground. The picture righted itself, and Kartayon's voice flowed into her mind again.

Amusing, Skye. Very amusing. His tone was dry and slightly sarcastic, and Skye drew back. The connection severed immediately and she felt a kind of curtain fall back down around her mind again, like the ones that appeared when a play was over.

When Skye opened her eyes (she had not been aware that she had closed them), she saw that his mouth was fixed in a half smirk, half exasperated smile.

"Well you do!" she said defensively, turning red for what must have been the hundredth time. She was immensely thankful that he could only access her thoughts when their heads touched.

"Thank you very much." Despite the more genuine smile that Kartayon had taken to, his tone of voice screamed sarcasm.

Feeling ruffled, Skye turned him around and went to pick out her clothes.

As she pulled on a snug cardigan over a t-shirt, she thought back to the picture Kartayon had pushed into her mind. At least she tried to.

In a faintly alarmed voice, she asked, "I…Kartayon?"

"Yes?" came his voice, sounding far away. Skye turned and saw him standing on top of her bed post, balanced perfectly on both feet, examining a collage of animal pictures cut out from magazines.

"Why can't I remember the image? I can remember seeing it, but I can't…Picture it. Did you do something weird to my head?" she asked.

"Oh, of course not. The memory was, well actually, is mine. Not yours. It is mine to keep, and if I choose to part with it, I will. But I have not, so you have no recollection of the image whatsoever."

"But I saw it...It was inside my head," Skye protested feebly.

"Yes, I know you did," Kartayon replied patiently, stretching onto his toes to look at the family portrait. "I placed it inside your mind to share it with you, but once I withdrew myself, I drew the memory from your mind as well."

Skye found this prospect terrifying. "So…So you can take away any memory you want?"

"If it is mine to begin with, I am able to. But if the memory is yours, I cannot. Let us assume that you have a memory of riding a horse. I cannot take that away from you because it is yours. Understand?"

"Oh, okay," Skye said in relief, smiling. "Is it possible to share memories? Like the one that you just showed me, can we split it half and half?"

Kartayon turned and jumped lightly onto the ground, making no sound at all. He smiled sympathetically. "No, I am afraid not, in that case. But if both of us are present in the memory, it is possible to 'split it half and half'."

"Oh, really? Can all Quettles do that? The mind thingy?"

"Yes. I can share with you the memory of making dinner the previous night. Though I do not see any point in doing so. You were present during the memory anyway, so if your mind is as normal as any other human mind, you should remember making dinner as well, thus, sharing the memory between us so both you and I can experience it is quite pointless. Sharing memories is not something that is commonly used, because it is without logical reason. And yes, we are able to do so." Kartayon said all of this very quickly, and there was a pause during which Skye had to turn his explanation over inside her head so she could fully comprehend it.

"Oh. All right."

"Yes. Is this your father, Skye? In this, er...Hastily drawn portrait?" he asked softly.

"Yes," she said abruptly. "Yes it is."

"Do you...Forgive me if I am intruding upon personal memories? Please do not feel pressured to answer. But do you miss him, Skye?"

Skye paused in the act of picking up her bag. "Yeah," she said softly, though she was sure Kartayon could hear her very well. "All the time."

Kartayon stood frozen in his spot, as if this new emotion, sadness, had stumped him. He moved towards her but paused, looking unsure of himself. Then, with the air of someone steeling himself to do something he would be embarrassed of, he approached Skye and unsurely pulled her into a hug.

Skye, feeling shocked enough to root her to one spot, did not react until Kartayon had sensed that she didn't want this and drew back awkwardly. When his arms were about to fall back to his sides, Skye hugged him back.

With her face pressed against his collarbone, she mumbled, "Thanks, Tay. I've needed a hug for a long time."