What He Was Looking For

Writers: Dana, Eimi
Date Posted: 30th April 2006

Characters: Kiomo, Gleniel
Description: Kiomo gives Gleniel a bit of an education...
Location: Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 11, day 4 of Turn 3

"They should be in here," Gleniel told her companion as she slowly opened
the door to the store room. Obviously this room wasn't used as much as
the other one, for the hinges squeaked like an upset fire-lizard. She
winced at the sound before slanting an apologetic grin at him.

"Of course," Kiomo nodded. "I should have been looking for the glows next
to the... antique tunnel snake traps and the empty agenothree canisters."

She barely held back the undignified snort. Instead, she managed to
chuckle. Femininely. "Well, glows _are_ considered a thing of the past
here...." Still grinning, she made her way inside and looked around.

"What, are you saying I'm old-fashioned?" he laughed.

"And if I am?" She turned and planted her hands playfully on her hips.

"Well, then," he said standing in front of her mirroring her posture, "I
will just have to educate you on the good points of using glows as versus
electric lights."

"Oh?" A slender brow rose in impish challenge even as her cheeks bloomed
with color. "Fine. Educate me."

"All right, then, I will," he said with a definitive nod. "But first, we
need to find a few glows that still work."

"Hmmm..." Her eyes began scanning the shelves. They were a lot dustier
than in the other store room. Reaching out, she swiped a finger across
the top of one and then made a face. Really, the lack of dusting
shouldn't get so out of hand. "They'd probably be in a basket."

"Perhaps even a _glow_ basket?" he asked with a mischievous smile and a
quick wink.

"Perhaps," she mumbled, the color coming back to her cheeks. She slanted
him a glance. "But, you realize, it's been so long since I've heard that
term...'glow basket'."

"You didn't laugh." Kiomo sighed dramatically. "All right, was that joke
just too lame to laugh at, or was it just too old-fashioned for you to
catch it?"

"No, I got it." Flustered, she gave him an embarrassed grin. "I guess
you just didn't catch the sarcasm in my voice? Or the implied insult? To
tease you, of course..."

"Yeah, a laugh would do much more than a snide remark for my ego," he said
as he started peeking in boxes. "Faranth's toenails, what are they
teaching these younglings these days?"

"Hmm?" Gleniel went over to try and peer at whatever prompted that remark.

"All right, now I think you didn't catch _my_ sarcasm," Kiomo laughed.
"We just seem to be in completely different worlds today. Most be the
modern and the old-fashion thing throwing us out of sync. Ah ha!" he
cried as he pulled out a crate from the bottom shelf marked 'glows'.
"Here are some. And look, it seems there are a couple more crates like
this one. Perfect. I knew you had to have some just in case somewhere."

Gleniel knelt down as he settled the crate on the floor. "How many do you
need?"

"Four should do the trick," he replied. "But hopefully four that still
work. I don't know how long these things have been down here." Kiomo
knew as it was a major Hold, of course they _had_ to need glows on
occasion. Garnet Valley was built into the side of a cliff. If the power
went out, it would be dark as /between/ deep into it.

"They should work," she murmured, helping him take off the crate's top.
"These things are supposed to last a long time..."

"I should think so," he said as he picked one up and gently started to
unwrap it. "oh yes, I can see it glowing down in there all ready. There
are some glowbaskets up there. Can you get a few for me? That is, if you
can remember what one looks like..."

She grinned at him. "Uh huh." Rising, she turned around and stood on her
toes, stretching her arms out to make a grab for one.

"Be sure now," he said as he picked out three more. "Tunnel snake traps
just don't make good glowbaskets."

"I think I can handle it." Still grinning, Gleniel came back over to him
and held out a glow basket. "They have a couple smaller ones and a bigger
one. Which do you want?"

"This is fine. More of these, please," he said as he began filling the
first basket. Soon he had four perfect glowbaskets ready to be put to
good use. "All right now, let's find us a nice bare spot so I can show
just how amazing these things can be." He shoved a couple crates to the
side and moved the empty canisters into a neat row along the wall until he
had a nice cleared off space. "Now you stand there, and I will set these
around. Don't move. I'm going to go turn off the electrical lights."

Smiling, she did as she was told. "So, how exactly is this demonstration
going to work?" she asked, watching him move towards the light switch.

"All right, so the first advantage to using glows..." He switched off the
electrical light and enveloped them in total darkness. "Deep inside the
Hold like this, there is no natural light. If there is an electrical
failure, you're pretty much blind."

Gleniel blinked rapidly, trying to see _something_ in the pitch blackness.
"That's true..."

"But with a glow," he said as he slowly began opening the basket in his
hands, "there is always light."

A few seconds later, she suddenly saw a ball of soft light appearing out
from the dark, seemingly floating in midair. She could barely make out
the outline of his hands, but as the light steadily grew brighter, she
could finally see his fingers. "They still use these in mining, don't
they?"

"Yes, most mines, I should think." Kiomo's nod was now discernible as he
opened the glow more. "Although, I have heard that some use electricity,
but they're rare. Its hard to generate electricity and lay the wiring in
more remote areas. Glows are much more cost efficient."

"Because they're a natural source?" Shells, but the glow light was
actually sort of pretty. Not harsh, like electricity.

"Yes, and completely re-newable." He set the glow on one the shelves.
"Ok, but this is my favorite thing about glows. Watch." Kiomo opened the
basket fully, and then moved to set his other three baskets on shelves or
crates around them and opened them up. "Do you see how bright the room is
now?"

She nodded, looking around. It was certainly brighter.

"Ok, now watch," he said as he started turning them down low one by one
until there was just the barest hint of light in the room. "It's like
when you were a child and afraid of the dark. Did you mother ever put a
glow in your room? My mother did. And I could turn it down really low.
You can't do that with electrics lights half as easily."

"You can't do it with electric lights at all," she murmured, looking at
the faint lights dotting the room. Gleniel had had a glow in her room
when she was a little girl. She remembered looking at it until she was
too tired to keep her eyes open. To this day, and maybe it was because of
the habit she'd developed as a child, she still turned towards whatever
light source was in her room before she fell asleep. Not that she was
afraid of the dark, but because it was comforting.

"You can also change the light to create a kind of mood. Say, for
example, a romantic evening." He walked around the room and adjusted the
lights to cast soft shadows around the room, giving it a warm glow rather
than harsh illumination. "See what I mean?" he asked as he stepped back
to appreciate the effect.

"Yeah," she breathed, trying to ignore the flutterings in her stomach. "I
do. A girl could be swept off her feet by something like this."

"Oh, well, I don't know about _that_," he chuckled with a self-conscious
shrug. Kiomo looked at her out of the corner of his eye with a slight
smile curling up the corner of his lips. He did like the way she looked
in soft light that surrounded them.

Sensing his eyes on her, she fought the urge to cross her arms - something
that she was prone to do when nervous. But why should she be _nervous_?
For Faranth's sake! It's not like he... Gleniel gathered her courage and
glanced over at him.

Their eyes bet briefly before Kiomo looked away, looking almost
embarrassed at having be caught looking at her. But why shouldn't he look
at her? She looked stunning, almost glowing. Slowly his eyes returned to
hers and he let them linger.

A blush slowly rose in her cheeks. Was she just imagining things? No,
she couldn't be... Her lips parted slightly, as if she wanted to say
something, but nothing came out.

Kiomo's eyes drifted to her parted lips and back up to her eyes. He
seemed pulled into them. His lips opened just slightly as he seemed drawn
to her as he slowly leaned down, pausing uncertainly just inches from
finding her mouth with his.

The back of her neck tingled as she felt his warm breath so near to her
face. Blood rushed to her cheeks and then just as swiftly rushed out as
she stared up at him with wide, uncertain - wanting - green eyes.

He didn't move for what seemed like an eternity though it was only a brief
moment before he cleared his throat self-consciously and stood straight
once more. His lips parted to say something, anything, to break the
tension that was suddenly growing between them. "I... uh..." He smiled
apologetically, but he couldn't quite look her in the eye. "I suppose I'd
better get these glows set up in my room."

Gleniel tried to smile back, but wasn't sure if her effort worked.
"Y-yes," she whispered, suddenly feeling even _more_ embarrassed. "I
suppose you should." She took a step back, then another and another until
her fingers finally touched the electrical light switch.

"Well, then," he said clearing his throat once more and picking up his
baskets of glows. "Thank you for your help. I found... just what I was
looking for."

Last updated on the April 30th 2006

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What He Was Looking For