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The Gift

Daniel's Storyline, Chapter 3.3

copyright comidacomida 2018

Kon stepped past everyone and got onto the bus, walking through the old lady to beat the rest of us. He turned around to face me while she counted out change for faire. "Some Spirits, like Yokai, can hide our inner light, or change its color."

The lady had just started to move along so I made to follow her but I froze in place when Kon's eyes flashed a baleful red. Remaining there for several seconds I felt my heart start pounding, as if I was staring down the barrel of a gun. A second later his eyes returned to green and the sensation left me. It was strange, to say the least.

Showing my day pass, I went to the back of the bus and took a seat; I was joined by all of the spirits except Kon, who remained in the aisle, facing me. "Even though Humans don't see spirits anymore there's still an ingrained instinct in your kind... I bet you're scared of me now, aren'cha, Danny?"

Truth be told, I was more confused than anything else. "So... Spirits have a specific color that shows how they get spirit energy, but you can change your color on a whim?"

The Fox grinned, flashing me a peace sign as he winked. "You got it, Danny. Yokai are master tricksters so you can't take anything we say or do at face value."

Herne put his hooves up on a set of seats facing sideways in front of him. "That is actually very useful advice, Daniel. He is correct; you cannot trust him."

Kon scowled. "That ISN'T what I meant."

The Stag simply crossed his arms, what appearing to be a contented smirk remaining firmly entrenched on his muzzle. Aiden continued the discussion, addressing the Yokai. "I've never heard of a spirit who can change the color of their Inner Light before... at least, not without really changing how they get spirit energy."

The Fox looked to the Bat, flashing a smirk. His eyes changed visibly each time he declared a new gem-based color. "Well... it's true. See? Emerald. Ruby. Topaz. Amethyst. Back to Emerald. Yokai don't really change the color of our Inner Light, we just modify the light we let others see."

Talapus remained standing even as the car moved, his arms crossed over his chest. "The ultimate in trickery."

Despite being a Trickster himself, the Coyote's words didn't seem to be praise, but that was precisely how Kon seemed to take them. "Exactly. Yokai get to be what we want with whom we want. We don't have to deal with all the prejudice eye color brings."

Aiden shrugged, alternately looking at us and out the window. "I don't know... I mean, I think there's some good reasons to want people to know the real you. After all, without seeing his eyes we wouldn't have known that Bart wasn't gonna be a problem... not for sure."

Kon let out a 'hrumph' through his nose, rolling his eyes. "That doesn't tell us anything. I could make my eyes Sapphire if I wanted but that doesn't suddenly make me some kind of safe-to-be-around Spirit."

The hint of Talapus' scowl quirked up into a smirk. "That's because you can change your eye color so there's no proof you AREN'T a threat."

The Fox stuck his tongue out. "Well if I was planning on being a threat I wouldn't be giving away my secrets, now would I?"

I came really close to telling them both to shut it, but I realized, surrounded by people as I was, that it wouldn't really make the best impression to the mortal passengers. Instead, I glanced at Herne, who was looking right at me. I made a subtle gesture with my eyes at Talapus and Yon; thankfully the Elk got the picture and he addressed them both. "If you are attempting to make a good impression on Daniel then you are both failing. Poorly."

As if noticing I was still there for the first time since their argument began, both the Coyote and the Fox quieted down. Once the silence was confirmed, however, Kon added "But I'm not a threat-- and I bet Daniel realizes it too, which is why he didn't freak out when I did the whole red-eye thing."

Predictably that got Talapus going again. "You mean because he was paralyzed with fear?"

The banter continued for the duration of the ride. Only once I got off the bus and was alone on the sidewalk was I free to offer any objection. "You know, the two of you wouldn't shut up the entire ride home. I'm almost of a mind to say you're both uninvited from my place so I can actually get some peace and quiet tonight."

Both Spirits looked immediately upset at the prospect. Kon got his apology in first. "I'm sorry, Danny... I just hate the idea of being vilified."

Talapus was right there with an apology too. "Trickster spirits are known for being a little over the top at times, Daniel. I did not mean to make you angry."

The Fox's tails both swished in one direction for once as one of his ears tilted downward. "Not an apology, you know."

I took a second to go back through what the Coyote had said and I realized that Kon was right; Talapus hadn't exactly apologized, but the Fox wasn't really helping things at all by calling Talapus out on it. "Thank you for the apology, Kon... now how about you work on improving your attitude by NOT continuing to make jabs at Talapus?"

The Fox bowed his head with feet close together and paws crossed over his lap in an almost formal way. He bowed as he spoke. "Of course, Daniel. My most abject apologies."

The Coyote was just about to say something but I interrupted him first. "You still haven't apologized."

I was caught off guard when a stiff shoulder slammed into mine from behind. It took a second for me to recover before I realized it was Dave, the guy who used to live above my apartment as my upstairs neighbor. "Hey... music is music, man. It's not my fault the walls here are paper thin."

Realizing he thought I was talking to him, I turned around to regard the guy. "Well it'd still be nice to hear!"

He wasn't about to apologize and I knew it. His response was completely expected. He gave me the finger as he headed off into the complex. "I bet it would."

Dave was in his mid twenties and was the kind of guy who had probably been into pot before it was legal, and probably spent all his time on pot every chance he got ever since it was voted in. He and his then room mate Mike were really bad neighbors; they'd both worked at the same call center and I guess they got fired a few days before I moved in because they spent all their time at home for the first three or four weeks I'd lived there. After that they moved out and I guess they went their separate ways.

It didn't explain what he was doing back at the apartment complex, but the weeks without him and Mike above me hadn't improved my opinion of them any. I grumbled under my breath. "Ugh... sometimes I just wanna--"

A so-very-wide grin spread across Talapus' muzzle. "Be right back."

The Coyote took off like a shot, racing across the complex in the same general direction as Dave had gone. Shrugging, I let myself into my place and waited for the remaining three spirits to join me. After closing the door I went to take a seat in the living room. A moment later I heard a very distinct, loud scream outside. Having no idea what to think, I went to the window and opened the blinds; it provided me a view of the edge of the parking lot where I saw Dave running off onto the grass, then slipping, falling on his butt, and sliding down the grassy slope that led to the street beyond.

None of it made any sense, until I got a better idea of what was going on (which also didn't help much). Heading back toward my apartment was Talapus, only it wasn't COMPLETELY the Coyote spirit I knew. He looked a LOT more like a cartoon coyote-- the one that was always chasing that road runner. He was, surprisingly, completely naked, completely without his usual Native American type clothing, and completely erect. In a paw he held what looked like some kind of poster board with a stick attached to it, creating a sign of some sort. It wasn't easy to see what was written there but I was almost positive it said "Say MEEP MEEP for me."

When the Coyote walked back through my door he was the same Talapus I'd known; he did not look cartoony and he was dressed in a way that was much more familiar to me. I also noticed that he didn't have that sign in his paw. He smiled when he saw me, bowing his head. "So... apology accepted?"

Not sure I wanted to know what that was about, I--