The Five Paralangua: Part Three (rough draft)

It had been a day or so since I had seen Solomon and Venus, so I was expecting Chandra at any moment. Considering what I had gleaned from him at the meetings, and even Venus’ warnings, it was obvious he was going to be a handful. But so far, I had been enjoying these meetings, so I wasn’ going to worry about it for too long.

Every so often I like to take my goats down to the river that runs behind the farm. They get to play, splash around, and I swear the water makes their milk taste so much better. I also like to go down there and look for pretty rocks or plants I can add to my collection.

The four goats were playing in the river, eating grass from the shore and splashing around. The youngest, Gilda, was bouncing around and having the time of her life. I was wading at the edge of the river, looking at stones that crossed my path. I then heard the goats exclaim and come running towards me, splashing and kicking up water all over the back of my legs.

Expecting a snake or something, I turned quickly, ushering the goats to the bank. Then I caught a flash of white in the corner of my eye. There stood Chandra, rising up out of the water with a great smirk upon his face.

“Didn’t mean to startle,” he chuckled. He smoothed his hand down his chest, wiping away excess water. “I just smelled something delicious in the air and came towards it.”

The goats on the bank yelled and made a fuss as Chandra came closer to me.

“Not funny,” I huffed, smoothing my hair back away from my face.

Chandra approached, taking my hand and kissing the back of it. “My apologies to you and the ladies.”

“One's a male, but thank you.” His pink eyes were captivating, they looked like glass marbles that shined brighter than any diamond.

“My apologies again for the misgendering,” Chandra said with a chuckle.  He then leaned against one of the trees that hung over the river. “So, what brings a lily of the valley like you to a place like this?”

I motioned back to the goats. “I like bringing them down here sometimes. Wasn’t expecting you to come out of the river though.”

“I enjoy making an entrance. What can I say?” he looked me over, drinking me in and growing a smile that made me think of the cat who ate the canary.

I smirked. “What are you doing?”

“What? Just looking. I’m not going to do anything, I don’t know what Venus said to sully my name, but I swear, I’m not like that.” He winked playfully.

I eyed him up and down. “What do you think Venus said?”

“Well, knowing him, nothing too fond.” He stepped aside from the tree and sat down upon the bank, stretching out his legs and tail upon the grass. “He and I have never quite seen eye to eye.”

I took the spot beside him, raising up my knees to my chest. “And why do you think that is?”

“I think he envies my confidence,” he said with a laugh. “Maybe my height.”

“Venus told me not to fall for your ploys.” I glanced up at him to garner his reaction, which there was none. Chandra simply smiled. “What would those ploys be?”

Chandra’s tail curled, wrapping around my sides then brushing up against my thigh. “Well, let me think. I have no idea what he is talking about.” he said teasingly. Meanwhile, his tail tightened and pulled me in close to his side. Chandra put his arm around me and continued to feign contemplation.

I looked at his arm and let out a small laugh. “What are you doing?”

“Hm?” He looked down. “Oh my goodness. When did you do this?” He pulled his arm back. “We’ve only just met. Unless you’re…into that.” He winked again.

I rolled my eyes and scooted back. “You’re something of a flirt.”

“Don’t you worry. Once the ceremony happens I will become the most devoted  out of all my brother husbands.” he laid his hand dramatically against his chest. “I call them oats to sow. But I’m sure there are names for me out there.”

“Venus was hinting. But I don’t blame oats for being oats.”

Chandra smiled. “Have you sowed a bit in your time?”

I shrugged. “I wouldn’t call it sowing. Maybe if I was doing it on gravel.” I made a face and shook my head. “I planted my oats in the wrong ground.”

He got a look upon his face, one of concern. “Mind if I ask what was so wrong about this ground?”

I looked at him and then away a few times before I got the nerve to say anything. “Lets just say it was toxic earth.”

Chandra nodded his head, clicking his tongue in understanding. “I’m happy to see you here, away from that.”

I sighed heavily. “Me too.”

Chandra leaned back against his palms and gazed up towards the sky. “Now you have five strikingly rich, fertile soils to plant your oats.”

I grimaced. “Can we stop this analogy?”

“I hated the words as soon as I said them.” Chandra watched me as I stood up. His eyes followed me, seeing my look of distress and I gazed at the goats behind us. “Something the matter?”

“Gilda’s gone.” I whipped around, looking all over for the little goat. “One of my goats is missing.”

“Well calm down, calm down,” he coaxed as he stood up. “I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.”

“She’s my youngest and she’s not learned how wandering is bad!” I darted down the river then looked back. “I need to get the others back to the barn. But I don’t want to lose time looking for her.” I could feel the panic rising in my gut.

“You take the goats back, I’ll keep looking,” he said gently. “I’ll keep looking.”

I nodded and breathlessly lead the other goats back to the barn. As I made my way back towards the river, I looked everywhere. If I thought she could sleep under stones I would have turned every single one over. I searched all along the path and once I reached the river I searched for Chandra. After getting down to the bank I saw a flash of white in the corner of my eye. Chandra was knelt down beside a bush and my stomach seized. I instantly thought the worst and ran towards him.

“Chandra?” I called out.

He looked up and shushed me, tapping his finger to his mouth. “Be quiet. She’s sleeping.”

“Sleeping?” I blurted angrily. I ran to him and looked over his shoulder, seeing little Gilda curled up under a bush that was directly in a beam of sunlight.

“She probably curled up here and passed out.” He looked up at me and smiled. “She’s so cute, I didn’t want to bother her.”

As I came closer Gilda lifted up her head, she moved herself closer and laid her head on Chandra’s knee. The look in his beautiful pink eyes made my heart melt. As my nerves settled I leaned up against him. It was quiet for a long moment while we let Gilda enjoy her nap. I fell asleep as the sun was warm and the flow of the river made a powerful spell.

I came to as Chandra was carrying me towards the house with Gilda at our heels. “Ah, awake I see.” He sat me down and and smoothed back my clothes from being crumpled up. “Have a nice nap?”

“Yeah, i guess I did,” I chuckled.

Gilda was happily standing at Chandra’s side. It made my heart flutter.

“You owe me then,” Chandra teased. “Everyone got a full meeting with you, but I suppose being used as a pillow is fine.”

“Sorry, I really am.” I chuckled.

“No worries.” Chandra smoothed his palm over my cheek then tucked back my hair. “I’ll have you all to myself here soon.”

I closed my eyes, giving him the signal to kiss me. Instead he smoothed back my hair and kissed my forehead. “I can do better.” He whispered before he pulled away. “Hopefully Reap won’t outshine me.” He gave me a smile before leaving, and my face was molten hot.

To say I’ve been having a hard time sleeping with all this going on would be accurate. Fitful is the word I would use. My overactive imagination combined with the ‘ten hands’ mantra I’d been going over, was giving me some pretty bodice heaving thoughts. I could only imagine what was coming with Reap and Eros still arriving. I knew a bit about Reap, I’d gotten to talk to him already. But Eros was a bit of a mystery. His painted nails and pearl necklace were the most I had to introduce him to me. Reap was shy and super sweet, and his opening line to me had been on my mind as I awaited our meeting.

It was a regular afternoon, one where I had just received a grocery order. I always enjoyed the act of putting things away neatly. Whether it was in the barn or in my own home, having everything neatly placed and organized was cathartic. Plus, if I had a hard time seeing something I often forgot it was there. So it’s best I can see what I have.

Anyways, as I was remarking on how frustrating it is certain products have the same bottles but different labeling, there was a knock at my door. I turned, seeing a shape in the stained glass window of my door.

“Just a second!” I called out, setting the groceries aside. I opened the door to see a bouquet of flowers. Vivid pinks and reads, dashes of pale yellow, all sorts of flowers that must have cost a bundle to put together.

“Don’t just shove it in her face.”

“I didn’t mean to!”

I looked beyond the bouquet to see both Eros and Reap standing in my doorway. They both looked at me, similarly sympathetic but their eyes read it in different ways.

“Two at once? What did I do to deserve this?” I asked.

Eros offered me the bouquet. “Before that, I put this together myself with Reap’s suggestions.”

“You did this? It’s beautiful!” I exclaimed.

“Eros is really talented with those sorts of things,” Reap spoke softly from behind. “It’s part of why I asked him to tag along for my visit.” He looked embarrassed, almost afraid to look at me, but he did with a lustrous sparkle to his eyes.

“Come on in, the kitchen is a mess right now, but the table is clear.” I stepped inside, letting them follow in after me.

“Do you have a vase?” Eros asked. “I can take care of those for you.”

“I’ll have to hunt one down. It’s been ages since I last got flowers i didn’t pick myself.” I chuckled, gently laying the bouquet down.

“The kitchen isn’t a mess,” Reap said as he looked around.

“I just got groceries so it’s scattered.” I was searching through the lower cabinets, hoping to find my grandmother’s vase. We used to put it on the table every Sunday with flowers my grandfather got for her. But childhood was so long ago.

Front he corner of my eye I saw Eros mouth something to Reap. Reap nodded in turn and came to my side. “Can I help with the search?”

“Yes, actually,” I huffed when the lower cabinets didn’t pan out. “The vase may be up behind one of the tins. You’re so tall, you’d probably see it before me.”

Reap smiled at me. “Says the tall sight for short eyes.”

I broke into a huge smile I tried to keep restrained. “Yes, even for me.”

His bright smile broke through that nervousness he held and he began searching along that top shelf, carefully peering behind the tins.

“I haven’t had to use that vase since my grandmother passed,” I replied. “So I’m afraid I put it somewhere safe and forgot where safe was.”

Eros looked up from the sink, using a pair of shears to trim the ends of the flowers into the sink. “Isn’t that how it always goes? I lose more scissors in my shop that way.”

“What is your shop?” I asked.

“A florist,” he said with a soft laugh. “I also dabble in a few other things. But flowers are my main pay check.”

“Don’t be modest,” Reap said. “He’s a renaissance man.”

“You hush.” Eros ran water over the freshly trimmed stems.

Reap stepped back. “Is this it?” He held out the vase which was covered in grease and dust from years of sitting high up in the kitchen.

“You found it!” I reached for it, touching Reap’s hands as I did. His gaze softened and his fingers twitched. “Thank you,” I said a bit more gently. “It needs a good washing.” At the sink I stood by Eros. His eyes glanced down upon my hands as I scrubbed into the vase.

“A hard worker, I see.” He took my hand gently as the vase soaked in water. He turned my palm over, gently brushing the tip of his claw along my skin. It made me shiver in a way I never had before. It was a whole new sensation to me.

Eros smiled. “What a strong heart line you have.”

“Heart  line?”

Eros looked up into my eyes. “Also known as the love line,” he almost sounded like he was purring saying this.

My cheeks radiated heat until it burned the tops of my ears. “What a coincidence,” I said breathlessly.

“See, I told you it was a good thing I brought you along,” Reap murmured from behind. “You’re so good at that.”

Eros gave Reap a gentle look. “Don’t sell yourself short, Reap. You have charms all your own, but I am more than happy to be here for both of you.” He squeezed my hand gently before letting it go.

I rinsed off the vase. “You don’t need to be nervous about me. I consider myself an easy person to be around. It’s growing up with animals I think.”

“That’s what my brother said,” Reap said with a halfhearted chuckle. “But still, Eros is good at breaking tension. I feel as though I am good at making it.”

“There we are now,” Eros said as he finished off the vase. “Beautiful. Just like the one we made it for.”

I giggled and shyly looked away.

Reap sighed. “He makes it seem so easy.”

“Compliments are meant to be easy,” Eros replied. “Action is what’s best.” He motioned to me and Reap looked at me. We both exchanged glances and Reap smiled.

“Action, huh?” Reap rubbed at the side of his neck. “Well, would you like help putting your groceries away.”

I smiled. “I’m picky about how I put it up, so don’t worry about it. All the cold stuff is put away. But, if you’d like, I’d love to sit over some tea or coffee with the both of you. It’s such a nice day out, and I rarely ever get to use my patio.”

Reap’s smile was probably the sweetest out of all five of them. I was charmed instantly by him, and anytime Eros spoke it was like he was putting me under some sort of dreamy spell.

There was a gentle breeze along with the warm sunlight, the old picnic table my grandfather made was rarely used these days, but sitting with Eros and Reap made it feel like old times.

“My big brother went through the ceremony a few years ago,” Reap was telling me. “I’ve always been nervous at the idea. But he’s been telling me all these amazing things so I’ve been growing more excited as the ceremony gets closer. Then, shocker, we find out only one of the chosen this year is attending.”

“Honest gut punch,” Eros replied. He had been holding my hand the entire time, massaging it, rubbing my palm, admiring the fine lines it seemed. “None of us were sure what to do or how to act.”

“We tried to wait on word from the council but-” Reap bowed his head and swallowed. “I got curious one night.”

“I saw your footprints,” I replied.

Reap looked aside and fidgeted in his seat. “I’m sorry! I wanted to see who stayed and I…well-”

Eros rolled his hand. “Go on. Tell her.”

I looked back at Reap. “Tell me what?”

He took in a deep breath. “I understood something my brother said. He said he saw his chosen, and knew then and there she was it. The one. His. I thought it was silly, Lerour was always dramatic but then I saw you.”

My heart fluttered.

“And like he said, I knew.” He looked up at me with a shy glance. “I think all of us felt that way. That’s how it seemed in the meeting anyways.”

I swallowed, nervous, elated, light headed, and a bunch of other things I don’t think I could blame on the coffee. “Well, thank you.” I laugh because that sounded so silly. “I don’t know why I said thank you! But uhm…I felt a little similar that day. I feel that way each time I meet one of you. It’s like fitting into something comfortable.”

Reap’s smile returned. “It does.”

Eros lifted my hand, kissing my knuckles. “We’re all a little opposite in our own ways, but you seem to be a connecting factor to all of it.”

My heart was pounding fast. Ten hands kept repeating in my mind. “I am nervous about the ceremony. I’ve barely had one serious boyfriend, let alone five. Let alone five paralangua ones.” I gazed into Reap’s eyes, seeing a gentle gaze. “I don’t know if it will work out for all of us but…I am excited to try.”