Page 2041

~((National Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day Special - page 5 of 6))~~
Typically, when looking for a good spot to sit and eat, Ibai would join the nearest group of people and just start chatting away. He'd gotten to know several of Gohvis' subordinates much better as a result, but today, he wasn't feeling quite so sociable--and he already had Chergoa for company. He settled on a table in the far corner of the room.

'By the way,' said Chergoa as he was sitting down, 'have you found any neat books, lately?'

"Boy, have I!" he said mid-bite. "There was one I saw the other day called The Deadly Cantaloupe and the Five Rings of Mercy."

'I... see. What did you like about it?'

"Oh, I haven't read it yet, but with a name like that, it has to be incredible."

The reaper's tiny, plastic face seemed suddenly even more flat than it already was. 'Anything else?'

He took a minute to chew on that question and his chicken at the same time.

She'd been asking a lot about his reading list, lately, and the question as to why she was so interested had occurred to him a few times. He hadn't bothered to actually ask it, though, because he was a little afraid it might deter future inquiries. And he liked telling her.

Maybe she was honestly just curious, but Ibai had the feeling that she was looking for something. Maybe not something specific, though. Just something to latch onto. Something that might trigger a thousand-year-old memory, perhaps, and present her with an opportunity to learn some phenomenal secret.

In the short time he had known her, Ibai had come to care very deeply for Chergoa, but he was also not blind to the ambition that burned quietly within her.

He kind of liked that about her, too, though. It was good to be so driven.