Salaras Waits

Salaras sought solace in the fact that they wouldn’t have stand there much longer. The street they stood on reached so high that they could see who was coming for miles and miles, but the woman she was looking out for was still missing from the panorama. The number of legs on the passer-by’s stayed depressingly in double digits and the great scuttling masses they supported passed Salaras with about as much excitement at Salaras’ as they were of news of the plague. However, they supposed that they could tolerate Salaras, for now.

But there, the glint of a small form with only two sets of paired legs was scrambling out of the way of the larger pedestrians.

‘Kayma’ Salaras thought, almost feeling their brain take a mental breath at the sight of her. Salaras raised their arm in a causal attempt at greeting her... date? Salaras pushed that thought from their mind as quickly as they could. No. Kayma was here to discuss purely business, wasn’t she? Salaras rubbed the lump that was forming in their throat.

‘Salaras! I have been looking forward to this for... long than I would care to admit’ Kayma’s voice echoed a more than welcome welcome in Salaras’ mind. It felt like a warm shower was hitting Salaras’ head just right.

“Lovely tae see yeh again! Aye, lovely...” Salaras petered off, the lump was travelling down to their stomach now, growing as it moved deeper. They felt a little heat growing in their cheeks as well.

They reached one another and Kayma reached out her tendrilled hands towards Salaras, rapping long fingers loosely around their arms. Then came the mental explosion.

Images stood tall in both their minds before being whisked away, smoothed back into the mixtures of their desires. They both stood wrapped together at the top of a high tower, watching the beings below walk, and scuttle and slither below them. They sat together in a small room, specially adapted to fit both of their physiologies, and moved pieces on a huge board before them. They staggered around a series of badly wallpapered rooms, drinking various liquids. They broke apart and Salaras almost fell on their arse.

They best and worst part of meeting after so long were the visions. Salaras’ head pounded like one of the many passing feet were stamping on it and Kayma looked little better, her tendril fingers flexing involuntarily, as if they’d just been given a good shock.

“Ah guess it his been a wee while, eh?” Salaras gasped and Kayma’s red head nodded in agreement, her four legs barely seeming to hold her weight.

‘That it has, too long hmmm?’ Kayma’s voice soothed the throbbing in Salaras’ brain more than any pill or balm, but it still ached. ‘Now, let us get ourselves down to the business at hand’.

Hesitantly, Salaras reached out their hand again and Kayma’s tendril fingers stretched out to meet it. Taking hold again brought no new visions, only warmth, and together they turned and walked away along the busy streets, searching for a drink.