67- While Baking Paper

Tau managed to find all of the ingredients on Cole's list around the kitchen and set each one onto the counter before returning to him with the news.

"Everything you asked for is here."

"Aren't you the lucky one. Kyffin, keep working your theory. I'm going to go teach a Reaper how to cook my famous dumpling stew. Need any help, just holler." Kyffin acknowledged Cole with a nod as he stood. "Alright, Tau, you go find me a nice big pot and set it out on the stove top. Quays used to love this stew," he explained as he joined him in the kitchen.

Retrieving the pot from the cupboard, he set it onto the stove, watching as Cole washed up and gathered the rest of the equipment he needed. Working together, Cole would move between instructing Tau in the kitchen, and offering advice to Kyffin in the living room, and Tau came to wonder in his observations of Cole's behavior, if this was why Quayleigh had taken such a liking to the man or if this was what she missed most about him.

Cole had a way about him that kept the atmosphere warm and inviting. He taught with a keen sense and stalwart patience, laughing off mistakes, and calmly correcting them over criticizing or complaining. There was an ease to working with him that Tau hadn't acknowledged from the night before, even though it had been present.

Now the only time Kyffin stopped working was when Cole handed him a bowl of stew, but even then, he only looked up long enough to thank him, and to question the contents of his dinner.

"I promise; I supervised the whole thing. It's safe to eat," Cole reassured him.

"That still doesn't get me any closer to knowing what's in it though."

"Try it before you go complaining. If it be good enough for Quayleigh, and it be good enough for me, then it certainly be good enough for you and the reaper."

"Firstly, we," referring to himself and Tau, "are not comparable. And again, that is not even close to an answer to my question," Kyffin stated with a sigh before digging in, his expression, per usual, not giving anything away.

"Do you like it?" Tau questioned after he watched Kyffin take several mouthfuls, feeling curious, and wanting more than a blank expression to go off of.

"Yes, it's quite good," Kyffin replied, which made Tau smile.

He wasn't entirely sure why it mattered that Kyffin enjoyed the meal, but it did, and he was pleased that his efforts were being enjoyed.

"I'm no master chef like Death," he said with an air of pride. "But I can now understand why he enjoys the process so much."

"Death cooks?" Cole questioned; his brows raised as if he were shocked by the idea.

Tau chuckled. "Yes, but no worries. It's not the same as this, and he does it only on incredibly rare occasions."

By the end of the hour, they had finished their dinner and Tau was busy in the kitchen cleaning up when he heard Kyffin remark, "This is it. I think I've done it."

"Let me see," Cole replied taking the notepad from him.

Drying his hands, Tau joined them around the coffee table as Cole examined the pages of Kyffin's work.

"I think you right. It should work with both of us here. But there be one thing we still don't know. Who we trying to reach?"

"You're going to have to ask the expert on that," Kyffin replied as he looked over at Tau.

"Naldinrenu is a fellow reaper and one I have aided for centuries. But you will have to explain to him how to respond to you. Unlike Dylan, if you can reach him, he won't understand what to do or why. The other option is trying to contact Dylan directly. I would attempt this first, assuming you know his name, and how he would spell it."

"Well now, that be a complication I didn't even think about," Cole said with a sigh. "I don't suppose you would know that information?"

"Unfortunately, not," Kyffin admitted as Cole handed him the notepad. "Let's just say that Dylan and I didn't have the best of relationships. That information isn't anything he would have ever shared with me. Caoimhín might know but I think it's best if we leave him out of this."

"Then it sounds to me like your reaper friend will be the one," Cole concluded as he looked back at the clock.

"There is one more problem though," Kyffin said as he put the notepad onto the table. "We don't know if my version of this ritual is even going to work, and there will be no way to tell if we made contact and got no response or if it failed outright."

"Test it on me," Tau suggested. "Quayleigh was able to contact me even though I was here, several times, without any difficulty. I can sit in the washroom, and you can see if it makes a connection."

"That's not a bad idea, but I prefer not to waste one of the scorpions on it. Go outside and dig up a worm for us. It won't last long but it should be perfectly fine for a test," Kyffin said as he began to clear the table. "Do you know where she keeps her bowl?"

"It be under the kitchen sink," Cole said as Tau headed towards the door.

"I'll be back shortly," he said before leaving the apartment and making his way outside.

Jogging across the parking lot to where the grass was overgrown along the fence, he grabbed a hold of a larger clump and pulled it up, digging through the roots and dirt until he found a large, wriggling worm. Putting the grass back, he returned to the apartment, where much to his surprise, Cole and Kyffin had moved the coffee table, and had already set up for the first part of the ritual on the same patch of floor that had been used the previous night.

"We're starting to make a habit of this," Tau remarked he handed Kyffin the worm.

"Excellent. I wasn't expecting you to find one so large. Nicely done," he replied, placing it onto the plate he had set out next to the ritual bowl, and covering it over with a glass.

"Tell Quayleigh that I will replace everything we've used."

"I'm certain she will appreciate that," Tau said as Kyffin began to pour different ingredients into the bowl.

Small amounts of oils, and drops of extracts and essences, several bits of crushed herbs and root, and fine powders, topped with a pinch of salt.

"Tu'flänndya," Kyffin breathed as he drew a symbol with his hand over the bowl, before dropping the tips of his fingers in and abruptly pulling them out; faint wisps of white smoke rising up and quickly clearing.

"Well, that be a good sign," Cole said as Kyffin pulled an intact sheet of the heavy stock paper from the chest of components.

Folding it in half, he creased the seam and carefully tore it apart, repeating the process twice more before pressing the paper into the bowl. Once they were properly soaked through, he lifted the pieces out and placed them onto a cookie sheet, covered in aluminum foil.

"While you keep an eye on those, I'll go run to the plaza; get the rest of the supplies we need," Cole said as he grabbed his jacket and put on his shoes. "What you say Tau? Want to come keep me company or should I just charge you for delivery?"

"Do you mind staying here alone Kyffin?" Tau asked as he watched him place the cookie sheet into the oven.

"I should be fine, but what time are you expecting Quayleigh home?"

"After twelve."

"Oh, that's plenty of time then. Cole, would you mind if I continued to study your book while I wait for the paper to bake?"

"I leave it in your most capable hands Kyffin. But I suggest you start reading it from the back," Cole replied with a bright smile. "Come on then, Tau, go wash your hands and grab your stuff. And don't forget your phone. If you need anything, you call him."

"I will, and thank you for everything," Kyffin said as Tau scrubbed the dirt from his hands.

"I'll finish cleaning up when I get back. Quayleigh would say, 'help yourself to whatever you like', but please leave enough stew for her for when she gets home. I would like for her to try it."

Gathering his coat, wallet, and phone, Tau followed Cole out to his car, leaving Kyffin behind to tend to the slow baking papers. Cole drove them across town to the plaza shopping mall in Dumont Plaza. This had confused Tau since the first moment he had been told of the place and found it quite odd that humans had named their mall after the county in which it was built, essentially giving it the name, 'The Dumont Plaza Plaza of Dumont Plaza. So, he tried not to think too much on the how and why of it, finding it to be nothing but human nonsense.

Cole talked a lot on the drive, about nothing that seemed that important. Only briefly touching on the subject of the ritual to verify a few minor details before moving on to other things. Tau greatly enjoyed the time he got to spend with him, and now that they had become friends, found a fondness for the old scoundrel's talkative ways.

When they arrived at their destination, Cole ended up having to park near the back of the lot and turned to Tau before getting out of the car.

"Don't wonder off once we inside. It's busy and I don't have time to be looking for you."

"I understand."

"You'd better. Quayleigh would be furious if I managed to lose you, and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't be accepting a castle from me to make up for it," Cole jested as he opened the door and stepped out.

The entire shopping trip was uneventful and as normal as one should expect of a man like Cole and a curious reaper. They went into the store together, and despite the frequent stops and curious wonderings of Tau, they managed to leave together with all of the items they had gone there for.

The ride back was much the same as the way there, but instead of Cole being the talkative one, Tau was the one who couldn't seem to stop himself.

"I've seen it a few times, but it still surprises me. There was nothing like that in my realm, but then again, we want for nothing. Everything we need is made for us by the Yioaleu or Death, but our needs are minimal; a new shroud or band on occasion, not much else. I'm close to one of the Yioaleu at the pools in my region. She recently finished a new shroud for me. It was larger than the one she had previously made, and heavier to. It was impressively made, and she took my old one to repair it. I think she understood that I was partial to it."

"You said this Yioaleu was a she?" Cole questioned with a tone of curiosity.

"Yes. All the Yioaleu have a female form."

"They a separate species from you or something?"

"No, not really. It's different there than here. While the Yioaleu are all female in form, the Sen'awan'qachi are all male. We don't separate ourselves by species in that sense. We all look and act different, but at our cores we are the same. We are our purpose, the thing for which we are made."

"And this lady friend of yours, she have a name?"

"Ycthndol."

"Any reason we shouldn't try to contact her?"

"Even if you reached her, she can't see, and she doesn't speak any language you would be familiar with," Tau replied catching himself smiling at the thought of her. "I can imagine her sitting with us though, enjoying a coffee. I think you would truly enjoy her company, Cole. And she would adore Quayleigh, I'm certain of it. She's really good to the other's also. I've seen her sit with Dgnuneir and help her with her weaving. Dgnuneir's incredibly shy. She doesn't spend time with anyone aside from Ycthndol and a few of the shepherds. I wonder if she's lonely or if that's simply how she prefers it?"

"Hard to tell, and I'm most certainly not the one to be asking on the subject."

"I know, it's just that I've never paid any attention to these sorts of things before. I remember the way we all interact, but it's so very routine. The only time I ever stopped was when Quayleigh contacted me, but even then, no one ever seemed to notice the delay of my schedule. Even when I was late, I was on time. It's very hard to explain what I mean, but it could explain why no one would notice if I was missing."

"Wouldn't Death eventually realize he be missing one of his reapers?"

"Eventually, maybe, but the last time I was called to his castle was the day of the feast of Ezra and that was years ago now. I think. My region is quite far from his castle too, so, I rarely get to see him. Even when he comes by to deal with a problem, he never stays for longer than it takes. I'm sorry. I don't mean to make him sound so unpleasant. He really isn't. He cares about all of us, in his own way. It's just that time moves different for us there. Years don't feel like years, and minutes can sometimes feel like forever. It's all just so very, arbitrary."

"I think I understand what you mean. Time be hard to gauge when you not beholden to it."

"Precisely," Tau replied taking in a sharp breath. "My time here with her is precious, and it's because it is so drastically inadequate. It feels finite, and I can conceptualize its limit, understand that it has an end. I want to give her everything I can while I am here; everything she has ever wanted. I want the pain of the past and all of her struggles to be over. I want to hold her and keep her close and never let her go; to treasure every moment, every spark of delight, every smile, and kind word. She is so beautiful," he explained as he pulled out his phone, unlocked it, and stared at the picture of them together in its gallery. "I wish it were possible to get a picture of us together, the real me with her I mean. But this will have to do. Even if I could shed this body, I still couldn't be with her, not like this. Not while she lives. This truly is as close as we can ever get."

"At least for a camera lens, mon amie," Cole said as he turned into the parking lot of the apartment building. "Let's go inside and finish getting this all set up, then I give you a little something to make that wish of yours come true, at least for a little while. Sound good?"

"That sounds like an impossible dream."

"Few things be truly impossible, Tau. Most just take an extra little bit of magic, and a whole lot of know how."