Page 40 of D'Vaire or Nothing
“Is it possible for me to observe your instructions?” asked Norilethi, a fellow sprite with lovely carnation pink streaksrunning through his tresses. “This is the first time I’ve been in an arcade. There are a lot of machines, and I’m not sure what to do. Maybe I should’ve mentioned that I was new to this when you asked me to join you, Jace. Oh, perhaps it’d be best for someone else to help me? I don’t want to intrude on a matebond.”
“It’s fine, I’m sure Kit can show us both how to do everything,” Jace assured Norilethi.
“Pay attention and keep your questions to a minimum or we won’t get to enjoy ourselves,” Starivartrys advised Norilethi. Starivartrys was a white-haired sprite with vivid green eyes.
Norilethi’s mouth firmed, and his gaze hit the floor. Rushing over to comfort him, Tiri put an arm around his shoulders and steered him toward Zane.
“Zane has made me an expert; I’ll teach you,” Tiri told the sprite who was too often brushed aside by his people because many felt he talked too much. They didn’t do it on purpose to hurt him, and Norilethi never complained, but Tiri thought it was unfair. Starivartrys was usually sweet and a dear friend to Tiri. However, Tiri wished Starivartrys were kinder to Norilethi.
“Oh, thank you, Tiri, I will try not to ask too many questions.”
Zane grabbed a ball from the machine next to him and handed it to Norilethi. “No such thing as too many questions. Now, take this ball and hurl it at those holes ahead of you. Aim for the ones with the biggest numbers on those vinyl cups around the holes. The higher your score, the better.”
“I should throw it?” Norilethi asked, his pink gaze perplexed as he studied the machine.
“It’s more of a roll up the ramp,” Tiri explained. “We’ll consider this your practice game, so focus on getting the hang of rolling the ball. Worry about your score next time.”
“Okay.” With fierce concentration on his face, Norilethi chucked the ball up the ramp, and his mouth dropped when theball fell right into the cup in the dead center, which gave him the highest points possible. “I did it!”
Kitlivri’s twin brothers both stared at Norilethi with surprise and suspicion in their matching purple eyes.
“Are you sure you haven’t played before?” asked Caelmyron, one of the brothers.
Vondaelyn glanced at Tiri. “Did you give him private lessons?”
“Our family doesn’t trust us,” Zane drawled. “That’s rude.”
“I agree,” Tiri said. “Ignore them, Norilethi. You have eight more balls.”
“Eight more?” Norilethi asked. “At least I have many tries to get a high score. That’s good. I’m not sure I can get it in that center once again. It was probably lucky. I think it was, at least. Well, I tried to aim it, but since I’ve never played, I wasn’t sure what that meant. Only it worked, so I’m going to do the same thing.”
Tiri leaned into Zane and waited patiently for Norilethi to relax. The sprite eventually rolled his second ball, but it went far to the right and only gained him a few points.
“This will take practice,” Norilethi muttered.
“I guess that first ball was beginner’s luck,” Caelmyron taunted.
“Okay, so what’s your excuse?” Jace asked. “You have experience and you’re on your fourth ball. Norilethi has a higher score than you. So do I.”
“Maybe I’m terrible, Jace,” Caelmyron retorted.
“I don’t know why he added the wordmaybe,” Starivartrys commented.
“How is your game going, Stari?” Norilethi asked.
Starivartrys shook his head. “Like Cael, I’m horrible at this. But that’s okay because I’m going to challenge someone to air hockey soon, and I’m good at that.”
“No one wants to play against you,” Vondaelyn told Starivartrys. “None of us can beat you, and it’s boring to lose constantly.”
“I’ll play with you, Stari,” Norilethi volunteered.
“Wrong, Von, I’m going to play with Norilethi,” Starivartrys taunted and stuck out his tongue at Vondaelyn.
“When I was the lone sprite in the Council, I envisioned my people as mature, confident, and loving,” Tiri told Zane, who was watching him with humor dancing on his handsome face. Reaching up, Tiri cupped Zane’s jaw with both hands where Fate had placed teal scrollwork on the day they bonded their souls. “I was wrong. Sprites are as weird as everyone else in the Council.”
“Good thing I knew you were weird from the day we met,” Zane teased with a soft kiss. “Okay, Norilethi, let’s go to ball three. Adjust your stance a little and take a step to the side to see if we can get your ball to go more to the center again.”
“Is air hockey very difficult to play?” Norilethi asked and did as he was instructed. Although he didn’t have the same success as his first ball, there was an improvement in his score, which pleased Tiri.
