"Mira!" I shout back at the easily distracted emerald. "This way, girl."
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She calls back, and then the sound of shattering glass is followed by a burst of green light and a yelp. "I—oh no! I broke it!"
Llywelyn sighs. "She's going to get us thrown out. Or arrested."
"I assume that Xilukulkas can pay for it."
"Probably, but it's the principle of the thing." He sighs, placing a hand on his hip. "Money doesn't undo the damage she's done and replace the lost item."
"You don't even know what it was."
Before he can respond, Mira appears once again around the corner. She appears to be holding... a light fixture. A shattered one. I'm not sure where the green flash came from, but it looks the same was what is on the wall near me.
I glance to him. My lips quirk up a little. "Irreplaceable."
"Shut up."
"Mira, what do you have there?" I ask, approaching her. I ignore the sullen fish behind me.
"Oh! This? It was in the wall, I touched it and it fell!" She holds it out to me. For a moment, I think she might be sheepish... but this is Mira. That is nearly impossible.
I'm not sure if it is biologically, I don't understand Kolumer enough.
But for Mira herself? I can't imagine it.
Instead she beams, looking absolutely proud of herself. "But it's so shiny and pretty! Look at it!"
"I'm looking." I say, and take it from her to inspect it. It's... a light. A very shattered light. The material it's made of is strange, a mixture of iridescence and some kind of... rubbery texture. It's like an oily soap bubble that's hardened. I've never inspected any lightbulb since I've left Earth, truly. So I'm not sure what's standard, but I feel like there are some distinct differences here.
It's beautiful in a way.
It also just looks like a broken light.
"Don't carry trash around." Llywelyn sighs. "They'll think that you broke it on purpose, and then we're back to fines and prison."
I squint at him. "Are they really going to arrest someone associated with the Great Xilukulkas over a light?"
I refuse, on principle, to say 'owned by'. Even if that might be the correct term to use in this case.
I won't do that.
He glowers, his ears flicking. "Maybe. These are antiquities, Sarah. Very old ones. What we're seeing isn't even... a drop in the bucket of what they actually have in the museum. The displays are just... highlights. They probably don't even know exactly what some of it is."
"That is a light fixture." I point out, holding it out to him.
He waves it away, dismissive. "A very old one."
I'm beginning to suspect he just doesn't want to admit he overreacted to the initial crashing sound. It's a bit cute.
I hand it back to Mira. "It isn't yours, though. You do have to go put it back. We don't want them to think Xilukulkas is stealing, right?" I give her a small smile, and she gasps.
"Oh! No! I'd never want that! I love Master!" She declares, turning back to where she came from. "I'll put it back! Don't worry!" And then she scurries away, the bottom half of her semi-translucent form briefly turning to a blur.
I let out a small laugh. "She's so..."
"I'd prefer the word 'absentminded' to whatever's in your head." Llywelyn murmurs, and then nods for us to continue walking. We do so, following the path marked out through the museum.
The walls are a bit like an aquarium, glowing softly with the lights that Mira had successfully broken a few moments ago. They curve, and the museum itself almost feels like a maze, though there is only one real path to follow. Every so often we pass some ancient relic from the galaxy's past behind a force field. So far we've seen things that apparently predate space travel, tools made of stone, and an old, corroded ship of a make and model I've never seen.
It's... interesting, and I'd be a bit more engaged if it weren't for the company. I find myself looking at Llywelyn more than I do the artifacts. And he's doing the same, sometimes giving me a disgruntled look before he forces his attention back to the museum displays.
Mira, on the other hand, seems equally distracted by each and every piece. She spends time inspecting everything in detail, her emerald form, and the strange emerald dress shape she's created for herself, draws in all of the glowing lights around her and bounces them out in a dazzling sparkle. As usual, really, but the lights are plentiful enough that it's mildly distracting.
I've still never asked her how her body shifts to appear to wear different clothes. It's just... pretty obvious by now that it does.
"Can I ask you a question?"
Llywelyn looks over at me with a raised brow. "You just did."
I roll my eyes. "Another one."
"Fine." He turns to face me, his arms crossing over his chest. "What is it?"
"Are there any Akutwas items in this museum?"
He tenses. His veins flare a brighter pink than I expect, and he turns his head. "No. Akutwas don't have 'artifacts' just lying around." He says, voice tight.
I frown. "I didn't mean to offend you."
"You didn't." He says, but his voice is still stiff. "Akutwas value privacy. We wouldn't leave our personal objects behind, and we wouldn't allow them to be put on display for strangers to gawk at."
I hum. That... makes sense. Though his reaction... I reach out and touch his arm. "Did you want to see something from home?"
He glances at me, and then away. "No." He says, quickly, but then sighs. "I don't know. Maybe. It doesn't matter. Seeing it wouldn't bring me any closer."
I hesitate.
I suppose he's right.
If I saw something from Earth, it's not like... I'd be going home. It's just a... reminder of what was.
"Sarah! Sarah!" Mira calls out from behind us, and I glance back to see her hurrying over, her form sparkling. "Did you see this?! It's so old and beautiful!" She holds up a... I think it's a bracelet? But it's also got a very long needle at the end. It's a metallic, shining object, and appears to be a bit rusty.
I blink. "How did you get that?"
"Kolumer can just reach their idiot arms through the forcefields." Llywelyn says before I can respond. "No pain receptors. And this field isn't strong enough to repel or damage her."
I blink, looking between Mira and Llywelyn, then to the nearest display. "Won't it set off an alarm?"
"Why would it do that?" Llywelyn asks, raising a brow. "Usually, Kolumer want to do anything other than be in a stuffy place like this, and almost nobody else would be able to reach through."
Mira holds out the artifact to me. "Isn't it pretty? I want to try it on!"
I frown down at the strange item for a moment.
"Mira." I summon a small smile. Llywelyn doesn't have any regard for her feelings. I know that. And I know it's because Kolumer aren't supposed to feel negative things.
But I...
Just can't believe Mira doesn't.
"Remember what I said about the light? They will think Xilukulkas is stealing if they see you with that. You have to put it back, okay?"
She... hesitates.
And then she looks at me, her eyes wide. I can't really read her expression.
She nods and bounces on her heels. "Okay!" She says, far more cheerfully than I expected. And then she runs off, back to the display and puts the strange bracelet thing back.
Whatever it was that caused the hesitation evidently does not interfere with her cheer. No doubt Llywelyn will consider that to be evidence that he's right.
I can't really argue with that.