Private An Awkward Prayer

Eri returned her smile with the bright and jubilant radiance of his own and he carefully got up from his cushion to greet her. "Hiya Levina, that's definitely it. All done and ready for you to look over. Although I know you're both going to just love it. Should be all polished up and ready for you to take."

He laughed and casually picked up the nearby tea kettle to hold in front of himself with a spare cup. "You're welcome to some tea too while you're here. You're always welcome to make yourself at home here even when not picking up a super special gift for someone you love," he winked and waited to hear what he expected to be her wanting to hurry to inspect the gift rather than rush him for some kind of gesture of thanks.

Of course that was a sneaky part about him holding the kettle anyways. It made things just awkwardly arranged enough that suddenly hugging him would be hard to do. At least without asking for him to put the hot kettle down first. He'd learned from mentally scarring a mob of thankful worshipers in the past who had rushed to hug him only to accidentally shatter him by mistake.

Erione laughed deeply and with it there seemed to be a faint tinkling from the glass chimes around the exterior of the chime as if they were joining in. Or maybe there was just a slight breeze out there. Either way he was filled to bursting with mirth. "All I ask for is for you two to enjoy the gift as much as you can. That is more than enough for me."

As she packed the knives up he set the kettle and cup back down, figuring the danger had passed and she probably didn't want any tea at the moment. "I wouldn't mind either or both of you coming to visit from time to time though. Here or any of my other shrines. I can't ask that you worship me but I can ask you to visit," he chuckled again and shrugged.

Besides, what else would a god like him ask for? This was what he did for people as part of being who and what he was.

Erione couldn't stop smiling. He could feel the warmth of her appreciation adding to the happy cloud in his very core.

"Oh no, I guess I don't. Sometimes my worshipers leave some of those packets you can add to hot water for that but im all out. I can go get us some if you don't mind waiting a couple minutes? I can travel pretty fast if I've been somewhere before and I know a lot of cute little cafes around the city."

"That would be wonderful either way. I'll be right back with the cocoa," he beamed and reached out to place his hand on the large glass shard that made up the centerpiece of his altar. Suddenly he shattered into thousands of tiny colored glass shards and they all rushed into the surface like a reverse waterfall.

A few minutes went by before Erione returned the same way but in the opposite direction, pouring out of the glass in his multicolored stream until reforming near her with two still- steaming cups in hand and a small white paper bag tucked under one arm.

"Figured a could fresh croissants couldn't hurt either," he laughed and offered one cup and the bag to her as he found a seat in a cushion nearby.

"You and your cocoa scheme aside, how are you doing by the way?"

For his part, Eri again used the altar as a side table, scooting aside a handful of colorful wrapped candies and a hand-knitted hat to set his drink down. Which also freed his hands for easier munching on pastries of course as he listened with calm interest.

There was no pressure to answer quickly and Erione waited with patience until she answered before he replied. "I'm glad to hear you're doing well now. I know you used to be super busy. I bet it's nice to focus some of all that extra energy you have on something that will give it back too." He smiled and nodded at where she put away the knives.

"If you ever need someone to talk to I'm easy enough to get ahold of. Even if it's not glass-related."