The Tower of Brahma. Sexty. D. (edit)

6/1/09

"Hello Charles."

I coughed and gagged, hacking up quicksilver, mercury dripping from the corners of my mouth.

Air controlled scene, room temperature perfection, breeze blown by casually. His boots were worn, favorite status shown upon them. Slacks were tight and fit with a flair, suit jacket snapped just below the waist, shirt and tie topping it off. Comfort and power sat on his shoulders.

"I've been waiting on your arrival.", seeped from his smile. He nodded to my right.

I saw a towel beside me, swiped it, and cleared the muck from my face. A hatch seals itself closed behind me, a vent sucking down the remnants of fluid.

"Yeah? Great. I'm here." I was annoyed, out of my depth, and in need of a drink and a smoke.

A bottle of beer and a pack of cigarettes rose from the tile before me. A lighter and bottle opener appeared on the one adjacent. They warbled into the air from the ceramic surface, flickered like a hologram, and crackled into existence. My fingers connected with their molecular cohesion.

I popped open the beer, downed a third, stood up and tied the towel around my waist. I took my time in the process of opening the cigarettes, discarding the wrapping to the ground, where it evaporated, sliding a smoke out and placing it upon my lower lip. My top lip gripped the filter and my thumb ran along the gears of the lighter, igniting with a press of the gas lever.

The fire caught my eye, dancing picturesque before me, drawing it closer to my face. I sucked back on the cigarette and it caught fire, the tip of it blazing away down into my lungs. I felt a lump of smoke travel along my trachea. It expanded into my lungs. I hold it for a second then release it.

The smoke fills the space between him and I, dancing through whirling air currents, blown around and around again. I flick my attention up to his face, taking it in as my own, aged to perfection. Manly and confident, eyes not tucked behind protective lenses, a telling smile revealing all his secrets to me.

We had an understanding.

"So, the future. I do okay for myself." The cigarette was splendid.