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Here is today’s look into the world of Curio Citizen:
Cálido Reúnen is Inquieto’s younger brother and is the Earth equivalent of 19 years old. He has an insatiable sense of humor, which is his way of lightening tension and keeping peace in social interactions. He is an expert at walking the line between jests in good humor and insults, and so it is extremely rare he actually offends any paz with his lighthearted jibes. His skills are put to the test when he meets Carmen, however.
In addition to his wit, Cálido is a genius when it comes to engineering and programming, and he "tinkers" with machines in the basement workshop of his parents’ home. He can be quite handy in a tricky situation--if he can be convinced to participate.
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Inquieto smiled down at me, and I stepped back from the door as I heard footsteps on the other side.
“Weeeell, look who cleans up nice.” Inquieto made an annoyed clicking sound.
“Cálido,” he said, “really?”
Cálido smirked, and then eyed me up and down. I looked at him with an expression that echoed Inquieto’s word.
He was shorter than Inquieto and looked a few years younger, but there was a definite resemblance. They both had high cheekbones and nicely-shaped lips with just the right fullness. He was dressed in similar black fabric, but had draped a salmon sash across his chest, trimmed with fine threads of gold. He wore the same pin on his chest that I did.
“Well, it—she does,” he said. “Though that scowl is the same.”
“Maybe, if you—”
“Carmen,” Inquieto interrupted the insult he no doubt sensed was forming on my tongue and placed his hand on my shoulder. “This is my brother, Cálido. Cálido, this is Carmen. And yes, she is in much better condition than when you saw her last, now that she is recognized as a person.”
Fantastic. His brother had seen me before. One of my many visitors at the Museum. I swallowed my outrage and flush of humiliation and gave a short nod.
“It’s nice to meet you, Cálido,” I said as clearly as I could.
He laughed. “Ah, this is great,” he said. “She can talk.” He turned around and waved us inside. “Father’s making tilt-sticks; he’s around back,” he informed us over his shoulder as he walked off.
I sent Inquieto a wide-eyed glare.
“Don’t worry about Cálido,” he said. “He’s easily amused. Mother and father will be less...”
“Rude?” I offered.
“This is a new situation,” he corrected. “Try to be understanding.”
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Whether Inquieto had specifically invited him for my benefit or not, I was glad for the company. Teasing as it was, Cálido’s sense of humor was bold compared to most paz, different from Inquieto’s gentle sarcasm laced with worried affection. I could relate to Cálido on a more human level, even if he did share the pervasive paz outlook that everyone was innocent and never intended any harm to one another. If anything, his jokes were his way of keeping peace, of laughing off any potential, awkward situations to make people smile. He lived up to his name, Warm. He was vivacious as fire and as kind and comforting as a mug of hot chocolate.
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Thank you again for all of your help!
-Katherine
