The sapphire jelly orb resting on the silk cushion began to shimmer with fine threads of sky gold. In a fluid, rising motion that looked like an upward fountain of pure water, Lin Xiao’s mass swelled, shifting into his human avatar.
Standing before the cedar table was a slender, graceful eighteen-year-old youth clad in azure-gray scholar linen. Silky raven-black hair fell loosely to his shoulders, framing calm, sparkling sapphire eyes. He stretched his arms, rolling his shoulders with a pleasant sigh. While he dearly loved the easy floating lift of being a blue sphere. He drew diagrams with a calligraphy brush was undeniably faster with opposable thumbs.
“Ling’er, fetch me three rolls of heavy drafting parchment and an inkstone,” Lin Xiao said. He pulled up the wide sleeves of his scholar robe. “And Old Gu, wipe that world-ending frown off your face. We have an entertainment empire to design.”
Su Ling’er didn’t hesitate. With a flick of her wrist, three long scrolls of stringy river-reed parchment unrolled across the table, held flat by polished white jade paperweights. She ground a stick of pine-soot ink against the stone with swift, practiced circles, her nine white tails swishing behind her in quiet excitement.
