"But maybe it"s better to stay away from such friends?"

"Maybe it"s better – but I like to risk, and it"s a good chance to test my luck! And I"m sure you won"t be at disadvantage either. You have to join us. I"m speaking straight, I can"t come up with clever speeches like Orel. Will you join us?"

"I will," Nikto said.

"Well, Tol, today is your day," Lis said.

"Let"s toast. For all of us!" Enriki raised his glass.

They drank some wine and lit cigarettes.

"Can you read and write?" Tol asked Nikto after a while.

"Yes," Nikto said; he smoked leaning against the back of the chair, as usual. The scar crossing his face seemed black in the dim light.

"Human language? Or Unclean?"

"Both. And Red too."

"Cool!" Tol was surprised. "But do you write like you speak?"

"What do you mean?"

"Hmm, a little incorrectly, you"re speaking not quite like we do. Same words but somehow another feeling."

"I think Tol means accent," Lis said. "You speak with an accent yourself, Tol."

"Me? You"re kidding."

Everyone laughed.

"Do I write with an accent?" Nikto smiled. "No, Tol, I write better than I speak."

"And I speak better," Tol said and everyone laughed again. "Lis is lying about me having an accent! Do you see me having an accent, Nikto?"

"No, I don"t."

"See?" he turned to Lis showing him a fist. "Don"t you dare kid me."