As Jgel disappeared down the hallway to my right, a door sounded from the hallway to my left, toward the front of the RV. A cautious young stellymn drifted toward me, a young girl dressed in a delightfully loud purple dress. Her navy hair was falling in twin pigtails down by her round face as her white halo eyes focused on me intently. She reached the end of the hallway as our stare down continued, and I smiled at her warmly to try and ease the trepidation she seemed to wear as easily as her dress.
“Hi there.” My voice shook with nerves, but I cleared my throat in an attempt to cover it up. “I’m Krueger. What's your name?”
She looked me up and down, as if analyzing my entire existence as well as the words exchanged. Finally, she must have found something in her search that warranted a smile, the small lifting of her lips brightening her otherwise stoic face. Slowly inching toward me, she said, “Betz.”
“That's an awesome name.” I grinned. I wasn't super well versed talking to kids, but I knew I could hold a conversation. “I work with your mom.”
“At the haunted place?” Betz' inflection was suddenly adorned with interest.
“Yep, at the haunted place.” I chuckled.
Betz looked like she was about to say something else, but the sound of her parents parading toward us cut off anything she was about to say. Turning my head away from her, I took in the pair of adult stellymn as they walked together to the hub of the living area. Khalice looked as fierce as she always did, but herfeatures didn't cushion or curb when they took in the sight of me like I'd expected. Instead, she kept her edge as she spoke.
“Krueger.” Her voice was steel and cutting, but not outright rude. “I see you've met the entire family.” Her head tilt gestured toward her daughter.
Betz smiled, giving her mom a guarded look. “Krueger seems nice, Mommy. He has a funny name.”
“He certainly does.” Khalice grinned, which at least put me a little at ease. I was beginning to feel like I'd done something wrong by showing up at their doorstep. “Betz, darling, can you give the adults a few minutes to talk?”
“Okay.” Betz nodded, locking eyes with me again. "Bye Krueger." She chuckled as my name passed her lips.
"Nice meeting you, Betz."
The youngest stellymn retreated back to the side of the RV she had come from, the faint closing of the door signifying that I was alone with Khalice and Jgel. They sat on either side of the dining booth across from me, shifting so that they were facing me appropriately. Jgel wore a lazy smile, clearly his default, while Khalice appeared reluctant as hell.
“You have a wonderful family. Your kids are lovely.” I tried to ease the tension by giving the compliment, but Jgel took it immediately and lassoed it away from my guided grasp.
“That’s nice of you to say, but Chrizel didn’t give the best impression.” He sighed heavily, but the smile staining his lips didn’t waver. “But I’m glad Betz behaved herself. You’d thinkshewas the older one.”
“How old is she?”
“She’s ten.” Jgel nodded.
“I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon after work,” Khalice interrupted, folding her arms across her chest, reminding me of Chrizel's earlier coldness. “What are you doing here?”
“Sorry if I'm intruding,” I paused, seeing the angular gaze that Khalice wore that told me I kind ofwasintruding in her opinion. “But I've befriended a few of the locals from the park, and they have a bonfire every once in a while, free drinks and midnight s'mores for everyone. And I just thought I'd invite you guys. I didn't know you lived here the first time I went, and now that I do, I thought I'd extend the invite.”
“Well that's quite nice of you.” Jgel beamed, looking to his promised for a follow up comment.
“Very nice,” Khalice agreed, but she shook her head. “But not necessary. We won't be attending.”
My brow itched with questions. Khalice wasn't nearly this cold to me at work. In fact, she was one of the more sprightly co-workers, so I didn't understand where this frigid air was coming from. I would have contemplated whether or not I'd done something to offend her, but I hadn't even worked alongside her in the past couple of days, so I couldn't think of anything that would have birthed this new front.
“Khalice,” Jgel sighed, his tone somber and comforting as he placed a hand on her knee. “He's just being friendly.”
I watched as a myriad of emotions played like vibrant scenes across her face. Anger, guilt, fear, annoyance. They all muddled along the lines of her face until I wasn't sure which one she was leading with.
“I’m sorry for being dismissive, Krueger.” Khalice sighed, grabbing her promised's hand and squeezing it affectionately. “I know you mean well. But being stellymn while living here is...complicated. We have a verystrainedrelationship with humans and I suppose I'm not used to being surrounded by them like we are at this park.”
“Chrizel's birthright manifested.” Jgel explained, nodding after his promised's words. “It's when a stellymn comes into their fire and starts being able to produce flame.”
I worked overtime to keep my eyes from widening. I didn't even know stellymn could create fire like that. When Khalice had previously mentioned that Chrizel had manifested his powers and burned the house down, I didn't think she actually meant he'dburned the house down.
“And so you guys had to move here after what happened to your house.”
“Exactly.” Khalice sighed again, tilting her head away from me. “And I suppose I'm also a little...tightly wound over having to live here, even if temporarily.”
“Alittle?” Jgel teased, earning him a playful swat of the knee as Khalice unfurled their hands from each other.
