Rewa tightened her tail around her leg and looked away. “I am hungry. I will show you where the food court is if you tell me of desga,” she offered in way of a trade. He wondered if asking after the topic of most interest to the youngest male was her way of apologizing to her companions for her error. He had seen his parents do the same.
But he wasn’t sure how he could show his own willingness to compensate others for making them uncomfortable. It took him a moment to compose the best response. “After we eat, I could show you a storyscroll about hunters from Prabrateakil who tracked a whole herd when the people were starving. It has illustrations and everything.”
“Where is Prabrateakil?” the young male asked.
“It is the town where Imshee first landed, and the Grandmothers were abandoned.” Takil whispered the last part. It was a morbid topic and his parents would most likely advise against speaking of it. However, all the other Rownt leaned closer, even Rewa.
“I know who has the best da-nut breads,” she said, sounding excited.
The skin around Takil’s eyes tightened. He loved da-nut bread. “I have preserved cinnamon.” The bitter spice was suspended in purified oil so it kept its potency and could be spread on foods.
“Then our profits are better together than separately,” Rewa said. “Where are your quarters? I can show you all the shortcuts in the tuk personal quarters.” She tightened her eyes at him. Takil felt pride that his first trade in this new home had turned out so well.
“We live in the rooms with the spacescape on the door.”
The second female spoke for the first time. “I know exactly which one that is.” She took off up the stairs, and Takil and Rewa and the male whose name Takil had not yet learned all ran up the stairs after her.
Halloween on Earth
“What is the point ofthese identity-hiders?” Takil watched the trick-or-treaters out of the corner of his eyes.
“Do not judge,” Ondry said. The base of his tail thickened, as if he was trying his best to avoid twitching his tail at his son. Liam bit the inside of his cheek to avoid smiling. Takil was getting old enough now that he didn’t appreciate any sign that his parents were amused at his expense. The fifth was such a sensitive decade.
“They are taking part in a cultural custom,” Liam said blandly. He’d loved trick or treating as a kid, but he had to admit that he didn’t quite understand it now. Then again, he didn’t understand huge chunks of human culture, so he wasn’t surprised.
“What is the function?”
“To get candy.”
Takil watched from the patio of their cafe as a group of children ran up to a shop and held out their bags. Childlike voices cried out “Trick or treat,” and a waiter dropped candy into each bag while talking to the children about their costumes.
“He gives them treats.” Takil’s emphasis on “give” and his disgust made it perfectly clear that he disapproved, but then he was coming to the age when he would rather steal for himself. He was a mini-Ondry, not that Takil would’ve appreciated that comparison.
Ondry might strain his tail trying to avoid twitching it in aggravation, but then Takil was not well-behaved tonight. This was the first time they’d gone out into the town using the holiday and the shadowed patio to watch without the military escort that followed them when they were on a human-owned world.
“That is their culture,” Liam said mildly, but Takil must have heard the censure in Liam’s voice because he paled and hunched his shoulders. Guilt made Liam want to take the words back, but Takil needed to be more respectful. If he wanted to make a name as a trader with multiple species, he needed to respect them. And Takil was not the most respectful Rownt to ever fall out of an egg. It made Liam wonder if Ondry had been the same. Probably. After all, he admitted that he had trespassed on others’ territories to introduce himself—a sin only a child would be forgiven for. But they were ship traders. They couldn’t afford to have Takil insult their trading partners. Humans wouldn’t dismiss a fifty-six year old’s disrespect as a child’s antics.
