My mates have been great. Even better than. Kehl is the chill that Cy and Elm lack when they get all fired up. Khel is the beast others don’t want to piss off for messing with his mate or his mate’s fellow mate-husbands.
Birch has even found his footing with Kehl. My horn headed fabric wizard was the big brother Birch always wanted but never had.
When Birch isn’t heckling his siblings, helping his parents restart their lives and farming out here, he’s learning how to weave with Kehl.
I’d almost think Cy was a little jealous of their bond at times, yet still happy for them both that they have that fellow kinship.
Cy was set for his first hunt. Zhuii offered and Cy politely refused at first, worried about leaving me, but Kehl assured him it was an honor for him to hunt for the village, if that’s what he wanted to do, and he’d never let anything happen to me. I knew Cy wanted to join a hunt so badly. He used to hunt with Forest back on Earth regularly. It was in his blood. He was skilled with a knife, a bow, just about anything he could get his hands on, Forest had made sure of that.
He’d impressed even Veck, who was a tough sell, with his abilities.
Elm was skilled too but hunting was never his thing. His first hunt with his brothers and father, he met up with me afterwards and told me he wasn’t interested in doing so again unless that was the only option for meat left to him.
Elm was working his way throughout the village, trying to find his right fit.
He was too antsy for the whole process of making fabrics, collecting wools, silks, carding, all the different nuances to textiles. My translations jobs weren’t his kind of thing either. I knew he needed something hands on, challenging, we just hadn’t figured out what yet. He was set to shadow Doogie next week and see if smithing was anything he was interested in. I had high hopes.
“You stay out,” Elm growled at Birch when it looked like Birch was going to jump in on our moment once more.
Ignoring Britches, I grinned at the basket filled feast they’d prepared. “Are those… potatoes?!”
Cy and Elm beamed. “Mama bring taters,” Elm rumbled out happily.
“Bring for our Pru, bring more ‘tatoes to grow,” Cy tacked on.
“Elm, Cy make. Kehl help,” Kehl rumbled out as he sidled up behind me and escorted me over to the blanket.
“They burn first few times. Birch help make. No know stoves good,” Birch helpfully added as he straight up crashed our romantic looking picnic and made himself comfortable just outside the edge of the blanket.
Cy snarled at him to go away and Elm bared his teeth at him. Birch simply pointed to the fact he was near the blanket but not touching it. Kehl snorted at the entire spectacle, and I cracked up.
“Why Birch not come? Birch come to Elm, Cy wedding!” Birch grumbled when it looked like they weren’t going to budge.
“You even married me in a fake wedding too,” I laughingly pointed out.
“Birch no want do that,” Birch assured them when Cy and Elm growled at him. “Britches same like play wedding. Only want the cake!”
“Just in time!” Sunny came marching up the path that led to the opening in the trees close enough to the village the guys had picked for our private picnic. “Birch let the cat out of the bag! I hope you don’t mind us barging in like this, but we wanted to make sure you had this!”
“Cake!” Birch crowed. Hopping up, he took off for Sunny.
Forest shoved the medium sized cake he was carrying for his wife into Birch’s grabby hands, grabbed at the hair at the back of his head like it was the most normal thing in the world to do to your adult child, and turned to drag him away without a word.
“Hey!” Birch growled around what sounded like a mouthful of cake, unfazed by his father’s rough handling, more perturbed with being bodily removed from the party more than anything. “Birch want see Elm ask Peru properly too!”
Forest grumbled in Creeson, “Not for you to see. Hear later,” and kept walking until he’d reached the end of the path to wait for Sunny.
“Birch!” Sunny snapped, exasperated. Smiling as she gently set the cake down, she gave me a hug, then all of her boys, Kehl included, and rushed off to rejoin Forest. On her way over, we heard a crack and turned to spy the tail end of Sunny cracking her palm across Birch’s jean clad backside. “You just wait! Those two are going to torture you when you finally settle down, believe you me!”
“Ow! What that for?” Birch grumbled. He sounded like he was trying not to laugh.
“Don’t ruin their romantic surprise!” Sunny grumblingly chastised him as they headed off into the village.
Cy stopped giving Birch’s back a death glare when he realized I was studying him curiously. “No spoil this one,” Cy grumbled. “Cy go first.”
Elm nodded, and Kehl watched on curiously.
With a flourish, Cy held out a small little box. It was hand carved. He’d taken up and then dropped whittling very quickly. It hadn’t occurred to me it was so brief simply because he might have just wanted to make something and that was it.
