There was a quiet sound behind me.I twisted and saw two familiar faces lingering in the doorway.As soon as I made eye contact with Talvi, they scurried around the corner and dropped down on the floor next to me, their eyes big and black and wide with curiosity."You smell like Araxis," they said plainly, reaching and plucking a dumpling with their pale little fingers from one of the bowls.
"That'srude," hissed Adrathi, who had lost her shyness around me two days earlier and so crawled directly into my lap.She reached for the closest bowl, just beyond her fingertips, so I shifted and pulled it a little closer.Her trill vibrated against my chest as she pulled thebowl into her lap and started eating pieces of a sweet white vegetable.
"It's not rude because I'm not sayingwhatSashen smells like.I saidwho.Right, Sashen?"Seeing Adrathi's approach, Talvi grabbed two bowls and hauled them to the edge of the table so that they could stuff their face with the remaining dumplings and the last bits of a fermented grain that had been rolled into tiny balls and fried.
"I like that you're curious," I said, watching as Talvi scarfed down food faster than I would have expected.What would I do if they choked?"Your Araxis let me borrow his jacket.Hey, slow down."
"Yeah," said Adrathi around a crunchy mouthful."And our Vivith says you shouldshare.Talvi, trade me."
They carefully exchanged dishes, helped by my steady hand, and Adrathi snuggled harder against my chest.Her braided crest dug into the skin of my clavicle.She twisted suddenly, poking her head out beneath my elbow to stare at the doorway, nose scrunching."Comeeat," she insisted."Don't just stare."
I turned my head, and saw Sadin lurking in the shadows, shoulders hunched, his unbound crest rustling just slightly.He scowled when he saw me looking.Well, you couldn't win them all, but…
I patted the floor on my other side, and then gently nudged the bowl with the spicy beetles to the edge of the table.Sadin's bare feet made soft padding sounds as he walked across the room and dropped down to the floor next to me.He tugged the bowl closer and started crunching on the beetles in their shiny sauce.
"Why's your crest like that?"asked Adrathi, twisted now so that she was facing my chest and staring upwards at my face.
"It's not a crest.It's hair."
"And why is your face like that, up above your eyes?"
"Also hair."
She reached up a hand, still a bit sticky from picking away at the food.
"Adrathi, have you asked?"Araxis held a tray with a steaming pot of tea and five little cups, each one small enough to fit in one hand.There was also a shallow bowl, sitting atop a folded piece of fabric – that was new.
Adrathi rocked back a little, sitting herself in the dip where my ankles crossed, frowning.
Talvi had since squirmed to their feet and come to stand by my shoulder."Sashen, can I touch yourhair?"
I glanced at Araxis, who settled back on his cushion, my eyebrows raised.Was this okay?He smiled and raised one shoulder in a very abayan approximation of a shrug; the smallest smile curved his lips, almost hidden away.
He lookeddelighted, but like he was afraid he might ruin it if he breathed wrong.
"Go ahead," I said, and at once two children reached and began stroking my head.Talvi trilled with laughter, Adrathi purring a sweet, rumbly sound of pleasure.
"It's soft!"she cried, and then she poked at my eyebrow, wrinkling her nose happily."These ones are so short."She let her hands follow my eyebrows, and then she poked and prodded her way down to my jaw."How come it's different here?"
"I grow hair there too.I usually cut it off."
"Like claws," Adrathi said sagely."What happens if you don’t?"
"Nothing.It just grows longer."
"Like these?"She poked my eyebrows.
"No, those only grow that long."
"Why?"
"I don’t know."
"How come you cut this part?"My jaw again.
"I like how I look without it."
"Why?"
