Araxis caught my eye and interceded before I fell into the abyss of an endless string ofwhys."Adrathi, I am pouring tea.Take a seat.No, that seat cannot be Sashen's lap.He only has one and that's hardly fair to the others."
"Idon't want to sit thereanyway," grumbled Sadin as Adrathi whined while she squirmed away and came to sit on the floor, still half-draped across my knee.
"That's a relief," I sighed."I think you might crush me.I'd become a liquid."
Araxis's mouth twitched.Sadin stared at me, wide-eyed."I wouldn'tcrushyou!I'm not that big!"
I shook my head."I've seen how tall you are, and Talvi told me you can lift them.You're probably made of pure muscle.I don't think I'd survive."
"Iam made of clouds," Adrathi hummed.She took the cup Araxis had set before her in both hands and slurped, purring in pleasure."So I wouldn't crush Sashen."
"Sashen says I'm made of – of –" Talvi blinked up me, a look of panic flashing over their face.I could see the cogs turning: what was lighter than pure muscle, but more substantial than clouds?
"You're made of mischief," I supplied."And dumplings."
Sadin trilled next to me."Youaremade of dumplings."
"Well, Sashen loves dumplings!Right, Sashen?"
"Sure do."I reached and took the cup Araxis held out to me, my fingers holding his for a moment.Our eyes met, my mouth curving in a smile – something intimate, and it made me feel cracked open and as if he were holding me, all at the same time.His hand slid away reluctantly.
A spike of cold jolted my hip, and I hissed, twisting, to find Adrathi had stuck her bare feet under the hem of my shirt.Araxis trilled a sharp, surprised laugh."Adrathi," he cried, "You know better!"
"Sashen iswarm," she whined, pressing her frigid feet harder into my skin."And I'm a cold cloud."The skin of her feet felt scaled, different than what I knew Araxis's skin felt like on his hands, his arms.Were there scales just in certain places, I wondered, or did it depend on someone's age?
"Here, give me your foot."I set my cup down, the sweet steam curling above the low table.Adrathi squirmed on the ground so that her back was perpendicular to my lap, her legs folded up over my thigh.I rubbed my hands together, huffed a breath into them, and rubbed them some more.And then I picked up her foot – the pad she walked on not much bigger than my hand – and I rubbed her toes vigorously between my palms.
Adrathi trilled, giggling and squirming."Do the other one!"she cried when I stopped, and so I did, and then Talvi was begging for a turn.Even Sadin asked if I could make his feetcozy, so it didn't take long for me to have three giggling, squirming children pooled around me while Araxis watched, looking a little dazed.The moment I picked up my tea, which was rapidly cooling, the children launched into a series of rapid-fire questions between cleaning out the rest of the bowls on the table.
"Do humans have dreams?"
"Yes."
"Do humans have bad dreams?"
"Sometimes."
"Do humans sleep?"
"Yup, quite a bit."
"Do humans hibernate?"
"No."
"Do humans have ears?"
"Hm," I said, tapping my ear thoughtfully."I don't know."That won a prolonged trill from Sadin, who'd asked the question and was clearly the resident troublemaker.
"Do humans have claws?"
"No, but we have fingernails.See?They're made from keratin, which is what our hair is made from."This little fact won some careful studying as Talvi and Adrathi took turns examining every inch of my hand,before Sadin grabbed the other one and started poking my nails suspiciously, before tugging gently at a curl of hair.He seemed skeptical.
"Do humans… have blood?"
"Yes."
"Do humans burp?"
