How Six Saved the Frogs, page 25
“Holding hands is not a request to mate.” Six’s face turned as red as hair. “It can convey intimacy, but also friendship. Whether it leads to more is for each to decide. For me, it’s my way of showing you I care about you.”
It came out in stutters. Nif had embarrassed Six with his question. He apologised. Pim growled, pushing against Nif’s left arm. It was easiest to assume it agreed.
“No need. I’m just glad I didn’t press our hands together from palm to fingers. That still wouldn’t mean… just… I… I’m not looking for that kind of intimacy.”
Oh. Oh. “Neither am I.” There. He clucked it. Though, Six could probably have reached that conclusion from the colours flashing across his skin.
Six did study his skin for a moment, but then he lifted his gaze and smiled. That wide one that made his entire face light up. “Like it was meant to be. To travel to such a distant planet to meet someone who feels the same as I do.”
Six’s words touched Nif’s heart. They reflected his own feelings, turning his skin a warm, bright pink. “The sefoni sending us humans was meant to be.”
They ambled along the stream as dark set in, enjoying the blooming night flowers opening up in the fields. Though Six mostly seemed to stare at the stars. There were so many. Nif enjoyed their twinkling, especially while resting on a leaf and listening to music. Despite the foliage hiding most of them. Here there were no trees blocking their view. No clouds, either. No wonder Jack was eager to leave in the morning. Such a clear sky meant cold would settle in soon.
“It’s strange to watch the stars here.” Six traced his free hand above his head, creating shapes. “It wasn’t as bad in the forest, but here, I keep feeling disoriented, because I don’t recognise any of the shapes.”
“‘Shapes’?”
“Yes. Groups of stars form shapes that have meaning. Too many to mention. But most people can recognise some shapes. I can’t find any that make sense here.” He kept tracing the stars. “Do stars form shapes that have meaning to bani?”
Shapes in the stars? Nif thought hard, but came up with nothing and flashed a negative. “Sprog try to count them when they can’t sleep, but we mostly just enjoy watching them twinkle.”
“That’s fun, too. We count a species of wilds when we can’t sleep.” He tried to explain the wilds they counted. Wilds on four legs with white fur that looked like clouds. Fur humans made their wrappings from in a long-forgotten time.
Nif tried to imagine them, seeing wilds like Pim with cloud bodies. How many of those would a human need to make wrappings?
It didn’t matter, though. Because through all that, Six still held Nif’s hand, and it felt good. Warm—humans carried so much heat—a bit damp, but… safe, appreciated, cared for. He enjoyed holding hands.
Six seemed to have an entire language when he squeezed Nif’s hands. When he smiled and squeezed, he seemed to want to reassure him. But when they came across the blirzi—resting before crossing the stream and meeting up with their kin—squeezing Nif’s hand seemed to mean tension, maybe even fear. Six still didn’t like the blirzi. Nif gently pulled Six around and guided him away from them.
“I’m glad the blirzi in basket trick worked,” Six clucked with a shudder. “But never again.”
“Watching them attack the predators…” Nif trailed off and swallowed. “It was horrifying, but at the same time, I wanted them to hurt those predators.”
A reassuring squeeze. “You are safe now. They can’t hurt you anymore.”
Six’s leg still seemed a bit stiff. Or you, Nif wanted to cluck. Maybe he’d ask Sop to share a leaf tonight. He didn’t want to sleep alone.
When it became too dark to walk, they returned to the curly heather they’d slept on to heal. Nif was used to Jack and Six sleeping close together, but Jack’s basket wasn’t here. Six clucked nothing about it as they sat, sides touching. He let go of Nif’s hand. Nif wanted to protest, but then Six leaned back on his elbows and resumed staring at the stars through the foliage. Pim jumped from Nif’s arm onto Six’s lap.
“From here, I can almost imagine familiar star shapes, can almost feel like my kin are here with me.”
Like Ruben, Six’s age mate. He didn’t cluck their name, though. Neither Six nor Jack seemed eager to cluck about them. Did that mean Six wished he was back on Earth?
“Ma would love Pim. They weren’t just great with taking in us sprog, but stray wilds as well.”
“Taking in sprog?” What did that mean?
Six seemed to think about that. “Humans grow up in clutches. Not like here, where all of you create sprog and appoint minders to take care of them. But a clutch takes care of sprog they bear themselves. Unless they’re unable or choose not to bear sprog. Then they take in those that are left without minders.” He glanced at Nif. “I hope I’m explaining it right.”
Nif flashed agreement. “Wilds do the same. And some flyers, too.”
“Of course. Well, Ma, my minder, really loves wilds, too. When any of us took home a wounded one, Ma would take care of it.”
Jack mentioned pets. Humans took wilds as pets. “Did she name them?”
Six laughed. “Unless we named them first.”
If memories made Six laugh like that, maybe he wouldn’t mind a question about Ruben.
“Are you comfortable?”
Sitting this close, with Six warm as a leaf in the sun when it was time to rise, Nif was warm and sleepy and happy. And he couldn’t make himself move away from all that warmth. He was definitely comfortable.
“All right, then. So. Do any of your stars have names?”
Nif flashed confusion. Maybe not the time to ask about Ruben. “They are stars. Old and young in the circle of their life. It is not for us to name them.”
He could sense Six’s amused outburst coming by the way his body shook. “Humans name everything. They either want to claim it, or be named as the first person to discover it. Though, naming stars makes it easier to track where they are in the universe.”
“We have no need to claim the stars, nor travel the universe.”
“You never thought of visiting another planet?”
Nif didn’t have to think about that. “No. We are happy here.” What more could bani need?
When Six fell silent and lay back Nif missed that warmth. And it wasn’t even that cool. He could claim a leaf, and maybe even find his music box. But in the end, Nif didn’t want to leave Six…
“It warms me that you clucked to walk with me. I had a lovely time.”
That decided it. “I very much enjoyed taking a walk with you.” That Six wasn’t interested in a splash about made Nif feel more confident. “I would like to stay with you tonight.”
Six blinked and went still. “I would like that, too.”
As Nif settled on the curly heather, he offered his hand for Six to hold, pleased when Six beamed and took it. Was he sad Six would leave once they reached their winter habitat? Yes. But even if their… bond might not last long, Nif was going to enjoy every moment.
So, they lay together, hand-in-hand, gazing at the few stars visible through the foliage, and clucked about kin and Earth, and their winter habitat.
Twenty-Eight
Path Unwinding
Jack couldn’t continue their trek without promising the blirzi that the Alliance or the sefoni would help retrieve their deceased kin. “It’s the least we can do,” he’d said as the blirzi were about to cross the stream. Especially when the blirzi had promised to sit—so to speak—with all three species during another period of truce after the trek back to the bani summer habitat. He’d sent another coded message to the Alliance, with Vek’s permission. They would send word to the sefoni the moment they reached the winter habitat.
The next days seemed longer, seemed to pass slower than the first half of the trek. Maybe because they were all still processing the events of the past few days, and the loss of their kin. Maybe because Jack had adjusted their schedule. He’d reduced their midday rest by a fifteen minutes, and had them walking an hour longer before settling down for the night. It was nothing they couldn’t handle, and the stories about the fallen bani were a welcome distraction, and motivation, but Wouter still felt… more tired. As if he’d lost all the stamina he’d built up during the first half of the trek, despite the cooler weather, Pim’s gentle growling, and the new shorts, which were very comfortable and light, and didn’t chafe.
Nif assured him it would get better. “Your body is still rechannelling energy for healing.”
While the days were hard, Wouter looked forward to the nights, even when his body ached and twitched. Because, instead of retreating to a leaf, Nif joined him on the curly heather, where they chatted and fell asleep holding hands. Woke up the same way, too, starting Wouter’s mornings with a smile.
Whether midday rest or nights, Jack kept an anxious eye on the weather map with little attention to anything or anyone else. He wanted to avoid walking into another storm. Without fail, Sop would join him, even if neither of them spoke.
Wouter didn’t know if Jack had talked to them yet. He didn’t want to ask Nif, either. It was none of his business. But he’d hate for Sop to be heartbroken. He didn’t want Nif heartbroken, either, despite Nif’s reassurances. Maybe because Wouter broke out in sweat at the thought of leaving Nif. No matter how much he wanted to go home.
On the fourth day, Wouter took the fieldslat from Jack during their midday rest. “You’ll get it back after you’ve eaten. A few berries here and there is not a proper lunch.”
That seemed to shake Jack out of whatever he’d seemed stuck in. It was painful to see the play of emotions cross his face, or the hunch of his shoulders. Out of the two of them, Jack had been the stronger one all along.
“I don’t want to lose anyone else.” Jack glanced around. “I promised them.”
“We promised.” Though, Wouter wasn’t sure he counted, since he hadn’t known what they’d be getting into. But how had he thought what happened wouldn’t affect Jack like this? “I can keep an eye on it. Your schedule is sound. We’ll get them there.” Wouter had to believe they would. But he couldn’t stop thinking about that storm, and all the if-onlys that came with it, either. “This is not your first assignment.”
Words similar to what Jack had uttered himself not too long ago.
That got a laugh out of him. A deep and rumbling one that made him seem more relaxed. “Thanks. I needed that.” He accepted the leaf of food Wouter offered him and bit into the red fruit. “We could all use a distraction. Maybe we should set up the screen for a Klunkett and Co showing tonight.”
That helped, even if most of the kids fell asleep halfway through. It was getting harder and harder to find episodes without something exploding, though. This one involved breaking into a runaway spaceship with nothing but a siltaped spacesuit and a multi-tool. Wouter cringed at the poor representation of reptilian aliens—that Pim growled at—but the bani didn’t seem to take offence.
Nif ran his fingers through Pim’s mane as they settled for the night. “Do you think Jack met many aliens?”
“Maybe.” He crossed his fingers that Nif wouldn’t ask about those non-existent reptilian aliens. “He hasn’t told me much, though. I assume they asked him not to?” Would Nif understand that?
“Like the sefoni promised us humans—you—wouldn’t be allowed to tell anyone of our planet. To keep us safe.”
Maybe he did understand. “Yes. Like that.”
“It made me wonder how other species celebrate their loved ones. Because I never knew that blirzi also returned their deceased to the earth.”
“We do, too.” He didn’t want to frighten Nif by telling him that many chose cremation. Fire would never be an easy subject with bani. “Not under trees, though. But in places dedicated to the deceased called cemeteries. Humans like to visit the places where their deceased are buried.”
“Do you?”
Neither Pa nor Ruben had been buried, but Ma had planted a tree. He and Ruben had often sat on the bench together. “To talk about how we’re doing. A human custom.”
“What do you talk about?”
“How our day was. Random things. Things we talked about when they were still with us.”
Nif’s hand stilled. “You’ve told me about your minders, your friends, your many brothers. Will you tell me about Ruben?”
Wouter swallowed. “It’s been hard. Even with Jack. And Jack knew him. Worked with him.”
“Tell me about that, if that’s easier.”
It came with its own dangers. How to explain to Nif he was never meant to be here. But Nif wasn’t wrong. Thinking of Ruben the way Jack had seen him, worked with him, was easier. But those were Jack’s stories to tell. Maybe he could tell about young Ruben, the one he remembered best of all. The one who’d read him stories and made him feel welcome. “Ruben loved stories about adventures on different planets and space stations. He even made some up himself. With him as the hero, of course. And me as his sidekick.” He still had some of them on his slat somewhere. Maybe someday he could listen to them again. “He loved the idea of going into space, too. Even wanted to become a pilot for a while. Someone who steers spaceships, like the one we just watched,” he added when Nif flashed confusion.
Confusion changed to understanding. “That didn’t seem all that safe. Why not travel with discs?”
He couldn’t blame Nif for thinking spaceships weren’t safe. Filmmakers were very fond of making it seem as if one tiny hole could kill an entire crew in seconds. Or a loose bolt. “You can’t discover new planets with disc travel. Someone has to set the coordinates, otherwise they’d risk arriving underground.”
Nif flashed fear as he shuddered. “Or in a blirzi chamber.”
Wouter couldn’t suppress a shudder himself. As if disc travel didn’t make him feel sick enough. “Exactly.”
“Did he enjoy his adventures? With Jack?”
“He did. He always came home full of energy and smiles, even if he was exhausted.” And with so many stories he could tell them so little of.
Wouter lay back, Nif’s hand in his, and looked at the stars. “Being here has brought me closer to him.” And it had brought him Nif and Jack. What more could he want?
Pim climbed onto his chest and growled.
And Pim. Of course.
As they rose the next morning, Nif leaned into him. “Tell Jack to stop worrying about Sop. They’re fascinated… but not looking to splash about or walk with him.”
Wouter couldn’t stop a laugh from bursting out. “Did Sop ask you to cluck that?”
Nif flashed a negative. “They’ve been complaining about Jack behaving oddly. I thought maybe we could solve this… awkwardness between them.”
“They are being awkward.” When Jack wasn’t too busy with his maps to worry about anything else. “I’ll tell him.”
Nif seemed relaxed, even if anxious colours still flashed across Nif’s skin. Less with every day they moved farther from what happened.
“It might help Jack when Sop resumes asking questions. I think Sop being quiet unsettles Jack, too.”
“I mentioned this to Sop. They didn’t want to risk Jack snapping at them the way he did at you.”
Ah. “Good point.”
Of course, Wouter didn’t find a decent opportunity to talk to Jack until the next evening, and only after they left the bani, and Pim, watching animated videos and went to soak their feet in the stream.
Jack groaned when Wouter relayed Nif’s message. “Sop was fun to talk to, and I forgot my own boundaries… again.”
Wouter pressed his lips together. He was not going to ask. He was not—
“Stop it, you nosy muppet.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You didn’t need to.” Jack ran a hand through his hair, nearly toppling the lightning bug cage into the stream. He caught it just in time and held it up to his face, which lit up his golden eyes. “I’m always in for a good time, but I stay well clear of clients. Most clients don’t even dare approach me.” He tried for a smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Until him. He was gorgeous and clearly wanted me. Adamant in his pursuit. But I stuck to my rules… until the assignment was done, and he approached me as I was heading up to my room.”
It seemed to bother him. A lot. “I’m assuming there are no rules when you’re off the clock?”
Jack snorted. “It’s not so much their rules as mine. Even off the clock. But I had this silly notion it would get him out of my system.”
Wouter guessed that hadn’t gone well if it was still on his mind. “So, this… thing between me and Nif won’t cause problems for the Alliance?” Thing. What was he thinking? It was more than a thing for him. But it wasn’t as if he could stay.
“You’re not Alliance. But no. As long as it’s consensual and doesn’t interfere with Alliance business, there’s no problem.”
“Did yours?”
Jack blinked. “No. No complaints filed. And they’re not a species to cross. Very rigid and rather selective society. He was more than satisfied with my guidance.”
That made Wouter laugh. Jack slapped his shoulder and smiled.
“My professional guidance, you muppet.”
He said nothing more, and Wouter appreciated it. Not because he wasn’t all that interested in sex, but that Jack, while in for a good time, wasn’t the kiss-and-tell sort.
When the first drops of rain fell, they had to cut their film night short, in favour of using the rescue blankets to shelter and sleep under. The bani simply curled the leaves around themselves. Wouter half expected Nif to sleep in the trees with his kin, but he seemed to enjoy the sound of the rain on the tautly stretched rescue blankets.
“Is this what rain sounds like inside your living boxes?”
Wouter closed his eyes and ran his fingers through Pim’s mane. It was drizzling more than raining, but it sounded like a rainy day at home. At Ma’s, since he only heard the rain in his ground-floor flat when it clattered against his windows. “Pretty much.” He launched into an explanation about materials used for roofs and their effect on how rain sounded inside. When Nif’s hand went slack half-way through, he stopped mid-sentence and drifted off not long after, thinking about home.
