Page 36 of Family Found

“Just great. First you get hitched, now you get a foster. Maybe teach him some civil disobedience while you’re at it, like sneaking into women’s changing rooms to get cat socks.”

I blushed and cleared my throat. “That’s not—I was never like that. I really was only there for the socks, okay? Besides, clothing isn’t gendered. For your information, I never even did drugs before you tempted me, so that makes you the expert when it comes to civil disobedience. Which reminds me—he can’t go up to your man cave. Because of the drugs.”

Vergis groaned and rolled his eyes all over again. They were getting a nice workout this morning. “Kid wants to know whether there’s anything he should get the kitchens to pack up.”

“Uhm. I don’t know?”

Vergis got a kind of glimmer in his eyes and turned back to Sonyo. I didn’t catch everything, but one word I heard loud and clear, just before Sonyo nodded and dashed off again.

“Did you just tell Sonyo to get massa buns?”

Vergis shrugged. “You have to eat them. Especially if the kid got them just for you. It would be rude not to, and you know how children start crying over stuff like that.”

If I had to eat another massa bun in my life, I was going to cry. “Please tell me you didn’t use the kid to bring those things to Earth. For all we know, they might destroy the atmosphere and set the ice caps to melting.”

“Your kind already did most of that, human. Anyway, I’m going to the hatchery to get some sacrifices after I drop these at the room.”

I cocked my head. “Aren’t you going to use me? To, erm, do magic? You know, for dispensomancy?”

We rounded a corner, and a group of copper-clad kids made big eyes at us. Or rather, at me. They still bowed politely though.

“To dispense, you mean?”

“I don’t like that word.”

“And yet you dispense so well. But we’re taking a lot of people this time around, and we don’t want you too drained to close the veil to the monster place later on. So sacrifices it is. You can come, but if you’re going to get all weird just because the ligua are fluffy, I think you should do something else.”

I crossed my arms. “Like what?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Stand in a corner and make doe eyes at all the protectors like you always do.”

“Hey! That’s just me blinking. I have dry eyes, you know.” I looked left and right. This place had something about it that made me want to explore. “Can I walk around a little? If I stay in the Raiken? Do you think that’s okay?”

He shrugged. “Sure, works for me. I think everyone here knows who you are, which means you won’t get lost easily. But if you end up accidentally promising mate-ship to another Raikenga, that’s on you.”

“I’m not the bagu who had at least three of them eating out of his hand back home.”

“Lissir’s doing, not mine, although it’s ultimately your fault.”

“Not my fault.”

“Your fault.”

We went back and forth a few more times, just as long as it took us to get back to the room. That was fine. Anything to get Vergis’s mind off the Kinnek and Aragis situation.

Chapter 12

I changed into my now-clean clothes once Vergis had left and smiled as I put on my cat socks. The bagua had gotten all the mud out, and nothing was stained as far as I could see.

The breakfast dishes had been cleared away, and whoever had done that had left out a pitcher with cold tea or juice and some vinné. I grabbed one and then headed out to explore.

I liked that it was normal for the bagua to acknowledge me with a nod at most, and that it was totally okay for me to do the same, no talking required. At the same time, it would’ve been nice to actually be able to talk to people without needing one of my guys to translate. I’d ask Charlie how he’d gotten so fluent, and then I’d do whatever it took.

The Raiken here with its stone-built structure should’ve been more familiar to me than the wooden buildings I knew dominated most of the rest of Esaka. There were very few sliding doors here, and the building itself shared at least some similarities with the Irish castles we’d visited. It was the hallways and the windows probably, or the smooth stone under my feet.

There were differences though. The mages who had built this place really hadn’t been fans of corners. The windows were arched and round or oval in most cases, and if walls met at a right angle, they had been rounded and whitewashed.

Combined with the glass set into the walls, it made the place feel warm and welcoming, and I liked it.