steaming, that was all Maya could tell from below. It smelled a little like wet tennis shoes and damp dog.
Something complicated happened on the side of Kachik that faced her: a fuzzy trunk lifted from the fuzzy surface of his torso and lowered its tip into the bowl. Slurping sounds ensued.
Maya wrinkled her nose and decided she couldn’t be too picky about what Kachik-Vati liked to eat, not after how deeply they’d been enmeshed and how well they had worked together. She ate a spoonful of soup and tasted mushrooms, lemongrass, nuts, and the special traveler’s spice palta , which helped Janus House people adapt to whatever came through the portals. She ate and drank, feeling as though she’d never tasted anything so good before.
“Thanks, Teacher,” she said.
“Add my appreciation,” Kachik said. “This cloclo was prepared correctly, and with just the right amount of fass . Delicious.”
“You are gracious, Kachik-Vati. Our thanks.”
Kachik-Vati straightened, somehow looked taller and more remote. “We have learned many interesting things in the fusion,” he said, “some of which I will share with the friendnet, yes, Maya-Rimi?”
“How many are in your friendnet when you go home?” Maya asked.
The skin around Kachik-Vati’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Many many.”
“I don’t know, Kachik-Vati,” Maya said.
Vati sketched a sideways figure eight in the air. “Vati says it is already done,” Kachik said. “All know what one knows, sooner or later.”
Do we know everything Vati knows? Maya thought. Do we know everything Kita knew?
Not everything, Rimi thought, but much more than we did before. A warm golden satisfaction washed through her. So much Vati told me about sissimi . I have new things to try when we go to the woods.
Which I hope will be soon. Maya checked her watch. “I’m still learning,” she said to Kachik-Vati. “I think our friendnet is just you and Ara-Kita.”
“Friendnet will be every sissimi one you encounter and fuse with, Maya-Rimi,” Kachik said.
Maya hugged herself, felt Rimi wrapping around her. “Is every sissimi a good person? What if there are others you don’t want to friend? What about the two who have been stolen?”
“Rimi was stolen, and is still perfect a one,” Kachik said. “ Sissimi take much from the ones they are partnered with, but there is a core in them that comes from the motherplant and homeplace. They will not be bad.”
Maya thought about Rimi sneaking to another room to find out test questions. She liked that Rimi had the power to do this, but she wasn’t sure about the ethics of it. It made her so mad when Peter snooped through her stuff—how could she condone snooping? “We have powers,” she said slowly to Kachik. “How do you know we’ll always use them for good?”
Kachik’s eyes crinkled into a smile again. “Probability it will not always happen that way. You must explore. You must try. You must learn and make mistakes. We all do. All the way along this journey, through every portal you go, we meet you. Maybe you go astray some of the time. We all do. We meet you. We meet you now, we meet you later, we hope things go well, we help where we can, and sometimes we can’t. We friend you no matter where you are, Maya-Rimi. Know this.”
Maya stared up at him, and then she rounded the table and leaned against his front. His smell of Christmas spices, clove, nutmeg, a little peppermint, warmed her. His arms hugged her gently, Vati among them. Rimi stretched and settled inside the embrace as well. Maya felt safe.
Rimi thought in the quiet of Maya’s comfort, How can you know what is good?
It’s bad if it hurts someone else , Maya thought.
You can’t tell ahead of time, Rimi thought. It doesn’t always hurt right away. What if one of the others thinks a thing is good and we think it’s bad? What if I think it’s good and you think it’s bad?
I guess . . . we just keep talking about everything and try to figure it
Something complicated happened on the side of Kachik that faced her: a fuzzy trunk lifted from the fuzzy surface of his torso and lowered its tip into the bowl. Slurping sounds ensued.
Maya wrinkled her nose and decided she couldn’t be too picky about what Kachik-Vati liked to eat, not after how deeply they’d been enmeshed and how well they had worked together. She ate a spoonful of soup and tasted mushrooms, lemongrass, nuts, and the special traveler’s spice palta , which helped Janus House people adapt to whatever came through the portals. She ate and drank, feeling as though she’d never tasted anything so good before.
“Thanks, Teacher,” she said.
“Add my appreciation,” Kachik said. “This cloclo was prepared correctly, and with just the right amount of fass . Delicious.”
“You are gracious, Kachik-Vati. Our thanks.”
Kachik-Vati straightened, somehow looked taller and more remote. “We have learned many interesting things in the fusion,” he said, “some of which I will share with the friendnet, yes, Maya-Rimi?”
“How many are in your friendnet when you go home?” Maya asked.
The skin around Kachik-Vati’s eyes crinkled in a smile. “Many many.”
“I don’t know, Kachik-Vati,” Maya said.
Vati sketched a sideways figure eight in the air. “Vati says it is already done,” Kachik said. “All know what one knows, sooner or later.”
Do we know everything Vati knows? Maya thought. Do we know everything Kita knew?
Not everything, Rimi thought, but much more than we did before. A warm golden satisfaction washed through her. So much Vati told me about sissimi . I have new things to try when we go to the woods.
Which I hope will be soon. Maya checked her watch. “I’m still learning,” she said to Kachik-Vati. “I think our friendnet is just you and Ara-Kita.”
“Friendnet will be every sissimi one you encounter and fuse with, Maya-Rimi,” Kachik said.
Maya hugged herself, felt Rimi wrapping around her. “Is every sissimi a good person? What if there are others you don’t want to friend? What about the two who have been stolen?”
“Rimi was stolen, and is still perfect a one,” Kachik said. “ Sissimi take much from the ones they are partnered with, but there is a core in them that comes from the motherplant and homeplace. They will not be bad.”
Maya thought about Rimi sneaking to another room to find out test questions. She liked that Rimi had the power to do this, but she wasn’t sure about the ethics of it. It made her so mad when Peter snooped through her stuff—how could she condone snooping? “We have powers,” she said slowly to Kachik. “How do you know we’ll always use them for good?”
Kachik’s eyes crinkled into a smile again. “Probability it will not always happen that way. You must explore. You must try. You must learn and make mistakes. We all do. All the way along this journey, through every portal you go, we meet you. Maybe you go astray some of the time. We all do. We meet you. We meet you now, we meet you later, we hope things go well, we help where we can, and sometimes we can’t. We friend you no matter where you are, Maya-Rimi. Know this.”
Maya stared up at him, and then she rounded the table and leaned against his front. His smell of Christmas spices, clove, nutmeg, a little peppermint, warmed her. His arms hugged her gently, Vati among them. Rimi stretched and settled inside the embrace as well. Maya felt safe.
Rimi thought in the quiet of Maya’s comfort, How can you know what is good?
It’s bad if it hurts someone else , Maya thought.
You can’t tell ahead of time, Rimi thought. It doesn’t always hurt right away. What if one of the others thinks a thing is good and we think it’s bad? What if I think it’s good and you think it’s bad?
I guess . . . we just keep talking about everything and try to figure it
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