Chapter 16

I took the tea box from the table, and An’Ri ran ahead out of the sliding door. I glanced at my laptop. Part of me wanted to research this tea-giving ritual to avoid any fuckup, but the clerk had told me how to do it, so that should be enough, right?

I regretted my decision the moment I entered their flat, and Mai’Ri walked over to me, smiling. Should I give it now? I didn’t really have any other choice. I looked away and extended my arms, holding the package in both hands. Fuck, wasn’t I supposed to look at her? I forced myself to turn my gaze, and our eyes met.

She quickly took it and hid her face against her shoulder as she placed the package on the table. She took my hands in hers and rested her forehead on mine before hugging me hesitantly. I guess she tried to imitate our way, but it was weird to feel her stiff body leaning so close to me. Before I had a chance to respond, she pulled away, hiding her face into her shoulder again with her tail swishing from side to side.

“You must be hungry.”

She didn’t look at me as she went to the kitchen to warm the food. I sat down on the floor, and An’Ri sat down beside me. Had I been doing their greeting equally wrong the whole time, making her feel weird every time we did it?

“You came home late. What did you do today?”, An’Ri chirped, her ear piqued in curiosity.

I smiled.

“I got us some flower pots”

“Really?”

Her eyes shone with excitement, and her tail wiggled from side to side. I nodded. It felt safer to focus on this than thinking about if I fucked up something.

“Let her eat first, she must be hungry”

Mai’Ri put a warm plate in front of me on the floor. I was hungry and happy for a warm meal, and it tasted surprisingly good. Maybe I was hungry or maybe... maybe I had got used to it…

Once I was finished, I went over to my flat and brought back the box with flower pots and the poster. Mai’Ri smiled, seeing it, but she still avoided my gaze. Had I fucked something up in the end? At least An’Ri was really excited, and she pulled the pots from the box to inspect them.

“Just like in the movie!”

I nodded.

“Shall we plant them now?”

“The seeds are already in, we just need to water them”

“Let’s do it now!”

I didn’t know anything about plants, but at least they seemed to know what they were doing. We carried the pots to the balcony, and Mai’Ri started watering them with a plastic bottle she had taken from the kitchen.

“We should do it together!”

An’Ri took the bottle from her hand and watered some pots before passing it to me, and I finished watering the remaining pots. It was nice to do something together, but we would probably have to wait a while for the flowers to come.

We stood up and looked at our work, and An’Ri took my hand.

“Mum would have loved it…”

Mai’Ri wrapped her arms around her and sighed. Hesitantly, I rested my head on her shoulder, hoping I was doing it correctly.

“We could try to make our city beautiful too”, she whispered.

I didn’t know how serious she was about it, but I hesitantly answered,

“We could try. ”

“Really?”

Mai’Ri looked at me, her ear raised. I nodded. I was sure the civis would be enthralled by that idea, and Major Takahashi would be more than willing to help. It should also give me something to do. I glanced at her.

“Fu’Ri”

An’Ri pulled on my hand, and I crouched down. She rested her forehead against mine before touching it with her nose.

“Thank you, Fu’Ri”

I put my arms around her, and she rested her head on my chest. Mai’Ri moved closer and rested her hand on my shoulder. We stayed like that, watching the stars above us before going inside, and I helped An’Ri hang her poster as Mai’Ri prepared tea.

My gift still lay unopened on the table where she’d left it, but I didn’t know if there was some deeper meaning behind it or if she just wanted to finish the already-open package. There was still so much I found weird and confusing, or just didn’t get at all.

I glanced at An’Ri, sitting between my legs, her back resting against me as she waited for tea. Maybe I could ask her? It was safer and didn’t feel like walking over a minefield, for most of the time, at least. If I only knew where to start. I sighed and glanced at the poster. It wasn’t as easy as the movie made it out to be.

I didn’t have time, though, because Mai’Ri came with the teapot, and we sat around it. This time, the feeling of Tau wasn’t as disturbing as before. Had I changed so much in these last days, or maybe I had just got used to it? Did it matter? Planting flowers would give me plenty to do, I was sure of it, but maybe it would also bring me to the other side of this minefield. Part of me was curious what lay there, while another part worried about the unknown future, and a third part wished for something that didn’t make any sense.

I glanced at them. What did they hope their future would look like? Did they even think about it at all? I hadn’t, until now. I sighed. One step at a time. I got up.

“I’ll go and do some research”

“I can help!”

An’Ri stood up and took my hand. I glanced at Mai’Ri. She smiled and hid her face against her shoulder.

“She can stay with you if she wants. It is getting late”, she said without looking at me.

I blinked, but before I could say anything, she briefly touched my forehead with hers and gave me a quick hug before pulling away, leaving me confused. Was this a normal thing for them to do? It felt weird and good at the same time. What did it mean, if anything?

She wrapped a colourful scarf around the girl’s shoulder, and An’Ri pulled me towards the sliding door.