15. Tell Me About Rain #2
And then finally, Reyna's laughter burst out of her, joining in with the group.
It kept coming back to the same problem. Distance was survivable when it was temporary, when both ends of it were still reaching toward each other. That was the only kind of distance Charlie had wanted her whole life.
This wasn't that kind.
If Charlie started to suffer under her own stupidity and let herself even consider the Captain, she'd be wanting a person on the far side of a distance with no way to overcome it.
No road back, and absolutely nothing of substance whatsoever on the other end but the fact of having wanted her, period.
Despite what she may be feeling, that was not worth starting.
She would keep telling herself that no matter how long it took for her to believe it.
After Borran's, Charlie set off for the Engineering Bay to begin her day with her hands among the engines, when Selowen cornered her in the Engineering corridor and reminded her that tea was still on the calendar.
"The Comfort Grove," Selowen said, in that unhurried way of hers but that still made her request more of a demand. "Ten minutes, after Third bell. Don't be late, and don't eat beforehand. I have plans for you." And then she'd walked on.
Charlie smiled before her brain had even caught up to the fact that she'd been summoned.
Charlie was in the corridor leading to Habitat Wing. Charlie had been to the animal habitats before, but never for a dedicated amount of time. She had learned that Selowen had chosen her favorite habitat to host the tea date, The Comfort Grove.
The grove was a vertical forest contained within a chamber roughly the size of Charlie's JPL lab, with bark-like columns rising floor to ceiling and a carpet of living moss so soft Charlie had instinctively taken off her boots when she'd come upon the entrance.
The lighting was programmed to a perpetual dusk, warm and amber, and a misting system kept the air humid enough that every breath felt cleansed.
And it was the most peaceful and quietest area of the Emberkind Charlie had yet to experience.
Selowen was already there when Charlie arrived, seated on a low moss-covered bench with two cups steaming beside her.
As always, she moved slowly to greet Charlie, who had to bend down to receive the kiss on her cheek from the older woman.
Selowen grabbed Charlie's hands and squeezed them gently, before indicating to the spot next to her on the bench.
"Sit," Selowen said. "Carefully."
Charlie stopped halfway into a sitting position.
"Carefully?" She asked, looking behind her to make sure she wasn't about to sit on an alien cactus or something.
Selowen just smiled. "You'll see."
So, Charlie sat. Carefully. And then she froze as something climbed into her lap.
It was round and covered in moss and was approximately the size and shape of a potato, if a potato had been designed by someone whose primary goal was the softest green potato Charlie had ever had the pleasure of interacting with.
It settled into the crook of Charlie's crossed legs with a soft exhale, like a sigh of complete contentment.
"That, my dear, is a Mosskin Niblet," Selowen said. "If you're able, try not to move too quickly." Charlie looked over at Selowen, who smiled warmly at her. "She's chosen you."
Charlie's eyes widened, returning her gaze to the small creature in her lap. It radiated warmth, actual, physical warmth, like a heating pad that breathed. And then Charlie felt as though all the stress she had ever carried had taken a backseat to all the warmth and comfort and good in her life.
"Something's happening," Charlie said.
"Mmm hmm," Selowen answered, her voice adding to the warmth Charlie felt surrounding her.
"What is it doing to me?" Charlie asked. "It feels like all the universe's problems just melted away."
"Calming pheromones," Selowen explained. "The Niblet's entire evolutionary purpose is to exist peacefully and make everyone around it feel the same."
"That is the absolute best evolutionary purpose I've ever heard. Or felt, for that matter." Charlie looked down at the moss-covered potato and smiled. "Can I pet her?"
"I think she would take offense if you did not," Selowen teased.
Charlie lowered her hands to the creature, and began to stroke the moss covering her round little body. But it was pleasant, close to a soft fur like velvet or corduroy. She pet her head, scratching behind her ears, and the Niblet made a noise of enjoyment.
"Does she have a name?" Charlie asked.
"Pinlo."
"Pinlo," Charlie repeated, and the Niblet made the same noise again in response to hearing her name. "You're quite the cutie, Pinlo. I think I'm going to come and see you often." Selowen laughed softly next to Charlie as she continued to pet the creature, basking in the calm that enveloped her.
Before too long, a second creature emerged from behind one of the bark columns.
But this one was different. Larger, graceful, and moving on six limbs.
Charlie noted that it looked a little like a fox but as if light was burning through the tips of every strand of fur, causing the fur to actually shift colors as it approached, a subtle change that moved from pale blue to soft gold.
It paused at the edge of Charlie's space, regarding her with large, luminous eyes.
"Luminthra," Selowen said. "She'll come closer if she decides you're worth investigating."
The Luminthra apparently decided Charlie was, in fact, worth investigating, as it circled once, twice, and then pressed its flank against Charlie's side, laying down and curling against Charlie.
The glow from its fur deepened to a warm amber that pulsed gently, and Charlie felt the very last knot of tension to exist in her body release its grip and dissolve.
"Oh wow," Charlie whispered.
"She reads you," Selowen said. "The fur responds to whatever you're carrying emotionally. Right now, she's telling me you needed this."
"Kind of like a living mood ring," Charlie said.
Selowen laughed. "If whatever that is displays your mood when you wear it, that does sound about right." Charlie smiled and shook her head. Eventually, she hoped she wouldn't feel like a foreigner.
"Now, the true purpose of this tea date," Selowen said, bringing Charlie's gaze to her. "You mentioned you wanted to know how someone ends up being both Kaelari and Brontari." Selowen lifted her cup towards Charlie. "I believe you compared it to being half Midwestern and half Californian?"
Charlie laughed. "I did say that."
"I liked it," Selowen said. "One day, you'll have to tell me exactly what that means, but I imagine it is something close to my story."
"I'd love to hear it," Charlie said. "If you're willing to tell me."
"Why would I have invited you to tea, dear child, if not to regale you with my tales of anthropological origins?" Selowen's mouth twitched in a teasing smile, causing Charlie to chuckle softly.
"I stand corrected."
"As you should. Now, how is it your Earth brethren begin tales? Once undone a time?"
Charlie laughed heartily. "Once upon a time."
"Ah, that's it." Selowen adjusted in her place on the bench, set her cup of tea down, and sat forward, luring Charlie in. "Well, then... once upon a time..."
And then she spent the next however long telling Charlie her story.
Not the whole story, but enough, about the two worlds, the two cultures, and the body that didn't quite fit either.
The Brontari frame mixed with the Kaelari markings, those same markings that had always been brighter than expected and more responsive than the Kaelari species was prone to, because her mixed biology amplified what pure Kaelari biology would have muted.
"The Brontari are built for patience," Selowen said. "The Kaelari are built for expression. I received both. It makes me very good at my job and very bad at dinner parties."
Charlie snorted.
Selowen's gaze drifted to the Luminthra pressed against Charlie's side. Its glow had shifted, almost imperceptibly, toward a purple undertone.
"So, dear," Selowen started. "You've been on our beautiful vessel for almost a month now. You've traversed her hallways and met and worked alongside her vibrant crew. What have you come to think of our ragtag group?"
Charlie chuckled softly before going quiet in consideration.
She felt the Niblet in her lap pulse warmly, her hand still stroking through her moss.
"Tavi is the most enthusiastic person I've ever met, and I'm from a world where everyone on the planet takes professional sports personally.
" Selowen laughed at that, but then urged Charlie to continue.
"But then he's also passionate and driven for what he feels is right and, despite his smaller stature, won't back down for anything or anyone he thinks is wronged. "
"To that, I can agree wholeheartedly," Selowen said. "What else?"
"Well, Maren - she is such a visionary, in ways I never knew were even possible.
She sees things I miss, which has never happened often for me before, and I think the world of her for it.
I know she can teach me so many things, and I look forward to any lessons I may learn.
Her memory itself is its own kind of wonder, and I'm constantly in awe of her and her skills. "
"Maren is very special," Selowen agreed. "She is often overlooked because of her quiet and kind nature, but she is a power force, that one. I myself appreciate you seeing her the way you do." Charlie smiled at that. "Who else?"
"I would have to comment on Borran next, who just named me 'Spark Plug' the other day, by the way."
"Did he now?"
"That he did. Do you have a Borran nickname, Selowen?"
Selowen sat up at that, and firmly commented, "That is a tale for another day." Charlie immediately understood there was no arguing there.