Chapter Keelo
Keelo
The door slides open and the light clicks on, momentarily blinding me. I throw a hand across my face, shielding my eyes.
“Rin. Halley.” Eot struggles to sit upright, setting our hammock to swinging and heeding his efforts to stand.
“What time is it?” is my less-than-polite greeting. The blur still clouding my vision makes me think it’s early. Much too early to be awake, especially as we’re supposed to be working for most of the day, building fences.
This’ll be our fourteenth…no, our fifteenth assignment since coming to Lyd.
What we’d meant to be a short layover has accidentally become semi-permanent.
Turns out there aren’t a lot of people keen to cross the desert and even fewer who have their own ship.
Word has gotten out through the farming community that the three of us are reliable short-term hires for odd jobs, so we’ve been picking up work whenever we can.
It isn’t exactly the employment I once thought Eot and I would have, but it keeps us in food and fuel—and most importantly, it keeps Rin safe, far out of sight of the Elders Coalition.
I’ve a vague memory of Halley scrambling out of our hammock some time ago, muttering something about Rin, but I thought it was a dream.
A peek through the gaps between my fingers shows me that she’s already dressed, so she must have been awake for a while.
And Rin too, who’s got both hands behind her back and is practically vibrating with excitement.
“You two have been colluding,” I accuse, pressing my other hand to Eot’s ass and giving him a helpful shove out of the hammock, his foot having become caught in fabric.
He stumbles upright, slamming a hand against the wall to steady himself. “Thanks,” he says, and his voice drips with sarcasm.
I take the opportunity to stretch, loving the feeling of having so much space to myself. Not that I’d give up sharing a hammock with Eot and Halley, but it’s still nice to lie straight once in a while.
“We have been colluding,” Halley confirms, her lips curving upward in a closed-mouth smile. “And you’re just going to have to deal, Keelo, because—” She gestures for Rin to take over.
“We’ve got a surprise for you!” Rin says, bouncing on the balls of her feet.
“For us?” Eot brushes a loose strand of hair away from his face, free of knots and neatly trimmed thanks to Halley’s ministrations.
I swing my legs over the side of the hammock, curiosity getting the better of me. Is that what Rin’s holding behind her back—our surprise?
Narrowing my eyes, I pretend wariness. “It’s not sand, is it?”
“No.” She giggles.
“Ready?” Halley asks Rin. “One, two, three—”
“Surprise!” Rin yells and whips her hands out in front of her. There’s a moment of struggle as she rearranges her hold on a length of fabric she’s clearly salvaged from an old tunic, before she’s holding it stretched between two hands.
Large words have been sewn across the fabric in brown thread, maybe repurposed from another old item of clothing.
“Happy Fathers’ Day,” Eot reads aloud.
“What—” But my question sticks in my throat. Father. Rin has just called us her fathers.
“It’s an Earth tradition,” Halley explains, “where one day every year we celebrate our dads.”
“So we made you a banner.” Rin shakes her arms, causing the fabric to ripple.
“We thought we could hang it in the mess hall and all eat breakfast together. I know we’ll be working today, but we can still spend some time together.”
“When is Happy Daughter’s Day?” Eot immediately asks.
“Oh, there’s isn’t one—” Halley begins, then hastily clears her throat, a glance at Rin. “Actually, Daughter’s Day is the day after Fathers’ Day. So tomorrow. Surprise!” Holding her hands in the air, she wiggles her fingers in…celebration? Happiness?
“Tomorrow. Hmm. Then Keelo and I will have to give it much consideration. Colluding, even.” Eot wiggles his brows at me.
How often is too often to be rolling my eyes? I’ll have to ask Halley this, but after breakfast so that Rin doesn’t misunderstand my question and think I want to roll my eyes at her. Quite the opposite.
“You greatly honour us,” I tell her in all seriousness.
There’s a silence when she doesn’t reply, her face and neck darkening to an almost-bronze and her mouth pressed close.
It doesn’t worry me; she is talking more and more each day.
These moments of shyness are unlikely to last much longer, and I’m determined to cherish every stage of her growing confidence.
Tomorrow, I’ll lavish praise on her, and by Happy Daughter’s Day next year, she’ll no longer be embarrassed by such words.
“I’m starving,” Halley says into the silence.
“Breakfast!” Eot holds out his hand for Rin. “I’ll help you hang the banner. Did you sew it yourself?”
“This part I did,” Rin says, but I don’t see which letters she points at. Instead, I catch hold of Halley’s shoulder at the entrance to the mess hall, pausing her progress.
“I wish to make note of this Happy Daughter’s Day so that we can celebrate every year. Which calendar are you following?”
“Oh…um…” She glances away from my face.
“The Earth calendar? The Lyd calendar? The Arrok—”
“Shh!” Halley presses a hand to my mouth, careful of my tusks.
“I’ve got no idea what today’s date is, alright?
But when I was telling Rin about Earth, she got really excited about Fathers’ Day, so I told her it was today.
You should’ve seen her eyes light up at the idea of doing something nice for you guys.
She worked so hard on the banner. Even tried teaching me how to read. ”
Amused, I lick Halley’s palm, wishing for nothing more than to taste her.
She uncovers my mouth to wrap her arms around my neck, and I marvel at how comfortable she is with these causal touches and how easily she gifts them to me.
They set my pulse racing, and I inhale, relishing the scent of her, basking in the knowledge that I smell of Halley—and of Eot—after our night spent in each other’s arms.
“We should celebrate Happy Mother’s Day too.”
“Oh, we don’t have—”
“Yes, we do.” I’m insistent. “Rin will be just as excited to make something special for you.”
“You really think so?” She glances over her shoulder at the youngling, now standing on a chair so she can reach the ceiling to attach one corner of her banner to the overhead maintenance hatch, Eot making sure she won’t fall.
“I know so.” I lower my voice, emphasizing my growl, knowing how Halley loves to hear me speak this way. “And then we will celebrate Happy Mates’ Day, but that will be after Rin has gone to bed, and we’ll lock our bedroom door.”
“Keelo—” Halley stands on her toes, and I bow my head to meet her kiss halfway. “You’re a hopeless romantic. And I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you and your other half.”
“Me too, Halley. Me too.”