Chapter Seven #5
Cloudy smiled. “I will show you where to go. My cousins own it. They are in deep courtship with the other two guardians. Their Hmrain ancestors want to come here to meet the ladies. They are on the way.”
The visiting group followed her to the pub, and Hazor remained with her.
Arkon and Morsek were seated outside and acting as bouncers. They stood up and got hostile when the group of Zowoth appeared.
Cloudy grinned. “Stand down. These guys have more offers than you can imagine. They don’t want their junk frozen or burned off.”
Margo smiled. “Colour me intrigued.”
They waited at the door of the pub, and as soon as the locals saw her, they left, laughing and bowing.
Cloudy wandered in and waved at Bess and Molly. “Bess, Molly, this is Margo, Skylar, Chloe, and the solid spirit of Delia. All Earth-born. Then we have Aken-Var and the crew.”
One of them muttered, “We have names.”
Molly crossed her arms. “I do not need to scream it, so I do not need to know it.”
The Zowoth stared with mouths open, and the humans all laughed their asses off.
Margo grinned. “I am going to remember that.”
Cloudy looked at Bess and Molly. “My auntie is here for a visit.”
“Your auntie that is younger than you?”
“That’s the one. She’s playing fiddle in the square right now. She will be here soon.”
Bess grinned. “This is turning into quite the celebration. Okay, everybody, we created this food for taste, not appearance, and the ketchup moves when you look away, but try it.”
The ladies and Zowoth tried the food, their eyes went wide, and there were tears.
Cloudy smiled and leaned against Hazor. He asked, “Why are they crying?”
“Take away everything you know, every food that means home and familiarity, and keep yourself away from it for years. Then, in one night on a world named Siloven, you find the tastes that carry memory of home, dates, friends, family, and joy. It’s a lot.
I cried over the stir-fry and the akko the first time I got it right. ”
Hazor wrapped his arms around her and pressed his hand over her belly. “When do we tell my mother?”
She heard a happy gasp behind them and groaned. “You just did. They are coming to set up the nursery, and you have brought this on yourself. I am going to keep working on the second location of the dock food stall in South Hazor.”
He grinned. “Is it weird that so many cities on Vecchin’s worlds are named after his family?”
“No, what is weird is that he has plans for a Cloudy observation platform in the northern sea.”
He kissed her temple, and they watched the visitors trying the different foods and begging for samples they could bring to their ship for analysis and replication.
Molly smiled. “I will make you some samples right before you leave. Fresher food is better for analysis.”
Aya wandered in, and Bess and Molly shrieked and ran to hug her. “Auntie Aya!”
Aya laughed and chatted with them, trying the sausage egg. She paused and said, “Octopus?”
Molly laughed and nodded. “They lay in large clutches here. Easy to snag and are amazing eggs for baking and soft boiling. We pay them with fish, and they come back to lay over and over. For them, it’s a fair trade.”
Cloudy grinned. She had seen the harvesters at the dock, and they had explained what they were doing and where the eggs were going.
Hazor nuzzled her temple. “This is a fun festival.”
“It’s a single night party.”
He laughed. “Next year, it will be a festival. Every hotel room is occupied, visitors from other continents have come to see the ways and foods of your people, and my grandfather is trying to get hammered, as you have stated. It’s going to become a festival.”
Cloudy looked at the women from the ship and Aya, who still hadn’t pried Bess and Molly off and was reaching for the snacks with one hand. “Do you think they will come back?”
“I think they will come back. If any other events of this kind spring up, I wouldn’t mind travelling to see one.”
“If you want a bunch of kids, that might not be feasible.”
“You and I are dealing with extended lifespans. We have more time than you can imagine. As long as we want to live, we will live. There is so much to do for you and with your people. I think we will survive for a very long time and see many more festivals of this kind. Perhaps even one in Cloudy City.”
“There isn’t a Cloudy City.”
“Maybe a city named after our firstborn. Hazdy? Oh, in keeping with your family tradition, Hazy.”
She laughed. “What if it’s a clear day?”
“I will have Morsek and Arkon create a weather effect.”
She snickered and leaned back. “Sunny and Emgoth are having fun with the stall in the square. Ariget is even helping with the akko. My little recipe is rapidly crawling around the globe.”
“The recipe that brought us together.”
She chuckled. “Come for the banter, stay for the akko.”
He kissed her neck, and they moved outside to watch the party that was rapidly overtaking the entire human business sector of the city.
Cloudy smiled as friends waved at them on their journey to drink and dance. This was the best Landing Day that she had ever been to, and it just left her with one question. How were they going to top it next year?