"I doubt they'd throw you out of your own party." Ocello joked, smiling. "We should head up if you want to. You'll be able to see the sunset from the Chief's hut."
I grinned. Strapping Cuddles to me, I ran out of the hut. It looked like I wasn't the only one that decided to head up to the party. Nearby, one of the neighbors was about to head up when they saw us. A short plump woman held a little furry boy in her arms. The child had wolf ears and big blue eyes that stared up at me as he sucked his thumb.
I melted as he came close. This was just about the cutest little boy I had even seen. Turning to the person holding him, I stuck my hand out.
"Hi! I'm Kami. We just moved into the hut here."
"Oh, I know," the woman tittered. "Little Makie was playing with his friend up on the top tier when you came in!" I couldn't help but grin at her contagious energy. She was all sunshine and sweetness. Like a cinnamon roll that you get a mom-and-pop bakery. Never famous, but always perfect. The woman set the little boy down and held his hand.
"I'm Lindi and this is my son Makie. You'll probably see him running around here with his brothers. He's the youngest though."
"Pleased to meet you!"
"What is that!?" Lindi yelped when Cuddles started moving around in the strap on my front.
"This is my pet, Cuddles. We found him on the way here and I adopted him!"
"Bara makes a good stew. Are you planning to slaughter him later." I looked at her horrified, but I knew that I shouldn't. It's like the difference between rabbit pet owners and farmers who raised rabbits for meat.
"We are planning to have Cuddles for a very long time. I hear they can live ten years!"
"Aren't you worried about it hurting your baby?"
I snorted. She looked at me with sincere curiosity, but I had a hard time keeping a straight face.
"It is just a bara. It's not going to hurt them." From what I has seen of the creature, it was very gentle. I wondered if I could get it house trained like a cat or if I would have to take it for walks like a dog.
The little creature chittered in my arms and the little boy looked over at it with interest.
"Would you like to pet him." The little boy looked up at his mother first and she nodded at him. She might have been worried about the animal, but it was hard to justify that it wasn't safe when it was lying so sweetly in my sling.
I crouched down so that he wouldn't have to reach up, and Makie laid his hand on the creature's head. Cuddles gave a cute little grunt and leaned into his hand and the boy giggled. He scratched it behind the ear as he looked up at his mom.
"It's so soft!" he said. Turning to me he continued. "Can I come and play sometimes?"
"Sure! If I'm not around, my friends will be." Standing I adjusted the strap the held Cuddles and looked over to Lindi.
"You probably already know Ocello and Uchel?"
"Of course, I do." Her smile faltered for the briefest of moments before returning to the wide grin of before. Her momentary slip made me feel somewhat awkward and we began heading up the hill in silence.
"Oh, I gave Ocello a basket for you to use as a welcome to the neighborhood gift. Did you get it?"
"I did! I decided to use it for laundry for now. Thank you so much! When we get more settled, you should come over and visit." I hoped she would, because I really needed to know why mentioning the two beastmen gave her a moment of unsettlement.
As we walked up the mountain, I could see the different places where vegetable gardens were. I also noticed that no tier had the same combination of plants.
In my level, I saw a lot of edible flowers, tomatoes and peppers. The higher I went, the more I saw carrots greens and yam tops along with other root vegetable tops. One of the tiers contained mostly peas and beans.
When we came up the mountain earlier, I noticed squash and melons towards the bottom of the village levels.
"Uchel, do you know why there are different plants on the different levels?"
"We all learned that it was because they do best on those levels. The chief has us change the order every season, but our founding leaders gave us a rotation to keep the soil fresh." Hearing his voice further from behind me than I expected, I turned to look at him. He was walking a short distance away from me and Lindi.
Ocello was walking directly in front of us as if he were a bodyguard clearing the way. But Uchel seemed to be walking as if he wasn't part of our group.
"You are too far, can you come closer?" I asked. He hesitated for a moment, glancing up at Lindi. But he still came closer.
"Lindi, did you know that Uchel is my first husband?" I sent her a sharp glance to gage what my words did to her countenance.
"Oh, well that's..." She cleared her throat and nervously chuckled. "Is he also the father of the child in your womb?"
"Of course, I don't have a second husband yet, though Ocello has asked for the role." As we came up to the chief's hut, I realized that I would have to leave our conversation at that. But looking at Lindi, I could sense what kind of person she was.
She was a gossiper. The kind of neighborhood nosey neighbor that would call the HOA if they noticed even a speck of dirt in the wrong place on their neighbor's house. Time would tell if I was correct but judging by how she was looking over at some of the other women, she wanted to share the news she had, quite desperately.
I laughed. She still seemed nice, but I would have to be careful around her, even if her son was super cute. I crouched onto the ground in front of the kid.
"It was nice to meet you Makie. Be sure to come over and play with Cuddles later." I gave him a quick hug before him and his mother took off to the gaggle of women.
"I really am going to need to understand why people are so uncomfortable around you, Uchel." I turned to him and Ocello.
Uchel shrugged but didn't say anything. I was nothing if not patient. I could wait till he trusted me. I looked down at the mark we shared.
I was nice to know that we had that reassurance together but just having a guarantee didn't mean that we understood each other. It was humbling.
Before I could ask any more questions, Ocello's mother came up to me. She was wearing a different set of cat ears and had a tail that seemed to be staying on a lot better than the one from earlier.
She pulled me in a tight hug before hugging her son. Looking at Uchel, she hesitated for barely a heartbeat before hugging him too. He stood stiffly in her arms as if he was not used to getting that kind of attention.
"I see you took Ocello's suggestion. He has always wanted that house."
"I can see why! I love the bath and the convenience room."
"And what is this?" She said, startled when Cuddles poked his head out of the sling I was carrying him in.
"This is Cuddles!" I moved the strap so that you could see his whole head. Carrying him around was probably not ideal, but I didn't want to leave him on his own when he was so young and definitely not before the Chief had a chance to let everyone know that this little guy at least was not a meal.
"It's a bara. Why do you have one?"
"I am going to keep it as a pet. He was separated from his mother. He is too young to be on his own and it felt too cruel to leave him out there for him to be eaten."
"You must be nesting!" Chief Inti looked over at her son and Uchel.
"I see you have already met your husband." Narrowing her eyes, she looked over at Uchel who shifted uncomfortably.
"I did! He was really kind and met me earlier at the house. He even helped clean up." I smiled at Uchel. "We have decided that he should move is so we can get to know each other." The chief grunted and nodded her head.
"That is probably for the best." The ominous sound of her statement made me want to ask more questions, but she guided me over to a large throne like seat.