Friend Plans

“I don’t quite get it.” 

Duelek looked over to the two sitting by the water’s edge, Fellanua with her legs submerged in the water and Mihal with theirs tucked under them, their heads turned towards each other with the Fisher’s eyes trained in a questioning confusion at the Masked Weaver’s hands.

“Whattaya not getting?” He asked, putting down his needles and turning to them, drawing two sets of eyes, one teal bue and the other a purple that matched his own. “Mihal saying words ya ain’t know again?”

“Oh no!” Fellanua gasped, hands flying up to wave frantically in front of her as Mihal leaned back away from the frantic movement, whiskers half raising. “No, I understand the words! It’s just that I don’t quite understand what they mean.”

“Alright,” at least he didn’t have to translate again; both he and Mihal hated it when he had to act as a vehicle for conversation, his twin more than himself. He twisted himself to face them both better, legs stretched out to lie in the most comfortable position he could get them in, flicking his wrist at the two of them to gesture them to clue him into the topic. “I’ll try ta be helpin’ in explaining, yeah?”

“Oh well,” Fellanua started, trailing off as her eyes flickered away from them both. “Mihal was just telling me about…”

Mihal watches her struggle to get the words right for a moment before taking over and signing an answer. ‘I was talking at her about the stars.’

“Alright.” A beat. Duelek focused back on the Fisher. “What ya ain’t gettin’ ‘bout the stars?”

“... I don’t quite get the thing about the dead being in them?”

“Ah.” That made sense. “What do Fishers think being happens to your dead?”

“Well,” she dithers a moment, swallowing heavily before continuing. “We… eat them. And then they’re with us forever and that’s just kind of it?”

“Alright.” Neat little tidbit. “Well we ain’t doing anything like that; the in-betweening ain’t real being no thing a importance, ya know? End a it all iffin a body’s being all up and deserving then Yvonne puts ‘em up into the sky as stars with they best beloved.”

“Oh, well that’s a lovely sentiment!”

Mihal’s nodding eagerly along with her words, hands moving in quick, excited motions. ‘Yvonne’s keeping those past their places in the stars so they can watch over us until it’s being time to be joining them. The constellations are said to being made up of large clusters of passed Stardragons with a common purpose, still trying to do whatever they had dedicated themselves to in the stars.’

Fellanua’s brows furrow and she looks between Duelek and Mihal a moment, raising a hand to her face in thought. “So that’s why you gave me that carving?”

“The Protector’s a good set ta be giving at anyone ya ain’t wanting harm ta come to,” Duelek scoffed equal parts dismissive and sharp in his defensive answer, arms crossing over his chest. “Mihal wanted ta go with the Garden Mother but they’re more for nurturing and overcoming trails befalling a body, not for wishes ta being keeping safe and unharmed. We’ll be giving ya that one during the Gifting Season.”

“I would love that! And you’ll both have to tell me your favourites so I can do something like that for you two!”

“You don’t real need be doing anything like that.” 

Duelek’s answer is ignored in favour of Mihal signing something to the Fisher. ‘We’ll have to being arranging a night to watch the stars together, I can be bringing Orrin and show you both everything in the sky around us!’

“That sounds so nice!”

Duelek sighed heavily, picking up his needles again to resume his work, already planning out a nice picnic he could bring along with them for the night under the stars. They’d need blankets, the autumn winds made the nights to chilli to be out without something warm to wrap up in, food would be a must; he did have that one fish recipe he could try out, Fellanua would probably like that, Evander too if he could convince him to come along with them for the night.

It would be a nice evening, even if Duelek wanted to play at being unimpressed with the idea of it.

He wasn’t used to evenings out with friends, it would be a new experience.