Page 21 of Null & Void

As Tovi goes to relieve herself, I begin making breakfast for everyone. First, I rip up the milkear mushrooms. I dig out a brown onion from the bottom of my bag and dice that up too. I pull some embers out of the fire so I can set the teapot to the side to keep warm.

The pan is heating when Bitty wakes up, bleary-eyed but smiling. I can’t help but smile as well when I throw the mushrooms and onion into the pan and hear that satisfying sizzle. While they’re cooking, I chop up some of the dried sausages we have (since the snares remained empty) and throw them in as I go.

“You can never leave us, Mika. Travel food has never been so good,” Beans growls with his unused morning voice.

Once the mushrooms, onion and sausage are done, I remove them so I can add the corn millet into the pan with water and salt to cook down. Finally, it’s time to add the other ingredients back in with another pinch of salt. My stomach is making loud announcements of hunger, which has Bitty laughing.

“What is this tea?” Tovi questions in a whisper.

“Honeysuckle. There’s a ridiculous bush growing back south a bit—I can’t believe we didn’t smell it as we were walking.”

“Might be my favorite yet,” Beans says with his eyes closed, large hands engulfing the metal mug. Bitty and Tovi both agree.

Bitty crawls with their tea, into Tovi’s bed roll. Tovi wraps her arm around them, resting her head on top of Bitty’s. I’m not sure if I imagine the protective, almost possessive look I get from Tovi over Bitty’s head. Bitty sighs contentedly, and they watch me finish making breakfast.

Everyone licks their plates clean with sounds of rapture. It’s not till the sun is over the horizon that Riley finally stirs. He has his back to the rising sun, so his face is in shadow, but I’m fairly sure he’s frowning.

“Mika made breakfast, and there are leftovers in the pan for you,” Beans offers to Riley, who grunts his response.

Beans gets up to relieve himself, and Tovi is relaxing on her bedroll, humming a tune to herself. I’m looking at a yellow dragonfly behind Bitty’s head when I see their eyes widen looking at Riley, and then look at me and back to Riley.

Riley leans forward to grab the pan. A black bruise from under his left eye down to the top of his cheekbone is clearly visible. He makes a pointed effort to ignore both Bitty and I staring at it with mouths open. “I love milkear mushrooms,” Riley states with a husky disused morning voice. “They’re my favorite.”

I guess we’re pretending that last night didn’t happen. Tovi rolls her eyes and mutters a curse I don’t quite catch when she sees Riley’s face.

After breakfast, surprisingly, everyone announces they have gifts for Bitty. It’s their birthday, and no one bothered to tell me. I clench my teeth, trying not to make it obvious how annoyed I am that I didn’t know.

“Twenty-two! You’re still a baby,” I tease, as everyone else reveals the gifts they hold in their hands. Bitty is not even five revs younger than me yet the age difference seems immense.

“We’re assuming that’s my age, I really have no idea.” Bitty laughs as Beans hands them a gift.

“Technically, this is the date seventeen revs past that I found a teeny tiny Lilleck, passed out from hunger. Damn kid was feral!” Beans jokes, with a smile reserved for fond memories.

Beans’ gift is a piece of thin leather rolled up. When Bitty unties it, their face lights up, and they turn it around to show everyone. A picture has been, I assume, tattooed into the flesh of the leather. It’s of Bitty, Beans, Mama, and Frankie. Simply beautiful.

“Your name is Lilleck?” I ask Bitty as they carefully wrap up Beans’ gift.

“I think so. Apparently, that’s the name I eventually gave Beans. I don’t remember at all.”

“Only took you a week to say something, and even then, it was only your name. You didn’t speak again for almost two revolutions,” Beans adds, pulling Bitty in for a big hug.

Their affection for each other is sweet. Bitty acts like an annoyed teen whenever Beans fusses over them, but you can see it in the sparkle of their eyes or the small dimple in their cheek that appears, that they love it. It’s a strange dynamic to witness, let alone be traveling with.

Tovi hands her gift over which is a new set of lock picks. “They’ve been made of the finest metal in all of Erdu, but the best part is that they can be slotted together and made to look like a simple hairpin.” Bitty’s face is full of wonder as they inspect Tovi’s gift.

“So where did the name Bitty come from?” I ask both Bitty and Beans as the former uses the disguised lock picks to create a small bun at the top of their head, exposing their shaved undercut.

Beans laughs. “I started referring to them as ‘Lil bit’ because they were just a little bit of a thing—only a little bit of a Lilleck! And ‘Lil bit’ morphed into Bitty when they started complaining that they weren’t so little anymore.”

Bitty punches Beans in the shoulder, rolling their eyes. I can’t help but smile at the story, temporarily forgetting my selfish annoyance at being left out.

Lastly, Riley hands over his gift. It’s the thing he’s been carving in secret, a knife in a leather sheath. The wooden handle and hilt have been so delicately carved with all sorts of Laguz sea creatures, still managing to keep the shape of the handle comfortable despite the intricate carvings.

Everyone gave such thoughtful gifts.

I hate how jealous I am about it.

“My gift is a promise to kick your ass later.” I shrug with a smirk, hoping to at least make Bitty smile. I’m successful—Bitty laughs and says they can’t wait.

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