Page 86 of Cozy Prisons
“Remembering someone helps their soul?” Cassius clarified. When Hale nodded, Cassius asked another question. “Would it help if I remembered them too?”
Tears formed in Hale’s eyes. “You would do that?”
Cassius started to reach out a hand, but drew it back as if he was worried Hale might lash out. “I want you to feel like part of our community. Helping each other is part of that. You were thefirst one to get to the medical building when Nataly needed help, which means a lot. Even if you were a total dick later.” Cassius chuckled and touched his bruised face. “And you’re damn fast. I might need you to teach me some of those moves!”
Hale nodded eagerly. “I’ll teach you everything I know!”
Cassius looked pleased. “And you’ll play some of Decard’s games?”
Hale nodded again. “Not every night.”
“That’s fair,” Cassius said with a chuckle. “Some of them are pretty bad.”
While they were talking, Nataly was going through the data crystals. She got lucky that the tenth one was Hale’s!
“Found it!” she declared, staring at an image of Hale with two little creatures clinging to them. They looked like limpets from Old Earth, but much more adorable, with little feelers sticking out from under their shells.
Hale grabbed the information square from her. “Sukla, Dimla. You’re both loved so very much.” They went through the data files until they settled on another capture, then turned the square to show her and Cassius. “Look, you can see where their shells were developing soft spots. They were going to shed them soon.”
“Awww, they’re adorable,” Cassius cooed. As one of the most gregarious humans among them, he pulled his information square out and tapped on it. “I’m going to invite Decard to come listen too. He might even come up with a game to help us remember everything about Sukla and Dimla.”
Hale petted Cassius’s arm. “Yes, please do that. I’d play every evening if one of the evenings was the Sukla and Dimla game.”
When Decard showed up, he wasn’t alone. Dalia and Naj were with him. The three sat down next to Cassius.
“I heard Hale is going to tell us a story,” Naj said, setting a tray down in the center of their little circle.
“It’s more like a biography,” Cassius said, reaching for some of the food. “Go ahead, Hale, start talking.”
That’s all the encouragement it took. Hale’s face lit up, and words poured out of them. Grace, Merrick, and Maeve came to check on how Nataly was doing and ended up joining everyone else. Maeve was full of questions, and Hale seemed to understand every single one. More food was brought over, and several more people joined them.
Nataly almost cheered when Hale started to eat some of the food. Between Hale’s animated engagement and eating, Nataly thought they might be okay.
Nataly moved a little so she could lean against Cassius. Her eyes were getting heavy despite the nap she’d taken earlier. She fell asleep to the soothing sound of Hale’s voice and the occasional chuckles of everyone else.
Daxus
Eager to see Nataly again, Daxus hurried to where Grace told him she was visiting with Hale. He wasn’t happy that she was with the unstable human, but Grace explained that Hale was in a non-responsive state. Daxus still didn’t like it, but he couldn’t deny a human in distress companionship.
He also couldn’t wait to show Nataly where they’d be sleeping. He’d been forced to argue with Utharium and Palathum, but finally won the right to set their domicile up on the outskirts of the encampment. He even had a place to build a fire and spent some extra time gathering wood to burn. He also consulted Massium for a simpler way to start a fire.
Everything was ready; all he needed was to get Nataly and retreat to their small bit of land.
Sometime soon, he’d need to talk to Nataly about her reputation. He already knew she wasn’t going to like it, but it seemed she’d been elevated to a higher status. She was now considered a Conduite by Palathum and the other Talins. A Conduite was someone the ancestors acted through. He’d never met anyone with that status and never even heard of a non-Talin Conduite.
These were interesting times.
Putting those thoughts aside, he wound his way around tents and the sandy area. He stopped abruptly, unprepared to find so many humans gathered together there.
Hale, the angriest and most uncooperative human he’d ever met, was now talking with animated happiness. They must’ve finished a particularly amusing story, because everyone chuckled.
Moving closer, Daxus found Nataly with her head on Cassius’s shoulder, sound asleep. It was a testament to her level of fatigue that she didn’t even stir at the sudden round of laughter after Hale finished an amusing story.
“Daxus,” Hale said, looking up with a smile. “Nataly’s asleep. You two can sleep on my blanket if you want.”
“Where would you sleep?” Sima asked Hale. “Or are you the type who likes to cuddle up with several at a time?”
There was a smattering of laughter as Hale rolled their eyes. “I could find another blanket.”
