Page 65 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
Ash looked to Rook, who chuckled. “Don’t expect too muchfrom me, boy. I never courted anyone, though I know more than my fair share ofribald songs about seducing moon maidens.”
He was tempted to refuse both offers. This was embarrassing.He was well past the usual age for the handing down of mating lore. But … whatif there were things he didn’t know he didn’t know?
Ash turned to Kip for reassurance, only to realize that his bestfriend had gone.
TWENTY-FIVE
Jumping Through Hoops
Company. How did one go about preparing for a secretguest? Joe didn’t have a whole lot of experience with making friends, let aloneentertaining them. Having a twin had always meant he didn’tneedanyone besidesTami. He’d spent high school on the fringes of her circle. Even Kip was one ofher friends.
Were there things that reavers did for visiting Rivven? He’donly asked about greetings, but what cameafterthe exchange of names?
Food. Based on Kip’s appreciation of those muffins, food wouldgo over well enough. Hadn’t he even joked about his appetite?
Joe watched for his chance. After the dinner dishes werecleared away, when everyone else was watching television, he raided the pantry.With more stealth than was required to assemble meatloaf sandwiches, Joe filleda tray and sneaked it upstairs.
His room didn’t have much—bed, desk, rug. Dad called it acloset, but that was an exaggeration. His stuff fit fine. Still, the slope ofthe ceiling might cause trouble. Would Kip be too tall to straighten up?
Maybe that didn’t matter, since he could just become asquirrel.
Red numbers flicked by on his ancient alarm clock, creepingtoward the hour when Joe usually turned in.
They hadn’t set a time.
What if Kip forgot?
Joe cast a sheepish glance at the food. Would it look likehe was bartering for friendship? Maybe he was trying too hard.
Kip was a nice guy. Friendly. But Joe understood that niceguys had lots of friends. It was honestly embarrassing, knowing that if Kipdropped by to chat, it would mean more to Joe than it would to him. From whatTami had said,Ashwas Kip’s best friend, so the redhead wasn’t lookingfor anything from Joe.
He’d probably offered to help for Tami’s sake.
But even if Joe was simply on friendly terms with thesquirrel-person, he’d be glad. Why was he even worrying about this? Joe staredat his hands while searching himself. Maybe it was Kip’s promise of safety.That had been reassuring. Especially in the face of looming change.
Their farm might become an enclave.
All of them would need to learn about crystals and packmatesand the sorts of things that came with being a Betweener.
And if he was a beacon, they’d surely come for him. Weren’ttwo of the Five married to beacons? There might be special rules for thoserarest of reavers. Would they force him to leave his home?
Joe’s melancholy reverie was interrupted by a soft tapping againstglass. His window was a smallish square, no sash or slider. Undoing the catch,the entire pane swung inward on its hinges. “Hi,” he murmured.
“Hi, yourself.” Kip measured the frame with a bemusedexpression. “It’s been years since I took truest form, but you’ve got mejumping through hoops.”
“Sorry.”
The redhead shrugged. “Clear a route. I’m coming through.”
Joe quickly backed away.
Kip tumbled through the window in squirrel form, coming outof his roll in speaking form, one hand braced on the sharp angle of theceiling. Jiminy winced. He’d been right about Kip’s height. He had to keep hisknees bent.
Actually, his knees wereshowing. As were his feet—orrather, paws. Was his whole lower body covered in fur? That didn’t match whathe’d seen on television. Then again, it wasn’t as if Hisoka Twineshaft ever appearedin board shorts.
Most distracting by far was the squirrel tail, all billowand flick and fluff as it took up more space than either of them.
“Nice,” Kip whispered. “I’m a big fan of close quarters. Howlikely are we to be discovered?”
