Page 47 of In Darkness and Dank

“It’s egg bite,” Bal said with a shrug. “All egg bite with this. Makes egg go.” She pointed to Shu’s now empty hand. “No shell, huh? Egg bites again at death too. Waiting inside us.”

“I guess this is why no one’s ever found any evidence of you guys being out here,” Kittisak mused. “Any proof is eaten up.” Something finally clicked, and he looked to Shu. “That’s why you told me the graves were safe. You knew they were going to vanish.”

“Vanish?” Shu frowned.

“Vanish. Paricay.” Bal grunted.

“Ah! Huh.” Shu nodded. “Yes, that. Graves safe. No find.”

“Yes. Egg bites hard.” Bal smiled down at Hue, who had finally settled and was allowing himself to be cuddled. “Keeps us safe even in death. We hide. Gift from moon.”

“Moon?” Kittisak asked curiously.

“Yes!” Shu smiled. “Moon.”

“Egg like moon,” Bal said. “Rife come from the moon. We go back to moon when we die.”

“Really?” Kittisak smiled. “That’s, like, your heaven, huh?”

“Yes.” Bal smiled. “Moon is lagoon made of diamond, clear waters, lots of fish. Moon brought Rife here long ago when she got lost in the sky. We live, we die, we go back to her. All eggs moon magic in them to keep us safe. Special. Very special.”

“Special,” Kittisak repeated. “Like almae?”

“Almae?” Bal laughed heartily. “No, that—”

Shu growled.

Bal growled back.

Shu said something quickly, a snap of grunts and trills, and then he cleared his throat.

Bal’s eyes widened, and she cackled. She laughed so hard that Kittisak was worried she was going to drop her baby. She swung out her arm and smacked Shu’s back.

Shu grinned, ducking his head away as if blushing.

Kittisak was clearly missing something.

“Tonight moon comes,” Bal said slyly. “Full moon. Time of pozzo.” She waved at Kittisak. “You take pozzo. I tell Kula.”

Shu didn’t argue like he had before. He just shook his head and looked away as if he was embarrassed.

Kittisak still wasn’t sure what exactly was going on, but he felt like he was on the outside in an inside joke. Before he could question what the laugh was all about, Bal pushed Hue into his arms.

“There. You bea. Hold baby.” Bal grinned. “You hold now.”

“Wait? Me? I’m not… O-okay.” Kittisak did his best to make sure Hue’s head was supported as he held him close, terrified that he was going to do something wrong. He didn’t have much experience with babies, much less ones freshly hatched out of eggs and with tails.

Shu hugged Kittisak from behind, and his strong arms helped brace Kittisak’s hold. “There. Kitty good.”

“Thank you.” Kittisak relaxed and leaned into Shu’s embrace. “Wow.”

Hue was calmer now, and he seemed content to be rocked, blinking his big eyes up at Kittisak. He pawed at Kittisak’s chest, his claws too tiny to hurt, but still insistent.

“Is he hungry?” Kittisak asked.

“Eh. No mida yet.” Shu shook his head. “Soon.”

Kittisak caught Hue’s hand, and he laughed in delight as Hue squeezed his finger. “Whoa, strong little guy. Look at that.”

---