MC Part 2 #25
The gang of young supernatural people took some time to calm down.
Eventually, Murra sat down against the wall, beside John’s TV, and stared at him through her raven hair. Lur leaned against the wall near the bedroom door. Kassa and Shoal picked random spots on the living room floor and sat down Indian style.
Cam did his best to explain the reasons for killing or dissuading potential human suitors, but John did not look impressed.
Ginga cursed their luck. The good work they’d done warming John up to being a part of the family might have been undone with Murra’s observation. Then again, he was family, whether he was happy about it or not. It didn’t matter if he came around. Many families had cordial, civil, interactions without fancying one another.
She’d hoped for more than that from her children’s spouses.
“Have you consummated the relationship yet?”
Conversation stopped and every eye focused on Shoal, the source of the question.
John was too taken aback to be offended, so he answered her as boldly as she’d asked.
“Not yet, no. Remember, I only found out I’ve got a wife a few hours ago.”
“Well, be sure to cavort with her really good!” Shoal clapped her hands and bounced where she sat.
“Ginga?”
“Yes, Cam.”
“Our children are growing up, and becoming immensely impolite. Did we do something wrong as parents?”
“I think we must have. Mercy.”
Kassa decided to act, in response to being appalled at her sister’s lack of tact, and stood up. Her rose gold hair draped around her face, so she quickly tucked it back between her wings. Formal greetings of this kind needed a little tidiness.
She walked over to John and smiled at him. He returned the smile, still guarded, but pleasantly enough. When she held out her hands, he took them, and she considered that a good sign.
“I, Kassa Pendy, daughter of Cam and Ginga, welcome you into my family with joy in my heart. You are my brother as Etty, your wife, is my sister. I ask you to look after me, my brother, for I am young.” She paused as color spread across her cheeks. “It is customary for us to kiss at this point. Is that acceptable to you?”
John nodded, and before he knew it, Kassa flowed into his lap and pressed her lips against his. It was not a chaste kiss. She broke it, breathing heavily, and didn’t get up as quickly as he expected her to.
“By the work of my hands, the fresh clover in the spring fields, and my honor as a maiden, I welcome you. I pledge myself to stand in my sister’s stead as both of you please.”
She stood, bowed to him, and turned around. Unsurprisingly, the rest of her family was staring at her. Not unexpected, since she used the oldest form of the formal greeting for a sibling’s spouse—it had implications.