Fictober Prompt 11: "I swear, it's not always like this."
Open Up Like a Flower
Well, the circus was in town.
Lili stared at the base the Flying Aquatos had set up in the Questionable Area. They had decorated their camp with streamers and lights across the poles. Two colorful tents caught Lili's eye, one in a shade of salmon and the other in pink, both stitched with colorful cloths. Aquamarine mats and carpets covered the paved dirt, each leading to the tents. Lili noticed the Aquato caravan parked between the smaller trees, all of the lights on inside. And directly across from their caravan was a bulletin board that they had monopolized with advertisements and personal notes for each other.
She held Raz' hand as they approached the unlit campfire in the middle of their setup. She noticed various wooden boxes and crates scattered on the grass, but not a single Aquato was in sight. Lili glanced around, feeling Raz' grip loosen, and she squeezed it.
"So, where are they? You said some members of your family would be here," she said, tilting her head.
Raz snaked his other hand around his neck and rubbed. "Well, that's what I thought. They were gonna stay close to the caravan and - oh no."
When Raz spotted the caravan, his eyes widening and his mouth falling open, Lili turned as well. She raised an eyebrow, her mouth twisting into a frown. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. She was ready to ask if a joke was being played on her when the front door of the caravan was thrown open.
The youngest daughter of the Aquatos stood there with massive eyes. Lili wasn't sure if anyone could have a natural black eye color because the girl's pupils seemed so large that they encompassed her irises. She gazed directly at Lili, her smile stretching in her cheeks. She bounced in place, her bells jingling, and pivoting back to the inside of the caravan, she took in a large breath, cupping her hands around her mouth.
"Mama! Raz' girlfriend is here!" she shrieked at the top of her lungs.
The leaves rustled with her cry. Mirtala charged at them with breakneck speed. Behind her, Raz' mother shot out of the caravan, her eyes and mouth wide open in delight. Mirtala scampered around them, her bells and braids bouncing. Lili was certain that she was a natural bundle of energy as Raz continued groaning to himself, his mother beaming at them.
"I swear, it's not always like this. At least, my mom is usually calmer," he promised, and Lili squeezed his hand again.
"Hi, hi, hi, hi! I'm Mirtala, but you can call me Tala! Are you Lili?" Mirtala asked, Lili noticing her natural blue eye color when she calmed down.
"Um, yeah, Tala, that's right. She's the real Lili Zanotto," Raz said on her behalf, Lili sneaking a glance at him. His smile was soft as if he was proud to introduce her to his family, and her frown swapped for a grin.
Making herself comfortable in front of Lili, Donatella bent down and cupped her knees. Lili noticed the lavish curl of her eyelashes. "Hello, there! So, you are the little darling who won over my Pootie's heart."
"Mom!" Raz cried, his cheeks scarlet. Lili felt her own face heat up. She pursed her lips, and Donatella's giggling filled her ears.
Before she could dwell on it, Lili felt someone tugging on her jacket. Glancing down, she gasped and jumped. She found the youngest son of the Aquato family leering up at her. She hadn't even sensed his presence! But just as she pondered whether or not he was psychic, he stuck his finger in his nose. Lili grimaced, watching him yank out a long string of wet mucus, and she bit her tongue, trying to hide the green tint in her face.
He flicked away his booger, Mirtala making an audible sound of disgust. "Are you gonna marry Raz?" Queepie asked in an innocent way that Lili immediately knew was fake.
But Raz seemed to take it at face value. His face turned redder than her hair. He shook his fist at Queepie, sputtering out excuses, and Queepie protected himself behind Donatella. Queepie laughed at Raz as Mirtala giggled into her hands, Lili offering Raz a third reassuring squeeze.
"So precocious," Donatella cooed, patting Queepie's head. She narrowed her eyes on him. "But I told you to stop picking your nose. We have tissues and napkins for a reason."
She heard Raz grumble. He narrowed his glare at Queepie, who wiped his nose with his sleeve. Mirtala scolded him, but he jabbed his finger back up his nostril until Donatella tugged it out. She forced him to flick the mucus at the ground, frowning and telling Queepie to go blow his nose. As Donatella sent Queepie back to the caravan, Lili wondered if the Aquatos lived to tease each other.
Without warning, Mirtala poked Lili's cheek. Lili flinched, pulling away and furrowing her brow. The tiny acrobat, her bells ceaselessly jangling, skipped around Raz and Lili again. She wouldn't take her eyes off them. She nudged Raz, then Lili on her elbow until Donatella asked her to stop.
"I just can't believe she's real, Mama! And her hair is so nice! And her clothes are so cool! When Papa said that Raz had a girlfriend, you know I couldn't believe it 'til I saw her in person!" Mirtala exclaimed in a way that reminded Lili of Crystal. She brushed her finger on Lili's dress, marveling over the plaid fabric. "Where'd you get this? It's nice! I love it!"
Lili tugged at the hem of her dress. "Oh, thanks. Uh, if you want, I can get you one."
Mirtala gasped and clapped her hands on her round cheeks, pushing her eyes in a squint. Much to Lili's continued surprise, her pupils widened to the extreme of nearly covering her irises. "Really? Really, really?" she gushed, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Mama, did you hear that? Lili's gonna give me one of her cool dresses!"
"How generous," Donatella crooned, arching an eyebrow. "I hope you don't think we're a charity case."
"Mom!" Raz blurted, and Lili had almost forgotten he was there. He slipped his hand away from Lili and folded his arms over his chest. "Lili doesn't think that. And where are Dad and the others?"
Donatella chuckled. "Pootie, I'm teasing. No need to worry about me or them. Your father and the other children are out with those ragamuffin teenagers you call coworkers," she replied, gripping her hip and crouching in front of Lili again.
"Why?" Raz asked, his tone suspicious.
"A girl named Norma wanted to apologize for using Augustus for sleuthing purposes and teach him pyrokinesis as a way to show she really meant it. I told him to accept her offer and for the older kids to go, too. It's good for them to be social, you know, just like how you are, Pootie," she explained, and she winked at Lili. "Maybe we can convince Miss Zanotto here and a few of those teens to join our humble circus? We'll rake in more of an audience with my new line-up of psychic-oriented acrobatics." Her eyes sparkled as she addressed Lili. "My husband told me you were quite the talent with plants. Have you ever tried swinging on a live vine before, kid?"
Mirtala's gasp was so sharp that Lili thought she'd choke on it. "I'd love to swing from a live vine! Maybe from a billion feet in the air! That'd be cool!"
"Didn't you almost fall to your death the last time you tried something that high?" Raz countered, smirking.
Mirtala blew a raspberry at him. "Nuh-uh! I landed correctly, just like Papa and Mama taught me. You always fall on your butt!"
Donatella took control of the situation. She gestured at the Aquatodome, telling her children that the patches on the inside of the tent were coming undone and needed measuring for her to sew on new fabric. Mirtala and Raz protested, but she wordlessly aimed her finger at the tent. The siblings glared at each other before marching off to finish her command. They waved Lili off and hurried over to the tent, Mirtala cartwheeling after Raz ran.
Left alone with Raz' mother, Lili peered up at her. She was taller than her dad but seemed to be around the height of Raz' father. Even though she had squatted in front of Lili, she was still lean and long. Her hair was thick and curly, held up by a copious amount of hairspray. Her thick cloak was decorated in sapphires that seemed sewed onto the fake peacock feathers tickling her chin. She carried herself with palpable confidence, taking control of every situation, and Lili searched for anything to say.
"So," Donatella began, straightening her spine and clapping her hand on Lili's shoulder, "let's have a little girl talk."
If Kitty or Elka had asked her that, she would have rolled her eyes so far into her head that she would have shown off her full sclera. "Oh, uh, sure. What about?" Lili asked.
Donatella cocked her head and tapped her chin. A wry grin split on her face. "Why, if you ever kissed my little Pootie?"
Lili had never felt her head spin so quickly in her entire life. Her mouth fell open, slack-jawed. She managed to clamp it shut, her teeth hitting, and she glanced at the unlit campfire where a few squirrels had gathered. She wished she could have communicated with them like Dogen. Maybe they would have been able to think of a way to get her out of that jam.
"I'll take your silence as a yes," Donatella teased, rubbing Lili's shoulder.
"Uh, yeah? I mean, yeah." She sheepishly mustered those words.
She threw her head back and laughed. "How direct! I was the same way with my husband when we were young, too," she replied, and she guided Lili to the caravan. "Come, come, let's go somewhere private. I'd like to hear all about you!" She paused, then flashed a smile at Lili. "That is, well, if I'm not overstepping my boundaries. It's something I'm working on, you see."
She wasn't sure how to feel about opening up to someone who was essentially a stranger to her but an important person in Raz' life. She had her history dealing with people who left her alone in the dust after she had given so much of herself. Even Raz, who had done more for her than anyone else her age, didn't know her whole story. She hadn't told him everything about herself. She wasn't sure if she had told him anything of value.
But Lili took in Donatella's sincerity. She provided Lili an out. She only had to tell her as much as she wanted. Donatella wasn't trying to pry or coax anything out of her, nothing invasive nor deep. The ball was in Lili's court, and Donatella waited for her to pass it.
The corner of Lili's mouth raised. "Well, I hope you like plants because I know a lot about 'em," she began as they strolled toward the caravan.