Chapter 5: Dumplings
Azura and Lillie were sent to have their weekend visit with their grandparents: Kirk and Ten. Both of the elders were Arthur's parents of a Honduran white bat and a red fox. They married during Arthur's Cherryton years and had twins, their aunt Sunny and Sayori.
"Finish your pumpkin seeds, poppet," said Arthur, who was flying while both of his girls were in a special sling across his neck. He asked his stepmother and father to babysit the girls while he had to attend work with a former Cherryton student and his band called The Leftovers. Mizuchi on the other hand, was hosting a runway fashion show at the Walter Hotel so it was up to Arthur to decided how to handle their daughters.
Since Ten and Kirk lived in a different suburban area, it was perfect for the girls to play outside in the garden. Although their own home was far away, both of the girls were excited to meet their grandparents. Although Arthur was blind, he had a handicapped card if the air traffic police caught him and his echolocation improved over time. He hung upside down the rafter under the roof and began to knock on the window.
Just by the sounds alone, he smiled. Ten was standing inside, he imagined with a smile on her face. Although she was a fox, she loved him just as much as her children and his. "Nanna!" both of the girls squealed and tackled her into a hug. Of course, the vixen was strong enough to carry both of them since they were quite small compared to a fox's size.
"Sorry to trouble you, mum. I-"
"Hush now, Arthur," Ten shushed him playfully. "I'm just happy my son and grandchildren are here. You know we will always be here even if you are old and creaky."
Arthur fluffed up his fur with embarrassment, causing his girls to giggle. "No I am not!"
He felt a gentle kiss on top of his head. "I'm just joking, my dear. We'll be alright while you and the missus handle your line of work. Just call me when you are coming over to pick them up."
Kissing his two girls, the blind Honduran white bat took off into the night and smiled, hearing them chorused "goodbyes" to him. Now that they're alone with their grandmother, both girls were ready to spend the evening. Most of their memories were of going out for a picnic along with their grandfather but he was not around.
"He'll be back, later," Ten assured them. "He is busy with some of his students at the university."
"Is university a school?" asked Azura, who was taking out a colouring book with some crayons that were almost as short as her two fingers. Lillie was taking out a photo album under their grandparents' coffee table to flip through the pages.
"It is. The school is for grownups like your Auntie Sunny and Sayori. Well, I'm making something special for dinner, girls. Can you guess?"
Both of the hybrid children gave their best thinking faces to come up with an answer. "Egg fried rice?" Lillie guessed, causing her sister to wiggle her ears with excitement. Ten shook her head with an amused smile. "Nope. Can you guess what is it, Azura?"
"Umm...tofu?"
Ten giggled and guided them to the Lazy Susan dining table, where it had a rotation glass that turns whenever someone wanted to pass the food. Both of the girls love to spin the Lazy Susan, but knew they could only do it when there's nothing on the table or if they brought their food play sets.
This time, the table had a bowl of mixed and shredded vegatables, ground insects, and layers of thin pastry sheets. Both of the girls gasped with excitement as they announced in unison:
"DUMPLINGS!"
...
The girls were having a fun time filling the sheets with filling. Azura overstuffed hers while Lillie kept making different seals to close them. Despite showing them the correct way, the girls had different ideas. Nonetheless, the dumpling fillings will not spill out if she decided to either fry or make them into soup.
Watching the girls make up voices and games while filling the dumplings reminded the red vixen of her two daughters. Now that both of the girls were in university, she spent most of her time with her beloved husband and former members of the Inarigumi. Most of the vixens worked in different fields but this house happened to be the headquarters just to catch up nowadays. However...
The interactions between the girls made her feel hollow at the thought of how she used to fill dumplings with her own mother. Bless her heart, she was a gentle vixen that had a voice above a whisper compared to her father. Unfortunately, her passing from a fatal accident affected her father and killed him. All her life, she learnt how to survive in a world where vixens were treated as temptresses and a plaything for both carnivores and herbivores. If they were alive now, she wondered what they would think of her marrying a bat, let alone have children and grandchildren?
"Nai Nai," Lillie's voice snapped Ten from thinking too deep about her 'what-ifs'. Blinking her single eye, she looked at her granddaughter's direction. "Yes, darling?"
"Me and Azura finished the dumplings," she pointed at the stuffed dumplings that almost spilled out. Ten almost laugh but instead swished her tail. Azura was distracted by the living room's bookshelf, pulling out books that Sayori and Sunny used to read at their age.
Giving Lillie a kiss on the head, Ten guided her to sit on one of the sofas to watch a cartoon on the television while she cooks the misshapen dumplings. Half were deep-fried while the others were in soup with bok choy and egg noodles. Sometimes, she believed that food does bring beasts together. No matter the language, the species or place, this was the universal language.
She was about to call them, but the two girls were already sitting at the table with eager faces. She couldn't blame them, since dumplings were indeed delicious. Especially if you make them yourself!
"Slow down, Azura. The dumplings aren't going anywhere," Ten rubbed the black and white hybrid. Azura gave her a crooked smile. "Sorry, Nai Nai. The dumplings are so good!"
Lillie gave a muffled sound of agreement as she had stuffed a fried dumpling dipped in sweet chilli sauce. They ate, talking about what they learned in school and the friends they made. Azura tapped Ten on her paw. "Yes, Azura?"
"Nai Nai, I found a book in the bookshelf that had a picture of a moon on it. It did not have pictures and some of the words are hard! Can you please help me?"
"But I want Nai Nai to watch Hagemaru with me!" Lillie whined, pointing at the TV with a sticky finger. Hagemaru was a cartoon about a dog that does silly antics and causes trouble to everyone around him.
Ten, being the diplomat, decided to spend time with the both of them if the two sisters helped her placed the dishes into the dishwasher. Both Azura and Lillie agreed, now with full tummies and recharged energy.
While Lillie and Ten were on the sofa watching Hagemaru, Azura was leaning against the vixen's left side with the book in her wings. When Ten glanced over, she almost gasped at which book she was talking about:
Camilla: The Vampyrum Queen
I'm sorry for the long wait, everyone. Masters Programme sure is something alright and I hope this chapter is a nice read
You know, I've been thinking about the next chapter even thought I'm writing based on requests for this fic. I realised I haven't done a beach episode but this one will have a twist:
Let's just say it involves a lighthouse...
