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By the time Dex and Mosscap returned to Kat’s Landing, the river carried hundreds of yellow leaves. As did the air. The grassy banks were speckled with yellow, but also some orange and brown. Gray squirrels darted about, collecting nuts and then scaling papery tree trunks to their hidey-holes.
Mosscap had fallen behind, studying one specific squirrel and tree. It exclaimed, “Ha!” and later, “Incredible.” For once, it didn’t matter if the robot spent minutes or hours observing and falling behind. This road only led to Kat’s Landing, a familiar place where people already knew Mosscap and would help it locate Dex or whatever it might be seeking upon arrival.
Dex kept biking. Their calves ached. They were eager to reach town, for several reasons.
Then Dex did a double take—looking off to their right, where the Lacetail River ran parallel to the road. A boat with a small paddlewheel at the front was catching up to them. As it came alongside, Dex saw it was powered by someone peddling what looked like a bicycle mounted behind a spinning waterwheel. The bicycle floated between bright orange outriggers. Cheerfully working the pedals at twice the pace Dex preferred, a person with a super short bob haircut and a ceramic tank strapped to her back called out, “Hello! You must be Dex and Mosscap. I’ve been waiting to meet you. Well, not actually waiting today, because I didn’t know when you were coming. I’m sure Leroy didn’t know either, or he would have told me. We’ve talked all about your last visit. I’ve made a tea service for you both! I hope that’s not presumptuous. I’ve never met a tea monk before, so I’ve only heard others’ perspectives. And I’ve never met a sentient robot, but I gather that’s more common here, except not here in this town, because practically everyone here has met Mosscap before. Oh, I’m Jordan, by the way. I always forget to say.”
As Jordan peddled up a boat ramp, her paddle wheel scraped briefly before two small wheels extended down and to each side, holding it safely aboveground. The bike that followed looked a bit flimsy between the floats that extended to each side. As Jordan peddled out of the water, it became clear her bike was strong enough to support the ski-shaped floats attached axle-high while also pushing the now useless paddlewheel in front.
Mosscap caught up on Dex’s landward side and called across to Jordan, “If what Sibling Dex rides is an ox-bike, would yours be called a fish-bike?”
Jordan pulled in to share the road parallel to Dex’s ox-bike. They passed a few creatively assembled riverside homes, built on stilts from pieces of old shipping crates and tires, as Jordan answered, “Since I built it, most folks here call it Jordan’s bike, but I like the idea of an animal name. It should be named for an amphibian though, since the bike is amphibious. How about salamander-bike? Would you like a bike? Or do you prefer to walk? I could make you a salamander-bike. I heard you’re waterproof inside and out, so I guess you could just walk right to the bottom of the deep lake I’ve been exploring. Would you want to visit it with me? I made this ceramic rebreather backpack so I could dive from my salamander-bike to find artifacts no one has hauled out since the Transition. No one else wanted to try the rebreather, so I never made another one, and no one ever comes along to explore. But you could.”
“I would like to try. Can you show me this lake?”
“Oh, yes! But not right now. Leroy would be disappointed if I spirited you away before we visit him. Although after tea, he might be quite happy if you and I went off exploring for a bit while he spent time with Dex. Does it work for both of you to come for tea now? I’ve made a tiered tea tray like people sometimes use for tea where I come from. Not exactly where I come from. Or maybe when. It’s a bit unclear how the placetime I left related to all this. Applied wormhole physics isn’t an approved field of study at Pacific Tech, and I probably let my curiosity run away with me, again. Literally. But this was a pretty sweet place to land. And look, now we’ve arrived at the Fab Shack. Hey, Leroy! Look who I found!”
Dex parked the ox-bike and tea-wagon in front. They shook their head to clear the deluge of baffling mental images invoked by that speech.
Jordan eased her salamander-bike to one side. Mosscap studied the now still bike.
Leroy stood, smiling broadly in dappled sunlight by the front door, as Jordan brushed by and started clanking objects inside.
“Hello, Dex. Mosscap.” Leroy wore a sweater patterned with alternating purple and yellow birds that set off his turquoise beard perfectly. It was more colorful than anything Dex remembered from their last visit. Dex still appreciated the shirt Leroy had gifted them then.
“Hello, Leroy.” They held out a hand, which Leroy clasped before tugging gently. “Is this okay?”
“Definitely.” Leroy pulled Dex into a warm hug that had Dex melting against his beautiful bright sweater.
By the time Dex felt solid enough to step away from that welcome reception, they could hear Mosscap already in the backroom by the kitchen nook.
“May I wind it?” Mosscap asked.
Leroy led Dex by the hand to a familiar table where they’d once eaten breakfast.
Atop the table, there were now three tiers of white ceramic platters, the upper two supported by miniature black pillars. The bottom platter was nearly filled with grapes, strawberries, carrot sticks, celery with white filling, and small clusters that appeared to be deep purple berries. Between those treats were painted thimbles and tiny carved wooden animals.
Mosscap was slowly rotating the bottom platter clockwise. There was a clicking sound that ceased when the winding stopped and Mosscap let go. Then the whole three-tier assembly rotated slowly and silently in the other direction. Mosscap stared with rapt robot attention.
Meanwhile, Jordan had assembled six different sandwiches in a complicated assembly line. She began slicing them into triangles and arranging them on the center tray, as it revolved, and as she spoke non-stop about what she was doing. “The sandwiches are olive and mango curry with cress. I know you usually take a plate of food, which Dex eats later, and that’s great. But while we’re exploring different foods and flavors, I want you to have interesting treats to explore. The non-food items on the lower tray are decorative. You can pick them up to examine the work more closely, and everyone should feel free to take a look and put them back in different places and arrangements. But the items on the middle shelf are puzzles! This wooden box can be unfolded to form a straight or zigzag shape. The folded-paper dragon can be shifted to stand or fly. I’ll let you explore the interlocking rings and see how many variations you can sort out there.”
“Oh, go ahead and sit, everyone.” Jordan waved at the table multiple times.
Dex and Leroy took the far side of the table, where they were farthest from Jordan’s busy dance around the kitchen. Mosscap carefully wound the bottom platter so it would continue spinning, showing off all it’s contents no matter where one was seated.
“I’m just putting out the cookies, cakes, and candies I set aside for the top layer. And there I have a few spinning and wobbling toys for Mosscap to explore when we reach dessert, although everyone’s welcome to play.”
“Is it common to have all this with tea where you come from?” Mosscap asked as it sat down.
“No, the trays don’t even spin most times, and since we don’t have sentient robots who don’t eat, it was my innovation to add different courses for your entertainment. I hope you like them. Shall I go ahead and pour for everyone? I have many questions about the tea service some monks provide with a tea specially crafted to suit a person. But I don’t know how to do that, so I made us all a fall blend that includes dried apple, berry, cardamom, and cloves. I could make a simpler tea if you think the flavors will clash. Or if you just tell me what you like, I can make everyone their own tea. One of my favorite things is making something to fit whatever I’m told or deduce that someone might want.”
A soft whir sounded in Mosscap’s head as it shifted attention from the items slowly spinning on the top tray to look toward Jordan instead. “You deduced I’d enjoy exploring the detailed or movable small items you’ve added to this assortment of bite-sized foods?”
Jordan nodded vigorously but, much to Dex’s surprise, stayed silent.
“You deduced correctly. I am delighted with all you have shared and with all I see here.”
With a smile that rearranged her features all the way to her eyes, Jordan finally sat down at the table saying, “Eat up! Let me know if you have any questions.”
Mosscap immediately placed a strawberry, something it knew Dex would enjoy as seconds, on the small white plate in front of it. Then it picked up a thimble painted to look like a hedgehog and balanced it on one metal fingertip to examine up close to its lenses. “Does everyone talk and act as fast as you do, where you come from?”
Jordan’s face fell, not to a frown, but losing most of the joy from the prior moment.
“No, as a kid they called me hyperkinetic, and that was the nicest term I heard. Mostly I heard how annoying and out-of-control I was, with lots of instructions as to how I should change. But the changes never stuck. I learned that if I made myself useful and stayed cheerful, people forgave most of the rest.”
“I hope no one here has made you feel that way,” Dex said, setting down the sandwich he’d selected from the middle tray. “You shouldn’t have to prove you’re useful to be valued. And you definitely don’t need anyone’s forgiveness for your energy level or the way you think.”
“I know. People here keep telling me, and most of them act like they mean it. Sometimes I have to explain that I make things like sweaters and thimbles because I need to keep my hands moving.” As she said it, Jordan’s fingers were twisting around each other, but she soon grabbed a cucumber sandwich.
“Jordan made me this sweater,” Leroy volunteered.
“I noticed how well it sets off your beard,” Dex responded, as their eyes took in how well the sweater fit Leroy’s broad shoulders.
“I could make you one!” Jordan volunteered. “Most people here accepted one and then told me they didn’t need more sweaters, because it doesn’t get that cold. I tried to explain I have different stiches and gauges I can use to make lighter-weight sweaters. I spin my own yarn now, with super soft bamboo fibers. I built a loom too; would you like to see?”
When they’d all eaten their fill and discussed all the creative components brought together in this new tea service, Jordan led Mosscap off to see the Fiber Farm where her loom and spinning wheel were set up. After that she’d promised Mosscap a trip to the lake and an evening of building or crafting, depending on what they found.
“Looks like we’ll have the place to ourselves overnight,” Leroy said, “if you’d like to stay?”
Reaching forward to take both of Leroy’s hands in their own, Dex leaned forward and whispered, “I would.”
#
The next morning, Mosscap walked with a bounce in its step but minimal clanking. It wore a deep green scarf Jordan had made, with three tiers of pockets at each end. The bottom pocket on each side held small treasures Mosscap had recover from the lakebed. The others awaited whatever it might find along the road.
As Dex biked further downriver, they had to admit their newly knitted and gifted sweater was amazingly soft and breathable. Overnight, Jordan had combined a turquoise yarn the same shade as Leroy’s beard with earthy brown bears that matched the symbol on Dex’s pendant. Dex wasn’t sure Jordan knew what the bear meant to them theologically, but she’d somehow made a sweater that suited them perfectly in that moment, much the way they’d blended flavors for others as a tea monk. They let their mind settle with the feelings her gift stirred in them, as they peddled through the brisk morning air.
Mosscap interrupted abruptly, as it usually did, asking, “When I stay still and focused on something for longer than most humans find comfortable, is that the same or opposite to how Jordan irritated people by moving and speaking too fast to fit the society where she came from?”
Mulling that question alongside their own reflections about being wrapped in understanding that took the form of a sweater, Dex said, “You and Jordan are as much a part of my society as I am. I can’t say you’re the same or different because you’re both so you.”
“That explains so much.” Mosscap’s eyes lit up as it said, “And you are delightfully yourself, Sibling Dex.”