One Step at a Time

One Step at a Time - Part 6

A/N: Heads up for the following in this chapter: graphic injury, character death, strong language.

The first week passed almost blissfully in comparison to everything else they'd experienced, and the Ayyshu family fell into a routine. Chuck would rise before the sun, quietly slipping on his work clothes, face covering and goggles, and boots before waking up Arni and creeping out of the ship, trying not to wake Nita. He'd walk a couple of kilometers to the small settlement in the crisp morning air, reaching the common house just as the sun would crest the horizon. He'd start by wiping down the tables from the night before and straightening the chairs and benches before checking in with Ry for the harder tasks.

Most mornings, Oksann would be in already, shuffling around in the back, cooking the day's bone broth as Ry read her datapad, sipping a cup of tea. The Togruta would give him a soft smile in greeting when she appeared while her partner would mostly ignore him, usually only acknowledging his arrival by sliding the wash rag towards him on the counter so that he could begin wiping down tables for the day. They would occasionally pepper each other with trivial questions, but they normally steered clear of anything too personal. Chuckles hadn't had much time to make many friends outside of his brothers during the war, but despite Ry's cutting retorts and nearly perpetual glares, he suspected this was the closest he'd come in a while. Even though he was certain her tough exterior was meant to be a deterrent, there was something about it he found endearing.

She reminds me of Sticks. And Stones. And a few others.

At the start of his second week of employment, Arni's ankle had healed enough to walk on, so he brought the younglings with him to work. He'd been bringing home extra bone broth at the end of the day for them to eat, but Ry had suggested he bring them by to get it when it was still hot at some point.

"What will happen after we eat?" Nita asked as they had gotten ready to leave that morning.

"If you stay in the common house, you'll sit quietly until I'm done with work. If you do want to go explore, you don't wander far, and you take the comm in case of an emergency."

"Will there be snacks?"

"You're being fed breakfast, Nita."

"That's not a snack."

Arni grinned. "I'll pack some snacks." Nita cheered.

The early morning air was crisp as they set out, trekking towards the small settlement in the new day's light. Arni walked next to Chuckles while Nita skipped ahead, picking at the wildflowers that grew along the roadside. Chuckles had noticed a collection of flowers starting to accumulate around the ship, and he smiled to himself under his face mask as Nita inspected a small orange bloom before plucking it, carrying it back to Arni.

"What do you think this one is?"

Arni inspected the flower, turning the delicate blossom in the sunlight while Nita hovered at their side. The flower had a bright pink set of pistil and stamens that protruded from the center of the blossom, waving lightly in the breeze. Arni studied the leaves on the stalk as well before carefully tucking it into a pouch at their waist. "Dunno. Haven't seen that one before. We can look it up when we get to the common house."

Along with Nita's flower collection, Arni had been accruing a steady stream of sketches. They'd managed to find some flimsi and a pencil tucked away in a corner cabinet on the ship, and while there hadn't been much, they'd covered the front and back of each piece with drawings and notes about the flowers Nita brought to them, sometimes pressing some of their more treasured blossoms between the pages. Chuckles had found some of the drawings once, all laid out on the small table where they ate their meals. There were sketches of flowers and creatures, but there were also drawings of him, slumped in the pilot's chair asleep. His favorite page that he'd found was one that included notes on a light purple lily that the younglings had found nearby. Arni had taken meticulous notes about it, but the drawing was what Chuck liked the most. It showed Nita squatting down, her nose pressed into the blossom as the ribbons in her hair fluttered in the wind. Arni had recorded Nita's observations in quotes under the drawing: "Very pretty but smells like farts." He'd stared at the picture for a few minutes, smiling to himself before he set it back where he'd found it. Now, he could see the last few blank sheets of flimsi tucked under Arni's arm along with a few sketches, the pencil that was almost a nub gripped tightly between their fingers.