It’s been a little over a year since Tammy and Avi met.
Tammy recently turned seven years old, not that he knows when exactly his birthday is, and Avi recently turned eight, not that anyone celebrates her birthday.
Tammy’s newly adopted family, the Barabba Tribe of bone-tails, is celebrating a small festival. Amidst the trees and tents of their temporary hideout, all the men sit on padded quilts, arranged in a circle and facing inwards. Inside their circle is a great bonfire, where the women of the tribe are roasting various types of meat. Between the two genders are various carts full of spices, pots, other ingredients, and tableware.
Tammy watches his wife work, drooling as the savory scent of fatty meat wafts over to his nostrils.
Mixed with all the women of the tribe, the young girl takes a heavy slab of meat and stabs her tail through it. Then she takes a wire and wraps it tight around the meat like a net, ensuring it won’t fall apart. Avi’s tail is covered in boney growths for protection, and the black tube inside can stretch up to three times its normal length, so she uses this length to keep the meat amidst the flames. She rotates it, flips it, pulls it out, and regularly heads to the carts to add the necessary spices.
It’s hot work, and Avi keeps a towel over her shoulder so she can dab the sweat off her brow.
While she uses her tail for the spit roast, she places vegetables on a cutting board and gets to chopping. According to Tammy’s untrained eye she seems to be doing well, but her sisters and cousins are silently mocking her messy mincing.
Once the meat is nearly done, she carves the roast into thick chunks and throws it into a cast iron pot. Then she adds the other ingredients and caps it off with a heavy layer of seasoning. Finding a good spot in the bonfire, she tucks the pot into a crevice for it to simmer and soak.
Avi’s brother, Hedwin, sits on Tammy’s left and elbows his thin arm. “Think you’ll actually be able to eat her cooking this time?”
Tammy turns his head but keeps his eyes on his wife. “I-I think so. She said she’s been doing a lot of practice.”
Hedwin leans back, hands on the quilt with his legs crossed and his tail swishing back and forth. “That doesn’t really account for much though, haha. Hey, if you want, I could have my wife cook you a meal or two! You’ll probably like it a lot better.” Hedwin is from the same litter as Avi, making him eight years old as well. But unlike Avi’s raven hair and runtish stature, Hedwin’s hair is a soft burgundy, and he’s a bit big for his age. He shares the same piercing ruby eyes as his sister though.
Tammy nods, “that sounds great-“ his eyes round, and he whips his head around to look up at Hedwin, “I-I mean, no thank you!” The poor boy still has a hard time looking others in the eye, but he tries his best. “It’s… bone-tail practice that a girl cooks for her husband, a-and I’m Avi’s husband, so…” His blue eyes are bright and focused, “I know I’m a picky eater compared to you guys, so she has to work hard to cook with me in mind. I want what my partner makes.”
Hedwin smiles and ruffles his brother-in-law’s messy brown hair. “You’re a loyal little guy.”
Tammy’s stomach roars, and he turns back to the bonfire. He pats his aching stomach, “loyal… yeah.”
Hedwin’s wife arrives and places two dishes on the quilt. One for her, one for him. It’s soup, poured into two large, crispy bread bowls. “Here you go, Hedwin,” she says politely.
Tammy stares at the two bowls and drools.
Hedwin cracks a smile and holds out a spoon, “want the first bite?”
Tammy’s eyes dart between the spoon and the soup, but he pulls back and wipes the drool off his chin. “I’m fine,” he says, unconvincingly.
A few minutes pass and Avi takes out the pot and scoops the contents onto a large wooden bowl. The bowl is large enough for them to eat off the same dish, and the food is stacked high. Avi adds some more spices, cracks a few eggs over top, then takes a hesitant test bite.
Her eyes flash brilliantly, she perks up, and her tail starts swishing in a way that gets Tammy excited.
With this soon to be victory on the horizon, Avi grabs two spoons, then balances a berry flavored drink on each shoulder as she walks closer.
Avi locks eyes with her husband and nearly trips, but recovers and makes it to the quilt. In a smooth motion, she gets down on her knees and sets the plate and cups before Tammy.
“There!” She speaks proudly, but her head is bowed as custom dictates. “I tried it myself, and I can say this is easily the best thing I’ve ever made, perfectly suited to the human palate.”
Tammy looks down at it and his stomach growls. It’s stringy, shredded meat piled high on a plate, with all sorts of diced vegetables, fruits, and breadcrumbs mixed in. It’s heavy with spice, mixed with a thick brown sauce, and the heat of the meat cooked those dripping eggs to perfection.
Avi looks him in the eyes and raises a finger for each item on the list, “no human meat, no alcohol, no psychedelics, nothing burnt, nothing undercooked, no salmonella, no parasites, no digestive tracts, no chunks of bones, no brains, no…” She looks down at her hands and realizes she ran out of fingers to continue the list. After a moment of thought, she puts her hands behind her back and sits on the other side of the plate. “Nothing weird. Please, dig in.”
With her legs crossed, she rests her elbows on her knees and leans closer, eagerly awaiting her husband’s first bite.
Tammy quickly grabs the spoon, scoops a load of shredded meat, sauce, egg, and vegetables. He brings the spoon to his mouth and blows it a few times, then eats. His body locks up.
Horrible.
Absolutely horrible.
There isn’t a single redeemable thing about it. Her meal is barely even edible.
Hedwin and his wife watch Tammy’s face as his eyes bulge and he struggles to not spit it out.
The couple on Tammy’s right instead choose to watch Avi’s face as the light drains from her eyes. She keeps a pleasant smile, but there’s no joy.
It’s a testament to Tammy’s mental fortitude that he manages to swallow. He coughs, then grabs his cup with both hands to greedily chug the flavored water.
“I-it-!” He turns his head and coughs into his elbow. “Great!” He forces out.
Avi sighs, grabs her spoon, and pulls a sticky strand of shredded meat covered in egg and sauce. “I don’t get it. I did everything right…”
“I-I’m sure the problem is me! Don’t worry, Avi.” Tammy hesitates but leans forward and puts his hand on Avi’s tail, which is lying still on the quilt next to him. The bone segment is still a little sticky from the meat juices. “I’m sorry for being a picky eater. S-so cheer up!”
Tammy’s reassurance brings some light back to her tired eyes. Though all her siblings are eager to bring her back to reality.
Bone-tail women get pregnant with litters, 4-7 children at a time. Avi’s litter numbered six babies, though one of her brothers died during training, and one of her sisters perished during her first mission outside the tribe. When bone-tail children are young, they mimic their parents and form practice relationships called mock marriages. Usually these partnerships are fleeting, either because the children get bored of each other, find they aren’t that compatible, or because one of them dies, but sometimes they last until the kids are 12 and they’re turned into real, official marriages. During a festival like this, litters are assigned to sit together.
All of these factors combine to mean there are six children sitting by Avi, ready to laugh at her. Three siblings, and three step-siblings.
Avi’s sister, Zana, slaps her back, “it’s actually kind of impressive how you’ve consistently failed for like a year.”
“How is it that you’re bad at everything?” Zana’s partner says.
Her brother, Elijah, leans forward, “wait, Hedwin was in the way. Did Sammy throw up?”
“No, he managed to swallow, but you should have seen his face!”
“Ha! What a trooper!”
Hewin’s wife folds her arms and shakes her head, “he’s wasted as her husband. My sister would have been a much better choice.”
Tammy tries to say something, but his weak voice is drowned out by their mockery.
Avi fights back tears, then starts shoveling the meal into her mouth. Her sensitive tongue analyzes every ingredient, vitamin, and nutrient with each bite. The sheer variety of spices and flavors is a treat for her tastebuds. Nine kinds of meat, 36 spices, 14 vegetables, flavoring from six beverages like milk thrown in the pot and made to evaporate or soak into the mix, three types of berries, seven types of grains, and a variety of 15 other ingredients such as eggs, butter, and sauces. Everything cooked to perfection, the nutrition is excellent, and every bite explores new flavors. One is spicy, the next spoonful might be sweet, then sour, or bitter, every spot of the meal is an undiscovered treasure, and the eater will never know what they’ll have next.
Hedwin reaches a long arm over to pat his brother-in-law’s back. “Don’t feel too bad, Sammy. It’s impressive you were able to down a single bite. Not your fault she can’t cook.”
“Th-thanks…” Tammy keeps his eyes locked on his hands as they grip the quilt. Despite how kindly they treat him, there’s a nagging thought that these giants might kill him if he steps out of line. He gulps and tries to find the words to defend his wife, but his heart won’t allow it.
Hedwin brushes his long red hair past his shoulder, then reaches for Tammy’s spoon. “Let me taste what this idiot sister of mine is trying to feed you. Maybe I could beat some sense into her-“
Tammy’s eyes round and he yanks the spoon away, scuttling back off the quilt. “N-no!” His eyes are like that of a prey’s, and all of Avi’s siblings look to him like hungry predators. But despite how each of them could effortlessly snap his neck, he maintains eye contact with Hedwin. “I-I mean… I’m sorry, Brother Hedwin… sir. But ac-according to tribal customs, Avi is my wife, and I don’t want anyone else eating her cooking.”
Avi looks up and can’t help the corners of her lips from curling up in a messy smile.
Tammy glances over to meet his wife’s eyes, gulps, then returns his gaze to Hedwin with renewed courage. “Just because I can’t eat my wife’s cooking…” He slowly crawls back to his spot on the quilt, “doesn’t mean I want anyone else to eat it.” He looks down at the plate and his stomach loudly rumbles, though he can’t bring himself to take another bite.
Hedwin chuckles, “alright, alright. But the entire time you’ve been here, I haven’t seen you eat a single thing. How are you still alive?” He gestures to his plate, “are you sure you don’t want any of this?” This has been a game among Avi’s siblings for weeks. Who’s going to convince Tammy to eat a meal that wasn’t made by his wife? Bonus points if Avi is present and they all can see their sister’s heart shatter.
“I-I don’t need to eat!” He says with a forced smile and raised chin. His eyes are still so terrified as he looks at Hedwin. Hedwin’s wife can’t help but giggle at how cute his brave little act is. “The point of food is nutrition, right? Calories and… vitamins. And such.” He hastily grabs his long sleeve and rolls it up, revealing dozens of faint puncture marks around his veins. “S-so long as I get those calories and vitamins, I don’t need to eat. Therefore, um, Avi. If you could?”
Avi perks up upon hearing her name, “of course, dear!” With practiced efficiency from having done this multiple times every day, Avi whips her tail around and gently sticks the needle into Tammy’s vein. He winces slightly, but he’s used to the sudden puncture. She quickly begins injecting a nutrition serum. “Your daily allotment of nutrition, ready to go!”
“See?” Tammy smiles at Hedwin. “Perfectly fine.”
“Gotta be unsatisfying though, right? You’re not dealing with your hunger.”
Tammy uses his other hand to wave him off, “not a problem. Back in the orphanage, I went days without eating all the time! Hunger doesn’t bother me anymore.” The others look at Tammy, his thin limbs, his short stature, it’s clear that malnourishment hit him hard. But even now that he’s out of the orphanage and in their tribe, they can’t give him the food he deserves because he refuses to eat the cooking of anyone besides the runt.
All her siblings notice, but it’s lost on Avi. She’s too busy enjoying her meal, taking the many rich nutrients from her dish and injecting them directly into Tammy’s veins. The boy is sitting across from her, eyes closed and a happy smile on his face. He’s feeling high from his successful defense of his wife, but his stomach keeps growling. Loud roars that overpower the many layered conversation of the tribe’s festival. Every time his stomach rumbles, there’s a flash of tightness in his brow, and a subtle clenching of his jaw.
He hasn’t eaten a real meal in over a year.
****
Tammy stands outside the tent of the tribe’s Master Physician, Emiri.
He gulps, then speaks from his chest, “excuse me? Master Physician Emiri? I was told you wanted to speak with me.” Then he waits, keeping his back straight.
There’s rumbling from the inside, then the thick tarp flap of the circular tent door is pulled open. “Ahh, little Sammy. Yes, come in.” Emiri is a full adult at 24 years old, standing at a slightly short 6’6. Her hands could rip a man’s arms out of their sockets, and her long tail is thick, capable of breaking bones with just a swipe. She has soft ruby eyes, a cute, rounded face, and light red hair tied in a professional bun.
Emiri holds the tent flap open and Tammy walks inside.
“This, um, isn’t time for the normal checkup. Is something wrong?”
“Yes.” Emeri walks to a circular table in the middle of the tent with a large lantern in the center. She sits on one of the wooden chairs, then beckons him closer. Once he’s near, she gently places her hands under his arms and, with the precise care required of a boy so fragile, picks him up and sits him on a cushion placed on the edge of the table. “I’m worried about how you’re not eating.”
“O-oh,” Tammy looks to the side. “That.” Even though he’s sitting above her, the size difference is so great that her head towers above him.
“Malnutrition is disastrous for a growing human boy like you. You not eating is a problem.”
“B-but it’s not Avi’s fault!” He cries. “She’s working hard, I’m just too picky! I’m sorry, please don’t blame her…”
Emiri supportively pats his head. “I’m not blaming you. I’m just saying it’s an issue we need to fix.”
Tammy thinks for a moment, then looks up to meet her red eyes. Every bone-tail of the mainline Barabba lineage has ruby eyes, but Tammy swears that Avi’s glimmer and sparkle in a way that’s beyond comparison. “And you’re not blaming Avi either, right?”
“Hm? Sure. Whatever you say, sweetie.” She taps his small chest, “but we’re talking about you right now.”
“Oh, well, don’t worry about that!” Tammy rolls up his long, flowing sleeve, then flexes his biceps. It’s a lot more developed than the skin and bones he had when he first arrived, and almost equivalent to the muscle mass a normal seven-year-old boy should have. “Avi’s been injecting the nutrition into me, and your growth serums work great! I’ve also been keeping up with your exercises every day, so I barely get winded anymore.”
“True, though I’m questioning the efficacy of her injections. Avi isn’t a nutritionist, and she doesn’t know what a human requires. For a bone-tail, it’s simple. Eat as much as we want and our bodies will sort it out. But for you? Overindulgence is a problem.” She lifts Tammy’s shirt up and pinches his stomach. As a bone-tail, her hands are naturally warm, and Tammy’s gotten used to these check-ups, so he doesn’t offer complaint. “See here with your stomach? A little too much fat, it’s covering the abs underneath.”
Tammy blushes a little, “I-I’m sorry, I promise I haven’t been skipping exercise!”
She shakes her head and pulls his shirt down, “Sammy, it has nothing to do with you, it’s a sign that she’s been feeding you too many calories. When you humans eat too much, the extra nutrition is stored as fat, typically around the stomach, like so.”
“O-oh, is that right?”
She nods, “now, how’s your pee?”
“…” Tammy purses his lips and looks up at his cousin-in-law. “M-my… what?”
“Your urine. What color is it?”
“…Y-you know, uh. Yellow.” His face turns red and it’s hard to maintain eye contact.
“What shade of yellow? Pale? Off-white? Bright yellow?”
“I guess it’s, uh, I mean… pretty yellow.”
“See, that’s not good. I know you’ve been drinking a lot of water to deal with the hunger pains, so you’re not dehydrated. That idiot niece of mine is giving you too many vitamins and nutrients. Your body can’t use it all, so your organs are working too hard to filter it out. That isn’t healthy.”
“Oh. That’s what you mean. So, Master Physician Emiri, what-“
Emiri grabs Tammy’s cheeks and moves her face closer to look deep into his light blue eyes. “Didn’t I say to call me auntie?”
Tammy frowns and tries to look away, but her hands don’t budge. Calling her that bothers him a lot, both because it feels a little disrespectful to her station, and because it’s incorrect. Emiri is the daughter of Avi’s mom’s sister, which means she’s a cousin, not an aunt, and calling her ‘auntie’ bothers him to an unreasonable degree. “A-…Auntie Physician Emiri?”
She pouts, but releases the boy, “I guess that’s the best we can do for now.”
Tammy clears his throat, “so… what do we do about this?”
Emiri rattles the end segments of her tail, “I’ll be giving you a few boosters for now, until you get a wife who knows how to cook.”
“Oh, thanks! I’m sure it won’t be long until I stop being picky when it comes to Avi’s food, haha.”
“Yes, sure. When… she learns to cook. That’s what I meant. But for now,” Emiri grabs under Tammy’s arms and picks him up, quickly setting the child down on a chair far too big for him. “We need to do something about your hunger. It’s not right for you to suffer because of her poor cooking.”
Tammy perks up, his brow tight, “A-auntie Physician Emiri!” He cries and stands up, looking over the back of the chair as she walks to her own little kitchen. “Avi is my wife, and according to the rules of the Barabba Tribe, she’s the only one who can cook for me!” His voice keeps cracking, his bottom lip trembling. “I appreciate your offer, but I must refuse.”
Emiri’s kitchen has a fridge, a stove, and an oven, all connected via tubes to a nearby gas generator. Since the Master Physician is charged with maintaining the collective health of the tribe, Emiri trained each young girl, including Avi, how to cook for their husbands. Avi didn’t take well to the original lessons, nor was she that great with supplemental ones, and Emiri quickly lost faith in her ability to learn anything. As she gets to work putting her ingredients in order, she brings her tail around and pokes Tammy’s nose with her needle. As sharp as the needle is, Emiri is an adult with expert control and reflexes, she’d never accidentally stab him.
“Samuel Barabba,” she says sternly, giving Tammy a small bit of pride from hearing his new last name. “That may be a cultural rule, but I am Master Physician. My word is law when it concerns the health of the tribe, and all its members. In my sphere of responsibilities, I outrank the patriarch, the matriarch, your parents, and even the gods.” She turns her head and gives Tammy such a warm, bright, motherly smile. “Therefore, Samuel, when I give you a meal with the purpose of aiding your health, rest assured that you are breaking no rules. That girl is still your wife, it doesn’t count.”
The logic is sound, but it’s the smile that reassures him the most. He quietly nods.
Emiri gets to cooking something simple. Stir fry in a wok. Three kinds of rice, cut pieces of meat from eight separate animals, sixteen vegetables, four kinds of eggs, noodles, banana paste, crunched shells from seafood—a delicacy this far inland—, various spices including a hefty amount of garlic and lemon juice, and softened tree fibers. The smell swirls around the tent and Tammy nearly passes out from his stomach roaring in desperation. The portion is perfect for Tammy’s size, Emiri is easily the best cook in the tribe. She grabs the wok’s handle and flips the ingredients around like repeated waves, the roaring flame underneath sizzling the ingredients like a grand orchestra.
After just a few minutes, she puts it onto a wooden plate, then sets it in front of Tammy. “Eat up,” she says with a delightful smile as she sits next to him.
Tammy can barely control himself. He grabs the spoon and shovels the first bite of golden-brown stir fry into his mouth.
His eyes round, bloodshot, and his gag reflex is sent into overdrive.
It isn’t possible for him to swallow. He can’t even turn his head before he violently coughs it out.
“Eh?” Emiri cocks her head.
His tongue burns, his lungs ache from coughing so hard, his stomach and chest convulse.
“Sammy?” Emiri pats his back.
“I-i-ghk!” He coughs hard and sucks down air, “it’s awful!” He cries. His mouth salivates in an effort to protect his tastebuds, and all he can do is turn his head and start spitting.
“It’s… what?”
“It’s wo-ptht! It’s worse than Avi’s!”
“…” Emiri stares blankly at her patient, then grabs the spoon to try it. “Huh? But it’s good…”
Tammy coughs again, then rests his elbows on the table as he covers his face. “I-I’m,” he dry coughs. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Master Physician Emiri,” he sniffs and holds back tears. “That was… that was really rude. I’m sorry.”
Emiri rubs his back, “no, it’s fine. Hmm.” She scratches her cheek, “what kind of human are you, anyway?”
Tammy sniffs, his stomach aching from months of starvation-esq hunger, and turns to her, “wh-wha?” His eyes are filling with tears, and his nose is dribbling with snot.
Emiri wipes away both, “there’re all different kinds of humans out there. We bone-tail are one variant, you’re another, and we’re all ruled by the gurant, who are monsters. I tested your genes after you arrived at camp and didn’t see anything that out of the ordinary for baseline humans, but maybe your variant of human has more subtle differences? Perhaps you have odd taste buds, or your stomach can only process certain types of food. I can tell you right now that my cooking is excellent, so if you don’t like my cooking then the problem is-“ she’s about to say that he’s the problem but decides to word it better. “Then the problem is genetic. Different people have different circumstances. In the same way accommodations must be made for how your bones break and ours don’t, we just need to make accommodations for your weird taste buds. It’s nothing to be ashamed of, we knew these things would happen when you were adopted into the tribe. So, cheer up, little assassin!”
Tammy gives a wobbly, messy smile.
“But now that we know that accommodations must be made, we can work on tackling the issue.” Emiri rubs her chin. “I wish I had a wider gene-set from your race to cross-reference, but it’s too late to go back to your world and kill a few people to test my theories.”
Tammy gulps and nods rapidly, praying she doesn’t consider taking a bite out of him.
“Hmm… well, I’ll talk with Kashier to figure out what to do, I’m sure we’ll think of something. So just hang in there a little longer, Sammy!”
Tammy sigh, “okay… A-auntie.” Emiri gives him a warm hug and kisses his head before sending him off.