Accidental Creatures by Anne Harris

face, and then turned back to Helix. “Were you sleeping?”
    Helix sank beneath the edge of the tub. “Yes. Sometimes when I can’t sleep, it helps.”
    “Oh,” said Chango, still looking at her.
    “I’ll be out in a minute, if you could just-”
    “Oh, sure, sorry.” Chango dried off her face and backed out the door. She went into the kitchen, where Mavi was leaning over the sink, pouring water into the coffee pot. “Guess who I just surprised in the bathroom?”
    Mavi looked at her jadedly, “Helix?”
    “Well, yeah.”
    Mavi nodded and set the coffee pot on the counter. “I thought so. It wasn’t me and as far as I know, you’re not in the habit of surprising yourself. Why didn't you knock first?“ Chango sighed and shrugged. ”I wasn't thinking. I didn't expect-Mavi, she was in the bathtub."
    “So? She can take a bath if she wants to, Chango, what's the problem?” Chango leaned closer and lowered her voice. “She was sleeping in there, Mavi, in the water.” oOo
    Helix stepped carefully out of the tub and toweled off. Her ribs were still sore, her neck stiff, but her knife wound was almost healed, and the lump on her head was way down. She stepped into her freshly laundered, custom made four-sleeved body suit. The cellweave fabric warmed slightly at the touch of her damp skin, helping her dry off. She wished it wouldn’t. Her skin was always too dry, no matter what moisturizers or oils she used. The only thing that ever really seemed to help was soaking in a tub of salt water.
    She slipped on her tunic and went out into the hallway and stood there, torn between the security of her room, and her curiosity about the house and its neighborhood. She’d been gone from Hector’s for three days now, and so far she’d spent most of it in one room. Someone was making coffee in the kitchen. She followed the smell down the hall.
    Chango and Mavi stood close together by the sink, their conversation breaking off abruptly as Mavi saw her. “Oh, Helix, it's good to see you up and about.”
    “Thanks,” she said, remaining in the doorway, at a loss for what to do next. Chango and Mavi stood looking at her expectantly. Her cheeks burned, and she realized she was blushing.
    “C'mon in,” said Chango, suddenly darting across the room to her and guiding her to the table. “Have a seat. You want coffee? Mavi just put some on.”
    Helix nodded slowly, “Yeah. Yes, thank you.”
    Hanging from a peg near the door was Hector’s raincoat. Just the sight of it made her feel better, more secure. Chango and Mavi had both seen her, seen her arms, seen everything, Night Hag too, but still she felt naked, being anyplace but Hector’s apartment without that coat on. She glanced at her companions. Mavi was stirring sugar into her coffee, Chango was pouring a bowl of raisin bran. “Oh, there’s my coat,” she said, feigning surprise.
    “A little the worse for wear, I’m afraid,” said Mavi.
    “That’s okay. I’m a little cold, that’s all.” It was true, she usually was cold. She used to keep Hector’s apartment so warm he could hardly stand it.
    Chango and Mavi exchanged glances as she got up and slipped into the raincoat and buttoned it over her lower arms. “That’s better,” she smiled and seated herself at the table again. Mavi poured her a cup of coffee and handed her the steaming mug.
    “Want some cereal?” asked Chango.
    “Sure, thanks.”
    Chango poured her a bowl and added milk.
    “So what are you up to today, Chango?” asked Mavi getting up to retrieve a basket from next to the stove.
    “Oh, I have a few errands to run. Helix, maybe you’d like to come along, see the neighborhood, get to know a few people.”
    “I don’t know.”
    “You said you left your father because you wanted to find something for yourself. You’re not going to find it hiding out here, are you?”
    She was right. She’d left Hector to find out about the rest of the world, and now she was just turning this place