Wolves and the River of Stone by Eric Asher

dissipated.
    As the wolves left, the server came back and set down two bowls of miso soup and two Sapporos. Nixie dragged her soup closer with two fingers, picked up the bowl, and breathed in the steam.
    “This smells delicious.”
    I tasted a spoonful and nodded. It had a subtle kelp flavor with green onions, salt, and tofu. “I really like their soup.”
    Nixie smiled as she slurped down a spoonful.
    “Nix,” I waited for her to look up before I asked, “How old is Honiahaka?”
    She tapped her index finger on the edge of her spoon. “He would have to be close to sixty now.”
    I leaned out of the booth to get a glimpse of Hugh and Haka talking out in the parking lot near a trailer with a pair of kayaks. “Sixty? He looks twenty! I guess he’s aging gracefully.”
    Nixie laughed so hard she snorted, and it made me laugh in turn. I worked hard not to stare when she leaned forward, showing me more cleavage as she laughed. I’d consider my effort not to stare a moderate success.
    “Have you found anything new you like?” I asked.
    “Like what?”
    “You know, human things, since you’ve been mingling with us lesser beings.”
    She shrugged and stirred the remnants of her soup a bit. “I like movies.”
    “Really? Movies? What about TV?”
    “Is there a difference?” Nixie said.
    I laughed. “A bit. Have you actually been to a movie theater?”
    She shook her head. “I’ve only seen movies on the television. Foster told me about movie theaters, they sound much like the amphitheaters we once watched plays in.”
    “Yeah, except they have air conditioning, snack bars, and speakers now.” I drained my soup and adjusted my seat cushion. “I’ll have to take you to the movies sometime.”
    “I’d like that.”
    The server came back again and laid down a plate of Diamond Beef, tekka don, and a sliced up tube of kelp. The tube of kelp was actually the spider roll, with a flurry of soft shell crab legs sticking out of either end.
    Nixie leaned over the tekka don, took a deep breath, and smiled. “This was an excellent idea.” After eyeing the sizable chunk of wasabi on the plate, I decided not to take a deep breath. I mixed a little into a dish of soy sauce and dipped a piece of the reddish tuna while Nixie ate hers straight up. It was fresh, smooth, and tasted nothing like a fish smells.
    “I think I like it more with the scales on it, but this is still really good.” Her chopsticks shot out and grabbed another piece of tuna.
    I was left to tend to the Diamond Beef, which was alright with me. It was a delicious sirloin cut into strips and served in teriyaki mushroom sauce. I held a piece out for Nixie between my chopsticks, and despite the frown on her face, she reluctantly leaned over and tasted it. The fact she ate off my chopsticks made me smile, and about then I realized I was hopeless.
    She chewed it for a minute and her face changed from a frown, to indifference, and then she swallowed it. “That’s not bad. It’s not fish, but it’s not bad. I think it would be better raw.”
    I pushed the beef around my plate and said, “You let me know how that works out.”
    She laughed and picked up a center piece of the spider roll. I guess even a water witch can be unnerved by too many legs at the dinner table. We ate in silence for a few minutes, and again I found myself enthralled by the comfortable silence. Nixie glanced at me over her beer and smiled as she finished the tekka don. I ate one end of the spider roll and then pointed at the other.
    “That one’s yours, Nix.”
    “I don’t really–”
    “Nope, you’re not getting out of it.” I jabbed at the box to my left and said, “If you want the box, you eat the legs.”
    She scowled at me, but reached out with her chopsticks anyway. Nixie almost growled as she stared down the explosion of crab legs sticking out of the spider roll. She sighed and then stuffed the whole section in her mouth at once. Her cheeks puffed out while she chewed the