by Pixie Unger
It felt like giving up.
I hated that.
“Iago?” I was afraid to ask, but I needed to know. “Were there any people living in Siobhan Hall?”
“We made lots of noise going in. If there were humans, they could have left,” he said, as though he was offering me an olive branch.
“What happened to your arm?”
Now he snorted and laughed. “Creature knocked over metal on me.”
“What kind of creature?” I pressed.
“Hmmm,” he said, considering this. Then he traced circles around his eyes with his finger and said, “Striped tail? Not an animal from stories. Not a cat or a dog.”
“A racoon,” I muttered. Yeah, that made sense. They got everywhere. “If there were humans at Siobhan Hall, can we leave them alone and go live elsewhere?” I asked.
“Ericka chose,” he reminded me.
Right. I was going to have to talk to her.
----
After supper, I nodded off on the couch while the guys were playing in the kitchen. Apparently they had no trouble seeing in the dark. I woke to the sound of a softly growled argument.
“Wah?” I mumbled, as I rubbed my eyes. I tried again, “What are you doing?”
“Deciding if we should wake you so you can sleep in your bed or leave you where you are,” Iago replied.
“If we should carry you to bed,” Romeo rumbled.
That made me sit up. “No. Waking me is one thing, but I don’t like the idea of you touching me in my sleep.” It was dark in the room. There weren’t any blinds on the windows, but the only street lights that lit were the ones in the school yard for the humans. That was three or four blocks away. I shivered and rubbed my arms.
“I can’t see you in the dark,” I admitted.
“But you see colour better than we do,” Mac countered.
Tybalt assured me, “Won’t bump into you.”
“You aren’t the only things in this house for me to walk into,” I grumbled, as I tried to remember the layout of the room. I could vaguely see the shapes of them. They were huddled in the doorway between the living room and the dining room. I wondered, if I gave it a moment, if my eyes would adjust more.
“So, who won your game?” I asked.
“Me!” Mac sounded so pleased with himself. I wondered if he had won by stealing the others’ tokens again. Then I wondered if it mattered.
“Did you win anything good?” I teased.
The only response was ringing silence.
“Don’t do that,” I murmured. “It’s scary when I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I won Tybalt doing my work,” Mac admitted, sounding guilty.
“Ah,” I didn’t really know what else to say to that. My ability to see the room hadn’t gotten any better. “Maybe his first chore can be helping me get to my room without bumping into anything.” I jumped as fingers brushed mine, then I took the hand being offered. I was pulled to my feet and led down the hallway to my room. Eventually, my hand was placed on the bed, then released. “Thank you,” I whispered appreciatively.
“Welcome,” Iago murmured back, making me jump.
“I wasn’t expecting you!” I blurted out, then felt guilty for saying it like that. “I mean, it’s fine,” I tried to explain. “It was just unexpected.”
He ignored that. “Need any more help?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted.
I tensed as I felt him move but a moment later the light in the bathroom flipped on. I blinked and covered my eyes.
“Sorry,” he rumbled.
“It’s okay,” I assured him. “I’m going to need to be able to see so I can get ready for bed.”
He hadn’t left when I uncovered my eyes. I slid past him and closed the door to the bathroom behind me. I washed my face, brushed my teeth, and put on the shirt from Romeo that I hadn’t managed to replace yet. Iago was still in the room when I came out. I tried to think of a diplomatic way to make him leave, then realized that maybe I shouldn’t.
While I was lost in my own thoughts, he spoke. “You don’t want to live in the building because you don’t want to make trouble for people living there.”
I froze and panicked, before I remembered it was an easy truth to tell. “I haven’t been there in a year. I don’t know if there even is anyone living there.”
“You hope.”
I sighed. “Yeah. I do,” I admitted. “I don’t know what happened to them, but they aren’t here so I hope they are okay.”
Iago nodded, “You were one of the last ... wild-caught humans. We found others in bad places, but you were alone.”
“I was alone getting food, but I wasn’t alone,” I admitted.
He nodded. “How did you get caught?”
I blinked. “It wasn’t you?”
Now he frowned at me, but he shook his head.
“Well, okay, not you, personally, but your team hunts humans. Were you with them when they caught me?”
He shook his head again. “No. I was hunting worse than you. I was hunting bad orcs until a moon cycle before Tybalt fed you.” He gave me a moment to think about that before he repeated his question. “How were you found? You weren’t in a bad place. I asked.”
I wondered about that. I was surprised that he had checked up on me. I guess I shouldn’t have been. “Why did you ask?”
He groaned and scrubbed his hand over his scalp. “You were afraid. If you were hurt, you might be too afraid to live with us.”
That gave me goosebumps as I started to imagine how bad a “bad place” must be to make people too afraid to live. Even when I didn’t want to be here, when I was offered an alternative to dying of exposure, I took it. Iago was still watching me.
“I was fishing by the river,” I explained. “I heard the orcs coming and I hid, but they found me anyway.”
“You fought.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Hell yes I fought!” I was indignant. “I didn’t know where they were taking me, or what was going to happen. Of course I fought!” There was something on his face that made me hesitate. “Why would you ask me that?”
“When you got here, you were hurt. The doctor described your bruises. Two orcs were executed for being too rough with you.”
I just stared at him in shock.
He shrugged. “Sometimes, they let the women watch. One tackled you to the ground and broke your ribs. One slammed you against a tree to tie your hands.”
I nodded silently. The doctor had glued a cut on my cheek shut. I still had a tiny scar. “They were killed for that?”
“You are small,” Iago growled. “They should have been able to catch you and not hurt you.”
Part of me wanted to object. I had fought, I wasn’t exactly helpless. On the other hand, I could clearly remember two of them laughing and the other four looking grim. I spent most of the walk to the camp trying to figure out who was more scary, the ones who laughed or the ones who didn’t. Time to change the subject.
“Is the reason there are no lights because orcs can see in the dark?”
He seemed to genuinely consider this before he nodded.
I was starting to recognize the signs, so I asked, “What aren’t you telling me?”
He bared his teeth at me for an instant then looked pained. “Humans have too many lights. Drown out the stars.”
“Lights make us feel safe,” I tried to explain. “The world is scary when you can’t see what’s coming for you.”
He shrugged, “The only things coming for you is other humans. They can’t see in the dark either.”
I bristled under the suggestion. I wanted to point out that areas where the city had given everyone a free LED for their porch light and the suggestion to leave it on all night long to reduce crime. I didn’t know if it had worked but it played into the over-policing issues we were still trying to sort out when they got here.
“Mina?” he said it so gently, that I looked at him in mild amazement
. “You are safe now. Nothing bad is coming for you.”
I found myself nodding in agreement. I wasn’t sure that I believed it, but it was clear that he did. “The guys sleep on the other side of the bed so that they aren’t between me and the door or the bathroom.”
He nodded and just looked sad.
Shit. How did I offer and not make it an order? I snorted to myself realizing they probably wondered the exact same thing a hundred times a day. Then I realized he had stiffened at my dismissive laugh. Fuck. Straightforward time again. “I’m trying to figure out how to offer you that side of the bed without it sounding like you have to sleep there. I’m not any good at it. Then I realized that you probably feel that way when talking to me all the time.”
His eyes widened and he nodded like a bobble head doll for a moment before he got it together enough to stop. I flashed him a sad smile, then turned off the light, minced my way through the dark to the bed and got in under the covers.
With the socks on, I could barely hear his footsteps, but there was a soft mechanical sound and I wondered if that was his foot. When Iago climbed into bed, he got under the covers. I froze for a moment. That was new. The others hadn’t actually gotten into bed with me. Had he missed the memo? That must be it! Iago was the last one I would have guessed would push his luck. I didn’t correct him.
“Good night, Iago.”
“Good night, Wilhemina.”
The last thing floating through my head before I fell asleep was wondering why he had chosen to use my full name then.
----
I woke to the disorienting sensation of sailing through the air before landing on the bed. I lay there wide eyed with my heart racing as I tried to figure out where I was and what was happening.
Someone nuzzled my hair.
“Iago?” I whispered.
He growled something in his sleep and patted my shoulder. Squinting into the dark, I thought I could make out the far wall. Which made no sense. I had gone to sleep on the bathroom side of the bed.
Then it hit me. Iago had rolled over in his sleep and had taken me with him like a child holding a doll. I panicked and wondered what would happen if he rolled over onto me.
I reached up and patted his shoulder. “Iago!” I snapped.
He jerked awake and sat up, instantly alert and scanning the darkness for danger.
“You are safe!” he announced. “It was just a bad dream.”
Despite myself, I giggled. “No, I’m pretty sure you flipped me to the other side of the bed in your sleep.”
“Hmmm,” he rumbled. “I go?”
“No, you can stay. Just … don’t crush me in your sleep, okay?”
He grunted and nodded and lay back down. I watched him yawn and scratch his head, then startled again. “I’ll move!” he announced, before climbing out of bed and walking around to the other side and squeezing in next to me.
He hesitated, then rolled over so his back was to me. “Don’t like you between me and the door,” he grumbled. “My job to protect you.”
I smiled slightly in the dark. “Anything coming for me would have to make it past the others’ doors first.”
He grunted again. “They not—” He stopped and tried again, “They aren’t defenders. Or fighters. That’s my job.”
“Do you think I’m in danger?” I asked solemnly.
He shook his head. “Not the point.”
“I hate to say it, but it kind of is. Either I’m safe here or I’m not.”
Iago groaned and sat up. He fished in his pocket and pulled out a cube that he somehow turned on so that it gave off a faint glow. “Not true. There are many things, not just two. You are not a cat but that doesn’t make you a dog. You are safe with me. That doesn’t mean that nothing bad exists.”
I had to ask. “If you don’t like having me close to the door, why did you move?”
“Safer with me here than if you tell me to go,” he told me. “But not safer than with me on the other side.”
“Is that why you flipped me?”
“I didn’t know I did that,” he said defensively.
I considered this. “How much does being on that side of the bed bother you?”
“Lots,” he admitted. Then hurried to add, “Not enough to go.”
“Enough to let me see your feet?”
His eyes widened for a moment before narrowing. “You don’t have to trade to look at me. I am not a cheat like Lucky.”
I wondered how that was cheating. How was it any different than them giving me food and making me sleep here? “But you don’t want me to look, that's why the socks. No one else has socks. I haven’t seen socks since I got here.”
“I don’t want you to see my foot and send me away,” he whispered.
I didn’t want to call him on the stupidity of that, so I just snuggled under the covers and rolled away from him.
“You are angry.” He was so quiet, I could barely hear him.
“No, but you are an idiot. I know you are … mechanically enhanced. I’ve known for weeks. If I was going to get rid of you over it, I would have done it by now. Plus, the socks don’t hide the difference, it draws attention to it.”
He didn’t reply to that, not that I knew what I expected him to say.
I turned on my side and stared through the dark at the broad expanse of his back. “Do orcs scratch each other’s backs?”
“For children,” he grumbled.
“Really? That’s a shame. It feels nice,” I countered.
He slowly turned slightly towards me, “You want me to scratch you?”
“Nah, I’m good. I was going to do yours, but I’m not touching you if you don’t want me to.”
“Why would I want you to not touch me?” he asked.
That made me blow out my breath in a long stream. How did I even explain that one? Okay, I told myself, don’t overthink this. What is the most basic explanation of that one?
“People who don’t get to say no, get … sensitive about being touched because it isn’t their choice. You get to say no, but I’m not always sure that you understand that.”
“I don’t want to say no.”
I rolled my eyes. I still wasn’t sure if this was that he didn’t want me to kick him out of bed, or if he wanted me to scratch his back, but I went for it anyway. He jumped when I touched him, so I pulled my hands away.
“See? That counts as a no.”
He shook his head, “That was surprise.”
I snorted. “If you touched, me—”
“I wouldn’t!” he protested.
I ignored him and continued, “—and I jumped, would you stop?”
“Yes! Of course!” he snapped.
I didn’t say anything.
After a moment, he shook his head. “It’s different. I’m bigger. I can make you stop.”
“Not if making me stop will get you executed,” I countered.
He was very still and quiet at that. I had started to drift back to sleep when he finally said, “Humans are strange.”
“So are orcs,” I mumbled.
“Hmm,” he hummed. I yawned. He continued, “I … would … not say no … if you scratch my back,” he hesitantly stated.
I snorted, “Are you asking me to scratch you after all?”
What I got was frantic head shaking. “I would not make you do that!” he protested.
In the dark, I rolled my eyes. Apparently, that was as close as I was going to get to permission. I reached out and started by putting my hands flat on his back. I waited as his skin crawled beneath my touch. “Are you sure this is okay?”
“Yes. New, not bad.”
I carefully started to scratch his back and he squirmed. I stopped. He is breathing heavy. “Are you okay?”
He nodded. “Too gentle.”
I frowned in the dark. “Did I just tickle you?”
“What is tickle?”
How do you explain that to an alien? “It makes you laugh? Even when it’s not funny.�
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“Hmm.” He sounded thoughtful. “I don’t need stop,” he added hopefully.
I chuckled softly and went back to scratching his back, this time with a bit more force. It was like scratching a dog; he wiggled to get the part he wanted scratched under my fingers. He groaned softly as I started to slow down. That made me laugh.
“I need to sleep now, big guy.”
“Hmm.”
I was starting to realize that might be the orc equivalent of ‘Um.’ “Yes?”
“I’m not scary,” he rumbled, softly.
I snorted. “I suppose not.”
“Maybe sleep on the other side?” he suggested with a humorous amount of caution.
That made me laugh. “Okay.”
He got up and walked around the bed again, this time laying down facing the door. I ended up spooning up behind him. This time the noise he made sounded smug.
I had no idea what time it was, but I sagged against him and was asleep shortly after.
----
I woke up to the sound of orcs whispering.
They weren’t particularly good at it. The deep rumbles Iago was making made it feel like I was hugging a bass speaker. I blinked as I pulled away from him. His shirt was slightly stuck to my face with what was probably my sweat and hopefully not where I had drooled on him.
“Go away,” I mumbled. “I’m sleeping.” There was ringing silence and a distinct lack or retreating footsteps. I groaned and blinked as I sat up. “I did not get enough sleep. I am not ready to get up. Go growl at each other someplace else!” I snapped.
“Take him?” Mac asked with an excessive amount of nonchalance.
“No,” I grumbled. “We just slept.”
Iago chuckled softly. That made me open my eyes properly and look up at three distraught orcs looking down at me.
“Just tell me,” I grumbled.
Mac tried again, “Do you want us to take him out of here?”
I was about to say I don’t care but I stopped myself. “No,” I hazarded.
Tybalt looked pissed, but they left.
After the door closed, I whispered my question to Iago, “If I told them to take you, would they hurt you?”
He wiggled away from me so he could roll onto his back. “They were upset that I was in bed, not on bed. You didn’t tell me that.”