by Geneva Vand
It was only a few minutes' drive to Eric's place. Will pulled up to the curb across the street from the house.
"Now what?" he asked.
Eric looked around. There weren't any open spaces on the other side of the street, so this was as close as they were going to get. He couldn't see any lights on in his landlord's windows, but that didn't mean they weren't up. He pulled out his phone to check the time. A bit after ten. Okay. They'd at least be in bed and the bedroom was at the opposite end of the house from the side gate and his entrance in the back.
He looked at Will. "I think this is as good as it's going to get. I'll go unlock doors. Give me a couple minutes and then bring them in?"
Will looked up and down the street. It was mostly dark, and there was no traffic. "Yeah. See you in a few."
Eric nodded and hopped out of the truck. He shut the door as quietly as he could and dashed across the street. A dog barked a few houses down and he winced. Great. Perfect timing. He picked up his pace. If the dog kept barking and woke somebody up or had someone check on it, they'd be screwed.
The lock to his back entrance stuck per usual. It took too long. He'd just gotten it open when he heard Will's quiet cursing at the side gate. The dog barked again. Will came around the side of the house at a quick trot, the alien in an awkward fireman's carry. Eric shoved the door open and got out of the way.
Will ducked through the door and moved down the stairs. Since they were inside and there was, thank god, no noise from upstairs, Eric figured he may as well cover their asses. He went around the side to make sure Will had managed to close up the truck. Everything looked fine, so he quietly latched the gate and then went inside and locked the house door.
Will was glaring at him from the bottom of the stairs. "Hurry up!" he whispered.
Eric hurried to the apartment door and got it open. "Had to close the gate," he muttered.
Will grunted, going over to the couch and putting his bundle down on it. Eric and Will fussed over the alien until they were more or less straight and tugged the edges of the blankets loose, draping one side over the back of the couch and letting the other fall to the floor.
Eric stepped back and looked at the obviously alien creature bleeding all over Will's blanket. Shit. Now what? He winced when Will cleared his throat next to him. Eric turned his head and met Will's eyes.
"So..." Will let the word trail off into a question, raising an eyebrow.
Eric groaned and rubbed a hand over his close-cropped hair. "We need to clean them up and stop the bleeding."
Will barked out a laugh. "Awesome. You know how to do that? Because I don't know how to do that."
"Is Luc still in town?" Eric asked.
"He left this morning. Besides, he's a vet, not a people doctor."
Eric waved his hand toward the couch. "Dude. We have a bird-cat-person. It's pretty even odds what kind of doctor we'd need."
Will grunted. "True." He sighed and pulled a utility knife out of his back pocket. "Here. You start getting rid of the jumpsuit. I'm gonna go get towels and water and crap."
Eric grinned at Will's disgust. "Thanks, man."
"Yeah, whatever." Will headed to the hall closet, muttering the whole time.
Eric sighed and knelt on the floor next to the couch. Might as well get started. He snicked the blade out and locked it.
The jumpsuit type thing the alien was wearing was made of some sort of silvery material. It looked thin and was loose enough that he should be able to cut it off without hurting them further. He carefully pulled the fabric taut at their right wrist and slid the knife between the fabric and the creature's arm. He held his breath and tried to cut.
The knife slid through the fabric easily with a quiet tearing noise. Oh, thank god. Not some kind of impenetrable magic space fabric then. Eric made quick work of the sleeves and legs, trying to move the alien as little as possible. When he had that done, he whispered a quiet apology and cut down the center of their chest. A few more slices, and he pulled away what was left of the jumpsuit. He didn't try to pull the fabric out from under the alien, instead just leaving it bunched up where it was.
He got to his feet and looked down.
The alien was beautiful. Their whole body was covered in the delicate not-feathers. They shimmered softly in the light from the ceiling fixture. A soft, silvery grey was the dominant color, but whenever the alien moved slightly or Eric shifted, bright iridescent tones of copper and purple flashed along the hairs.
The not-feathers were slightly larger at the center of its body, growing smaller along its arms, legs, and neck. The ones on its feet, hands, and face were so tiny they just looked like regular fur.
He reached out and stroked his finger along the back of the alien's hand. So soft.
"Are you petting it?" Will asked in disbelief from the doorway.
Eric jumped and turned. "Um..."
Will laughed at him. "Yeah, okay. Let's get 'em cleaned up." Will walked over to the couch. "Huh."
"What?"
"Did you notice it doesn't have, ah, genitals?"
Eric went to stand next to Will and bothered to look at something other than those gorgeous, shifting colors. The alien's chest was smooth, without breasts or defined pectoral muscles. Where he would have expected to see genitalia, since its shape was otherwise Humanoid, there was just a smooth curve of flesh between the creature's legs. Like a child's doll or something. "Huh."
Will shrugged and knelt to set the big bowl he was carrying down on the floor. He dropped a couple of Eric's oldest kitchen towels in the bowl, swished them around, then retrieved one. He wrung out the excess water and started gently rubbing at a scrape on the bottom of the alien's foot.
Eric grabbed his own towel and started dabbing at the scratches on their face. It was immediately evident that you had to rub in the direction of the not-feathers. Otherwise they just bent backwards and got all snarled up, making them impossible to clean. He cursed and tried to flatten them back out as he cleaned the scrapes. The water matted down the hairs, allowing the skin underneath to peek through. It was a pale, dusty purple. The not-feathers seemed to be completely absent from the alien's palms, lips, and the bottoms of their feet. The skin there was purple too, though it was a little darker.
"I think I might be in over my head," Eric muttered.
Will laughed softly. "You think?"
They worked in silence, other than muttering at each other when they needed to move the alien to reach the rest of their injuries. Thankfully, most of them were minor and the not-feathers cleaned easily, shedding blood and dirt with little effort.
They were briefly stumped by the small but thick panel full of buttons and tiny screens strapped to their left forearm, covering most of their arm from wrist to elbow. It was filthy and needed to come off. Will found a set of tiny buckles running along the edge of the panel. They almost needed a magnifying glass to undo them, but eventually it was off. Eric set it aside to be cleaned up later.
The worst of the injuries seemed to be the gash on their right calf. It looked bad enough to need stitches, but that wasn't going to be an option. Eric fetched gauze and pads from the first aid kit in the bathroom, and Will wrapped the wound tightly while Eric held them still. The alien had started to grow restless as they worked, though it was still unconscious.
"You sure we shouldn't put disinfectant on it?" Will muttered as he secured the end of the gauze.
"We don't know anything about them. I don't want to start slapping chemicals on them. What if they're allergic or something?"
"Fair enough." Will pushed to his feet and picked up the bowl. The water in it was a dark rusty red now. "I'm gonna get rid of this and wash up. Be right back."
Eric nodded and stood as well. "I'll get something clean to wrap them in." After a quick detour to the bathroom sink, he went to the same closet Will had retrieved the old kitchen towels from and pulled out one of the blankets from the pile on the bottom shelf. Will met him back at the couch and they frowned
at each other for a moment.
"Do you think you can pick them up again?" Eric asked.
Will shrugged. "Don't see why not. They're small. Ready?"
Eric put down the fresh blanket and grabbed the edge of the soiled one under the alien. "Yeah. Do it."
Will carefully slid his arms under their knees and shoulders and lifted them. Eric quickly pulled the dirty blanket off the couch and snapped the new one open, letting it drape over the cushions. Will gently set the alien back down and stepped back, letting Eric wrap the edges of the blanket over the still form.
"Now what?" Will asked.
Eric stepped back and looked at Will. "I have no idea. Wait for them to wake up, I guess."
Will scrubbed a hand through his hair then looked at his watch. "Okay. Unless you think you'll need help with them, I'm gonna head home. I've got clients early in the morning wanting estimates and shit and it's late."
Eric glanced up at the clock on the living room wall. He winced. Cleanup had taken a while. "I'll be good. Thanks for the help man."
Will slapped him on the back. "No worries. It's not every day I get to haul bodies in the back of my truck and clean blood off aliens."
"Ass." Eric laughed. "Go home."
"Let me know how it goes. I get to meet them when they wake up."
And then Will was gone and Eric was left alone with an unconscious cat-bird-person on his couch. He sighed and got another blanket from the closet, draping it over his houseguest.
He grabbed the book he'd been reading before the camping trip from the coffee table and settled into a chair to wait for them to wake up.
SANCTUARY
I hurt everywhere.
But I was warm.
I moved carefully, stretching my muscles, and winced at the pain in my leg. It was worse than the rest. I moved it slowly. It throbbed miserably. I gasped at the pain and stilled.
There was movement next to me and I tensed, realizing for the first time that I was wrapped up in something and mostly immobile. That was unsettling, especially since I had no idea where I was.
I finally opened my eyes and turned my head slowly toward the sound.
My eyes widened in surprise when I saw the dark-skinned Human that had been bringing me food. He was stretched out in a chair right next to me, sleeping.
I blinked and looked around at my surroundings as much as I could without moving.
I was in some kind of Human dwelling. I had to assume it was the Human's home. The walls I could see were all some kind of almost white color, but the Human had hung decorations on them. The decorations were colorful and full of bright shapes. I liked them.
The floor in the room I was in was covered in a rug of some sort, also white. That was foolish. Didn't it get dirty?
I put aside the errant thought and looked at the rest of the room. There was some furniture, but none of it matched. The three bookshelves I could see were all different colors and sizes and none of them matched the little table in front of me.
I craned my neck enough to see what I was laying on. It was covered in soft looking dark green fabric. The chair the Human slept in was covered in dark grey fabric of a different kind. How odd.
I looked back at the Human and realized he was awake and watching me, though he hadn't moved. I stayed very still and watched him in return.
Very slowly, the Human sat up and reached for something on the table. I didn't look away from his face, watching intently for any clue as to what he would do. He said something, but I couldn't understand. I waited for my translator to tell me, panicking when it remained silent far too long. I jerked my left arm, panicking more when I didn't feel the weight of the cuff I always wore.
The Human made more noise, the sounds urgent, but I couldn't understand most of what he said. He stood to move closer to me. I froze and looked at him again. He shoved something toward me and I looked down automatically, frightened and confused. My relief was immediate as I tore my arms free of the covering wrapped around me and snatched the arm band out of his hand.
The Human stayed still and silent as I quickly fastened the row of small, sturdy buckles and pushed the button on the side of the panel to activate it. I held my breath as I watched the sequence of lights that indicated all its functions were intact and operational. I slid my finger under the band at my wrist, smoothing my veeka aside until I felt the cool circle of metal against my skin. The warm mental weight of the device's psychic connection settled in my mind, and I sort of collapsed back into the cushions, exhausted and relieved.
The Human reached for me and I tensed.
"It's all right," he said. "I'm just covering you with the blanket again so you don't get cold."
The translator hummed in my mind, turning his sounds into words I could understand. I sighed and nodded.
The Human gently untangled the fabric around me and pulled it up as much as possible. Soon I was covered in the soft blanket, though not wrapped up as I had been before.
He sat back down in the chair next to me and watched me for a moment. Finally he pointed to my arm band. "Does that let you understand me?"
I nodded very slightly, not really wanting to move. My head and leg were throbbing, and the rest of my body was sort of quietly aching.
The Human made a sound. Since the translator didn't tell me anything, I assumed it was just a general noise of surprise or confusion or some such. I waited for him to do or say something else.
"We had to take it off," he finally said. "You were injured and it was dirty. I tried to clean it."
I slowly pulled my arm out from under the blanket and looked at the panel and band. I had to appreciate that the Human had done a good job. He had somehow cleaned it without damaging it. It was still a little dirty in spots, and I guessed it had been caked with mud and maybe blood from my scramble to get away from the animals. I tucked my arm back under the blanket, smiling and nodding at him.
He smiled back timidly. "Okay." He pointed at a circular object hanging on the wall. "I have to get ready to go to work. You're safe here. I'll leave something to eat on the table for you before I leave. I hope you'll stay. Rest."
He stood but didn't leave, seeming to want an answer of some sort from me. I looked around the space, and then back at the Human. I was warm, he was going to give me more food, he hadn't hurt me, and I would probably not be found by anyone else if I stayed here. I was still unsure of this entire situation, but it made no sense to leave just yet. I met his eyes and nodded.
He sighed, seeming relieved. "Okay. Good. I'll be home this afternoon, okay? If you do decide you have to leave, watch out for the people who live upstairs. They don't know you're here, so maybe don't make a lot of noise."
I nodded again and watched as he hurried out of the room. I yawned and settled into my makeshift nest. Maybe more sleep wasn't such a bad idea.
*~*~*
The alien had gone back to sleep already when Eric left the house. He had decided not to wake them, leaving a peanut butter sandwich and a bowl of grapes on the table where they would see them easily. He had also left a pair of old sweatpants and the softest sweater he could find in his closet. The alien might not want them, but expecting them to sit around with nothing but a blanket—especially after Eric had ruined their existing clothes—seemed rude.
Eric hoped they would be able to sleep most of the day. There was little doubt the poor creature would need to rest. Or at the very least, to not walk around much. That gash on their leg had been nasty. If you added whatever had happened last night to the stresses of hiding and eating shitty food, it was a wonder the poor thing had even been coherent. Eric expected them to mostly want to sleep and eat for a few days. What they would want to do after that was a bit of a mystery. And that was if they were even still in his apartment when he got home.
In the meantime, he really needed to try to concentrate. The big author event at the end of next month wasn't going to organize itself. He needed to get his act together and make it through the leftover
emails from yesterday. Only a few left. He groaned and tried to refocus his wandering attention.
He was somewhat successful. His mind kept wandering back to his unconventional houseguest. Eric wondered what they were doing, if they were all right, if they had decided to leave. The two of them had no way to communicate if the alien needed something while Eric was out. It wasn't like Eric could call to check in even if he did have a house phone.
Eric sighed harshly. If the alien was going to stick around they'd need to figure something out. At least today was Friday. Through sheer dumb luck he hadn't had to schedule himself as coverage this weekend. They'd have time to get some things figured out. Like food. What was he going to feed them?
A knock on his door jolted Eric out of his thoughts. He jerked his hand away from the bracelet he'd been fiddling with again. He quickly smoothed his shirt cuff and looked up to see Allison, one of the clerks, frowning at him from his office door. He blinked. "What's up, Ally?"
"Just checking to see if you're okay. You've been staring at your screen and not moving for at least a good ten minutes now, boss man."
"I have?"
Alison smiled. "Yup. Maybe longer."
Eric scrubbed at his face. "Well, crap. Guess I'd better get back to work."
"Everything okay, Eric?" Alison asked.
He smiled. "Yeah. Just a little distracted today."
"If you're sure. I'm out for today. See you on Monday."
"See you Monday." He watched Alison leave toward the staff-room door then frowned at his screen.
It looked like he'd been halfway through an email to a sponsor. He clicked the expand button to see the email he was answering. Apparently, he was supposed to be telling them about the advertising or acknowledgement they'd receive in return for sponsoring the event. Well, his response was mostly right, even if it was incomplete.
Eric groaned and set about fixing his trailing sentences and adding the rest of the information. He managed to send it out without getting distracted again. It even seemed coherent. Yay, him.
A glance at the clock in the corner of the screen told him it was lunch time. Maybe if he ate, he'd be able to get through the rest of the day with a slightly higher success rate.