by Robin Roseau
She offered a Catseye laugh. "Consider this problem solved. I'm proud of you, Skye."
"I don't think they're going to speak any English to me, and I won't understand anything. Am I going to make a fool of myself?"
"Probably. Are you going to let that stop you?"
I thought about it. "No." Then I thought further. "Oh my god, will I be able to eat their food?"
"No."
"What do I do?"
She laughed. "Skye, I am not going to give too much away. I believe your professor wants to watch your reaction without early hints. I think you should trust the professor. She knows what a human can eat."
"Are you sure?"
"She runs a Testing Center, Skye. She has to feed the humans who come through her center. She knows what humans eat."
"All right. I suppose it would be dangerous if I try sampling any of her food."
"You'll have to decide that for yourself when you see it."
"I thought Catseye were blunt."
"We can be cryptic when we want to," Jasmine replied. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes, I guess. I should trust her."
"You should trust her."
"Am I doing what you wanted, Jasmine?"
"You're attending school. I'm pleased you're learning my native language, but if you had studied French instead, that would have been fine, too. What pleases me is you are showing such passion."
"I want to ask you something else. Do you expect to give me to a Catseye?"
"I really don't know, Skye. Maybe, but it isn't necessarily any more likely than the other choices, at least amongst the species that would welcome a female-female relationship. There are four species in human space that are either exclusively female or nearly exclusively female, and eight more that experience female homosexuality similar to humans."
"Where are Temier in that?"
"One of the four, but you won't be going to a Temier. Until some of the mated pairs raise children to mating age, there are no single Temier in human space. Dr. Moirai was the only one."
"That's why she needed a human?"
"That was part of the reason, yes."
"So I shouldn't read anything into it that during my Testing, you initially paired me with a Catseye."
"No, Skye. You had become familiar with me, and I wanted to ease you in. That is all. With most humans, we actually give you a terrestrial experience. For instance, Sapphire Fletcher swam with the dolphins."
"Oh, that would be fun!"
"Maybe I can arrange that for you sometime. You're right. It's fun. I've done it, too."
"I have to tell you something else. Professor Beamer asked if I'd been through Testing."
"I know."
"You do?"
"Yes. Don't worry about it. I'm handling it. If it comes up, continue to tell people you haven't been tested."
"I don't like lying to her."
"She won't bring it up again, Skye, and officially, you haven't been."
"All right. Thank you, Jasmine."
We talked for a few more minutes before clicking off.
* * * *
On Friday, I received an email from Jasmine. "Check your mail at the student center." But I'd already done so, and she'd sent me a package. I had waited until I got home to open it.
Inside, I found a beautiful, deep blue cocktail dress. It was the most stunning thing I'd ever seen. Okay, that was hyperbolic, but it was certainly the most stunning dress I'd ever owned. It shimmered, and when I checked the tag, I saw it was silk. Silk. A silk dress. But I loved the way it felt.
There was a note. "This will complement your eyes. Try it on and let me know how it looks."
There were shoes, a white pashmina, and all the underthings that should go with it.
I changed carefully then took a photo with my phone and sent it to her along with a note. "It's beautiful, Jasmine."
But it was also a little disconcerting. The entire back was entirely bare. The pashmina helped, although I had to admit it looked better without the scarf.
I added to my note. "Do I wear the scarf?"
The reply came a short while later. "The scarf is for comfort if necessary, but when you greet her family, take it off. After that it is up to you, but the effect is better without the scarf. Trust me."
And so I did.
That evening, I received a phone call from an unrecognized number. I answered cautiously.
"This is Bluebell Beamer," came my professor's voice.
"Oh, hello, Professor," I said.
"I am now Bluebell, Skye," she said. "I am calling to arrange your transportation tomorrow. I have decided I will collect you. Sunday morning we will see who will return you."
"I checked. There's a bus."
"Which you will not be taking, as I am collecting you."
I laughed. "Thank you. Um. Bluebell."
"You are welcome. Did you buy a new dress?"
I laughed again. "How did you know?"
"I saw your look when I told you it was upscale. I hope you didn't spend too much money."
"Actually," I said. "It was a gift from a woman back home."
Her tone changed. "A girlfriend?"
"No. A family friend. She's sort of been advising me about school." For some reason, I wasn't ready to tell her about Jasmine. That would change, but not quite yet.
"Ah. Very good," she said warmly. I wondered what was going on with that. "I will arrive at your dorm at 4:30. Please be ready."
"Yes, Professor. Do you know where it is?"
"Yes. See you then."
"See you then."
I was nervous, and I got ready with more than enough time. When Lili, my roommate saw me in the dress, she whistled. "Who is the lucky guy?"
"There are no lucky guys in my life, Lili, and tonight there aren't any lucky girls, either. I'm having dinner with Professor Beamer and her family."
"That's your Catseye professor!"
I smiled. "Yes."
"Are you sure you're having dinner with them? I wouldn't want you to be dinner."
"That's a terrible thing to say!" I said. I turned to her. I couldn't tell if she was serious, but from her expression, I thought she was.
That moment was the first real exposure I'd had to xenophobia since leaving Cleveland. It wouldn't be my last. It also represented a cooling in my friendship with Lili, although we would remain amiable for our time together.
"I'm just saying, who knows what those aliens eat?"
"I'll be back sometime tomorrow, and I'm sure you won't see a single bite mark."
"I better not."
There was a knock at the door precisely at 4:30. I moved to get it, and Professor Beamer was standing there.
"Oh, Skye," she said. "Don't you look lovely?"
I turned around for her, and I think I surprised her deeply. "The person who bought you the dress knows I am Catseye and knows something about us."
"You could say that," I said. I pulled the pashmina in place, then my coat and grabbed my bag. "I'm ready to go."
Side-by-side, we left my dorm. She escorted me to her car, helped me in, and a minute later we were on our way. The car drove itself.
We made small talk for the drive. Thankfully, she spoke English. But then the car arrived at one of the Testing Centers, and I drew still. "Professor Beamer, did you lure me here under false pretenses?"
"Excuse me."
"This is a Testing Center. I thought I was having dinner with your family."
"Oh. We live here. It isn't safe for us in a human neighborhood. It is a very nice home, I believe you'll see."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I jumped to a conclusion."
"Quite all right, Skye, but if you call me Professor Beamer again this weekend, I shall be vexed."
"I'm sorry, Bluebell."
"Better," she said.
The car came to a stop, and Bluebell was ready to step out, but I set a hand on her arm. "I'm a little nervous."
She settled back into her seat. "Why?"
"You said you weren't going to speak English."
"You're not worried about meeting my family?"
"No."
"We are going to treat you as a guest in a Catseye household. Do you have any idea what that implies?"
"No, but I'm not worried about that, either. If I do something wrong, it won't be my fault. It will be yours for not teaching me."
She laughed. "You're right. We will be speaking Catseye slowly and very clearly. You won't understand our words, but you'll be fine, Skye."
"Am I allowed to speak English?"
"For now. A year from now, that answer may change."
"All right."
We climbed from the car.
* * * *
We were deep underground, and we passed through a few corridors and locked doors before arriving in what I was told was the residential section of the Testing Center. We came to a stop before a door. It looked like any other door, but it had a sign announcing it as being the home of Bluebell and Azalea Beamer. The Catseye letters offered a very different name, and I ran my fingers along them.
"You should use our English names," she said. "I will introduce everyone as both. Now, I want you to remain right here for a minute."
"All right."
And like that, she opened the door and slipped inside, leaving me in the doorway. I was rather surprised, but while I waited, I removed the coat and pashmina, draping them both over my arm.
My wait wasn't long, perhaps a minute or two, but then the door opened again, and Bluebell was there.
She had changed clothes. She was wearing her own dress, hers black but shimmery, and I would see it was backless and even open at the sides, allowing her tentacles full freedom.
"Hello, Bluebell."
She responded in slow Catseye, holding the door open and stepping back in invitation. I stepped inside, and I saw three more Catseye waiting, two clearly younger than the other. They were all in their own dresses, their tentacles waving. The older woman, clearly Azalea, had an arm and two tentacles around each of her daughters.
I looked them all over. They were all watching me, studying me. I smiled and set my things down just inside the now closed door.
Azalea's dress was green and knee length. That didn't meant the same on a Catseye as it did a human, as her proportions were slightly different, but it was close enough. Her shoes matched her dress, and something glittered at her ears.
The two girls weren't identical, but they were clearly sisters, both taller than I was. The one on the left was in a red dress; the other was in purple. Both dresses shimmered.
They were all so beautiful.
I turned back to Bluebell, who was watching my reaction carefully. I smiled. "Do I get a hug?"
She shifted her position. I thought the body language meant something, but I wasn't sure. And her tentacles waved a little.
"I apologize if you know this, but I would prefer you not mark my face when we hug." And then I stepped straight towards her, but I let her complete the motion. She took her own step forward and wrapped around me with six of her eight limbs.
"You seem to know things you shouldn't yet," she whispered into my ear.
"You may taste," I whispered back. "But please not my face."
She tightened the tentacles across my back, and I felt them latch to my skin, one across my lower back, one covering most of my upper back. The upper two tentacles first reached down along my sides, including just at the available edges of my breasts, and then doubled back under my arms. One reached around behind me, wrapped all the way around my neck, and caressed my ear. The other came across my front, up my neck, and across my face. It was just the tip that rested across my lips.
I kissed it.
She stiffened slightly, then tightened. "Do you really know what you just offered, Skye?"
"No tasting my tongue, either. I don't think that would be pleasant."
She invaded with just one tentacle. It was insistent, but gentle at the same time. I opened for it, then closed my lips around it.
"Don't bite."
I knew that.
She caressed my tongue with the tip of the tentacle. "It doesn't hurt if I taste with the tip," she said, "but it is only something lovers would do."
Then she withdrew from my mouth. "Who gave you the dress, Skye?"
"Jasmine Brighteyes."
In my ear, she laughed. I felt her tentacles tasting strongly, and then slowly she withdrew. As we separated, she was smiling. Then she began speaking in Catseye, and she didn't speak another word of English until much, much later that night.
But she did introduce her family beginning with her wife. I couldn't have reproduced the Catseye name, but it was easy to remember Azalea. I received a second hug, complete with invasive tentacle.
And then I met in order Posey and Violet. Violet was the one in the purple dress, and I would learn over time she took her English name to heart, wearing at least a little violet in all her outfits.
I also learned she was a little naughty.
I received from Posey a greeting similar to that of each mother. Violet, on the other hand, was sneaky. She accepted the offer implied by the kiss, but then when her tentacle brushed across my tongue, I felt it latch on.
My eyes widened, but Bluebell had been correct. It didn't hurt. It was, however, even more intimate than sticking a tentacle into my mouth.
And she tasted different too. I didn't understand why at the time.
Then she withdrew, but her tentacle brushed across my lips several times before withdrawing entirely.
"You are very naughty," I whispered into her ear.
"Please don't tell my mothers," she said. "I just had to. Are you offended?"
"No."
"Good." Then she released me and stepped back, but she turned to Bluebell and spoke English. "Mother, she tastes amazing."
I blushed but said nothing.
After that, it was Posey who hung up my coat. She held onto the pashmina, but I told her, "As long as I can find it if I get cold, you can hang it up." They all smiled, and the pashmina joined the coat. Then Posey picked up my bag but didn't give it to me.
I received a tour, delivered in Catseye. It was a lovely home, and I thought it was a marvel. Several of the rooms appeared to have floor to ceiling windows complete with a view outside, but it wasn't Earth we were looking at. I knew it was more alien technology, but it was stunning.
Other than the presence of that sort of technology and a complete lack of anything that I thought resembled a kitchen, it could have been a human household. There was a room I'd have called a living room and another that was set up as a game room. They showed me to the private areas as well, a bedroom that was for Bluebell and Azalea, separate offices for each of them, and a bedroom for each of the daughters. My pack went into a guest bedroom. And then we all returned to the living room.
I found myself on one end of a sofa. Posey and Violet appeared to jockey for the center position, and it was Posey that appeared to win. Azalea and Bluebell took easy chairs.
The family made what seemed like small talk. I didn't understand any of it, although they were clearly speaking carefully. Then, on some signal, they all stood up. Posey reached for me and pulled me to my feet.
"Do you know why we are not speaking English?" Posey asked me.
"You are teaching me."
"Yes. Are you giving up?"
I smiled. "No."
She caressed my arm with a tentacle then stepped closer and wrapped two of them around my back. She latched on, and I knew I was going to be deeply marked. But it felt nice at the same time.
"You seem very calm about this."
"Did you think I would run in terror?"
"Yes," said Violet, but in Catseye. It was a word I knew.
"And did you think I would shrink from your touch, Posey?"
"Yes," said Violet again, also in Catseye.
"Humans do not touch as much as Catseye do," Posey said in English.
<
br /> I laughed. "I suppose we don't. You may touch me as much as you want."
"Was that just to my sister?" Violet asked in English.
"No. Unfortunately, English does not have a plural form of you. I suppose I could say y'all. Other human languages have different words for singular you and plural you."
"It is time for dinner," Posey said. She used her tentacles to guide me towards the dining room, and then there was more jockeying of position. Azalea and Bluebell took places at the ends of a rectangular table. Of the other seats, two were on one side and one on another. Posey moved me towards one of the two, and then she and Violet visibly fought for the other. The fight was resolved when Bluebell spoke, and Violet ceded the seat to her sister, taking a place across from me.
And I learned what it looks like when a Catseye pouts.
But then Azalea spoke, and both of the daughters rose and headed towards the kitchen that didn't look like a kitchen. They returned with covered bowls, setting them onto the center of the table. I used the time to look around.
In front of me was something resembling a human place setting. There was a plate, napkin, silverware, and a glass cup.
The other place settings were bowls with two handles, one large and one small along with a single fork, as well as ceramic cups, also with two handles.
While I was looking at all this, the daughters made several trips back and forth, finally ending with a platter of human food that Violet set in front of me.
She caressed my back with her tentacles as she did so, even playing with my ear. It tickled, but I smiled over at her.
The girls sat down, and both parents reached for the lid on the bowls closest to them.
"Wait," I said. "Please."
They stopped with a hand on each lid.
"If the contents of those bowls are alive, please warn me. And if it's something I'm going to find gross like spiders or maggots, I am not responsible for my reaction."
Violet gave a snorting laugh, but I glared at her.
"It is not what we eat that is going to startle you," Posey said. "It is how." But she caressed my back with her nearest tentacles. "In the future, you might be a little startled by what we eat, but we didn't want to completely shock you tonight."
"All right," I said. "Thank you."
The two mothers nodded and withdrew the lids. I craned my neck to see.