Two Moons of Sera

by Tyler, Pavarti K.

“No.”

  “That’s unusual, isn’t it? Aren’t Erdlanders encouraged to have multiple children?” Tor said, the implication of his words dawning on me.

  “Yes, but not completely unheard of. What are you—”

  “Did you know they did tests on Sualwets?” I cut in. “Trying to breed them?” I watched his reaction as it went from shock, to outrage, to sudden understanding.

  “I am not Sualwet.” Traz pulled away, his posture defensive.

  “No, you aren’t. You’re something else.” I reached out and put my hand on his, feeling the dryness of his touch. “You get thirsty and you need water, not that brown stuff or the fizzy drinks—real water. And you long to swim, but you don’t understand why. And no one else even thinks it’s fun, but you dream about it.”

  “No—”

  “Your skin gets tight if you can’t get wet, so the others tease you about showering all the time. But you can’t help it.”

  “I—”

  “And you can hear things, can’t you? Things other people can’t. That’s why Linguistics pulled you in, not because you studied music. Why not pull in one of the directors or someone with an expertise? They called you in because they knew you would hear what they couldn’t.”

  “Sera, no. I’m not whatever you think I am.”

  “You are. You know you are. I bet you’ve always known it. You know because you understand the Sualwets, you understand how they think, who they are. You don’t want to kill them, you want to know them. You long to find someone like you because you’ve never fit in here. No matter how hard you try, you just aren’t built the same.”

  “This is ridiculous.”

  “Traz.”

  He looked up into my eyes, and before I could talk myself out of it, I opened the membrane covering my eyes.

  Traz gasped and jumped away, knocking against the chair he had been sitting in earlier. “What the jikmae are you?”

  I took a deep breath, knowing his reaction was tamer than I’d expected. He didn’t scream or run or wake everyone up. He only wanted answers.

  That was good. It was a start.

  “I’m.... My mother was captured. She was brought to a place like this where Erdlanders... did things to her. Experiments and tests and—I don’t know what else. She didn’t like to talk about it.”

  “Your mother...?”

  “Was a Sualwet.”

  “But, you have hair and you speak Erdlander. You can’t be—”

  “I can. I am. And I think you are too, at least a little.”

  “No, I can’t.”

  I gave him a moment to ruminate over what I’d told him. Tor sat quietly next to me, but he reached out and placed his hand on my back, grounding me, warming me.

  “Why did you want to see my feet?” Traz asked. In his face, curiosity had replaced revulsion. What more could I want, really?

  “Are you going to tell anyone about her?” Tor spoke up finally, again ignoring Traz’s question. It was an annoying habit, but for now it worked to my advantage.

  “I... no... I don’t think anyone needs to know. You aren’t hurting anyone. Are you? Are you like a spy?”

  A spy for the Sualwets? I smiled at the absurdity of the thought. “No, they don’t know about me.”

  “How is it possible? I didn’t think—I mean, they lay eggs, right? They don’t do things like we do. We aren’t compatible with them.”

  “I don’t know. Science? Something the Erdlanders did to my mother made her pregnant. The first Sualwet pregnancy, the first live birth, in over three hundred years, and it was me. Her people hated her for it and forced us to leave. She and I lived alone my entire life. I never knew anyone but her, until Tor.” I smiled over my shoulder, allowing my attention to drift away from Traz. The safety Tor provided seeped into every pore. “And then the war came to where we lived, and she died. So now we’re here.”

  “You can’t stay here,” Traz said, sounding worried. “If anyone finds out—Sera, they’ll kill you, or worse.” He looked around the dark room to make sure no one had awakened.

  “We’re leaving,” Tor stated, his hand still grounding me. “But I need to hear that tape first.”

  “What? Tonight you almost killed someone because of it. Don’t tell me you are Sualwet too.”

  “No.” Tor was as verbose as ever.

  “Okay, so Sera’s mother was Sualwet, and you think I’ve got some genetic thing going on, and you’re what?”

  “We don’t know,” I admitted. Tor sighed. “That’s why we need to hear that tape. It affected Tor somehow, and we don’t know why. We need to know where it came from.”

  “All right. It’s in the Linguistics archives, but I don’t have an access code to the building.”

  “I do.”

  Traz and Tor stared at me.

  “My security is for the Hub,” I explained. “I can get in all the rooms, but I don’t know how to find it or where to look once I’m in there.”

  “I can do that,” Traz offered. “I just have to find a reason to get over there and find you.”

  Tor grunted. “While I’m stuck in the fields.”

  “With Lace.” I smiled at Tor as he grimaced.

  “You two finding each other,” Traz said, “and getting away with being here... it’s impossible. You shouldn’t exist. If we get caught....”

  “You don’t have to do this. You don’t have to help—”

  “Yes, he does,” Tor interrupted. “You want to know what you are as much as we do. You can’t not help us.”

  “I think I liked him better when he didn’t talk,” Traz cracked before smiling at us both. “You’re right, though. I’m in this now. If they really did something to me, or my parents, I want to know, and if they’re still doing it....”

  “Oh my gods,” I cried louder than I meant to.

  “There are rumors about things like that—captives and experiments. I always assumed they were just horror stories—you know, things the guys made up to spook the girls. But if they did something to your mother, something that could create you—”

  “—who knows what else they’re doing,” I finished his thought with a shudder.

  We sat for a moment, allowing the enormity of our situation to sink in. No one would help us, no one would understand.

  We were alone in this.

  “Which is why we have to get out of here,” Tor stated matter-of-factly.

  “Shhh,” Traz whispered, ducking his head and looking around the chair.

  I closed my eyes and peered around us with my inner sight. I pushed my enhanced senses through the walls of the pod, searching for whatever Traz had heard.

  “It’s okay,” I whispered. “It’s just Elle. She’s getting a drink of water from her table. She isn’t coming out.”

  I opened my eyes to find Tor smirking and Traz’s mouth hanging open.

  “You heard it, too,” I said defensively.

  “I did. I did. Didn’t I? I heard something, but when you described it, I could almost see it. But that’s not the right word. I couldn’t really see it. I—”

  “You heard it, but you heard it like I do. Like Sualwets do.”

  “I don’t understand any of this.” Traz sighed, pulling his hand through his brown hair and closing his eyes. “I need to go to bed. I... I can’t think about this anymore. We’ll figure out how to get that disk tomorrow.”

  Traz stood up and looked down at us, attempting a weak smile. It came out more as a grimace, but I appreciated the effort.

  “Goodnight,” I whispered as he turned and retreated back to his room.

  Tor and I remained on the floor for a moment. Elgon’s warm breath had evened out into the soft rhythm of sleep. I was exhausted, tired in a way I didn’t know how to articulate. It was like someone had flipped a switch inside me and any reserves I had to keep going ran out.

  I yawned, which made Tor smirk again before he stood and held his hand out to me. We walked into our room together, hand in hand, Elgon sle
epily following.

  25

  My clothes had dried out but were stiff and uncomfortable. I wanted to change into the softer sleeping clothes Ada gave me and climb into the bed, but Tor was standing inside the door, watching me.

  I pulled clothes out from the bags on the floor and turned away from him. I don’t know why it mattered, but it seemed less frightening to have him look at my back than my front. Besides, there was a giant hole burned in the back of my shirt, so he could already see my skin beneath.

  “We should probably find a way to hide this shirt,” I said as I pulled it off and dropped it to the floor. The cool air of our room warmed, and I heard Tor step back to lean against the door.

  “Y-yeah, we should do that,” he stammered behind me.

  Why was he acting so weird?

  I pulled the loose sleeping shirt over my head. It had thin straps over the shoulders and clung to my body. As I pulled my skirt down, I realized Tor was watching me, not just standing there in his typical inexplicable way, but concentrating on me. The warmth in the room came from him.

  I turned to face him, the thin shirt the only thing covering my chest.

  “Are you going to get ready to sleep?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.

  “I... yeah. I’m.... Sure,” he stuttered again, his blue eyes glowing with an internal fire.

  I turned back around and waited until I sensed he had looked away before untying my shoes and pulling down my skirt and underwear. I quickly slipped on the sleeping pants and climbed onto the bed. It was softer than I remembered. Then again, I’d spent last night on the floor, with Tor.

  For a moment, I worried he was going to sleep on the floor again, that he wouldn’t want to be so close to me. I tugged down the covers and slid beneath them, close to the wall so there was enough room for him to climb in, if he wanted.

  I rolled on my side and ignored his movements behind me. As much as I wanted to reach out and sense what he was doing, something restrained my desire. I hadn’t wanted him to watch me undress, so I had no right to cheat and watch him. Instead, I held myself as still as possible.

  When the mattress shifted, I jumped. Having been concentrating so hard on not paying attention, I hadn’t heard him approach. Tor stood up, and I turned to look at him.

  “I didn’t mean to startle you,” he apologized, looking at the wall behind my head, not into my eyes. He was wearing thin sleep pants like mine and no shirt. Soft light filtering in through the window above us outlined the contours of his body. In the dimness his scars seemed invisible, and only the amazing perfection of him remained.

  “It’s okay,” I assured him.

  “I can sleep on the floor again.” He stepped away from the bed, and I sat up.

  “No! I mean, you don’t have to do that. You should sleep here. If you want to.”

  “I just don’t want to—I don’t know—make you uncomfortable.”

  “Just try not to set anything on fire and we’ll be all right,” I teased, lying back down, hoping he would smile and relax. This wasn’t the first time we’d slept next to each other or the first time I’d seen him without his shirt on. But as he slipped into bed next to me, I was thinking less about sleep and more about his kiss.

  He sank into the mattress next to me, creating a dip that pulled me closer to him.

  “Hi,” I whispered, rolling to my side and propping my head up on my hand.

  “Hi.” He smiled and stretched his arms above him before putting them behind his head. The heat from his skin wrapped around me, pulled me closer. He didn’t move, but the air itself urged me to touch him. I reached over and touched his chest, just lying my hand against his skin. The contact was soft, innocent.

  Tor closed his eyes, and I watched his face. The side of his mouth curled up, and with his beard shaved close like other male Erdlanders, I could see a small dimple. My thumb moved against his skin, enjoying the warmth, and I leaned down and kissed the divot in his cheek.

  “You have dimples,” I whispered, my face next to his.

  “What are dimples?” he asked, opening his eyes and bringing his arms down. One slipped around me, and he placed the other atop my hand resting on his chest.

  “These.” I giggled, kissing his cheek again. “Your smile marks.”

  “I don’t have those.”

  “No?”

  “No.”

  “And why is that?”

  “I don’t smile much.” His voice sank, suddenly serious.

  Instead of arguing, I leaned down and kissed him again. First on his cheek, then down and around his ear.

  Tor’s arm tightened around me, and his breath sped up as I kissed down his neck. He was warm and tasted familiar, sweet and salty like the sea. After pulling my hand from his, I wrapped my arm around his body and drew him closer. As I kissed him, my leg moved over his, bringing my stomach against his side.

  At first Tor held still and didn’t move, but when I licked along the muscle running up his neck, he exhaled with a groan and turned toward me. His mouth found mine in the dark. We fit together. His strong arms wrapped around me and held me tight. My hands gripped his back as we kissed.

  His lips were soft—I always expected them to be rougher, like his demeanor, but when he touched me, everything relaxed. The room shimmered with his glow, and I smiled.

  “Are you going to start a fire?” I whispered, kissing his jaw.

  “I don’t think so.” His voice sounded so serious.

  “If you do, just make sure we can put it out before anyone comes running in.”

  “Sera, I’m not going to set anything on fire.” He pulled away from me to look into my eyes.

  “You sure? What about my shirt?” I teased and poked him in the ribs.

  “That was different.” He smirked, unable to hide the grin forming on his face.

  “I don’t know. You have a tendency to get a little... incendiary.”

  “I didn’t used to.”

  “It must be me.” I kissed him lightly on the lips.

  “Must be.”

  Tor turned his body so he lay facing me. I left my leg between his and rubbed my toes against his pants, feeling the soft fabric against the webbing between my toes.

  Lifting my face, I greeted him with a smile, and a light sparked between us before he kissed me. This time his hands didn’t hold me tight. He didn’t crush me to him like he had in the rain. This time he kissed me slowly, his lips molding to mine, his tongue reaching out, tasting me.

  I sighed and pushed against him. The heat of his bare skin seared my chest, but it didn’t hurt, not like a real fire would. Instead I was finally warm.

  Tor’s hands roamed my back, his fingers gentle as he explored the length of my spine. I shivered despite the flame erupting along the lines of his touch. When he reached beneath my shirt and pressed his palms against my flesh, I gasped. I could feel the outline of his hand, each finger, pressed against me.

  “Are you okay?” he whispered between kisses.

  All I could do was whimper against his lips, begging for more.

  I’d never been kissed before Tor. I’d never really known I wanted to be, but I’d read about the princes in storybooks who would save the maidens from the monsters beneath the sea. Yet, here I was the monster and he was the one who needed rescuing.

  When Tor’s lips migrated to my neck, the sensations traveling along my nerves overwhelmed me. Every part of me tingled. I wanted him to touch every inch of me. I submitted to his caress and let my hands trace the lines of his scars.

  After I thought I couldn’t take anymore, that I would combust from the amazing draw of his mouth, he gripped me tighter and I wrapped my leg around him. Our bodies pressed flush against each other, and for the first time I felt how much he wanted me.

  I giggled. I couldn’t help it.

  Tor pulled away from me, leaving blackness between us. He even withdrew his hands.

  “Don’t,” I began but stopped when he looked at me. The fire in his ey
es seemed so alive I worried he might actually set something aflame.

  “Tor?”

  “I’ll just—goodnight.” He rolled away from me.

  What had I done? What had happened? He was just kissing me, his body against mine. The phantom warmth of his hands still tickled my skin. Now he was gone.

  “Are you mad?” I asked, unable to imagine why he would be. My laughter hadn’t been at him. I’d just never felt... that before.

  Now that he faced away from me, I wanted him to come back. My body yearned for him to press himself against me again. I wanted to know what happened next.

  “Tor?” I asked when he didn’t reply.

  His voice was low, so low I barely heard him. “What?”

  “Why... why did you go away?”

  “Never mind, Sera. Go to sleep.”

  “I can’t.”

  I reached out and touched his back, but he jerked away from me, retreating from my hand like it might burn him. How had the tables turned like this?

  “Tor!” I smacked his back and pushed him, but he ignored me.

  Annoyance and anger and frustration and confusion warred within me. In the end, my need for him won. Instead of fighting him I slid up against him, conforming myself around his shape so that my hips were behind his and my legs bent at the same angle. I wrapped my arm around his waist, letting my hand settle on his hip bone. It was so sharp, sticking out from his thin waist, but the skin was softer than his lips.

  Tor said nothing, but he didn’t push me away, which was all the encouragement I needed. My fingers stroked his hip as I pressed my lips to his back. The rise and fall of his old scars mimicked his breathing. I kissed along them, wishing I could soothe the memory of pain lingering within his flesh.

  I dragged my hand over his stomach, feeling the rhythm of each breath he took, until I reached the muscles of his chest. I pulled my body higher, brought my lips to the back of his shoulder, and nuzzled against the hair lying against his neck.

  “I’m sorry,” I whispered behind his ear before placing another kiss against his neck.

  Instead of replying, Tor turned back to me. I welcomed him back into my arms.

  I may be a mutant hybrid and he may be the most dangerous creature ever created, but there, in the darkness of our room, only twenty-four hours after our first tentative kiss, everything was perfect.