Granola Bars and Spaceships Read online

  He laughed. "Yeah. I like that one. It's cute."

  -Why you so surprised I like too?-

  Eric stilled and frowned at me. "I'm not sure."

  -Because of physical?-

  "Maybe." He shrugged self-consciously. "Sorry."

  -No sorry.- I paused trying to put words together in my head. -Iska no have sex, but still have relationship. Still touch. Still make story. Live life with partners.-

  Eric smiled and tilted his head, watching me. "We have Humans like that. We call them asexual."

  I nodded. Many species had individuals who were like the Iska through choice or natural preference instead of biological necessity. -So you understand?-

  Eric nodded, watching me intently. Very slowly he turned his hand under mine, twining our fingers together. My eyes widened as he lifted my hand to his lips and gently kissed it. He lowered our joined hands again but didn't let go.

  "Yes," he said quietly. "I understand."

  Oh. Oh, my.

  *~*~*

  Our movie marathon had led to a late night and lazy morning. We had both slept late, skipped breakfast, and then had a huge lunch. Our afternoon was so far peaceful. I was snuggled into the big chair while Eric moved laundry from the washing machine to the dryer tucked in the hallway closet.

  Eric tapped my foot to get my attention. I looked up from the heavy book I was studying and noticed that he was holding his communication device to his ear.

  "One second," he said.

  He lowered the device, touching a spot on the screen before focusing fully on me. "Will wants to meet you," he said. "He's off work early and knows that I have the day off. I told him I'd ask you."

  My eyes widened. Meet another Human? On purpose? I stared up at Eric. He grinned at me and held out his hand.

  I reached out and linked our fingers together. -Is safe?-

  "Yes, I think so. He's my best friend. I've known him most of my life. He's the one who helped me get you home, remember?"

  I had forgotten that in my surprise. Surely if he already knew about me, and had kept our secret, it would be safe to meet him. I nodded slowly. -Okay.-

  Eric smiled at my use of the word I had picked up from him. He always smiled when I used it. I suspected he thought it was charming or something. He dropped my hand and kissed me gently on top of my head.

  I sat blinking up at him when he straightened. That was the second time he'd done that today. And he'd been very affectionate during the last movie last night, too.

  "Thanks," he said quietly, smiling at me again. He touched the phone screen again and put it back to his ear. "Will? Yeah, it's fine." He paused and looked at me. "What do you want for dinner? Will's going to feed us."

  I just shrugged. I still didn't really have any idea what all the options were. Especially if Will was bringing something from outside the house.

  Eric shrugged back at me. "Whatever you want, man. Maybe pizza or Chinese… So far we know eet hates apples, pears, or anything related." Eric grinned playfully, bumping my foot again. "Yeah, okay. That sounds awesome."

  Eric turned off the device and set it on the table. He sort of fell down onto the end of the couch next to the chair I was sitting in. He leaned back, stretching his legs out and resting his feet on the table next to mine. "Will's going to buy out our favorite Chinese place."

  I frowned. What did that even mean?

  Eric laughed. "Sorry. He's going to bring lots of different kinds of Chinese food so you can try it. It comes in these little white cardboard containers so you can eat out of those or put it on plates. He said he'd get a little bit of everything."

  I smiled. That sounded like fun. I held out my hand and waited for Eric to reach across and take it. -Very nice of him.-

  "I think he's trying to trade food for friendship. He's really curious about you. It's been driving him nuts that he couldn't come meet you sooner, but he's been either out of town for work or so busy he might as well be out of town." Eric nodded toward the book on my lap. "Do you like it?"

  I looked down, brushing the fingers of my free hand over the glossy pages. Eric had brought me a huge book full of pictures and diagrams. It was full of information about animals called canines. Eric had said they were also called dogs, and that some kind of dog was probably what had attacked me the night he had brought me here. I couldn't read many of the words yet, but most of it was self-explanatory pictures or diagrams. I found it very interesting.

  I nodded. -Yes. Found some look like bad dogs.- I flipped back a ways and showed him the photo. -You read words to me later?-

  He leaned forward to look. "Sure. Just remind me."

  I nodded. -How long until Will here?-

  "About half an hour."

  I nodded and took my hand back. I moved to the couch, sitting in the middle so that I was next to Eric. He smiled happily and wrapped his arm around my shoulders to tug me against his side. He retrieved the remote from the table and turned the television on to a cartoon we both liked. It was an excellent way to spend the short amount of time, and I was a little disappointed when Will knocked.

  Eric sighed and stood. "Damn it," he muttered. But he was smiling as he pulled open the door for Will. I stood and moved to stand next to the table in front of the couch. I felt like I should do something with my arms and hands, but I didn't know what. I left them at my sides. I felt awkward. And nervous.

  Will shuffled through the door carrying three giant bags of food. My eyes widened in surprise and I forgot that I was nervous. I rushed forward to take one of them, while Eric took the other two.

  Eric raised his eyebrows. "Dude. There's only three of us."

  Will hung up his coat on an empty hook by the door, his pale skin turning slightly red. "I sort of just went down the menu and ordered smalls of a bunch of things that sounded good. I wasn't really thinking about the end result."

  Eric laughed. "Well thanks. Do you want to set the buffet up on the table in here or on the kitchen counter?"

  "In here so we don't have to go back and forth."

  Will started to turn to come into the room and finally noticed me. "Oh. Um. Hi? Sorry. Your name is Keeska?"

  I got a little flustered and wound up nodding, waving a little with my free hand and saying hello in my language. Will grinned at me. I shrugged and went to the table.

  I sat on the couch and started lining up the little cardboard containers. Eric followed me and did the same. Will tried to help, but Eric smacked his hand lightly. "Go get plates and forks, would you?"

  "Sure." Will went quickly to the kitchen. I could hear him getting things out of cupboards, so he must know where everything was.

  Eric glanced at me. "You doing okay?"

  Actually, yes. Will seemed just as nervous as me. That somehow made me feel more comfortable about interacting with a Human other than Eric. I nodded.

  Eric brushed his hand over my arm. "Thank you for being willing to meet him. I like having him around."

  I smiled and leaned over to kiss Eric's cheek.

  Of course, Will chose that moment to come back from the kitchen. He looked surprised, but didn't otherwise react as he set the dishes down on the table. "I asked for tea too," he said. "So I grabbed mugs."

  "How'd they give you tea?" Eric asked.

  Will shrugged. "I think they put it in the same containers they put soup in." He pointed to a small stack of round containers that didn't match the rest. "It should be in one of those."

  Once we had the containers more or less organized, we started opening them. After the first two I tried to open almost exploded, Eric laughed and told me to stop. I pretended to be annoyed. But really, it smelled good and I wanted to eat it, not dump it all over the floor.

  A couple minutes later Eric handed me a plate and told me to choose first. I stared at the table covered in little white and red boxes, no idea where to start.

  Will sat down next to me and made a self-conscious sounding noise. I looked over at him.

  "Eric said he wasn
't sure what you'd like," Will said. "So I just got a bunch of different things so you could try them all."

  Apparently Eric was not the only incredibly sweet Human. I held my hand out to Will, wondering if he would figure it out.

  He looked surprised, but he reached out to touch my palm with his fingertips.

  -Thank you,- I told him. -Was nice. Smells good.-

  "You're welcome." He cleared his throat. "Eric told me you could talk to us like that. But I wasn't sure what I was expecting." He grinned sheepishly.

  I just smiled and took my hand back. It was a little more difficult to send to Will than it was to send to Eric. It was that way among the Iska as well, as we had different levels of sensitivity. I had just gotten used to how easy it was to talk to Eric.

  Eric nudged me with his elbow and I remembered that I was supposed to be choosing food. Instead of looking at everything, I chose several at random. I refilled my plate several times and everything I tried was wonderful. Except for something Eric called mushrooms. Mushrooms were vile. I made a little pile of those at the edge of my plate. When Will noticed, he stole my plate and scooped the mushrooms onto his before giving back the plate. After that I sorted all my mushrooms straight onto his plate. Eric seemed very amused by the whole thing.

  *~*~*

  Eric could not have been more relieved at the way the evening was going. After the initial bumbling from both Keeska and Will, he wouldn't have been able to tell that they'd just met.

  Dinner had been a great success. If Will had hoped to win Keeska over with gifts of food, it had at least partially worked. Eric suspected, though, that Keeska was simply kind and friendly by nature and made friends easily when circumstances permitted. It had taken Keeska and Eric a little longer to be comfortable, but this was a different set of circumstances entirely. His best friend came pre-approved.

  They had long ago cleaned up dinner, including a week's supply of left-overs that Keeska had been all too happy to put in the fridge.

  Currently, the three of them were sitting around the coffee table trying to teach Keeska how to play cards. They had started with "Go Fish," thinking it would be an easy game to help Keeska learn the different kinds of cards. They abandoned that quickly. The game was easy enough to understand, but none of them had thought about the whole asking for cards bit.

  Keeska had thrown in the towel after one hand.

  They were having much more luck with rummy. It had taken about two hands for Keeska to learn the rules. After that, Eric quickly learned that Keeska had no fear. Eet would pick up the entire discard pile with no hesitation and had no mercy. Keeska was kicking their asses.

  Will tallied up the points from the last hand and laughed. "Okay. Keeska wins. I'm out." Will stood and stretched with his arms over his head.

  Keeska made a sad noise and started shuffling cards like a pro.

  Eric grinned. "You taking off?"

  "Yeah. I'm meeting Mom for breakfast in the morning. And you have work. This was fun, though."

  Keeska stopped shuffling cards long enough to reach out and talk to Will. From Will's response, Eric assumed Keeska had said goodnight.

  Eric pushed to his feet and followed Will to the door. "Thanks for dinner."

  Will grinned. "Not a problem, man. Thanks for convincing the space alien I'm not scary. What's going on there, anyway? You two are more than friendly."

  Eric shrugged. "Stuff. We'll see."

  Will frowned and stuffed his hands in his coat pockets. "Just so long as I'm not picking up pieces when Keeska leaves."

  Eric sighed. "We'll see. It is what it is."

  "Fair enough. Am I allowed to come over again? I suspect you're not going to be out much."

  Eric grinned. "I think you can come over anytime you want if you bring Keeska more Chinese food."

  Will smirked. "I'll bring pizza next time. We have to introduce all the classics."

  Eric rolled his eyes, shoving Will out the door and locking it. He flopped down on the couch next to Keeska.

  Keeska turned sideways, draping ta legs across Eric's lap and resting a hand on the back of his neck.

  -What so funny?- Keeska asked.

  Okay. There was no way Eric was telling Keeska about the miniature relationship lecture. That hadn't been the funny part anyway. "Food," Eric said instead. "Will wants to come hang out more. He said he'd bring you pizza next time."

  -Nice man. Funny. Tell him I like and happy to spend time.- Keeska grinned. -Food good too.-

  Eric laughed. "I'll let him know." He tugged Keeska further onto his lap, pleased with the increasing opportunities to cuddle. He couldn't reach anything other than the TV remote without moving, so he put on a movie channel. He needed to go to bed soon, but there was no way he wasn't spending time with a snuggly, happy Keeska first.

  *~*~*

  "What are your parents like?"

  I looked up from the bowl I was scrubbing. Eric was leaning against the kitchen counter next to me, watching me wash dishes. I looked from him, to my hands in the water, and back to him.

  "Right," he muttered. Eric moved over to stand behind me. He startled me somewhat when he wrapped an arm around my waist, resting his hand on my stomach. "Let me just…"

  He slipped his fingers under the hem of my shirt. I could feel him combing softly through the larger veeka on my stomach. Ever so gently, he brushed them aside until his fingertips were touching skin. Really, he was much more careful about it than I would have been. My veeka could stand up to a bit more abuse than that.

  -Not have to be so careful.- I said, making sure he could hear my amusement.

  "How would I know? You're still teaching me about these things. Now tell me about your parents while you finish the dishes."

  I laughed softly, a little surprised he hadn't asked about them before. He was always asking about random things. -What want know?-

  I could feel the movement of his shoulders when he shrugged. "I don't know. Just tell me something."

  -I have three.-

  "Three?" He sounded surprised.

  -Yes. Some have more if live in larger groups.-

  "Huh. Okay. Who are you closest to?"

  -Aeka,- I said, smiling. -Kasc traveled separate much while I was young. And Kek is protector. Aeka is organizer. Planner. Caretaker. We are close.-

  "Do Aeka and Kek always travel together?"

  -Almost always. Neither like alone. Kasc usually with now too. Is nice.-

  "You live with them?"

  I hummed. -Sort of?-

  He rested his chin on my shoulder. "How do you sort of live with someone?"

  -Is trade ship. All make home on. Is ours. But separate spaces. And not always see each other. And I go away for learning sometimes still.-

  "That makes sense. Do you have siblings?"

  I shook my head. -No. What else want to know?-

  "I want to know how much longer you're going to be washing dishes."

  I laughed. I put the clean plate I was holding in the drying rack and rinsed my hands. -Can be done now. But you have to finish later.-

  "Fine. Now come watch Star Trek with me and tell me how wrong they got everything."

  I laughed gleefully as he tugged me into the other room.

  *~*~*

  I sat up from where I had been curled up against Eric's side. He twisted slightly to see what I was doing.

  I shrugged and pulled at the arm band on my translator, trying to resettle it. One of my veeka was caught at a funny angle under the band, and it was driving me mad. I finally gave up and just shoved a finger under it and wiggled until everything felt normal.

  Satisfied, I settled back in against Eric's side.

  "How does that thing work, anyway?"

  He was probably expecting me to offer an explanation, but I really couldn't give him one. I shrugged and turned the tablet I had been using back on. I had stopped in the middle of a game level. I had become obsessed with the colors and shapes of all the different matching games. I poked
happily at a row of bright blue diamonds.

  "No, seriously. How does it work?"

  I sighed and paused the game again. Twisting, I rested my fingers in the palm of the hand he had held out. -Don't know.-

  "How do you not know?"

  -You know how vehicle works? Know how use it, not how works. Am learning to be trader, not scientist.-

  He laughed. "Fair enough." My translator happened to be on the same arm I was touching him with. He reached out and poked at the band, thankfully being careful not to touch the panel itself. "There are about five hundred tiny buttons on that thing. What else does it do?"

  I moved his hand and activated the program that let me manipulate light. Somehow. It was a useful function, but pretty much no one knew how it actually worked, even if they knew how the rest worked. Which I didn't.

  I forced myself to focus my attention and asked it to make shadows, like I had used to hide from Eric before he had found me hurt. In a dark room, it was fairly subtle. In a brightly lit room like this, it would be very obvious. I waited until the program was set and looked over at Eric.

  He was staring. "A few things make more sense, now," he muttered. "I thought the boxes looked different."

  I told the light function to turn off, listening to its familiar whir as it went inactive again. I moved my arm so I could recapture my contact with Eric. -Lots of practical things. Like lock my suite doors. Can also make a hiding place. Make people not want to find me. Make it harder for people to find me.-

  I could practically see the moment he figured it out.

  He grinned at me. "That didn't work on me, did it? It almost did the opposite."

  I nodded. -Except door. Was very strange.-

  Eric frowned. "What?"

  -Door to room where found me. Not stuck. Only think it did.-

  "Oh… That's a little creepy, you know. That you can make me think a door won't open."

  I winced. -Sorry. Not use now.-

  "You were hiding." Eric shrugged and picked up his book again. "Can you do anything else creepy?"

  I thought for a moment. Then I bugged out my eyes as much as I could, laid my ears flat, and pulled my lips back from my teeth. I very slowly turned my head until I was looking straight at him.

  "Jesus," he muttered. He covered my face with his palm and shoved me gently backwards. "Please don't do that ever again."