8. Chapter 8
Chapter 8
Is that a smile?
“You did what?” I demanded, trying but not succeeding in keeping the growl from my voice. My tail curled around his ankle and up his calf; I needed to hold him to assure myself that Bartholomew was safe; that he was here with me. But he could not have been. The damn human might have been snatched away from me, and I would’ve never known what happened to him.
His expression remained blank as he replied, “I went outside. I spotted an alien. Big. Very big.”
My hold on him tightened. “Did they hurt you?”
“No, they didn’t even see me.”
I wanted to haul him into my arms and settle him on top of me, but I was still struggling to sit up. There was also the matter of Bartholomew and I having not discussed permissions. He might not like being touched, even in a friendly manner. Strictly speaking, I shouldn’t have my tail coiled around his leg, but I couldn’t help myself. Why? I couldn’t say. But I had gone through a considerable amount of trouble to get him, and I wasn’t going to let someone take him from me.
The mere thought was enough to make a rumble form in my chest. No one would take him from me. No one.
“What are we going to do?” he asked, drawing me from my vicious thoughts.
I didn’t know what we could do. It wasn’t that shocking that this planet had inhabitants. If the people here were space-faring, it would benefit us greatly. “What did they look like exactly?”
As Bartholomew described the alien, I tried to wrack my brain. They weren’t familiar to me, but there were many different species out there. From the description, though, I assumed this species was not space-faring. If they had been, they would have sensed an unauthorized ship breaching their atmosphere and come searching for the culprit.
“It wasn’t only the alien,” he said.
My tail tightened around him as I practically barked, “What?”
“The cliff above us is covered in massive nests. I didn’t see any animals or aliens, but whatever lives in them is humungous.”
I loosened my hold, afraid of hurting him, and tried to breathe. So many potential threats in a very short time.
Once again, Bartholomew asked, “What do we do?”
“For now,” I said, “we’ll stay inside.” When I was better, I would venture outside to make sure Bartholomew was safe where we were.
“The shuttle is almost completely buried by rocks,” he said. “Is that going to be a problem for the drakcol that’s coming for you?”
“The sensors should be able to find the ship, but I have to work on getting the…” How did I say emergency beacon in English? Seth, Caleb, and Edith had clearly been neglecting my vocabulary. “Finding sensor,” I settled on, “working once I can sit up.”
“The what?”
“The thing for them to find us because of the crash,” I tried to explain.
“Do you mean a distress signal?”
“Maybe.”
“In cases of emergency, ships put off distress signals so people can find them. At least in my world. And by ships, I mean ones that float on water. Though planes have black boxes that aren’t actually black. I’m fairly certain they are bright orange so rescuers can find them in the debris.”
I swallowed, tail squeezing his leg. Stars, I loved hearing him talk so much at one time. How did I get him to do it again? “That’s the word.”
“Distress signal, which is two words.”
“Distress signal,” I repeated several times until Bartholomew nodded.
“What about the xoi? Will they see the signal?”
I dragged the tip of my tail over the back of his calf. The simple touch was oddly calming. I wished I was touching his bare skin, though. My tail was incredibly sensitive, and I couldn’t help but wonder how his soft skin would feel against my scales.
“Serlotminden,” he said, touching my cheek.
I pressed into the touch, nuzzling him. I worked his palm up to my forehead, spreading my scent on him.
Bartholomew bent over me; his forehead crinkled in the cute way that it did. “Are you awake?”
“Yes,” I replied. “You have a lovely name.”
“Most think it’s long or old fashioned.”
“It’s perfect.”
Warmth rushed to his cheeks, and a grin spread over my lips. Blushing. I, not anyone else, had made Bartholomew pink up in the most attractive manner. I felt victorious, as if I’d won a race.
“It’s actually Bartholomew Reginald Lucian Cavendish-Wallingford.”
My mouth fell open at the length of his name. He had to be important, incredibly important to bear such a name. The length of a name denoted importance, at least for drakcol. Who was this human? Royalty? Seth and Caleb hadn’t spoken much about the governing positions of their planet, and I’d never researched about Earth or humans, but this slight human must be among them, whoever the governing masses were.
“I told you. It’s long.”
“How did you come to have such a name?”
“When my moms married they hyphenated their last names. Do you even have last names?”
“No, but I understand. Seth and Caleb both have one.” Though I didn’t know what the word “hyphenated” meant, I wasn’t going to interrupt him. He was talking, actually talking.
“My mom Charity’s dad was named Bartholomew Reginald. It was important to her family. So when they adopted me, they named me Bartholomew Reginald, and my mom Isabella’s dad’s name was Lucien, so that became my middle name. It’s not a big deal,” he said with a shrug.
“It is. It’s long.”
The first smile I’d ever seen from Bartholomew appeared, and my soul pounded. I wanted to see that smile for the rest of my life. I never wanted him to stop. I traced his lips with my fingertip; they were incredibly soft. His smile faltered, but he didn’t move away.
“Smile, please.”
“I don’t make myself smile when I don’t feel like it.”
“Then I’ll have to make you smile often, Bartholomew.”
“People call me Teddy.”
I frowned in confusion. Humans gave each other nicknames, shortenings, endearments, and pet names with odd frequency. Drakcol might give a close family member, lover, or friend an endearment, but we didn’t shorten names as humans often did. Rather, it was usually about the person’s character or one of their interests.
Bartholomew’s endearment seemed more in the drakcol way. It wasn’t a shortening, and I was fairly certain teddy was also a word for a bear, which was a large furry creature. He didn’t look particularly hairy or large to me, but I was unsure of what humans considered big or hairy. Drakcol didn’t have hair anywhere but the tops of our heads, and almost all were tall as well as broad.
“I will never understand the human urge to destroy perfectly good names,” I said.
He chuckled, and the sound made my soul pound. Bartholomew bent forward, almost touching me. “You don’t have a nickname?”
“Seth and Caleb call me Mindy, and my brothers call me Speedy.”
“I like Mindy.”
I found, when he said it, I quite adored being called Mindy. “At least my endearment makes sense.”
“What do you mean?”
“Mindy is a shortening, and Speedy was given to me because I run about or go at problems full speed. Your ‘Teddy’ is odd. You’re not a bear.”
“N-no, I’m not. This conversation has taken an odd turn, but alright. You’re right I’m not a bear or a cub. Some might call me a twink , though, personally, I think I’m not cute enough.”
Now I was very confused. What was a “twink,” and why wasn't he cute enough to be one? Bartholomew was exceedingly cute. Humans gave children stuffed bears called teddies sometimes. Seth had already procured several for his and Kalvoxrencol’s child. They were cute, I thought.
“Are twinks toys?” I asked.
Bartholomew gaped at me. “Some might like to be called toys. It depends on the individual, I suppose. I wouldn’t, but that doesn’t mean anything. But, so I can get some kind of grasp on this conversation, what in the hell have Seth and Caleb been teaching you exactly?”
I was even more confused. “Are you not called Teddy because of the cute bears?”
His eyebrows came together. “I think we are having two very different conversations.”
“How did you get your endearment? Was it because of the furry toys?”
Bartholomew laughed, bending closer to the point his nose touched my chest. The joyous sound made me grin and my soul thrum. He was happy; even if it was because I’d said something stupid in his language, I’d made him happy. A warm sensation started in my soul and spread throughout my limbs. I had a desire—no, a need to make Bartholomew happy for as long as I could.
“Mindy, are you talking about teddy bears?”
“Yes.”
“For future reference, ‘bears’ means something very different to gay guys.”
My pulse spiked at the word gay. That I knew. It meant he was attracted to men or male-presenting people. Caleb had taught me that as well as other sexualities, like Seth being pansexual. Drakcol mostly didn’t care about gender in regards to who they were sexually attracted to. Some of my people were solely attracted to a single gender, but that was uncommon.
But if he was gay, that meant Bartholomew could be attracted to me. I had no idea why that was so important, but it was. Exceedingly so.
“Teddy,” he said, “is a common nickname for several names. Bartholomew isn’t one of them, but my moms have called me Teddy since I was a kid. I’m not sure why.”
I took his hand. “Humans are so cute. You more so than the rest.”
Bartholomew grunted, but I wasn’t deterred, because his cheeks had darkened. He was talking, and I didn’t want to pass this moment up, even though I was exhausted again. We were going to be great friends… at least I thought so. That’s why I was so protective and why Bartholomew fit.
Why else would he be so perfect?
“You should talk more,” I said.
“Why?”
“I like it.”
“So?” he replied.
He didn’t have to talk, but I loved hearing Bartholomew’s voice. It was so nice and smooth. My brain tried to find a reason why he needed to keep talking, and when I stumbled across one, I snatched it. “It will help me learn more English. This way there will be less confusion in the future.”
“I suppose that’s true. What do you want to talk about?”
The possibilities were endless because I needed to know everything about him. “Do you like my smile?” Something inside of me needed to know he thought I was attractive, for whatever reason. I gave him a wide grin.
His expression didn’t change in the slightest. “You are an odd person.”
My smile faltered, and I looked away, trying to rationalize the hurt prodding my chest. Bartholomew didn’t have to like my smile, even if everyone else did.
A light touch made me turn back to him. Bartholomew refused to meet my gaze as he threaded our fingers together. “Odd isn’t bad. Your smile is fine.”
Fine wasn’t what I desired, but it was better than nothing. I pulled our joined hands to my chest over my throbbing soul. “I think your smile is cute. Like a teddy bear, Teddy.”
“Alright,” he said, seemingly unaffected.
It was a start.
“Tell me more. I need to rest, and it will help me fall asleep.”
“I thought you wanted to learn more English?”
“Sleep for now.”
He lay beside me, head on my shoulder, and started to talk. “When I was twelve, I got lost in the woods, but not really. I knew where I was the entire time, and I wanted to watch the water in the river go by and observe the fish and bugs. My sisters were being too loud for me. But my moms didn’t know where I was. They called every type of law enforcement to find me because both of them were convinced I’d been kidnapped or something.
“Anyway, they amassed a huge search party, and I wandered back, perfectly safe. I got in such trouble, after they stopped crying, and I remember, at the time, not understanding why they were so afraid. I’d been perfectly fine.”
I chuckled, nuzzling him and inhaling his strong scent. Bartholomew needed a bath, but I quite liked the strong earthy scent coming off his skin.
“Don’t disappear on me. I will search high and low for you, never giving up. Not ever,” I promised, and I would. Nothing would keep me from Bartholomew.
Bartholomew grunted, but he began to stroke my chest and stomach as he started another story of him and his family when he was young. I closed my eyes, listening to the even timbre of his voice.