Chapter 6 Water Me #2
I swallow thickly. It doesn’t seem like I’m in imminent danger, he seemed more…curious? Yes, the tongue on my neck is definitely there out of curiosity. I give Ingar a terrified thumbs-up before he turns back to an upset Teva.
I stare mournfully at my neatly folded clothes right by them. As I’m only in my undergarments—a sports bra and panties—I feel extremely exposed to the elements. Somehow, the sunlight here hurts, and I’m starting to feel like I’m frying too.
Datu’s fingers scrape against my ass, and I get the feeling he doesn’t know I’m human. He’s blind, after all. Since he knows Ingar, he should know about us, right? It won’t be a mindfuck to him like it is for us if I tell him I’m human.
“I know you can’t see me, but I’m just human. I can’t stay under the heat and on water too much lest I get sunburnt or prune up.”
He stills, and it’s so odd. It’s like every single thing surrounding us halts with him, too. The brook, the wind, even the birds chirping turn silent. I can’t help it, I stop breathing, feeling a chill run up my spine at this utter stillness.
The grass crinkles as Teva moves toward us and drops to her knees by the stream’s edge.
“Datu, please, do not do this.” She’s begging him, and I don’t understand why. “We need you to be better.”
This makes me feel like an intruder. This is a family issue with them, right? I can just step away—I take it back. He grabs my waist to keep me in place and I’m there awkwardly pretending I don’t exist while Teva trembles and cries.
Datu is expressionless as the breeze slowly wafts toward us. The water runs again but the birds? They remain silent like they are under the scope of a predator.
My gaze finds my palm, wrinkly and pale. I’m not going to die being soaked this long, it’s just going to feel weird. I realize I’m talking myself into being in an uncomfortable situation just because I don’t like confrontations.
It makes me feel the way Mother makes me feel.
“Datu? I need to get off the water and sun. You can stay there and soak as much as you want, but I’m headed—”
His hand covers my mouth, and I see a hint of amusement in his gaze. Leaving Teva, he basically floats us over to the other side where a thick tree offers a very convenient shade. A beautiful riparian zone. I’m not even sure how he knew where to find this. He’s supposed to be blind.
I wave my hands over his eyes but he doesn’t react. He still can’t see but somehow he knows where everything is.
“Thank you,” I murmur as he gently props me up so I can sit on the bank.
Here, I can see his hair is not actually strands of keratin. It looked softer, thicker like long plaits of violet blades of petals. I want to run my fingers over them, through them.
The last hour, all I’ve done was take internal notes of his body—his alien features. It’s hard to keep track of our differences between humans and Terra. When I think I’ve found everything, I see another one.
Despite the calm silence, it feels awkward as he glances my way. I think he expects me to talk for both of us. Hah!
“My name’s Xiaoyu, by the way. Only fair you know since I know yours.” The wind picks up, and I could have sworn it says my name. “I’m pretty sure I’ll come off as rude, but I don’t mean it that way.” I blurted out. “Are you mute?”
He smiles, and I see those large sharp teeth. He stretches over the stream, his body impossibly long, and perches over the bank, his head over his folded arms. He’s looking my way, a lazy drowsiness in his eyes.
“So, I take that as a yes?”
He nods, and I’m ecstatic that he actually understands…knows human non-verbal cues. He’s blind and I don’t think miming is an option.
He gestures for me to ask more.
“And you’re blind, too?” Wow, Xiaoyu, way to be subtle.
He throws his head back as the shrubs rustle. It looks like he’s laughing, but there’s no sound coming from him. When he recovers, he shakes his head. That makes me breathe a sigh of relief.
“Do you know how long your eyes will heal?”
The corners of his lip draw down. He’s not sure. He points blindly at me, raking the tip of his claw toward my head. Is he asking what I think?
“Umm, I’m not sure. I’ve never met people like you before, but let’s try and soak up more, and maybe it gets better. Can you see clearer than before?”
He nods again and folds his arms. He looks sleepy, but I remember Teva being extremely adamant that he wasn’t to go dormant.
“Don’t get too relaxed or you’ll go dormant on me.” I giggle stiffly. Inside, I’m cringing at my attempt at humor. “Do Terra even sleep?”
He cocks his head from his slump. Shit. If he has to think about it, they definitely don’t. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to converse with him right now.
“Do you have some sort of Terra sign language?”
He snorts and there’s a deep chuckling noise from the earth. It shakes to the rhythm of his silent laughter. He points at himself then makes a talking signal with his hand. After that, he points at me then his ears while shaking his head.
“You can talk, but I just can’t hear it?” I’m pretty sure that’s what he meant.
He nods once more.
“I’m human so I don’t know how this works. What should I do to hear you?”
His gaze shutters, and I get the feeling I’ve somehow offended him. I can see it—he’s put up a wall. He pushes away from the bank and lets himself drift away. I’m not worried. Hearing footsteps coming our way, I breathe a sigh of relief.
A buffer, thank god.
“It is close to dusk, we must go.” Teva announces.
Datu barely glances at her but he does come out of the water. I know I should have looked away, but I can’t. When he rises, I have to hold my jaw in place.
Magnificent is too tame a word to describe him.
I feel unworthy even being in his presence.
It’s strange, this is what a god would make you feel when you’re around them.
Inferior. My gaze trails down to where his penis should be.
He does not have one, shockingly. A cock, I mean.
Instead, he had a long slit there threaded together by tiny delicate cilia.
Datu flicks his head toward my direction, hair swiping the air with droplets of water. I’ve never been so glad someone is blind.
Quickly, I look away, my face aflame.
“Okay, let’s go.”