Chapter 9 Sour Past Kids #2
“I do not think it matters now. My sister has brokered a treaty between Terra and humans when I was…locked away.”
“I have to make sure you don’t go dormant then.
” I try to steer us away from an uncomfortable conversation.
I say this like it’s so simple. Like doing this won’t bite me in the ass.
I absolutely have no idea what my plan of action is.
“As per my knowledge, plants are forced to go dormant through harsh conditions. Maybe it really just needs to rain here.”
“It has not rained in decades.”
I balk and sputter out, “W-what? How old are you?”
“I stopped counting after a millenia.” He bites his lip as he focuses that uncanny gaze on me. “There was no immediate need for rain, but as my condition worsened, so did the island’s.”
Understanding this is like pulling teeth. I’m in a constant state of shock. “I’m sorry, I don’t think I understand.”
“I am old. And the island’s wellbeing is tied to my health.”
Oh. Something breaks in me, and I can either giggle or have a cognitive dissonance. I chose the former. Like a nervous, fascinated girl, I release an incredulous laugh. “Shit, Grandpa. That’s actually amazing.”
His face changes, softens. “You think so?”
“Yes, and don’t you say otherwise. I’ll fight you on it.” For the first time, I smile at him. It feels freeing.
My eyes feel puffy for some reason. It’s still night-time, but every corner of this smooth platform surrounded by a forest is lit by bulbous fireflies. Are these real, or just a lamp shaped like it?
No human logic, Xiaoyu, I remind myself. Out of habit, I adjust my glasses, then realize they are broken. One lens is missing. To confirm, I even slide a finger through the frame. Yup, no lens, no glasses, I can still see fine.
For some reason, my vision has turned 5D, and I see angles that I never knew existed. Holy shit, I think I’m high.
“I wish I could see what you look like.” His voice is soft, intimate.
I’m hard at work holding back a brewing panic. “We’ll wait until you heal completely.” I ignore the pining way he says those words. I’m annoyed at myself for regurgitating the same shit over and over again. We’ll see once he heals. And once he does—will he like what he sees?
“Tell me what you look like.”
I release a breath. What a simple yet loaded request. “Short black hair, average height, brown eyes. I’m on the more petite side in size.” I can’t even say it—that I get violently ill when I eat too much. That I’m so skinny that even the wind could blow me away.
His hands run down my back, to my thighs. It makes my toes curl, the hair at the back of my neck raise. The dichotomy of my reactions should tell me something.
“However you look, it does not compare to your voice. You have been gifted a sweet one, Xiaoyu. You grace my ears when you speak.”
My face is hot as I attempt to recover from the compliment. “Oh, stop it.”
“I will not,” He simply says. “If you say otherwise, I will fight you on it.” He is basically throwing my words back at me cheekily. “You mentioned you are tasked to collect pollen, yes?”
Fuck. I swallow thickly. “Yes. Yes, I am.” I say quickly, scared my tongue might just escape again.
The glow behind his eyes brightens, and it’s as if someone cranked up the saturation of my vision.
“Does it say whose pollen?”
I…have not thought of this. “The subject, so I guess you?”
“Do you have any idea what pollen is here? Where and how to obtain it?”
I become flustered at the way he says it. “I can ask Teva—”
“Why don’t you ask me?”
I don’t know why I’m so terrified right now. What is happening? It must be something I ate… My brain refuses to see how bad this is, this feeling of utter clueless terror combined with silly elation.
“What, is it cum?” It’s as if a demon just fished it out of my mouth. I begin to cackle. He looks confused, so I explain, “Cum is semen. Spermatozoa. The liquid thing that jets out of a human’s penis to reproduce?”
His eyebrows shot up. “You call it cum?”
“Yeah, it’s so weird, right?”
Datu’s face distorts for a split second. Like we hit a bad signal. It’s enough to sober me and stop laughing. In that split second, I’m not sure what I see. I don’t think I wanna know.
“It makes sense. It feels like you are leaving the physical realm, arriving in the bosoms of mother once again.”
Ugh, over my rotting, maggot-infested corpse. “That’s one way of putting it.” I respond thinly.
He has a teasing look on his face as he grins. I notice that he always smiles. It looks nice, but sometimes, it’s just creepy.
“You return home once you are finished with me?”
The question takes me aback. “Why, yes. I can’t stay.”
His face hovers close to mine, his braids of purple hair swinging to the wind. Datu is…esoteric. Chiseled jawline, lips deceptively full with those sharp teeth. Obscure, but if I stare and scrutinize too much, the animal in me runs. If uncanny valley is an irresistible male specimen, it's Datu.
“You hold my gaze very well.”
“Can you see now?”
“I like what I see.”
I swear, the colors in his eyes are swirling.
It starts slow, but our bed swings, far-away sounds of falling boulders gripping my neck. It’s hypnotic and alarming. The trees tremble, leaves falling like fur from a shaking dog. It’s an earthquake, and I hold on to Datu. He seems so calm at this natural calamity. Is it normal here?
His hand brushes my back reassuringly. His lips are on my ear, whispering even though no sound is coming out of him.
“You look good enough to eat, Xiaoyu.”
I freeze. “That does sound like a belly rumbling,” I laugh humorlessly.
A long, wet tongue sweeps up my neck. Spellbinding. There’s something primal in the way he trails those sharp claws through the only piece of clothing I have left.
“Do not be fooled by how I look, Xiaoyu.”
The warning is loud and clear.