Cassie fled through the open door.
After almost two weeks living with Örim, Cassie settled into a routine. Most of their time was spent on her medical care, but in the small, quiet moments between, she liked to watch him work on his wire sculptures. She also continued practicing her letters. Words and phrases had turned to complete sentences. The process of writing was time-consuming compared to speaking, but at least it offered an outlet for her thoughts. Örim gave her space, but she knew he was paying close attention. It was little things, like how he left the lavatory light on at night so she wouldn’t trip, or the way he started storing the nutrition packs in the cold box because the smell of them at room temperature made her nauseous.
But he didn’t know about the nightmares. Usually, it was the middle of the night when she woke, sweating and tangled in the wires keeping her alive. Örim had offered her his bedroom, but she preferred to sleep in the nest of pillows and blankets she’d made for herself at the center of their shared living space. It felt safer somehow, being covered on all sides. She also liked to watch him work during the day. Sometimes he tinkered with his wires and devices, other times he tried to explain the research he was doing to track the Aviarist’s movements.
But tonight, when Cassie tried to calm her heart, the machine monitoring her vital signs picked up on her unusually high pulse because it beeped. She didn’t want to bother Örim if he was sleeping. The machine beeped again, more insistent this time. Cassie got up from her pillow nest and tried to walk. Sometimes movement helped her find her lungs after waking up breathless. When she got close to his door, she was surprised to hear Örim speaking softly in his room. She didn’t know how to reset the device, and the beeping was going to make it impossible to go back to sleep.
He’d told her to open his door any time, so she plucked up her courage and cracked it slightly. Whatever conversation he was involved in was sufficiently distracting because he didn’t seem to notice her slip inside, dressed only in a thin shirt with long sleeves and still attached to her wires and bags of fluid. It was dark inside, the only source of light coming from her blinking medical devices and the screen he was using. Örim made a gesture she’d never seen him do before, tapping the node on his shoulder with what seemed like irritation.
“I don’t even know how you found out about that. It’s not public knowledge.”
“I have some collaborators on Brasnia Prime. They were surprised to see an application from a teösian.” Cassie thought better of interrupting and tried to slip back out the way she’d come. This time Örim noticed her, and apparently so did the person on the screen.
“Do you have a pet? How exotic. Where did you find it?” The other teösian leaned closer toward the screen, trying to get a better look.
Cassie froze. Did Örim’s people keep humans as pets? She realized she knew very little about teösians. They’d never had a teösian visit the Aviary, so there was no opportunity to learn. Is that what she was to him? A pet? It would explain a lot. It wouldexplain why he was taking care of her when he didn’t have to. It would explain why he’d tried to help her read and help her with her voicelock. She was an idiot.
Örim’s voice pulled her out of her head. “Cassie’s not a pet. She is under my care. My housemate. I have to go, Sini. This conversation is finished.”
“Sökt, don’t tell me you’ve gone native. Excavators, are you fucking her? You can’t breed her, you know. Can you imagine the shame? A teösian fucking an organic.”
Cassie’s breath caught. She covered herself, hiding her body from view. Örim snapped back loudly, saying something in a language she couldn’t understand. His hand clamped tight around the flared crystals on the back of his neck.
“Don’t call me again.” He ended the call before the female on the screen could say anything else. After the screen went dark, Örim turned to Cassie, who was suddenly conscious of the way her breasts were perking through her shirt. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was unfamiliar, another thing about her body she didn’t understand since she’d cleared the hormone blockers from her system.
“I’m sorry. I should have been paying more attention. I didn’t notice you came in. Sini was a work colleague on Teös. She is infuriating in the worst way. I’m sorry she called you a pet.”
Am I an embarrassment?Cassie asked.
“Sökt, Cassie no. Of course not. Most teösians don’t encounter other species. We’re a bit of an insular group. Sexual relationships are seen as taboo on Teös. Not that we have a sexual relationship…” he trailed off and started rubbing his wrist nodes. “I’m sorry again about all the unpleasantness. Did something happen?”
Cassie didn’t miss the way he fumbled over talking about sexual relations with her. Was the idea really so unpleasant to him? She held up the beeping monitor. Örim took it from her,his fingers brushing hers with the exchange. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t indicate that her touch was shameful or repulsive.
“Ah. Should be an easy reset. What spiked your heart rate so high?” After turning off the beeping, he examined her, placing a hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat. “It’s back down now.”
Nightmare, she signed, trying to hide the blush that rose along her collarbone at his intimate contact.
“I don’t think I know that one.” He repeated the sign back to her, finally removing the weight of his hand from her chest.
Cassie tried again to explain with her hands. Örim handed her his datapad. She wrote out the letters. N-I-T-E-M-A-R-E.
“Oh! A nightmare. They are frightening, yes? Are you well? I understand the concept, if not the technicalities.”
Cassie shivered in response, partially because she was only half-clothed, and partially because she tried to remember the fractured details of her dream.
Never had a nightmare?
“Teösians don’t sleep. Our bodies don’t require it, so as a result, we don’t dream either.”
Never?
“No, never. We regenerate through reseeding.” He pointed to his pool in the back corner of the room. “Do you want to go back to sleep?”
I’ll have trouble sleeping now.
“Does this happen often?”
Most nights.
