Page 17 of Eat Me Alive
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 hispenisshould 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.”
Xiaoyu
