Sweater Weather
Human Jo’an was weird.
I couldn’t determine whether it was human weird or just Human Jo’an weird. She was rushing around, tripping over her own feet, and having more injuries than normal.
“Human Jo’an, what is that in your hand?” I asked. The human did that thing where they freeze like a little ickchay. I couldn’t help that my wings bristled in amusement.
She looked over her shoulder, short hair covering of of her eyes as her arms shielded something behind her. My “feet” clicked against the floor of our spaceship, my wings folding in on each other. “Really?” She nodded, her lips pursing to the side to try and make an innocent expression.
It only made her look more guilty.
“Human Jo’an, I have known you since I hatched out of my egg. We have been together through a lot. I can tell when you are hiding something.” For good measure, I opened up my wings. A tactic usually for making predators intimidated, but Human Jo’an always said it made me look, and I quote, “devious”.
“Arth.” My name that Human Jo’an gave me since she could not pronounce my real name. “Would I ever lie to you? Or-“ I cut her off. “That time on the Planet Nerthimplf, you said you couldn’t speak the language of the predators there, yet you are now hailed as their surrogate queen.
“I just mimicked their sounds. The translator didn’t pick up their language correctly. So, technically, I did not lie to you.” Human Jo’an straightened up, keeping the item behind her back. Though from this angle, I could see cloth.
“My point is I would never lie to you in a way that would put you in danger. This behind my back? It’s nothing.” She tried to shrug her shoulders to show that it was in fact nothing, but from the way I could hear her heart speed up was different. My head cocked to the side, wings spreading more in amusement.
“If it is not a big issue, why can’t you show me?” Human Jo’an coughed, eyes looking to the side. “Human Jo’an.” She sighed, and then rolled her eyes, and then groaned. Her face changed into many different emotions, all ones I have seen before. Human Jo’an was embarrassed.
My wings closed in on themselves, the feathers puffing up in what Human Jo’an described as wing laughter. I felt like laughing. “I will not judge you on what you have. I am not that kind of species.” Human Jo’an nodded and then brought her hands to the front.
My foot tapped against the floor, wings flapping in uncontrollably excitement. It was what the humans called a sweater, however this one was a little ragged and had tiny holes in them. The words were in a messy text of my homeland language translating to “Yeah I survived a predator, so what?” I assume it was to reference many of our adventures where I had almost died to a predator.
Human Jo’an observed my expression, a smile making its way onto her face as I expressed with my body language rather than my words. I was elated and so was Human Jo’an.
I was now 13 earth years old, and received my first sweater crafted by the hands of my caretaker. I was elated.
